Much coming. But none of it for the moment, as I climb mountains over here for many hours today and tonight. Therefore, consider this an open thread if you like until I can come out from under...

That said, investigative journalist and BRAD BLOG friend, Greg Palast, whose new book Armed Madhouse hits the shelves this week has been kind enough to offer us 10 signed copies of the book for use as a premium to contributors here!

Couldn't come at a better time, frankly, as we are also being forced to expedite some software/design changes sooner rather than later due to increasingly virulent spam/hack attempts that have taken the site down at various times over the last several weeks. They are getting worse, and our hope is the new software will ward off some of those attacks (as well as allowing for many enhancements I've been hoping to make for some time --- more on all of this later.) To make it all happen sooner, rather than later, however, is going to cost no small amount of money for me, but it's gotten so bad I've got no choice.

So...The first 10 folks who send in donations of $50 or more will receive a signed copy of Greg's new book shipped to you by mail! (We're undercutting Greg himself who is offering same for $100 on his site!) If interested, please be sure to give your mailing address when you donate so we know where to ship it!

Thanks go to Greg for his generous offer and support of the blog! To learn more about Armed Madhouse, see my earlier posts about the day I recorded audio for the Armed Madhouse audio version with Ed Asner and Janeane Garafalo (here,) as well as some exclusive readings from those sessions by myself and Asner (here.) Or just stop by www.GregPalast.com.

To donate online click here. For snail mail donations, see the address in the blue box at right. (Though I can't guarantee you'll be amongst the first 10 if you go by snail mail, I receive few enough donations however, that you may actually still have a pretty good chance!)

I'd be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported The BRAD BLOG throughout the years. Your generosity is consistently moving and help makes all of this possible. I never enjoy having to ask for support, but that's what we've got as of now. I do try to send a personal thanks via email to those who donate online, but it's almost impossible for me to reply personally to those who send in snail mail donations. So I hope this thanks goes at least some of the way to share my appreciation for your incredibly generous support, no matter what what form it may come by!

UPDATE 6/5/06: Thanks guys! We received 13 donations before I was able to get back here and cut it off, so I'm going to see if I can get 3 more books from GP. If not, I'll let the final three who came in know about it, and return the donations to ya, if you like. In the meantime, of course, donations from any readers out of pure altruistic support of The BRAD BLOG are always appreciated (and needed) either way. Thanks again! I'll try and make more such premiums available in the near future!

Score another one for the home team. Especially for those of us who call California home.

From AP yesterday...

This is all rather important to us, as you may have guessed, at The BRAD BLOG, considering the kind of work we do here.

In fact, we were quoted by the NY Times last March concerning this very case and appeared on ABC News to discuss it as well that day.

Thanks, and a big congrats, go to the EFF for standing up for us on this one!

Right on.

I've been very quiet here over the last 24 to 48. Not by choice, and not for lack of stuff to blog about, but because much is going on. All of which I hope to be able to share in various bits, pieces and scoops soon. Thanks to David E. and John G. for their efforts here in my absense in the meantime. Should have more as soon as I can come up for a bit of air.

In the meantime, our new friend and fellow LA Blogger, "scribes" of MartiniRepublic.com has been pestering us endlessly for links from the very popular BRAD BLOG over to his very fine and endlessly snarky site. Virtually none of those gentle requests have been fulfilled.

So he's come up with an even cleverer way to get me to link to him. He's done a short email interview with me, so now I can't help but link over to his site! Smartly done, scribes! Read the interview here for a few bits of mostly unreported, sometimes amusing and occassionally scandalous tidbits of BRAD DIRT about which you may not know (and may not even care to know!)

Otherwise, scandalize me all you wish in comments on this item to be considered an Open Thread...Until I return...

(In which we subtly bite the very Huff Po hand that feeds us...)

"On Electronic Voting: We Were Always Right, They Were Always Wrong..."

"Obsessively?" Me? (He says as he writes this at 4:39am) Well, maybe. But someone's gotta.

So begins the editor's intro to a piece I was invited to submit to the Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism's Watchdog site. The invitation came from Deputy Editor, and Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin, so I was honored to accept.

I was asked to submit questions for mainstream media folks to ask of Elections Officials about our current Electoral Train Wreck-in-Progress in hopes that someone in the MSM might actually do so. These are the tough questions which, frankly, ought to be asked of every damn Election Official in the country by every damn responsbile media person.

Several questions were edited out by Dan before posting for reasons that I don't completely understand. But as I consider him one of the good guys (who occassionally even links to BRAD BLOG from his WaPo page) I won't hold it against him.

So here's the piece as posted at Nieman Watchdog. (Including a swell pic of yours truly!)

And for the hard-cord Election Reform junkies, read on for the extra bonus questions which didn't make the cut. Who knows? Maybe someone in the MSM may one day want to know what they completely failed to ask about...

Believe me, I ain't going anywhere if I can help it, especially with everything that's going on right now. But I could use your help. I've had to turn down several paying gigs recently, because I simply don't have the time to do them and still continue covering the meltdown we're now witnessing in our democracy.

Many of you have helped in the past, and it's greatly appreciated. If you are able to continue doing so from time to time, or if you haven't done so in the past, a donation of any size is greatly appreciated. You can make an online donation here.

Also, you can create a "monthly subscription" for any amount you wish or send in a donation via snail mail. Both of those options are quickly available in the blue form on the right of every page.

You'd be stunned how many folks read this site each day and yet how infrequent it is that we actually receive donations for the work which we now do here, often (literally) 24/7. Last time we asked for support, we received a total of ONE donation.

So thank you, this time around, for whatever it is you can do to help.

BRAD BLOG reader and kick-ass blues man Shannon Williford (that's him at right) sends us a rockin' blues ditty titled simply "Election Reform".

While we're fairly certain it's the first blues tune to include the word "blogs" in the lyrics, we're damn near positive it's the first one to include the words "BradBlog.com" in it. And even "VotersUnite.org" (shout out to our pal John Gideon!) makes the cut for that matter. And others as well!

Shannon posted the lyrics, some observations on playing this song around Nashville and a few other thoughts on the current state of anti-establishment music in this comment on our Neil Young Living With War album review.

The tune certainly makes me smile. Hope it does the same for you. Turn up the speakers and...Give it a listen!

(Here are additional details on Williford's Delicious Blues Stew!)

We've just added a new text-only "BRAD BLOG Classified" adstrip on the left (below the "Premium Ads") for individuals who might like to advertise, make noise, or otherwise get their message out for less than half the price of a normal BlogAd here at The BRAD BLOG!

In addition to getting your message out to hundreds of thousands of readers each week, it also happens to be a great way to support our work here since donations continue to be very few and far between.

-- Click here to create your own BRAD BLOG Classified Ad now!

On the other hand, if you'd like to make a regular old donation, we certainly welcome that as well! Why not put some of that great tax break Bush gave some of you to a cause that he'd be thrilled to see you support! Us! Here's a form to make it easy for you to make a one-time only, monthly subscription or snail mail donation. And thank you for all the continued support!

I'm Guest Hosting the Peter B. Collins show today and have booked an amazing line-up of Guests! Please tune in! This will be our Open Thread for during the show, so comment away!

Showtime is 3p-6p PT (6p-9p ET) on KRXA 540am in Monterey, CA and several other affiliates.
Listen online here! Call in toll-free if you like at (888) 579-2540.

Guests to include...

+ This Modern World cartoonist and blogger, TOM TOMORROW!
+ FAIZ SHAKIR from The Center for American Progress' Progress Report
+ Emery County, UT County Clerk/Hero BRUCE FUNK (Diebold's latest scapegoat!)
+ *** PLUS: The legendary ED ASNER! Yup, Lou Grant his own bad self!

Spread the word! Tune in!

UPDATE 4/8/06: Audio archives from the show now here...

In case you missed it, AP recently lifted an article as researched and written by RAW STORY and published a version of it as their own. Along the way, they seem to have forgotten to give RAW the attribution they deserved for the many hours of research and work they put into the story in order to file the piece in the first place.

RAW's Larisa Alexandrovna originally discovered the gem after plowing through a bunch of Bush Administration policy statements on National Security Clearance policies and comparing the most recent version to previous versions of that same policy side-by-side. One of the RAW researchers confirmed her work and the subtle, but important changes she found, and then Larisa, along with RAW's Executive Editor John Byrne finally filed the piece at RawStory.com.

After all of that hard work, a human rights group shared RAW's story with AP who eventually filed their own very familiar story using the work as originally unearthed by RAW. They've since admitted to being given RAW's article and using it as the starting point for their own work, which walks a dangerously close line towards plagarism.

But even as they now admit that their story originated with RAW's reporting, they still refuse to give credit where credit's due. They've now given several lame and still-changing reasons for failing to acknowledge the "oversight" including "we do not credit blogs" and later, "we only credit blogs we know."

Larisa writes about the matter at Huff Po here and here, and John Byrne wrote an article covering AP's comments and comparing both articles directly for RAW here.

Setting aside the fact that RAW STORY is NOT EVEN A BLOG --- apparently any independent news source which originates on the Internet is now considered a "blog" by some in the MSM...all the easier to dismiss them by, we suppose --- The BRAD BLOG is a blog and yet we find the practice of failing to give us due credit equally objectionable for the many stories we have broken which were later picked up by the MSM as well.

Though most "blogs" do not do the sort of original reporting that we do here, it's certainly harder to argue that we're not one --- what with the word "BLOG" in our name and all. And yet, I'm forced to ask: What the hell does the word "blog" have to do with anything anyway?

Journalism is journalism is journalism. The quality of the reporting and the journalism therein is what matters no matter the name given to the media originating the work.

The reason that all of this matters is not so that Larisa or RAW or even myself or The BRAD BLOG receives some form of personal adulation or ego stroke for our hard work.

So if not for the good of our own personal self-esteem, why does proper credit to such sources really matter?...

The BRAD BLOG has made it to the final voting for the 2005 Koufax Awards in two categories! Just 10 nominees in each category from amongst the entire Progressive 'sphere! So thanks for bringing us this far, guys! It's quite an honor!

We're up against several much "bigger" blogs out there, so please consider voting for us as "BEST BLOG" in the non-pro division and for "BEST POST" for Lydia Cornell's "Death is Sexier than Sex (to Ann Coulter)" story (waytago Lydia!)

HOW TO VOTE: Click on either or both of the two "BEST" links above, scroll to the bottom of the page, and type "BRAD BLOG" into the Comments box.

OR... If the server is slow, send Email specifying your choices for each category to wampum@nic-naa.net (subject line: Koufax).

Vote only once in each category! Diebold will handle everything from there!

Be sure to check out the other nominees in these, and the other categories as well. Great stuff all! Thanks to the folks at Wampum for running these awards and highlighting some tremendous work being done out there by the Progressive side of the 'sphere!

Tomorrow (Monday) The BRAD BLOG will feature yet another Voting Machine Industry insider who is stepping forward with yet more troubling information and documented accusations about the way his company --- and at least one county in Texas, where there were notable problems in last Tuesday's primary --- have been running elections. Damning complaints about Fraud, Mismanagement, and possible Criminal Behavior were made about many of the alleged problems as long ago as July 2004. We'll have the documentation. The complaints were all but ignored, surprisingly enough (irony inserted there), by both public and company officials. We'll have a full feature on those complaints and warnings on Monday...We believe you'll not want to miss it!

It's been an incredibly busy time here at The BRAD BLOG, in case you haven't noticed. Just scroll down last week's list of stories to get an idea of what's been going on --- at a furious pace. And there is much more on the way. For an audio review of some of last week's best stories, you may wish to listen to my weekly appearance last Friday with the good Peter B. Collins of KRXA 540am wherein we discussed as many of last week's stories as we could fit into one 40 minute appearance [MP3].

A few other quick Sunday items of note...

VoteTrustUSA has begun a campaign in support of Ion Sancho... Sancho, as readers here know, is the Election Supervisor in Leon County who exposed the security flaw in Diebold's optical-scan voting equipment which allows a hacker to completely flip the results of an election without a trace being left behind. Sancho is under attack for this good deed by the State of Florida themselves and yet he's fighting back as best as he can. Click here to send email support for Sancho's efforts!

Stephen Heller, the whistleblower who revealed Diebold's plan... to break the law in California has set up a legal defense fund since being charged with three felony counts. We wrote about Heller previously and the excellent Tribune Media Services columnist, Bob Koehler, covered his story this week as well in a great column. Here are some comments from Heller's wife. He is in need of funds to fight against the bad guys. So, donations can now be made via the Stephen Heller Defense Fund website.

Lastly, for now... and not important at all, but kind of fun. Please Vote for BRAD BLOG in any or all of the 6 categories for which we've been nominated in the Koufax 2005 Weblog Awards! If you're so inclined. We'd much appreciate it! And thanks, as ever, for all the great support!

Wow. We've made it through the first rounds with 9 nominations in 6 different categories of Wampum's "Koufax 2005 Blog Awards!" And we didn't even need to call in Harri Hursti! Thanks to all for getting us there!

And now, the next round of voting begins. Please vote BRAD BLOG into the Semi-Finals if you're so inclined!

There are links to all of the categories on this post. Otherwise, hit any or all of the following links where you are inclined to vote for us, and leave a vote in the Comments section at the bottom!

I'll try to keep this at the top when I can, as a reminder to vote while it's still allowed for the next few days in this round. Be sure to check out some of the other superb nominated blogs while you're there!

With the constant buzz of helicopters and blimps overhead since dawn this morning (No, not "Black Helicopters"...I'm about two blocks from the Kodak Theater where the Academy Awards were tonight) and two old schoolmates of mine nominated (Hoffman and Huffman - nice going guys!), granted I may have a touch of the Oscar Fever.

But the winner of the best song tonight, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp", couldn't help but remind me, to remind you --- in case you missed it --- of our new Special Guest Diebold Comment Troll/Pimp calling himself "Wally O'Diebold".

While he may be too cowardly to give his real name publicly --- even while sliming folks like myself, Bev Harris, Jim March, Avi Rubin, Sen. Debra Bowen and others who are not afraid to put our real names on our work and behind our beliefs --- he's a Diebold insider with a lot of knowledge of the systems, and (WARNING) a lot of mis/disinformation he's suddenly very eager to spread.

He also seems to be, as he referred to Rubin, "a self-serving tool". And I don't mean that in the pejorative sense in which he meant it.

Interestingly, while the Diebold "company line" has always reportedly been to dismiss Election Integrity Advocates like myself, and March and Harris et al as "conspiracy theorists," it's the faceless "Wally O'Diebold" who now cowers in the shadows of anonymity because BRAD BLOG readers, according to "Wally" in comment #56, "would not hesitate to stalk me to my home and possibly try to kill me."

Watch out for them Black Helicopters, "Wally"! Unless you're also near the Kodak Theater, eh?

But forthrightness, honesty and openness has never been much of a hallmark for the Diebold corporation. At least during their Voting Machine Years of Shame. Their latest spokesperson/mac daddy/anonymous slimer is no exception. Secrecy, disinformation and cowardly scurrilous attacks on those who have nothing to gain but the free and fair democracy their country once promised...ah, yes, that's Diebold all over. They never rest.

The desperation displayed by "Mr. O'Diebold" is entertaining sure, but not particularly becoming...especially when it's accompanied by ad hominem attacks and knowing disinformation --- lots of it, very cleverly drawn, I might add --- all launched from behind the veil of secrecy. But that's his company's business model after all, so who are we to quibble now that he's willing to offer us a reminder.

If they would only call me back when I call them for comment, they'd be able to actually put such comments on the record under their own names for a bit of credibility. But I guess it's easier to talk to journalists who don't ask follow-up questions, and who are easily fooled by the company spin. Which is to say, most of the non-BRAD BLOG media out there.

So if you're in the mood and have the stomach for it (and before I lose my patience, and remove this guy's feeding tube all together) pull up a chair, grab some popcorn and enjoy the BRAD BLOG nominee for Best Original Comment Thread Hijacked by a Diebold Pimp Based on Stuff That Sounds Like Fact, But Actually Isn't.

And the Oscar goes to...

Guest Blogged by Special BRAD BLOG CPAC Correspondent Daniel Borchers

EDITOR'S NOTE: The BRAD BLOG has obtained media credentials to cover this year's "Conservative Political Action Conference" (CPAC) which began on Thursday, and will be taking place this weekend in Washington D.C. We've asked Dan Borchers of Citizens for Principled Conservatism, Brother Watch & Coulter Watch, to cover the event as our correspondent. We've written about Borchers --- who was escorted out of CPAC in 2002 for distributing material critical of CPAC darling Ann Coulter and disallowed media credentials in the years following --- in several previous articles here, here, both of which include videos he's compiled showing Coulter to be a detriment to the Conservative Movement. As well, we wrote about Borchers in an article for the February issue of Mother Jones. We're pleased to have him corresponding for us from "Bloggers Row" at CPAC this year. This is his first dispatch...

If you think all conservatives think alike, guess again. CPAC is a great place for an education in Conservatism.

The 33rd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is being held in Washington, DC, February 9-11, 2006. CPAC features prominent national speakers, with thousands of students in attendance. White House officials, senators and congressmen, special interest groups and media personalities all converge at this largest annual gathering of conservatives to network, debate political issues, channel grassroots activism and define the direction of Conservatism for the coming year.

Conservatives of all stripes coalesce at CPAC, though anti-war paleoconservatives have been scarce in recent years. Neoconservatives predominate. Pro-market conservatives abound. Cultural conservatives thrive. Libertarians are free to liberate (to whatever degree they can) the Conservative Movement from the pro-security and pro-life wings of the party. This year, even the legalization of marijuana is formally debated.

You can find conservatives opposed to the Iraq War, Muslims supporting President Bush and an organization against the war on Christmas.

This year's theme was modestly called, "The Conservative Agenda for America." Among this kaleidoscope of conservatives, what that agenda will be remains to be seen. Unquestionably, the majority at CPAC favor President Bush and the neoconservative. What, exactly, unites these disparate threads of Conservatism? I suspect a mixture of freedom and faith, family and fortune.

As this year's CPAC Conference progresses, I'll file additional reports and photos. (See below for a selection of photos from the first day.)

Till then,

Cheers,

Dan Borchers
www.BrotherWatch.com

(Ed Note: Photos from CPAC Day 1, taken by Dan follow, along with photos of Velvet Revolution's "ImpeachMobile" which was parked out front, and a report from the driver about the various "friendly gestures" they received from CPAC attendees, and a group he described as "Hitler Youth")...

UPDATE: Borcher's dispatch from Day 2, including details (audio and video) from Ann Coulter's big keynote speech is now posted here...