MSNBC - Who's Got the Best Final Strategy? - "40 percent of the American people, according to recent polls, still think Saddam was involved in 9/11."

Kerry for President (washingtonpost.com)

Kerry's leading the newspaper endorsement horserace and continuing to pick up newspapers faster than Bush. To me, the most important one is from the paper in the eye of the storm, the nation's capital. You'll have to register to read the story on their web site, but it's free.

CNN.com - NASA expert: White House stifles global warming data - Oct 27, 2004: "The Bush administration is trying to stifle scientific evidence of the dangers of global warming in an effort to keep the public uninformed, a NASA scientist said Tuesday night.

"'In my more than three decades in government, I have never seen anything approaching the degree to which information flow from scientists to the public has been screened and controlled as it is now,' James E. Hansen told a University of Iowa audience."

US-GA-Atlanta-Intelligence

See the black title graphic... "Intelligence" is spelled wrong. (thanks to fark.com)

Just trying out the comments system...

Daily Endorsement Tally: A Calm Day in the Wake of 'Super Sunday'

The Editor & Publisher is keeping track of the newspapers declaring their support for Bush or Kerry. Kerry's pretty handily beating him, leading 128 in 105 in total endorsements -- but the more important number is the total circulation of the papers backing each candidate. The newspapers backing Kerry have 16.9 million total readers, compared to 10.9 million for those supporting Bush. Also, 35 papers that endorsed Bush in 2000 are now supporting Kerry, compared to 4 papers that supported Gore in 2000 that now support Bush.

Go to www.editorandpublisher.com's home page to get the latest tallies.

MSNBC - Bloggermann - It's refreshing to hear from a prominent news anchor who isn't afraid to speak the truth...

"...when [Fox News] took me off the air in 2001, I took $800,000 from Fox just to not say anything about what idiots they were - until the contract was over eight months later (I think I’ve done another $800,000 worth of damage to them since, because nowhere in the deal did it say I couldn’t start saying what idiots they were once the contract ran out - and they are idiots, by the way - there’s another $17 right there)."

MSNBC - Cheney: 'On the big issues, I think we got it right' - Excerpt from a Newsweek interview...

Gangel: Right before the war, on Meet the Press you said, "We will be greeted as liberators." Were you wrong?

Cheney: Jamie, just because it's tough and because it's difficult and because force was required doesn't mean that it wasn't the right thing to do. And the Iraqis I've talked to, virtually to a man, all reiterate that gratitude they feel to the United States for what we did.

Really, Dick? Because I'm pretty sure all the polls show that about 90% of Iraqis hate America now. But then again, you're a good guy; I'm sure you walked through an Iraqi village and talked to real people, instead of just making shit up.

MSNBC - Candidates offer sharply different economic plans - "Workers born in 1980 or later could see Social Security benefits reduced by 30 to 45 percent under such a plan, according to the Congressional Budget Office."

Lucky me, I was born in the cut-off year to be screwed over by Bush on social security.

MSNBC - Who's Your President? Why the Yankees' loss to the Red Sox could be bad news for George W. Bush

Pretty much everything on this blog is about sports or politics, so an article about both is the holy grail... I guess.

SI.com - NBA - What I did on my summer vacation: Wallace enjoys spoils of first NBA title - Thursday October 21, 2004 4:55PM:

"SI.com: This summer, did you talk much with other professional athletes with two first names like Tommy John or Byron Scott?

Ben Wallace: (pauses) Not at all."

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Red Sox: Schilling to pitch despite ankle injury - "Schilling has a torn sheath in his ankle that is allowing tendons to slip out of place and rub against the bone."

KR Washington Bureau | 10/17/2004 | Post-war planning non-existent: "In March 2003, days before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, American war planners and intelligence officials met at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina to review the Bush administration's plans to oust Saddam Hussein and implant democracy in Iraq.

"Near the end of his presentation, an Army lieutenant colonel who was giving a briefing showed a slide describing the Pentagon's plans for rebuilding Iraq after the war, known in the planners' parlance as Phase 4-C. He was uncomfortable with his material - and for good reason.

"The slide said: 'To Be Provided.'"

CNN.com - 'Sudden jump' in greenhouse gases - Oct 11, 2004: "Some scientists believe the abrupt rise may be evidence of the climate change 'feedback' mechanism, by which global warming alters the earth's natural systems causing warming to increase even faster than before, according to the report."

"Major League Baseball's decision in 1993 to realign its leagues into three divisions and include the team with the next-best record in the playoffs was considered heresy by the purists, particularly because it copied a concept from football, of all things.

"The only baseball owner to vote against the change, which took effect in 1994 before the postseason was canceled by labor strife, was from Texas.

"'I made my arguments and went down in flames. History will prove me right. This is an exercise in folly,' said then-Rangers owner George W. Bush."

MSNBC - 'Team America' is the funniest film of year: "It all may sound adolescent and goofy, and a lot of the time it is. But 'Team America' also may be the best film of the year. It's easily the funniest."

If I forget to go see this this weekend, I'm going to be pissed.

Looks nothing at all like a rich person's mansion, does it?

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com: "A elderly Romanian man mistook his penis for a chicken's neck, cut it off and his dog rushed up and ate it, the state Rompres news agency said Monday."

If this is true, this man needs to kill himself right now. On second thought, he's already basically out of the gene pool as it is. Yeah, let's keep him around and laugh at him. But we should kill his kids, if he has any.

MSNBC - Ultimate planner set to lose control of her life: "Just like every other inmate at the minimum security facility, Martha Stewart will be fingerprinted, photographed, and strip searched. "

MSNBC - Early T. Rex relative had feathers - Check out the photo and try not to laugh at Lil' Rex trying to be all scary.

MSNBC - War's rationale undermined once again - "Bush said yesterday that Hussein 'chose defiance and war, [and] our coalition enforced the just demands of the world,' but Iraq actually had allowed the United Nations to send inspectors into the country, although Iraqi officials had balked at allowing scientists to leave the country for questioning. The inspectors left not because Iraq kicked them out but because the United States said it was about to launch an invasion and their safety could not be guaranteed."

MSNBC - Howard Stern making jump to satellite radio: "'The FCC ... has stopped me from doing business, Stern said. Clear Channel, you (expletives), I will bury you.'"

I think he probably will. Regular radio sucks... all people need is a reason to switch to satellite and they'll do it. For millions of people, Howard Stern is part of their morning routine, and once they realize that they can get CD-quality radio without commercials, they'll never listen to another Clear Channel station again.

Consider:

1) Clear Channel's programming sucks. Their stations play the same ten songs over and over again. Sirius radio has tons of stations playing really varied, interesting music, that Clear Channel won't play for whatever stupid reasons (all of which probably have to do with contractual obligations to record labels to play their songs a certain number of times).

2) Satellite radio is uncensored.

3) The quality is better.

4) You can get sports games, including the NFL... tons of them.

5) I have to go to lunch. Go Stern go.

MSNBC - Both sides claimvictory in Cheney, Edwards debate: "Cheney fared best in an ABC News poll of a Republican-leaning group of registered voters who watched the debate, with 43 percent giving the vice president the edge, while 35 percent saying Edwards won.

"The Democratic senator from North Carolina was viewed more positively in a poll of 178 undecided voters by CBS News. Of this crucial group, 41 percent said Edwards won compared to 28 percent who thought Cheney triumphed."

I thought Edwards got slaughtered personally... but what do I know.

Democrat & Chronicle: - "Two women, employees of the Crossroads diner on campus, were shot in what Sheriff''s Deputy John Helfer said appeared to be a robbery, as they prepared to open the restaurant.

Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said the women apparently complied with the robber's demands but were shot anyway." -- Probably because the Crossroads didn't any money. What the hell are you robbing a college dining hall for?

MSNBC - Your Gut Only Gets You So Far - "The best presidents, of course, combine decisive intuition and deep knowledge of the policy implications of their actions. Maybe next time."

MSNBC - Sending in the Cavalry: "Cheney has a calm, reassuring demeanor -- and a resume of service to GOP presidents of varying ideological stripes -- that has sometimes led people to underestimate just how fiercely conservative he's always been. In 1979, the year he was first elected to Congress, he voted against establishing the Department of Education. Later, he voted against funding for Head Start, AIDS research, assistance to the homeless and sanctions against South Africa."

...there's a little background on the fat balding guy.

Yahoo! Sports - NFL - Woman sues Packers' Davenport - "A woman sued Green Bay Packers fullback Najeh Davenport, saying he invaded her privacy by breaking into her dorm room and defecating in her closet."

Thanks to Ezaldine Ramadan III for the heads up on this important breaking news event.

SI.com - NFL - Former NFL player dies in fiery crash on Thruway - Thursday September 30, 2004 5:16PM - "Justin Strzelczyk, a former player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Thursday in a fiery head-on collision with a tanker truck after he led state troopers on a 40-mile highway chase during morning rush hour.

Strzelczyk, 36, was an offensive lineman with the Steelers for nearly a decade until the team released him in February 2000.

State police said Strzelczyk crashed his pickup truck into the westbound empty tanker just moments after swerving around a tractor-trailer that pulled across the highway to block the eastbound lanes. Strzelczyk drove 15 miles on three tires and a rim after one of his pickup's tires was punctured by metal spikes thrown into the road by troopers."

Moral 1: Nothing good ever happens in Herkimer.

Moral 2: Anyone who claims that NFL players don't use steroids is crazy.

Moral 3: Don't argue with guys whose last names have 9 letters and only one vowel: "Nine months after his release by the Steelers, Strzelczyk was arraigned for illegal possession of a gun. Police said he slammed a loaded handgun onto a bar in Pittsburgh when discussing the presidential election with a friend."

Kerry Haters for Kerry - I would've joined up with this site before last night's debate... now I'm not so sure. Kerry's a pretty smart dude.

Bush's 7 Deadly Sins - September/October 2004 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club - "If global warming makes you nervous, well, ignore it. That's exactly what Bush's EPA did when it sliced a whole chapter on climate change from its 2002 annual report on pollution.

There was plenty of practice for denial and deletion, the most notorious case being just after the attack on the World Trade Center. The EPA found levels of asbestos and other pollution thousands of times above normal around the disaster site. But the White House ordered the agency to announce that it was safe.

Then Dick Cheney's energy task force refused to reveal what went on in its meetings--until the courts forced the Energy Department to cough up some of the records. The department even swiped $136,000 from its solar, renewable energy, and energy conservation budgets to produce 10,000 copies of the task force's drill-America-first report."