As the sun sets on this final day before this years election commences, here are some of the stories that have caught my eye.

Campaign Premortem Postmortem - By Dante Chinni

So you want to know who's going to win, right? That makes sense, and it's only fair. You deserve something for sitting through Zell Miller's GOP convention speech and Bob Graham's monologue at the Democratic show.

Well, everyone in this town would love to tell you - it would allow them to start kissing up to the right people sooner. But the truth is, no one knows who's going to win. The 2004 campaign is different, full of complicated issues, and playing out before a divided, charged-up electorate.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1102/p08s02-codc.html

One Book, Two Book, Red Book, Blue Book - by Leonard Riggio

If you follow the sales of books closely enough, you are bound to come across a beguiling revelation or two. Here's one: the humor category is dominated by liberals and left-leaning authors. In fact, 95 percent of the sales in the political humor section comes from the left. Whether this means that conservative writers have no sense of humor, or that publishing houses fail to recognize it, is worthy of study - or even loud protest from the right.

Indeed, the right seems convinced that booksellers and publishers are trying to influence the election by publishing and prominently displaying books that attack President Bush. In stores across America, angry citizens can be found poring over book displays and tallying up the number of titles according to their political persuasion. If they don't like the mix, they run to their phones and complain to their favorite radio talk-show host. Pity the poor bookseller who gets caught in the middle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/01/opinion/01riggio.html

Judges Limit Challengers at Ohio Polls - All Things Considered

Two federal judges rule that only poll workers may challenge voter eligibility in Ohio, warning that Republican and Democratic plans would disrupt the polling process. Appeals have already been filed in the key swing state.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4137277

The Electoral College Explained - By Kristina Dell

How the vote works, how some post-election scenarios could play out — and why, for all its flaws, this is still a good system

Winston Churchill was fond of using the old saw that "democracy is the worst form of government — except for everything else." Many would say the same for the Electoral College. Get ready for its quirks and foibles to dominate the airwaves Tuesday if the election stays as close as the polls indicate. Here's a look at how it works, whom it favors and how it could influence the presidential outcome.

http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,749496,00.html

What I am thinking about the day before election day.

It is my opinion that those Americans who choose not to vote, give up the right to:

Bitch, Moan, Cry, Complain, Whine, Grumble, Criticize, Denouce, Protest, Bemoan, Boohoo, Find Fault, Snivel, Whimper, Cackle, Bellyache, Carp, Grunt, Mutter, Caterwaul, Hiss, Blubber, Refute, Squall, Sob, Lament (or any other synonym you can come up with)

Those officials or policies that the rest of us vote for (or against) and end up either in office (or not) or on the books (or not).

Some people may say that the first amendment gives us the right to freedom of speech and thus we can say anything we wish. I disagree. If you are not part of the process of democracy in this country, you are not part of this country.

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Get your ass out there and vote!

© Chuck Asay - 11/02/2004

Vote, No Matter What - NYT Editorial - 11/02/2004

Urging Americans to vote on Election Day should be a motherhood-and-apple-pie editorial topic. But nothing is simple in the post-2000 political world. We all know the difference between a swing state and one that's long been consigned to the column of sure things. If you happen to be living in Ohio or Florida, nobody has to explain why it is important for you to go to the polls today. But citizenship is more complicated in places like New York and California, or Utah and Georgia, where electoral votes were all but conceded by last spring.

Still, every vote counts. Including the ones that already feel counted.

On the presidential level, the popular vote really does matter, despite the Electoral College. Those of us in the deep-dyed blue or red states vote to register our bit of the national will, to help confer a mandate on our chosen candidate or withhold one should the other side triumph. We vote because the very act of turning out shows that we believe that this election is critically important, and we don't want to give even the slightest impression that it doesn't matter to us who wins.

We vote because the rest of the world has become disillusioned enough about the American political process. If people can ride donkeys over mountains in Afghanistan to choose among the decidedly imperfect candidates they were offered last month in their first democratic election, we can stand in line and force election officials to make sure our vote is recorded. And if people can find the location of their voting place in Kandahar, we can call up the board of elections or go on the Web to make sure we're heading for the right site here.

And once we find the right polling place, we're going to vote to make sure that our election officials are doing their job properly and to reassure the shocking numbers of our fellow Americans, especially first-time voters or minorities, who believe they will be prevented from casting a ballot or that it will not be counted. Here in New York, for instance, we have seen plenty of evidence that it is only the wide margins in most races that have been saving the state's creaky voting system from a meltdown that would make Florida look like Athens in the age of Pericles. If we start complaining now, perhaps we can fix things before it's too late.

We're going to vote because in many places there are other matters - ballot propositions, state legislative races, Congressional contests - that deserve our attention.

And even if all of those contests seem like foregone conclusions as well, we can vote to send a message. An incumbent state legislator who is used to getting 70 percent of the vote every year will feel a thrill of terror if this season's opponent comes within 10 percent, and may well be inspired to try to improve the political status quo that's causing dissatisfaction.

Most of all, we're going to vote because this is our country, our election, our national future. It's not possible to make up enough rules or roadblocks to discourage us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/02/opinion/02tue1.html

- Jeff Danziger - 11/03/2004

Welcome to the Year of the Voter - by Peter Grier

Highest turnout since 1968 produced two-hour lines - and talk of a new era of engagement.

If nothing else, the election of 2004 may be remembered as The Year of the Lines.

Fired by partisan passion, a greater percentage of US voters appeared to have cast ballots than at any time since 1968 - and if you were a resident of a swing state, sometimes all those people seemed to be waiting in front of you.

Waits were an hour, or two, or five. Volunteers passed out cookies, line-mates made friends, children turned crowded precinct rooms into impromptu playgrounds.

Some people waited in lines at airports, so they could fly home to wait in line to vote. Some brought no work, or nothing to read, and grabbed discarded newspapers eagerly, and were disappointed when they found the crossword puzzle already done.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1104/p03s01-ussc.html

© Ann Telnaes - 11/03/2004

Tony Blair is urging European leaders to wake up from their "state of denial" over President Bush's re-election.

"America has spoken. The rest of the world should listen," the prime minister says in an interview with The Times newspaper, published on Friday.

BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3984329.stm

The election of President Bush is an event of genuine significance right around the world. It is of special significance for Britain. America and the UK have a unique bond through our shared history and tradition.

President Bush's re-election comes at a critical time. A world that is fractured and uncertain must be brought together.

The need to revitalise the Middle East peace process is the single most pressing political challenge in our world today.

- Tony Blair, British Prime Minister

In the name of France and for my own personal part, I would like to express my heartiest congratulations for your re-election.

It is in a spirit of dialogue, esteem and mutual respect that our co-operation must continue to evolve, our common fight against terrorism and the joint actions which we are engaged in to promote liberty and democracy must continue to develop.

We can only find satisfactory solutions to the numerous challenges with which we are confronted today through a close transatlantic partnership.

- Jacques Chirac, French President

Both China and the United States are great countries and share a wide range of common interests and basis for co-operation.

I look forward to continuing to work together with you to further promote the development of the constructive co-operative relations between China and the United States.

- Hu Jintao, Chinese President

The world stands before great challenges at the beginning of your second term: international terrorism, the danger of weapons of mass destruction, regional crises - but also poverty, climate change and epidemics threaten our security and stability.

These challenges can only be mastered together.

I will continue the good and close co-operation that we have. This is in the interests of the United States as well as those of Germany and Europe.

- Gerhard Schroeder, German Chancellor

Together, Europe and the United States face many critical challenges in the years ahead. As in the past, our best hope for success lies in common action.

- Javier Solana, EU foreign affairs chief

The United States and the European Union are linked by strong cultural, economic and political ties, and by our shared values. This makes us each other's natural and indispensable partners.

- Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch Prime Minister and EU President

I've known Mr Bush for four years as a rational and persistent man.

I think international terrorism had a goal of frustrating Mr Bush's victory in the election, and Bin Laden's statement in the final phase of the US presidential race showed it in bold relief.

I can only feel joy that the American people did not allow ithemelves to be intimidated, and made the most sensible decision.

- Vladimir Putin, Russian President

I am pleased to congratulate you on your re-election as US president for a second term.

We hope that Mr Bush's new administration, together with the European Union, can bring influence to bear to arrive at a peaceful development in the [Middle East] region.

- Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian President

President Arafat welcomed Bush's victory and voiced the hope that his new mandate and the confidence placed in him by the American people will give new momentum to the Middle East peace process.

- Mohammed Rashid, aide to Yasser Arafat

My warm congratulations to President Bush on his re-election after a difficult ballot, whose outcome was far from sure.

As the country's leader in the most dramatic time of its history, he has had to deal with the horrifying onslaught of terrorism.

I hope his second term will see the United States and the whole world enjoy the political stabilisation and the guarantee of collective security we have all done our utmost to ensure.

- Romano Prodi, European Commission President

He symbolises America's best traditions: the love of freedom, optimism, individualism, a liberal economic environment and conservative values that are also close to my heart.

- Vaclav Klaus, Czech President

Whoever wins will be our friend. The United States liberated us from a dictator from a very long period of war and agony. We will always be grateful to America for what it has done and continues to do.

- Iyad Allawi, interim Prime Minister of Iraq

The continuation of Bush in American politics makes things easier for us.

As for international policy, Bush will continue with the policy that assigns the United States the role of defender and promoter of freedom and democracy.

- Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister

Mr Kerry would have been a very friendly president to Israel as he proved to be for a long time in the Senate. Now that Mr Bush is elected, we are very happy and we congratulate the American people for their choice.

- Ehud Olmert, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister

From our point of view, the Bush administration is a known quantity.

We've had a very good relationship with them the last four years. I'm sure we'll be able to keep building on that over the next four.

But, look, frankly, if Senator Kerry somehow miraculously comes through here or if in any case he had been elected, we would have worked pretty well with them as well.

- Alexander Downer, Australian Foreign Minister

I would like to express the desire of the Spanish government to contribute to a relationship based on efficient and constructive co-operation with the government of the United States, with President Bush.

- Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister

I am a little bit apprehensive because the first term of Bush, he had come in as a lame duck.

Now it appears as if he is winning very convincingly. To me, I think we are going to see more dictatorship on an international scale. We are going to see more extremism come out of there.

We are going to see even more isolationism where America will not bother about the United Nations. To me that is a very sad affair.

- Moody Awori, Kenyan Vice-President

From the point of view of Poland's interests, further co-operation with George W Bush is good news. I hope that this will also mean increased activity in bilateral affairs, as they lacked sufficient engagement.

- Aleksander Kwasniewski, Polish President

We will hope that in this second mandate we can improve our relations.

We are dancing the tango. When you are dancing the tango and your toe is stepped on, hurting your toe, you complain. If it is stepped on harder, you complain again. There's a whole game, but we are prepared to continue dancing the tango.

- Jesus Perez, Venezuelan Foreign Minister

iPods Dirty Secret

I have an iPod and really enjoy it. I use it daily on my bike commutes to work and home.

The unlucky think is, I did not do my homework and didn't realize that the battery is not replaceable. You should get about a 18 to 24 month life time from the battery. I nice little scam that Apple is running to get users to buy new iPod's.

I have added a slideshow of sunset photos I have taken recently.

Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has hinted he could miss this year's race. Armstrong has not competed since his last Tour win and opted to miss out on the Olympics in Athens, leading to speculation over his long-term future.

And he told l'Equipe newspaper: "Honestly, I don't know whether I'll be at the start of the Tour.

"This year, I achieved a dream. I won a sixth Tour and I made history. Now it's time to try something else."

Armstrong's team boss Johan Bruyneel earlier said the Texan's chances of going for win number seven were a "50-50 possibility".

But Armstrong said: "There are a lot of other things I'd like to accomplish on a bike before I retire. And I tell myself 2005 could be the right time to give it a try.

"I prefer for it to be flexible for I want to be free to decide at any given time about my participation in any given race.

"If it's the Tour, then I'll make a decision when it suits me. It'll be the same for Paris-Roubaix."

From: BBC Sport

This is the Fight of Our Lives

by Bill Moyers
Keynote speech
Inequality Matters Forum
New York University
June 3, 2004

There's no question about it: The corporate conservatives and their allies in the political and religious right are achieving a vast transformation of American life that only they understand because they are its advocates, its architects, and its beneficiaries. In creating the greatest economic inequality in the advanced world, they have saddled our nation, our states, and our cities and counties with structural deficits that will last until our children's children are ready for retirement, and they are systematically stripping government of all its functions except rewarding the rich and waging war.

And they are proud of what they have done to our economy and our society. If instead of practicing journalism I was writing for Saturday Night Live, I couldn't have made up the things that this crew have been saying. The president's chief economic adviser says shipping technical and professional jobs overseas is good for the economy. The president's Council of Economic Advisers report that hamburger chefs in fast food restaurants can be considered manufacturing workers. The president's Federal Reserve Chairman says that the tax cuts may force cutbacks in social security - but hey, we should make the tax cuts permanent anyway. The president's Labor Secretary says it doesn't matter if job growth has stalled because "the stock market is the ultimate arbiter."

You just can't make this stuff up. You have to hear it to believe it. This may be the first class war in history where the victims will die laughing.

But what they are doing to middle class and working Americans -- and to the workings of American democracy -- is no laughing matter. Go online and read the transcripts of Enron traders in the energy crisis four years ago, discussing how they were manipulating the California power market in telephone calls in which they gloat about ripping off "those poor grandmothers." Read how they talk about political contributions to politicians like "Kenny Boy" Lay's best friend George W. Bush. Go on line and read how Citigroup has been fined $70 Million for abuses in loans to low-income, high risk borrowers - the largest penalty ever imposed by the Federal Reserve. A few clicks later, you can find the story of how a subsidiary of the corporate computer giant NEC has been fined over $20 million after pleading guilty to corruption in a federal plan to bring Internet access to poor schools and libraries. And this, the story says, is just one piece of a nationwide scheme to rip off the government and the poor.

Let's face the reality: If ripping off the public trust; if distributing tax breaks to the wealthy at the expense of the poor; if driving the country into deficits deliberately to starve social benefits; if requiring states to balance their budgets on the backs of the poor; if squeezing the wages of workers until the labor force resembles a nation of serfs -- if this isn't class war, what is?

It's un-American. It's unpatriotic. And it's wrong.

Please read the whole speech: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0616-09.htm

Tony Auth - 11/07/2004

Here are three urgent issues that need your help.

Please let your representatives in Washington D.C. know that you care about our planet and all the life that lives on it.

Protect Our National Forests

Save the Clean Water Act

Save the Clean Air Act

Thank You, Peter

Signe Wilkinson - 11/09/2004

We plant merit with our minds, and we commit crimes with our minds. With our minds, we imprint images. This one mind is like an artist. It can draw anything, and what it draws is realized. If you surrender your impressions, ideas, thoughts, and so on at the moment they arise without imprinting them on your mind, your minds will not be tainted, just as the lotus flower is not tainted by the muddy water whence it grows.

-Jae Woong Kim, "Polishing The Diamond"

© Chuck Asay - 11/16/2004

Tom Toles - 11/16/2004

A survey prepared for the Economist magazine's "World in 2005" publication listed what it considered will be the best places to live in 2005. The survey looked at income, health, freedom, unemployment, family life, climate and political stability.

1. Ireland
2. Switzerland
3. Norway
4. Luxembourg
5. Sweden
6. Australia
7. Iceland
8. Italy
9. Denmark
10. Spain

Where, you may ask, is the U.S.A.? Well it came in 13th place!

Hmmm, I guess those 7 items looked at aren't so good in the land of opportunity.

According to a survey by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio university:

• 13% answered "no" when asked, "Do you and your family plan to have a special gathering for a meal this Thanksgiving?"
• 16% predict "this Thanksgiving will be the happiest you've ever celebrated."
• 18% said it will be "not as happy as in the past."
• 9% in survey, mostly women, said they find the day "a stressful time."
• 86% said they "generally look forward to Thanksgiving."

I caught the Sonia Dada and Bodeans show last night at the Denver Fillmore Auditorium. It was an amazing show. Because the show was on a Saturday night, the bands where able to play later than usual. The Bodeans played till 9:20 and Sonia Dada played from about 10:00 to 12:45. A good long night of hot music in snowy Colorado.

It was the first time I have seen either band. The Bodeans where good, but I was blown away by Sonia Dada. We where camped out just in front of the sound and light boards so the sound and views where excellent. Sonia Dada was just tight all night long. From the singing to the instrument solos, it was a breathtaking show. I have to say including Pink Floyd's "Wish You Where Here" and Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" in the encores definitely sealed the deal.

If you ever get the chance, go see Sonia Dada, it is worth it

Found this review on the Soniadada site and wanted to pass it alongto those of you who care. Jackie writes so much better that I can.

I attended the Church of Sonia dada for the 25th time Saturday night at Denver's Fillmore Auditorium and left with heart and spirits soaring. After a fine warm-up by the Bodeans, Sd took the stage at 10:00 and rocked the house for almost 3 hours. (It was a real warm-up - the Bodeans walked out on a chilly stage at 8:00, and by the time Sd left it almost 5 hours later, the temperature had risen about 40 degrees in the room, and they weren't burning any fossil fuels!) They mixed up favorites from everything but Barefoot Soul, did two very fine new tunes, and the two covers mentioned from previous shows, ending with Jungle. // Scotty was in rare form, displaying even more energy and individuality than usual, and had the crowd howling on a drawn-out intro to "I'm Gone." Maybe it was a nice long nap that had him so pumped ... or maybe the mighty fine photo of him that now graces the Wall of Fame at the Fillmore, taken during their 9/28/01 show there... // It's always fun watching first-timers, and this time it was a security guard in front of the stage. He admitted he didn't know who "Sonia" was before the show, but when we told him he'd be rocked by the band, he said he had to maintain his tough-guy pose during the show. Ha! He was bouncing and grinning before the second song ended! He also told us he'd never seen the Fillmore so packed. Word has it they sold 300 more tickets than the fire department knew about. // After so many gigs, I'm still amazed by the complexity of the songs, the intertwining of voices, the skill of the musicians. I mean, it would be one thing to be a singer/songwriter, writing a ditty for your own voice and your own guitar. But to put together a tune for these three phenomenal voices and world class musicians is a whole 'nother story. I'd love to witness the studio evolution of a new song from Dan: who takes the lead, where does it change, who backs whom... Now, that would be a treat! Rock on, guys, and thanks for being so good to us in Denver. Jackie.

Stuart Carlson - 11/22/2004

Yep, I guess hockey would be less violent, especially now that the NHL isn't playing.

At least here in Denver, Altitude Sports channel is showing "Classic" Avalanche games on weekends.

What I really need to do is get by butt to a Denver Pioneer game. College hockey, now that is a good game!

Found this article on the BBC this morning and just had to snicker when I read it. They may have a point, but warning labels. If those who drive them really cared about the environment, they would drive something else. At least that is what I believe. And when I drive, what do I drive you may ask, an old beat-up Honda Civic. Though, mostly, I travel by bicycle.

Four-wheel-drive vehicles, those rugged beasts designed for the open hillside but more commonly found doing the city school run, are so polluting and dangerous that they should carry a cigarette packet-style health warning.

That is the view of UK think tank the New Economics Foundation, which outlines its arguments about the vehicles - also known as Sports Utility Vehicles - in the magazine New Statesman.

"They're really Satan's little run-around," NEF's policy director Andrew Simms told BBC News.

"They make an entirely unnecessary contribution to one of the biggest environmental problems we face - global warming - and there's a huge and unacknowledged health crisis which results from vehicle emissions."

According to the World Health Organisation, vehicle emissions are responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths in western Europe alone each year.

The agency also ascribes around 150,000 deaths globally each year to climate change.

Read the whole article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4043959.stm

Chicago has come up with an interesting way to raise money for its art and cultural programs. Other citys, school boards and charities use ebay all the time, but what is unique about Chicago is "the money is being directed back to specific city programs, and the city is both contributing items and encouraging residents to donate"

The article: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-ebay26.html

Be sure to chech out the website for the auction and see all the items they will be auctioning off. www.thegreatchicagofiresale.org

They never, ever called themselves "Pilgrims." The "First Thanksgiving" in 1621 - actually a secular, three-day harvest festival held sometime between September 21 and November 11 - was the only Thanksgiving they ever celebrated. They dressed in earth-tones, not black and white, nor did they wear buckles on their shoes. They probably dined on wild turkey, venison, seafood, Indian cornmeal, stewed pumpkin, nuts and plums, but there was no ham, no mashed potatoes, no corn on the cob, pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce to be had. Thanksgiving didn't become a national holiday until President Abraham Lincoln declared it so in 1863.

Read More: http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/thanksgivinglore/

The Richie Bush comic book cartoon, that you see above, is kind of like a movie poster for the video by Peter Kuper. The video is via Slate's Daryl Cagle.

Hope you enjoy it

6.3 Billion: Number of barrels of oil expected to be recovered from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if drilling is approved there. That's worth more than $30 billions to companies after development costs, taxes and royalties. And that's a conservative tally; some estimates range as high as 16 billion barrels.

1 cent: Estimated drop in the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump in the U.S. due to drilling in the refuge, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Source: Bloomberg News

Kind of makes you wonder why President Bush is so eager to let the oil industry pillage our protected lands. Who is he really thinking about, us or big business? Makes for a pretty easy question!

Found this image on my computer and just had to use it on the desktop. A classic with a classic.

Desktop Images

While going through the storage unit today I came across these Ukrainian Easter Eggs. They where made by Aka Pereyma. I have created a slide show to show the detail a tad better.

The Ukrainian pysanka (from the word pysaty, to write) was believed to possess an enormous power not only in the egg itself, which harbored the nucleus of life, but also in the symbolic designs and colors which were drawn upon the egg in a specific manner, according to prescribed rituals. The intricately colored eggs were used for various social and religious occasions and were considered to be a talisman, a protector against evil, as well as harbingers of good. With the arrival of Christianity the symbolism evolved to include cruciform symbols and representation of Our Lady. Thus, pysankas are messengers of life, the life of this worlds and life eternal as we perceive it in the Incarnation and Redemption.

Pretty cool if you ask me