What the Hell is Wrong With Me?

I need help with this.

The last sentence of my previous post was: “Do we need to spend this much money to remain secure?”

That’s the sentence I had in my mind as I typed.  But what came out was this:

“Do we spend this money to secure?”

need, to, this, much, and remain didn’t make it from my brain to the keyboard.  This happens to me all the time when I type or write things by hand.  Am I brain damaged?  WTF???

Does this happen to anyone else?  What’s wrong with me?

An Open Letter to Those Who Drive Cars

This is directed to those of you who drive cars, especially those of you who live in small towns like the one I live in.  Actually, it doesn’t concern all of you, only some of you.

Look at the pedals at your feet.  At most, there are three of them.  For the vast majority of you, there are only two.

Now, I’m not a mechanic.  But I am fairly certain . . . one of those pedals . . . means . . .

GOOOOOOOO!!!!!

In my car, it’s the one on the right.  Make your fellow drivers happy and figure out which one it is in your car.

If It Were Not For the Wildcard . . .

and the divisions, the National League would have a pennant race for the ages.

Club	W	L	Pct.	GB
Los Angeles	79	55	.590	—
Philadelphia	77	54	.588	0.5
St. Louis	79	56	.585	0.5

My Last Post was April 13 . . .

. . . since then, I’ve been in an emotional cave, whose location and description are not entirely relevant for this blog.

Most of my readers have moved on without me, but a few of you have held out.

Somewhere in the basement of my mind, old gears are being cleaned and oiled, and are slowly starting to turn again.  Things may be back up to the old speed before long.

But no promises.

Perriello vs. Good Headed for a Likely Recount, Vote Totals May Continue to Fluctuate

The citizens of Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District may not know who their representative will be before late November or early December.  The latest vote totals published by the State Election Board, updated at 11:43 AM today, show Democratic challenger Tom Perriello leading Republican incumbent Virgil Goode by a count of 157,459 to 157,407.  There are 177 write-in votes, over three times the margin that separates the candidates.

An election official in Prince Edward county told me today that the results should be certified by November 24.  He said some localities are still canvassing their results, so the vote totals may continue to fluctuate.  Once the election is certified, the second-place candidate can request a recount, which will be paid for with state funds.  Earlier, the same official said the recount, which appears inevitable, would probably occur in early December and take about one day to complete.

Both Goode and Perriello have expressed confidence in an eventual victory.

See more information from the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Goode vs. Perriello Continues

A numerical drama continues to unfold in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, as incumbent representative Virgil Goode (R) and challenger Tom Perriello (D) are locked in one of the nation’s closest races.  Vote totals from the Virginia State Board of Elections continue to change, and as of 2:20 PM Goode’s lead is a mere six votes out of over 314,000 cast.   At last count, Goode has received 157,421 votes, and Perriello has received 157,415.  The latest corrections have come from Appomattox County.

The following statement from Jessica Barba, Perriello’s communications director, appears on Perriello’s website:

We are clearly seeing a very close election with vote totals from different counties changing rapidly, and Tom Perriello remains confident that when everyone’s vote is counted he will win this election and move ahead with his agenda for economic revival in the fifth district. Right now, our focus is on making sure every single vote is counted and every single voice is heard. The results need to be certified and there are provisional ballots that need to be considered. We are confident that people in the fifth district want change and that we are going to be successful in this election in the end.

At an 11:00 AM press conference in Charlottesville today, Perriello refused to concede the race, saying that provisional ballots had not been counted and would likely move him ahead of Goode.

If Perriello prevails, his victory would be seen as a huge upset in the Fifth District, which Goode has represented since 1997.

Promises, Promises: Obama vs. McCain

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has released its analysis of the economic plans put forward by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.  Bottom line: the federal deficit will increase substantially under both candidates’ plans.  Whoever is elected, if he gets the budget he wants, the government will spend more than it brings in.  The Committee’s report estimates that Obama’s budget will increase the deficit by $262 billion to $316 billion.  Under McCain’s plans, the deficit grows by between $229 billion to $400 billion.  The largest uncertainty is connected to McCain’s health care proposal, which the Committee projects to run a deficit of between $43 billion and $223 billion.

The Committee does not endorse either candidate. Get the PDF here.

I barely have time to read the report before I vote (at 6:00 AM) tomorrow.  Good luck, America.

FactCheck.org Vets the Kilkenny E-mail

The Anne Kilkenny email has been doing laps around the Internet for several weeks, detailing Sarah Palin’s performance as mayor of Wasilla.  FactCheck.org has new article analyzing Kilkenny’s factual claims, finding them to be mostly accurate.  Highlights:

• Early in her first term as mayor, Palin nearly endured a recall campaign.  But she survived and eventually won re-election.  (I hope my conservative friends will not attempt to argue that winning re-election proves that one is doing a good job in office.  Large is the number of people, both Republican and Democratic, who ought to be voted out for poor performance, but manage to stay locked in place.)
• In her first term, Palin fired people left and right.  As Governor, as we all know, she fired the state police commisioner because he would not fire a state trooper involved in a custody battle with Palin’s sister.  A legislative investigation recently found that in doing so, Palin abused her power as governor.
• Despite the fact Palin has taken up McCain’s battle against government pork, she has $358.5 million in outstanding pork requests with Sen. Ted Stevens’ office.  The article also notes that Palin’s rejection of the “bridge to nowhere” represented a 180-degree change in her position.

Election Roundup #8: Mostly About Health Care

• Sen. John McCain is continuing his attacks on Sen. Barack Obama, with a new ad that accuses Obama of “blind ambition” and “bad judgment” regarding his association with 60s radical Williams Ayers.  McCain is probably correct if we focus specifically on Obama’s reaction to the conservative response to Ayers, but McCain goes too far in asserting that Obama’s general thought-processes and political morality are corrupt.  If McCain’s underlying assertions are correct, then everyone who served on the board with Ayers, including several prominent Republicans, are equally implicated.  McCain’s attack makes little sense when analyzed carefully.
• Gov. Sarah Palin’s newest attack on Obama is based on his alleged ties to influential Iraqi politicians.  She makes reference to a story run by the Washington Times in saying that Obama is “putting ambition ahead of country.”  Apparently Obama made overtures regarding a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.  This new line of attack may gain traction for the Republicans, as Democrats have never provided an effective response to the “white flag” charge.
• Several sources are reporting that Barack Obama plans to air a 30-minute commercial in prime time the Wednesday before the election.  He has purchased 30 minutes on CBS and is negotiating with other networks.   I’m not sure now to respond to this.  If McCain cannot afford to counter with his own 30-minute commercial, this seems unfair.  I don’t want the election to turn on who can spend the most money for airtime.  I want the most qualified candidate who has the best ideas and best chance of implementing them to win.  Further, if Obama is still ahead in projected electoral votes, what does he have to gain from this?
• Elizabeth Moore at Newsday examines the differences between the Obama and McCain health care plans.  If I have time, I will write more about this later.  Here is another summary of the plans and their differences.  (I cannot vouche for its accuracy.)
• Economist Paul Krugman finds little of value in McCain’s health care plan.  He writes an op-ed for the NY Times explaining his position.   In contrast, economists Joseph Antos, Gail Wilensky, and Hanns Kuttner, have little praise for Obama’s plan.  Whoever wins, perhaps the bottom line is this: don’t get sick.

Science Debate 2008

The people at Sciencedebate2008, working to “restore science and innovation to America’s political dialogue,” succeeded in getting Barack Obama and John McCain to submit 14 written answers to questions about science and research.  The topics ranged from global climate change, to ocean health, to stem cell research.

Beginning with these 3,400 questions, Science Debate 2008 worked with the leading organizations listed to craft the top 14 questions the candidates should answer.  These questions are broad enough to allow for wide variations in response, but they are specific enough to help guide the discussion toward many of the largest and most important unresolved challenges currently facing the United States.

I haven’t had time to read their answers very carefully, but here are two interesting quotes.  Answering a question about alledged government interference in scientific research, Obama writes: