Today’s Goulash: Friday 11/26

Thanksgiving is over and I've got a bunch of leftovers to throw in this pot of goulash. Might be a few ingredients you don’t care for, feel free to push them to the side. This pot is full of family holiday recipes – consume at your own risk. All served with a side of sarcasm. Remember people I don't make this stuff up.

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Family Life

Mother Makes Deathbed Confession of Murder
{I wheeze wanted you wheeze to know wheeze I killed wheeze your father. cough cough he is wheeze in the freezer.}

Mom Pleads Guilty for Locking Son in Trunk of Car While Drinking in Bar
{its 11 o'clock, do you know where your kids are? Uh sure in the parking lot, now where are my keys?}

Half-Naked Man Allegedly Assaults Clerk
Police arrested a man who was naked from the waist down ...He fled on foot, and got into a vehicle driven by his mother before he was caught.
{Trust me son, take off your pants and they will never look at your face}

Half-Naked Trucker Takes Police on Chase
more details here (scroll down to the Hell On Wheels story)
{maybe he was looking for his mom}

13-year-old Boy Charged With Abducting Exotic Dancer
{maybe locking your kid in a trunk is not such a bad idea}

Dispute over turkey blamed for stabbings
{well they wanted him to use a knife}

Three Wives Attempt Suicide After Argument
Story from Iran – wife #3 (the young one) buys expensive boots. Wife#1 and wife#2 are upset. All three decide to take poison and end it all. All three end up in hospital and survive.
{makes me wonder if each woman failed to take the full amount, hoping the other two would die. And Utah wondered why they had to give up polygamy to join the Union}

22-year-old Son Kills His Mother
After shooting her in the hip, she said "I love you". Son replies "I love you too" and then shoots her in the face.
{give extra thanks if your family life is better than these people. Oh yeah, after she died he placed her body in the freezer.}

Hand-Me-Down Dish Fetches $5.7M at Auction
{you chipped granny's plate? No big deal it was old anyway}

Today’s Goulash: Wednesday 11/24

Almost Thanksgiving so this pot of goulash is heavy on the turkeys (feathered and human). Might be a few ingredients you don’t care for, feel free to push them to the side. Ingredients include: natural and artificial ingredients – consume at your own risk. All served with a side of sarcasm. Remember people I don't make this stuff up.

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Give Thanks For The Animals

PETA Asks Church To Give Up Turkey Dinner
"Let the needy eat tofu"
{I know who the real turkeys are in this story}

PETA campaign pitches fish as smart, sensitive
"Fish are friends, not food"
{next they will protest the mass murder of mosquitoes and termites}

Dog Who Longed for Puppies Nurses Kittens

Disabled Dolphin Swimming On Bridgestone Rubber
{man-made fin allows dolphin to swim with the rest of them}

Dolphins Saved Us From Shark, Lifeguards Say
{one good turn deserves another (see link above)}

National Geographic Channel Finds Hogzilla
{the world still waits to know if Hogzilla was a true monster}

Farmer's Hog Tops Scales at 1,600-Pounds
{but is he as big as Hogzilla?}

Tiger and pig (photo)
{The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.}

Camera catches mice in the act
{Tiny fish is threatened by wanton destruction, PETA remains silent}

Here is what whitebait look like

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Saints and Sinners

'Return the baby and we'll give you the beer'
South Australian Brewing Company offers a unique reward for the safe return of baby Jesus statue
{this could backfire and trigger a lot of copy-cat thefts}

St. Louis Admits Mistaken Crime Data
{maybe the local brewery should offer free beer…then again maybe the officials were drinking the beer while they produced the report}

Norwegian Senior Roughs Up Purse Snatcher
{pick on someone your own age punk, its safer}

Truck Drops Modular Home on Vt. Interstate
{gives a whole new meaning to 'mobile' home}

They Don't Come Any Dumber...
{if the patrons enjoyed the show then management should hire them for a nightly act}

Woman Claims Drug Dealer Ripped Her Off
{why do you think they call it dope}

Woman in critical condition after stolen turkey is hurled at her car, 6 teens arrested.
The Hurler's defense "I'm nearly blind"
{wait till the PETA goons get hold of them}
- -Here is an update on the woman's recovery

Vermont Police Hunt Down Cheese Saboteur
{maybe it was PETA people protesting the use of milk}

18 Cat Skeletons Found in Couple's Bedroom
{where are the PETA people when you really need them}

Stingers Get Stung
TV crew doing a story of "lax security" at the Jacksonville Port are caught in the act by the Coast Guard, face fines of $32,500 each for violating security zone
{guess the story will be changed to how good the security is at the port}

Atrocity?

A US Marine shoots a wounded insurgent in the head. Is it a war crime? I guess based on the standards set by civilized countries, yes this is a war crime. But is this a fight against a civilized country. Read this letter from a Marine before you decide.
Senator Kerry received a medal for a similar action in the Vietnam War. Read this comparison : Marine Pulls A Kerry.
Pray for peace, if we can't have peace then pray for the troops and the civilians.

Today’s Goulash: Wednesday 11/17

Cooked up a fresh pot of goulash. Might be a few ingredients you don’t care for, feel free to push them to the side. Ingredients include: Rats, Turkeys, Squids, Locust, Kangaroos and Mother's Milk. All served with a side of sarcasm. Remember people I don't make this stuff up.

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TURKEYS: Car-Chasing Wild Turkey Stops Traffic {Must be looking for invite to a Thanksgiving dinner.}

RATS: Woman's home sweet home is her apartment full of rats
A rescue shelter for pet rats. {if things get out of hand she can start a rescue shelter for cats}

RATS: Large rat becomes culprit in mystery of runaway van
Rat makes nest in engine, causing throttle to stick. Driver narrowly escapes accident. {no rescue for this rat}

Rats!
They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
- from "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" by Robert Browning

1,540 Pounds of Cocaine Hidden in Squid {one way to try to mask the scent}

Locusts threaten crops in Egypt
Worst swarm in 50 years. In a related story "If you can't beat'em, eat'em".
"This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions!" - quote by Dr. Venkman (Bill Murray) in the movie "Ghostbusters"

HUNT IN YOUR PJs: Texas officials wary of plan to hunt by Internet
Point, click, shoot. Hunt a Texas ranch from anywhere in the world. {hope these gun-cams don't show up in urban areas}

Monument collapses, six injured
Hours before the grand opening part of this 27-meter (88-feet) high monument fell nearly killing six people. The name of the monument is "Eternal Life". {they should rename it to "The Near-Death Experince"}

TURKEYS: Pastor Outsmarts Two Robbers {it is never wise to mess with a man of God}

FROM THE LAND DOWNUNDER
Birth Control Darts May Target Kangaroos, Koalas
Contraceptive works for 18 to 24 months. If the project proves successful it could be used worldwide on a range of animals. {I can see the headline now: Drive-by Shootings Lower Birthrate}

Mother who breastfeeds pup 'didn't want to waste it'
Quote: "He drinks more than the baby. It doesn't hurt, but it's a little bit ticklish." Mom plans weanning the puppy in six weeks.
{better watch those milk teeth}

Wrong Wrong Wrong

The Republicans reversed a party rule that required indicted leaders to relinquish their positions. The theory is "you are innocent until proven guilty" and an indictment is not a conviction. All I have to say is WRONG WRONG WRONG. Leaders must be held to a higher standard of accountability. I don't care how politically motivated the indictment is, step down from the leadership until you are vindicated.

TechTip: DIY PDF

Most of you have encountered a PDF file before. They require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them. PDF is an acronym for Portable Document File. There is now free software to let everyone create PDFs. Why would you want to? Well PDFs have the following features:

• Readable on a PC or Apple computer
• Hard to alter a PDF
• Formatting stays the same regardless of printer

So all this is ho-hum because you think you have no use for it. Well hang on to your hats buckaroos and consider these uses:

Ever had a web page you wanted to save? Maybe a verification of an order, a help page, or documentation? You could print the page and waste ink and paper but all you really want is to be able to view it on screen at a later date or maybe on another computer. Why not convert the page to a PDF? Maybe you want to email a file to a friend but they do not have an application that can open the file. Convert the file to a PDF and email the PDF instead. Need to send a business letter that cannot be changed by the receiving party? Use a PDF.

The beauty of the PDF Creator software is it will convert ANYTHING you can send to your printer to a PDF. Word processor documents, spreadsheets, web pages, graphic programs, etc. If you can print it then you can PDF it. Open the software/file you want to save, go to the print option, change the default printer to the PDF option, select print and it will create a PDF file instead of printing a paper copy. Did I mention you can password protect a PDF file?
Trust me this is useful stuff.

PDF Creator homepage
PDF Creator download
PDF Creator is open source software. Free for personal and business use

Are To, Am Not

Rednecks versus Bluebloods

Am I the only one fed up with this continual Red State, Blue State rhetoric? They talk like the blue states were 100% Kerry and the red states were 100% Bush. I’ve heard statements that the “Red states are dumb morons” or the “Blue states should secede” from the Union. Looking at state-by-state data on the USA Today site and comparing ONLY voters for Kerry and Bush, I see that 20 states have a 10% or less difference between the two men. Another 14 states are separated by 20% or less. This means 34 out of 51 states have a 60-40 or LESS split. This represents 81% of all Bush-Kerry voters in the nation. Going even further in 47 of the 51 states the losing party represents AT LEAST 33% of the population. So the next time someone talks about a Red or Blue state remember that at least 1/3rd of the population voted the opposite way.

So was this a mandate for President Bush? Depends on what you mean by a mandate. Numerically speaking there is no way this is a mandate (Bush captured almost 3% more of the vote than Kerry). From a political standpoint it was a solid win but not what I consider a mandate.

However we did see a mandate in the states voting against homosexual trends. The repercussions on homosexual issues are going to be vile and ugly by both sides, after all there was a mandate. God save us from ourselves.

To get a better perspective of how equal the votes were in this election here is a cartogram of the voting showing county-by-county in relation to the population. Very few true blue or true red spots. Select the map to see more information and a larger image

And the general sat and the lines on the map
moved from side to side.
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it's only round and round.
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
- from the song "Us and Them" performed by Pink Floyd, words by Waters and Wright (c) 1972

P.I.: Mandatory Black Box in Autos

PRIVATE EYE: Safety versus Privacy

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended November 9th that data recorders in vehicles should be mandatory by September 2008. The black box would record 42 data elements including speed, brake pressure, seat belt usage, and air bag deployment.

I have very mixed emotions about this decision. Data recorders in aircraft have resulted in safety changes. Recorders in vehicles offer the same potential to society and will greatly aid accident investigations. That is good news.

The bad news is the potential for abuse. What legal protection of the data is offered to the individual? If a vehicle is stopped for a traffic violation, say a burned out light, will the government have access to the data recorder to see if you have committed moving violations? How long before the recorder is fitted with a RFID device so it read by others as you drive? I know the old argument if you are not doing anything wrong why should you care, because it infringes on your liberties.

Where is the balance between safety and privacy? This is a tough one that I am still weighing the data.

What is worse paranoia or apathy?

No more speed I’m almost there
Gotta keep cool now, gotta take care
Last car to pass here I go
And the line of cars goes down real slow
- from the song "Radar Love" performed by Golden Earring, words by George Kooymans and Barry Hay (c) 1973

CONFESSION: I was part of the conspiracy

Election 2004 conspiracy theories and accusations abound (example 1 and example 2). One of the smoking guns is the analysis of the Florida votes. The number of non-Republican Bush voters far exceeds the common sense of the analyst; therefore it must be some sort of conspiracy to commit fraud. In a shocking development the percentage of Florida voters using touch screen machines fell in line with Democratic expectations while the percent of votes from the optical scanner machines are skewed toward Bush.

I cannot hide the truth any longer. I was personally involved in this conspiracy. WOW, do I feel better now. You see way back when QuinQube came of age (voting age that is) it was unheard of in North Florida for a Republican to run for office. Most local elections were decided in the Democratic primaries, only Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary, ergo if you wanted to have a vote you had to be a Democrat. I was actually proud to register as a Democrat at the time I believed they stood for the little man. Besides I’ve always voted for the candidate and not the party. As Zell Miller noted, over the years the Democratic Party abandoned the things it stood for and lost its way. Times have changed and now it is more likely to have Republicans in a primary instead of Democrats. I may eventually be forced to change my registration just so I can have a vote in local elections. (the more things change. . .)

So there you have it – Mrs. QuinQube and I helped skew the stats. So I guess that makes us part of the conspiracy.

Now as far as the voting machines: My county uses the "suspect" optical scanner. Not sure which counties use the touch screens. Not at all surprised the stats for North Florida would appear suspicious. By the way, I have more faith in the optical scanners than the touch screen. The optical scanner requires the voter to fill out a paper ballot and feed it into the machine. This means there is an audit trail. I challenge those convinced of a conspiracy to sample the paper ballots and see how they compare to the official results.

Perhaps the real conspiracy involved the touch screens with votes being changed in favor of Kerry. Show me proof anyone conspired to commit fraud and I'll join the posse to bring him or her to justice; regardless of their ride – donkey, elephant, or lone wolf.

Some people run from a possible fight
Some people figure they can never win
And although this is a fight I can lose
The accused is an innocent man
I am an innocent man
- from the song "An Innocent Man" words by Billy Joel (c) 1983

UPDATE: Wired News agrees with me (Florida E-Vote Fraud? Unlikely)

The Real Yasser Arafat

Don't cry for Arafat - pray for him but shed no tears. Growing up it was Arafat's PLO that was THE terrorist group in the world. Even if you throw all logic to the wind and say "the end justifies the means" in his fight for Palestine there are two very telling signs that he is a common despot.

1. he stole billions of dollars meant for the Palestinian refugee.


2. knowing he was sick, he made no effort to prepare the Palestinians for a successor, a move that may throw Palestine into an internal power struggle.

These are not the actions a hero.

Watch a short review of Arafat's legacy here

May the exit of Arafat bring a new hope of peace between Palestine and Israel. Sala'am and Shalom to Palestine and Israel

Hey, are you in there?
or don't you recall when the perfume of belief was all we needed
it was all we needed to set our sights

So when did you throw out the rest of the world
deaf from the din of your self-righteous babble?
I think you've been blinded
by your own light

Was it hatred? was it pride?
or did you just have a lot to hide?
- from the song "Violent Blue" performed by Chagall Guevara, words by Steve Taylor (c) 1991

Homosexual Marriage and Civil Rights

In a previous post I offered an argument defending heterosexual marriage without using any religious rhetoric.

Homosexual advocates are saying heterosexual marriage-only amendments and laws are the new civil rights fight. I want to momentarily sidestep the cries of civil rights violation and ask the question:

Is there any absolute good/bad line that can be drawn regarding sexual activity?

Is there any sex act that Society overwhelmingly considers wrong?

What about adults and minors?
What about adults and very young children?
What about adults and animals?

The problem is once Society agrees there is at least one act that is wrong and it should be prohibited, you open the big ol’ can of worms labeled "violating a person's civil rights". And that is what they call a slippery slope. The civil rights argument starts falling apart fast once you agree there is a Group X that must be prohibited from an act.

So who determines what is good? Some argue "anything that does not harm others". Some would argue "anything that benefits the State". Some believe it is the Judeo-Christian rules.

Why accept these so-called religious rules?
1) They were given to us by a Creator smarter than us.
WHOOA DUDE – You can’t use religion in this argument
2) Regardless of where these rules came from – God, man, or alien - they have withstood the natural selection of societal evolution.

The question remains: does only allowing one male-one female marriages discriminate against homosexuals?
What about the discrimination against polygamist? What about a heterosexual couple unwilling to marry, why should they miss out on the perks of marriage either?
Because one male-one female marriage is in the best interest of the State. (See An Argument For Heterosexual Marriage)

An Argument For Heterosexual Marriage

The homosexual marriage issue continues to grow. I may as well throw in my binoculars-of-logic view without invoking a religious argument (even though I have a viewpoint that is faith-based).

First things first I need to lay some historical groundwork:
What is necessary for a nation to be "successful" or prosperous?

History has shown that humans tend to equate things with prosperity. Yes there have been a few exceptions but by and large, regardless of the type government, success is measured in things – royal store rooms filled with gold or wheat, monumental buildings, infrastructure, or personal wealth. And what is necessary for a nation to have things? Resources, people, and the ability to protect them. Resources include things of value – that might be raw materials (animal, vegetable, or mineral), special skills, or a key geographic location.

Assuming a nation has resources, it then needs a growing population to exploit the resources. As a nation grew in wealth (wealth being whatever they valued) they became a target of envious neighbors. Armies were needed to protect the wealth and resources of the nation. And what is the core of any army? People. So again a growing population is required for a nation to be successful, and a growing population requires a union between a male and female.

I certainly hope everyone is in agreement with me to this point in the exercise. If you don’t agree in general that a growing population is necessary then you should probably stop reading now.

Having established that offspring are needed for the growth of a nation we now need to decide how to raise these children to be of value to the nation. Many forms of family have been tried throughout history. Natural selection has favored the permanent one husband-one wife family. Other forms of family (permanent one husband-multiple wives, communal shared partners, non-permanent partners) have failed to be as effective from a good-of-the-state point of view. In order to maximize the benefits to the nation, the so-called traditional marriage, one male-one female in a lifelong union, should be officially encouraged by the government. Therefore it is not in the best interest of a nation to encourage homosexual unions (or children out of wedlock).

Now from a pragmatic stand point I don’t see the need for a State sanctioned homosexual marriage. (by State I mean government in general). What does the State gain by such unions? Nothing.

Individuals argue that a homosexual marriage is needed to resolve child custody issues and property ownership. But both of these items can immediately be resolved via legal means (contracts and last will and testament). The only argument I have heard that I am not sure if it can be resolved by a simple legal document is medical privacy. Regardless of sexual orientation I think a person should be allowed to specify who has explicit access to medical information.

So why do homosexual couples want to "be married"? Probably the same reason heterosexual couples have public weddings – to acknowledge their commitment to each other. Heterosexual couples could just as well fill out legal forms with a lawyer and file them with the State in private. Remember the State promotes heterosexual marriage because it benefits the State (ain't no free lunch).

HOLD IT shouts the person in the front row:
"what about the perks afforded married couples, things like insurance, tax breaks, child adoption?"

These perks are incentives and bonuses for heterosexual couples to marry because heterosexual marriage adds value to the State. Does that mean homosexual couples, a single person (no partner), or communes cannot raise a healthy (physically / emotionally / spiritually) child? Of course not, it means that the State has recognized, in business terms, a "best practice" for families and actively promotes the "best practice".

But what about heterosexual couples that marry with no intention of having children? Aren’t they getting the perks of being married without contributing to the State? Yes they are, but how does the State know ahead of time what will happen? It is only logical to assume any given heterosexual couple has the potential to increase the population. So they are given the marriage perks.

There you have it, an argument against homosexual marriage without invoking religious scripture.

WHAT ABOUT CIVIL RIGHTS?!?!?!
See this post: Homosexual Marriage and Civil Rights

A Bee Gees tribute to Kerry

This is a cheap shot but too funny to pass up (show me)

Feel I'm goin' back to Massachusetts
Something's telling me I must go home
And the lights all went down in Massachusetts
The day I left her standing on her own
- from the song "Massachusetts" performed by The Bee Gees, (c)1967

Ashamed of Being American

Photo gallery of Americans apologizing to the world that President Bush was relected. (warning: adult language)

Sci-Fact: Happy Birthday TR-1

World’s First mass produced transistor radio is 50 years-old

Fifty years ago Texas Instruments and Regency launched the TR-1. The invasion of the transistor into consumer goods had begun. Before the TR-1 radios used finicky vacuum tubes. Suddenly you could buy a portable radio that fit in your pocket. Hello George Jetson the future is now. Jump here to see the TR-1 anniversary page.

Growing up I made an amazing discovery about transistor radios and water – the radios were remarkably waterproof the first time it was submerged. I had two different radios get submerged in river water. Once thoroughly dried they WORKED! They failed to work after a second submersion.

Whatever happened to Tuesday and so slow
Going down to the old mine with a transistor radio.
- from the song "Brown Eyed Girl" performed by Van Morrison (c) 1967

P.I.: Are You A Security Risk

PRIVATE EYE: Protect Your PC
If you want privacy in your home you actively do a combination of things – locks on doors, window coverings, shredding papers, etc. For your tools to be effective you have to use them – a deadbolt is useless unless you actually turn it, a shredder does nothing unless you actually put the papers through the device. What about your computer? There are a number of tools to help you. Here is a great website that has gathered some tools and gives an easy to understand explanation of what the tool does. Of course just like the deadbolt or shredder you have to routinely use the tools.

Media Hypocrisy: Aborting Gays

A number of years ago people who opposed abortion called themselves "pro-life". The media dropped this term and replaced it with "anti-abortion". The logic behind this change was everyone is in favor of life, therefore "pro-life" is not an accurate term. If the issue is abortion then you are either for it (pro-) or against it (anti-). The pro-life (er, I mean anti-abortion) groups were opposed to this change because psychologically "pro-" is a positive term and "anti-" is negative. Putting aside any hidden agenda by the media, I have to agree with the logic of the change to "anti-abortion".

What I find illogical is the term "gay" to represent homosexuals. Using the same logic as the abortion issue, the media should replace the term "gay" with "homosexual". After all can't heterosexuals also be "gay" (happy)? I can only imagine "gay" is psychologically more positive than "homosexual". So is the media about accuracy or pandering to a partisan group.

Concessions

Tip of the hat to Senator Kerry and his advisors for not subjecting the country to an ugly, prolonged court battle. Kerry just finished his speech. A few snide comments but all in all he showed a lot of class. Of course he let Edwards do his dirty work. Was unimpressed with what he said.

Election Night Songs

Worked last night and when it was obvious that Kerry had lost I decided to program the PC jukebox with a set of songs dedicated to Kerry-Edwards.
Here is the playlist:

SONG TITLE	BAND
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	Devo
A Long December	Counting Crows
All Revved Up With No Place To Go	Meat Loaf
Another One Bites The Dust	Queen
Been Caught Stealing	Jane's Addiction
Dirty Life And Times	Warren Zevon
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me	Elton John
End of The Line	Traveling Wilburys
Fantasy	Aldo Nova
Final Countdown	Europe
Fooling Yourself	Styx
Free Man in Paris	Joni Mitchell
Heartache Tonight	Eagles
Hey Jealousy	Gin Blossoms
I Know I'm Losing You	Rod Stewart
It Came Quick	Reckless Sleepers
It's Too Late	Carole King
Join Together	The Who
Justice	Big Bam Boo
Lights Out	UFO
Loser Gone Wild	ELO
Lunatic Fringe	Red Rider
Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys	Waylon Jennings
Mr. Used-to-be	Richard Barone
Nothing From Nothing	Billy Preston
Nowhere Man	The Beatles
Passin' Me By	The Pharcyde
Save It for Later	English Beat
Say Goodbye to Hollywood	Billy Joel
Shout	Tears For Fear
The Real Me	The Who
The Seeker	The Who
Whatcha Gonna To Do When Your Number's Up?	Steve Taylor
Where The Truth Lies	Richard Barone
Yesterday	The Beatles
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling	Daryl Hall & John Oats

Expecting another tight election

I bet both parties are thinking of this song by the late Warren Zevon

Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this
- from the song "Lawyers, Guns And Money" by Warren Zevon (c) 1978

Quote of the Day

I'M DECLARING VICTORY -- OVER OSAMA: If he could have bombed us, he would have. Instead, all we got was a lame video.
- Glenn Reynolds at http://www.instapundit.com/

Vote2004: Index

Here is a list of all my Vote2004 related post...

11/02 Expecting another tight election

11/02 Quote of the Day

11/02 Lone Signman

11/02 Media Bias

11/02 Election Day Update 09:45

11/02 Election Day Update 08:45

11/02 Maxims

10/28 Missing Explosives: part 3

10/28 Missing Explosives: part 2

10/27 Missing Explosives: CBS report 2003-04-04

10/27 Burning Questions

10/24 Florida Amendments

10/24 Protective Radiation: Why the war is good for us

10/22 Christians, War, and Hypocrisy

10/18 John Kerry and The Boss

10/18 I am voting for...

10/18 Boycott the Elections (yeah right)

10/16 Signs of the Times

10/16 Good News from Iraq?

The Lone Signman

I noticed him about two hours ago. He is on a triangle of grass and concrete that measures about 10 foot on each side. There is traffic on all three sides. It is over 80°F (26.7°C) in the sun and this elderly gentleman is happily waving his Bush/Cheney sign. How do I know I this man is a gentleman? It’s the sign stupid. NO, not the Bush sign but the Kerry signs. You see stuck in the grass on each side is a Kerry/Edwards sign. The signs have been up the whole time. I’m sure he could have easily knocked these signs over, but he didn’t. We can all learn a lesson from this citizen.

Media Bias

Time to turn on the morning news and see if Rather has already named Kerry the winner. If I was running for office I am sure I would want all the endorsements I could get but I might draw the line at Osama Bin Laden and Dan Rather.

Poor men wanna be rich, rich men wanna be kings,
And a king ain’t satisfied till he rules everything.
- from the song "Badlands" performed by Bruce Springsteen

Election Day Update 09:45

I voted, have you?
I have found 9:30 to be one of the lull times at my precinct Today there were lots of people, only saw a few empty parking spaces. It looked it was the afternoon rush crowd. Amazingly it only took about 10 minutes. When I left there were five or six cars circling the parking lot waiting on a spot to park. I didn’t count the number of voting stations inside but it looked like about double the normal amount. Instead of three clerks dividing the registration log they had six. Only had one person in front of me for the “S” last names. Two of the other clerks each had at least four to six people lined up. There was a row of seats behind the clerks that were labeled “Poll Watchers”; I did not see any of the seats in use. Mrs. QuinQube (voting precinct clerk) has complained in the past about the poll watchers not staying in the designated areas. Maybe the watchers were moving around at my precinct. Saw a Bush support at a different intersection. Still have not seen any Kerry supporters out.

Election Day Update 08:45

Passed several voting precincts this morning. Parking lots were full of cars. Saw Bush supporters at four different intersections waving signs. Did not see any Kerry supporters. Sunday the two groups were equally represented at the major intersections.

Bizarre thought:
if President Bush is defeated will any Republicans commit hari-kerry?

Maxims

Polls open here in five hours. Mrs. QuinQube is the head clerk at a voting precinct and she predicts a very heavy turnout. She has been working the last week at one of the early voting sites. Turnout has been running over a 1000 people a day (over 1600 Monday) and they were only open 9AM – 5PM. Regardless of who you support make the effort and vote. If you fail to vote you better keep your mouth shut for the next four years.

For many decades there have been the following sport maxims:
1) no team has ever comeback from losing the first 3 games of a championship series
2) Boston Red Sox will never win the World Series again
3) Presidential incumbents mirror the win-loss of the Redskins in the last home game before the election.

So far this year two of the three maxims have fallen. Will the third maxim fall this year? Guess we will know in a couple of months after the lawyers and courts sort things out.

Was it Mayor Daley that said, “vote early, vote often“? Sure hope everyone plays fair.

Hey Osama Bin Laden thanks for endorsing Kerry, but regardless of who wins you are still a marked man. That is one maxim that will not fall.