Empty Chairs

Over the last two months, 538 checked out McCain offices nationwide (with photos) and found little happening:

Offices in Troy, Ohio were closed on Saturday October 11. With perfect coincidental timing, two elderly women dropped by to volunteer but found the office shut. At Republican state headquarters in Columbus later the same day, one lonely dialer sat in a sea of unoccupied chairs. In Des Moines on September 25, another empty office. In Santa Fe on September 17, one dialer made calls while six chatted amongst themselves about how they didn't like Obama. In Raleigh this past Saturday, ten days before the election with early voting already open, two women dialed and a male staffer watched the Georgia-LSU game. In Durango, Colorado on September 20, the Republican office was locked and closed. Indiana didn't have McCain Victory offices when we were there in early October.

...These ground campaigns do not bear any relationship to one another. One side has something in the neighborhood of five million volunteers all assigned to very clear and specific pieces of the operation, and the other seems to have something like a thousand volunteers scattered throughout the country. Jon Tester's 2006 Senate race in Montana had more volunteers -- by a mile -- than John McCain's 2006 presidential campaign.

RIP, Studs Terkel

Remarkable guy:

Author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol Louis "Studs" Terkel died Friday afternoon in his home on the North Side. At his bedside was a copy of his latest book, "P.S. Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening," scheduled for release this month. He was 96 years old.

"Studs Terkel was part of a great Chicago literary tradition that stretched from Theodore Dreiser to Richard Wright to Nelson Algren to Mike Royko," Mayor Richard M. Daley said Friday. "In his many books, Studs captured the eloquence of the common men and women whose hard work and strong values built the America we enjoy today. He was also an excellent interviewer, and his WFMT radio show was an important part of Chicago's cultural landscape for more than 40 years."

Those Silly Neurons

Going giddy over celebrities:

It is a discovery that could explain the enduring appeal of Friends. Scientists have found brain cells devoted to Jennifer Aniston.

...Other brain cells are similarly encoded to store memories of individual celebrities, from actress Halle Berry to former US presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

Even Star Wars character Luke Skywalker has a cell of his own.

The Leicester University research, contradicts the popular theory that a large network of cells are involved in processing images of people.

Instead, it appears, our brains streamline the process by devoting individual cells to store memories of specific people or places.

...Another woman had a brain cell for pictures of Halle Berry, responding to drawings of her face and an image of just the words in her name.

Even a picture in which the Catwoman actress's face was almost covered by her costume made the cell fire.

Other celebrities exciting individual brain cells included Pamela Anderson, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise. Famous landmarks also had their own cells.

The study also showed that the same person can have a number of cells devoted to different celebrities or landmarks.

Professor Quian Quiroga said: 'The patient with the Jennifer Aniston neuron had 19 other cells firing to different things.

'There was one firing to Pamela Anderson, another one was firing to the Tower of Pisa, another to Sydney Opera House and so on.'

Although the researchers only found one Jennifer Aniston or Halle Berry cell per person, they only sampled a fraction of the available brain cells.

This means each person's brain is likely to have a number cells devoted to their favourite celebrities.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller"


Lip Dub IUT SRC Rouen 2008
by arcanes-prod

As rendered by French college students.

Just Racism Against Arabs



Look, if they can't even get Martin Peretz to jump on the Khalidi bandwagon, then all they got is that Khalidi has an Arab name, and McCain's attacks on Obama have nothing to do with anti-Semitism at all - it's just pure, distilled anti-Arabism, nothing more.

Your GOP at work.

What's New On The Nerd Frontier?

Left: Image from Jamnog at b3ta.


As one might have expected: 2-D Marriage:

A JAPANESE man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world".
Comic books are immensely popular in Japan, with some fictional characters becoming celebrities or even sex symbols.

Marriage is meanwhile on the decline as many young Japanese find it difficult to find life partners.

Taichi Takashita launched an online petition aiming for one million signatures to present to the government to establish a law on marriages with cartoon characters.

Within a week he has gathered more than 1000 signatures through.

"I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world," he wrote.

...But some people signing the petition are true believers.

"For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love," one person wrote.

...Japan only permits marriage between human men and women and gives no legal recognition to same-sex relationships.

Japan's fans of comic books, or "manga," sometimes go to extremes.

Earlier this month, a woman addicted to manga put out an online message seeking to kill her parents for asking her to throw away comic books that filled up three rooms.

GOTV Impacted

Hard decisions for McCain:

The decision to finance a final advertising push is forcing McCain to curtail spending on Election Day ground forces to help usher his supporters to the polls, according to Republican consultants familiar with McCain's strategy.

The vaunted, 72-hour plan that President Bush used to mobilize voters in 2000 and 2004 has been scaled back for McCain. He has spent half as much as Obama on staffing and has opened far fewer field offices. This week, a number of veteran GOP operatives who orchestrate door-to-door efforts to get voters to the polls were told they should not expect to receive plane tickets, rental cars or hotel rooms from the campaign.

"The desire for parity on television comes at the expense of investment in paid boots on the ground," said one top Republican strategist who has been privy to McCain's plans. "The folks who will oversee the volunteer operation have been told to get out into the field on their own nickel."

Obama has maintained a substantial financial advantage during the general election campaign, forcing McCain to make tough decisions when locking down a final spending plan about two weeks ago.

Organized Model Rocketry In Rio Rancho, NM

Wonderful stuff!

Going After Utah's Wilderness Areas

Time running short, the Bush Administration goes for broke:

The federal Bureau of Land Management is reviving plans to sell oil and gas leases in pristine wilderness areas in eastern Utah that have long been protected from development, according to a notice posted this week on the agency's Web site.

The proposed sale, which includes famous areas in the Nine Mile Canyon region, would take place Dec. 19, a month before President Bush leaves office. The targeted areas include parts of Desolation Canyon, White River, Diamond Mountain and Bourdette Draw.

The bureau has sought to open these public lands to energy exploration since 2003, though it had earlier classified them as having "wilderness character." But the agency has been repeatedly blocked by federal court and administrative rulings.

...The agency will publish the list of lease sites Tuesday. In a notice being published today in the Federal Register, the bureau says it is finalizing five resource management plans applying to about 9.5 million acres, a required step for parts of the sale to go forward.

One of the areas set to be auctioned off is Upper Desolation Canyon, which was named by explorer John Wesley Powell in 1869 while he traveled down the Green River, which traverses the canyon, to the Grand Canyon.

In a 1999 assessment, bureau officials wrote that Desolation Canyon "is a place where a visitor can experience true solitude -- where the forces of nature continue to shape the colorful, rugged landscape," and heralded the area's "cultural, scenic, geologic, botanical, and wildlife values."

"What makes this action by the Interior Department so deplorable is that BLM itself determined these areas to be wilderness-quality lands," said Stephen Bloch, conservation director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, an advocacy group, in a statement. "Nonetheless, BLM is condemning these lands to a future of oil rigs and gas pipelines and almost certain disqualification from future wilderness designation."

The bureau first proposed opening up energy exploration in part of the area in the fall of 2003, after former interior secretary Gayle Norton reached an agreement with then-Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt not to declare any new wilderness areas in the state. Environmental advocates fought the leasing proposal in federal court, which ruled in 2006 that the plan violated the National Environmental Policy Act. Interior's own Board of Land Appeals also issued an administrative ruling backing the leasing prohibition.

In recent weeks, GOP presidential nominee John McCain (Ariz.) and running mate Sarah Palin (Alaska), along with other politicians, have repeatedly called for greater domestic energy exploration -- leading chants of "Drill, baby, drill" on a daily basis. In a speech on energy policy Wednesday, Palin said the United States needs to pursue oil and gas at home rather than relying on imports.

...But environmentalists questioned why the administration is pushing for the lease of ecologically sensitive areas when Utah has more acres leased for oil and gas development than are being drilled. At the end of fiscal year 2006, there were about 4.6 million acres of BLM-managed lands in Utah under lease, with just over 1 million acres in production.

Foliage-Covered Fence

Yesterday afternoon, I was walking through downtown, when I noticed a big rubber ball in the gutter. Just then, on the other side of a foliage-covered fence, I heard a woman say "Look, the ball rolled into the street!" I couldn't see anyone: just a sign indicating a school was located nearby, and the blank face of the foliage-covered fence. Concluding that this was the woman's ball, I retrieved the ball and tossed it back over the fence.

Not only did I hear the woman say "thank you", I heard a whole chorus of little voices saying "thank you" from behind the expressionless, foliage-covered fence.

Crying Wolf

Trivializing anti-Semitism:

In Khalidi's case, the charges of "anti-semitism" are even more disgusting than the normal neocon exploitation, since it's occurring in the last week of a presidential campaign and, as Scott Horton pointed out, is so plainly grounded primarily in the politically useful fact that Khalidi is a Palestinian-American. The anti-semitism accusation is not just manipulative; it itself is bigotry of the highest order.

But this episode illustrates what neocons have been doing for years and, more significantly, signals that the efficacy of this tactic is finally coming to an end. Open debates about U.S. policy towards Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are vital, and people should be able to engage in those debates and be able to take legitimate positions, as Professor Khalidi has plainly done, without hordes of right-wing manipulators swarming on them with anti-semitism accusations.

Scott McConnell, editor of The American Conservative, this week wrote that he was voting for Barack Obama, principally because "John McCain wants to bring [neoconservatives] back, in triumph, on horseback." That's exactly right. The McCain campaign's repulsive McCarthyite tactics of the last several weeks are the hallmark of neoconservatives. That is who will be empowered in a McCain administration.

Our Media Elite

Bashing our media elite, as always:

Appearing once again on The Daily Show, Bill Kristol, Jon Stewart's favorite whipping boy ("Bill Kristol, aren't you ever right?"), tonight defended the McCain-Palin ticket, at one point informing the show's host that he was getting his news from suspect sources. "You're reading The New York Times too much," he declared.

"Bill, you work for The New York Times," Stewart pointed out.

Happy Birthday, Everyone!

Everyone had a birthday today:

• Nancy Agee;
• Rich Kulmann;
• Rodger McDonald;
• Bethany Pedersen;
• Gil Sebastian;
• Marc Valdez (Numero 52).

Happy birthday, everyone!

(P.S. Andy S.: Your Dick Cheney E-card was the best!)

Looking For Scapegoats

The choice of Palin as VP was inspired, but problematic. Scapegoating is a natural human instinct, but may not be appropriate here.

In 1920, when the Cox/FDR Democratic ticket fell short, the general consensus was that no Democrat could win under the circumstances, and neither candidate went about scapegoating the other. That's a better approach than casting blame:

John McCain's campaign is looking for a scapegoat. It is looking for someone to blame if McCain loses on Tuesday.

And it has decided on Sarah Palin.

In recent days, a McCain “adviser” told Dana Bash of CNN: “She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone.”

Imagine not taking advice from the geniuses at the McCain campaign. What could Palin be thinking?

Also, a “top McCain adviser” told Mike Allen of Politico that Palin is “a whack job.”

Maybe she is. But who chose to put this “whack job” on the ticket? Wasn’t it John McCain? And wasn’t it his first presidential-level decision?

The Money Advantage

This is where Obama's fund-raising advantage pays off: when he can come close to monopolizing the air waves just prior to the election and all but shut John McCain out.

In many ways, it's the old-fashioned approach. It's exactly how LBJ got his landslide in 1964, Nixon in 1972, and Reagan in 1984. It's how Hillary wanted to do it this year, and it's how Obama is doing it today:

On Wednesday night, no matter what you were watching, you almost couldn't avoid seeing Barack Obama's face on your TV screen. First there was the coverage of his latest campaign stops in North Carolina and Florida on the local news, then an interview with Charles Gibson on ABC's "World News," then Obama's carefully produced 30-minute ad, which ran on CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Fox, BET, TV One and Univision at 8 p.m., followed by a taped appearance on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," and finally, a rally with former President Bill Clinton, timed to coincide with the 11 p.m. news on the East Coast. On top of it all, Obama launched a brand-new ad questioning the wisdom of John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Obama has already hit all of his talking points in every debate, and his face has appeared on our TV screens with clocklike regularity each night for weeks -- even in California, a blue state that's solidly in Obama's column. You would have to be hiding out in a cave somewhere not to be familiar with Obama's position on most issues. Even my 2-year-old has taken to shouting "Obama!" when she sees his face on our TV screen. (Last night, after we watched the news together, she added, "I want more Obama.")

...After half-expecting to see Obama on a couch with Jessica Simpson and a bevy of skin-care products, the ad turned out to be a thoughtful, polished bit of television magic, a well-timed appeal to Americans desperate for some new direction during tough times.

...Once again, it doesn't pay to underestimate this man. Instead of boring us to tears, Obama has managed to bring us to tears with a combination of heartstring-plucking stories, presidential poise and a good old-fashioned pep rally. And he doesn't even have to mention McCain or Palin, or even Bush, let alone attack them. The tone here is inspirational, after all: Americans are hurting, yes, but they're coming together to decide that the time for change has come.

...Meanwhile, McCain has already taken to mocking the "gauzy, feel-good" ad to crowds in Palm Beach, Fla., saying that it was "paid for by broken promises."

...But will this enormous media blitzkrieg leave a bad taste in some Americans' mouths? After watching Democrats sitting on their hands for years now, carefully selecting their words, resisting the temptation to speak out, straining to sound polite, even in the closing moments of lost elections, Obama's huge last-minute push felt impressive and formidable. Not remotely content to rest on his laurels and watch the White House slip away again, the man is going into the homestretch with a huge, smart, polished political engine behind him. He's reaching out in every way he possibly can, and leaving no stone unturned.

Good Help Is Hard To Find

Daily Show Clip

To The Hapless Bicyclist

Time: 6:30 p.m., just after dusk.

Me: Turning left into the DMV parking lot from 21st Street.

You: Riding against traffic, wearing dark clothing, and having just emerged from a dark tree-covered stretch of sidewalk.

Ambient lighting: Poor.

Message: Don't blame me for nearly killing you - you are invisible!

What Does "Idiot" Mean?

I found this article rather exasperating:

If a male candidate calls a female candidate "an idiot," does that make him a sexist? What if a woman calls another woman "an idiot"?

Frankly, I'm guessing a lot of candidates think their opponents are idiots, especially this close to the election. They just refrain from saying it publicly.

Larry Brown was not so discreet.

The Las Vegas city councilman, after a joint appearance with Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, his opponent in the race for a County Commission seat, answered a question from a Las Vegas Sun reporter, and now Weber is assailing him as a sexist.

Let's put it in context.

The two appeared on KLVX-TV, Channel 10, on Oct. 16 and were given the chance to ask one question of the other.

Brown said he didn't have a question for her.

Watching from home, I took it as a put-down, an implication she wasn't worthy of questioning. He now says it was a strategy. He didn't want to use a question to beat up on her, plus she has a tendency not to answer the question, so he didn't want to give her an opportunity to go off on a tangent. He wasn't being disrespectful, he insists.

The question she asked of him was convoluted but boiled down to: How do you explain your failure to bring a major sports team to Las Vegas?

After saying her premise was "fraught with mistakes," he basically said it's too early for a major sports team because the local population isn't large enough.

I thought it wasn't fair to blame Brown especially because the biggest cheerleader for a sports team and an arena has been Mayor Oscar Goodman. Brown has cautioned against using tax dollars to build an arena.

But here's the kicker. When the Las Vegas Sun asked Brown about Weber's question, he called it "a goofball question" and then added, "I felt like saying: You're an idiot."

He didn't say that directly to Weber, a GOP assemblywoman for six years. He didn't say it on air. He said it to a reporter with a tape recorder.

When Weber read the quote in Tuesday's newspaper, she was stunned.

"I've been in public office for six years. Being called an idiot is hurtful, dismissive and disrespectful," she said. "I felt it was a tone of hatefulness toward women and he was being misogynistic."

Brown insisted he was referring to the question she asked, not calling her an idiot.

"Name calling is not part of my politics," he said.

I think Valerie Weber is too much the wilting flower here. Sexism, however unattractive, is not a crime. Not only does Larry Brown have the right to call her an idiot if he chooses to, but as a political candidate, maybe even an affirmative duty to call her an idiot, once again, should he choose to do so. Political debate doesn't always have to be civil. Civility can mask the failure to speak the truth and better that civility be sacrificed than the truth.

And heck, Brown didn't even say Weber was an idiot, only that he thought about calling her an idiot. Thought crime is not a crime in America. Flinging inflammatory insults is often not the best way to wage a campaign, but there are exceptions. It's the candidate's call - no one else's.

OK, This Is What Real Elitism Looks Like

In defense of Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens:

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who is also under investigation by federal officials, offered a whole-hearted, but odd endorsement of Stevens, equating his pursuit of justice with that of disgraced former President Richard Nixon.

“I can remember Richard Nixon, you know, his years of service, what he’s done, and everybody [was] ridiculing him, and he ended up being the greatest president in the history of our century. ... The Senator will be re-elected. He will appeal it. When he does go, he will win it because there’s no way this is a jury of his peers,” Young told the Anchorage Daily News.