] Were Dean the nominee, the Bush campaign would probably
] be going after him not as a flip-flopper but as a lefty.
] Lefty isn't exactly a term of endearment. But at least it
] evokes issues rather than character. Character debates
] sank Al Gore and threaten to sink John Kerry now. A
] debate about issues, on the other hand — especially the
] biggest issue of all, Iraq — is something Democrats
] could win.

[ A good, if pointless, article on the hypothetical of Dean being the nominee rather than Kerry. -k]

TIME.com Print Page: TIME Magazine -- If Howard Dean Were the Candidate ...

] The main culprit, according to the study's authors, is
] not so much sprawl all by itself as the circular
] dependence on the automobile that both creates and is
] created by urban creep.
]
] What remained constant in the more sprawling areas was
] the amount of time people spend in their cars, the number
] of drive-through fast-food meals they eat and the fact
] that, after they have done all that, they have neither
] the time nor the place to do the one thing that makes
] most people healthier.
]
] They can't go for a walk.

[ Your city is killing you slowly. I want to see the actual study results though. If only to check out the top of the list... -k]

Driven to death

] Voters-rights advocates are criticizing two recent
] decisions by Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell
] that they say will unfairly limit some people's ability
] to vote Nov. 2. Blackwell's office has told county boards
] of elections to follow strictly two provisions in Ohio
] election law:
]
]
] * One requires Ohio voter registration cards be
] printed on thick, 80-pound stock paper.
]
] * The other ordered boards to strictly interpret the
] rules regarding provisional ballots, the ones cast by
] voters who move before the election but are still
] registered in Ohio.
]
]
] The paper-stock issue is frustrating Montgomery County
] Board of Elections officials, who have a backlog of
] registrations to complete. If they get an Ohio voter
] registration card on paper thinner than required, they
] are mailing a new card out to the voter. But if they
] still have the backlog by the registration deadline, Oct.
] 4, voters will not have another chance to get their
] correct paperwork in, said Steve Harsman, deputy director
] of the Montgomery County board. In Montgomery County
] there is a backlog of around 4,000 registrations, Harsman
] said. A few hundred could be affected by this provision,
] he said.

[ I won't go so far as to say it's partisan or conspiratorial without knowing a lot more, but it is complete bullshit. Since when is the state's interest in having a particular weight of paper for a document (regardless of the motivation behind such a rule) greater than the right to vote? Gimme a break. -k]

MyDD :: Holy Fucking Jim Crow

] "This brave man came to our country to talk about how
] he's risking his life for a free Iraq, which helps
] America," Bush said at a campaign event in battleground
] Wisconsin. "And Senator Kerry held a press conference and
] questioned Mr. Allawi's credibility. You can't lead this
] country if your ally in Iraq feels like you question his
] credibility."

[ A.) No, he didn't come here for that. He came here to say the things you asked him to, regarding how awesome Iraq is, otherwise, he wouldn't have been invited. B.) Bullshit. Running america does not hinge on wether the Iraqi governor specifically thinks you like him or not. That's asinine. C.) If trying to make a general point about not being able to govern effectively while ignoring or marginalizing your allies, then, yes, good one Mr. Pres., but that's one of the main reasons we don't like you, as it turns out, so, please, meet kettle. D.) Kerry didn't even insult the guy... all he said is that Allawi's painting a picture that doesn't seem consistent with either his previous statements or the reality we're hearing from those news sources still trying to be honest. So, ok, he questioned the guy's credibility... but the guy was making shit up, so isn't that precisely the correct thing to do?

Yet again the Bush camp manages to frame things with negative sounding terminology to cover up the fact that their opponent is correct. Questioning the credibility of someone who is demonstrably not credible is categorically proper behavior. And then Cheney comes out and says Kerry showed a "complete lack of respect" for the guy on the basis of some very benign comments. It's fucking unreal. -k]

Yahoo! News - Bush: Kerry Wrongly Questions Allawi

] A British company claims to have found the "holy grail"
] of the nuclear energy industry - a solution to the
] problem of radioactive waste disposal.
]
] Amec, the London company that cleaned up Ground Zero in
] New York and rebuilt the Pentagon after the September 11
] attacks, says that its latest process will enable nuclear
] waste to be stored safely for 200,000 years - longer than
] the radioactivity will last.

[ It's basically a refinement of the vitrification process we've all seen before, but it appears to provide a much longer term solution for less money. This, and new, safer reactor designs (pebble beds) may really help us out of the peak oil bind, but I still think solar will end up being the best long term energy source. -k]

Telegraph | News | British firm finds the nuclear industry's 'holy grail'

] We report a reversible liquid-solid transition upon
] heating of a simple solution composed of a-cyclodextrine
] (alpha-CD), water, and 4-methylpyridine. These solutions
] are homogeneous and transparent at ambient temperature
] and solidify when heated to temperatures between 45° and
] 75°. Quasielastic and elastic neutron scattering show
] that molecular motions are slowed down in the solid and
] that crystalline order is established. The solution
] "freezes on heating." This process is fully reversible,
] on cooling the solid melts. A rearrangement of hydrogen
] bonds is postulated to be responsible for the observed
] phenomenon.

...Dude.

[ seriously. that's crazy. -k]

A Liquid that Goes Solid when Heated

] If you've ever seen a smack-head handcuffed to a bed
] gibbering uncontrollably because he can't get a fix, then
] be afraid, because that's what you'll look like after two
] weeks of internet-free cold turkey.
]
] That, at least, is according to an "Internet Deprivation
] Study" carried out by Yahoo! and advertising outfit OMD.
] Participants in the human experiment were deprived of the
] web for 14 days, and found themselves quickly succumbing
] to "withdrawal and feelings of loss, frustration and
] disconnectedness". The reason for the rapid collapse of
] their universe is - say the researchers - because
] "internet users feel confident, secure and empowered. The
] internet has become, to some, the ultimate symbol of
] modernity to the point that participants were hobbled
] without convenient access to routine information like
] maps and telephone numbers.

[ There's a somewhat scary level of truth to this. -k]

Internet junkies in chilling cold turkey experiment | The Register

] The time to reassert the right of the American people to
] instruct the court through the Legislative and Executive
] branches has come. America is a free nation and it is the
] duty of those who would represent the American people to
] find mechanisms for our generation which block activist
] judges from stripping us of the freedoms and values we
] believe in.

I used to like Newt Gingrich. Always saw him as a forward thinking, libertarian sort of Republican. I was wrong. He is regressive. He just flushed any respect I ever had. Its gone.

There is absolutely no element of the Republican's anti-constitutional platform that "preserves freedoms." Not one element. They want to censor the media, they want to harrass gays, they want to ban abortions (despite their supposed emphasis on healthy families), they want to force everyone in the country to practice their religion and recognize their god, they want to imprison people for protesting the government.

How dare he evoke Thomas Jefferson in the context of attempting to establish a Conservative Christian government! Thomas Jefferson was the foremost advocate of the separation of church and state! Thomas Jefferson is the reason that the Conservative Christian adgenda is illegal!

[ I've never liked Newt Gingrich, but this is beyond the fucking pale. Let's abolish checks and balances, ok? Who needs 'em. This is just absurd. And don't doubt that this gets a big jingoistic spin on the campaign trail as a measure to protect the pledge and preserve our heritage or some other fucking crap like that. I can't even believe this isn't a joke. Pure FUCKING rage. -k]

Runaway courts - The Washington Times: Editorials/OP-ED - September 23, 2004

] "Two million people who fought in World War II and lived
] through the Great Depression die every year. That
] generation has been an exception in US history, because
] it has defended anti-American policies. They voted for
] the creation of the welfare state and for obligatory
] military service. They are the Democratic base, and they
] are dying."

[ He denies having said it of course, but it's not like he's known for his nuance. What a lunatic. -k]

Grover Norquist en Espanol - Did he really say good riddance to World War II veterans?

[ "So check out a BRADLEY, the FAMILY assault vehicle." Hehe. -k]

Doonesbury@Slate - Daily Dose