I am definitely not cut out to be any kind of public figure. I do not know how the President-Elect (Officially now!) can stand all the harping and complaining about the job he is doing and the people he is picking to help do it. Yes, I wrote about this stuff before. But it really annoys me, so I am doing it again. Continue reading
I was looking around at some blogs that I visit occasionally, when I saw this post at Making Light. With that kind of a set up, I had to look, then I laughed out loud. This Youtube video is hilarious. This is the kind of joke that is easy to do, doesn’t hurt anyone, but is funny as hell. We need more of them in the world today.
In the meantime, Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Joyous Kwanzaa, and a happy late Solstice for the atheists out there. (You know, Happy Holidays really is easier to keep up with.)
partnerI have been playing with a few things here, trying out some new plugins, widgets and themes. I am afraid that is is quite addictive. Considering the lack of traffic here, I really don’t need most of this, but I like seeing how it works. And trying out new themes is certainly one way to while away the hours, and avoiding the thought that I really should go buy some groceries. Since it has been cold and freezing rain here today, the software won. Continue reading
It looks like they might finally be slowly getting close to a decision in the Minnesota Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. (Yes, there are a lot of modifiers in there.) The canvasing board there has almost finished certifying the challenged ballots, which have put Franken in the lead for now. Continue reading
As the inauguration gets closer, and Obama makes his choices for cabinet positions and other important jobs in his administration, more and more people are complaining. I do not believe a single choice has been met with unanimous approval from anyone, except for maybe the press, since it gives them something to talk about. My opinion? (Hey, it is as valid as anyone else’s.) Let him decide who he wants. Continue reading
When I go to various news sites, I want to know what is going on. I am helping the sites justify their existence in that way. I figure that can help build up some good karma, which I certainly need. But today, when I went to check out a news site I only visit every couple of days, I found out something I didn’t want to hear, that Geoff Johns is leaving JSA with issue #26. Continue reading
Have you ever wondered about how things really work? Not things like the financial system, there is ample evidence no one understands that. But more important things, like bubbles bursting, or how a bowling ball is curved as it flies down the alley. Or how do they make baseballs. Continue reading
They are still counting in Minnesota. All kinds of people, both on the web and on the news have made statements about the length of time it is taking. But everything I have seen seems to be showing that the election officials there are doing their best to be fair and unbiased. They want all the votes that should be counted, counted, no matter who they are for. That is the way things are supposed to work in elections in this country. And it is one reason I am against all electronic voting. Optical scan has some problems, but it does leave a ballot that the voter has marked, which can be physically looked at if there is a need. There is an election in Virginia’s 5th district, where most of the recount entails running the machines again to see what their memory cards say.
What happens if the number is different? How can it change if it is only an electronic record and no one has used the machine since the memory was read on election day? So the number on the DREs should be the exact same, with the only differences possible on the absentee or provisional ballots. Virginia has at least stopped buying those machines. Now they need to stop using the ones they have.
But back to Minnesota. Nate Silver, the wunderkind at FiveThirtyEight.com, has made a prediction about the election, Franken by 27 votes. I am not certain he is completely serious about that. But it does seem to be the number that his math leads to. Of course, he is a statistician, so there is a built in margin of error in his work. That just doesn’t sound as good as a post title. And probably wouldn’t get him mentioned on Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, or Huffington Post as often. Besides, what if he is right.
Right now, the Star Tribune is letting anybody that wants to get a look at what the Canvassing Board will have to go through when they start looking at things. Minnesota Senate Recount: Vote on the Franken-Coleman ballot challenges.
I didn’t get all the way through the original 599, but of the 100+ I did look at, most of them were challenged for pretty frivolous reasons. A large number were challenged for having an identifying mark, when the only mark that I could find was the presence of a write-in candidate. While a particular write-in could be used to identify a ballot (Lizard People anyone?) you can’t use that as a basis for not counting the ballot. Otherwise you nullify the entire concept of having a write-in. And these challenges were coming from both campaigns. They should both shut down that kind of thing and limit their challenges to things that actually make sense, like extra marks and unclear voter intent.
I understand the PR and political reasons for all the extra challenges, but it is really a wast of time and money, since the Canvassing Board will throw those challenges out. All it will really do is irritate them, when they should be the people you least want mad at you.
partnerIt was a pretty good weekend, except for the parts that weren’t. I guess that technically fits all weekends, but at least most of this one was good. Well okay, most of it wasn’t really good. It just wasn’t bad. Continue reading
