News – Early Voting Becomes a Problem

US

Looks like the early voting is hinting at what could be. Beset by computer hang-ups, two-hour queues, frayed tempers, and the resignation of at least one election official, I’m not confident in what might come.

When it comes to keeping the Electoral College, an argument I’ve heard before is that without it, presidential candidates wouldn’t visit small states anymore, since going by the popular vote, they wouldn’t have the population to warrant a visit. Problem is.. presidential candidates hardly visit small states even now, so the effect would be negligible. The EC doesn’t give small states awesome or even moderate power when it comes to importance in federal elections.

What’s with Rummy and his ‘Military Transformation’ legacy? Personally, I’ve heard some discussion on Cspan that puts questions into my mind as to the logic of his intent to change how the military works. While I’m as tech positive as the next person, I think we might be focusing a little too much on trying to seed the military with high tech gizmos and not paying enough attention to keeping with the basics of sound military tactics and organization. Example: Sure, we can make our formations smaller and smaller with advanced tech.. but eventually it gets to the point where taking casualties can easily do serious harm the command structure because of the diminutive size of said formation. It hink this change needs more field testing.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group says it will only show part of the anti-Kerry documentary, “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal”. They’ve said, as well, that they’ll have a special program on Friday called “A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media”, which will discuss the allegations surrounding Kerry’s anti-Vietnam War activities. Suffice it to say the flack continues to fly around them, hot and heavy. Looks like, by the note of SBC’s station list, I’m not in their effected area. Oh well.

In the ‘Draw your own conclusions’ department, we have a note that there is no shortage of the Flu Vaccine at the Capitol. John Eisold, the Capitol’s attending physician, has urged all 535 lawmakers to get vaccinated, even if they’re young and healthy due to constant contact with the public putting them at higher risk. In other flu related news, the US has managed to get it’s hands on a few million more doses of vaccine. Good news. Of course, I’m not one to urge fear. There are some saying indications are that this may be a light flu season. That’d be a peachy coincidence.

Can a law school dropout be a lawyer anyway? Yup, but only in six states.

Iraq

Care International has suspended it’s operations in Iraq and has said today it might quit altogether after it’s British-Iraqi country manager, Margaret Hassan, was kidnapped. It all hinges on if the situation is resolved. The kidnapping is surprising because Care International has worked in Iraq for thirty years prior to this and there were no threats and have been no contact from the kidnappers since.

Witnesses say they’ve pulled a family of six, parents and four children, from one of the houses bombed by the US. The US, as always, maintains that their air strikes are carefully targeted against fighters loyal to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Who to believe? Who do you believe? Personally, I don’t doubt that the US misses occasionally with horrid results, though I recognize the possibility that some elements in Falluja are inclined to make things look as bad for the US as possible. I just wish there was a neutral source in the area that could bring out the truth. It would do the dead some justice.

A UN panel has put networks said to be controlled by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on it’s sanction list at the request of the UK and US. This requires other nations to prevent their travel, confiscate their weapons and freeze their financial assets.

Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick has plead guilty to five charges related to prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib. “I was wrong about what I did and I shouldn’t have done it. I knew it was wrong at the time because I knew it was a form of abuse,” he said in court.

Israel/Palestine

More talk of possible assassination of Sharon by extremists. Jewish extremists. That surely says something. What it says, I’ll leave up to interpretation. I can think of several things it says to me.

Afghanistan

Examining the poll numbers show that Karzai’s lead underscores the country’s ethnic divide. With 40% of the vote counted now, he holds a lead of 63.1%. He’s swept the regions dominated by the majority Pashtun ethnic group, but fared badly in areas where ethnic minorities hold sway.

Iran

Iran says, again, they’re ready to prove to the world that they don’t have nukes. Iranian officials are due to meet with diplomats from Britain, Germany and France in Vienna tomorrow to receive a ‘final chance’ sort of proposal.

General

Thos science types, ever focused on the unknown, are musing the subtle anomalies in the Pioneer 10 spacecraft’s flight path out from our solar system. They are musing if it illustrates a gap in our understanding of gravity.

Active Fastener’s makes special fasteners for electronics that, when exposed to a certain trigger, disassemble themselves for easier recycle of electronic equipment.

New tech developed by Cambridge Biostability in vaccine creation could eliminate the need for refrigeration</A>, simplifying shipping and delivery considerably. And so science marches on and on.

Today’s Papers has cynicism on US action in Darfur, a Bush administration proposal to loosen regulations requiring banks to lend money for community redevelopment, more retrospectives on the invasion of Iraq, and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Wife settles domestic dispute by showing husband’s moonshine still and garbage bag full of marijuana to deputy

Parked couple makes love so fervently that their rocking sends car over cliff

Transgender cop faces discipline after going off half-cocked at firing range

Man in jail for forgery creates phony documents to get out of jail. Accomplice accidentally faxes them directly to the jail instead of the attorney. Oops

Bad: Refusing to arrest suspects until after they’ve recovered because you don’t want to pay the hospital bills. Worse: Some of the suspects escape by wheelchair

Mary Poppins registers to vote in Ohio. Endorsement of powerful Chimney Sweep Union still up for grabs

Primping John Edwards

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Create the official Fark Family Crest

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this confused navy swimmer about to drop into the sea

Fark Photoshop Challenge: These Farkers just got married. Do it to them, before they can do it to each other

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop these kids learning the art of war