From NYTimes.com: The Steamy Way to Dinner

A story about the versatility of the rice cooker.

Word of the day- Okoge

"People love that toasted-rice taste," he said. "It's even a flavor of ice cream in Seoul." (Japanese cooks, however, consider toasted rice overcooked and highly undesirable. The unwanted crust left stuck to the bottom of the rice cooker is called okoge -- the same word used as slang for a single woman who spends a lot of time with gay men.)

From CNN.com: Phoenix lander spots falling snow on Mars

NASA's Phoenix spacecraft has discovered evidence of past water at its Martian landing site and spotted falling snow for the first time, scientists reported Monday.

The snow was detected by a laser instrument 4km of the ground.  Unfortunately, the snow is vaporizing before it gets near the ground, so you won't be seeing any snowstorms on Mars any time soon.  Still, it's interesting.

More info from NASA.

This is hilarious!

Yes, I think this is weird, but a lot of other things in organized religions seem odd to me.  What makes one kooky ritual different from another?  But, can you imagine what kind of firestorm this would be if this were Barack Obama in the video instead of Sarah Palin?
 

From WashingtonPost.com: McCain Wins Debate

Although the fate of tonight's presidential debate in Mississippi remains very much up in the air, John McCain has apparently already won it -- if you believe an Internet ad an astute reader spotted next to this piece in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal this morning.

Here's the ad from the screenshot in the article.

I guess we can file this with "Mission Accomplished!"

You know, I was just thinking what other things McCain might have done already that we don't know about...

From USNews.com: Sarah Palin: Out of Control Talking Point Machine or Political Magnetic Poetry?

Palin: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Helping the--it's got to be all about job creation too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans and trade--we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as competitive, scary thing, but one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today--we've got to look at that as more opportunity.

It's like a talking points machine gone out of control. Or magnetic poetry that you have on your fridge--in fact, you can try it at home. String together key words and phrases like "shore up the economy," "reduce tax rates," "healthcare reform," and "trade" and see what kind of Palinisms you can create.

I think Palin needs something even simpler.  Maybe the McCain campaign can give her a custom Magic 8-ball that she can shake and read during her interviews.

From AskMen.com: Top 10: Outrageous Dubai Construction Projects

In science fiction movies, you often see what a city of the future might look like.  Well, don't bother looking the United States.  Dubai is where all the action is at,

I was at my parents' house yesterday and saw this old Cincinnati Enquirer covering the 2000 election.
For all of you who just "like" Palin and will vote McCain/Palin just because of her, just remember what these last 8 years have been like when we've voted for someone "likable".  I would rather not have to say "I told you so" eight years from now.  Again.

From NYTimes.com: Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Uncertain

In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr. literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to "blow it up" by withdrawing her party's support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.

"I didn't know you were Catholic," Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson's kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: "It's not me blowing this up, it's the Republicans."

Mr. Paulson sighed. "I know. I know."

It's sad how the Republicans are playing politics with this whole situation.  There were possibly other options besides a bailout, but those things would have to have been done months ago.  Now, we're left with pretty few options, none of them pleasant.  If the Republicans hadn't been claiming all the time that the "fundamentals of the economy were strong", we might have developed a plan to help prevent foreclosures and the subsequent collapse of the real estate market.

We're going to see some form of bailout whether we like it or not.  It's either going to be a comprehensive plan or the government is going to end up propping up banks as the fail, one by one, like Washington Mutual yesterday.

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."  --  Mark Twain

From Boingboing.net:Failin' Palin. (UPDATED: As Putin rears his head.)

From YouTube via Daring Fireball

Amazing YouTube page of Wario Land: Shake It for the Wii.  This is such a great use of the web technology for advertising.

Palin-bot was interviewed by Katie Couric yesterday in this clip.  After a few minutes of the clip, I half expected her to start spewing smoke and start saying "error, error", "does not compute", or "I am not programmed to answer that question". 

It's painful to watch her as she strings together sentences that barely make sense and don't remotely answer the question being asked.

"I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to ya"

To make Sarah Palin, the Palin-bot more understandable, I've drawn a simple logic tree that explains how she answers questions.

Here's Palin-Bot 1.0(beta)

From LATimes.com: Letterman chides McCain for suspending his campaign

The Republican presidential nominee was supposed to make his 13th appearance tonight on Letterman's show, the venue where he originally announced his White House bid in 2007. But he backed out late Wednesday afternoon, saying he was suspending all campaign activities to focus on getting a financial bailout plan through Congress.

During the taping of tonight's show, Letterman told the audience that McCain had called him personally to apologize for standing him up and said he was rushing to the airport to get back to Washington.
...
Things got worse for McCain when Letterman, in the midst of interviewing substitute guest Keith Olbermann, learned that the GOP candidate was actually still in New York. Not only that, but McCain was about five blocks away at the CBS News headquarters, sitting down for a last-minute exclusive interview with Katie Couric.

Incredulous, Letterman interrupted his chat with Olbermann to show the audience a live shot on the internal CBS news feed of McCain getting touched up by a makeup artist as he waited to talk to Couric.

"He doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?" Letterman said, shouting at the television monitor: "Hey John, I got a question! You need a ride to the airport?"

Just saw this on TV.  Boy, was Letterman hacked off, especially when he saw the live feed of John McCain sitting getting made up for his interview with Katie Couric.

From FoxNews.com: Palin Media Blackout Continues

It has been widely reported that Sarah Palin has yet to give a news conference or even answer a few questions from the traveling press that follow her from city to city on her plane. But, today the Palin camp went to new lengths to control the media, which is covering the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee.
...
It is traditional for the press traveling with a candidate to have some relationship with the candidate and special access because of all the hours logged on the plane and on the campaign trail. But, Palin still has not come back to answer any questions or talk to her press corps. The only time the press has met the Alaska governor is on her first solo flight three weeks ago and it was off the record. We shook hands with Palin and she was quickly ushered back to the front of the plane behind a gray curtain where she has remained for the three and a half weeks she has been a candidate.

It seems like Palin's just like a collector's Barbie doll, left in a box to look pretty and not to be played with.  McCain's obviously keeping her away from the media because he's afraid that in a non-controlled situation, she's going to say something stupid. 

Images from the newly announced Canon EOS 5D Mark II are hitting the web and it's no surprise that it's a pretty amazing camera in low light settings. 

But, what's been a total surprise is the quality of the video that the 5D can take.  I thought that at best the video would be for capturing some quick clips for convenience.  Boy was I wrong. 

Check out this stunning video:
REVERIE, an independently-produced video by Explorer of Light Vincent Laforet

From NYTimes.com: Stocks Fall as Rescue Plan Is Negotiated

"When there's a fire in your kitchen threatening to burn down your home, you don't want someone stopping the firefighters on the way and demanding they hand out smoke detectors first or lecturing you about the hazards of keeping paint in the basement," Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said in a speech on the Senate floor. "You want them to put out the fire before it burns down your home and everything you've saved for your whole life."

Mr. McConnell added: "The same is true of our current economic situation. We know that there is a serious threat to our economy, and we know that we must take action to try and head off a serious blow to Main Street."

This fire has been burning for over a year.  Until last week, the Bush Administration has been saying that the economy is fine.  Now, they say we're facing a serious threat to the economy and that we don't have time to work out and discuss a real bailout plan.  We have to pass a "clean" bill with only what the administration wants and we need to do it immediately.

700 billion dollars is not an amount that you give a blank check for.  We're supposed to blindly trust Treasury Secretary Paulson, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs to bailout companies and not just give handouts to all comers.  We need financial "experts" to get us out of this mess, they are also the ones that helped create it.

Strict supervision is necessary and it's Congress's job to do its due diligence on this no matter if the markets drop.  The markets will bounce back once a bill is passed, but its important to make sure that the taxpayers aren't just stuck with a bunch of losses so banks can profit.

Buy a PC or Microsoft CEO will kill a kitten.


Maybe they should have just run this classic video instead.

From NYTimes.com: Feasting at the Table of Taipei

...food is one arena where Taipei -- the world's most underrated capital city, according to Monocle magazine -- blows Beijing away. Its food incorporates more influences, spans street food to haute cuisine with greater aplomb and is out and out more delicious than that of its mainland counterpart.

When I was in China for business, the businessmen that I worked with were all from Taiwan and apologized profusely for the food we were about to eat.  They all said it was OK, but not nearly as good as the food in Taiwan.

From Salon.com: Sarah Palin's dead lake

Some frightening insight into Sarah Palin's job as mayor of Wasilla.  A must read article.  Here are a couple of the lowlights.

Palin recently told the New Yorker magazine that Alaskans "have such a love, a respect for our environment, for our lands, for our wildlife, for our clean water and our clean air. We know what we've got up here and we want to protect that, so we're gonna make sure that our developments up here do not adversely affect that environment at all. I don't want development if there's going to be that threat to harming our environment."

But as mayor of her hometown, say many local critics, Palin showed no such stewardship.

"Sarah's legacy as mayor was big-box stores and runaway growth," said Patty Stoll, a retired Wasilla schoolteacher who once worked in the same school with Palin's parents, Chuck and Sally Heath. "The truth is, Wasilla is just plain ugly, it's not a pleasant place to live. It's not thought out. And that's a shame.

"Sarah fouled her own nest, and I can't understand why. I hate to think it was simply greed or ambition."
...
"I try to avoid driving to Wasilla so I won't get depressed," added the official, who asked for his name to be withheld, to avoid Palin's "wrath."

"You get visually mugged when you drive through there. I take the long way, through the back roads, just to avoid it."

Wasilla City Council member Dianne Woodruff hears the same lament about her town all the time. "Everywhere in Alaska, you hear people say, 'We don't want to be another Wasilla.' We're not just the state's meth capital, we're the ugly box-store capital. Was Sarah a good steward of this beautiful valley? No. I think it comes from her lack of experience and awareness of other places, how other cities try to preserve what makes them attractive and livable.

From LATimes.com: Sarah Palin said yes, thanks, to a road to nowhere in Alaska

The 3.2-mile-long partially paved "road to nowhere" meanders from a small international airport on Gravina Island, home to 50 people, ending in a cul-de-sac close to a beach.

Crews are working to finish it. But no one knows when anyone will need to drive it.

That's because the $26-million road was designed to connect to the $398-million Gravina Island Bridge, more infamously known as the "bridge to nowhere." Alaskan officials thought federal money would pay for the bridge, but Gov. Sarah Palin killed the project after it was ridiculed and Congress rescinded the money. Plans for the road moved forward anyway.
...
"Surely we won't have to commute on the highway if there won't be a bridge," said Jill Jacob, who has been writing and calling the governor's office for the last two years to protest the road. "It's a dead-end highway, a dead-end road.

From Newsweek.com: Palin Admin. Oversaw $26 Million ROAD to 'Nowhere'

A campaign led by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to redirect the funds to a New Orleans bridge damaged by Hurricane Katrina failed. But Congress amended the legislation allowing most of the money to be used for any transportation project in Alaska.

For reasons that remain unclear, the bill left intact language requiring that $48 million be spent on "earthwork and roadway construction" for the Gravina Access Project.

According to Menzies, the Alaska DOT official, that meant the money could only be used to build projects directly associated with the $398 million bridge. The only alternative, Menzies said, was to return the money.

"I don't think there was any discussion about that," he said.

This stuff just gets crazier and crazier as you dig into it.  The money could have been used to fund repairs for a bridge damaged by Katrina, instead it goes into a road that goes nowhere.

From AP.com: Palin supports $600 million 'other' bridge project

Gov. Sarah Palin may eventually have said "no thanks" to a federally funded Bridge to Nowhere.

But a bridge to her hometown of Wasilla, that's a different story.

A $600 million bridge and highway project to link Alaska's largest city to Palin's town of 7,000 residents is moving full speed ahead, despite concerns the bridge could worsen some commuting and threaten a population of beluga whales.
...
At the time, Palin's running mate for the Republican ticket, Arizona Sen. John McCain, derided both projects as wasteful. He called Young's highway bill a "monstrosity" that was "terrifying in its fiscal consequences."

$600 million dollar bridge for the 7000 people of Wasilla? 

Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere and then kept the money when it was canceled.  And now she's for the Bridge to Wasilla, her hometown.

How McCain can continue to tout her as a reformer is beyond me.  She's just a product of Alaskan politics, power and cronyism at its worst.

In honor of John McCain's new tactic of "damn the country, I'm going to win at all costs", I've created a new campaign sign that reflects this new reality.  Enjoy!

Saw this comment on the NYTimes.com regarding Microsoft ending the Jerry Seinfeld "Windows. Life without walls" campaign.

So "Windows. Life without walls" is the campaign slogan. I can already hear what a Seinfeld not paid by Microsoft would say in his monologue: "If you live a life without walls- why on earth would you need windows?"
-- Jan, Mississippi

This election isn't American Idol or some other reality show where you just choose someone for President because you like them or you can see a little of you in them. This election should be about ideas and who's best able to implement them. 

From Valleywag.com: Microsoft announcement tomorrow: No more Seinfeld ads!

Microsoft's version of the story: Redmond had always planned to drop Seinfeld. The awkward reality: The ads only reminded us how out of touch with consumers Microsoft is -- and that Bill Gates's company has millions of dollars to waste on hiring a has-been funnyman to keep him company.

These ads were horrible.

Microsoft has no clue how to market the company hence this new marketing roulette.  The problem these days for Microsoft is that they're completely reactionary now, trying to catch up in areas where they've been soundly beaten.

It really helps to have a product innovative enough to be worth talking about.  Not just another copy.

Related story:
From The Huffington Post: Jerry Seinfeld: Microsoft's New $10 Million Pitchman

From MacRumors.com: Commuters: Get Extra Sleep with iNap

Ever wanted to get some sleep during a train ride, or a quick powernap on the bus to work? You either hoped to wake just in time not to miss your station, or set an alarm to wake you far too early... Let iNap wake you when you get close to your stop!

The application uses the iPhone GPS to wake you when you arrive at or within a certain distance before arriving at your destination.  Pretty cool.

Gas here in Cincinnati has been $3.99 since the wind storm blew through the city on Sunday.  Most places now seem to have power and no shortage of gas, but the prices are still pretty much $3.99.  I have a feeling that $3.99 was chosen because it was the largest amount they could raise prices without seeming to be gouging customers.

From NYTimes.com: Making America Stupid
Op-Ed Piece by Thomas L. Friedman

Why would Republicans, the party of business, want to focus our country on breathing life into a 19th-century technology -- fossil fuels -- rather than giving birth to a 21st-century technology -- renewable energy? As I have argued before, it reminds me of someone who, on the eve of the I.T. revolution -- on the eve of PCs and the Internet -- is pounding the table for America to make more I.B.M. typewriters and carbon paper. "Typewriters, baby, typewriters."

Too often in politics it seems like you have to choose sides, even if your side doesn't really make any sense.

From NYTimes.com: Fiorina Sets off Flap, Saying Palin Not Ready for Big Business

"Do you think she has the experience to run a major company like Hewlett-Packard," Ms. Fiorina was asked.

"No, I don't," Ms. Fiorina said.
...
Later in the day, Ms. Fiorina defended her comment on MSNBC by adding others to the list of people who could not run Hewlett-Packard either: Mr. Obama, Joe Biden and, also, John McCain.

You'd probably have to add Carly Fiorina to the list of people who couldn't run Hewlett-Packard either.

The major difference between being CEO and President of the United States.  As CEO, you're actually accountable for failure.

From NYTimes.com: Toilet - paper researchers create 3 - ply tissue

Yes, there is such a thing as a toilet-paper researcher. And a team of them at Georgia Pacific's Innovation Institute in Neenah has come up with a three-ply version of its Quilted Northern product.
...

The company touts the toilet tissue as ''ultra-soft'' and says it plans to market the product to women 45 and older who view their bathroom as a ''sanctuary for quality time.''

I can understand a nice warm bathtub as being a "sanctuary for quality time", but not the toilet and toilet paper.  But, I'm not and will not be a 45 and older woman, so I guess I'll never know.

I'm Wood Corps Palin, what's your name?

Sarah Palin baby name generator (via CityKin)

From TV Barn: Forget Tina Fey. Sarah Palin's worst nightmare may be Jay Leno

Here's something I mentioned last week. For some reason the Secret Service revealed this. Sarah Palin's Secret Service code name is "danali." Turns out danali is an old Eskimo word that means Dan Quayle.
...
Today the Secret Service revealed that Sarah Palin's Secret Service code name is "denali." Here's my question, what's the secret part? I mean if the Secret Service is going to give you a Secret Service code name, shouldn't they keep it a secret? Why not just call her Sarah?

They also revealed that Sarah's husband Todd, who works in the oil field...His Secret Service code name is "driller." I guess they figured Bill Clinton wasn't using it anymore.

Read the article for more Jay Leno monologues.

These pictures brought a tear to my eye.  The Galactica CIC set has been taken down.
Here it is in all its glory...
Here it is after they started taking it apart.

I wish I could have seen the Battlestar Galactica sets before they came down.  If they had an open house, I would have totally gone to check things out.

For more pictures visit Propworx
CIC: Before the Strike
CIC - During the Strike

On Sunday I visited the Art Institute of Chicago.  It was a rainy weekend day, but I wanted to get out and do something besides sit around and watch football.  The museum is quite large and there are som pretty famous and recognizable paintings.

I took quite a few pictures with my iPhone.  It seemed to be OK to do so since a lot of people were taking pictures.  That was until I got yelled at the African art exhibit.  I'm not sure if it was a special exhibit with different rules.  I guess they need to sell more postcards to pay for the exhibit.

You'll notice in the photo album that there are pictures that look like rooms in houses.  These are actually miniatures- like doll houses, but less functional.  They're lit so well that they actually look like photographs of full scale houses.

From Politico.com: Why McCain is going so negative

McCain seems to have made a choice that many politicians succumb to but that he had always promised to avoid -- he appears ready to do whatever it takes to win, even it if soils his reputation.

"We recognize it's not going to be 2000 again," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said, alluding to the media's swooning coverage of McCain's ill-fated crusade against then-Gov. George W. Bush and the GOP establishment. "But he lost then. We're running a campaign to win. And we're not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it."

You can tell that they've made a conscious choice to do whatever it takes to be President, no matter the costs are to McCain's reputation.  It's sad.

I was in Chicago yesterday, so I missed the windy remnants of Hurricane Ike.  I did get a ton of rain on Saturday in Chicago (estimated between 6-8 inches) which ended up flooding part of I80/I94.  When I got home to Cincinnati I was saddened to see that my neighbor's tree which provides shade for my deck had fallen down.  Not much damage to our houses, but the tree pretty much blocked my back door.  Spent most of the morning sawing and cutting it up.

Last I heard, over 70% of the people in Cincinnati still don't have power.  I'm half lucky.  I have power at home, but don't have power for my business. 

UPDATE:  Power's back at the office.  It'll be back to work tomorrow!

Thanks to Chris for sending the link.




From AP News: Analysis: McCain's claims skirt facts, test voters

John McCain's campaign keeps telling voters that Sarah Palin opposed a federally funded Bridge to Nowhere that, in fact, she originally supported. It accuses Democrat Barack Obama of calling Palin a pig, which did not happen.
...
McCain's persistence in pushing dubious claims is all the more notable because many political insiders consider him one of the greatest living victims of underhanded campaigning. Locked in a tight race with George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, McCain was rocked in South Carolina by a whisper campaign claiming he had fathered an illegitimate black child and was mentally unstable.

From NYTimes.com: McCain Barbs Stirring Outcry as Distortions

Harsh advertisements and negative attacks are a staple of presidential campaigns, but Senator John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week from Democrats, independent groups and even some Republicans for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Senator Barack Obama's record and positions.
...
Indeed, in recent days, Mr. McCain has been increasingly called out by news organizations, editorial boards and independent analysts like FactCheck.org. The group, which does not judge whether one candidate is more misleading than another, has cried foul on Mr. McCain more than twice as often since the start of the political conventions as it has on Mr. Obama.

This list of talking points was posted to my comments section today.  I think it's supposed to be a witty and satirical list of why a person should vote Democrat.  Evidently, this person has this list ready for cutting and pasting into people's blogs.  Here are my responses.

Top ten reasons I'm Voting Democrat...
10. I'm voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

Actually, I do think the government does a better job of spending money than I would.  Let's see... what do I spend my money on?  I go out to dinner, get DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket, and take dance lessons, amongst many other things.  The government fixes roads, educates children, and provides a military that protects our country.  Since I don't have kids, I'd probably not volunteer to pony up a lot of money to educate kids without the government asking me to. 

But, the real discussion should be what programs do we really need, how much do we need to spend on them, and how effective that spending is.  The Republicans want to spend your money too.  Just on different things.

9. I'm voting Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

Is pornography freedom of speech?  Is burning the flag freedom of speech?  Not sure that this is a solely a Democratic issue.  Freedom of Speech is a powerful thing, and you don't realize what you miss when you don't have it like in China.  But, with any freedom, there questions whether or not there are or should be limits.

8. I'm voting Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they're doing because they now think we're good people.

This is interesting.  Who are the "bad guys" involved in 9/11?  Were they in Iraq?  I don't think so.  Instead of actually capturing the mastermind of 9/11 Osama Bin Laden, we've gotten ourselves involved in a war in Iraq. 

7. I'm voting Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

Are there people besides Palin who doesn't think that humans are affecting the environment? EDIT: Evidently, Palin has backtracked on this now.  I think both Democrats and Republicans can see the use for energy conservation and more efficient use of energy resources.  I think most scientists agree that the northern ice cap is at its thinnest in years and may melt BEFORE 10 years are up.

6. I'm voting Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

The pro-choice/pro-life debate is a serious one and tying it in with the Death penalty trivializes the issue since each issue is complex and has their own arguments.

There is definitely one thing that we all should agree upon is that more needs to be done to reduce unwanted pregnancies.  Even if abortion is legal, it should be by far the last possible choice. Does it make sense to ban abortions but preach abstinence as the way to prevent pregnancies.  Didn't really work for Sarah Palin's daughter.

5. I'm voting Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see fit.

I think both Democrats and Republicans believe that businesses should make a profit.  The question remains whether or not there too many loopholes in the system where some businesses are not paying their fair share.

Taxation of businesses plays a large part in determining where money is invested and can be used to promote or hinder certain activities.  Giving tax breaks or raising taxes on certain things can guide businesses to act in a certain way.

4. I'm voting Democrat because I believe three or four liberals need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some people who would NEVER get their agendas past the voters.

Hmmm, the last time the Constitution was "rewritten" was in 1992 when the 27th Amendment was added- "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened."

Pretty exciting stuff there.  I'm not sure what agenda in the "talking points" are being referred to specifically.  I do know that everyone is trying to push things that are difficult to get past voters.  That's why we have things called Executive orders. And this is not exclusive to Democrats or Republicans.

3. I'm voting Democrat because I believe that when the terrorists don't have to hide from us over there, when they come over here I don't want to have any guns in the house to fight them off with.

Guns were real handy in fending off 9/11.  Or is this person seriously advocating that every person boarding a plane should be allowed to carry a gun.  Plus, terrorists are known as such because they attack you in a way that causes terror, when you least expect it.  That's why people won't be ready, even if they have a gun. 

2. I'm voting Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.

If marriage is so sacred, make divorce illegal.  This issue really, isn't that big a deal to me.  I don't have a horse.

1. I'm voting Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are insane, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

Let's all defend the oil companies and their billion dollar profits!  Exxon Mobil made 40.6 billion dollars in 2007, Chevron, 18.7 billion.  I'm not sure Republicans would really want to go to battle with this one.  The gasoline tax goes towards paying for infrastructure- roads, bridges, and highways.   Removing the gas tax would have reduced gas prices by 18.4 cents.  In April in Cincinnati, that would have brought our gas down from $3.20 to $3.00.  Less than a month later gas was at $3.60/gallon.  So, we'd have no savings and no money for roads.

The thing about this election is that there are serious issues that our country needs to deal with.  This rhetoric is getting us closer to "nowhere".  People need to understand the issues and realize that it's not going to be an all or nothing solution.  Compromises will have to be made, but if people are willing to discuss things in an intelligent matter, perhaps solutions can be found.

From the Wall Street Journal: Record Contradicts Palin's "Bridge" Claims

Despite significant evidence to the contrary, the McCain campaign continues to assert that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the federal government "thanks but no thanks" to the now-famous bridge to an island in her home state.

From LATimes.com: New election low: distorting the fact-checking

News outlets and independent truth squads seem to agree that the McCain camp's distortions on Barack Obama have gone too far.

I think we're all used to some bending of the truth in politics, but I think the blatant lies told by McCain and Palin have gone too far.  And it's not just me saying it.  Hopefully, the public will see through it, but once we again, we did vote Bush/Cheney for a second term after it was known that they had mislead the public about the Iraq war.

Karl Rove spins Wasilla into the second largest city in Alaska.  In Karl Rove's mind it's true.



See the "second largest city in Alaska"- Pictures of Wasilla, AK (via CityKin)
For those of you who actually care about facts, the second largest city in Alaska is Fairbanks.

Go to Punditkitchen.com for a refreshing irreverent look at politics and current events.


see Sarah Palin pictures


see Sarah Palin pictures

From NYTimes.com: Blizzard of Lies

Op-Ed Columnist Paul Krugman writes:

Did you hear about how Barack Obama wants to have sex education in kindergarten, and called Sarah Palin a pig? Did you hear about how Ms. Palin told Congress, "Thanks, but no thanks" when it wanted to buy Alaska a Bridge to Nowhere?

These stories have two things in common: they're all claims recently made by the McCain campaign -- and they're all out-and-out lies.
...
Take the case of the Bridge to Nowhere, which supposedly gives Ms. Palin credentials as a reformer. Well, when campaigning for governor, Ms. Palin didn't say "no thanks" -- she was all for the bridge, even though it had already become a national scandal, insisting that she would "not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative."

Oh, and when she finally did decide to cancel the project, she didn't righteously reject a handout from Washington: she accepted the handout, but spent it on something else. You see, long before she decided to cancel the bridge, Congress had told Alaska that it could keep the federal money originally earmarked for that project and use it elsewhere.

So the whole story of Ms. Palin's alleged heroic stand against wasteful spending is fiction.

The outright lies are what I find so disturbing about the McCain campaign.  Do I fault Palin as governor for taking the money for her state?  No.  That's what governors do, try to get as many state projects funded as possible.

I just think it's wrong for her to come out and claim that she's a reformer by repeating something that is false over and over.  It's almost like if you say something that's a lie enough times it somehow becomes true.

The lying has a deeper impact, causing the public to become more and more cynical about politics.  The only way to change things in this country for the better is to get more people with newer and better ideas to serve the country.

From Bloomberg.com: Palin Boosted Oil-Company Taxes While Alaska Had Budget Surplus

Alaska has no state income, property or sales tax.

``It's like Dubai. It gets enormous royalties and taxes and fees of various types from oil,'' said Chris Edwards, an economist and state budget expert at the Cato Institute, a Washington group that advocates low taxes and small government.

It blows my mind that the Republicans put forth Palin as a "tax-cutter" when Alaska has no state income, property, or sales tax.  In fact Alaska's economy is so different than the rest of the nation, anything she might have learned as governor really doesn't apply anywhere else. 

She's never had to make a tough choice on spending because of the near limitless supply of money coming in from taxes from high oil prices. 

David Letterman interviews Barack Obama.  Shows how ridiculous the "lipstick on the pig" thing really is.  "Silly Season" indeed.

From Mouseprint.org: Skimpy Peanut Butter
This is especially diabolical.  The jars appear to be the same size, but the Skippy jar on the left has an indentation in the bottom which reduces the amount of peanut butter in the jar. 

These are hidden price increases.  People remember prices, but don't remember product sizes.  Companies are using this to pass on price increases without appearing to do so.

For more product downsizing and interesting "fine print" reading, visit Mouseprint.org

I noticed that gas prices rose by nearly 25 cents yesterday.  This when the price of oil has dropped to $103 dollars a barrel, a 30% drop since its high in July.  Price for gasoline today at $3.77 represents only an 8% drop since the July high of $4.08/gallon.  If you look at the 1 year charts for gas in Cincinnati and the price of oil, they mirror each other pretty closely until the price starts to drop.  A corresponding drop in gas prices of 30% would make gas around $2.86/gallon.  They're always quick to raise prices, but slow to decrease prices.

I don't think we'll ever see gasoline below $3.00/gallon again unless the government gets involved.  I think that the oil companies are happy that we're now conditioned to accept +$3.00/gallon gasoline.  Why lower prices when we are happy when we see "cheap gas" at $3.25/gallon.  It's all relative, but we've gotten used to higher gas prices.

Crude Oil Price Chart
From Cincygasprices.com: Cincinnati Gas Price Chart

From Profootballtalk.com: JOHNSON LOOKING AT A HALF MILLION PRICE TAG TO BECOME "OCHO CINCO"?

The issue is the NFL's contractual commitment to Reebok, and whether Johnson will pay the production costs for the unsold inventory of "C. Johnson" jerseys.

Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com suggests that, for a player of Johnson's stature, the number will be in range of $500,000.

$500,000 is not an insignificant amount even for a player like Chad Johnson.  This might be a large enough stumbling block to keep him from changing his jersey.

It's kind of strange though, I wonder who pays for all the leftover Green Bay Brett Farve jerseys.

From ESPN.com: IAAF asks jumper accused of drinking at meet to explain conduct

Track and field's ruling body wants Ivan Ukhov to explain his conduct at the Athletissima meet in which rival high jumpers said the Russian had been drinking vodka and Red Bull during the competition.

Ukhov failed with each attempt to clear the bar Tuesday before being asked to stop competing at the Swiss meet.

...

Alcohol is not classed as a performance-enhancing substance and is not formally prohibited in athletics competition.

From ESPN.com: LPGA won't suspend players over English-speaking requirement

Under increasing criticism, the LPGA Tour on Friday backed off plans to suspend players who cannot speak English well enough to be understood at pro-ams, in interviews or in making acceptance speeches at tournaments.

The players all realize that learning English is in the best interests of themselves and the tour.   But how easily is it for someone to play golf full time and to learn another language?  How many Americans can even speak another language?

It just takes time to learn a new language.  Rafael Nadal in tennis speaks English a lot better now, but it's been 5 years on the ATP tour.

From Bengals.com:

"Effective today, the Bengals begin the process of listing the former Chad Johnson as Chad Ocho Cinco for all club business, per the legal change of his surname effected in Florida. The list of appropriate changes will include the player wearing the name Ocho Cinco on the back of his jersey for Sunday's season opener at Baltimore."
...
Asked why the NFL decided to recognize the name change, league spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail, "It's his legal surname."

I like it.  I think it's crazy and fun.  It also helps take a little bit of the bad taste away from his incessant trade demands over the winter.
UPDATE: Chad hasn't updated his website- ChadJohnson85.com
UPDATE: Evidently Chad started using "Ocho Cinco" after hearing it in this NFL Network ad

From Cincinnati.com: John McCain's Bridge to Nowhere

This is a great cartoon by Jim Borgman. 

As an aside, I can't believe that Jim Borgman is leaving the Enquirer!

Cartoonist Jim Borgman Taking Buyout From 'Cincinnati Enquirer'

Rafael Nadal's Mini Me working as a ball boy at the U.S. Open

Picture from USOpen.org

From NY Daily News: PALIN ADMITS HER 17-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER IS PREGNANT

On his MySpace page, Johnston boasts, "I'm a f - - -in' redneck" who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.

"But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s- - - and just f - - -in' chillin' I guess."

"Ya f - - - with me I'll kick [your] ass," he added.

He also claims to be "in a relationship," but states, "I don't want kids."

This is a plus for the Republicans, shoring up the redneck base and reaching out to slacker youths at the same time.

From LATimes.com: (PICTURE) A Hunting Trophy

Isn't blowing away a caribou in front of your kids a little much?  Even for Alaska?

From CNN.com: The curse word 'Battlestar Galactica' created

The word is showing up everywhere -- on T-shirts, in sit-coms, best-selling novels and regular conversation.

"I have to start by saying that I'm drinking coffee out of a mug that says 'frak off' on the side of it, so much has it seeped into my life," "Galactica" star Jamie Bamber said.

The word is insinuating its way into popular vocabulary for a simple reason.

You can't get in trouble. It's a made-up word.

The word is used so naturally in the world of Battlestar Galactica that it's no surprise to me that it's making the transition to the real world.