October 2004 Archives

Tech Conference
Wow! I have neglected my blog–but for good reason. This past week I was in Denver for a technology conference. The conference was awesome. I stayed on for the weekend and traveled the area, mostly in the Rockies. Talk about big sky country! Wow. This part of the country is awesome. I'll post some pictures now and blog about my adventures soon (with more pictures). The terrain and the weather in that part of the country can change in 15 minutes! Amazing place! Cold place!! Freezing cold w i n d y place!!!

(clicking on a picture enlarges it)

Documentary Project
The 2 weeks prior to my trip to Denver I was working feverishly on a 48 minute documentary. Projects like these are so time intensive. However, I love being creative and conquering all of the challenges that they produce. This was my first effort to work from start to finish with a 16:9 anamorphic project. I had a lot to learn! I'll post a wee bit of this project soon. You know you did a really good job when your colleagues think you out-sourced the project! :o)

Comments Issues
Several of you have emailed about having some problems posting comments. I don't know what the issue is. I do know that I am receiving a large number of spam comments every day and am considering my options for preventing them. I hate spending any of my time deleting unsolicited crap! But, at the same time, I enjoy reading your comments and emails. Let me know what the error messages are when you post, and I'll tackle this issue this week.

Election Tuesday
And finally, as we approach what I hope to be liberation from our present incompetent presidential leadership, VOTE! on Tuesday. And keep in mind the tyranny we as a nation will face if we have a right wing extremist in the white house, a republican dominated congress, and if Bush were to get to appoint supreme court justices that would cause that body to reflect his radical views. And for my conservative friends out there, I would be saying just the opposite if we were running the risk of having all 3 branches of government be dominated by the liberals.

We simply must have checks and balances. Failing to fire Bush would have a long term horrific impact on this nation. Oh, and his claim that he would do a better job protecting the nation from terrorism than John Kerry? Hello!! We know he failed on this task. He did not do his job on 9/11; why would we think he will protect the nation now?!

I'm Back!
Any way, glad to be back. Glad the election will be over with for better or worse on Tuesday. Glad to get back to blogging. And glad to get an extra hour of sleep tonight.

Nite nite!

I had dinner with a friend tonight, near my age, who didn't know what The Prime Directive was. I had to clarify, “You know, from Star Trek.” Still no luck.

I asked the hostess.

“What?”

“My god,” I gasped! I asked the server.

“The what?”

At this point I was clutching my breast and reaching for my nitroglycerin pills.

Now, granted the later contestants were “in their youth,” but still folks! This should be part of the national conscience! Am I the only one who knows? Help me out here! Restore my faith in humankind!

Do you know? Tell me you know!!

“Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind.” -- George Orwell

George Orwell shaped our imagination of a future in which a propagandistic media produced a steady stream of up-is-down, right-is-wrong, war-is-peace lies in order to impose the will of a governing elite upon the subject citizenry.

Orwell reckoned this ultimate diminution of democracy would come in the year 1984. Imperfect genius that he was, the author missed the mark by twenty years. But, after watching the controversy regarding the Sinclair Broadcast Group's scheme to air the truth-impaired mockumentary Stolen Honor in an attempt to stall the momentum John Kerry's campaign gained from the presidential debates, it becomes evident that the future Orwell imagined is unfolding.

Source and complete article: The Online Beat

I've been thinking for quite a while now about why George W. Bush is still a viable candidate for re-election. As we have demonstrated here over the last year, there are as many reasons to send the President back to Crawford, TX as there are stars in the sky. Yet he is still ahead in some polls and favored to win another term. What is keeping him in this race?

The answer I have for you is “Battered Wife Syndrome,” or in this case, “Battered Voter Syndrome.”

In January 2001, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, Americans married George W. Bush. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, and in sickness and in health, we have been joined with this man.

We have watched as he has enacted policy after policy that has subjugated the good of the vast majority of the public to the interests of corporations and the wealthiest among us. We sat in disbelief as he squandered international goodwill in the wake of 9-11. We wept as he sent $200 Billion dollars and the lives and health of our soldiers to burn in the desert of a country that posed little or no threat to us.

Yet he still is in a position to win another four years.

In the pre-debate coverage on MSNBC last night, Tom Brokaw relayed a story about a meeting of Wall Street heavyweights. 80% of the executives at the meeting indicated that they “wanted” to vote to re-elect Bush, but just hadn't completely made up their minds. When that group was asked if they would vote for Bush if he agreed to “do almost everything differently” in a second term, almost all of them indicated that they would.

These are some of the most successful people in this country, and in effect what they are saying is: “He's been a miserable failure so far, but if he changes his policy bias, we would support him 100%.”

Tell me what the difference is between that and a woman who by all rights should leave her abusive husband but doesn't because if he only would stop beating her, everything would be just great.

George W. Bush isn't going to change his policies if he receives four more years with which to run this country any more than an abusive husband would stop beating his wife if she moved back in with him. Bush, who can't name a single mistake he's made in 4 years in the White House, will only accelerate implementation of his radical agenda, just like an abuser would take advantage of any opportunity to batter his wife. With no more elections to face, Bush would claim a mandate and be free of any constraints he might otherwise be forced to endure, the same way a controlling husband who knows his terrified wife will always come back no matter how much punishment she has to endure.

The biggest similarity of course, is fear. Battered women fear that anything they do could lead to another beating, which has the effect of total domination by their husbands. The President and his advisors have used fear for three years now by speaking of “imminent threats,” “mushroom clouds,” and countless other buzzword scare tactics. His Vice President plainly stated that should John Kerry become President, we would face a higher probability of being attacked.

This culture of fear has obviously had a major effect on our collective psyche. Some media personalities have barely concealed the fact that they are figuratively hugging the President's leg, begging him to keep them safe. Watched Dennis Miller lately? Chris Matthews? It's sad that these examples are representative of a large voting block in this country.

John Kerry's chances on November 2nd hinge on voters realizing that they have been battered, abused, and taken advantage of for the last four years by George W. Bush.

It's not as easy as it seems. Ask anyone who's ever dealt with it personally.

Source: 1115.org

100 Mistakes for the President to Choose From
May 3, 2004

During a prime time press conference on April 13, President Bush was asked to name a mistake that he has made since taking office and what he has learned from it. Bush, who was unable to answer the question, admitted “maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with [a mistake].” But weeks later, Bush still hasn't answered the question. In the interest of assisting the President with this surprisingly difficult task we've compiled this list of 100 mistakes he has made since taking office:

Iraq
1. Failing to build a real international coalition prior to the Iraq invasion, forcing the US to shoulder the full cost and consequences of the war.

2. Approving the demobilization of the Iraqi Army in May, 2003 – bypassing the Joint Chiefs of Staff and reversing an earlier position, the President left hundreds of thousands of armed Iraqis disgruntled and unemployed, contributing significantly to the massive security problems American troops have faced during occupation.

3. Not equipping troops in Iraq with adequate body armor or armored HUMVEES.

4. Ignoring the advice Gen. Eric Shinseki regarding the need for more troops in Iraq – now Bush is belatedly adding troops, having allowed the security situation to deteriorate in exactly the way Shinseki said it would if there were not enough troops.

5. Ignoring plans drawn up by the Army War College and other war-planning agencies, which predicted most of the worst security and infrastructure problems America faced in the early days of the Iraq occupation.

6. Making a case for war which ignored intelligence that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

7. Deriding “nation-building” during the 2000 debates, then engaging American troops in one of the most explicit instances of nation building in American history.

8. Predicting along with others in his administration that US troops would be greeted as liberators in Iraq.

9. Predicting Iraq would pay for its own reconstruction.

10. Wildly underestimating the cost of the war.

Continue Reading Source: 100 Mistakes for the President to Choose From - Center for American Progress

Lately I’ve been noticing these stickers on vehicles all over Atlanta. For a while I didn’t pay much attention to them, for I assumed they were advertisements for W Hotels. It wasn’t until seeing one up close that I realized they were actually a clever, and in my mind groundbreaking political ad for George W. Bush.

The design is what intrigues me most. Instead of the typical red, white and blue spot colors and rippling American flags, this ‘identity’ is squarely aimed at the high-end boutique, Saks Fifth Avenue / Kenneth Cole urbanite. The stickers aren’t the traditional rectangular shape either, but a crisp, bold square block with a black (!) background and reverse type. They’re completely devoid of obviousness, and much more abstract with emphasis on a large, simple, capital ‘W’ instead of the name “Bush.”

And then of course there is the subhead — “The President.” Not “For” President, but “The”, as if there isn’t a choice in the matter. “W” — for all intents and purposes — isn’t a person per se, but a mindset.

I’ve mostly seen the ‘W’ stickers on the back windows of the type of vehicles you would expect — Jaguars, BMWs, Mercedes, and all the rest. The SUV crowd seems to prefer the traditional red white and blue variety, which are often times accompanied by even more flags.

You couldn’t pay me to put one (or any Bush sticker) on my car, but nonetheless, I’m impressed by the idea. I’ve never seen a political campaign veer so far from the norm — in color, shape, typography, and content — that has pulled it off as well as these do.

Source: What Do I Know - W - The President

Have you played with the 2004 Electoral College Tracker at the LA Times? It's awesome! Go for it. Best I can figure, unless something unexpected happens, Kerry has the votes! To work with the states and see their latest poll data click on this link. The link to the 2004 Electoral College Tracker is on that page. President Kerry. I like the sound of that!

So hard for his money...do do, do do. He works hard for his money so you better treat him right (wing) ...do do, do do do.

To see George working hard,
Click Here

Makes you wonder who is trying to create the results they want...

From The San Francisco Chronicle, October 10 2004:

The surging number of people who are “cutting the cord,” abandoning wired telephone lines for cellular phones, is suddenly presenting political pollsters with a vexing problem -- the prospect that their surveys may be undercounting younger voters in this election who have decamped for a wireless lifestyle.

Where have I heard that one before? Oh yeah:

Most polls are conducted over the phone, and the methodology behind compiling the results is based on lessons learned from previous elections. A lot can change in four or even two years, and one of the biggest changes in the interval has been the growing number of people who have given up their traditional phone service in favor of using only cell phones. Since cell phone numbers aren't (usually) included in phone polling and the percentage of cell-phone-only Americans has gone from 3% in 2002 to 6% in 2003 to 10% this year, pollsters could be missing a significant portion of the electorate.

Respect is due—cheers to Matt for being two months ahead of the curve on this one.

Source: 1115.org

“Bush: After George Bush's lackluster performance (to put it mildly) in the first debate, the pressure was certainly on him to respond in a big way. He had to come out swinging, and he did—almost literally, at times. He would leap from his stool whenever it was time for him to speak, sometimes jumping up and pacing around before John Kerry was even done talking. He angrily cut off moderator Charles Gibson in mid-sentence to demand time to respond to a Kerry accusation (click here to see it yourself). And there were times where he almost seemed to be yelling his answers instead of acting...you know...presidential. As the debate went on, it was easy to forget that George Bush was the incumbent, not the brash challenger on the attack.”

Source: 1115.org

The Lone Star Iconoclast (Crawford, Texas)
Editorial Opinion of the Publishers

Few Americans would have voted for George W. Bush four years ago if he had promised that, as President, he would:

• Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.
• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay.
• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.
• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.
• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.
• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and
• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.

These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office.

Source: John Kerry for President - The Lone Star Iconoclast (Crawford, Texas) Endor:sement

I was saddened today when I learned of Christopher Reeves' death over the weekend. I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Mr. Reeves many years ago when I was in my 20's. One evening, while I was visiting my home in Pensacola, I was walking from my car to the entrance of Albertsons. The very tall man was coming toward me, having just left the store. I thought to myself, “This man looks exactly like Christopher Reeves.” When we were about to pass each other, he said in a very pleasant voice, “Hi, how are you this evening?” My god, it was Christopher Reeves. I was caught of guard as I stammer god knows what. I had seen Superman! (or Clark Kent as it were)

When I recounted my encounter to my family and friends in Pensacola, I appeared to be the only person for whom it was not common knowledge that Mr. Reeves was from Pensacola and had family still living there. I admired his courage in the face of extreme adversity and prayed for substantive progress in helping all who suffer from nerve injury.

Source: News Hounds: Actual Voting Records:

Actual Voting Records

VoteSmart has a database of Congressional voting records going back to 1988. So before I hear one more person blathering on about ANYONE's voting record, go to their website & look it up. It may seem like a lot of “hard work” to READ all this stuff & “some people” seem to have an aversion to “hard work”, but it's your responsibility as a citizen. Just do it.

Here's what they include for every member of Congress:
Current Office
Current District
Office Seeking
First Elected
Last Elected
Next Election
Party
Biographical
Issue Positions(NPAT)
Campaign Finances
Interest Group Ratings
Voting Record
Additional Biographical Information
Speeches and Public Statements
Endorsements
Fun Facts
Campaign Schedule

Voting records are organized by Categories:
Abortion Issues

Antibiotic can 'turn off cancer'

Scientists have shown that a common antibiotic can turn off cancer cells in mice, offering hope of new treatments for cancer patients. The antibiotic worked by turning off a gene called Myc, which is known to trigger cancer. Mice remained cancer free for as long as they took the drug. When it was stopped they developed liver cancer, the Stanford University team found.

Cancer experts said the Nature study held promise for human cancer drugs.

Source: BBC NEWS | Health | Antibiotic can 'turn off cancer'

President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, said Wednesday that the Bush-Cheney campaign is planning some October “surprises” for challengers John Kerry and John Edwards.

Source and complete story: NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story

Professor Bainbridge has posted a series of incidents that have taken place across the country. They are all directed against Bush activists or supporters. The money graf:

If this sort of thing were happening to Democrats, both the Michael Moore-types and the mainstream media would be screaming about Republican stormtroopers directed by Reichsführer-SS John Ashcroft. Since it's happening to Republicans, however, it is mostly covered just by local media. In any event, it cerainly gives one pause about putting up a Bush yard sign or putting on a Bush bumper sticker.

According to Instapundit, this is part of a larger shift in public thought, imbuing politics with religious fervor. Your “patriotic dissenters” at work.

Source: The Conjecturer: A Climate of Fear:

Iraq: Politics or Policy?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: October 3, 2004
Source: New York Times

Sorry, I've been away writing a book. I'm back, so let's get right down to business: We're in trouble in Iraq.

I don't know what is salvageable there anymore. I hope it is something decent and I am certain we have to try our best to bring about elections and rebuild the Iraqi Army to give every chance for decency to emerge there. But here is the cold, hard truth: This war has been hugely mismanaged by this administration, in the face of clear advice to the contrary at every stage, and as a result the range of decent outcomes in Iraq has been narrowed and the tools we have to bring even those about are more limited than ever.

What happened? The Bush team got its doctrines mixed up: it applied the Powell Doctrine to the campaign against John Kerry - “overwhelming force” without mercy, based on a strategy of shock and awe at the Republican convention, followed by a propaganda blitz that got its message across in every possible way, including through distortion. If only the Bush team had gone after the remnants of Saddam's army in the Sunni Triangle with the brutal efficiency it has gone after Senator Kerry in the Iowa-Ohio-Michigan triangle. If only the Bush team had spoken to Iraqis and Arabs with as clear a message as it did to the Republican base. No, alas, while the Bush people applied the Powell Doctrine in the Midwest, they applied the Rumsfeld Doctrine in the Middle East. And the Rumsfeld Doctrine is: “Just enough troops to lose.” Donald Rumsfeld tried to prove that a small, mobile army was all that was needed to topple Saddam, without realizing that such a limited force could never stabilize Iraq. He never thought it would have to. He thought his Iraqi pals would do it. He was wrong.

For all of President Bush's vaunted talk about being consistent and resolute, the fact is he never established U.S. authority in Iraq. Never. This has been the source of all our troubles. We have never controlled all the borders, we have never even consistently controlled the road from Baghdad airport into town, because we never had enough troops to do it.

Saw another clever bumper sticker tonight on the way to din din. I am not one to publish profanity on my blog, so I'll leave out a few letters, but you'll get the idea.

BULL SH**

For my future reference, these are the settings I have explored for anamorphic projects in FCP4HD, LT, and DVDSP2

LiveType Settings
Project Properties
Start with NTSC DV 3:2
Then Width: 720
Then Height: 480
Then Pixel Aspect: 1.20


FCP 4 HD Settings
Sequence Settings
NTSC DV 3:2
Pixel Aspect: NTSC – CCIR 601 / DV
Check the Anamorphic 16:9 setting
Audio/Video Settings
-Sequence Presets
--DV NTSC 48 kHz Anamorphic
--Frame Size: 640 x 480 (not sure this is best)
--Pixel Aspect Ratio: NTSC – CCIR 601 / DV
--Anamorphic 16:9: On
-Capture Presets
--DV NTSC 48 kHz Anamorphic
--720 x 480 NTSC DV 3:2, Anamorphic 16:9
Export Project Settings
Use: Export > Quicktime Movie
Setting: DV NTSC 48 kHz Anamorphic


DVDSP 2 Settings
• Preferences > Encoding > Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Preferences > Simulator > Aspect: 16:9
• Menu Tab (Viewer, Connections) Settings pull down: Rectangular Pixels
• Inspector (for assets) General: Display: 16:9 Pan Scan

Well, thank goodness George didn't embarrass the entire free world again. Aside from his one rude spat with the moderator, he at least didn't make faces and didn't stutter and stammer around hunting for words and content since he had not adequately prepared. He was on the defensive the entire night and made a few jokes that no one laughed at. I would have more respect for George if he would just admit we messed up with Iraq and that he will not do something like that again. Instead, he is out of touch with reality, talking about his stubborn streak and thinking the economy is just fine.

Kerry was once again in command of the dialogue. I thought he did an excellent job. He was personable and sincere. I especially loved his comments about avoiding the use of labels that are meaningless! Well done.

Let me tell you with whom I was the most impressed: the people who asked extremely well-crafted and important questions. Thank you. I appreciated the seriousness with which they represented the citizens of our nation. Job well done!

I saw a bumper sticker (that made me laugh) on a little white car while I was driving home from work this evening:

One Nation...
Under Surveillance!

Dick Cheney's Voting Record:

• He opposed federal funding for abortions -- with no exceptions in the case of rape or incest.
• He voted against the Equal Rights Amendment for women, along with 146 other members of Congress in 1983.
• On Education, he consistently opposed funding of Head Start and voted against creating the Department of Education.
• Cheney was raised in Wyoming and opposes, as many Westerners do, gun control limits.
• He was one of just 21 members of Congress, in December of 1985, to vote against a ban on armor piercing bullets -- called cop killer bullets.
• Three years later he was one of only four members of the House voting against a ban on plastic guns that could slip through airport security machines undetected. The National Rifle Association did not oppose this ban.
• Also in 1988, Cheney voted to scrap a proposed national seven-day waiting period on handgun purchases.
• On the environment, Cheney opposed refunding the Clean Water Act. He voted to postpone sanctions slapped on air polluters that failed to meet pollution standards.
• And he voted against legislation to require oil, chemical and other industries from making public records of emissions known to cause cancer, birth defects and other chronic diseases.
• Dick Cheney consistently voted to raise military spending. He also supported aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, even after a moratorium on funding was passed.
• During his 11 years in Congress, Cheney was moderate only in his personal style, getting along with Democrats and Republicans.
• As for his votes, Cheney consistently received very high marks from conservative groups ranking his record.
• Cheney voted as a fiscal conservative too, supporting legislation to balance the national budget.

Is He a Dope?
Source: The Los Angeles Times | Editorial

Thursday 07 October 2004

Although neither group likes to say so, some Americans who support President Bush and many who don't support him have concluded over four years that he may not be very bright. This suspicion was not allayed by Bush's answers in the first presidential debate a week ago.

Even Bush's most engaged critics shy away from publicly challenging his intelligence for many reasons, most of them good. To raise the issue seems snooty and elitist. This is an image no American wants because seeming snooty is even worse than seeming stupid. Just ask Bush's opponent, Sen. John Kerry. Furthermore, the concept of brainpower or IQ as a single, measurable trait is generally, though not universally, rejected by scientists. And the obsession with IQ has been responsible for all sorts of political mischief.

Then there is Ronald Reagan. We know now that he had incipient Alzheimer's for at least part of his presidency. Many of his supporters at the time and even more of his retrospective admirers acknowledge that he was a few jelly beans short of a jar. But he was a spectacularly successful politician anyway, and many believe he was more than that: one of America's greatest leaders.

The smartest candidate is not necessarily the best candidate. The candidate's belief system and character matter more. Similarly, the smartest surgeon is not necessarily the best surgeon. But if all you knew about two surgeons was that one was smarter than the other, there's not much question which one you'd pick for your operation.

Actually, we would not frame the question as one of abstract brainpower, a dubious concept. You don't go through America's top schools, serve as governor of a major state and occupy the presidency with even mixed results if you're not reasonably smart, no matter how thoroughly your way is eased by others.

The issue might better be described as one of mental laziness.

Does this man think through his beliefs before they harden into unwavering principles? Is he open to countervailing evidence? Does he test his beliefs against new evidence and outside argument? Does his understanding of a subject go any deeper than the minimum amount needed for public display? Is he intellectually curious? Does he try to reconcile his beliefs on one subject with his beliefs on another?

It's bad if a president is incapable of the abstract thought necessary for these mental exercises. If he is capable and isn't even trying, that's worse. It becomes a question of character. When a president sends thousands of young Americans to kill and die halfway around the world, thinking about it as hard and as honestly as possible is the least he can do.

Bush's Iraq policy is full of contradictions, often rehearsed on this page and elsewhere. But so is Kerry's. It isn't routine political mendacity that makes many people - many more than will admit it - wonder about Bush's mental engagement. It is a combination of things: his stumbling inarticulateness, the efforts his advisors make to protect him from unscripted exposure, his extreme reluctance to rethink anything.

Does it matter? Yes, it matters. There are those who say that Reagan's mental laziness was actually a plus. It prevented a lot of competing signals from causing static on the lines, and kept his principles clear. We do not buy that. We state boldly that thinking hard is a good thing, not a bad thing, even in a president. If that sounds snooty, so be it. And maybe George W. Bush will reassure us by his performance Friday night that he is thinking as hard as he should about the issues the president will face in the next four years. Especially the issues resulting from his own failure to think hard during the last four.

at the Fox!

One of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Great job. As everyone knows, the music is wonderful. But the show had super choreography crisply executed! Highly recommended!

Vice President Cheney said he has never seen Senator Edwards in the senate. Oops.

I thought both candidates did an excellent job of representing their positions well. Regrettably, the Vice President does a much better job of thinking and speaking than his boss, the “leader” of the whole free world, does--which, in my opinion, weakens (which is being kind) the republican party ticket substantially. I think that I should be able to expect my president to think and speak well--basic and fundamental skills required if one is to actually lead the free world.

Additionally, I am disappointed that the republican party still believes that middle America is doing just fine. Are they truly that naive? Or are they hoping that the American people will vote, based on fear, on single divisive issues that impact so few rather than broad issues that will impact the whole world?

Senator Kerry has a far more realistic grasp of the country in which I live. He clearly demonstrated his command of facts and that Kerry and Edwards have a plan to reverse the economic downturn of the last 4 years. Clearly the mess we are in is a product of this present administration, and Bush and Cheney just do not see it. They want to give us more of the same. :o(

Woman Dies After Son Killed in Iraq

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A 45-year-old woman collapsed and died days after learning her son had been killed in Iraq, and just hours after seeing his body. Results of an autopsy were not immediately released, but friends of Karen Unruh-Wahrer said she couldn't stop crying over losing her 25-year-old son, Army Spc. Robert Oliver Unruh, who was killed by enemy fire near Baghdad on Sept. 25.

``Her grief was so intense - it seemed it could have harmed her, could have caused a heart attack. Her husband described it as a broken heart,'' said Cheryl Hamilton, manager of respiratory care services at University Medical Center, where Unruh-Wahrer worked as a respiratory therapist.

Source: News

The Voice in Bush's Ear

This site is a clearinghouse for discussion of whether President Bush uses an earpiece through which he's fed lines and cues by offstage advisers. His speech rhythms suggest this, as do some of his word choices and interjections, and his constantly shifting eye movements while speaking. And there's another form of evidence: Television viewers have sometimes heard another voice speaking Bush's words before he says them. When Bush spoke at D-Day ceremonies in France last June, for example, viewers watching on CNN, Fox and MSNBC, including mediachannel.org's Danny Schechter, were startled to hear another voice speaking Bush's words as if to prompt him. Some said this continued into a q & a. And on the night of 9/11, when Bush appeared on television to address the nation, viewers of one television station in Quincy, Massachusetts heard another voice speaking, slowly and carefully, a few words at a time -- words which were then recited by the president. The voice was nondescript, male, definitely not the president's voice, says Quincy resident Robyn Miller. This went on for at least four sentences, she says, and then the “extra” feed was cut off.

Source: Is Bush Wired?

Click to enlarge

Can you tell I am just sick of the Unfair and Unbalanced Fox network?!

MoveOn.Org Urges Action Against FOX's Ailes and Cameron

News Hounds have been calling for the dismissal of FOX political reporter “Campaign Carl” Cameron ever since his “jokes” about Kerry got published on FOXNews.com. That, on top of the fact that he was shown cozying up to Bush in the movie Outfoxed. Is this a reporter who should be covering the Kerry campaign? We think not. Now MoveOn.org is calling for action against FOX CEO Roger Ailes as well as Cameron.

Call Roger Ailes now and let him know that a real Fair and Balanced network would fire Carl Cameron for biased reporting.

Roger Ailes
(212) 301-3000

CALL NOW!

John Lennon killer denied parole

A parole board in New York State has refused to release John Lennon's killer, Mark Chapman. The board on Tuesday said its decision had been based on the “extreme malicious intent” Chapman had shown in shooting Lennon in Manhattan in 1980. It is the third time Chapman, 49, has tried to secure his freedom. His previous applications for parole - in 2000, when he first became eligible after serving 20 years, and in 2002 - were also turned down. On Tuesday the parole board told Chapman: “Your course of conduct over a lengthy period of time shows a clear lack of respect for life and subjected the wife of the victim to monumental suffering by her witnessing the crime.”

Source and Complete Article: BBC News

Source: Magical Twist:

Today’s Republican Kool-Aid Flavor of the Day is Lemonade Liar. Fox News, dismayed that Dan Rather stole the spotlight, decided to make up some more news of their own. The difference between this made up news and their regular made up news is that apparently Fox News employees have been desensitized to the point that they can no longer tell the difference between a leaked memo and a funny forward. It’s all news, as far as they’re concerned. [via]

Fake quotes from John Kerry published on the Fox News website include:

“Didn’t my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate!” Kerry said Friday.

“It’s about the Supreme Court. Women should like me! I do manicures,” Kerry said.

“I’m metrosexual — he’s a cowboy,” the Democratic candidate said of himself and his opponent.

Andrew Tobias is the source. He raises a couple of interesting points.

Timber Profits and a Must-See Movie
Published on October 04, 2004

So there I was, five rows from the stage, directly behind Rudolph Giuliani, into whose neck I could have stuck a fork – except I am not that kind of guy. And here's what I thought:

1. Bush was a really handsome 20-something in that airman's photo we see over and over again – but what has he ever done that could possibly, conceivably, under even the most ludicrous of circumstances have qualified him to be the most powerful man in the world?

(Or as Andrew Sullivan put it as the debate ended, “We may have just had a man-behind-the-curtain moment. We are at war – the most dangerous war we have ever been in. And this guy is in charge?”)

(Or as Bush himself reportedly put it to a long-time friend when he was first being encouraged to run for governor: “You know, I could run for governor but I’m basically a media creation. I’ve never done anything.”)

What’s more, he didn't actually look so good Thursday.

2. He kept talking about “It’s hard work.” “It’s hard work.” “The work is hard.”

Is this why he’s taken so much more vacation time than any other president in living memory?

3. What exactly is there about his past that would inspire world leaders to look to him to be a leader of leaders? HE DOESN'T EVEN READ THE NEWSPAPER. ...

4. John Kerry has written a book about nuclear proliferation. Has George Bush ever read one? This is no knock on Bush as a man – I haven't read a book about nuclear proliferation either. But I am not running for president.

5. We have a great candidate. Yes, “anybody but Bush” – but run don't walk to see GOING UPRIVER: THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY. No kidding – cancel your other plans and see it today. If you’re already for him, you will come away deeply proud of your choice. If you doubt you could ever be for him, take 90 minutes to be sure.

November 2 is a decision that will affect your family for the rest of your life. Consider this movie your “due diligence” . . . just on the off-chance the Bush machine has not been entirely square with you in its ridicule of their opponent.

I must admit, Carl Rove is utterly brilliant. He has accomplished the impossible, selling a record of failure with smoke and mirrors, and some good people believe it.

Click above to play.

Source: flashconway.com

Bush Campaign Sending Talking Points to Radio Hosts Hannity, Limbaugh, Ingraham, Levin, and Malzberg
by spree99
Thu Sep 30th, 2004 at 06:00:36 GMT

It is come to my attention that either someone in the Bush campaign or a close contributor has been emailing various right wing radio talk show hosts talking points. I have a source that works for the Steve Malzberg show. The source has provided me with a copy of an email sent to Steve from someone at the Bush campaign. The source has heard that this email has been passed to other talk radio hosts at WABC radio 770 am including Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Rush Limbaugh.

The text of the email includes instructions for what the talk show hosts should concentrate on each week. It directs them how to shape the arguments and how to respond to pro Kerry callers. For example in the week following the Russian school terrorist attack it called upon them to greatly focus on this tragedy. It stated they should link it to America's war on terror and play up the fear that the next terrorist attack in America could be against a school.

This email is sometimes referred to as the playbook. The source stated that Malzberg frequently followed these memos and repeated whatever the talking points were. His radio show is on weeknights 1-5 AM. I don't know if this is a violation by the Bush campaign but in any event if it is true it should be brought out to the public.

Source: Daily Kos

I guess I would be as well.

Get a free copy of the Audiobook of the first presidential debate between Kerry and Bush. Click here if you have iTunes.

In the Classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards
By JEFFREY SELINGO
Published: August 19, 2004

Last spring, when Marisa L. Dudiak's second-grade class in Frederick County, Md., returned from a field trip to a Native American farm, all the students wanted to do was talk about what they saw. But instead of leading a discussion about the trip, Mrs. Dudiak had the students sign on to their classroom Web log.

There they wrote about learning to use a bow and arrow, sitting inside a tepee and petting a buffalo. The short entries were typical of second-grade writing, with misspelled words and simple sentences. Still, for Mrs. Dudiak, the exercise proved more fruitful than a group discussion or a handwritten entry in a personal journal.

"It allowed them to interact with their peers more quickly than a journal," she said, "and it evened the playing field." Mrs. Dudiak said she found that those who were quiet in class usually came alive online.

Classroom Web logs, or blogs, many of which got their start in the last school year, are becoming increasingly popular with teachers like Mrs. Dudiak as a forum for expression for students as young as the second-grade level and in almost any subject. In the blogs, students write about how they attacked a tough math problem, post observations about their science experiments or display their latest art projects.

For teachers blogs are attractive because they

An interesting little blog post:

This Strikes Me Funny...

This years Republican National Convention is being protected by roughly 12,000 police officers. Many of them will be focused on a 20 block area around the convention. US troop levels in Afghanistan number around 17,900 to help cover a War-lord dominated frontier about the size of Texas.

Source: BryanBell.com

Did Fox News Photoshop a picture to make President Bush look taller?

Compare the AP picture to the Fox picture. Did the President grow a couple of inches? Is he standing on his tip-toes? Did someone at Fox use Photoshop to make Bush appear taller than he actually is? Link (Thanks, Jeff!)

UPDATE: Ari sez: "Fox News did not 'doctor' a photo to make Bush look taller; they took it untouched from the AP. Bush just happens to look taller in that picture because it was taken at a slightly different time, from a slightly different angle. (Of course, you can still argue that they deliberately chose the photo where Bush didn't appear dwarfed by Kerry.).

The original "tall" photo from the AP is here

The original "short" photo from the AFP is here

Source: Boing Boing

It's just fun, that's all.

Click to play.

Cool! Apple has increased the size of everyone's .Mac account. Regrettably the increase appears in email. However, I learned that I could reapportion the increase so that the greatest majority of it is used for iDisk (web stuff) storage, which is where I need it.

If you want to do the same, it's easy. Simply:

1. Login to your .Mac account through your browser.
2. Click on the word "Account" on the left hand side of the browser window (at the bottom). (If you are like me, you never noticed this was there!)
3. You will need to log in again to access your account settings.
4. Under the green "Buy More" button you will see a "Storage Settings" button on which you click.
5. Under "Manage Your Storage" select the way you wish to use your storage capacity.

Some interesting settings in here. If you are unfamiliar with them, you may want to play around with them to maximize the full potential of your .Mac account. Another really nice feature, for an additional $49, you can upgrade your storage space to 1 gigabyte!

To see the live VolcanoCam from the USDA Forest Service, click the picture below of Mt. St. Helens. You will see a "static image (updated every five minutes) of Mount St. Helens, Washington USA, taken from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The summit of Mount St. Helens is at an elevation of 2,549 Meters (8,364 feet), at 46.20 N, 122.18 W. The summit stood at 9,677 feet before the May 18, 1980, eruption. The Observatory and VolcanoCam are located at an elevation of approximately 4,500 feet, about five miles from the volcano. You are looking approximately south-southeast across the North Fork Toutle River Valley. The Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam is brought to you by the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Vancouver, Washington, and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Amboy, Washington USA."

Click to see the live VolcanoCam

Revealing...

Click to watch

Source (with other video clips): MoveOn.org

OK, So I'm rubbing it in--but I'm doing it for a reason. Now, let's stop and think about this. Iraq was supposed to be DubYah's strongest case. But, if you're honest, something went horribly, horribly wrong... And he is running the office! Isn't that a bit alarming? Even just a bit??

Wonder what the media thinks...colossal error?

First round TKO to John Kerry. While the President managed to remain upright (probably due to the lack of pretzels and Segway scooters on-stage), Kerry had him on tilt from the second question, leading to a series of grimaces, eye rolls, head shakes that made Al Gore's sighs look insignificant.

While Kerry didn't win the election based on his performance last night, he did clearly win the debate (no matter what Sean Hannity was babbling about.) Losing the foreign policy (his supposed strength) debate puts Bush in a tough spot. With a disastrous domestic record and discomfort answering questions from anyone who hasn't recently signed a loyalty oath, the President is going to have to spend the next few weeks back in debate prep.

And speaking of debate prep, Team Kerry (I'm looking at you Joe Lockhart) had their candidate ready and steady. Kerry had full command of the facts and, in a pleasant surprise, abandoned his wordy ways in favor of a direct, frank, and clear style that allowed him to appear strong and smart at the same time. I'm sure I speak for a majority of Kerry supporters when I say that it was refreshing to see him living up to our expectations on the highest stage.

Contrast that with a performance by the President that, if he weren't already President, would probably have resulted in a 10 point drop in the polls. I'm not sure what Bush did at his debate prep, but if it included preparing for the debate we should all be afraid. Very afraid.

Shorter President Bush: "Being President is a hard job. My opponent doesn't support the troops. No homo. The President can't send mixed signals. Wash. Rinse. Repeat 7x." When the panel on Fox News concludes that you ran out of material halfway through, you have a problem.

We've heard from the media for years now that people don't as much listen to debates as watch the body language and demeanor of the participants. I've always been uncomfortable with that conclusion because it reveals the laziest tendencies of the American people: Don't think, just look at the pictures. Conventional wisdom (not something we traffic in here) predicted a Bush win on body language. After all, that's largely how he won the debates in 2000. But by any measure, Kerry looked significantly more Presidential. By comparison, Bush looked like a petulant child who was trying to convince his parents that he didn't break a window.

It's interesting that the President's strategy (to the extent that he had one) was derived from his "Ask President Bush" campaign stops, where he answers pre-screened questions before a rapt crowd of true believers. Whoever decided that this was a good idea should have their decision-making authority revoked. The reason that the President has held less press conferences than any other President in modern times is that he can't think on his feet and doesn't react well to criticism. This was on full display last night. Add to that an opponent who knows how to play and you have a disaster.

The result was clearly a President on the defensive at the hands of a man his campaign has spent $200 million painting as weak and indecisive.

The commentary and analysis will go on for the next few days, and no doubt some people will talk themselves into the idea that it was a wash or even that the President won. A quick trip through the video will fix that.

Bottom line: Kerry looked Presidential, demonstrated knowledge of all the issues and communicated in an effective manner. The President acted like he would have rather been anywhere else, gave the same exact answer to several questions and made some strange faces.

Final score: Kerry 85, Bush 55.

Source: matt @ 1115.org

The debate last night was a make-or-break moment in our campaign to win back the White House. But the verdict is in: with confidence and conviction, Kerry made the case against Bush's disastrous foreign policy, and Bush couldn't take the heat. The Boston Globe's editorial sums it up: "Ladies and gentlemen, you wake today to a whole new presidential race. Last night, John Kerry won as clear a debate victory as we've seen since Ronald Reagan outdueled Jimmy Carter in 1980...The Democratic challenger seemed more serious and substantive, more knowledgeable and confident, than the man who holds the job." Write a letter to the editor in support of Kerry and watch our web video of Kerry on Bushs' false Iraq-9/11 connection.

Source: MoveOn.org

We have them squirming and squealing. The spin machine is trying to downplay the Bush debacle. W's responses were at times so pathetic that I actually felt sorry for him.