TECHNOIR

by John Lasker

  Arnebeck alerted the Department of Justice to the alleged threats. They brushed him off. Did this mean Connell’s fate already been sealed for delivery? He would die within two months.

  Arnebeck says the Republican plan to rig the 2004 vote was initiated months if not years before Nov. 2nd, 2004. Blackwell, before he took Ohio’s Secretary of State position, was state treasurer for Ohio. At that time, says Arnebeck, he was “bought off with stocks, millions-of-dollars worth” by the Republican party. And just like the Mafioso, the Republicans patiently waited for their payback. When Blackwell became Secretary of State, he quietly outsourced the state’s voting tabulation to Connell. One question that Arnebeck hears is, how was it discovered that Connell, along with SmarTech, were counting Ohio’s ballots? This didn’t occur until the 2006 elections.

  The person who uncovered this, “doesn't want to be identified,” said Arnebeck. On election night in 2006, the anonymous source noticed Ohio’s vote count had been switched to a strange server. The information was right before everyone’s eyes on the main page of the Ohio Secretary of State’s vote-counting website – still being run by Connell. One year later, another Republican IT wizard, and someone who was close to Connell, would turn Arnebeck’s case on its side.

  The friend is Stephen Spoonamore, and like Connell, he did a lot of IT work for big-time clients, such as American Express and the US Navy. Arnebeck says Spoonamore is an expert on data security and networking. You could also say he’s an expert on election fraud. He came forward months before Election Day 2008, prepared to testify about what he was sure had happened in 2004; vote sabotage in Ohio.

  First, Spoonamore and Connell were not only peers, but palled-around together at work. Reports say they traveled the globe together managing elections for the International Republican Institute (ISI); one of their responsibilities was to watch for fraud. Following 2004, Connell’s guilt must have started to nag him. He had hinted to Spoonamore, that yes, it was very possible his computer skills and hardware were being used to steal elections. Arnebeck said Spoonamore specifically asked Connell, “Is it possible your systems could be used to rig elections.” Connell, who Spoonamore says clearly became “uncomfortable” by the question, responded, “It’s possible.”

  Second, Arnebeck says Spoonamore set up for the 2004 presidential vote his own “matrix” so to detect any voting fraud patterns; a matrix that identified the C. Ellen Connelly anomaly – Connelly being the African-American women and Democrat who was running for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. She was just a tiny blip, if that, on the radar of Ohio voters that day. Yet somehow she received more votes than John Kerry, a lot more. And these odd numbers were mostly coming from southwestern Ohio counties, a region historically strongly-held Republican territory.

  “Entirely on his own,” says Arnebeck of Spoonamore’s vigilante-approach towards election fraud, “sort of a hobby, a citizen who believes in Democracy.”

  Spoonamore testified that Connell’s network tabulating Ohio’s vote on Nov. 2nd, 2004, had a design flaw that made it child’s play when adding a computer that could perform a “Man-in-the-Middle” attack. “It (MIM attack) is a common problem in the banking settlement space,” he wrote in his affidavit. “A criminal gang will introduce a computer into the outgoing electronic systems of a major retail mall, or smaller branch office of a bank. They will capture the legitimate transactions and then add fraudulent charges to the system for their benefit. Any time all information is directed to a single computer for consolidation, it is possible, and in fact likely, that single computer will exploit the information for some purpose. In the case of Ohio 2004, the purpose I can conceive for sending all county tabulations to a GOP-managed Man-in-the-Middle site in Chattanooga before sending the results onward to the Secretary of State, would be to hack the vote at MIM.”

  Still need some more evidence to convince you Bush, Cheney, Rove, Blackwell and, to an unknown extent, Connell, stole the 2004 Presidential Election from John Kerry? Arnebeck says the Ohio Green and Libertarian parties, which he has ties to, decided, after the election in 2004, to pay for a statewide recount of the Ohio vote. Three percent of the actual vote would be examined. But when the two parties asked Triad GSI, the voting- machine manufacturing company that dispatched “technicians” to Ohio county Board of Elections on Election Day 2004, to access their tabulators, they had replaced hard drives and tabulators before the re-count could even be made. One of those counties of course was Hocking County, from which Sherole Eaton was fired.

  Arnebeck says the lawsuit should continue to move forward, and that more subpoenas should follow, perhaps filed against SmarTech. As for the FBI, how serious they’re taking the investigation is not known.

  Epilogue:

  Who could forget the first Terminator, the story of a resistance fighter from the future sent back in time to protect his unborn leader from an unrelenting cyborg assassin. And who could forget when the unborn leader’s mother, Sarah Connor, first encounters at the dance club this sentient and artificially intelligent killer – what the resistance fighter knows as simply the Terminator. Just before the chilling mayhem in the dance club, creator and director James Cameron, of Avatar fame, has the oblivious Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, shout into the club’s pay phone over blaring dance music: “Tech Noir!” she yells to the police, letting them know the name of the club and her location. What the character was also doing, was giving us a hint at Cameron’s hidden message. This was his way of secretly telling the audience what genre of film they were watching – Technoir, a hybrid of science fiction and film noir.

  But as she shouts “Tech Noir,” I feel as if Cameron was also trying to portray Connor’s growing desperation as a warning to the rest of us. Because as the human race improves technology at breakneck speed – for example, we already have weapons that can end the human race – Connor represents the weakness and fragility of mankind against technology that it created! Technology that is represented, of course, by an unmerciful mass of metal and microprocessors. “Tech Noir!” she yells over the cacophony, as if her character is a psuedo-Paul Revere.

  “Dark Technology! Dark Technology! Wake up everybody!”

  Besides nuclear warheads, consider what I have written in the previous pages. Space weapons, for instance. The US has spent over $100 billion on technology that might be missile defense and might be space weapons. What is clear is that this technology is “dual use.” Technology that can defend, but also destroy. Space weapons of the future are something science fiction hasn’t even dreamt up yet. Even what the US is working on now might someday make the weapons in Star Wars look like musket rifles of the 1800s. But this is nothing to joke about. What happens when the US and China deploy numerous constellations of Battlesats into Earth’s lower orbits? Just as the last several generations have lived in fear (and still do) of nuclear holocaust, will our future generations live in fear from invisible lasers and “Rods from Gods” that are continuously circling some 70-miles up? And when you consider how powerful Lockheed Martin and Boeing have become, and how mighty their influence on Capitol Hill is, there’s really nothing stopping them from building these constellations in the name of so-called “freedom.” Just imagine how free everyone will be when these eyes-in-the-sky become armed to the teeth.

  As arms-control expert Bruce Gagnon keeps saying, there’s no need for predictions; this is going to happen. American defense contractors have become too powerful. And the US government is going to go along, because for one, Washington is going to want something, anything, in exchange for the $100 billion and counting they’ve spent trying to create missile defense, aka, space weapons. When I think of space weapons I have to recall what the Vatican says about modern warfare: “The development of armaments by modern science has immeasurably magnified the horrors and wickedness of war. Warfare conducted with these weapons can inflict immense and indiscriminate havoc which goes far beyond the bounds of legitimate defense.”

  Now, Cameron, of course, d
oesn’t portray all technology as a potential nightmare. Something of our creation that comes “alive” with an unmerciful conscience and a mission to destroy all humans. That would be too base, for someone of Cameron’s story-telling genius. So don’t forget what finally ended the Terminator – a massive hydraulic press, which crushed him like an aluminum can. Connor, the human, is the force that led the seemingly unstoppable machine to its demise. What do the hydraulic press and the factory it’s in represent? Simply put, they represent “good” technology – a machine that does its job over and over, never with a groan or complaint, let alone a fully-automatic rifle.

  And think on this, what machine, what technology, has had the greatest impact on civilization over the last twenty years? Indeed, it has to be the Internet. Connecting the so-called Global Village, making life (allegedly) easier and, of course, the ability to make money easier; heaven knows a lot of people have made a lot of cheese simply by facilitating information. But have we become too dependent on the Internet? Of course we have! The technophiles and corporations have forced it down our throats. You could deny cyberspace, but then where would you be? How would you apply for a job when most companies are only taking applications online? What about learning and buying and selling and directions and communication, and on and on? All of our daily functions, it seems, are becoming dependent on cyberspace. Yes, everyone has benefitted in some way; what’s not to like about making several clicks and, wah-lah, all your bills are paid?

  But like a lot of technology too good to be true, is the Internet a house of cards – with one US military-made computer virus away from taking it all down? Again, there you have it, technology seemingly outpacing us to the point of no return. Like nuclear weapons, which the powers-that-be have shielded with the oxymoron they’re for defense, the advent of more powerful Computer Network Attacks or CNA is a familiar road we’ve already been down. Even the US military isn’t sure how dangerous one of their emerging CNA’s might be; as Dan Verton said in Chapter 10, once you press that Enter button (releasing the worm), no one truly knows the ultimate outcome. And what’s so amazing is that the Bush and Obama administrations have advanced the US military’s CNA capability to an unknown level because they’ve been super-secret about research and they’re (the Pentagon) not talking. One reason is because China’s CAN capability could be greater than ours!

  Back to the Obama administration. In 2008, he promised to pull troops out of Iraq. He promised to cut military spending. He promised to further peace. It was the “Audacity of Hope,, his memorable campaign call-out that had so many enamored and sending him cash via Internet. But did he keep his promises? Not really (they never do!). As of this writing (2010), there are still thousands of American troops in Iraq. He did, however, in a clever trick on words, pull out some “combat troops.” Too bad they were shipped off to Afghanistan. He did cut some of the Pentagon’s annual budget, but what’s a few billion off a $400 billion mountain? And as for peace, well, he boosted the war in Afghanistan, against a foe some wonder are more drug dealer than terrorist.

  But what’s so insidious about this, is the question over whether he, Obama, lied to us, or exaggerated his promises, or something more sinister. He has no choice but to continue massive military funding or face “elimination.” Like what happened to John F. Kennedy and many others who tried to get in the way of US military industrial complex.

  Or what the CIA did to many a leftist and socialist leader from South and Central America – sabotage their planes so they simply fell out of the sky. Consider what happened to Republican computer hacker Mike Connell, or all the questionable suicides that have occurred in Iraq over the last several years. Some of them were US troops who were whistle blowers ready to blow the lid off the out-of-control corruption defense contractors had brought to this warzone. Defense contractors that were paying out huge bribes to US military procurement officers.

  Some like Major Gloria Davis, a 45-year-old African-American woman, and a very successful one at that. Her family depended on her, and yes, she accepted a bribe, around $200,000-plus, just peanuts in the world of defense contracting, and was facing a military indictment. Within days of getting caught, she turned up dead. An apparent gun-shot to the head. When was the last time you heard of a successful black woman killing herself? Successful American black women have probably the lowest suicide rates on Earth. She was probably “eliminated” because there was a chance she was going to reveal other layers of corruption. Who did it then? The US Military or civilian defense contractors? The advent of Blackwater makes that a tough call. In the end, when it comes to defense contracting and getting that fat government contract, it all boils down to Gandhi’s little quote: Greed is the root of all evil.

  So all of what I am writing here are nothing but verbal warnings, you’re thinking. This author is all about telling a cautionary tale. You’re asking, what about solutions?

  If you bought this book, then that’s one solution. As I wrote in the prologue, support independent progressive journalists, such as those that work for Alternet and Toward Freedom, to name two outlets out of hundreds.

  Second, if you have the money to invest, check your investments, mutual funds, etc., and ask your broker whether the likes of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, or Alliant Techsystems, is in your portfolio. If so, I recommend searching through the pages of Mother Jones, where they have ads from financial brokers who claim their investments are morally straight: no defense contractors, exploiters of cheap labor or big-time polluters.

  Third, these days, both the Democrats and Republicans have long been sold-out to defense contractors and other industries. Could there be another party that emerges from the “Broken Government” era? Hopefully someday, God willing, there will be a political party about peace first when it comes to defense; one that keeps defense technology and spending under control, and offers much more public disclosure as to what’s being built. A party that truly puts the working-class first; raising minimum wage for example, to something that’s livable, say $12.50 an hour? It’s as if I am asking for a miracle. But if such a party were to emerge, this is one we all need to support.

  And last, I am a big supporter of people power. Have you ever had a friend with a serious emergency who needed a few bucks to get through? Perhaps a hat was passed around and everyone threw in a few dollars. It can add up quick, and in the end, everyone feels great because they finally did something worthwhile – and all they did was reach into their wallet for a few pieces of green paper. In 2008, Obama harnessed that power and won.

  Why can’t we harness that power now, and use it to force peace, cut defense spending, and keep dark technology underwraps? Apathy and a sold-out media and political system, come to mind. But think about Obama 2008. That power was in the flesh, right before your eyes and fingertips. Brought together by the people’s desire, with the help of technology. That power can be turned on again. We just need to wake-up and listen over the noise to characters such as Sarah Connor, who represents all of us.

  About the Author

  John Lasker is an independent, freelance journalist who resides in Columbus, Ohio, home to his Alma matter, the Ohio State University. But John, like his twin brother Paul, who also resides in Columbus, goes out of his way to let everyone know he was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. A proud, blue-collar American city that’s been devastated by tens-of-thousands of jobs sent overseas. Like the people of Buffalo, a city famous and infamous for its harsh winters, John is tough, loyal, passionate, inquisitive, and, last but certainly not least, still standing in the face of extinction, something American journalism has a hard time saying these days. It was on a bitterly cold Sunday morning in a Buffalo Catholic church where John, at the age of 7, received his calling. He had a vision he was holding a pen and pad, and covering one of his obsessions – the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League.

  John’s journalism career started at an independent alternative weekly; part of the journalism industry he’s gung-ho for, but sees
it selling-out like much of mainstream journalism already has. John has written for Wired news, Christian Science Monitor, Buffalo News, Toward Freedom, Space News, Fate magazine, The Lantern, Columbus Guardian and many, many more. In 2008, he covered the Presidential Election from central Ohio for Agence France-Press, the oldest newswire on the planet. During the 2004 Presidential Election he worked for the Democrats, going door-to-door, nearly every day, for 18 months. He is credited with getting a huge area of urban Columbus registered to vote for that election. Columbus is often considered “Ground Zero” for Presidential Elections because of its extreme political diversity, which is partially the result of the tremendous economic division between the rich and working-class poor of central Ohio.

  John would like to thank his parents, his twin brother, and his wife, his sister Beth and her husband, and the rest of his family for their support. He also wants to thank his girlfriend Janet and her daughter, who believed, albeit naively perhaps, that he would make it as a writer (and to this day they’re still waiting patiently). He would also like to thank all of his sources who gave their valuable time and effort to give him the vital information needed to write these investigative stories.

  Feared by the Pentagon, despised by space-weapons lobbyists, and stalked by UFO hoaxers. That’s life for John Lasker. And to all those sell-out PR hacks and conniving Washington lobbyists who acted like their cell phone wasn’t working, or tried to lead him astray on a story, or laughed at his efforts to dig-out the truth, further peace, expose corporate pigs, and fight to end the exploitation of the working class across the globe: May you choke one day on your own Bullshit!