Bush endorsement -- from IRAN.

That's gotta sting.

Excerpt -- emphasis mine, of course.

"We should not forget that most sanctions and economic pressures were imposed on Iran during the time of Clinton," Rowhani said of the former Democratic president. "And we should not forget that during Bush's era - despite his hard-line and baseless rhetoric against Iran - he didn't take, in practical terms, any dangerous action against Iran."

Though Iran generally does not publicly wade into U.S. presidential politics, it has a history of preferring Republicans over Democrats, who tend to press human rights issues.

"We do not desire to see Democrats take over," Rowhani said when asked if Iran was supporting Kerry against Bush.

... yeah. See, that's a problem for some of us over here. He hasn't done anything about y'all out there in Iran, who are a bigger threat than Saddam ever was. But, y'know, I wouldn't be so quick to say so, if I were you; he might decide that cracking down on you tomorrow morning would boost his ratings, and then where would you be?

echoing nentwined.

In California, you have the legal right to use a paper ballot if you are concerned about the reliability of electronic voting machines.

Given the enormous security vulnerabilities with electronic voting machines, I'm asking everyone to vote on paper to ensure a verifiable record exists of your vote. Don't let anyone manipulate your vote after you cast it!

Pass this message on in your journal.

(Pollworkers in Santa Clara County are being instructed not to mention this to voters, and to provide paper ballots only upon specific request.)

Source here.

... that makes me curious about how many other places either aren't offering the option or are instructing people not to let it be known that the option's there. And, of course, I'm advocating that people please use the paper option if it's at all available to you. A vote that can't be tracked is a vote that wasn't cast, in worst-case scenarios. The idea of electronic voting is a neat one, and we'll get there someday, but the implementation we currently have is frighteningly flawed. Ask for paper; it's safer.