Breaking Windows

Watch it online.You do need Silverlight.

Whatever you do today, go out and vote. I just hope that when the 5th rolls around we do not have hanging chads and recounts of recounts, and (more) voter fraud... and another Ohio or Florida incident.

Its damn well time another state gets the "limelight" for crying out loud. I am tired of it being Ohio.

So go to the polls today and don't make me feel bad when we see the horrendous voter turnout numbers this year.

I have a lot of respect for Keith Olbermann, he is a solid broadcaster. Today my dad sent me this story from the Canton Rep: Stark matters: Hate-inciting tactics no laughing matter.

Now for the Keith Olbermann clip:

From The Huffington Post:

Very, very dehumanizing. I mean forget race even.

So, that tax rebate we're all getting at some point this year? Well, the government has decided to let you know about it via snail mail to the tune of $42 million.

The only logic I can see here is that with all of the identity theft and scams out there, they want to be sure to let people know this is legit. But seriously, if you don't already know about this, it's your own damn fault and you probably don't deserve the check in the first place. Then again, what if people think the letter is fake? Do we need to send them another letter letting them know the previous letter was real?

From the NPR News Blog:

Using Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein, sounds "like a rallying cry for bigots."

No, that didn't come from anyone in the Barack Obama camp. Nor did it come from any liberal pundit defending him. It actually came from someone many liberals consider akin to Darth Vader - Karl Rove.

Well, even McCain apologized.

 

That's right folks, we live in a world where we need to pay parents to get their kid to go to the library. Oh, and remember, it's the video games fault.

As result of trying to enact a law banning the sale of violent videogames (which was found unconstitutional), the State of Illinois must pay the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), game industry trade group, $510,528.64 in attorney fees.

Source: IGN

Wow, that is a great use of tax payers money. Good job Illinois!

The Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday, aims to cut down on pedophiles’ access to social networking sites and the children who often populate them; however, the act could potentially ban the kids its seeks to protect from accessing sites like MySpace.com—even Amazon.com—while at libraries or schools, BBC News reports.

Source: CIO

DOPA? Great name. While I am all for cutting down on pedophiles’ access to social networking sites, this is not the solution. From Internetnews.com:

...The dopes, in this case, are lawmakers anxious to show the voters back home they are doing something about the sexual predators crawling around the Internet...

The American Library Association's (ALA) analysis of DOPA concludes the dragnet filters would cover non-educational social networks, chat rooms, wikis, instant messaging, blogs and possibly even e-mail.

I would also like to point out how under-funded many schools and libraries are as it is, without mandating broad-stroke banning of Web sites. Conversely, many of these institutions already employ such firewalls to block questionable content.

The big problem I see here is the government blocking even more sites that are legitimately used for research -- you know, education?

Project Maple Syrup is all I really have to say. Oh boy, only in Canada...

Though come to think of it during my two years here I haven't tried any yet. They got this maple beer stuff, too, and the idea intrigues me...

THE WHOS down in Who-ville

Were a tolerant lot:

Who Christians, Who Muslims — a Who melting pot.

Who Hindus! Who atheists! Who Buddhists, Who Jews!

Who Confucians, Who pagans,

And even Who Druze! The Who 1st Amendment's Establishment Clause

Said, "No creches in courts," and the Whos loved their laws.

Source: The Los Angeles Times

This should have been posted before Christmas this year, but it is still as relevant now - and as funny. The entire column is written like a Dr. Seuss book.

Matt sent me this one. And it is Not Safe For Work! You could say it has a bit of language in it. But here is some more commentary on the "War on Christmas."

Seriously – are you kidding me with this “There’s a war on Christmas” bullshit? FOX News wasn’t raking in enough cash already from all the Christmas commercials for Kill ‘em All Barbie and Girls Gone Wild Brand Toddler Gear? They had to start publishing books about some bogus attack on Christianity? And who did they pick to lead this particular charge?

Source: Fuck Christmas.org

Here is a pretty good read, with some great links in it, for those of you who think this entire "War on Christmas” is utter crap. Another link thanks to Erin.

Congressman John D. Dingell (MI-15) recited the following poem on the floor of the US House of Representatives concerning House Resolution 579, which expressed the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected. “Preserving Christmas” has been a frequent topic for conservative talk show hosts, including Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly.

Source: HouseDemocrats.gov

It's a pretty funny poem, you can even watch him recite the poem (with WMP). Thanks goes to Erin for pointing this out.

Florida lawyer's request to leave case denied; judge opts to revoke temporary license to practice law in the state instead.

Earlier this month, outspoken Florida attorney Jack Thompson withdrew from a high-profile Alabama civil suit against several game makers and retailers. According to Game Politics, the judge today rejected Thompson's withdrawal, and instead kicked him off the case and revoked his temporary license to practice law in Alabama, to boot.

Source: GameSpot

Jordan was just telling me Jack Thompson has been too quiet lately. Maybe this is why.

Jack Thompson, you are a moron.

The US has won its fight to stay in charge of the internet, despite opposition from many nations.

In an eleventh-hour agreement ahead of a UN internet summit in Tunis, Tunisia, negotiators agreed to leave the US in charge of the net's addressing system.

Source: BBC News

I am glad to see that the Bush Administration has done something right lately. It is a very good thing, for many reasons more then political, that the US holds sway over the Internet's addressing system. This topic was up in the air, with no clear outlook for too long, it is good to see this resolved.

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the 1995 referendum to see whether Quebec would secede from Canada and form its own independent country.

I don't remember the event firsthand at all, I was only 13 at the time and ignorant of world politics, but I know a lot of people now who remember it well. It was a nail-biter. And there're murmurs that the province may try it again in the next five years.

WASHINGTON - Why is Tom DeLay smiling? After all, he’s been indicted. Forced out of his job as House majority leader. And called into court for fingerprinting and a mugshot like a common criminal.

Source: MSNBC.com

I thought maybe he wanted one last good photo before he goes to jail, but I guess it to detour the attack ads that will be coming. But then they will come, and just use something as bad. It will just have a smiling DeLay in it.

Georgia's Governor Perdue asked the state's schools to take two "early snow days" and cancel classes Monday and Tuesday to help conserve gasoline as Hurricane Rita threatens the nation's fuel supply line.

Source: WIStv.com

OK, OK, have you heard this one.... wait for it, wait for it...

Governor Perdue also has a new initiative for Georgia's schools: "Every child left behind."

Granholm prematurely announces signing of violent-game laws, signs laws prohibiting display of sexually explicit games instead.

Democratic Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that she signed into law legislation that prohibits the "sale or rental of mature or adult-rated video games to children."

Source: GameSpot

None of these yahoos can get this done right. I also saw on the news that this does not go into effect until Dec 1, so it could get overturned by... you guessed, the 1st amendment - just as so many of these types of video game bills have fizzled in the past.

The top three officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency share at least one trait: they had little or no experience in disaster management before landing top FEMA posts.

According to a Sept. 7 Chicago Tribune story, FEMA Director Michael Brown was commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association and had virtually no experience in disaster management.

Source: Blogcritics

David asks a great question: Why isn't the Bush Administration getting any heat for putting together a FEMA team so lacking in experience?

The decision to order Brown back to Washington from Louisiana — he remains as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency — marked the administration's latest attempt to assert leadership in the wake of the devastating storm and its aftermath, including the weakest public opinion polls of Bush's time in office.

Source: SFGate

Michael Brown is going back to Washington and will get a slap on the wrist. Hell, he might end up with a shiny medal out of this. He should get fired. With inaction by FEMA and reports of discrepancies in Brown's resume, the Bush administration finally seems to be taking the action it needed to in the aftermath of this Katrina catastrophe.

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton on Monday said the government "failed" the thousands of people who lived in coastal communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and said a federal investigation was warranted in due time.

Source: CNN

You can read the interview, or watch it - only on Windows though. I think it is sad that the Bush Administration and the State Government of Louisiana is playing the blame game over this. I think the logical way to look at this is that it started out as a Louisiana problem, and escalated into a very quickly into a national problem. It's just FUBAR all around, and instead of blaming people, action needs to be taken. This is because things are getting to the unhealthy state, E. coli etc, etc.

CNN's free video was a good call, but they need to realize we have Windows Media Player 9 on the Mac too.[/rant]

OK so maybe I'm not the only one who turned to his roommate days ago and sarcastically remarked, "Gosh, wouldn't it be kind of funny if all these third-world countries started sending us help?"

Ken asked me to talk about the Canadian angle on this whole thing [Katrina disaster] (I just moved to Montreal the other day). As soon as I walked in the door of my apartment, my roommate was watching the constant coverage on CNN.

I'm not one to comment on politics. I think I've made one or two posts on the topic, mostly for humor (excluding game violence rants). I find the process ridiculous, annoying, and aggravating. I have no idea about what the left, right, up, down, north, south, etc. believe. But Bush, let me ask you this:

What the fuck are you doing?

(AP) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his government could request the extradition of U.S. religious broadcaster Pat Robertson for suggesting American agents should kill him.

Source: CBS News

You may have read about this last week. I always thought Pat Robertson was a crack pot, but I never thought we would see anything like this.

How did that air in the first place? They have a delay, don't they?

But I think the Venezuelan government has a pretty good case here, unfortunately. After all, the US does not like it when people make death threats on our president.

Quicktime video.

The U.S. military is calling it an "administrative error," but others are suggesting it was caught posing propaganda as news.

The military issued a news release on July 24, following a car bomb, that included a quote from an unidentified Iraqi man. But the quote was almost identical to one used in a July 13 release, following a separate car bomb.

Source: Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

Take out of this what you will, but it smells fishy.

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to introduce legislation to help keep video games with pornographic and violent content out of the hands of children in the wake of a controversy over the popular “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” video game.

Source: MacCentral

If you think Matt and I beat this to a pulp, then why are there 30 comments to this on a Mac based news site?

My favorite comment comes from macFanDave:

She ought to spend her time preparing articles of impeachment against George W. Bush.

Even if they go nowhere, I am sure they will be fun for her to write and for us to read!

Off topic for sure, but funny none the less. You have to admit, this entire debacle is getting laughable.

I have a great idea. Lets put a V-Chip into all the video game consoles sold. Then see if the parents can figure out how to use it. Once they do, then the problem is solved. Parents could block games by title or by ERSB rating.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: This is not the job of our government, it is the job of the parents/guardians.

I think this graph from a GameSpot article sums things up very nicely:

Given that the minigame is about as raunchy as an episode of Sex and the City, cannot be accessed without entering a long string of cheat codes, and takes several hours of effort to access, charges that San Andreas is "pornographic" may seem extreme to some. However, its existence does appear to contradict Rockstar Games' carefully worded statement blaming hacker mischief for the existence of the Hot Coffee mod.

In 1985 Live Aid raised money, and awareness for the poverty in Africa. Now in 2005 they are raising just awareness with Live 8 (Live on AOL Music). Thats nice and all, but I don't think that is enough.

Over 600,000 people made it to the Philly concert alone. Why not charge people $1 or $2 to get in the gate. Why not push for donations by phone?

The US will not cede control of the Domain Name System for the Internet. As a result, the "Internets" malapropism may become a reality.

On Thursday, Michael Gallagher, an Assistant Secretary of Commerce announced a stunning change in US policy regarding the Internet.

Source: Ars Technica

All your DNS are belong to US.

This sure was unexpected. I guess someone in the Bush Administration figured out that the "Internets" is a global tool and decided that the US needs to keep control of it. Of course ICANN will still perform day to day operations. They just won't control it.

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Chinese bloggers, even on foreign-sponsored sites, better chose their words carefully -- the censors are watching.

Users of the MSN Spaces section of Microsoft Corp.'s new China-based Web portal get a scolding message each time they input words deemed taboo by the communist authorities -- such as democracy, freedom and human rights.

"Prohibited language in text, please delete," the message says.

Source: CNN

Aren't you glad you live in (insert country here) where you can voice your own opinion?

I hate politics. I really, really do. Here we are, trying to educate parents about the game rating system firmly in place. They aren't getting it for whatever reason. What's Illinois going to do? Slap their own rating on the box! Genius, pure genius! Instead of moving forward with the simple system already in place that at least some parents are familiar with, let's confuse these people even more with TWO on the box! Hooray for common sense and starting all over. Idiots.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A key committee of the California Assembly on Tuesday backed a bill to restrict the sale of violent video games to minors.

The measure is one of many pending before state legislatures and local councils across the country. Two federal appellate courts have already ruled, however, that such laws violate the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment.

Source: Yahoo! News

I have six words for you: The government should not get involved. Here are four more: They most probably will.

The ESRB does a very good job of taming down the 'M' rated games as it is. If these psycho psychologists looked at the builds of the 'M' rated games that got turned down there would probably be blood in the streets. It is really the retail market who has put a dagger in 'AO' (Adult Only) rated games, so no developer in their right mind will sit with an 'AO' rating from the ESRB. They go back and make it an 'M' rated game so it will sell. So blame the retail channel. Or you could blame the parents that buy the 'M' rated games. Just a thought.

Hilary Rodham Clinton, D, NY, has taken sides. Apparently, the wrong one. In an article with the Sunday Times, the first-time senator and two-term first lady, said she wants to launch a $90 million investigation into the effects of videogames on children.

Source: IGN

Well that sounds like my tax dollars spent well. Maybe they should test the parents. The parents who buy M rated games for their kids without the knowledge of what the game is about. Her quote about having sex with prostitutes and then killing them is a very old claim. Maybe she should make her own statements.

The Bush administration's budget for 2006, due out on Monday, could mean the end of the Perkins loan program.

In that budget, the president will ask Congress to recall the federal share of institutions' revolving loan funds, according to a top Education Department official. The funds, which are made up of federal "capital contributions," institutional matches, and repaid Perkins loans, are used to make new loans to students from low-income and middle-income families.

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

No child left behind!

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he twice offered President Bush his resignation during the height of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, but the president refused to accept it.

Source: CNN

*grumble*

Dan Kelly sent this to me. Thanks Dan. This is a powerful video (Flash) that has some rather high production values of the video, CG, and the song. It is very well done, but I warn it is very graphic, and sad.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Newt Gingrich is taking steps toward a potential presidential bid in 2008 with a book criticizing President Bush's policies on Iraq and a tour of early campaign states.

The former House speaker who led Republicans to power a decade ago said he soon will visit Iowa and New Hampshire to promote his book, try to influence public policy and keep his political options alive.

Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration paid a prominent commentator to promote the No Child Left Behind schools law to fellow blacks and to give the education secretary media time, records show.

A company run by Armstrong Williams, the syndicated commentator, was paid $240,000 by the Education Department. The goal was to deliver positive messages about Bush's education overhaul, using Williams' broad reach with minorities.

Source: CNN

Yea, No Child Left Behind, I have always liked that one. [/sarcasm]

(CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld faced tough questioning Wednesday from troops about to be deployed to Iraq.

Source: CNN

I watched a little bit of this on Wolf Blitzer on CNN today. The question about the armor on the Humvees was just astonishing.

A Pentagon spokesman said later Wednesday that 450 armored Humvees are being produced each month. This is up from August 2003 when only 15 per month were made.

In Baker County, for example, with 12,887 registered voters, 69.3% of them Democrats and 24.3% of them Republicans, the vote was only 2,180 for Kerry and 7,738 for Bush, the opposite of what is seen everywhere else in the country where registered Democrats largely voted for Kerry.

In Dixie County, with 9,676 registered voters, 77.5% of them Democrats and a mere 15% registered as Republicans, only 1,959 people voted for Kerry, but 4,433 voted for Bush.

Source: Common Dreams NewsCenter

Let the conspiracy theories begin, or continue, or build, or boil over, or whatever. I think these e-voting systems should be thrown in a trash heap until they hire some programmers and engineers that have a brain. They also need to allow 3rd party auditing of their software before I would feel safe with e-voting.

Thanks to Tom Madigan for the link. Tom is living out in Cali now, he is in a blue state with a Last Action Here GOP as the Governor. I don't know who's state is more messed up.

my dear republicans,

enjoy this, you've earned it. when it mattered most you came out to vote in record numbers, stealing the swing states from john kerry. i commend you, you've all done well. before i sail off into the liberalist sunset, i'd like to offer you a few parting thoughts, please take the time to listen as i have taken the time to endure the past four years silently.

Source: you might be me

He has some good points. I would have to agree. Thanks to I cannot remember who gave me this link.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- An error with an electronic voting system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said.

Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.

Bush actually received 365 votes in the precinct, Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, told The Columbus Dispatch.

Source: CNN

I really need to write my rant on electronic voting machines. I don't see why in the hell we use them. It has been proven again and again , and again here in Ohio, that they are not up to the task at hand. It is not enough to give Kerry Ohio, can you imagine the mess that would be? I think the final numbers of this 2004 election would have been a lot different, and more accurate, if this nation would just stick to paper ballots. Electronic voting machines are FUBAR and need to be thrown in the dump.

Many Canadian adults want John Kerry to become the next president of the United States, according to a poll by CROP published in La Presse. 60 per cent of respondents want the Democratic nominee to win the Nov. 2 election, while 20 per cent would choose Republican incumbent George W. Bush.

Source: Centre for Public Opinion & Democracy

Should Canada get some Electoral Votes? They would take them if they had the chance. How about the UK? How about the World? (BBC News)

Why does the world at large not like Bush?

ELY, Nevada (AP) -- A county commission race in this gambling state was decided in true Nevada fashion -- by the luck of the draw.

After finishing Tuesday's election tied with 1,847 votes each, Robert Swetich and Raymond Urrizaga agreed to draw cards to resolve the deadlocked White Pine County commission race.

Source: CNN

Picking a card gives you more chances to win, I suppose. But I have never hear of anything like this before.

Today USA TODAY printed a county-by-county map of the 2004 election. They also posted it on their web site.

Jake linked to this image on someone's iDisk and it looks like it is down now, but Urban Vancouver has it. Thanks to Richard Eriksson for pointing me to the UV site (nice of him to plug that site, isnt it?)

You'll be hearing a lot of "I'm moving to..." the next couple days. Well, I'm not moving anywhere. I'm staying put. The borders? Well, that's another story.

Source: Not A Dollar Short

Check out the link, for the new Canada 2.0 map!

Americans attempting to escape four more years of President Bush by fleeing to Canada will have to wait in line, just like immigrants from any other country, the Immigration Ministry said Wednesday.

Over the years, Canada's social climate has shifted to the left of the United States, with relatively higher taxes supporting programs such as public health care. That and the promise of legalized gay marriage and lenient marijuana laws might be a draw to some Democrats despondent over Bush victory and the promise of continued conservatism from his administration.

Source: SFGate.com

Drat!

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- President Bush declared victory in his race for re-election Wednesday, telling his cheering supporters that "America has spoken."

"America has spoken, and I'm humbled by the trust and the confidence of my fellow citizens," Bush said. "With that trust comes a duty to serve all Americans. And I will do my best to fulfill that duty every day as your president."

Source: CNN

Hello! 48% of this great country does not trust Bush. That was proven on Tuesday night. So Bush should not be humbled. He should be cautious because almost half the nation voted for the chance to see what Kerry could do. But he won't be cautious. He is a lame duck, and he can do what he really wanted to do the first term. I am fearful of a lot of things right now, paramount to that list is a collapse of the economy, I hope it does not happen under Bush's second term. As my friend Brandon said "I am hopeful, because it's all I can be." I feel the same way. We can only hope. Lets hope that Bush's second term is not as bad as presidential history tells us about.

I don't really want to talk about the Ohio vote, but I have this to say: I am upset about it, but I do know that a great deal of this site has voted GOP in the past, especially here in the north west part of the state. Portage County, where I lived before college, voted blue. Stark County, where my dad lives, voted blue. Cuyahoga even voted blue. Rural voters in this state lost Ohio for Kerry. It is sad, I am sad.

Neil has some good points on what to look forward to in the next 4 years. And since I am lazy and don't want to make my own list, please read his.

And as Jake put it: Bush won the majority of the popular vote, so he should be president (for better or for worse). Now can we get on with life?

The Associated Press has been counting the vote since its founding in 1848, when Zachary Taylor of the Whig Party defeated Democrat Lewis Cass. This year, for the first time in decades, AP will be the only news organization collecting the vote for the media and delivering it to newspapers and broadcasters, including the television networks. It will be delivered in a variety of formats, by satellite and online...

Here's an explanation of how the AP will provide results in 2004 with the speed and accuracy on which its members and subscribers have learned to rely.

Source: AP Press Release

Thanks to my boss to sending this link to The BG News listproc.

Take your neighbor to the polls, take your roommate. I want to look back on this 2004 Presidential Election and see record voter turnout numbers.

Here's to a clean and conclusive election.

Watch Eminem's Mosh video.

Directors Note: Most Americans are well aware that in 2000, the presidential election was decided by 537 votes. From hanging chads to the hourly updates of the manual recount, this story was obsessively covered by the mainstream press. However, what wasn’t covered was what journalist Greg Palast discovered that thousands of primarily minority voters were scrubbed from the voter registry in Florida and prevented from potentially changing the course of America’s turbulent last four years.

Source: GNN

This is a great Eminem song, and an even better video.

The 2004 presidential political season has begun in earnest. The nation is deeply and starkly divided on the road ahead on any number of issues. We will henceforth keep a running compilation of our election-related posts - watch it unfold here!

Source: Blogcritics

If you just cannot get enough election 2004 coverage, and I know I can't, then you should check out the master post over at Blogcritics.

Thanks to Matt for the link. This one is a funny funny, ha ha.

Fun with "I'm Feeling Lucky"

Step 1: Go to Google.

Step 2: Type in "miserable failure" (without quotes).

Step 3: Click I'm Feeling Lucky.

You get President George W. Bush's Biography!

Thanks to Max for pointing this out.

Not only is this info graphic funny, but the photo used in the background is a photo taken by JD Pooley of the Sentinel-Tribune here in BG from when Kerry held a rally downtown. Thanks to Matt Sussman for pointing this out.

BTW, Matt, it would be great if your blog worked in Safari.

There is nothing more painful than watching a comedian turn self-righteous. Unless of course, the comedian is lashing out at smug and self-serving television-news personalities. Jon Stewart could not resist a last dig at CNN's "Crossfire" during his monologue on Comedy Central on Monday night . "They said I wasn't being funny," the star of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" said, rolling his eyes expressively. "And I said to them: 'I know that. But tomorrow I will go back to being funny," Mr. Stewart said, adding that their show would still be bad, although he used a more vulgar expression.

Source: The New York Times

If you have not seen this episode of Crossfire, go find it on BitTorrent and watch (or from iFilm)! You can see John Stewart's comments on The Daily Show after his Crossfire appearance here.

This past Wednesday. Jerry Springer, Robin Weirauch, and Nathan Nickens spoke at the Union. Jerry Springer is, in my opinion, a very good speaker. His speech and question/answer session were great, I thought. You can read more about the rally in The BG News article "Springer motivates democrats."

My buddy Mike was their for the Sentinel-Tribune taking photos, though that did not even help in getting a picture of me and Jerry Springer. I got a handshake and an autograph.

It was great to finally meet Robin Weirauch's campaign staff. So far they had only know me as "the guy who does the web site," and now we can both put faces to names, which is always nice.

Afterwards I stayed to watch the 3rd presidential debate. They had it projected on a huge screen. This was great as I had been busy during the other debates. Watching it with a bunch of college Dems in the room also proved to be entertaining.

Six presidential elections ago, the only time then-Pres. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan met for a debate was in Cleveland.

There, Reagan asked a question that has resonated since:

“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

It’s a question asked by every challenger about every incumbent, and it’s a question that should be asked today.

Four years ago, many of us were still in college at Bowling Green. Some were early into their first jobs out of college. Most had come of age politically during the Clinton administration. There was little, if any, memory of the Cold War, let alone its flare-ups in Asia. Russia was our friend. Yasser Arafat was one of the good guys. Nobody knew who Osama bin Laden was. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 12,000, and there was talk it could hit 100,000 in our lives, no small feat since it broke 2,000 for the first time in the 1980s. The World Trade Towers were the Empire State Building’s bigger, uglier stepsister.

Since then, the world has changed immeasurably. We are at war with terrorism. We are at war in Iraq. The Dow struggles to stay above 10,000. Everyone knows who Osama bin Laden is. The World Trade Towers are now a hole in the ground in lower Manhattan.

And now, waist-deep in the real world, staffers at 210west ask themselves, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Please send us your story.

Continue reading "Are You Better Off than You Were Four Years Ago?"

"I heard there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." —George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004 (Flash video of quote)

This and so many more on the About.com page dedicated to Bushisms. There are even pages for 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. There are a couple funny shots of Dubya too, like that pretzel bruise shot.

"No Excuses: Get off Your Duff and Vote!" with special guest Jerry Springer and honored guests Robin Weirauch, candidate for U.S. Congress, and Nathan Nickens, candidate for the Ohio State Senate, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, in 228 Bowen-Thompson Student Union (Multi-purpose room). Following the event, the College Democrats are sponsoring a presidential debate-watching party. The event is free and open to the public. No outside signs, please.

If you haven't seen the two commercials The Media Group are running for Ohio you can check them out here. They have a article about skyrocketing tuition in Ohio under Bush, I can attest to that one first hand. You can also watch and listen to other non-Ohio specific commercials on their home page.

We are actually running a banner on bgnews.com for this site, but I notice other bloggers linking to it as well. I noticed Slate had something like this, but the Electoral Vote Predictor is more in-depth.

In honor of the baseball playoffs, I've borrowed the metaphor of a ninth-inning rally to describe the Democrats' October comeback. In the first presidential debate, John Kerry got the lead-off hit. In the vice-presidential encounter Tuesday night, John Edwards singled him to third. I guess they substituted a pinch runner (that's the problem with metaphors), because tonight Kerry was back at the plate. It was a long at-bat, with lots of hanging sliders thrown by President Bush. Kerry fouled off a few, whiffed a couple, and struck out looking.

Source: Slate

I haven't had the time to watch the debates. They first two fell on days when I had to study for tests that were the next day. So I have been looking for commentary on the debate. But I want to hear it...

Not to fret, I have my trusty iPod. Apple has put the debates up on the iTMS for free, which is something I am sure many people are taking advantage of. I know I am. They did the same thing for the DNC and RNC as well, by the way.

You could own this nice piece of wood from the Presidential debate! What a find.

We are running a national ad on bgnews.com right now for Bush-T.org. Digital Partners does not have to tell us when a national ad campaign is running, but it was nice to allow us to opt-out if we choose because of its political nature.

The image of Bush pissing on the world is a little crude, but it is humorous. We are running the ad on the site, by the way. Our Advertising Manager didn't care for it but the Advisor green lighted it.

The site sells T-shirts for $15 and 50% of net proceeds will be donated to MoveOn.org to help Kerry defeat Bush.

So go buy a Bush-T!

(10.) They aren't debates!

"A debate is a head-to-head, spontaneous, structured argument over the merits of an issue," Rice says. "Under the ridiculous 32-page contract that reads like the rules for the Miss America Pageant, there will be no candidate-to-candidate questions, no rebuttal to your opponent's points, no cross questions or cross answers, no rebuttals, no follow-up questions -- that's not a debate, that's a news conference."

Source: NPR Via: Waxy Links

Will you be tuning in?

Everybody knows about Gutenberg, but how many people know about Stanley Morison, the legendary type designer who created Times New Roman.

Explore kerning, baselines, character widths and all the other technical considerations of modern document fraud with some of the world's leading typography authorities on Jules Siegel's Font Wars blog.

Although the reconstructed Bush Guard memos have been exposed, the search continues for the original documents that Marian Carr Knox, Killian's secretary, says she remembers typing. Today, Font Wars is looking at an authentic Pentagon memo written by George W. Bush and endorsed by Jerry B. Killian. Will the others look like this? If so, how was this document created?

As you'll see, we have contributions from Adobe's Thomas Phinney and other folks with awesome expertise in the art, technique and history of digital typography.

I'm hoping that this very specialized blog will evolve into a general gathering place for people who love type. This is all so exciting that my little heart is going pitter-pat. Kerning on the Evening News? I never thought I'd see that in my lifetime. I mean, it never even occurred to me. How could it?

#1: Wealth Inequality in 21st Century Threatens Economy and Democracy #2: Ashcroft vs. the Human Rights Law that Hold Corporations Accountable #3: Bush Administration Censors Science #4: High Levels of Uranium Found in Troops and Civilians #5: The Wholesale Giveaway of Our Natural Resources #6: The Sale of Electoral Politics #7: Conservative Organization Drives Judicial Appointments #8: Cheney's Energy Task Force and The Energy Policy #9: Widow Brings RICO Case Against U.S. government for 9/11 #10: New Nuke Plants: Taxpayers Support, Industry Profits #11: The Media Can Legally Lie #12: The Destabilization of Haiti #13: Schwarzenegger Met with Enron's Ken Lay Years Before the California Recall #14: New Bill Threatens Intellectual Freedom in Area Studies #15: U.S. Develops Lethal New Viruses #16: Law Enforcement Agencies Spy on Innocent Citizens #17: U.S. Government Represses Labor Unions in Iraq in Quest for Business Privatization #18: Media and Government Ignore Dwindling Oil Supplies #19: Global Food Cartel Fast Becoming hte World's Supermarket #20: Extreme Weather Prompts New Warning from UN #21: Forcing a World Market for GMOs #22: Censoring Iraq #23: Brazil Holds Back in FTAA Talks, But Provides Little Comfort for the Poor of South America #24: Reinstating the Draft #25: Wal-Mart Brings Inequality and Low Prices to the World Source: Project Censored.org

I found this on Jake's blog and just had to post.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspector's access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy ever for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families in wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD.

I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

• All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
• All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
• All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

Picture a typical Republican. Perhaps you see images of George Bush, John Ashcroft, Ronald Reagan, or maybe even Alex P. Keaton. Basically, many people think Republicans are a bunch of stodgy white guys with money. Times are changing... Source: Tech Central Station Thanks to Natalie for the link, it was indeed a very interesting column.

ROANOKE, Virginia (CNN) -- A volunteer adviser has quit President Bush's re-election campaign after appearing in a veterans group's television commercial blasting Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's involvement in the Vietnam-era antiwar movement. Source: CNN You gotta love the mud slinging. This specific ad campaign has got to be the worst dirty politics I can remember. And if the Bush campaign are in cahoots then hells bells.

Mike Metzger has some photos online, be sure to check them out. I got to the rally at 1 PM, I should have been there at 9 AM because at 3 PM they stopped letting people through the metal detectors, and I was still in line waiting. If I hadn't worked at the Toledo City Paper on Friday I could have gotten a BG News press pass (made specifically for the rally) and been able to get through the gate and close to the stage. Oh well. I'll take work over a press pass any day. From where I was standing, corner of Wooster and Main, I could barely see anyone speaking. They could have put up a better sound system, one that included speakers at the Wooster and Main intersection. After standing in the sun for 4 and a half hrs. I decided I had enough of the sun, and not being able to see anyone on stage, I ended up watching the Kerry speech, which started at about 4:30, on the big screen at BW3. Of course I was starving at this point so wings and a beer didn't hurt either. The abortion protesters were great. I am sorry for the people who brought there kids to the rally. If you were not through the metal detectors you could not go 5 feet without seeing someone holding up a huge poster with an aborted fetus on it. There was a small but loud showing of Bush supporters. It was fun getting into a shouting match with them screaming "4 more years" and most of the crowd yelling "3 more months." There were far more people there then expected, I heard this from a few sources Sunday. This would have worked out better at the Doyt Perry Stadium, or Anderson Arena, or outside of University Hall. All would have been better venues. But whatever, they wanted to use the downtown area as the backdrop to the stage, because it looks good. I would personally rather be able to see and hear the people speaking, but thats just me. I was not that entirely impressed. It was great to have Kerry and Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, John Glenn, etc, here to speak, but what good is it if half the audience cannot see and hardly hear? Oh well. They were here, and I was there. At least I can say that.

Join our campaign today! Fill out the form to print out your complimentary ticket(s). What: The Believe in America Tour When: Sunday, August 1, Gates open at 1:30 p.m. Where: Downtown Bowling Green, Corner of Main Street and Wooster Street At first I heard that tickets to see Kerry and Edwards were going to cost money. Of course at that time they were not even telling us where the event was going to be. At least it was just a rumor. I have my ticket, do you have yours?

The Wood County Democratic Party reported Monday that soon-to-be Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and running mate John Edwards will be visiting Bowling Green this Sunday as part of their "Believe in America" bus-train tour of the country. The place and time of the visit have yet to be determined, and will be released to the public closer to the event date. The Kerry campaign cites Wood County as an important swing area, noting that Bill Clinton's victories hinged on Northwest Ohio votes. In 2000, Vice President Gore narrowly lost Ohio and Wood County's votes, which proved to be costly. Source: BG News You can bet I will be there. We do not know how many press passes we can get yet for The BG News. We will find out Thursday or Friday I think.

LOS ANGELES - A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Sunday that the governor would not apologize for calling lawmakers "girly-men," despite criticisms from Democrats that the remark was sexist and homophobic... Source: MercuryNews.com And he shouldn't apologize! "Girly-men" is a poke of fun at himself for crying out loud. If Gov. Arnold wants to use a SNL reference that makes fun of himself in his campaign, more power to him! Folks need to take a chill.

Download the 7.4 MB 585 page Commission Report! I am sure it is a spellbinder. Hopefully it will be more informative then the Starr Report.

I finally drug myself out of the house to see “Fahrenheit 9/11” and to no surprise it was the most ridiculous grouping of lies and misinformation I have ever seen. I am convinced that the only reason it is deemed a “documentary” is because there isn't a category for “best propaganda film” at the Oscars. The film begins with the most insane take on the 2000 election. According to Moore the election was called in favor of Bush partially due to the Fox News Channel. He claims that Fox called Florida for Bush because a Bush cousin was in charge at the news desk. According to Moore, “if Fox said it, it must be true” so every other network followed suite. If one man at a news desk can swing every other network then liberals should just surrender right now. Moore excludes several facts with all of his nonsense and vast right wing conspiracy theories. The truth of the matter is every other network called Florida too soon. CBS announced 18 times that the polls were closed in Florida when in fact many polls were still open in the conservative Florida Panhandle. The other news networks discouraged the Bush vote by calling the state for Gore at only 7:49PM . Fox News waited until all votes were in and called the election at 2:16 AM. Moore also claims that if there was another recount Gore would have won. I'm not sure if Moore has been sleeping under a rock for the past 4 years, (he possibly has considering the way he dresses) but there were many recounts after the election. He won 2 recounts in democratic areas, he won the recount of absentee ballots, and he won the recount which excluded military ballots. Even Tom Daschle said it was time to move on. I'm sorry Michael, but when this very liberal member of the Senate stops the fight you aren't up the creek without a paddle, you are drowning. Other than his ridiculous look at the elections, where even leader of the Senate Al Gore couldn't get one senator to sign a protest paper for the election, Fahrenheit is full of preposterous lies and bad narration. Throughout the movie, Moore makes insane comments that would even give Phil Donahue a brain aneurysm. According to the film, on September 10th Bush “went to sleep that night, with a bed made of fine French linens.” Now how does he know this? I would love to hear his sources on the contents of Bush's bed (I'm sure it's not as exciting as the contents of Clinton 's bed). And according to Moore, Ashcroft was sworn in on a stack of bibles not because of tradition, but because “he needed all the help he can get.” His misleading narration only continues as the film goes on. He also claims that Bush is only in it for the money. According to Moore, Bush and his loosely defined “friends” have made 1.4 billion dollars because of the Saudis. So his friends who run billion dollar companies made a billion dollars, how bout dem apples? He claims that when Bush gets up in the morning he is thinking about what is best for the Saudis. If Bush only cared about money he wouldn't have run for president in the first place. If Moore is correct, Bush has been making this money for the past 10 years while not in the Oval Office, so why would he need to be president to keep making this money? Among the absurd narration, Moore attempts to make valid points about Bush's reaction to 9/11. Moore claims that after the second plane crashed Bush froze in the headlights and didn't know what to do “not knowing what to do, and no one telling him what to do” so he kept reading the book My Pet Goat to the children in a Florida school. What Michael doesn't say is that when he found out about the first plane, it was believed to be an accident, not a terror attack and the damage assessment was unknown. After the second plane hit Bush did not want to scare the children, so he waited. Moore doesn't show Bush interrupting reporters when they asked about the incident. Bush stopped the reporters from asking a question in the class room saying that he will “talk about it later,” again, trying not to scare the kids. The bulk of the movie is a lot of nonsensical information about the Laden family ties to the Bush family. What Moore almost ignores is the fact that the Laden family is not associated with Osama. Osama Bin Laden was kicked out of Saudi Arabia because of his strong disagreement with U.S. troops going to fight Iraqi troops in Kuwait (no Osama – Saddaam connection here!). The film offers one piece of information to disprove the dislike from his family. Osama and unknown family members, according to an “expert” (whose name and title was not given in the film) attended a wedding once since his exile. Good work Sherlock! Now go out and find little Timmy's missing bicycle. The possibility that Osama and unknown family members were at the same wedding after his exile does not prove that Osama is not the black sheep of the family. This is why the government allowed the family to fly out of America after 9/11. Afraid of backlash of an innocent group of Arab Americas, Bush let the Laden family members leave. The ridiculous claim that this event is comparable to a “what if” scenario where McVeigh's family is flown out of the Country is just that, ridiculous. They were not from another nation, so why would that warrant a free flight out of the country. Perhaps if McVeigh's family was from Saudi Arabia, helped run 7% or our economy, was known to be completely innocent and controlled the gas market, then flights may be reasonable. Then Moore goes on to more conspiracy theories about a Bush friend, Maj. Bath which reminded me of a bad X-Files episode. I'm sorry Mr. Moore, but not everything is run by this vast network of people with right wing ideologies. Moore claims that Bath's name was blacked out of Bush's National Guard record because Bath was in business with the Bin Laden family. A more reasonable person would realize that his name was blacked out because the papers were about Bush, not Maj. Bath. They were blacked out because the Major doesn't want idiotic fake reporters like Michael Moore, or anyone from The New York Times at his door. If this was some elaborate cover up why wasn't it censored when Moore got a copy of the papers in 2000? To keep this short, I will comment on 3 last things: Moore's view of the military, the Patriot Act and his favorite topic, wealth distribution. Moore shows footage of soldiers in war and makes up lies about the success' they are achieving. According to Moore most of the Taliban leaders are still at large claiming “Bush really didn't do much.” This is a preposterous statement considering we found almost all of the Taliban leaders, or killed them. Instead of showing Iraqi torture chambers, or mass graves, he decides to make the military look like a bunch of adrenaline junkies. War is dirty and the Marines get the job done. I'm sorry Michael, but war is a tough thing to handle emotionally especially for gut less filmmakers like yourself. The war had to be done, and those “adrenaline junkies” accomplished an amazing and heroic task. As Ann Coulter said, “we are sending in the Marines, not Washington Post Journalists.” While mocking the marines for listening to music in their tanks and doing their job he throws in false facts about WMD finds (if you still don't believe in WMD's, read this) and that Iraq has never attacked the US. Iraq has been attacking Americans for the past decade. They never obeyed the cease fire and tried on an almost weekly basis to shoot down American planes, while at the same time harboring terrorists of several groups. Not to mention he tried to assassinate Herbert Walker Bush. Moore only tends to concentrate on U.S. accidental fire of civilians rather than the amount of enemy that was eliminated. The weapons used in this war have been the best in history, minimizing civilian casualties. The Iraqi war casualties are estimated in the thousands while WWII estimates range in the millions including 19 million civilian dead in Russia and 2 million in Germany . Moore would rather have a pacifist behind the flak jacket and M16 debating the duality of man in war than actually have a Marine who can win. Imagine a Marine and an insurgent face to face, and the Marine hesitates because he is worried about bad press reports or stray bullets; guess who is going home in a body bag? Moore also claims that reporters were not allowed to take pictures of the coffins coming home. This is simply a lie. Look on my website under the Photo's section and see who is telling the truth. The ranting and raving continues as Moore goes after the Patriot Act; supposedly driving about in an ice cream truck reading the 600 page piece of legislation out loud to anyone who is dumb enough to listen to him. Much like Lincoln had to suspend Habeas Corpus in order to save the Union; Bush had to take away certain luxurious we had in order to save the US. What good are rights when no one is alive to enjoy them? Moore complains that the FBI acted wrongly and violated the rights while questioning a man who said “he [Osama] will never be as big of an asshole as Bush.” The man who said this was reported by a friend and the FBI investigated and made no arrests; I fail to see the problem. No ones rights were “trampled on,” he said a stupid thing to a group of people and they called the authorities, what right was violated? And a rant by Michael Moore would not be complete without the mention of wealth redistribution. He complains that Flint Michigan is in such bad shape, and that Bush is the terrorist for allowing people to live like this. Considering Fahrenheit made over 93 million dollars, we'll leave the wealth redistribution up to Moore. In a world of media lies and anti-Bush propagandists, I have noticed one thing; Americans (mostly Democrats and “swing voters”) will believe anything they see on a screen. While gullible people watch this movie and grow a hate for successful companies and the president, our commander will still be fighting for them to protect them from the evils of the world. While Moore is whining about aggressive Marines they will still fight so he will be safe from the threat of terror. To put a stop to the lies, I ask, Mr. Moore, at what temperature do your lies burn? Originally posted at DavesPolitics.com.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona broke forcefully with President Bush and the Senate GOP leadership Tuesday evening over the issue of same-sex marriage, taking to the Senate floor to call a constitutional amendment that would effectively ban the practice unnecessary -- and un-Republican. Source: CNN Its great to see the constitution again stands un-amended. Kerry and Edwards did not vote, but they have missed a lot of votes during the presidential campaign. The Republicans still could not get enough votes to push this forward. Mike DeWine voted Yes, George Voinovich voted Yes as well. (A "yes" vote was a vote to advance the measure and a "no" vote was a vote to stop it.) Its nice to see that one Republican out there (McCain) thought this one through.

(CNN) -- NAACP Chairman Julian Bond called on members of the nation's largest and oldest civil rights organization to boost voter turnout to help oust President Bush. Source: CNN

Last week a federal appeals court in Boston ruled that federal wiretap laws do not apply to e-mail messages if they are stored, even for a millisecond, on the computers of the Internet providers that process them - meaning that it can be legal for the government or others to read such messages without a court order. The ruling was a surprise to many people, because in 1986 Congress specifically amended the wiretap laws to incorporate new technologies like e-mail. Some argue that the ruling's implications could affect emerging applications like Internet-based phone calls and Gmail, Google's new e-mail service, which shows advertising based on the content of a subscriber's e-mail messages... Source: The New York Times This makes me feel almost as warm and fuzzy inside as the Patriot Act does. I can't believe this stuff. What happened to the Right to Privacy? I don't think this is "much ado about nothing." This might be small now, but it COULD get to be big, big like the Patriot Act.