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.

UPDATE:
Added some much better pictures from a person with a camera next to my sister who was standing closer to the podium.

The original photos below were taken with my iPhone.
Barack Obama spoke today at Ault Park in Cincinnati.  It couldn’t have been a nicer day to be in the park and with the huge crowd, it had a festival atmosphere.  There were vendors hawking buttons, t-shirts, and posters.  There were many volunteers directing the throng of people through security and making sure that our tickets were filled out properly.

Unfortunately, because of security, they didn’t allow cameras with detachable lenses, so I had to walk a mile back to my car to drop of my camera.  I’m a little disappointed because I would have been able to take some great pictures with my zoom lens.  Instead, I only have these pictures taken with my iPhone.  I took the photo above after Obama’s speech when people started leaving and before they realized that Obama was shaking hands in the crowd.  This was as close as I got before it got a little too chaotic for me.  You can sort of see the top of Obama’s head (in the red circle).

I was about 50 feet away from the podium during the actual speech.  I had gotten to Ault Park around 12:30, but didn’t make it through security until about 1:00.  Already there were lots of people standing and staking out spots.

I felt like I was in a pretty good spot.  I could see the podium pretty easily, but I felt a little bad for the vertically challenged around me. Every time someone moved in front of them, they had to adjust their positions to try to find another gap to see the podium.  I did my part my slouching and not moving so others could see from behind me.
It was estimated attendance was around 15,000.  I was struck by how diverse the crowd was.  It was a crowd that was white, black, young, and old.  I even saw a lot of high schoolers who were probably too young to vote but were excited to see Obama speak in person.  With all the problems in the economy today, these are going to be the same problems were handing to these kids tomorrow.

The speech was a pretty standard Obama stump speech.  I’ve heard Obama speak many times, so this was pretty much what I expected.  Still, when Obama talks about hope and working together for a better future, it’s amazingly powerful and I feel motivated to do my part to make the world better.
When I heard that the speech was going to be in Ault Park, I thought they would have had Obama speaking from the steps of the pavilion, instead they chose to build a stage in the grassy area below.
Mayor Mallory, Congressional Candidate Steve Driehaus, and Governor Ted Strickland all spoke before Obama.
Leaving Ault Park after the event was a bit of a challenge.  I’ve never seen so many people there!

From CNN.com: Cindy McCain says Obama running ‘dirtiest campaign’ ever

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

It must be nice to live in the fantasy land that Cindy McCain lives in.  The fantasy land where you have so much money that you don’t know how many houses you own or cars you have.  Where you can lie your ass off and still pretend to be a victim.

From NYTimes.com: Future of Giant Turtle Still Uncertain

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.
…
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.

Unfortunately, the pairing failed to produce any offspring.  It could have been the poor diet of the female turtle or the fact that the turtles are old.  It’s sad that these two elderly turtles may be the very last of their kind.

From Miami Herald: Now the hard part begins: making the bailout work

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.

This bailout is no quick fix for the economy.  This is such a big program to be tossed together in only a few weeks.