Sue Sturgis at Facing South notes Kucinich asks for N.H. recount. There have been questions about the vote counting in the New Hampshire primary and Dennis Kucinich is willing to put up the money to find the truth. It can’t be expected to help his chances much, but he wants people to have confidence in the system. Fortunately the Granite State sensibly uses paper ballots, so a hand count is possible.

Thank you, Mr. Kucinich. People need to know the truth about their voting system, and this will ensure they do.

‘Noz at Rubber Hose has concise post about the incident in the Strait of Hormuz. Short version [only because it is too late to attempt the LOLcat version this deserves]: it was a routine identification of vessels in the waterway by the Iranian Coast Guard, as the Iranians said. Pathetic, it wasn’t even a “bump and run”. The agitprop unit in Iraq is really getting carried away, and needs to have its wings clipped before it gets someone killed.

Does someone actually believe that if a Mexican Navy vessel started paralleling the Texas coast in international waters, the US Coast Guard wouldn’t ask for identification? How about a Cuban naval vessel paralleling the Florida coast?

Marine channel 16 is the standard hailing/calling frequency, but it is VHF and short-range, so you have to send a vessel or aircraft out to check. If someone sailed out of a Gulf port to the central Gulf and then returns, the Coast Guard will want to know who they are, especially if radar tracking seems to indicate they met another vessel in international waters. This is normal and expected, not a hostile threatening act.

Via Michael at Musing’s musings, The Onion presents a hypothetical Jimmy Carter Op-Ed.

Keep liquids away from your computer before clicking, and a soft surface near your chair for ROTFL would not be undue caution.

Understand that the basic facts of the op-ed are all true [although the language is a bit shrill] – I lived through them and remember. Oh, for what might have been…

Guantánamo is the main island in the Hedgemony’s GULag Archipelago.

Another Reader

Zzzz…Zzzz…Zzzz…

[Editor: Income has taken over his mother’s perch atop the “Cat Who” bookcase. If he doesn’t stop growing soon, he’ll have to find a new location.]

Friday Ark