Ames Straw Poll Delay

Rumours that the Ames Straw Poll result was delayed because the old software switched over half the votes to George W Bush have not been substantiated....yet.

Well, at least they were able to recount the votes.

An acceptable start

Well, Norwich City got their campaign underway on Saturday with a 0-0 draw at Preston.
It has looked promising the the eight new signings that have arrived during the summer. With the return of Jamie Cureton, there's now a player there that I've seen play. However, with Darren Huckerby still not ready and the virus that affected several players during the week, a battling draw away at Preston, where we traditionally struggle, has to be seen as a good result.

Here's the match report, the Radio Norfolk report, and Radio Norfolk post-match interview with the manager, Peter Grant (Realplayer req'd).

Bush vs Zombies

This is brilliant.... especially the ending!

What Evolution Left Behind on Humans

You may have read about what your appendix did but your vomeronasal organ?

Lame Duck?

A frightening scenario outlined by Andrew Sullivan in his weekly Times column.

This is all he’s got left. The mighty power of the presidency, a predilection for sudden action, and absolutely nothing to lose. This lame duck, in other words, could quack or fly without warning. And Washington, for all its increasingly open contempt for him, is rattled by the possibility. They don’t know what’s coming; but they know they’ll have to adjust.

In this, perhaps for the first time, even Republicans are having a familiar experience. They now know what it’s like to be a European with this president. And they are longing for it to be over.

I've always believed it was Dick Cheney who was pulling the strings. How far back does the relationship go? It is well known that George W Bush asked Cheney to select a candidate for VP but how influential was Cheney in pushing forward GWB's nomination, preparing an empty vessel that he could then fill at will?

The only issue that Bush deserves credit for is his stand on immigration. It's his personal knowledge from his background in Texas that drives this. Everything else has been driven by Cheney. Remember the president's questioning by the 9/11 commission - he wouldn't do it without his VP.

This video says it all.

This is Spinal Tap - Again

The inimitable Spinal Tap - at Live Earth.




I loved the mini-Stonehenge, especially the late arrival of the lintel.

How Do You Live Without It?

Beer Handles?

Broder Bollocks

What is David Broder taking these days?

In his latest Op-Ed in tew WaPo he argues that politicians are bowing to public opinion too much.

The latest cave-ins involve immigration and trade policy, and both seriously threaten the national interest.

The collapse of the immigration reform bill in the Senate last month means that the broken border system, which allows a continuing flood of illegal immigrants to enter the United States with no hope of attaining the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship, will continue for at least two more years. No one is talking of reviving the effort until after the 2008 election installs a new president and Congress.

It wasn't public opinion that brought the downfall of the immigration bill, in fact 70% of the public supported it. It was the rush of politicians, mainly Republicans, to satisfy their ever-polarised and vocal base that stopped the bill.

Did you see it?

Go on, admit it! You missed it too. I did.

A Map of the Last Two Week's Earthquakes

Here is a site showing the last two weeks worth of earthquakes around the globe.

That's a lot of quakes that haven't made the news.