"Today John McCain campaigned in the Ohio town of Defiance. Next comes Anger, then finally Acceptance." --Jay Leno

"I'm no racist, but I'm not crazy about him either," said Mr. Piroli, 77. "I don't know, maybe 'cause he's black."

He winces at himself. "We was raised and worked with the black, the Serb," he said. "It was a regular league of nations. And the economy now, it's terrible."

"I've got to vote for him," he said finally.

Him? "The Democrat, Obama," Mr. Piroli replied. "I can't be stupid."

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In Ambridge, a Beaver River factory town named after the company that gave it fame -- American Bridge -- Olga Permon, a 71-year-old steelworker's widow and a lifelong Democrat, climbs the stoop of her yellow-brick home. She considers the field: Mr. McCain? A grouchy old man. Ms. Palin? Please. No way. What about Mr. Obama?

Her pause goes on and on. "He scares me," Mrs. Permon said. "The coloreds are excited, but my friends and I plan to write in Hillary's name."

Four one-of-a-kind Cabbage Patch Kids dolls crafted in the likeness of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Palin will be auctioned on the eBay.com Web site.

Who was the highest paid individual in Senator John McCain's presidential campaign during the first half of October as it headed down the homestretch?

Not Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain's chief foreign policy adviser; not Nicolle Wallace, his senior communications staff member. It was Amy Strozzi, who was identified by the Washington Post this week as Gov. Sarah Palin's traveling makeup artist, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday night.

Ms. Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy award for her makeup work on the television show "So You Think You Can Dance?", was paid $22,800 for the first two weeks of October alone, according to the records. The campaign categorized Ms. Strozzi's payment as "PERSONNEL SVC/EQUIPMENT."

A Washington Post tracking poll released earlier this week indicated that Republicans and conservatives, for the most part, believe Palin's selection demonstrated the strength of McCain's ability to make sound decisions.

More than seven in 10 Republicans, and just under that number of self-identified "conservatives," said McCain's choice of Palin made them more confident in the kind of decisions he'd make as commander in chief.

Presidential candidate John McCain isn't happy about having to explain why the Republican Party has had to buy running mate Sarah Palin $150,000 in clothes, hair styling and accessories.

McCain was asked several questions on Thursday about the shopping spree -- and he answered each one more or less the same way: Palin needed clothes and they'll be donated to charity.

The Republicans spent about $150,000 on a clothing makeover for Ms. Palin and her family, according to financial disclosure forms. But looking at the before-and-after photos, it was not readily apparent what Ms. Palin got, exactly, from her shopping spree at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.
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"My first reaction when I heard about this was, 'Honey, I could have dressed you for a lot less than that,' " said Cindi Leive, the editor in chief of Glamour magazine, which asked readers on Wednesday to vote in an online poll whether the expenses were too high; 72 percent said they were. "In general, she looks terrific," Ms. Leive said, "but if you asked me to figure out where the $150,000 went, I'm not sure I could tell you."

The subject of the vice president's duties came up as Palin sat for an interview with KUSA-TV in Denver, which has a feature called "Question from the Third Grade." The interviewer asked, "Brandon Garcia wants to know, 'What does the vice president do?'"

"That's a great question, Brandon, and a vice president has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're like the team member, the team mate to that president," Palin said.

"But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job," she said.

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

We understand that the veep needs to look presentable, if not professional, on the campaign trail. But at what point does a down-home, moose-huntin' gal begin to appear out of touch with Americans? The $150,000 is as much as American households spend on apparel and services in 80 years.

Our final questions: New York? Minnesota? St. Louis? And those are right-leaning polls. Why doesn't Palin shop in what she herself referred to as, "real America"?

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

Mr. Powell mentioned Mr. Khan's death to underscore why he was deeply troubled by Republican personal attacks on Mr. Obama, especially false intimations that he was Muslim.

Mr. Obama is a lifelong Christian, not a Muslim, he said. But, he added, "The really right answer is, what if he is?"

"Is there something wrong with being Muslim in America? No, that's not America," he said.

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president on Sunday morning as a candidate who was reaching out in a "more diverse and inclusive way across our society" and offering a "calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach" to the nation's problems.

In one of the most important symbolic moments of the general election, former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced today that he is endorsing Barack Obama for president. Making his decision public on NBC News' "Meet the Press," the long-time fixture in Republican administrations effectively reinforced the sense of momentum Obama has been building, declaring the Senator from Illinois as a "transformational figure." "I think that Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, a fresh set of ideas to the table," said Powell. "I think we need a generational change, and I think Senator Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America, and is reaching out in a more diverse, inclusive way across our society."

Mr. Obama gave a striking sign of his electoral muscle when he arrived here Saturday morning and journeyed to the city's Gateway Arch on the Mississippi River. He saw 100,000 people spread out before him, a vast turnout in a state that teeters between Republicans and Democrats.

In any case, when I saw McCain lunge and his hands start to come up I hit the shutter and made two frames before it was over. Some other photographers who were there expressed surprise when they saw my picture and said they had never seen it happen at all and asked when it had occurred.

On Friday, Ms. Palin said the state had had "serious concerns about the low population of belugas in Cook Inlet for many years," but she called the listing "premature." Her administration challenged the federal government's data, as it did with the polar bear decision.

The commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Denby S. Lloyd, said state data showed "an increase of more than 30 percent in the population, from 278 to 375," since 2004. (The National Marine Fisheries Service said estimates had been as low as 278 in 2005.)
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"In spite of protections already in place, Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering," James W. Balsiger, the acting assistant administrator for the fisheries agency, said in a written statement. The whales are in danger of extinction, Dr. Balsiger said.

Contributions to the Compliance Fund will be used solely for legal and accounting services to ensure compliance with federal law, including a portion of the cost of broadcast advertising, campaign offices, and computer/website expenses. Federal law prohibits the Compliance Fund contributions from being used for a candidate's election. Contributions from corporations, unions, government contractors, national banks, and foreign nationals without permanent residency status are prohibited.
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Because the McCain-Palin Campaign is participating in the presidential public funding system, it will not raise private campaign contributions after August 31, 2008. However, federal law allows the Campaign to establish the Compliance Fund to defray legal and accounting compliance costs and preserve the Campaign's public grant for media, mail, phones, and get-out-the-vote programs.

Senator John McCain toiled for years to push a campaign finance overhaul through Congress. After the measure finally passed, Trevor Potter, a lawyer and vigorous advocate for reforming the system, was instrumental in defending the law from challenges and pressing for strict enforcement.

Now, as Mr. McCain makes his final sprint for the White House, Mr. Potter is again helping Mr. McCain, but this time by maneuvering to wring the maximum out of campaign finance laws in ways that some contend are at odds with the spirit of the reforms they championed.

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.

In a small but intriguing study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the catchy, sung-in-falsetto tune from the 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever."
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But Nadkarni said he has seen "Stayin' Alive" work wonders in classes where students were having trouble keeping the right beat while practicing on mannequins. When he turned on the song, "all of a sudden, within just a few seconds, they get it right on the dot."
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"I heard a rumor that 'Another One Bites the Dust' works also, but it didn't seem quite as appropriate," Gilbert said.

Turns out that "Joe the Plumber," as he became nationally known when Senator John McCain made him a theme at Wednesday night's third and final presidential debate, may run a plumbing business but he is not a licensed plumber. His full name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. And he owes a bit in back taxes.
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An official at Local 50 of the plumber's union, based in Toledo, said Mr. Wurzelbacher does not hold a license. He also has never served an apprenticeship and does not belong to the union. (The national plumber's union, the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Service Mechanics, endorsed Mr. Obama, it should be noted.)

"He's basically playing games with the world," Thomas Joseph, the local's business manager, said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.

Mark Ciptak says he went behind his wife's back and listed their newborn daughter's name as "Sarah McCain Palin" on her birth-certificate application...

"She wanted Ava Grace. So, with a clear conscience, even though I know I was sort of going around her back, I kind of secretively put down Sarah McCain Palin instead of Ava Grace on another set of forms that I acquired from the front desk,"
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Ciptak says told his wife about the switch the next day, while they were at the doctor's office. He says she was speechless. "I felt a lot of cold air coming from her way," Ciptak tells the station.

Matthew Dowd, a prominent political consultant and chief strategist for George W. Bush's reelection campaign eviscerated John McCain on Tuesday for his choice of Sarah Palin as vice president.

Dowd proclaimed that, in his heart of hearts, McCain knew he put the country at risk with his VP choice and that he would "have to live" with that fact for the rest of his career.
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Saying that Palin was a "net negative" on the ticket, he went on: "[McCain] knows, in his gut, that he put somebody unqualified on the ballot. He knows that in his gut, and when this race is over that is something he will have to live with... He put somebody unqualified on that ballot and he put the country at risk, he knows that."

Republican John McCain vowed Sunday to "whip" Democratic rival Barack Obama's "you-know-what" when the two presidential candidates meet Wednesday in their final televised debate.

The Atma Jyoti Girls School for the Blind is set up for girls who would not have the opportunity to get an education in their communities.  As many of you know, blind children in India often do not get the proper nutrition, education and opportunities that sighted children do.  The school provides all of this to the girls in addition to a well-rounded education. 
 
When I visited the school recently, I found a dedicated staff of teachers and administrators who not only want to provide education to the girls, but also allow each girl to live her life with dignity.  They are, however, struggling with funding and a general lack of facilities for the growing school.  The building they have now is too small and not designed for a boarding school.  Currently, the 42 girls sleep in one room which takes up about 75% of the building.  The School is trying to raise funds for a dormitory but the progress is slow.
 
One child in particular made me feel like I couldn't walk away without doing more.  A beautiful four year old girl was brought to the school so that her parents could see what the school was all about.  Her parents, who obviously loved her very much but were struggling with her blindness said, "Look, she is like this and she's a girl."

Vitali Klitschko used his son's wet, used diapers to keep his fists from swelling up after winning his WBC heavyweight title bout against Nigeria's Samuel Peter, the Ukrainian told a German newspaper on Tuesday.

Klitschko said he wrapped them around his hands and they helped him recover.

"Baby wee is good because it's pure, doesn't contain toxins and doesn't smell," the 37-year old boxer told Bild after he won back the WBC title with a technical knockout on Saturday.

"I wrap nappies filled with my 3-year-old son Max's wee around my fists," Klitschko said, adding that he got the idea from his grandmother. "The nappies hold the liquid and the swelling stays down."

Afraid cash isn't secure even behind the thick walls of banks, more people are turning to something that's protected money since the days of Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde: safes.

The metal vaults are so popular in some parts of the country that shoppers are depleting store supplies as worries about the nation's economy spread.

Cindy McCain lashed out at Barack Obama Tuesday, telling a Tennessee newspaper the Illinois senator has waged the "dirtiest campaign in American history."

Scientists trying to save one of the world's most endangered species of freshwater turtles say waiting is their only recourse after a complicated attempt to mate two elderly turtles during this year's breeding season ended without producing any offspring.
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It was a meeting that carried some risk; males can be territorial and have been known to attack other, unfamiliar, turtles. Nor had either turtle seen a member of the opposite sex in decades. But scientists say the pairing was a success.

A Treasury official, speaking on condition of anonymity because details of the agency's plans are still being worked out, said it's unlikely that Paulson would begin purchasing distressed assets from Wall Street banks until after the Nov. 4 election.

It could take up to six weeks, the official said, for Treasury to hire about two dozen full-time employees for the effort and to contract anywhere from five to 10 asset-management companies to help purchase and later resell troubled assets. Treasury also will have to publish procurement rules, adding to the delay before bad assets can actually be purchased and relief come to troubled banks.

Maverick-
1. An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.

2. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; dissenter.

Lyrical confusion

There has been much confusion and debate over a lyric in the chorus of the song. This is regarding whether or not Brandon Flowers is saying "denser" or "dancer", when posing the question "Are we human or are we denser/dancer?" Though "denser" seemingly makes more sense in the context of the lyrics, Flowers' pronunciation of the word clearly sounds like "dancer" (IPA: [dænsəɹ]) over "denser" ([dɛnsəɹ]). This has lead several critics to believe that Flowers is in fact saying dancer, and therefore questioning what the meaning of the lyric is. Entertainment Weekly's Pop Watch section, called the lyrics the "silliest lyrics of the week" under the assumption that Flowers was saying "dancer" in the chorus. They were puzzled by this, stating "most dancers are generally human." [2] The Killers have yet to make any official statement regarding what the correct lyric is.

It seems quite clear in the context of they song, the word is "denser." If he had meant to use dancer in conjunction with "are we human" it would be dancer(s) plural.

"For me it makes perfect sense, but everybody's gonna have their own version of what 'dancer' is. There's been occasions when other people's interpretations have been better than mine. I would love to write a song like John Lennon's Imagine, to have something as cut and dried as that, you wouldn't want to change a word, but that's another gift, it is all to be celebrated."

Halcro calls her a "master of the non-answer" which allows her to avoid policy specifics in favor of connecting with the people.

"She can turn a 60-second response to a query about her specific solutions to healthcare challenges into a folksy story about how she's met people on the campaign trail who face healthcare challenges," he writes. "All without uttering a word about her public-policy solutions to healthcare challenges."