There's one interesting thing that I haven't considered about the reappearance of Osama in a recent video...

After a tape that appeared to show Osama discussing his "victory" was released in the closing weeks of 2001, the world was abuzz with conspiracy theories of how the US altered the tape. Why haven't those conspiracy theories been revisited in the news after the latest Osama media appearance? For those who doubted that Osama was responsible for Manhattan, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, what do you say now? Is this latest tape another fake?

Mandate schmandate... There are still fifty-six million people who didn't vote for you George. You will still have to work to earn the trust of those of us who didn't vote for you. Guess what? Those of us who didn't vote for you (and perhaps even some of those who did) will still exercise our free American voices if we feel that you're doing screwed up things.

Although I rant against the Prez frequently, I have nothing but respect for our troops. To that end... Happy 229th, USMC!

Well, I suppose....

John Kerry gave a pretty good fight and George W. Bush and friends are shrewd politicians. Congrats, Dubya. I just hope you'll be more of the uniter invoked in your victory speech today during this term. Hey, I guess not all is lost. As I've mentioned before, Kerry wouldn't have changed much anyway. More importantly, dubyaspeak.com will have four more years of fresh verbal fodder.

I think that a big thanks and good job should go to Michael Badnarik and the other alternative candidates who worked a long time doing the thankless job of getting their word out as much as possible without much assistance or coverage. Check out Michael's book! The Libertarian Presidential vote (percentage and tally) went up by more than double in our county this year.

Suzanne sent me an e-mail earlier this evening. It was a parody of the simple task of ordering a pizza under the Patriot Act. She just got it as a forward today. I figured that I'd try to find out how old it was. The link above is the earliest version that I've been able to find on the internets. I only bring it up because of the recent high profile political events. Renewal and refinement of Patriot is one of Bush's thrusts over the next four years.

I frequently gripe about Patriot here. People sometimes ask me, "If you haven't done anything, why are you worried about it?" Up until just now (really, just now), I haven't had a simple answer. To me the key lies in "haven't done anything". If I haven't done anything, I shouldn't have to worry about my library records being checked because I'm researching the history of jihad as an Islamic concept or DCS-1000 looking at what websites I visit. The worst part to me is that finding out if either of those things happened would approach impossibility unless the government released that type of info out of the goodness of their hearts. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. We'll see what happens...

Poll closing times (so you'll know when to get ready to weep or leap)?

Check out this site. Everything seems to be breaking as it's been predicted thus far....

This morning, NPR was talking about the electoral college possibilities...

Near the end of the segment (you can listen in Real or WMP format), they brought up a recent Washington Post study that found 33 possibilities for an electoral college tie. Hell, it might just be better to go ask the Magic Eight Ball if your choice will win. As a brief aside, they were actually talking about the Constitution Party at one point this morning. I knew that NPR had interviewed Michael Badnarik recently. It's nice to hear even a little bit of coverage given to the alternative candidates. Check out the platform of the Constitution Party. It's not completely for me, but I know people who would likely agree with almost every single plank.

In the past year or so, there's been all sorts of media coverage given to the WTC Memorial. I haven't heard much of anything about the Pentagon Memorial. Pictures and other info are available at that website.

I've had the chance to partake in a couple of online Zogby polls this year...

I took one a week or so ago. After the polls, they give a few links to a brief analysis of a couple of their recent products. The last one I took led me to an analysis of an August poll that Zogby did. One thing that struck me was that 90% of undecideds weren't satisfied with their choices this year. The time is so absolutely right for protest. A news report that I read today mentioned that 98% of the people asked have emphatically made up their mind. The vine was ripe for the picking in August. It will be very interesting to see if Nader, the Greens, the Libertarians, the Constitution Party, or any of the other alternative choices have any impact on tomorrow's results. I would say "May the best man win!", but I don't believe in either of the likely victors. Sorry!

Fiscal policies of Bush or Kerry...

There are some people who have significant government experience and have poor opinions of the fiscal policies of either of the two big-ticket candidates. What are the potential pitfalls of the way our "leaders" are spending? Read on...

I suppose that we're damned if we do and damned if we don't.

Two quick notes....

I was just doing some browsing and found two things.

If you thought about seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 but couldn't stomach paying the bucks that would eventually end up in Michael Moore's pocket, you can get it free. Click it (only until Nov. 2)!

Eminem's new video (Mosh) can be downloaded from here.

I don't keep up with "popular" music...

I gave up on MTV a long time ago (save for The Osbournes). I guess that my definition of cool is different now. Hey, that's fine because life is flux. Anyway, I caught a little bit of SNL last night. Eminem happened to be the musical guest. I had heard a small segment of his latest song encouraging people to get out and vote (presumably against the Shrub). It's called Mosh. For a long time, I didn't like Marshall Mathers very much. Thanks to Ric, I was actually exposed to some of Eminem's work. Yes, it's brash and vulgar at times. However, it comes from somewhere. We checked out 8 Mile not too long after that. Suzanne still has a low opinion of the music. The point of this whole thing is to say that I like Eminem's latest piece. Hell, it can't be too bad. Even Moby likes it. Check it out at mtv.com or Yahoo! Launch.

I'm not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination, but "Go Packers"!

Election stuff...

I don't need to mention again that I'm voting for Michael Badnarik (oops, I guess I just did). It just occurred to me that I've failed to mention a local (Illinois at least) alternative. We have Obama and we have Keyes. On Tuesday, I'm voting to try to put Jerry Kohn in the US Senate. The other alternative candidate for the US Senate is Albert J. Franzen. I have some family members (immediate and extended) who think we should vote to keep the Shrub. Some even go as far as saying that our vote will be wasted and that this is no time for a protest vote. There are some "libertarians" voting for Bush this year on those grounds. I wholeheartedly disagree. My take on things is that a protest vote is needed now more than ever. But hey, opinions are like.....