2008 in Review

NY Budget Hits Saranac Lake School District

Governor Patterson's proposed NY state budget appears to be hitting the Saranac Lake school district very hard. The governor's proposal would result in a decrease in State aid of almost one million dollars to the Saranac Lake school district.

"Like our Superintendent Gerry Goldman said, this amount of money is not going to be made up by curtailing field trips and turning off the lights," Kilroy said.

This is exactly right. Unfortunately, the hit could have been lessened if the school board had insisted on a higher health insurance contribution in the recently approved teachers contract.

In a concession to the district, employees' contributions toward their health plans have increased. A single plan will rise from $150 a year to $375. A family plan will increase from $250 to $750.

There is a concession for you....contributing 35-42 dollars a month for health insurance. That's a contribution of about 6-8% tops. Most employees I'm aware of are contributing far more than 15-20% for their healthcare. What if the employees has been asked to contribute 15-20%? How much savings would the District and taxpayers have seen then?

Yes, the hit from the State is a big one. Maybe even an unfair one. But demanding a larger contribution from district employees for their healthcare would lessened the hit dramatically.

Merry Christmas, Baby

Rove Advice to Obama

Advice to President-elect Obama from the turd blossom:

Less obvious is how to create a White House where forceful debate can take place. Plain speaking, straight talk, and dissent must be encouraged, with participants thoroughly prepared, ideas offered with deference for opposing views, and colleagues not subjected to self-serving leaks.

Too bad he didn't give the same advice to the current President.

Something GW Bush is Good At?

Dodging shoes! That was an excellent dodge - both times. I'm a bit surprised how long it took the secret service to react.

GOP - Party of Herbert Hoover

Looks like any auto bailout deal is dead thanks to three idealist republican senators: Corker, Shelby, and DeMint. These three guys wanted pay cuts for unionized auto workers to take place next year rather than in 2011 when their contract expires.

Featherbrain Jim DeMint has actually predicted "more" riots if an auto bailout deal is passed.

“We’re going to have riots. There are already people rioting because they’re losing their jobs when everybody else is being bailed out. The fairness of it becomes more and more evident as we go along. The auto companies may be hurting,” he said, but “there are very few companies that aren’t hurting and they’re going to hurt. We don’t have enough money to bail everyone out.”

I keep a pretty close eye on the news, but I must have missed those riots that have already occurred. By DeMint's logic, the more people that lose their jobs, the less likely it is that they will riot because they unfairly lost their job. That sums up republican logic.

So we can look forward to a huge downturn in the stock markets today thanks to three guys who think believe cutting wages is the answer to saving our economy. It's a mystery why the rest of the republican congress went along with this madness - even G.W. Bush was in favor of this bailout. Dick Cheny, for gods sake, said "if we don't do this we will be known as the party of Herbert Hoover forever".

So, if we take the leaders of GM and Chrysler at their word, in a few weeks tens of thousands of auto workers and people who work for auto supply companies will be out of work. This should be great for the economy. But then again, republicans will have taught union members something about personal responsibility. I guess this is one way of busting unions and helping cut costs for big business.

It appears that only big finance companies and banks are worthy of being saved. Looks like Bush will need to use some of that $700 billion to save US automakers.

Illinois Scandal Will "Dog" Obama

Here is our liberal press:

President-elect Barack Obama hasn't even stepped into office and already a scandal — not of his own making — is threatening to dog him.

Obama isn't accused of anything. But the fact that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat, has been charged with trying to sell Obama's now-vacant Senate post gives political opponents an opening to criticize him. A slew of questions remain. The investigation is still under way. And the ultimate impact on Obama is far from certain.

Yep, Obama isn't accused of anything. US Attorney Fitzgerald has stated as much. But our liberal press, who is in the pocket of Obama is going to dog Obama about the Blagojevich scandal. Afterall, Obama is from Illinois, so he must be in on the senate-seat selling scandal.

We can all hope that more of the liberal media goes bankrupt in the coming months.

Good-Bye George

We are only 12 hours away from only 40 days and 40 nights of the G.W. Bush presidency.

Tuesday's Big News - Almost

The big news yesterday, before Gov. Blog was arrested, was the report of the success of a new malaria vaccine.

The studies, published online Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine, were reported at a New Orleans meeting of tropical medicine researchers and were hailed as a significant breakthroughin the fight against one of the most intractable and deadly infectious diseases.

The paper, if you are interested in reading the actual results, is here.

Let's look at the headline of this report in FP Passport. The headline claims "New malaria vaccine more than 50 percent effective". Ok, so what does "effective" mean? Most vaccines that we get provide what is often called sterile immunity. They prevent occurence of a disease. For example, get vaccinated against the polio or measles virus and you most likely will never become infected with polio or measles.

This malaria vaccine does not provide sterile immunity. It is best described as an anti-disease vaccine. You still become infected, but with fewer parasite-infected red blood cells. This means you might suffer less severe symptoms of malaria. Also, a lower parasite burden may allow for a more effective immune response against the remaining parasites.

So why doesn't the new vaccine (it was actually designed in the late 1980's) provide sterile immunity? It's because of the malaria parasite's life cycle.



Parasites injected into the bloodstream of a host (you) rapidly penetrate liver cells - they become intracellular. The vaccine, RTS, S (with an adjuvant), specifically targets the mosquito-injected stage of the parasite called a sporozoite. The sporozoite is free in the blood for just minutes before they penetrate liver cells. So two types of immunity are necessary. Antibodies can bind to the sporozoites while they are free in the blood and prevent them from penetrating the liver. If no sporozoites reach the liver - you have no malaria and thus sterile immunity. The RTS, S vaccine obviously does not prevent sporozoites from penetrating the liver because vaccinated individuals.

Once the liver cells become infected, a type of immunity called "cell-mediated" immunity is required. Especially needed is a type of T lymphocyte that can kill parasite-infected cells - a CD8+ cytotoxic cell.



A single liver cell infected with a single malaria sporozoite results in hundreds to thousands of merozoite stages that burst out of the liver cell and infect red blood cells.



The RTS, S vaccine induces no immunity to these blood cell stages.

The paper actually reports that "clinical malaria" developed in 32 of 402 RTS, S vaccinated children compared with 66 of 407 children that did not receive the RTS, S vaccine. This is nothing to sneeze at. But how do the researchers define "clinical malaria"?

The primary end point was a clinical episode of malaria, defined as an axillary temperature of 37.5 (degrees C) or higher with a Plasmodium falciparum density or more than 2500 parasites per microliter. The presence of any faciparum parasitemia density with a temperature of 37.5 (degrees C) was a secondary end point.

50% effective means that about half of the vaccinated children did not show signs of a researcher defined "clinical malaria"

This is good for the children that were protected from a more severe case of malaria. This vaccine is likely to save the lives of many children. However, it's unlikely to have any significant effect on reducing the levels of malaria worldwide.

Right-Wing Bloviaters

The above video shows a bullying coward and a traitor bloviating about how the economy really isn't in too much difficulty. The liberal media is just making you think the economy is bad. Why would the liberal media do this? Well, it's to make Barack Obama look good. Are there words to describe these two disgusting creatures?

I don't think so

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

This surprised even me. Thanks Sara

$110,000 on Hair and Makeup?

You better look pretty damn good if you have professionals doing your hair and makeup to the tune of $110,000 over two months. Now how much was that John Edwards haircut?

Why Bother Impeaching Obama?

Ok, here is a good one from the wing-nut-o-sphere. Let's not go to the trouble of impeaching Obama,that takes too much time. Let's just declare him not a citizen of the USA before the inauguration day. Naturally, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is willing to go along with these nuts.

Justice Clarence Thomas distributed to his colleagues a request that the high court weigh in before the Electoral College makes Obama’s victory official later this month. The justices may decide in a Friday conference whether to hear or cast away a lawsuit dismissed in a lower court and appealed by a retired New Jersey lawyer named Leo C. Donofrio, who also has his own Web site.

Go to PeoplesPassion.org, the voice of the people (it's all about Faith, Family and Country) and listen to their pleas. They want proof Barack Obama is a citizen of the USA. Yep, Obama's birth certificate is a fraud. How his family managed to get his birth announcement published in a Honolulu newspaper 47 years ago should also be investigated. See, they Obama's family knew that someday he would run for the Presidency of the USA. This is all a huge, really well thought out conspiracy.

PS Is Michelle Malkin a US citizen? Are you only a citizen if your father was a citizen? Stay tuned - this topic isn't going away.

I have a different explanation. These wing-nuts have never heard of William of Ockham. They are the same group that think we never landed on the moon. They see black helicopters and know in their hearts that the UN wants to rule the world. In other words, they haven't the foggiest idea how to think.

Neo-Hooverites = Republicans?

What do Republicans need to do to regain their former role as leaders of the free market economy, flag, god and country? You can make the case that they need to make sure President-elect Obama and the Democratic Congress fail to solve any of our country's problems. They do this simply by continuing to do what they've done over the last two years. Obstruct. So what if we have to suffer through a depression. So what if we all have to suffer so Republicans can win in 2 or 4 years. We need to be taught a good lesson - forget that the sacrifice Bush wanted us to make was to go out and spend.

Reagan spent us into huge deficits which Clinton had to fix. Now Bush has done the same thing with his war against a tactic (terror) and now Republicans are calling on Democrats to be fiscally responsible.

Who ever would have thought that the Republican government could succeed in bringing down the US economy in only 8 years?

And The Winner Is? (foot and mouth disease)

Yea for Kansas. Looks like they are the lucky winners to be the home of the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Lab.

The federal government is recommending a site in Kansas over sites in North Carolina and elsewhere for a new $450 million laboratory to study biological threats such as anthrax and contagious animal diseases, a Kansas senator's office said Wednesday.

This new lab is to replace the Plum Island Animal Disease Lab, off Long Island, in New York State. Seems like a great idea to me to start studying very contagious animal diseases like foot and mouth disease and anthrax in the middle of the continental USA rather than out on an island. Even stranger, according to the Department of Homeland Security, Congressional law stipulates live foot-and-mouth disease virus cannot be studied on the mainland USA.

Why are they replacing the Plum Island facility? Well, it's too old. That begs the question of why they can't modernize it.

Unreasonable Faith

Good blog, Unreasonable Faith, written by "a former christian" with thoughts on "faith, science and skepticism". But what is really interesting is the journey through the dark parts of the bible, the contents so far include two posts. The introduction can be found here.

I’m going to show you that side by looking at some of the stories from a different perspective. As we will see, Yahweh is not just the God of love and justice, but a God full of wrath and jealousy, who delights in acts that most of us — without the blinders of faith — would consider the height of evil.

The second post, "Genesis 3: God screws up the world, blames man" is here.

Christians believe that God created the world and is in control of it, so they must find a scapegoat for all this evil that goes on. They can’t believe their God could have intended all this to happen. So they have the story of the forbidden fruit and Satan, the rebellious angel. Yet is the Bible’s answer really satisfying? As I have argued, it would make God responsible for this mess.

Happy December

After problems with our water system, going without water for 4 days - replacing a well pump (although I'm not sure it was needed)and a quick 2 day trip to Boston to visit my wonderful daughter (and eat lots of food)- I'm back at the grindstone for another 3 weeks or so before Christmas break.

We didn't do much more than eat while in Boston and meet several of my daughters friends. We did visit Dorchester Heights, where the American rebels chased the British out of Boston. We also visited Mike's Pastry in the North End and ate cannoli. You can order online from Mike's Pastry which is far easier than budging your way in through the crowds. We had ribs at Redbones BBQ and shawarma in a Jewish middle Eastern takeout in Allston (near to Coolidge corners).

We stayed at the Best Western Terrace Inn in Allston, near the BC campus. It's cheap, clean, right on the green T line, has free parking and is only a mile from my daughters apartment.

Naturally, we had to visit Harvard Square and spend some time at the Coop. We also spent 3 hours at the movies watching "Australia". Not a bad movie but could use a little more action in my opinion. I didn't know that Darwin was attacked by the Japanese during WWII (multiple times, but the movie shows the first, and most deadly attack).

Also visited my daughters school, the Quincy E. Dickerman Elementary School.

Got around mostly using the T, which was fun and convenient. Got to hear an older Chinese gentleman playing an erhu in the government center station. Weird sounding to the Western ear.

Are You Civically Literate?

Ok, check out this Civics quiz. I missed 4 questions for a score of 87.88. Two of them kind of business type questions. Average score for this quiz in November was 78.1. Take it and let me know how you did. It's sad that the vast majority of people who take this quiz (71%) cannot pass it.

Indefinite Detention?

The wingers are super concerned that their guns are going to be taken away over the coming years. Nevermind that it would be impossible due to the number of guns currently in the USA. But these same wingers don't seem to be concerned that G.W. Bush has mandated that legal residents of the USA can be imprisoned indefinitely if he deems they are enemy terrorists. Maybe the wingers figure as long as they have their guns, no one is going to take them away.

Anyone who has actually read the US Constitution can see that detaining someone indefinitely, incommunicado, and torturing them is unconstitutional. An editorial in todays NYT points out that a legal resident of the USA, Ali al-Marri, has been held and tortured for the last seven years.

Mr. Marri was arrested in Peoria, Ill., in December 2001 on criminal charges. In 2003, while his criminal case was pending, Mr. Bush designated him an enemy combatant, and he was moved to a Navy brig near Charleston, S.C. For 16 months, Mr. Marri was held incommunicado. During his detention, he reportedly has been subjected to treatment that borders on, or actually is, torture.

Yes, I understand that Mr. Marri has a funny middle eastern name so he is probably a terrorist and not a Christian. Think this matter doesn't concern you? Think again.

The federal appeals court made clear that its ruling upholding the president’s power to detain enemy combatants applies equally to American citizens. If the ruling stands, presidents would be able to throw out due process, habeas corpus and other basic constitutional and statutory rights for anyone they declared to have terrorist ties.

Just be thankful you don't have a middle eastern name....or do you?

HMMWV Zeus Laser

It's not quite a handheld raygun but it pretty much is the closest thing we have right now. The Economist reports on a laser mounted on a Humvee being used to destroy IED's in Iraq from a distance of 300 meters.

Wikipedia has more on the ZEUS-HLONS.

Conservatives See No Problems

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones has a pretty good post about conservative's inability to admit a problem exists. That's why they lack ideas about how to fix problems - they don't see or can't admit a problem exists to begin with.

Take global warming. Here's the rough conservative reaction to it starting in the early 90s:

1. It doesn't exist.

2. It exists but it isn't manmade.

3. It's manmade, but it's too expensive to do anything about.

Even this is a generous assessment. A lot of conservatives are still stuck at #2, and sizeable chunk at #1. What this means is that they're basically shut out of the conversation entirely. Which is too bad, because I'd actually be sort of interested to hear a conservative take on how to address global warming that accepts both its reality and the necessity of doing something about it.

But maybe this isn't right. Maybe it's just that these people who claim to be conservative are no longer true conservatives. I seem to remember a time when conservatives had solutions to problems besides "cut taxes".

Earth to Bush

Where the hell is G.W. Bush? Does he have the slightest idea that the US economy is going down the tubes? Is this just another lack of response like his lack of response to Katrina? Is Bush even interested in being President anymore? If not, can we just let Obama get on with solving the problem?

Shake a Tail Feather

Classic.

Does God Exist?

Turek vs. Hitchens Debate: Does God Exist? from Andrew Ketchum on Vimeo.

If you have a couple of hours to spare, listen to Christopher Hitchins debate (the rather shouty, preachy) Frank Turek as to whether God exists or not.

Die Turkeys....Die!

Sarah Palin's idea of "levity.

Krugman Scares Me

I really don't like it when Paul Krugman writes a column about the economic downturn, especially when he is worried.

How much can go wrong in the two months before Mr. Obama takes the oath of office? The answer, unfortunately, is: a lot. Consider how much darker the economic picture has grown since the failure of Lehman Brothers, which took place just over two months ago. And the pace of deterioration seems to be accelerating.

Any chance we can move Inauguration Day up so we can get some leadership in this country? The Democrats in Congress need it as badly as do the Republicans, maybe more so. Why are politicians sitting on their behinds while our economy goes down the tube?

Iraqi's Don't Want Us

Are these people ungrateful or what? You'd think the USA invaded their country for reasons based on "misinformation"; you'd think we were responsible for the deaths of ten's of thousands (at a minimum); you'd think we used despicable torture techniques in a horrifying prison (which no higher level person has yet to be held responsible); you'd think we liberated the majority who will now get revenge on the minority after we leave (of course they will).

Why are these people so ungrateful? I'm sure if the USA was wrongly invaded, we would be very greatful.

UPDATE: It seems that Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson disagrees. Things in Iraq are going really swell.

The cost of this success has been high for America, and some may argue that it has not been worth the price. But it is still a success.

Ok, let's all agree our adventure in Iraq was successful. That means we can come home now.....right?

Did Bush "Out" Eliot Spitzer?

Yes, the mainstream media is not always our friend. Story number 25 of the top 25 censored stories can be read here.

The exposure of New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer’s tryst with a luxury call girl had little to do with the Bush administration’s high moral standards for public servants. Author F. William Engdahl advises that, “in evaluating spectacular scandals around prominent public figures, it is important to ask what and who might want to eliminate that person.” Timing suggests that Spitzer was likely a target of a White House and Wall Street operation to silence one of its most dangerous and vocal critics of their handling of the current financial market crisis.

Was Eliot Spitzer going too far in implicating the Bush Administration in the subprime crisis? What is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency? What role did they play in the subprime crisis? Will we ever find out?

There are 24 other stories that have not been covered very well by the mainstream media and surely not by FOX News.

Democrats Censor Lieberman

I guess we showed Joe Lieberman! As Josh Marshall says, Lieberman expelled from Pilates class in Senate gym. Joe Lieberman has been shown what happens when you become a traitor to your party......pretty much nothing. One thing hasn't changed in Democrats...at least not yet. Democrats are spineless. Now I'm almost hoping Lieberman will investigate the Obama White House for the next 4 years. It would serve us right.

By leaving Lieberman in charge of the important Homeland Security and Government Affairs Comm., Democrats have also shown us they don't really care if they have a competent Chair of their committees.

Atherosclerosis, Inflammation and Statins

One of my favorite medical topics was addressed in the NYT today, on the opinion page no less. "Who Should Take a Statin?" discusses a recent study which had to be prematurely ended so the placebo group could get the medicine too.

I've always been convinced that levels of C-reactive protein show a strong correlation with coronary artery disease. C-reactive protein levels in your blood are an indication of overall inflammation levels in your body. The study discussed in todays NYT's showed that treatment with a statin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, not only reduced cholesterol but also resulted in reduced levels of C-reactive protein.

The effects of statin treatment were amazing.

Those who got the statin had 54 percent fewer heart attacks, 48 percent fewer strokes and 20 percent fewer deaths from all causes. The participants included men 50 and older and women 60 and older with no history of heart disease or high cholesterol. But they all had high levels of CRP, and many had such other risk factors as high blood pressure, obesity and smoking. Whether the statin helped because it reduced normal cholesterol to even lower levels or because it reduced CRP levels is not clear.

If inflammation is the cause of coronary artery disease, then what is the cause of the inflammation? Could it be infection?

There are any number of papers correlating high levels of C-reactive protein as a cardiac risk factor. Find one of them here. There have been entire scientific sessions concerning infection and atherosclerosis. One review can be found here.

I'm currently reading Paul Ewald's book "Plague Time: The New Germ Theory of Disease". Ewald points out that infections can cause chronic disease such as gastric ulcers, cancer and possibly many, many others such as IBD, arthritis, coronary artery disease and even schizophrenia. If you don't want to read Ewald's book, you can find an article in The Atlantic Online by Judith Hooper discussing the book.

The "plagues" we need to worry about are not Ebola or Bird flu. We need to start concerning ourselves with the causes of chronic diseases that are currently responsible for high mortality in the USA. Whether infections are responsible for some of these diseases needs to be seriously considered.

Random Thoughts

"Random Thoughts" is a column published in the "Lake Champlain Weekly" which can be found for free in the North Country of New York and I imagine Vermont. This columnist provides insights into the minds of those individuals that still think G.W. Bush has been one of the greatest presidents in history. "Random Thoughts" are truly random, but there really is not much thinking involved in this column. Here is the latest example of a "random thought".

See where Toni Morrison and other writers think it's great that we've elected a 'literary' president who's already a published author. Well, the Germans once elected a guy who was not only a published author but an artist as well and we all know how well that went.

This is only one of a series of absurd "random thoughts" published every week by this hateful columnist.

Here's a really good one:

Good news is that a slight majority of Americans elected president a man who happens to be black. Bad news is it happens to be the ONLY thing they know about the man.

So Obama gets elected with a higher percentage of votes (52.6%) than Bush received in 2000 (Bush got 47.9%) and 2004 (Bush got 50.7%) but Bush and his supporters touted how Bush received a "mandate" to govern. No mandate for Democrats however, especially since Obama is so much like Hitler.

Shift Happens

This video is worth watching, even if it is over 8 minutes long. It asks some serious questions that need to be answered. Watch it, then join the conversation at shifthappens

Sullivan on Palin - Ouch!

Andrew Sullivan has a few things to say about Sarah Palin in a commentary called "Why Palin Still Matters".

This deluded and delusional woman still doesn't understand what happened to her; still has no self-awareness; and has never been forced to accept her obvious limitations. She cannot keep even the most trivial story straight; she repeats untruths with a ferocity and calm that is reserved only to the clinically unhinged; she has the educational level of a high school drop-out; and regards ignorance as some kind of achievement. It is excruciating to watch her - but more excruciating to watch those who feel obliged to defend her.

We need to figure out why almost 50% of our voters actually think someone like Palin is qualified to be President.

Lieberman Must Go

From Brave New Films

Raiding Al Qaeda in Pakistan

Remember how agast conservatives were that Obama suggested he would carry out military action in Pakistan if there was actionable intelligence concerning the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden? Turns out the Bush administration has been secretely raiding Al Qaeda in Pakistan and other countries.

The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.

What's good for the goose....

Obama Election Immediately Stimulates Economy

Looks like the rednecks are getting ready for Civil War II. Gun sales are skyrocketing now that Barack Obama is President-elect. Their gonna take our guns away! I highly doubt it. There are already more guns in private hands in the USA than there are people. But yeah, gotta be ready for the coming revenge of the Blacks. Damn, Americans can be stupid.

Lieberman Should Join Republicans

Joe Lieberman doesn't like the deal Harry Reid offered him a few days ago. You can stay with the Democratic caucus but you need to step down as chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Lieberman thinks it's a raw deal. Well, Joe, as all good conservatives continually remind us - actions have consequences and personal responsibility requires that you answer for your actions. You've got to go.

The people of Connecticut made a mistake re-electing you a few years ago. I doubt they will make the same mistake next time you have to run.

Palin for President - 2012

This is great news. 64% of Republicans believe Palin should run for President in 2012.

When asked to choose among some of the GOP’s top names for their choice for the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, 64% say Palin. The next closest contenders are two former governors and unsuccessful challengers for the presidential nomination this year -- Mike Huckabee of Arkansas with 12% support and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts with 11%.

I disagree with the talking heads on TV that believe Sarah Palin is a competent, capable politician.

Palin is the Future of the Republican Party

Please, please, please let Sarah Palin be the future of the Republican Party. You can go here and read notes to Palin from her adoring fans. The site was set up by Michelle Malkin.

Obama - Damn Socialist

Just who does President-elect Obama think he is? Now he is proposing the the Food and Drug Administration actually monitor food imports into the USA.

The Food and Drug Administration, bedeviled by a salmonella outbreak and tainted medicine from China, is likely to monitor imports and fresh produce more closely under an Obama administration.

With President Bush no longer a roadblock, health officials also can expect new powers to control tobacco, from cigarettes to the recently introduced smokeless products called snus.

Expecting a Federal Agency to actually do its job is nothing but Socialism at its worst. Imagine the concept of actually having safe food. This is just big government trying to tell us what to do. Damn it! If I want to eat tainted food, I'm going to eat tainted food.

I fear for my country. Will we actually be able to survive 4 years of competent government?

Right Wing Talk Radio

BECK: I mean, I have to tell you if I heard once, I heard 1,000 times from people, and I never said this, never said this on the air because you just don’t say these things, but I heard a million times from people, “I’m going to vote for John McCain and, you know, I mean, he’s old. Maybe we get Sarah Palin in the first term.” You know what I mean?

ERICKSON: Exactly.

These people have no souls.

Many of us didn't get fooled again

See which counties in the USA increased their Democratic votes vs Republican votes when compared with the 2004 election.

We Need to Unite

Yes, we need to unite and work together. But we can work with Joe Lieberman while he is a member of the Republican Party. The Republicans need Joe more than we do.

Giant Obama Sculpture

A two and one-half acre sculpture of Obama, on beachfront property in Spain, was created by artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada.

Sen. Ted Stevens - Convicted Felon

Looks like Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens will be re-elected to the Senate. What will happen to him? Here is a quick summary. The Senate will not expell him until the appeal process is concluded. Then Alaska has 60-90 days to hold a special election to find a new Senator. It is not clear whether Gov. Sarah Palin can appoint someone in the interim. That would likely have to be decided by the Alaska Supreme Court. Read more about all this in the Anchorage Daily News today.

Alaska Rep. Don Young has legal problems of his own, but looks like Alaskans will re-elect him too. Oh yeah, also looks like we will still have Republican Rep. Michelle "McCarthy" Bachmann to kick around. Sen. Norm Coleman also looks likely to be re-elected. Is there something in the drinking water in Minnesota?

Oh Happy Day

North Country NY Votes for Obama

My Essex county (56-42), Franklin county (60-39); Clinton county (60-38); St. Lawrence county (57-42). This is some of the heaviest support Obama received in New York. Smart people in the North Country.

USA Not Center-Right

Weird fundy proposals in North Dakota (concerning abortion) and Colorado (concerning defining when life begins) have both been defeated.

Sen. Chris Shays of Connecticut has been defeated.

Obama now only needs to win California, Oregon and Washington to win the election tonight.

The best place to follow this race is here at Daily Kos.

Obama is the predicted next President of the USA. He's got Ohio, Virginia, Florida and no one doubts he will carry CA, OR and WA. Looks like HA and CO will go for Obama too.

History has been made and I'm proud to say that my vote helped it happen.

Did My Duty

I voted first thing this morning, went to work and then spent 3 hours as a poll watcher early this evening. Lots and lots of people voting at the North Elba Town House in Saranac Lake. Several times there were lines - never saw that before.

Obama 15 McCain 6

Dixville Notch, NH goes for Obama. The first Democratic Presidential candidate they've supported since Hubert Humphrey in 1968.

Government - What Will Be Fixed

Just how much damage has President Bush and Republicans accomplished in the last 8 years? Sadly, due to secrecy, we don't know. Civil liberties have been taken away because terrorism or our fear of it seems to be more important than the Constitution. Unfortunately, conservatives don't seem to understand that taking away the right of Habeas Corpus (even if they think it's only from a select group of people), is the same as taking away the right to gun ownership (even if applied to a select group of people). How many conservative businessmen would agree that is ok for a border patrol agent taking your computer and scanning the data before you enter Canada?

How about Guantanamo, Cuba and torture? It really is fun listening to a conservative trying to justify torture.

Hopefully, Obama will be able to appoint a couple of moderates to the Supreme Court. People who believe that the Supreme Court has no business telling a state how to determine the lawful outcome of an election.

Even as we speak Bush is undoing environmental protection laws as rapidly as he can before being shown the door. Dare we hope that science will be back in vogue in an Obama administration?

Obama will win this election, but the man will age 20 years in his first term trying to make the USA a respected nation again.

Prediction - Obama Wins

345 electoral votes for Obama, 53% of the popular vote for Obama, 8 new Democratic seats in the Senate, 22 new Democratic seats in the House

Republican Change?

Are we seeing the end of the alliance between the country club MBA Republicans and the Sarah Palin American Taliban Republicans? I sure hope so. With the election tomorrow we can count on even more moderate Republicans losing their seats in Congress. The remaining Republicans will be more wing-batty than ever. This group of Republicans will believe that they lost the election because they (McCain) was too moderate. They will tell you that America is a "center-right" country but still they want to rule as if the USA is a large type of Vatican City. So the question remains, what will emerge from the remains of the Republican party now that G.W. Bush and John McCain have destroyed it?

Joe the Homeless

I've got to agree with Danger Democrat. The "Joe the Homeless" blog at Bums Jungle is a great read."Joe the Homeless" don't answer to nobody, don't owe anybody anything, and don't dance to anyone's tune but his own. Best of all, if you don't like what he has to say you can kiss his ass!

I don't know if "Joe the Homeless" really is homeless or not. He's obviously a good observer and a good writer. It's an interesting blog and will be on my daily read list. I hope he keeps it up.

Vote Mike Oot - NY23

Listen to the passion in Mike Oot's summary at the Potsdam debate with John McHugh. It really is time for McHugh to retire. Let's have someone who really cares represent us in Congress.

Majority Rules

Boehner - One more thing to cry about

Get this. Rep. Boehner claims the Bush Justice Department favors Democrats! I guess that's why all those US Attorneys were fired.

Nobel Prize Scientists Support Obama

What a surprise. Seventy-six Nobel Prize winning scientists support Obama for President. Damn elitists!

Warning! Warning! Obama is a Commie!

Dedicated to Watson in the Adirondacks

Obama Will Destroy Our Country

Here is my conservative friend of the North Country, Watson In The Adirondacks (like most Republicans he tends to stretch the truth ie. the Adirondack part of his name):

There are millions of Americans that will never sit idly by while a socialist/communist administration leads this country towards Soviet style democracy. We will fight you in the halls of Congress; we will fight you in the courts; we will fight you on the airwaves, we will fight you with every legal means available.

You can see that Watson has the final Palin/McCain talking points down cold. Get to the gun store, prepare for revolution. We are going to become like the Soviet Union! This is somewhat surprising because Watson is actually a pretty smart guy. You have to ask, does he really believe that crap he is spewing? Is Obama really a communist. Can you be a Muslim/Socialist/Communist all at the same time? A good Muslim wants his religion to be the government. I thought that's what Conservatives wanted. A socialist? You mean like Reagan or Palin. I can see that Watson is upset about the tax increase proposed by Obama. Wealthy people like Watson don't want to pay more in taxes.

Then we have Watson's enabler, Sir Charles. Sir Charles is worried that Obama is going to be like Bush when it comes to answering questions or investigating his own administration.

let me get this straight...not only does Senator Obama get a free pass for the election campaign, once he takes office any investigation of him or questioning of his programs, any investigation of his appointments, any criticism of his missteps will automatically be considered "hate"?

Well, why shouldn't Obama use the same standards that the Bush administration has used. Conservatives haven't been complaining about Bush's lack of forthcoming. Nosir, outing a CIA agent is patriotic.

I have to admit, I'm sitting back chortling about Obama's coming victory (I'm hoping for 350 electoral votes). Conservatives are scared to death that Obama will be as secretive as Bush has been. What's that old saying...."what's good for the goose...."? Maybe "not gonna get fooled again" works even better.

October Snowstorm

From this,

To this.

Wealth Redistribution - In Alaska

Sounds like Communism to me. Wait, didn't our tax dollars buy Alaska? Shouldn't we all get a piece of the action or at least have the money go back to the government that purchased the land?

New vs Old Republican Party

Far from me to give advice to Republicans but here is my view. The Republican party of today does not represent the Republican party of yesterday - at least since the implementation of the "Southern Strategy". Here is a statement from one of the new Republicans:

Jim Nuzzo, a White House aide to the first President Bush, dismissed Mrs Palin's critics as "cocktail party conservatives" who "give aid and comfort to the enemy".

He told The Sunday Telegraph: "There's going to be a bloodbath. A lot of people are going to be excommunicated. David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican Party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?"

The old Republican party of Goldwater stood for fiscal restraint, small government, low taxes, a strong military and capitalism. It seems the most powerful of todays Republicans stand for....well, I'm not really sure what they stand for anymore ....God, guns, dinosaurs and fear? Divisiveness? Anti-science, anti-rationalism? Whatever they stand for, it is not what Republicans used to stand for. And, after this election is over, it appears that even more Republicans of yore are going to be thrown under the bus. That is alright with me. I hope Sarah Palin becomes a rising star in the new Republican party. The party of dinosaurs. (The above picture is perfect for the new Republicans as it includes a human walking among the disosaurs....what, about 6000 years ago?)

Party of the South

Looks like the Republican Party has become the party of the South. The "Southern strategy" is still working for them. (figure from Princeton Election)

Conservative View on Sandy Treadwell

I found the below on the Streetcornerconservative blog:

After watching Treadwell in action, the Post’s Albany political editor, Fred Dicker, referred to him as “insular, elitist and ideologically anemic” and tagged him as an “immensely Caspar Milquetoast-like trust funder.”

Caspar Milquetoast-like trust funder? Dicker does have a way with words.

Vet Who Did Not Vet

Bush Endorses McCain

Joe Lieberman is Worried

Joe Lieberman thinks Democrats have short memories - they don't. Lieberman, like David Frum, sees the writing on the wall. John McCain is going to lose the election and he is going to take the entire Republican Party with him. Lieberman wants us to believe that he has been respectful of Barack Obama for the entire campaign. That's not the way I remember it. I watched Joe Lieberman, at the Republican National Convention, tell the entire Nation that Obama does not put country first. Lieberman has also implied that Obama is a marxist. I hope Lieberman gets kicked out of the Democratic caucus and loses his committee chairmanship.

Say Anything to Get Elected

There is no place in election politics for beating someone up for their political views. There is also no place in politics for lying about being beat up for your political views.

Bad Temper Runs in McCain Family

Check out Joe McCain's 911 call to complain about traffic.

Palin Hates Fruit Fly Research

Listen to the way your tax dollars are being wasted! For god's sake....fruit fly research. You've got to agree with Gov. Palin on this one don't you? I guess you might unless you have a child with a disability.

The discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies may lead to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders, as recently, human neurexins have been identified as a genetic risk factor for autism.

Oops! Could that $200,000 have been better spent by giving back to the wealthy? Why does Sarah Palin hate disabled children? Idiot.

More on the neurexin/autism link here

Tell Us How McCain has Changed - He Hasn't

Well, some people think he has changed his viewpoints. Here are 76 specific instances (with links) where John McCain has changed his mind and sometimes changed it back after changing it. Sometimes even changing his mind after changing his mind after changing his mind. Would the old John McCain have voted for the new John McCain?

What's weird about this is that the old John McCain probably would have had a better chance of being competitive in this election.

America Lover or America Hater?

Maybe Rep. Michelle Bachmann has a point. Maybe it's high time we begin to figure out just who is an America lover and who is an America hater. An extensive search of the internet isn't really much help concerning this topic. Is Ann Coulter an America lover for suggesting that the NYT building should have been bombed or that a Supreme Court Justice should have rat poison put in his food or are those America hating viewpoints? It's really hard to tell.

But there is one way to determine whether you are an America lover or an America hater. Rep. Michelle Bachmann has sponsored a Bill, H.R. 5616, in the House of Representatives. This Bill is titled the "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act". It's really pretty simple. America haters want to replace incandescent light bulbs with more energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs. Anyone can see that this is a completely America hating viewpoint. Why should America have to save energy? We have every right to use as much energy as we want as long as we can continue to pay our enemies for the needed oil. If you use fluorescent light bulbs, you are very likely to be an America hater.

We need a government investigation into this scandal. Anyone that has more than....let's say 15% fluorescent light bulbs in their homes (its ok for big business to use them) should be considered an America hater. These America haters should be given a small fine for their America hating ways, but their real punishment will be that they must wear a big tricked out nametag with a big AH (for America hater) on it for an appropriate amount of time. Another possibility would be to place such people into re-educaton camps.

Maverick McCain

Palin/McCain Cursed by Witches

Ok, hot off the press. Now I understand why things have gone so badly for the Palin/McCain campaign. It's not their fault! Check this out:

Two days ago, I listened to a 9-6-08 message by Bree Keyton, a young woman evangelist who had just traveled to Kenya and visited Obama's home village and what she found out about his relations with his tribal people was chilling. And his "cousin" Odinga was dreadful. She said the witches, warlocks and those involved in satanism and the occult get up daily at 3 a.m. to release curses against McCain and Palin so B. Hussein Obama is elected.

So how do you fight these witches and warlocks? Here is the advice:

IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, PLEASE PRAY TODAY AND CONTINUALLY THAT ALL SUCH CURSES BE BROKEN AND SATAN'S PLAN FOR AMERICA BE DEFEATED, IN JESUS' NAME. PRAY AND COVER MCCAIN AND PALIN WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, IT IS TIME YOU LEARN!!!

I think it's a great idea for all Palin/McCain supporters to stay home and pray on election day. It's the only way the curse will be broken.

McCain Blame Game

Guess who John McCain is finally blaming for our current problems? Barack Obama....that didn't seem to work. Nancy Pelosi.....still cold. Libruls....no, not working so well. Anti-Americans......nope. How about President George W. Bush? Bingo! McCain has finally gotten around to blaming the guy who has been the worst President in history. Forget about changing a deficit that was being lowered into a deficit that has doubled; forget about getting us into the wrong war and ignoring the right war; forget about Osama bin Laden "dead or alive"; forget about ruining our image throughout the world; forget about Guantanamo and torture; forget about spying on Americans and doing away with Habeas corpus; forget about losing a major American city to a hurrican; forget about poor job growth. Bush will likely go down in history as the President that has presided over the largest world wide financial disaster in the last 100 years - the infamous "ownership society".

And, guess who supported Bush in these endeavors over the last 4 or 5 years. Yeah, Sen. John S. McCain. This is the guy that has been campaigning to continue the Bush policies. Not the best idea. McCain has probably run the worse Republican campaign in my memory.

God Protect Us from "Regular Americans"

The interview with the Mayor of Wasilla is priceless

Atomic Bomb Opera

An Opera, "Doctor Atomic,” the opera by John Adams and Peter Sellars, openned last week at the Metropolitan Opera house. It's about building the first atomic bomb.

Sleasiest Campaign in the Last 35 Years?

Josh Marshal, at Talking Points Memo, ask whether McCain is running one the most sleazy campaigns since Richard Nixon - maybe even worse.

But here's the key point, one that is getting too little attention. President Bush's father didn't run the Willie Horton ad. And this President Bush, however much they may have been funded by his supporters and run with Karl Rove's tacit approval, didn't run the Swift Boat ads. These were run by independent groups. Just how 'independent' we think they really are is a decent question. But even the sleaziest campaigns usually draw the line at the kind of sleaze they are wiling to run themselves under their own name.

John McCain assures us he is the only person that can bring the country together....that can work with both National Parties. I don't believe it. McCain has run far too dirty a campaign to ever be a uniter. McCain has tried almost every dirty trick in the book to discredit Obama, from implying he is unAmerican, a terrorist and a muslim.

Steve Benen adds the following:

The attacks from McCain have been more haphazard. Obama's a rookie. That didn't work? OK, he's a "celebrity." That didn't work? How about, he's a partisan Democrat who won't stand up to his party. Nothing? All right, he's insufficiently supportive of the troops. Or he's a pervert who wants to bring sex-ed to kindergarteners. Or a terrorist-sympathizer. Or he's a socialist. All the while, the subtext of McCain/Palin rhetoric vacillated between Obama's race, patriotism, and/or being "foreign," but it's never come together in a coherent way.

Shame on Fox TV!

Nazis never would have supported McCain/Palin.

More Real America

Wow, 100,000 people in red-state Missouri who must be anti-American because they showed up at an Obama event.

Thank You Rep. Michelle Bachmann

One reason Colin Powell cited for supporting Obama was the over-the-top-rant about who is and who is not a loyal American by Rep. Michelle Bachmann. Powell says this about 40 seconds in to the interview:

And this business of, for example, a congressman from Minnesota who's going around saying let's examine all congressmen to see who is pro-America or not pro-America. We have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity. And so that really was driving me.

Where is Real America?

Here is a website that lets you determine where Real America is located. It allows you to follow where Sarah Palin is campaigning. Places like Bangor, ME, Salem, NH, Scranton, PA, Lancaster, PA, Richmond, VA, Virginia Beach, VA, Greensboro, NC, Chester, OH, Noblesville, IN, Roswell, NM (?), Reno, NV, Grand Junction, CO.

Congratulations to these real America areas. You probably will not be investigated by Rep. Michelle Bachmann.

Colin Powell will Vote for Obama

It's official. Colin Powell has stated his support and will vote for Barack Obama for President.

America - Best Health Care in the World

It's only common sense. The USA spends the most on health care so we must be number one. Ok, here goes another liberal, anti-American rant (I admit it, I should be investigated by Michelle Bachmann). But how do the citizens of the richest country on earth justify the fact that we rank 29th lowest in the world in infant mortality. We are tied with Poland and Slovakia. In the 1960's we were ranked 12th lowest in infant mortality.

Someone needs to explain why we are not #1 in lowest infant mortality. Highest levels of infant mortality in the USA seem to be among African-Americans. The increase may also be due to increased levels of preterm death, again found largely in African-Americans.

Liberals Need to be Investigated by Real Americans

This is one of the areas of the USA where real Americans live. Sarah Palin only visits these pro-America areas of the country and snubs the anti-American regions of the USA.

Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) strongly agrees.



In fact, last night on Hardball, Rep. Bachmann goes so far as to suggest we may need a new House UnAmerican Activities Committee to investigate the liberal in Congress.

So who actually lives in the anti-American regions of the country? Where exactly are these areas? Why would pro-America people want to live in these anti-American areas?
As for anti-American liberals...why haven't they been rounded up and shipped to Guantanamo for interrogation. We need a good strong House UnAmerican Activities Committee staffed by good conservative, fundamentalist Republicans to answer these questions. It could be chaired by the very patriotic American Rep. Michelle Bachmann. It might be good to have Sarah Palin sit in on the committee also, she knows something about people who hate America. At least Rep. Bachmann is fighting for your choice of lightbulbs.

You can go here to request that Congress censor Rep. Bachmann's divisive remarks.

No Nobel Prize for Dr. Douglas Prasher

Dr. Douglas Prasher, the guy who actually cloned the green fluorescent protein gene, is not awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Instead, that honor goes to the scientists that he generously shared the cDNA (the cloned gene).

Dr. Prasher has been driving a van advertising a Toyota dealership for the last two years. It seems the NIH was not interested in funding his grant application to study the green fluorescent protein, one of the most powerful tools used in molecular biology today.

You can listen to a story about Dr. Prasher at NPR

Overhead Projector

The above is a picture of that $3 million dollar earmark for an overhead projector that Barrack Obama requested for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. John McCain's voice was dripping with sarcasm when he mentioned Obama's earmark for this system. Then McCain turns around and tells us how important education is to him. The old projector is over 40 years old, is in disrepair and parts can longer be found for it. Here's what a museum official has to say about the projector:

To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support - which was not funded - to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere. The Adler's Zeiss Mark VI projector - not an overhead projector - is the instrument that re-creates the night sky in a dome theater, the quintessential planetarium experience. The Adler's projector is nearly 40 years old and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It is only the second planetarium projector in the Adler's 78 years of operation.
Science literacy is an urgent issue in the United States. To remain competitive and ensure
national security, it is vital that we educate and inspire the next generation of explorers to
pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Who Should Be Our Next President?

No, this is not a photoshopped picture. It's real.

Joe the Plumber

Here is the most famous plumber in America.

UPDATE: It appears that "Joe the Plumber" may not even be registered to vote. "Say it ain't so Joe". It ain't so, when Joe's real name Sam was searched....he is registered to vote.

Oops, Joe ain't no plumber and he owes the State of Ohio almost $1200 in back taxes. Thanks for bringing his name up Sen. McCain. Oh yeah, his name ain't Joe either.

Too Good Not to View (at least once)

I got this off the Danger Democrat blog. Someone put a hell of a lot of work into this and it pretty much wraps up Sarah Palin's views as many liberals see them.

Torture Documentary PBS Cannot Show

PBS has been "unable" to find a time slot to show this documentary. They won't broadcast it until after Jan. 21, 2009. But you can click on the video and see other excerpts of the documentary.

Palin as President

Visit President Palins Oval office. While you are there be sure to do some clicking. The dinosaur is awesome.

Deficits Will Increase Under Democratic Rule

David Brooks is whining today, in the NYT, about how the federal deficit will balloon under an administration controlled by Democrats. He is probably right, but why hasn't he mentioned the way the deficit has ballooned over the last 8 years, or during the Reagan administration or the Nixon administration. It appears that an increase in the federal deficit is just fine with Brooks as long as it is the Republicans that are increasing the deficit (also known as lining the pockets of their friends).

And, has Brooks asked himself what happened to the surplus that was started under the Clinton administration? What happened with those surplus dollars? What about an unnecessary, unwinnable war in Iraq to the tune of 10-20 billion dollars a month for the last 5 years? Could that spending have anything to due with an increase in the federal deficit? Certainly giving the surplus dollars back to the wealthy couldn't have had an effect on the deficit. Or, the fact that Republicans hate government (until corporations need bailing out) so much that they appoint incompetents to run government departments or regulators that don't belive in regulation.

We're already hearing about how Democrats are responsible for the mess our government currently finds itself. Nevermind that Republicans have been in almost complete power for the last 6 out of 8 years. Unfortunately, it's going to take more than 4 years to even begin to repair the effects of Republican rule both at home and abroad.

Why is John McCain Losing?

Pretty simple really.

Paul Krugman Wins Nobel Prize in Economics

Princeton University economist, NYT opinion columnist, and Bush critic Paul Krugman has been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. A collection of Dr. Krugman's NYT columns can be found here.

McCain's New Line

You want to hear optimism? Here is an optimistic John McCain:

“Sen. Obama is measuring the drapes and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we’ve got them just where we want them.”

Now that is optimism!

My First Robot

No more mopping floors in our house. A Scooba is doing the job now and it does a very good job too. It's not something I would usually buy, but there was a deal from Woot that I couldn't refuse. After a little online research concerning the effectiveness of the Scooba, I decided to go for it. I'm not sorry. It did a great job on the kitchen floor, then I sent it upstairs to do the bathroom....while I watched TV.

Where Does McCain Stand?

McCain claims that only he can work across party lines to stop gridlock. Then why won't he commit to do so?

Whipping Up Anti-Obama Anger

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (in video on CNN Anderson Cooper show). When you have an Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there going to run this country, we have got to have our head examined. It's time that you two are representing us, and we are mad. So, go get them.

It's clear that the Palin/McCain campaign has been successful in whipping up some serious anger, or hate, fear and ignorance, among a certain portion of the American populace. We've heard an example of this type of rhetoric in Saranac Lake from out own "Gary from Bloomingdale". We are almost at the point that we need to fear for Obama's life.

With all this anger, it is going to be difficult for Obama to get anything accomplished once he is President (and it looks pretty likely that he will be elected President, unless race is a huge factor).

At this point we can only hope that Democrats get the 60 seats in the US Senate that would be necessary for Obama to have any hopes of preventing the USA from going down the economic tubes.

Might complete Democratic control of the government result in socialism and disaster? Maybe, but at least we will have a party in control of government that believes government can work.

We've had almost 8 years of incompetent government. Incompetent because those in power don't believe in government. Look where it has led us. Never ending war; a city in still ruins, an economy in the tank and the "hands off" government eavesdropping on their own citizens. I'm not willing to take the chance that a new Republican President will be any more effective than the current President.

If anybody needs their "heads examined" it's those who will vote for 4 more years of disaster under Republicans.

Green Fluorescent Protein and Green Mice

The discovery and isolation of a relatively simple fluorescent protein in jellyfish that glows green when stimulated with the correct wavelength of light has led to the winning of the Nobel Prize in chemistry to one Japanese and two American scientists.

The green fluorescent protein consists of a chain of 238 amino acids bent into a beer can-like cylindrical shape, and for two and a half decades it remained a little-known biological curiosity.

Actually, the isolation of the gene that encodes the protein is what has led to a very powerful technique using the gene to label certain cells. The GFP gene can be inserted into almost any cell to make that cell and its progeny glow green. It can be inserted into almost any gene of any cell to make that cell and its progeny glow green if it expresses some other specific protein.



The gene has even been put into mice and rabbits to make green mice and rabbits.

Current Electoral Map

How does the electoral map look for Barack Obama? Not too bad actually. The above map is from princeton election.

Gary From Bloomingdale Hates Everyone

We haven't heard a really good rant from "Gary from Bloomingdale" in awhile. Today, on WNBZ radio "Talk of the Town" morning call-in show Gary was in great form. Listen to Gary tell us how Barack Obama is the same as a terrorist. You can hear the hatred (maybe racism) dripping from Gary's voice. In fact, Gary wonders where common sense in Americans has gone. We're all crazy to listen to Barack Obama. No, intead, listen to Gary, the moral, common sense, voice of America.

UPDATE:

Gary apologizes sort of but not really. Maybe Gary is worried about a visit from the Secret Service.

My Fellow Prisoners? Huh?

What is happening to John McCain? Why is he addressing his supporters as his "fellow prisoners"? Is he referring to us as all being prisoners of a Republican-controlled government for the last 7 years? Does he have his POW status on his mind so much that he is continually trying to figure out how to insert it into his speech? Did anyone in that audience even hear McCain call them his fellow prisoners? Are they even listening to him or are they all just daydreaming about something else? Just what is the state of John McCain's health?

Iraq Path to Victory

John McCain repeatedly reminds us that the "surge worked" and that we are on a path to victory in Iraq. It appears that the latest National Intelligence Estimate does not agree with McCain.

The new NIE, which reflects the consensus of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, has significant implications for Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, whose differences over the Iraq war are a major issue in the presidential campaign.

The findings seem to cast doubts on McCain's frequent assertions that the United States is "on a path to victory" in Iraq by underscoring the deep uncertainties of the situation despite the 30,000-strong U.S. troop surge for which he was the leading congressional advocate.

So it's clear the surge did not accomplish its true purpose, which was to allow for political reconciliation among Iraqis. So do we continue to spend 10 billion dollars a month and the lives of our soldiers keeping a "peace" in Iraq that the Iraqis themselves don't seem to want - or what?

McCain's Secret Plan

John McCain knows how to get Osama bin Laden and he has promised voters that he will do so.

"I'll get Osama bin Laden, my friends. I'll get him. I know how to get him. I'll get him no matter what and I know how to do it."

This is confusing to me and many others. If John McCain is so sure he knows how to get Osama bin Laden, why isn't he sharing his plan with the Pentagon? What does this say about John McCain? He is sure he knows how to get Osama bin Laden but he's not going to share this information with the White House or Pentagon. Sure doesn't sound like a very loyal 'Merican to me. This is very reminiscent of Richard Nixon's "secret plan" to end the Vietnam War in the 70's.

NYT Usually Right

Sarah Palin has said the New York Times is usually right. Here is what the Times has to say today:

Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember.

They have gone far beyond the usual fare of quotes taken out of context and distortions of an opponent’s record — into the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia. Senator Barack Obama has taken some cheap shots at Mr. McCain, but there is no comparison.

Meanwhile, Cindy McCain whines that Obama has "waged the dirtiest campaign in American history”. I'm not surprised she forgets the campaign G.W. Bush waged against John Kerry. But how does she forget the dirty campaign Bush waged against her husband? She should also critically examine the campaign her husband has and is waging against Barack "that one" Obama.

Sarah Palin - Palling Around with America-Haters

Does she support the Alaska Independence Party or not? It's clear they support her.