Bush ahead of Kerry by 13 percent

Topix.net User Survey: Bush ahead of Kerry by 13 percent:
"The results favored George Bush by a percentage of 55.2% to John Kerry's 41.6%. Ralph Nader pulled 1.5% and a generic "other" candidate pulled 1.5%. Duplicate votes were eliminated from the results.

From an electoral college perspective, Senator Kerry won 10 states in the survey while President Bush took 41. If this were the actual vote, this would yield John Kerry 75 electoral votes and George Bush 456 electoral votes.


Results by Operating System usage:

* Windows users picked George Bush 55.80% to 41.00%.
* Macintosh users picked John Kerry 58.10% to 39.40%
* Linux users also picked John Kerry 87.50% to 12.50% in a small sample

Result by Browser usage:

* Internet Explorer users picked Bush 55.80% to 41.10%
* Firefox users picked Bush 49.70% to 43.60%
* Safari users almost mirrored the MacIntosh results 60% to 38%

The full results of this survey, done as a test of Topix.net's local coverage and statistical back end, are available here."

Bush in baseball?

JS Online: Loyalty test awaits Republican cheeseheads: "Jim Gray interviewed Bush at the White House on Oct. 27 and Kerry on his campaign bus on Oct. 15 in Milwaukee.

Bush, a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers, told Gray he has no interest in becoming commissioner of baseball after he leaves office.

'No, I wouldn't,' Bush said. 'I'm not sure what I'd like to do after serving the country. But I had a wonderful time in baseball. I loved my time there. I still love to watch the games. There's nothing more therapeutic than watching a baseball game, whether it's the World Series or a midseason game. I just enjoy, I love the sport. But I really have no interest in serving as the commissioner after my time as president.'"

High Speed Internet

Watchdogs: Broadband policy a bust | CNET News.com: "'Allowing cable and telephone companies to squeeze out competition is a double-barreled failure,' said Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America. 'Americans pay 10 to 20 times as much as consumers in Korea and Japan for broadband, and...the percentage of households that have the Internet at home has stagnated.'"

Bush or Kerry? What the polls say now, and an interactive map to test your own scenarios.

Bush or Kerry? What the polls say now, and an interactive map to test your own scenarios.

My projections ended up with a tie, which favors Bush due to the House choosing the winner.

Hip-Hop Debate

Hip-Hop Debate - Miniclip.com I believe this settles everything.

An Avalanche of Misinformation

An Avalanche of Misinformation: "The Bigger Share of Taxes?
Kerry claims in an ad that appeared this week that 'the middle class is paying the bigger share of America's tax burden and the wealthiest are paying less.' Actually, all income groups have seen their burden reduced . Kerry's wording could lead some to think middle-income taxpayers are paying more of the tax burden than upper-income taxpayers, which is false.
As we pointed out before in an article on another Kerry ad, figures from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center show that even after Bush's tax cuts, the most affluent 20 percent of taxpayers still pay 63 percent of all US taxes, including income, payroll and excise taxes. Those in the middle 20 percent pay 10.5 percent, a much smaller share. So, strictly speaking, the highest -income taxpayers still pay by far the larger share of taxes than the other 80 percent.
What Kerry has said previously is that middle-income taxpayers pay a larger share -- meaning a larger share than they did before and not a larger share than more affluent groups. And it's true that the middle 20 percent has seen their share of the tax burden go up -- by 2/10ths of one percent -- even as their taxes have come down. Those between the top and middle groups have seen their share of the burden go up 0.7 percent. On the other hand, those in the lowest two groups have seen very slight declines in the share of all taxes they pay as well as in the amount of taxes they pay, something Kerry doesn't mention when talking about the burden on the 'middle.'"

I always had a problem with the way Kerry kept saying that about the taxes. I know that I am not in the top earners and I got a tax cut, so what's the problem here?

New Florida vote scandal revealed

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | New Florida vote scandal revealed: "A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.

Election supervisor Ion Sancho believes some voters are being intimidated
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called 'caging list'.
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: 'The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day.'
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot. "

100 Facts and 1 Opinion

100 Facts and 1 Opinion: "100 Facts and 1 Opinion
The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration
by Judd Legum"

Bush Keeps Three-Point Lead on Kerry

Yahoo! News - Reuters Poll: Bush Keeps Three-Point Lead on Kerry: "Reuters Poll: Bush Keeps Three-Point Lead on Kerry

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush holds a slim three-point lead over Democratic rival John Kerry one week before the Nov. 2 presidential election, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

Bush led Kerry 49-46 percent in the latest three-day national tracking poll, maintaining a stable lead on the Massachusetts senator as the White House rivals head down the stretch. Bush led Kerry 48-45 percent the day before.
With the campaign winding down, the poll added voters leaning toward either Bush or Kerry into their totals for the first time. That left only about 3 percent of likely voters undecided.
'If Kerry, as suggested, is looking to undecideds, look again -- there may not be enough left,' pollster John Zogby said.
Bush's three-point lead is identical to the three-point margin he had over Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) in the tracking poll at the same stage of the disputed 2000 election.
Kerry still has big leads among key Democratic constituencies like African Americans and union members, but now trails Bush among women, youth and seniors. "

Tomorrow isn't a good day for either team

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - This Date In Baseball: "This Date In Baseball

Compiled by PAUL MONTELLA
Oct. 27
1985 -- The Kansas City Royals, behind Bret Saberhagen's five-hitter, beat
the St. Louis Cardinals 11-0 in Game 7 of the World Series.
1986 -- The New York Mets won the World Series with an 8-5 victory over the
Boston Red Sox in Game 7."

Election 2004 - Bush and Kerry on Technology

Election 2004 - Bush and Kerry on Technology

They answer the questons. Well, they are open suggestions, i.e. don't know.

Boy do I love politics

Fraud alleged in voter registrations - Substitute teacher Adam Banse wanted a summer job with flexible hours, so he signed up to knock on doors in suburban Minneapolis and register people to vote.

He quit after two hours.

“They said: ‘If you bring back a bunch of Democratic cards, you'll be fired,'?” Banse alleged. “At that point, I said: ‘Whoa. Something's wrong here.'?”

He isn't alone. In several battleground states, a consulting firm financed by the Republican National Committee has been accused of deceiving would-be voters and destroying Democratic voter registration cards.

Arizona-based Sproul & Associates is under investigation in Oregon and Nevada over assertions that canvassers hired by the company were instructed to register only Republicans and to get rid of registration forms completed by Democrats.

And....

GOP charges voter fraud in Ohio - COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie on Tuesday joined Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett in launching a media campaign to counter what they called widespread voter registration fraud in nine Ohio counties.

"The reports of voter fraud in Ohio are some of the most alarming in the nation," Gillespie said.

Party officials recapped a list of allegations of voter registration fraud by canvassers working for private organizations in traditionally Democratic precincts, mostly in northern Ohio and Franklin and Hamilton counties. Among them: the attempted registration of a dead man in Cuyahoga County and Monday's arrest in Defiance County of a man accused of falsifying 130 registration cards with names like Dick Tracy and Mary Poppins in exchange for crack cocaine.

Voices of Iraq

Voices of Iraq##: "VOICES OF IRAQ offers a unique opportunity to hear the diverse perspective of Iraqis on issues at the forefront of a global debate over war, terror, and the prospects for democratic reform — directly from the street. VOICES OF IRAQ is a ground breaking documentary that does what no other film or news organization has done before.
"

Go Crazy Folks!

Cards are in the World Series. That was an awesome game. A well played game by both teams and the Astros really pushed the Cardinals but we survived. Now the Red Sox stand in the way. Don't sing it, just bring it.

Tonight!

I don't know what to say about tonight. Cardinals/Astros in a game 7. Cards will have to go thru Clemens/Oswalt/Lidge to win it, most likely. That's some rough stuff. Last night Edmonds was the hero. I thought Edgar Renteria played his butt off. I have never seen him so intense. Rock on! Here's to Renteria tonight bringing the violence! Cards in the series? Dare I dream?

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

uh

BlogShares - Big Bad Reviews

I don't know what this is but I'm on it.

Hear The Band!

Hear The Band!

John Kerry plays bass.

this is the day

Well, I was just informed that I won an Xbox from Microsoft. I attended a webcast last friday and they gave away one. It was to me. Cool stuff!

I actually got an email from someone that listened to the podcast. Interesting. I'm hoping to get Rich and Joe together and do one over the net sometime. I think it should be called "Smoke Break"...

Cardinals better win tonight. I'm getting worried. Go Woody!

I remain dominant in Fantasy Football. Go me.

podcast

uploaded the first ever bbr podcast tonight, you can find it here. You can also subscribe to my podcast feed at http://www.bigbadreviews.com/podcasts/rss.xml By the way it is a 15M download so be warned.

St. Louis Band of Sluggers (WITH PUJOLS BACK PRINT) T-Shirt @ Todays Champs

St. Louis Band of Sluggers (WITH PUJOLS BACK PRINT) T-Shirt @ Todays Champs

Cool shirt

1912

I'm selling my 1912 book on Amazon. Someone buy this from me please.

Is Bush Wired?

Is Bush Wired?: "'I have contacts within the Republican Party. I was told by Scott Zale, a Repulican operative in eastern Tennessee that he knows it to be a fact that Bush was wired. He said that within the Bush campaign, there are certain mid-level staffers that have leaked this tidbit because it was just 'too fantastic to ignore.'

Zale told me that the transmission device is popular with other high profile officials in the Bush administration. It helps everybody stay 'on message.' Zale said that Bush was only fed ready responses to just certain types of questions. He didn't know which questions those were but admitted that Bush just sounded(to him)to be more articulate at certain 'oportune' times. "

podcast

I will be doing my first podcast at some point in the next few days. However, I need a name for the show. Got any suggestions? Big Bad Podcast seems a bit weak. I'm not really sure what I will cover in the podcast. It will probably be very general until I get my niche on.

spongebob scaredy-pants

Well the SP2 update has been sitting on my computer at home. I have XP professional and downloaded the update a few weeks ago. Scoble says it is safe and recommends the download, but I'm just not ready. I almost did it last night, but I don't want to fight the problems that it can cause. Should I go for it? How long does it take to install? Are people still having problems with the install? I need to put it on Laura's parent's computer too at some point. Shouldn't I test it out on my computer first?

Score

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Box Score:
"Bot 1st: St. Louis
-A. Pujols homered to deep center

Bot 3rd: St. Louis
-L. Walker homered to deep right
-E. Renteria doubled to left, A. Pujols and S. Rolen scored
-J. Edmonds homered to deep right, E. Renteria scored

Bot 4th: St. Louis
-M. Matheny homered to deep left

Bot 7th: St. Louis
-L. Walker homered to deep right center
"

link blog

lots of good stuff on the link blog, check it.

More on podcasting

DIY radio with PODcasting | Doc Searls' IT Garage: "There was a time - until my late 30s, I guess - when most of my radio listening was to music. Then there was a time - roughly the last couple decades - when most of my radio listening was to NPR and talk radio. When that got boring in the morning, I'd switch to Howard Stern.
But there was a problem for me with talk radio, as there had been with music radio; and that was a growing irrelevance. Or a growing awareness of the irrelevance that had always been there.
Since the Net and the Web came along in the early and mid-90s, I've had a growing impatience with waiting around for stuff on the radio I might care about. Another way to look at it: All radio, commercial and noncommercial, including what we call the 'content', was turning into the same kind of stuff-to-endure as the advertising and promotional announcements that paid for it.
But now most of my radio listening is to what Adam Curry and others are starting to call podcasts. That last link currently brings up 24 results on Google. A year from now, it will pull up hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions."

Next big thing?

Trade Secrets Podcast: What is podcasting?: "Think how a desktop aggregator works. You subscribe to a set of feeds, and then can easily view the new stuff from all of the feeds together, or each feed separately.

Podcasting works the same way, with one exception. Instead of reading the new content on a computer screen, you listen to the new content on an iPod or iPod-like device.

Think of your iPod as having a set of subscriptions that are checked regularly for updates. Today there are a limited number of programs available this way. The format used is RSS 2.0 with enclosures.

In the future, radio shows like All Things Considered and Rush Limbaugh will be available in this manner, and perhaps other syndication formats will support enclosures. "

The Daily Recycler: Winners Never Cheat

The Daily Recycler: Winners Never Cheat: "UPDATE 10/4
The Daily Recycler talked with a Fox News producer today who was able to review multiple camera angles of the debate footage. He told us that he's '99% positive' that Kerry pulled a black pen out of his jacket.

It would appear the mystery has been solved.
(Thanks to Fox News for reviewing the tape)

Yes, it does constitute a violation of the terms of agreement signed by both camps - but we'll encourage our friends not to get worked up over it."

DRUDGE REPORT 2004

DRUDGE REPORT 2004: "DEBATE MYSTERY: DID KERRY HAVE CHEAT SHEET?

Section 5, pages 4-5 of the binding 'Memorandum of Understanding' that was negotiated and agreed upon by both political campaigns states:

'No props, notes, charts, diagrams, or other writings or other tangible things may be brought into the debate by either candidate.... Each candidate must submit to the staff of the Commission prior to the debate all such paper and any pens or pencils with which a candidate may wish to take notes during the debate, and the staff or commission will place such paper, pens and pencils on the podium...'

So what did Dem presidential contender John Kerry take out of his jacket as he approached the stage [with his back to the auditorium's audience]?

What did Kerry place on the podium?"

The New Republic Online: Empty Pew

The New Republic Online: Empty Pew: "Most Americans are aware that George W. Bush is a religious man. He is, after all, the man who presided over a religious revival of sorts at the Republican National Convention. He is the man who has pioneered what could be called cardio-diplomacy, judging world leaders--and, at times, entire nations--by their 'hearts.' He is the subject of at least four spiritual hagiographies currently in bookstores, and one religious documentary ('George W. Bush: Faith in the White House'). Most famously, Americans know him as the man who, when asked to cite the philosopher who had the greatest influence on him, named Jesus Christ.
What most--including many of the president's fiercest supporters--don't know, however, is that Bush doesn't go to church. Sure, when he weekends at Camp David, Bush spends Sunday morning with the compound's chaplain. And, every so often, he drops in on the little Episcopal church across Lafayette Park from the White House. But the president who has staked much of his domestic agenda on the argument that religious communities hold the key to solving social problems doesn't belong to a congregation. "

art
Posted by Hello

Hazing a good thing?

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Cleveland pitcher shot in leg credits go-go boot with preventing serious in...: "MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Cleveland Indians pitcher Kyle Denney won't complain about having to dress like a cheerleader again. The white go-go boots that went with the outfit might have prevented a bullet from seriously injuring his leg.
The rookie was hit in the right calf by a shot that came through the side of the Indians' bus in Kansas City late Wednesday as the team traveled to the airport after a victory over the Royals. The bullet caused only a flesh wound, probably because of the tough leather of the knee-high boot, Denney and his trainers said.
All of Cleveland's rookies were decked out in outrageous outfits on the bus, part of a hazing ritual. An Oklahoma native, Denney said his teammates told him to dress as a USC cheerleader because the Sooners are ranked second behind Southern California in The Associated Press college football poll. "