COOPER: But there are a lot of gay families out there, Reverend Falwell, there are a lot of gay families out there. I think there are like a million kids being raised by gay parents who say that if you want to protect families, you know, civil unions will give inheritance rights, will give Social Security, survivor benefits rights to...

FALWELL: Anderson, that's all a red herring. If you want to leave something to your cat, you can do that in your will...

COOPER: It's not a red herring. That's simply not true. It's not true. You know we pay taxes.

If you lived in places where landmines continue to regularly kill or maim members of your community, I bet you’d think these plants are really really cool.

“A Danish company, Aresa Biodetection, has developed genetically-modified flowers that change color when their roots come in contact with nitrogen dioxide in the soil. Explosives used in mines produce NO2 as the chemicals gradually decay. The company plans to sow fields of NO2-sniffing Arabidopsis thaliana (Thale or mouse cress) in areas riddled with long-forgotten ordinance from Angola to Cambodia.

The effort’s life- and limb-saving potential is staggering: More than 100 million land mines kill or injure 26,000 people in 45 countries each year. Today’s most popular detection method is poking around with a stick.”

"Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations," reads an explanation from CBS, "and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks."

Citing a difference in management philosophy, the Human Rights Campaign’s boards and its president, Cheryl Jacques, announced that she will resign from her position.

The nation's biggest cell phone company provided few details with Tuesday's announcement except to say it would launch the service in a "substantial" number of markets by the end of 2005 and "most" major markets by the end of 2006.

Cingular already offers the new service in six cities where it had been launched by AT&T Wireless before its acquisition by Cingular in late October - Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle - but had yet to move beyond trials itself due to capacity constraints before the merger.

The Atlanta-based company said the wireless technology it is using, known as third-generation or 3G, will offer average data speeds between 400 kilobits per second to 700 kilobits per second - on par with entry-level DSL and cable broadband connections.

Tom Ridge, the nation's first homeland security secretary, announced Tuesday that he is resigning after three years of reworking American security and presiding over color-coded terror alerts. He's the seventh Bush Cabinet officer leaving so far.

Ridge oversaw the most significant government reorganization in 50 years. He'll be remembered for his terror alerts and tutorials about how to prepare for possible attacks, including the controversial "disaster kits" that caused last year's run on duct tape and plastic sheeting.

Try this:

1. Slice.

Cut up your shows into stories and put them all online.

After you air a story, it's fishwrap. Nobody can see it. If they missed it, well, that's tough for them. Is that any way to treat your public? Well, you don't have to anymore.

You should put up every story you do -- and not just as a stream but as files that the people can distribute on their own.

You can still make money on this -- in fact, you'll make new money: Put ads on the video; track those ads; and tack on a Creative Commons license that says people can distribute the video but cannnot muck with it. And you'll find something magical will happen: Your audience will market your product for you and distribute it for you and it won't cost you anything more. It's free money, damnit. Tell that to your stockholders.

A new ranking of Corporate PACs that contributed more than $100,000 to federal candidates indicates that there is a 10 to 1 tilt towards Republicans this election cycle. These figures are for contributions through 10/13/04.

Of the 268 Corporate PACS that gave $100,000 or more to federal candidates, 245 gave more than 50% of their contributions to Republicans and only 23 gave more to Democrats.

Sixteen company PACs gave 90% or more to Republicans. They include the federal PACs of Phillips Int'l. (100%), Cooper Industries (100%), Flowers Industries (100%), Harris Corp. (98%), Illinois Toolworks (97%), Outback Steakhouse (96%), ExxonMobil (96%), National City Corp. (95%), Wendy's Int' l. (93%), Anadarko Petroleum (92%), Timken Corp. (91%), Halliburton (91%), Meadwestvaco Corp (90%), Darden Restaurants Inc. (90%), Branch Banking & Trust Co (90%), and Int'l Paper (90%).

When the FCC fined Fox a record one point two million dollars for the stupid reality show “Married by America” last month, it said that it logged a hundred and fifty nine complaints from Americans who were horrified that the show was so sexually suggestive.

The media dutifully reported on the FCC responding to listener complaints, and the religious right crowed about how Americans won’t stand for smut on their TV machines.

It took one lonely journalist, Jeff Jarvis from buzzmachine.com, to file a freedom of information act request asking to see copies of those hundred and fifty nine complaints.

It turns out there weren’t a hundred and fifty nine after all, there were ninety.

And it turns out that twenty three individuals sent those ninety complaints.

And it turns out that twenty one of those twenty three were just copies of the same form letter put out by the fake outrage factory known as the Parents Television Council.

So, the FCC levied its biggest fine ever, and the right wing got to crow about their power in intimidating the media for THREE LOUSY COMPLAINTS about a stupid reality show. Three people. Three letters. Millions of viewers. One point two million dollars

In the past year, at least 3,000 gay Massachusetts couples have wed, although voters may have a chance next year to change the state constitution to permit civil union benefits to same-sex couples, but not the institution of marriage.

Critics of the November 2003 ruling by the highest court in Massachusetts argue that it violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of a republican form of government in each state. They lost at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

"The international community is watching very carefully," the president said.
"People are paying very close attention to this and, hopefully, it will be
resolved in a way that brings credit and confidence to the Ukrainian
government."

It was about what I expected. We were treated by 20/20's Elizabeth Vargas spending the first half hour of the program describing the emotionally and physically abusive childhoods of McKinney and Henderson, even to the point of showing how McKinney was an Eagle Scout. It was just meth that made him go out of control, beating Matthew with a 357 Magnum until he was a bloody pulp for the $30 in Shepard's wallet. Henderson comes off as practically an altar boy, that "didn't even touch Matthew" aside from tying up the helpless young man to the fence. I guess that doesn't count. And he made no attempt to call for help because he was afraid of McKinney's meth-fueled fury.

FALWELL: Up until this generation with the influence of the American Civil Liberties Union and anti-Christ groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State --

COLMES: Oh "anti," that's not true, Reverend. They're not "anti-Christ."

FALWELL: It is true. I know those guys and the fact is they're so anti-religious, anti-Christian that they have tried to secularize the country.

Jerry Falwell expressed his concerns that the true meaning of Thanksgiving is being distorted by a secular system of education that insists on keeping God out of the discussions of the first Thankgiving. Hannity was quick to agree with Falwells conclusion that God and religion are purposely kept from our children who attend public school.

Would-be czar Vladimir Putin has taken a giant step toward reasserting the regional hegemony of the former Soviet Union by stealing the election in Ukraine right under our noses.

As an unpaid, volunteer adviser to Viktor Yushchenko, the democratic candidate for president, I have seen, firsthand, how Viktor Yanukovich, the Putin candidate backed by a coalition of the Russian Mafia, oil barons, former KGB officials and communists stole the election and thwarted the obvious will of the voters.

While the former Soviet Union was composed of many smaller nations, now independent, the key was the combination of Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s 145 million people and Ukraine’s 45 million are the core of what was the Soviet empire.

Reuniting them has to be the primary goal of any aspiring Russian czar. But the Ukrainian people don’t want Russian domination.

The election contest pitted Yushchenko, who got the virtually solid support of the 60 percent of the population that is Ukrainian by ethnicity, against Yanukovich, who won equally united backing from the 40 percent that is ethnically Russian. The result was obvious: Exit polls (more accurate in Ukraine than when our own TV networks do them) showed Yushchenko winning by more than 10 points. But the final results, announced by the government, which supported Yanukovich, showed a small margin in favor of the Russian-backed candidate.

Putin regarded the contest as so important that he personally visited Ukraine in the weeks before the election to campaign for his candidate, a clear violation of the most elementary standards of independence and protocol. His former KGB henchmen — and once and future communists — combined with Russian organized-crime figures and oil barons to pump money into the race and to intimidate voters on the ground.

In a news briefing at the State Department, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered a sharp rebuke to the Ukrainian authorities who today declared Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner of a run-off election Sunday that Ukrainian protesters and foreign observers said was marred by fraud.

"We cannot accept this result as legitimate, because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," Powell said.

Mr. Mathewson began attending the school, outside Joplin, in September. In a statement issued by the civil liberties union, he said: "The school lets other students wear antigay T-shirts, and I understand that they have a right to do that. I just want the same right. I think tolerating each other's differences is a key part in teaching students how to become good citizens."

The International Game Developers Association conducted an industrywide "quality of life" survey this year documenting that "crunch time is omnipresent." The study urged readers to tell "the young kids just starting out" in the industry to reject the hours that lock them into "an untenable situation once they start wanting serious relationships and families."

As our leaders redouble their efforts to maintain the United States of America's status as the land of the free and home of the brave, please remember that some of us — hopefully most of us — really don't give a shit what the rest of you think.

Regardless of what the action film makers in Hollywood would have you believe, it is unlikely that one person fighting two or more assailants is going to come out of the fight without getting hurt. The best you can do is to decrease the number against you and get away as quickly as possible. Remember you are not there to fight, you are fighting to survive.

MONDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDayNews) -- Adolescents who have two moms as parents are no different from teens growing up with a mother and a father, a new study finds.

On measures of psychosocial well-being, school functioning, and romantic relationships and behaviors, the teens with same-sex parents were as well adjusted as their peers with opposite-sex parents. The authors found very few differences between the two groups. A more important predictor of teens' psychological and social adjustment, they found, is the quality of the relationships they have with their parents.

NEW AL-JEER SUREAF, Sudan -- The Bush administration has called it genocide. Other governments have labeled it ethnic cleansing and the world's worst humanitarian crisis. There have been calls for collective action and promises of relief. There have been somber reminders of the slaughter in tiny Rwanda a decade ago and solemn vows not to let such a thing happen here, in Africa's largest country.

But months later, the displaced inhabitants of Darfur, in western Sudan, find themselves consoled by little more than words. No Western country has been willing to commit troops to a small peacekeeping mission mounted by the African Union, while aid donors have been distracted by the conflict in Iraq, and U.N. sanctions have been frozen by diplomatic disputes.

Other than calling it a "genocide," the Bush administration has done nothing about the problems in Sudan. Freedom is certainly not on the march in the Sudan, but no one seems to care. How long until the terrorists figure out that this is a good place to hang out?

Whoops, look over there! Gay people! Scott Peterson! Survivor! Early Xmas shopping!

The deal allows Wrigley to expand in the candy section, where it has expertise and distribution capabilities, while leaving Kraft [Phillip Morris] to focus on the rest of the food market.

Kraft shares edged slightly lower on the New York Stock Exchange Monday, while Wrigley shares were up 1.07 percent.

For Wrigley, the businesses are seen as a good fit with the company's other brands -- including Juicy Fruit and Big Red gum, which like Altoids and Life Savers, sell at the top of candy racks at grocery checkout counters and in convenience stores.

WASHINGTON -- The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources.

"The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to both the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda."

One of the first casualties appears to be Stephen R. Kappes, deputy director of clandestine services, the CIA's most powerful division. The Washington Post reported yesterday that Kappes had tendered his resignation after a confrontation with Goss' chief of staff, Patrick Murray, but at the behest of the White House had agreed to delay his decision till tomorrow.

But the former senior CIA official said that the White House "doesn't want Steve Kappes to reconsider his resignation. That might be the spin they put on it, but they want him out." He said the job had already been offered to the former chief of the European Division who retired after a spat with then-CIA Director George Tenet.

What is new for Scheuer - who resigned from the intelligence agency on Friday - is commenting by name.

Until Friday, and for over two decades at the CIA, he was anonymous - and even wrote a book using the pen name Anonymous: "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror," published this past July.

The book, written with the CIA's blessing, is critical of the Bush administration's counterterrorism policy and was viewed by some at the White House as a thinly veiled attempt by the CIA to undermine the president's reelection.

[...]

"You've written no one should be surprised when Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda detonate a weapon of mass destruction in the United States," says Kroft. "You believe that's going to happen?"

"I don't believe in inevitability. But I think it's pretty close to being inevitable," says Scheuer.

A nuclear weapon? "A nuclear weapon of some dimension, whether it's actually a nuclear weapon, or a dirty bomb, or some kind of radiological device," says Scheuer. "Yes, I think it's probably a near thing."

What evidence is there that bin Laden's actually working to do this? "He's told us it. Bin Laden is remarkably eager for Americans to know why he doesn't like us, what he intends to do about it and then following up and doing something about it in terms of military actions," says Scheuer. "He's told us that, 'We are going to acquire a weapon of mass destruction, and if we acquire it, we will use it.'"

Do Americans of good conscience really believe that we are making the United
States more secure by bombing and killing the people of Fallujah?

President Lookin' Into Souls speaks:

"Well, I'm confident when people realize that there's a chance to vote on a president, they will participate," President Bush said Wednesday when asked whether the participation of Sunni Muslims would be necessary to make the elections free and fair. [...]

As I reminded our citizens prior to the Afghanistan elections, there's a deep desire in every soul to vote and to be free, and to participate in the presidential elections," he said.

In fact, Iraqis will not choose their president directly. They will be voting to choose a National Assembly of 275 members, which will elect from its members a president and two deputies and write a constitution. [Emphasis added, stupidity in the original.]

The article's headline is "Confusion in White House on Aim of Iraq Election," which seems to be a polite way of saying "President unaware of any facts about the upcoming elections in Iraq."

"there's a deep desire in every soul to vote and to be free ..."

I think he means "there's a deep desire in just under 60% of eligible souls to vote and to be free."

Just how many and what kinds of drugs did Barbara Bush do during her pregnancy with George? She must have [been] free-basing Aqua Velva.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

"Firmness in decision is often merely a form of stupidity. It indicates an inability to think the same thing out twice."

"In the long run, perhaps, we'll reach a point in human progress where denying the truth will be a crime, and not only a crime but a dishonorable act."

"The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it."

"We suffer most when the White House busts with ideas. "

"If /x/ is the population of the United States and /y/ is the degree of imbecility of the average American, then democracy is the theory that /x/ times /y/ is less than /y/."

"No one in this world, so far as I know ... has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people."

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bill Maher is being sued by a woman who claims he shook her at a party and welched on promises to marry her and buy her a home in Beverly Hills.

Nancy "Coco" Johnsen, a former model and flight attendant, is seeking $9 million and other unspecified damages, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. It accuses the political comic of fraud, battery and assault.

Maher's lawyer said Friday he expects the lawsuit to be thrown out of court.

A coalition of civic groups, historians and a New York City Council Member sent a letter today to Peter Kalikow, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, asking him not to sell naming rights to New York City bridges, subway stations and tunnels. The letter follows.

Dear Mr. Kalikow:

According to the New York Times, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has recently sent out a request for proposals to hire a marketing company to explore the sale of naming rights to the subway stations, commuter rail stations, tunnels and bridges in and around New York City.

While the MTA’s budget problems are serious, this is the wrong way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New York subways.

The names of our civic places reflect our values and our aspirations. They embody our connection to this great city. Grand Central Terminal, the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, the Brooklyn Bridge – these are the city as it resides in our collective memory. So when we talk about names we are talking about our connection to the city that we love.

If we must re-name bridges or subway stations, shouldn’t those names convey the poetry and grandeur of New York, and the greatness of individuals who have made a large imprint on our lives? Is it really a good idea to turn our city into a kind of urban logoland? What will we convey to our kids – and do to ourselves -- if we choose to name these stations not after a Martin Luther King Jr. or Thomas Jefferson, but instead for Philip Morris, Waste Management or Martha Stewart? Are you really proposing to re-name the Church Ave. station after, say, Citigroup?

"In your re-election, God has graciously granted America—though she doesn't
deserve it—a reprieve from the agenda of paganism."

"You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your
Christ."

According to the latest issue of Newsweek, "Looking for a way to pick up swing voters in the red states, former president Bill Clinton, in a phone call with Kerry, urged the senator to back local bans on gay marriage. Kerry respectfully listened, then told his aides, 'I'm not going to ever do that.'"

The advice is not inconsistent with Clinton's record: He is the chief executive who signed the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, which forbids the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and leaves gay and lesbian couples legally married in Massachusetts since May 17 in legal limbo. The federal DOMA also prevents those couples from acquiring access to the Social Security and other benefits that other legally married couples have.

Actually, this article is nicer to Kerry than it should be. He and Edward expressed their support for Missouri's anti-gay marriage amendment while campaigning there.

Saul Alinsky wrote Rules for Radicals back in 1971. Alinsky said that his book was "for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away."

Are Alinsky's rules still valid today? Which need to be revised? Which did Rove use successfully to help the Haves hold onto power? Which did Kerry use successfully? Which could Kerry have used that he didn't?

Rule 1: Power is both what you have and what your opponent thinks that you have. If you have few members, hide your numbers and make a lot of noise.

Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion and retreat.

Rule 3: When possible, do go outside the experience of an opponent.

Rule 4: Make your opponent live up to his own rule book.

Rule 5: Ridicule is your most potent weapon. Ridicule is difficult to counter and it infuriates your opponent, causing him to react to your advantage.

Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy.

Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long is not a good idea. Change tactics.

Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Maintain a constant pressure on the opposition.

Rule 9: The threat of your tactic or action is more terrifying than the tactic or action itself. Use this to your advantage.

Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. You have to know what to say when your opponent asks you, "If you're so smart, what would you do?"

Rule 11: Pick your target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Don't attack an abstract such as a corporation. Identify a responsible individual and ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

Dear Freewaybloggers,

Numerous accounts point to the fact that the Florida and Ohio voting machines may have been hacked to change the final vote totals to favor George Bush. Several members of Congress have demanded that the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigate. The independent organization "Help America Audit" is leading the charge for a recount prior to Inauguration day.

To elevate this issue in the eyes of our nation we are calling for the largest freewayblogging effort to date:

This weekend (Nov 13-14), people nationwide will affix banners and signs to freeway overpasses demanding that the voting machines be investigated, and the Florida and Ohio vote recounted. We need you, and your friends, and their friends to participate.

We want commuters to visit http://www.blackboxvoting.org for more information. Please include their URL in your sign if you are able. A few suggested sign ideas include:

Audit the Voting Machines
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

Still not the President
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

Paperless voting: the Death of Democracy
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

The Vote was Hacked
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

As always, we post pictures sent in from fellow freewaybloggers starting Monday morning, November 15th. Please email us your pictures over the weekend if you can to sev@sevwilliams.com.

We will also be issuing an international press release outlining what our group is doing in the US to defend democracy during these troubling times.

Our democracy hangs in the balance and it is up to us and our fellow citizens to speak out now and to speak out loud. Let 20 or 30 thousand of your fellow citizens know what you think by freewayblogging this weekend.

For more information on the voting irregularities, see http://www.bradblog.com(scroll down the page for a listing of problems).

Please visit http://www.freewayblogger.com to get more info, and to donate to this effort.

To find fellow freewaybloggers in your area, join the news group by sending an email to Freewayblogging-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Protect Democracy,
The FreewayBlogger

Gonzales drew criticism after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks when he wrote a memo in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights groups, who said it helped lead to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Specifically, Gonzales' memo said the Geneva Convention that had long governed the treatment of prisoners did not apply to al-Qaida or the war in Afghanistan. The memo called some of the Geneva Convention's provisions "quaint." read more

TAXES – BUSH READY TO BLOW ANOTHER $1 TRILL: The AP reports, "President Bush is pledging to make permanent the sweeping tax cuts of his first term and to simplify the nation's tax laws." The price tag is expected to top "$1 trillion, a daunting number in an age of record budget deficits." Any effort to simplify the tax code is likely to "fall victim to a ferocious assault from Washington lobbyists determined to protect special breaks for their clients." It is not expected that any of the president's expensive tax scheme "will show up in the president's next budget, which goes to Congress in early February."

HALLIBURTON – BRIBE INVESTIGATION HEATS UP: According to a company filing, "various investigations" into an alleged $180 million bribery scandal involving a Halliburton subsidiary in Nigeria indicate "that payments may have been made to Nigerian officials." The allegations center on a contract for a $4 billion Nigerian liquefied natural gas plant awarded in 1995 to a consortium of partners including Dresser Industries, acquired by Halliburton three years later under Vice President Dick Cheney. "The Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, a French magistrate and Nigerian officials are investigating whether the consortium paid $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials from 1995 through 2002." The consortium was awarded other contracts in 1999 and 2002.

NUCLEAR – IRAN TESTS MEDIUM-RANGE MISSILES: Iran said on Tuesday "it was now able to make large numbers of its medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which defense experts say is capable of hitting Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf." Iran first deployed the Shahab-3 to its Revolutionary Guards in 2003, some bearing slogans vowing to "Wipe Israel from the face of the earth." Israel and the United States both worry Iran could use the Shahab-3 missiles to deliver nuclear warheads. In today's New York Times, foreign policy expert Kenneth Pollack urges America to gather its allies and "act now" in Iran, "while we still have some options left that might persuade the mullahs in Tehran to slow or halt their nuclear program."

ENVIRO – IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE: Two new studies highlight the damage global warming is inflicting on the planet. First, a report by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change found "abundant evidence" that global warming has begun to affect plants and animals in every region of the United States. The second, commissioned by the United States and other nations with Arctic territory, "found that northern Alaska and the rest of the Arctic are warming rapidly, with the loss of polar ice projected to accelerate global warming as well as contributing to sea-level rise and flooding." Bottom line of both studies: "warming is human-caused through heat-trapping emissions from the burning of fossil fuels." What does the White House plan to do about it? Not much. Despite the new evidence, White House science adviser John Marburger announced yesterday that President Bush is unlikely to take action. "Mandatory regulation or caps on greenhouse-gas emissions are unlikely for the foreseeable future, he said in an interview. 'Not in this administration.'"

He hasn’t killed us ALL yet.

His daughters are accessible (read trashy enough to be interesting).

Job security for Air America Radio.

He doesn’t EVER make you feel stupid.

He’s killed fewer Indians than Andrew Jackson.

He’s the only thing between Cheney and the Presidency.

Unlike Reagan, he doesn’t pick the easy wars.

He’s proof that E-Z Does It, One Day At A Time, and other recovery phrases “do” work if you work it, so work it, your worth it.

Social Security will no longer be a problem. No Social Security.

If you make over $40 million dollars a year, you get to keep ALL of it.

He has a mandate! Do YOU have a mandate?

We’re going to Mars!!!

Couldn’t get much worse.

And some ways to win the next election:

Start an all-picture newspaper for the red states. Print it on sheets of AMERICAN cheese.

Seal Toby Keith, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Kurt Shilling in a deserted mine shaft for four years.

Get PBS to host all day, all night televised NASCAR event on November 2, 2008.

Spread rumor that if abortion is legalized, sportsman will be allowed to hunt unborn fetuses “in the wild” “with assault weapons”

Propose constitutional amendment – if they allow gay marriages, we’ll let them marry their sisters.

Soften Hillary Clinton. Soak her in mixture of buttermilk, Palmolive and Wool-ite if necessary.

Legally change Barack Obama’s name to “Buck Alabama.”

Find a compromise. We can ALL enjoy burning books. Start with “The Man Show’s Beer Book,” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.”

Tell squeamish voters that stem-cell research will ultimately lead to larger Buffalo wings.

Check return policy on Louisiana Purchase.

And the long term plan – encourage evangelicals to practice celibacy before marriage – AND after.

Since its introduction in 1997, the Robospanker has gone through several refinements, and the latest model includes features like quieter operation and "light spank mode", presumably for when you're not feeling that naughty. Ain't technology grand?

Peace and tolerance have long been the words to live by in San Francisco, known for its large gay community, broad ethnic mix and frequent anti-war protests. But days after the election, many residents said they were so worried about an erosion of civil rights, environmental standards and the escalating violence in the Middle East, that they did not know how they could tolerate the Bush administration, or Americans who voted to re-elect him.

"I have family in Idaho, but I told my wife we're not going to visit them now. It's all Republicans there," said Ron Schmidt, a public relations executive. "We have family in Indiana and I don't want to go there either."

It was not the reaction George W. Bush must have been hoping for when he made his acceptance speech on Wednesday and told Kerry supporters: "I will need your support and I will work to earn it."

Schmidt said: "The ideologies of the two parties are too different. I don't see how healing can take place. I feel like the disenfranchised minority now, and that's a funny thing for a tall, good-looking white guy like me to say."

Schmidt's friend, magazine editor Joseph Connelly, said one of his columnists who had moved temporarily to Paris six months ago decided Wednesday she would settle there permanently.

"She was hoping she would want to come back," Connelly said, "but after she saw the election results she just didn't."

LITTLE EGG HARBOR, New Jersey (AP) -- The target was an object on the ground well within the confines of the Warren Grove firing range, a 2,400-acre scrub pine expanse used by the military to train pilots in bombing and strafing techniques.

But when the heavy gun in the left wing of an Air National Guard F-16 fighter jet fired Wednesday night, it sent 25 rounds of 20mm ammunition smashing through the roof and zinging off the asphalt parking lot of the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School 3 1/2 miles from the range.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Texas Board of Education approved new health textbooks for the state's high school and middle school students Friday after the publishers agreed to change the wording to depict marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The board decision could affect books sold in dozens of states because of Texas' market clout as the nation's second-largest buyer of textbooks.

On Wednesday, a board member charged that the proposed new books ran counter to a Texas law banning the recognition of gay civil unions because the texts used terms like "married partners" instead of "husband and wife."

After hearing the debate Thursday, one publisher agreed to include a definition of marriage as a "lifelong union between a husband and a wife." Another changed phrases such as "when two people marry" and "partners" to "when a man and a woman marry" and "husbands and wives."

Board member Mary Helen Berlanga, a Democrat, asked the panel to approve the books without the changes. Her proposal was rejected on a 10-4 vote.

"We're not supposed to make changes at somebody's whim," Berlanga said. "It's a political agenda, and we're not here to follow a political agenda."

New data published by the FBI this week has revealed that 755,186 people were arrested for marijuana offences in the US in 2003, with 88% (660,000) busted for simple possession.

The record number of arrests represented a doubling of pot related arrests since 1994 and came soon after the Republican administration urged prosecutors to be particularly merciless with offenders.

"Marijuana and violence are linked,” they declared in a memo in 2002, “no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana.”

More recently, President Bush ordered police to switch resources from targeting heroin and cocaine to cannabis, suggesting pot arrest figures could skyrocket even further if the Republicans remain in power for four more years. Independent candidate Ralph Nader also highlighted the drugs issue this week in an open letter to George W, urging him to pardon 30,000 non-violent drug offenders at the end of his first term.

“As someone who has acknowledged having a substance abuse problem you understand the importance of treatment for addiction. I’m sure you also recognize that if you had been incarcerated for cocaine use you probably would not have gone on to have the career you have had,” said Mr Nader.

“Therefore, you should be especially sensitive to the need for correcting the injustice of incarceration for non-violent drug offences,” he urged.

What the hell? Now Newsweek is giving Bush an 11-point lead as well as Time. I know conventions traditionally give candidates a bounce, but for an evil, bigoted, scary hatefest, a lot of people seem to have liked what they saw. That worries me a great deal.

Funny things start to happen to you when you start questioning the validity of a Presidential election. For example, you might look at an impending large scale assault on a couple major Iraqi cities, and wonder how the White House could invest such conviction in this forward an operation at this exact point if they felt re-election was that uncertain.

I know that I made the point that Bush looked emotionally vulnerable on the eve of the election, and that the White House staff also seemed to be questioning the faith. At the same time, I can't help feeling (along with many fellow left-wingers) that Rove pulled something over on us.

Osama bin Laden said on Wednesday in a full Internet broadcast of a video, partly aired by Al Jazeera last week, that George W. Bush had dragged America into a quagmire in Iraq and warned of retaliation for Iraqi deaths.

In the video, posted on Web sites often used by Islamists as results from the U.S. presidential election were being announced, bin Laden said Bush had ignored advice against waging "an unjustified war on Iraq for which there would be no end."

"The black gold (oil) blinded him and he put his personal interests above the general interests of America so the war took place, many died, American money was squandered and Bush was dragged into a quagmire in Iraq which threatens his future," the al Qaeda leader said in the tape, dated Oct. 24.

"More than 15,000 of our people were killed and tens of thousands wounded and more than 1,000 of your people (Americans) were killed and tens of thousands wounded. Bush's hands are sullied with the blood of those on both sides just for oil and to employ his private companies," bin Laden said.

"Remember that for every action, there is a reaction," he said, adding that al Qaeda would carry on fighting the United States "until it forces it into bankruptcy."

The complete 18-minute tape was posted on the Internet after Al Jazeera aired excerpts last Saturday in which bin Laden warned of possible new Sept. 11-style attacks.

I've always said today was merely a battle in a long war. The GOP built its electoral dominance over 40 years by building a massive, well-funded message, training, and media machine.

We started putting ours together last year.

You all have much to be proud of. But please don't think your job is done, or that your hard work was all for naught. It's not, and it wasn't.

This is just the beginning, not the end. Regardless of who takes that oath next January we still have a war to wage. We won't wage it with violence, but by building a solid foundation for a new progressive movement.

Lisa Dupler, a 33-year-old from Columbus, held up a rainbow-striped John Kerry sign outside the Nationwide Arena on Friday, as Republicans streamed out after being rallied by George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A thickset woman with very short, dark hair, Dupler was silent and barely flinched as people passing her hissed "faggot" into her ear. An old lady looked at her and said, "You people are sick!" A kid who looked to be about 10 or 11 affected a limp wrist and mincing voice and said, "Oh, I'm gay." Rather than restraining him, his squat mother guffawed and then turned to Dupler and sneered, "Why don't you go marry your girlfriend?" Encouraged, her son yelled, "We don't want faggots in the White House!"

The throngs of Republicans were pumped after seeing the president and the action hero. But there was an angry edge to their elation. They shrieked at the dozen or so protesters standing on the concrete plaza outside the auditorium. "Kerry's a terrorist!" yelled a stocky kid in baggy jeans and braces. "Communists for Kerry! Go back to Russia," someone else screamed. Many of them took up the chant "Kerry sucks"; old women and teenage boys shouting with equal ferocity.