October 2008

From CNN.com: ‘Stayin’ Alive’ has near-perfect rhythm to help jump-start heart

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.”
…
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.”
…
“I heard a rumor that ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ works also, but it didn’t seem quite as appropriate,” Gilbert said.

Ironically, I can hear the rhythm in my head of “Another One Bites the Dust” better than “Stayin’ Alive”.  When I think of “Stayin’ Alive”, all I hear is the falsetto tune.  Guess, I’ll need to keep an LP ready just in case I need to perform some CPR.

From NYTimes.com: Joe in the Spotlight

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.
…
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.

You know, I was wondering last night if McCain vetted “Joe the Plumber” since he mentioned him so many times.  It turns out he used his standard “Palin vetting” process.

I knew it was only a matter if time before every single thing in the world was known about this guy.

From USAToday: Father goes behind wife’s back to name newborn ‘Sarah McCain Palin’

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,”
…
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.

Full name of baby: Sarah McCain Palin Ciptak

That’s a great way to start life, named after two losers to be.  Would you be embarrassed if you were named John Lieberman Kerry or Bob Kemp Dole?

From Huffington Post: Bush Strategist: McCain Knows He Put Country At Risk With Palin Pick

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.
…
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.”

I’m watching the third debate on HDTV and McCain’s lips have this weird pink hue.  Is he wearing lipstick?  HDTV closeups are not flattering for McCain.

Palin should check her purse and she’s missing anything.

From AP.com: McCain vows to whip Obama’s ‘you know what’

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.

You mean “whip” him like slave?  Way to bring up that slave imagery, John McCain.

Today is Blog Action Day 2008 where blogs all over the world are tackling the issue of Poverty.  The aim is to raise awareness, initiate action, and “shake the web!”

My friend Rachael emailed me yesterday about her work on the website for the Atma Jyoti School Residential Girls School for the Blind, and I think it’s the perfect example of the tremendous work that people can do to help others in need.

In Rachael’s words:

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.”

If you can, please consider a donation for this worthwhile cause.

From ESPN.com: Champion Klitschko uses infant son’s wet diapers to reduce hand swelling

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.”

270ToWin.com has an interactive electoral college map since 1789.

It’s amazing how the political map has changed over the years. 
Some highlights:

1800 Four candidates for President
Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) 73 electoral votes
Aaron Burr (Democratic-Republican) 73 electoral votes
John Adams (Federalist) 65 electoral votes
Charles Pinckney (Federalist) 64 electoral votes

Since there was no majority, Thomas Jefferson was elected by the House of Representatives.

1860 Abraham Lincoln wins
Lincoln defeats three challengers, including Stephen A. Douglas who he lost to earlier in a race to be a Senator from Illinois.  Douglas comes in 4th, with only 12 electoral votes even though he came in a not too distant second in the popular vote. 

1876 Rutherford B. Hayes wins
Rutherford B. Hayes wins the electoral college by one vote even though he loses the popular vote by several hundred thousand.

1904 Theodore Roosevelt wins
Can’t get any more North vs. South than this one.  Theodore Roosevelt dominates the North.

1948 Truman defeats Dewey
I’m not sure how the newspaper thought otherwise, Truman wins easily 303 to Dewey’s 189.  Strom Thurmond came in 3rd with 39 electoral votes.

1984 Ronald Reagan wins
525 electoral votes to Walter Mondale’s 13.  Country is painted red.

1992 William J. Clinton wins
First time California goes blue since 1964

2000 George W. Bush wins
Bush wins 271 to 266 over Al Gore despite losing the popular vote by 450,000

From the NYTimes.com: Locked Up: Sales of Safes Grow as Economy Slides

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.

The stock market is bad, but there are plenty of safe places to put your money besides a safe in your house.  Unless you’ve bought a stash of gold coins, a bank is still a safe place to put your money because of the FDIC insurance.  If that fails, the American government would have failed and it won’t matter anyways, because your cash will be worthless.