The Election Conspiracy Theories That Won't Go Away

Ohio's Secretary of State certified its votes this week with the Bush-Kerry percentage still at 51%-49% (remember that), and just when everyone thought election-related conspiracy theories would die down, here comes the Blue Lemur blog and several other blogs with information about Clinton Curtis.

Curtis is a former NASA programmer who, according to several blogs, has signed an affidavit in Florida saying that he developed/wrote a computer program in early 2000 that would rig electronic votes without being detectable. He says he wrote the code at the request of Rep. Tom Feeney, now a member of the House of Representatives. Back then, Feeney was a Florida state representative and lobbyist. Guess how the code worked? Each touch-screen had a series of hidden buttons which, when touched in the proper order, would be untraceable but would keep voting percentages at a constant 51%-49% margin (remember that?), no matter how the actual vote tally counted up. His former NASA employer, according to the blog, is being investigated by the FBI. Curtis tells bloggers he's taking heat.

Also getting blog traction: this week's attacks on the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia, the departure of yet another top Bush administration official at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and for those who enjoy bizarre news, the tale of European soccer player Paulo Diogo, who was so overjoyed at winning a match that he lost a digit or two.

And here's a question: Have you ever wondered what cartoon characters looked like skeletally? Artist Michael Paulus did (today's burtiest BlogPerson person), and he created a web site of, yes, cartoon skeletons.

Today's blast from the past: Remember when "Hullabaloo" was a TV music/dance show? My how times have changed, as this posting at the Hullabaloo blog indicates.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: With voting irregularities as a backdrop, check out the discussion of the principal parties in the recently overturned Ukraine elections.