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Sunday, October 31, 2004

Powell says we're losing in Iraq Powell says we're losing in Iraq: " Holy shit. From the upcoming issue of Newsweek: But the truth is, neither party is fully reckoning with the reality of Iraq—which is that the insurgents, by most accounts, are winning. Even Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general who stays in touch with the Joint Chiefs, has acknowledged this privately to friends in recent weeks, NEWSWEEK has learned. " (Via AMERICAblog.) 4:17:18 PM  Permalink  comment []

Spitzer Goes Hunting for His Next Trophy Spitzer Goes Hunting for His Next Trophy: "As investigations pile up, Aon, one of the world's largest insurance brokers, may be next in the crosshairs." (Via The New York Times > Business.) Our next Attorney General? Seems like a big step up for us! 3:43:46 PM  Permalink  comment []

Even if the American electorate... Even if the American electorate votes this regime out of power, will the vottes be counted that way? This story from Snopes really makes you wonder: Yesterday a friend voted early at a polling location in Austin. She voted straight Democratic. When she did the final check, lo and behold every vote was for the Democratic candidates except that it showed she had voted for Bush/Cheney for president/vice pres. She immediately got a poll official. On her vote, it was corrected. She called the Travis County Democratic headquarters. They took all her information, and told her that she wasn't the first to report a similar incident and that they are looking into it. So check before you leave the polling booth, and if anything is wrong, get it corrected immediately. Report any irregularities to your local Democratic headquarters. Make sure you pass this along to your friends ... hopefully this is all over the airwaves by tomorrow ... It's funny, but Snopes declares that the story is true, then while giving an apparently accurate technical explanation for what happened, seems to me to jump to a conclusion that things are OK. Even if these machines have been taken out of service, the experience doesn't give one any confidence that all the other machines are therefor OK. It's really troubling. 2:55:24 PM  Permalink  comment []

The Khmer Rouge have turned into Christian evangelicals. Via Bruce Sterling this amazing story about former members of the Khmer Rouge -- responsible for millions deaths in the 70s -- becoming fundamentalist Christians! 2:34:36 PM  Permalink  comment []

Could be a great day I don't know anymore than what I read in the papers and online, but I'm starting to be optimistic that Tuesday could be a day when Americans reject fear, privilege, superstition, incompetence, secrecy and hatred of the truth to oust this detested presidency. I'm always an optimist, and in the long run have a lot of faith this country's voters. 2:05:38 PM  Permalink  comment []

National Geographic: Was Darwin wrong? National Geographic: Was Darwin wrong?: "National Geographic: Was Darwin wrong? - No." (Via LaughingMeme's MLPs.) 1:37:43 PM  Permalink  comment []

Li(v)e Girls They'll say anything... This campaign from time to time has produced some great videos. But this is the best! 1:35:24 PM  Permalink  comment []

Arkham House: Home to Horror, Sci-Fi Writers Arkham House: Home to Horror, Sci-Fi Writers: "After horror writer H.P. Lovecraft died in 1937, his friends founded a publishing house to preserve his legacy. Obscure but influential, Arkham House gave sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury and others their first big break. Wisconsin Public Radio's Brian Bull reports." (Via NPR's Weekend Edition - Sunday.) Very nice little piece, unexpected and much appreciated. Well worh the listen. 1:20:45 PM  Permalink  comment []

Tsk Tsk The New York Times is all Tsk Tsk about an epidemic of No Limit Texas Hold 'Em which is, apparently, reaching down in the middle schools. The game they describe sounds like my regular game, except we wrap it up at 2 am instead of 11 pm, and we have a number of great female players. (In fact, the time I came in 3rd the two who beat me were women.) Do you know where your high school kids are at night? If the answer is yes, chances are it's because they're poring over poker hands, practicing their dead man's stares, and aping the big timers on ESPN sitting there with dark glasses and million-dollar piles of chips at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. This all seems pretty harmless to me; if these kids were betting the titles to moms and dads houses, it's be different, but they're playing tournaments with $5 or $10 buyins (my regular game is $20). So how much can they lose for an evening's entertainment? The Times also realizes that it's not a big deal: Certainly, most high school students don't see playing poker for $5 or $10 a night as a huge moral issue. "It's like a secret club being a teenager," [parent Daryl Westfall] said. "As long as we don't have to create a new 12-step program for teenage poker players, let's be happy they're doing something. I'm not going to worry until they're booking Las Vegas junkets through East Hampton High." "I worry about sexually transmitted diseases and drug abuse a lot more than I worry about gambling," he said. "I really don't think the sky is falling with Texas Hold 'Em. My parents' generation said the Beatles would be the beginning of the end. I don't think it really led to all that much trouble." 12:40:15 PM  Permalink  comment []

Perverse Incentives Perverse Incentives: " According to the Bush campaign, "anything that makes people nervous about their personal safety helps Bush." Are people who think this way likely to improve, or degrade the personal safety of the American people? It's a question that, I think, answers itself. UPDATE: Senator McCain says the video was "very helpful to the president." Again, can a group of people who believe the continued existence of the threat is vital to their political viability be relied upon to eliminate -- or even reduce -- the threat? " (Via matthew.) 12:15:49 PM  Permalink  comment []

© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.