Palin gives thanks

Not really as gruesome as the website says, but still pretty funny. Thanks to Vinh.

Some mornings are strange and wonderful

some, not so much.

This is a test post from my phone.

this is a picture

wait... There is no way to upload a picture. This is kind of weak. The typing is also incredibly laggy. Hmmm. Is there some sort of iPhone app to do this stuff? This kind of sucks actually.

"I'm kind of Bitter" - Hillary Clinton votes

(Also kind of saying nothing)

blahblahblahblah - Sarah Palin votes

(She flew to Alaska for an hour to cast her vote - and said nothing that means anything - GAD)

Hehehehehe - Homer votes

Stocks

The market seems to disagree with me.

Major indecies seem to think that things are going to go smoothly.

Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P are all sharply up (around 3% at time of writing).

I don't know. If there isn't a winner declared tonight, I think its going to be a blood bath. Having never been what I would call a "successful" trader though, I think its safe to say that I have no clue of what I speak :)

Train wreck prediction - US Election

There are expected to be about 140 million voters in this election. (About 80% in some states. Historical national turnouts here)

Awesome!... but only if a candidate wins by a larg'ish margin... if not - there are going to be some problems:

Inconsistent rights: Some states (but not all states) will let you vote, as long as you are in line to vote come the cutoff (which I think is 8 o'clock). Some states (but not all of them) allowed early voting under state regulations which are different in each.

Delays in results: So (if its even close), I don't think they will be able to "call" states based on statistical samplings. i.e. how can you declare a winner when all the votes haven't even been cast yet?

Disenfranchisement: Some people inevitably won't be able to vote. There may be a huge number of them. Almost every state has, in part, deployed new touch screens (The Diebold debacle is well publicized, but I think this quote says it all: "In March 2007, it was reported by the Associated Press that Diebold was considering divesting itself of its voting machine subsidiary because it was "widely seen as tarnishing the company's reputation" - source). For that matter - check out here, here, here and here. Some have paper backups, some don't. If it is a close race (anywhere) expect lawsuits.

Lawsuits: Class action suits are going to fly as are cases from all candidates and all special interest groups. They have already started. McCain is suing Virginia to delay the election results for 10 days due to military votes not being sent out in time - source. Also in Virginia, the NAACP sued because (the republican state) didn't provide enough voting machines to neighborhoods that are predominantly black - Another source.

Some polling stations have already run out of ballots. Huge lists of voters get emails and letters that say they will have to pay parking fines before they are allowed to vote - don't even bother lining up. Misdirection, lies and dirty deeds from both sides are going to play out today.

I'm being a bit cynical here, but I think this is going to be a huge mess - at a time when the US needs anything but. Lets hope I am wrong.

I have a dream

No, not that dream.

My imagination has been running wild at night. I've been having the strangest, sometimes terrible and sometimes wonderful dreams. Some of my friends get married. Sometimes they solve immense social problems. Sometimes they die. Sometimes I die. They are epic and involved. The acts of the play meander on as I drift in and out of sleep. Last night I was part of a rally bumper car race that ended up at a farm. There I continued my pilots training and haggled over hay. I bought a good bale that didn't contain too much moisture (from this very crazy looking, multi level processing plant) and set it down on a huge hill. I sat on it and watched the sunrise while drinking something green and bitter. Odd.

Most of this is very private of course, but one was just too funny to not share:

I had a very long and involved night where I dreamt that dinosaurs had enslaved the human race. Why? Because they were making us find a way to prevent them from going extinct. It was kind of the Matrix meets I Am Legend. It was very theatrical with protagonists and antagonists.. even had a love interest. There was a moment where the chief human scientist had a crisis of conscience... time was running short and she could have let them all die - The human race would be free! There was a big standoff with the head dinosaur and they somehow achieved a mutual respect. The (now not so evil) dinosaurs were safe and the human race went back to doing normal human things. I was quite proud of her. I guess that's why I loved her so much.

I have to get that dream diary beside my bed again. Crazy stuff.

I'm just Joe the Junkie

Thank GAD that this whole election thing is finally coming to a close. Every four years I become obsessed with what is going on south of the border. I always know more about the American political sphere than I do of my own, which kind of makes me angsty. This time around though I am simply exhausted. Tomorrow marks the close of the dirtiest, dare I say filthiest, campaign that I have ever seen. People who know me will already know that I am a huge supporter of the democrats, but I have to say that I am not proud of anyone in this election. Take a spin through www.factcheck.org and revel in the lies and misdirections.

The Canadian election wasn't all that full of integrity either. Harper really stuck it to the Liberals in an uncomfortable place. Its kind of depressing. The US is leaning left and Canada leans right. US citizens are going to turn out in record numbers to vote and Canada had the weakest voter turnout in for ever. Everyone lies to the public, everyone knows it and nobody gets there feet held to the fire. Iraq again anyone? Hell in a handbasket.

I hope that the white US voters don't leave Obama high and dry. I hope that this woman is forced to crawl back to obscurity where she belongs.

Lets get on with living our lives again.... right after I watch one... more... day of election drivel. Tell me how I think, American media.. just one more time for old times sake.

I am a bad person

Thanks Janette!