The Libertarians have gotten my vote in every presidential election I’ve been eligible for. They’re not this year, as my views on social responsibility have shifted to the left over the last three years, but Harry Browne, Libertarian for President, expertly points out the fallacies in the Gore-Bush debate arguments. Who am I voting for? Even though I don’t agree with everything on his platform, it looks like it’s going to be Ralph Nader.

TiVO’s here! And, instead of the 14 hour old model I was supposed to win, they sent me the new 30 hour model. Sayeth the TiVO people: “You just got lucky.” I’ll say!

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidential election. There are several interactive pages that let you assign to states to candidates and come up with an electoral vote total, based on polls or your own whim. Here’s one of the best I’ve found, from MSNBC. Like several others I’ve done, based as best I could from current polling data, my results show both candidates receiving 269 electoral votes. Exciting! If this happens, Congress gets involved. It hasn’t happened in a long time, though people thought it a possibility when Perot ran the first time. Three strong parties would make getting a majority much more difficult, but it’s exciting to see the same thing can happen with only two candidates.

Another thing that bothered me in the debate last night. This quote by Bush:

"[Africa’s] an important continent. But there’s got to be priorities. And the Middle East is a priority for a lot of reasons, as is Europe and the Far East and our own hemisphere. And those are my four top priorities should I be the president."

Let’s see… if you take away the Middle East, the Far East, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere, you’re left with Africa. And Australia. And Antarctica. So he tells Africa that should he be elected, he’s going to put virtually the entire world ahead of them. Sure, terrifying numbers of people are dying from AIDS and other diseases, governments are being forced by Western nations to spend more on loan interest payments than on all social programs combined, the absolute poverty leads to wars over resources with killings and conditions more horrific than you can imagine. But that’s not “in our interests”. No, I don’t have the answers. But I know telling them they are our lowest priority is not right. It offends me.

_I’ve gotfive pockets in my overalls Got five pockets in my overalls
I got two on the back, one on the bib
and two in the ordinary, everyday, regular place
In the front.

In the one on the right in the back
I got a dollar from my old Uncle Zak
It’s so special, got an Indian on it
With a great big buffalo on the back
Got a great big buffalo right on the back…_

The Cassini spacecraft, on its way to a 2004 meeting with Saturn, is nearing Jupiter for a slingshot boost. Here’s a wonderful color photo, the first color picture returned by the craft. Sure, just a photo of Jupiter alone is nice. But the addition of Europa and its shadow on the Jovian surface is what makes this picture especially nice.

In 1897, a rash of airship sightings were reported in newspapers across Michigan and other states. These airships often had blinking colored lights and were unlike anything known at the time. This webpage has collected all the news stories it could find from the time.

“Rebecca Ransohoff, 9, watches Vice President Al Gore explain how to hypnotize chickens.”

Oh! Uri Gellar was what made the olympic flame stall during the Sydney opening ceremonies! That rascal!

The Cathar religion was extinguished by 1230 by the brutal Albigensian crusade. But that hasn’t stopped all kinds of wackos from appropriating the Cathar name.