Sunday, September 19, 2004

- I was hoping to avoid writing about politics this week, but I cannot help myself. The news is just too good for Georgie. Although a few polls this week showed the race a tie, the major polls have GWB increasing his lead after the convention. In my opinion (most internet junkies abbreviate it IMO), Bush has a 7 to 8 point lead right now, which is monumental considering the current state of the electorate. Here are links to several websites that try to predict the exact electoral count, and which candidate wins which states. If the election were held today, I have the vote percentage at Bush 53%, Kerry 46%, and the electoral count at Bush 331, Kerry 207.
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
http://www.dalythoughts.com/ecb.htm
http://www.electionprojection.com/
http://www.federalreview.com/compositepoll.htm

- So, did "Gunga" Dan Rather purposely try to hurt the Bush campaign? Hell yes! Unfortunately for Mr. Rather, it did exactly opposite. It probably gave Bush a point or two in the polls. Rather, who has always leaned left, hates the Bush family. He had a major spat with Bush Sr. on national television 16 years ago. Do I think that CBS News purposely created those documents? No. Do I think that CBS News knew those documents were fake? No. Do I think that CBS News did not check the validity of those documents? Yep. They are desperate to find anything that will stick to Georgie. The major news outlets lost their credibility over 12 years ago. Their politics drive their news. They could care less about the truth. They know they have no credibility, so why worry about ruining their own reputations? Getting politicians elected is much more important to them. Did the Kerry campaign send these documents to CBS? It's unclear right now, but reporters (legitimate ones) are looking into it. Here is what they have found so far:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20040918/ap_on_el_pr/bush_guard_questions&printer=1

- A few nights ago, I watched a PBS documentary about Archimedes. He was an ancient Greek mathematician, who found some very clever ways to solve intriguing problems. He created a system for closely approximating Pi. He also found that putting an object in water can reveal its volume (hence the term "eureka", which is Greek for "I discovered".) Perhaps most importantly, he stumbled upon integral calculus! Unfortunately, the manuscript in which he noted many of these discoveries was written over during the Middle Ages, and disappeared for a thousand years. The manuscript, called The Method, was discovered in 1906, and in 1998 scientists finally have the technology to unravel its secrets. Here is a link to the PBS website about Archimedes, and his discoveries:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archimedes/

- Calculus wouldnt evolve for another 1900 years after Archimedes. Imagine if his discovery of calculus had not been lost, and scientists had been using his ideas for the past 2000 years? We might be living on Mars right now, or telling robots to clean our yards. Speaking of Mars, here is an article about how humans could travel to Mars one day, and what we need to get there:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6013385/

- 1939 was a wonderful year for movies. Gone with the Wind, the Wizard of Oz, and Mr. Smith goes to Washington were all released in 1939, but the greatest year for movies was 1989. Here is a list of all the movies released in 1989. When you think about the movies you have seen this year, or want to see later this year, compare those movies to the movies on this list. It's no comparison. Look it over carefully, and I guarantee you will see over a dozen movies you enjoy:
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/index1989.html

Friday, September 03, 2004

- The Republican convention is over. Between C-SPAN and Fox News, I tried to watch as much of it as I could. I thought Arnie, GWB and Rudy gave the best speeches, in that order. George's speech was good, but not his best speech. His best speech was before congress, after 9/11. I think Georgie will get a 2 to 3 point bounce out of this convention, and considering he is currently up 2 or 3 points, that should give him a lead of 5 to 6 points. That doesnt sound like much, but let me offer you these two points:
1. There are not many undecided voters left this election year, so any shift in public opinion is important.
2. No modern presidential candidate, with a lead of 5 points or greater on Labor day, has lost the election.
Let me put it another way....who would you rather be right now, George Bush, or John "I am holding desperate, midnight rallies" Kerry? You would certainly rather be George Bush right now. Here is an article by Dick Morris, who has a nice take on the president's speech. I am not a fan of Morris's political musings, but I think he gives an accurate critique of the speech:
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/28023.htm

- Have I already posted an article about futuristic, flying cars? I am too lazy to scroll down and see if I have. Regardless, here is a new article about how scientists want to end urban grid-lock, by introducing flying cars:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-08-30-flying-cars_x.htm

- I thought I would have trouble getting into the new Batman movie. After all, virtually the whole damn cast and crew is British. Well, I have been reading things that are changing my mind. Sounds like Bats is really screwed up in this movie. Check out this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/08/28/bfbat28.xml&sSheet=/arts/200

- Football is back! Football is back! The dreaded Arizona summer-doldrums are ending. The first full weekend of college football starts this Saturday, and the NFL season kicks-off this Thursday. Here is an article previewing the big college football games this weekend. On a related note, anyone notice the high number of NFL players who are Republicans? Jim Kelly, Lynn Swann, Jason Sehorn, and Jack Kemp were all at the Republican convention. Tom Brady sat next to Laura Bush during the last State of the Union address. Joe Montana, Troy Aiken, and Roger Staubach have all campaigned for past Republican candidates.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=herbstreit_kirk&id=1873293