Come on up for The Rising - The Plank → we saw bruce in front of the Rocky steps in Philadelphia last weekend after we went canvassing for the Obama campaign. We supposedly were supposed to get in up close to the stage, since we had volunteered, but something got messed up in the translation, and we were about as far as can be. Which is fine, we really just wanted to be near other Obama supporters.

Funny thing though, there was one guy with a mccain-palin sign, all tattered and torn, crumpled up, walking around holding it up for people to see. Later, I saw him sitting down, listening to Springsteen and clapping when he was talking about “rebuilding the house”, meaning America, of course.

There was also a whole family holding signs saying, “Independents for mccain” written in black magic marker on big pieces of cardboard. Mom lead the charge with son, maybe 5-years-old, and dad following with little girl up on his shoulders. All I could think about is how if they get their way, they might end up living under those signs. Poor kids. It’s not their fault their parents are voting for a guy that’s going to make their lives a lot harder.

In Fla., Palin Goes for the Rough Stuff as Audience Boos Obama | The Trail | washingtonpost.com → "Kill him" proposed one man in the audience."

Schwarzenegger outlaws text-messaging while driving - Los Angeles Times → “"Why everybody isn't hands-free now, I have no idea," he said. Consistent with state actions in favor of human rights that began in the 1980s, Schwarzenegger also signed a bill banning state contract bids from companies that do business with the government of the African nation of Sudan.” as republican as he is, the schwarz still does many good things for one my home states.

from the Seattle PI - Sarah Palin’s record on environment is abysmal.

("Spare me the phony outrage," Obama said today, actually sounding angry instead of whiny. Good for him.)
Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Lipstick and Calling a Spade a Spade - Robert Schlesinger (usnews.com) → more on the quote i mentioned.

McCain’s campaign perfects its outrage over sexism. - By John Dickerson - Slate Magazine →. i’m gonna have to go on record to say that even though this may end up hurting the campaign (I hope it doesn’t), i’m glad obama said it. i’m tired of the republicans being able to say whatever the fuck they want and being able to spin it however they want. there’s measured boldness and there’s foolishness. i think this is the former, and a sign that obama doesn’t kowtow to the dems that want him to play it safe and avoid saying anything at all to the people. it’s not like he’s hiding out in alaska for two weeks.

Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process - NYTimes.com → “They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” said a Republican close to the campaign. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.” So now not only was this a rash decision, Palin was also the 2nd (or 3rd) preference. What does that say about McCain’s so-called “maverick” title?

history lesson on trolls: “They’d build stuff if you left them bread or wine and they made the viking gods armor and spears.” from idle.slashdot.org | Slashdot’s Disagree Mail.

Oakville Public Library’s advanced search is elegant and simple to use. it’s all built so you see what’s going on and takes it one step at a time to build complex queries. bravo.

i heard some of this on marketplace, but what they don’t mention in this article that mp did: the victim was also cannibalized. Ill-fated Greyhound bus story.