Yes! Jimmy Carter is backing Al Gore for president in 2008. I hope it isn't the kiss of death. (Remember Howard Dean?) Taegan Goddard has the details.  ¶ 1:14 PM 0 comments

  Snake Warrior's Island. I took a field trip today. The Trust for Public Land saved something beautiful right in my own backyard. I would love to see the land restored to the way it looked in the 1800's, but nevertheless, the engineers worked a miracle.

Historians speculated the island was situated on a 53-acre tract of pastureland known as Old Perry Farm, which was wedged between intensively developed residential areas on the Broward/Dade County line. Their suspicions proved correct when in 1991 a series of excavations unearthed artifacts establishing the site as the home of Chief Chitto Tustenugee, or "Snake Warrior," and his tribe, who inhabited the area in the early 1800s.

In December 1991, upon learning of the importance of the site and its probable sale to residential developers, TPL acted quickly to negotiate an option to purchase the property. By mid-1992, the state of Florida had approved acquisition of Snake Warriors Island for public preservation. Among the artifacts establishing the area's historical significance were a 500- to 1000-year-old leg bone of a Tequesta Indian and canoe-building tools dating from the Seminole presence in the mid-1800s.

Fourteen years after TPL helped save Snake Warrior's Island from development, the Florida site was officially designated a Natural Area on January 21, 2004, at a dedication ceremony in which TPL's contribution was highly praised by local officials.

There's a 250-year-old native stranger fig tree! It's haunted!  ¶ 6:38 PM 0 comments

  Florida Is Certifying The Sarasota Results. CBS reports that a judge is holding hearings over ballots. Been there, done that. SCOTUS has decided. The FL Dem chair has been asking for money to fight the cause. I feel bad but I've given and given and given. Because I have given, Ms. Thurman you are not being accused of wearing tinfoil where your dem hat is.

Ms. Thurman, ask Diebold for a refund (ha ha.) What does one do when the voting machines break down in the middle of an election and the source code belongs to Diebold. Inquiring minds want to know.  ¶ 12:46 PM 0 comments

  The Galactically Stupid Kissnfinger. Heeeeee's back. When he's around no one's child is safe. I'm not going to play arm chair quarterback about troop withdrawals. We just need to clean up the hell hole that we created before we go. Kissinger has a pair of plastic ones to say that the rest of the world community (who were against this war from day one) has to help us fix this mess.

How did he survive between the peaceful years between the time Vietnam ended and Iraq began? It must have been difficult being out of the public spotlight and not having any death and destruction to watch on tv. I'd love to see him choke on a "salted peanut." He's a stupid old elephant spitting in the wind. He's stupid because he actually thinks he is anything more than a harbinger of death.

I say bring on the draft. Let's put our money where our mouth is. If there really ever is another threat, we'll be more prepared and it WILL prevent another Vietnam and Iraq from ever happening again. jmo.  ¶ 12:11 PM 0 comments

  Sunday Morning Talk Shows. are boring. I've been thinking about an article I read yesterday by John W. Dean.

Despite the "thumpin'" he acknowledges Republicans took on Election Day 2006, President Bush has resubmitted five of his most controversial lower federal court nominees (and a sixth who is not controversial) to the Senate for confirmation.

The timing was not under Bush's control: Under the Senate Rules, the President had to do this after the extended Congressional break for the 2006 midterm elections, or the nominations would have been considered withdrawn. But the decision itself was, of course, all Bush's -- and it's a grave mistake.

I believe that Bush will use the "nuclear option" that Dean mentions. They will just nominate a different player if all else fails. It certainly appears to be part of a plan, like The Wedge (I'm going to have to learn to link to the bottom of my page, but it's here somewhere in a post about intelligent Design.) ... a plan to take control - the courts, the media, science, elections, you-name-it. It is certainly going to be interesting to see how events in Congress unfold.

Maybe I should have more trust in the judicial system. Let's see what happens in Sarasota. In any event, I don't know about where you live, but it's a perfect 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 here in FL today, so rl beckons. I got the check for my VST work yesterday!  ¶ 12:06 PM 0 comments

  Listen To The Leonids. Cool science.

The least expensive way is to use a digital FM radio set to a distant known station frequency that you cannot hear. A meteor will reflect that signal so you will hear a brief bit of music or speech. For this to work, you can't have too many FM stations in your area because overlap from them will mute the meteor signal.

Or simply go to the Roswell Astronomy Club website. You can listen to past events at the American Meteor Society.  ¶ 4:54 AM 0 comments

  Sarasota County. There's a recount fight taking place. Do I need to tell you who manufactured the voting equipment used in that county? I had to google and google the news articles to find out if I was correct in assuming that the suspicious machines were indeed made by Diebold. CBS is investigating the story.

The state audit of the machine is being delayed by a judge. Golly gee, that sounds familiar. I really need to get off this 'puter before I go crazy.  ¶ 5:26 PM 0 comments

  Broward County. There's a right way and a wrong way. The 50 state strategy is the right way. I just looked at the county election results to be sure. The Democrats won every single race except two where the Repupublicans ran unopposed. That's just plain awful. Not that we didn't sweep the elections, but that we could have totally crushed the Republicans here. Nan Rich, our state senator, talked about it at the second meeting of the Miramar Democratic Club. And while I'm at it, let me say that the newly revived Miramar Democratic Club is another example of the gift that keeps on giving (the 50 state strategy.)  ¶ 2:55 PM 0 comments

  Say Cheese.   ¶ 2:18 PM

 
Kind of reminds me of a They Might Be Giants Song called "The Statue Got Me High."

DId you see this? Bush has to be the most callous president in history to make these remarks in Vietnam of all places. Where is the outrage?  ¶ 2:17 PM 0 comments

  The Leonids Are Coming. Isn't it magic?  ¶ 10:58 AM 0 comments

  Global Dimming Finally Doesn't Get A Headline. David Travis' experiment is remarkable.

For 15 years Travis had been researching an apparently obscure topic, whether the vapour trails left by aircraft were having a significant effect on the climate. In the aftermath of 9/11 the entire US fleet was grounded, and Travis finally had a chance to find out.

It was the final piece of the puzzle that showed global dimming's link to global cooling and its effect on global warming. Air particles prevent sunlight from reaching the earth. The resulting drop in temperature is called global cooling. Travis deserves more credit. His name wasn't even mentioned in the news article or NOVA's slide show.  ¶ 9:02 AM 0 comments

  A New Theory Of Mass Extinction. Supervolcanos. It's pretty neat how scientists discovered their presence. I saw a show, I think it was NOVA, about supervolcanos last night. Actually one of them is in Yellowstone National Park and could blow in the next couple thousand years. Aren't we the lucky ones? As a species we developed at quite an opportune time. And at least you and I don't have to worry about being annihilated. Maybe it's the earth's way of changing the dominant species. Unless we figure out a way to preserve our habitat and create a society that with the technology to battle the most destructive force on this planet, North America is doomed sooner or later. Let's face it, we are dinosaurs, as the saying goes.  ¶ 6:08 AM 0 comments

  James Carville, Please Put A Bag Over Your Head. Yo Mama So Ugly:

she looked out the window and got arrested for mooning.
she shaved her pits with a lawn mower.
she went to a haunted house and came out with an application.
she went to the bathroom and scared the shit out of the toilet.
they filmed "Gorillas in the Mist" in her shower.
she made an onion cry.

she named you "Shit Happens."

This a tasteless copy and paste post, but one gets tired of hearing ugly jokes about Katherine Harris.  ¶ 12:44 PM 0 comments

  Haarp. If I had woken up today, I would have written something substantive about Donald Rumsfeld legal problems. My question is, does the US government's legal department defend him? I heard about this story from my daughter, Barbara. She's an attorney, so I'll ask her tomorrow.

I can't decide whether or not HAARP is benign and even if it's benign I'm not sure it is ethical. I just tried to do a little search ... so many conspiracy theories, so little time.  ¶ 8:12 PM 0 comments

  Troll Bumper Sticker. Better left unsaid.

I realize I should have something meaningful to say. However, I have nothing to say, but it's ok... that's a line from a Beatles song. Actually I do have something to say. I told you about my daughter's visit. Music heaven can be found here in cyberspace. Get your own virtual radio station at Pandora Internet Radio. The World Wide Web just keeps getting better all the time.  ¶ 4:12 PM 0 comments

  Nan Of A Thousand Days. Speaker Pelosi. It does have a nice ring to it. I learned something new. I thought the Speaker was the majority leader. I am thrilled about the first women Speaker, but I wonder why she put a damper on this historical occasion by backing Murtha.

Check out the mug shot of Noelle Bush, Jeb's little one. Don't get me wrong. No family is perfect, but the Bush family sure has had its share of close encounters with the legal system. TSG has some fun stuff. The Michael Jackson mug shot is frightening. Viewer discretion advised. Thanks, Vixie (she's my little one) for showing me so many outstanding web sites today.  ¶ 9:34 PM 0 comments

  Spring Cleaning. I know it's not spring, but the beginning of the dry season feels like spring to me. I'm taking a break from politics. A young male spot breasted oriole is creating all kinds of drama in my back yard. The parrots are going crazy and my poor resident mockingbird can't get into his usual routine of minding everyone else's business. He's hiding in the bushes. Then the oriole nose-dives into the bushes to chase him out, but the mockingbird holds his own. Undaunted, the oriole goes crashing into the mango tree to mess with the parrots. This has been going on all morning long. Even the grackles are acting crazy. The little mourning doves, well actually they are quite fat, are the only ones that seem unchanged. They just hang out on the power lines and coo, hoping I'll throw out some dried bread or left over rice.

In case you haven't seen the strange storm on Saturn, check it out, here. I told you it was strange. It reminds me of the eye of Horus. Well. Break time is over. It's time to get back to work.  ¶ 1:49 PM 0 comments

  Beautiful Counties. Beauty comes from within. I made a list of counties populated with more or a little less than 50% of residents who are not pod people. Sorry I can't explain the math better. The purple-blue counties are: Alachua, Brevard, Calhoun, Dixie, Duval (what happened?) Flagler, Franklin, Gadsen, Hamilton, Hernando. Hendry, Jackson, Liberty, Taylor, Wakula, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Monroe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Orange, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Volusia (what happened?), Wakula, Miami-Dade, and of course Broward.  ¶ 1:50 AM 0 comments

  4 More Years. 63% of Broward County voted for Davis. The polls were hopping yesterday. I'll write about my poll worker experience when I recover. I want to be happy about what the pundits are calling an historic election, but I'm devastated. 4 more years of using the FCAT as the instrument to measure schools' performances (I'm a teacher in rl.) Even Dade county rejected Charlie Crist. South Florida and Alachua county seem to have lost their purple hue and turned more blue. I feel like I just woke up from a nightmare to find out that I'm still living in it, a pile of red poop.

I wonder what's up with that little enclave of counties up in the panhandle that went for Davis? No surprise that most Floridians can't admit or can't figure out that the Republican Party is being run by a bunch of l-o-s-e-r-s. They don't think that there is a problem if their children are schooled in a state that ranks 49th. in the nation in education. Red Florida is morally bankrupt. I hope that they are proud of Bush Country because we have a better life in our crowded multicultural counties here in the south. Sheeze, country living is having a trailer or at best a prefabricated house in a palmetto patch or in a hot muggy strand of straggly trees that they call a forest. I guess that they enjoy having no where to shop but Walmart with their minimum wage pay checks and living under blue tarped roofs for the rest of the boring days of their lives. Enough said.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House. Hot damn. I just heard it on the news, I couldn't bear to watch last night. I said that this election would be decided in the hearts and minds of all Americans. We did good. I think I'll take a drive to the Glades today. And sometime this month look into investing my money in a little ranch in the panhandle. Who would've thought.  ¶ 7:31 AM 0 comments

  Phew! I'll be running on adrenaline for at least the next 36 hours. The governor's race is a dead heat. I just finished calling everyone on my phone banking list at 8:00. Perfect timing. Then I checked in the with precinct clerk and my field vst. The evening news ran machine malfunction story after another. Time to rtfm.

I forgot to mention that the evening news neglected to mention the absence of certain Republican candidates who would rather not campaign with the president of the United States. That's cold.  ¶ 8:24 PM 0 comments

  Perchlorates In Our Food And Water. I just happened across an article about perchlorates. Perchlorates according to the DOD are very useful. How could we build our explosives, pyrotechnics, rockets, and missiles without them?  ¶ 4:54 PM 0 comments

  Crist Vs Davis, Round 8. The dueling candidates are in South Florida. Clinton/Davis is attracting crowds of 600-900 people around here. The pair looked fantastic together on the evening news last night. Clinton is the master when he rallies the faithful. I wish I would remember the exact words, but he started his Miami speech tentatively (on purpose.) He said (pause) we all know (pause) that something (pause) isn't (pause) quite right. He praised Davis' work in the House, saying Davis' support helped Clinton's administration pass the legislation that helped so many Americans. Following Clinton on stage is no easy feat. Davis went on the attack over special interest money fueling the Crist campaign. He was on fire.

Crist, on the other hand, is going to local neighborhoods. News reports feature close up shots of Crist outside of preselected homes. Crist is on the defensive to counter Davis' claim that he represents special interests, not Floridians.

What I want to know is why did Charlie Crist follow Davis' lead to the Versaille restaurant to serve Cuban coffee to the locals? He is doing what has worked in the past, linking Davis to Castro. So why does he need to spend so much time courting his base?  ¶ 1:10 PM 0 comments

  Fear Factor. My house is haunted. The sister of the person I bought it from buried two husbands (one died in the house,) and she died a few years later. She was an artist in her early forties. My bf's brother told me he saw a man before I even told him the house is haunted. I hear noises. It feels like someone is watching me. Funny that there would be a science article about haunted houses.

Half the earth can observe Mercury crossing the sun on Nov. 8 (with a telescope.)  ¶ 10:04 AM 0 comments

  Panama Fills Seat On UN Security Council. If any country is behind this, it would be China, not the US. I know about the sinister details of Panama politics. However, any US involved conspiracy theory is a non issue. Bush has to circumvent the UN, not because the excuses he uses, He ain't got no game anymore.  ¶ 12:05 AM 0 comments

  Lying Must Not Be A Sin Anymore. Evangelicals do it all the time. Pastor Ted did not inhale the meth in his crack pipe. Pastor Ted did not have sex with that man. Pass the plate.  ¶ 8:25 PM 0 comments

  Direct Access. Evidently Pastor Ted had direct access to GWB as well as to God. Read just how influential Pastor Ted can be arguing against tariffs of all things (as opposed to more spiritual things.) Every Monday at 3:00 p.m. Pastor Ted has a date.

"We have direct access," says Mr. Haggard, senior pastor of the giant New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. "I can call [Mr. Goeglein], he'll take my concern to the president and get back to me in 24 hours."

Pastor Ted gushes when he talks about the preznit.

Well, on Monday I was in the World Prayer Center ... New Life's high-tech, twenty-four-hour-a-day prayer chapel ... and my cell phone rang. It was a presidential aide; 'the President,' says Pastor Ted, wanted him on hand for the signing of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Pastor Ted was on a plane the next morning and in the President's office the following afternoon. It was incredible, wrote Pastor Ted.

Pastor Ted discusses global warming with Tony Blair. Pastor Ted wants to talk to Hugo Chavez. His church has 11,000 members. 11,000 members. What kind of church is that? Do they have stadium parking with valet service? Are there long lines to use the facilities? How do they keep the bathrooms clean? What programs do they offer the children and babies, a Christian theme park? They surely can afford it with all those 10% tithes. It boggles the mind. Bush and Blair and Chavez and Pastor Ted.  ¶ 8:18 PM 0 comments

  51-49. My Prediction For The FL Governor's Race. Update: I wasn't even close although I did say

Crist will win. Do not doubt that Fl Republicans are faithful voters, even when they have to hold their collective noses during this election (as well as close their eyes and ears.) But who knows who really wins the typical close Florida election. There are still quite a few undecided voters in this governor's race, unlike other contests.

I picked up my VST materials last night. Public law dictates that VSTs attend 4 hours of training. It wasn't enough time for me to learn how to perform my assigned tasks. The official said that volunteers (we do get paid $190) wouldn't go for more hours of training, Hell, they can't even get enough people now. I was the last person to leave last night during the only scheduled pick up time. There were still at least 50 communications packs left.

After spending at least another hour completing the hands on activity (a checklist of each task we need to know.) I feel like I'm somewhat competent. I'll still need to study the manual this weekend, so I will know how to use it if I need it. Brenda Snipes, the election supervisor, met each VST personally at the door. I told her I was a little overwhelmed and she assured me that everything would go just fine. She is a lovely person. It wasn't the time or place to talk politics, but I have the impression that she is the kind of person who listens to all sides before making her decisions. I would love the chance to talk to her.

The first red flag. Our morning checklist does not include calibrating the machines. That's what I think is behind all these vote switching stories. Another red flag. I have the master PEB at home over the weekend. It's in a case with a plastic security seal. A more secure procedure would be for elections officials to deliver the master PEBs. VSTs should test the master PEB and calibrate the machines in the morning. If we are stuck with this system, stringent (expensive) measures would make hacking more difficult.

There are some good articles on Slashdot and elsewhere about the central tabulators. Why aren't people talking about the obvious technical fix needed to restore the public faith in the electoral system?  ¶ 12:17 PM 0 comments

  Public Law 109-364. WTF!

He can overturn Habeas Corpus. He can torture. He can declare Marshall law. He has a new Insurrection Act. Is Patrick Leahy the only public servant who isn't mindless? His remarks:

The changes to the Insurrection Act will allow the President to use the military, including the National Guard, to carry out law enforcement activities without the consent of a governor. When the Insurrection Act is invoked posse comitatus does not apply. Using the military for law enforcement goes against one of the founding tenets of our democracy, and it is for that reason that the Insurrection Act has only been invoked on three...three... recent history. The implications of changing the Act are enormous, but this change was just slipped in the defense bill as a rider with little study. Other congressional committees with jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold hearings on, these proposals.

  ¶ 5:15 PM 0 comments