News – It’s All Done Save for the Litigation

US

So what do we end up with after the big day? Well, we’ve got Daschle out and republicans keeping control of the congress. We’ve got the current focus on Ohio, which some say will decide the election. Bush is confident of victory. California voters give the thumbs up to $3 billion for stem cell research. Colorado won’t take on the proportional system of divvying electoral votes. Of course, with the rise of e-voting glitches, I doubt we can rest easy that the choice has been fully made just yet. Of course paper trails for recounts aren’t accessible, limiting options.

Mind you, given the advantages Bush had over the last four years, to win this narrowly remains pretty sucky.

More stem cell love, with a Texas research team successfully treating cancer in mice through their use. Human tests could begin soon.

Explainer muses the definition of voter intimidation.

Blame Nader, Blame the Electoral College? Or you could blame Bush’s simplicity.

Iraq

Not to be stopped by the US election, rebels continue to do their ‘work’ in Iraq. A U.S.-Lebanese contractor and four Jordanian truck drivers are the latest kidnapping victims, gunmen kill an oil ministry official and a car bomb is blow near a US convoy. They also claim to have beheaded a ‘senior member ‘ of the Iraqi army. The kidnappers of aid worker Margaret Hassan threaten to hand her over to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s group in 48 hours unless British troops leave Iraq.

Stephen Hawking teams up with writers, politicians, actors, sports stars, students and peace campaigners to read the names of Iraqi civilians who died in since the Iraq war began. Unlikely to be all, but a nice gesture.

Now there is some confusion as to whether a US soldier was seized by gunmen in Samarra. A spokesman for the city’s police say that it happened, but the US military denies the report.

An interesting tidbit, looking at Islamic schools in Sadr City. As we can see, some things haven’t changed.

Israel/Palestine

Arafat’s condition seems to be improving, if his aides are to be believed. Darn.

Afghanistan

Karzai is the official winner of the Afghanistan election. Now we’ll see if he’s got what it takes.

General

No matter where you go, even online, if you put a cluster of people together conflict is inevitable. Thus comes the need for effective conflict resolution massive multiplayer online games.

Researches believe that they may be able to predict a woman’s chance of miscarriage through measuring her hormones.

Today’s Papers has the gay marriage ban winning in 11 states where it was put up for local consideration, general note of an election that lacked bloodshed, republicans poised to get more congress seats and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Motorist attempting to stop gas station robbery destroys front of building, wrecks car, then accuses innocent man. Moral: The road to hell is paved with heroic dumbasses

Mentally disabled people bribed into voting for a candidate in return for ice cream, guess where. Nope, guess again

Canada, having nothing better to do today, determines acceptability of “kemosabe” and Lone Ranger’s treatment of Indians in general

Man who brought loaded revolver to court says it was purely an oversight, as he’s a big game hunter

Baby dressed as John Kerry violates dress code at polling place; barred from entering

Man arrested for screaming outside election office while wearing George Bush mask and John Kerry t-shirt

Faking seizures with Alka-Seltzer to leave work and watch Super Bowl. Fans share their most shameful sports stories

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this confrontation between dog and water

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: if I were only one inch tall…

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this NY apartment view

PS: Ren didn’t vote this time around. And he’ll tell you why. After being mistakenly told or mistaken in believing he was told he was registered to vote, Ren found out once at the polling place, with his choices all lined up in a row, that he wasn’t registered. Suffice it to say, Ren is not pleased, but will be making sure he’s properly registered for the next round. Twenty minutes wasted, though Ren is fortunate to not have a polling place where lines stretched for house. Otherwise Ren would have been homicidal.

In any case, I would have voted independent anyway, so either way the vote gets thrown away. 😉 Have a good day, readers.