Nom de Plume

Off to Rockford for the holidays. The cab is coming in 15 minutes, Harry has been dropped at Elizabeth’s, where he will frolic with Koya for five whole days, and Steve is trying to convince me that I need to take my coconut purse to show off how well he treats me.

Well.

Thank GOD, 6 whole days without going into the office. I wonder if other people find writing for a living as deleterious on their own work as I do. By the time I come home, the last thing I want to do is open another word doc.

Congress launches an investigation on election fraud, and I find this:

UC Berkeley Research Team Sounds ‘Smoke Alarm’ for Florida E-Vote Count

After giving me no end of grief for flunking the Washington driver’s license written test, Steve failed it today too.

‘Stinking Evidence’ of Possible Election Fraud Found in Florida
University researchers challenge Bush win in Florida
Coalition’s Support of Voting Machines Causes Confusion, says Journalist Lynn Landes
Study finds Fla. ‘ghost’ e-votes
Recount to Come for Ninth District Congressional Race
Election Fraud 2004: Kerry, the Times and the Democrats

Man in Mall Shooting Had Anger Issues

Well, duh.

Last night, got a wireless router and set it up… and essentially what that means is that I can update the blog while I’m lying in bed even though Steve is bugging the shit out of me and putting his hands all over my … keyboard.

It also means I can take photos and foist them on my loyal blog readership in almost real time.

So, here’s Harry romping on the bed with his new frisbee.

And here’s after it tired him out (being considerably larger than he is):

UC Berkeley Study Questions Florida E-Vote Count
Voters Recount Irregularities
Hearings on Widespread Voting Irregularities that Call Thousands of Votes into Question
Blackbox Voting News
Media accused of ignoring election irregularities
Columbus, Ohio voters waited hours as election officials held back 68 machines
Election officials find possible double votes, ballots counted twice
Sandusky County not only one with possible double votes

Chiba is three months old, fixed, and very charming. She’s also what happens when a Jack Russell and a chihuahua get it on. If you want to adopt, shoot me an e-mail and I’ll forward the message on.

Steve’s presents to me included a coconut purse, a rubber hand, a rubber deadly puffer fish (for the dog to chew on), a Hindi poster defining bad habits (destroying property, eating fried foods), a box decorated with an image of Kali and this godawful thing, which he affixed to the mantel:

Naturally, Wayne needed to pose in front of it:

And then, in one final display of testosterone, Steve and Harry joined him:

Kiki had one too many martinis and staggered into the rental car … and off to the airport she and Wayne went. And a good thing too, because she is obviously a very bad influence on my little Harry Potsticker.

By far, the best birthday present this year was the digital camera. So naturally, the first thing I did was to take pictures of the dog.

Countinghouse Blues
Election stolen, group suspects
Wet Ballots Found, Rejected By Voting Machines
State Police investigating voter fraud
Odds of Bush gaining by 4 percent in all exit polling states 1 in 50,000; Evoting/paper variance not found to be significant
Presidential Votes Miscast on E-Voting Machines Across the Country
County looking into possible Election Day voter fraud

Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked
Group Finds Voting Irregularities in the South
None Dare Call it Voter Suppression and Fraud
Media Blacks Out Voting Problems
Shades of Jim Crow: Election Intimidation 2004
Those New York Blues
Computer Voting Is Open to Easy Fraud, Experts Say (registration required)

Why are morning people so sanctimonous about it? They go to bed early–when normal people are just starting to wake up–and expect you to be quiet and considerate so their rest isn’t disturbed. Yet, they slam around first thing in the morning with no no consideration for others because, after all, “You should be getting up, anyway.”

This, from their site:

THURSDAY Nov. 4 2004: If you are concerned about what happened Tuesday, Nov. 2, you have found a home with our organization. Help America Audit.

We need: Lawyers to enforce public records laws. Some counties have already notified us that they plan to stonewall by delaying delivery of the records. We need citizen volunteers for a number of specific actions. We need computer security professionals willing to GO PUBLIC with formal opinions on the evidence we provide, whether or not it involves DMCA complications. We need funds to pay for copies of the evidence.

And how many of these haven’t been caught?