Obama’s appeal; Science, and Cruelty

I have Yahoo News set to send me e-mail updates of Barack Obama news.

I found the following article to be interesting:

CLINTON: The New York senator draws support from women, blacks and voters without a college degree. She has neutralized what was expected to be a major liability — her vote in favor of the Iraq war. She no longer is heckled on the campaign trail for that vote and has managed to persuade many anti-war Democrats that she would move quickly to end the conflict as president.

Clinton has worked hard to convince voters that she is not the brittle, calculating figure she long has been portrayed. While she does not have the intuitive campaign skills of her husband, voters say she has impressed them with her warmth, ready smile and willingness to spend hours taking questions, chatting and shaking hands. A bona fide celebrity, Clinton never tires of posing for cell-phone photos with starry-eyed fans.

She still has obstacles to surmount before winning her party’s nomination. She must convince skeptical Democrats eager to reclaim the White House that she can win a general election. She must walk a fine line between embracing her husband’s legacy and projecting independence and an ability to bring change to Washington. [...]

OBAMA: Despite his charisma, crowd appeal and early opposition to the Iraq war, the Illinois senator’s support has remained essentially flat for months and has begun to drop in some key areas.

He is popular among upscale, educated voters, but the poll indicates Clinton still holds a 12-point lead in that group. While he hopes to be the first black president, and his strategy relies in part on blacks coming out for him, his support among black voters has dropped by 5 percentage points since the last survey.

Obama still has strengths to draw on as the race enters its final stretch. He has significant financial resources to invest heavily in the early states. His message of hope and change resonates among voters eager to move on from the hyper-partisan Bush and Clinton years. His strong field operation in Iowa makes him highly competitive there.

But the freshman senator has liabilities, especially the lingering concern among many voters that he lacks the experience necessary to govern in a dangerous world. He can be somewhat remote and chilly as a campaigner, making an intellectual connection with voters rather than an emotional one. He has been known to cut off voters when their questions go on too long and can appear weary of the endless glad-handing and other rituals of retail politics. [...]

Emphasis mine. That about sums it up as to why candidates that appeal to me seldom appeal to the public at large. I like the intellectual connection. But when someone tries to make an emotional connection, alarm bells go off in me; something inside me screams “beware of the con-job”. The article continues:

EDWARDS: While his national numbers show him badly trailing Clinton and Obama, Edwards remains strong in Iowa and is counting on a good showing there to fuel momentum in other states.

The multimillionaire lawyer has adopted a tough, populist tone, pledging to fight poverty and challenging members of Congress to refuse health insurance until they pass a law to bring coverage to everyone. He has railed against lobbyists and other Beltway power brokers, and has gone further than other candidates in depicting Clinton as a charter member of the Washington establishment.

Edwards has deployed his popular wife, Elizabeth, to take on Clinton more directly than he can. Among other things, Elizabeth Edwards has said Clinton is too polarizing to be elected and would not be a strong champion for women in the White House.

But Edwards faces formidable challenges. He has had to compete with Obama to position himself as the strongest “anti-Clinton” candidate in the field; that is a difficult task given Obama’s celebrity and record fundraising success [...]

Science and Religion: Science Avenger has some nice recent articles. Among these:

Answering a frequent creationist argument:

Luskin writes:

”Duplicating Genes Doesn’t Increase Biological Information in Any Important Sense. I now have 2 questions to ask of Darwinists who claim that the mechanism of gene duplication explains how Darwinian evolutionary processes can increase the information content in the genome:

(1) Does gene duplication increase the information content?
(2) Does gene duplication increase the information content?

Asking the question twice obviously does not double the meaningful information conveyed by the question. [...]

The obvious flaw in this analogy is the implicit assumption that any duplication of any words must produce new meaning (analogous to function). That is not what evolutionary theory says. It only says that SOME duplications can result in new functions. To illustrate this point, imagine a series of genes that spell out the word “cot”. This word has meaning, function, if you will. Now imagine the middle “gene” duplicates, and we get “coot”, also a word with meaning, and one that differs considerably with its ancestor. Now imagine one pointmutation, yielding “colt”. Again, a new word with meaning, and all resulting from a duplication and a subsequent point mutation. This is the more apt analogy to evolution. It is a testament to the myopia of evolution deniers that they can’t seem to think of these two steps simultaneously. [...]

In another article, S. A. points out that there is some hope for our future:

Apparently skepticism, and a generally negative perception of Christianity, are at all time highs:

“Among young non-Christians, nine out of the top 12 perceptions were negative. Common negative perceptions include that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%) – representing large proportions of young outsiders who attach these negative labels to Christians. The most common favorable perceptions were that Christianity teaches the same basic ideas as other religions (82%), has good values and principles (76%), is friendly (71%), and is a faith they respect (55%).”

OK, so that’s the non-Christians, of course their attitudes are negative, right? But what about the Christians themselves? No good news for the pious there either:

“Even among young Christians, many of the negative images generated significant traction. Half of young churchgoers said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality. “

In other words, they see it for what it is, and more clearly than any generation before them. The key issue that does it for them? Homosexuality:

“Today, the most common perception is that present-day Christianity is “anti-homosexual.” Overall, 91% of young non-Christians and 80% of young churchgoers say this phrase describes Christianity.

In yet another article, S. A. points out just how intellectually dead the creationism/ID movement is. Science is ever growing, ever expanding. But hey, if a mediocre scientists wants to make a name, well, what a better way than to enter a realm where the standards are easy to meet? Hmmm….maybe there is hope that I can become famous?

Nah. I wouldn’t be able to show my face at the mathematics meetings; I’d rather remain an anonymous mediocrity rather than an object of deserved ridicule.

Here is an excellent piece of evidence supporting the hypothesis that ID is a science stopper. If it is such a landmark scientific finding, it would be relevant in research and would be cited by those researchers when they publish their findings. However, as David Lampe, Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at the Duquesne University shows, compared to first-rate scientists, Behe’s contributions and influence are paltry at best.

This is one of the tell-tale signs of a pseudoscience: stagnation. Whether it is astrology, chiropractic, or intelligent design, the one thing starkly different from mainstream science is a complete lack of change. One can check a decades-old article from any of those topics and it reads like it was written yesterday. Contrast that to a book on a hard science like astronomy, which is out of date practically the moment it leaves the printers.

Animals, Culture and Cruelty
My dad served two tours in Vietnam, both at Tan-San-Nhut Air Force Base near Saigon (now Ho Chi Mien City). One tour lasted a year; the other was temporary duty for one month.

His year long tour came just after the Tet offensive of 1968; Silver Star recipient Sgt Alonzo J. Coggins has chronicled this offensive (Battle for Saigon) here.

Of course, my Dad talked about some of the horrors of war; he spoke of the bodies being stacked up “”like chord wood”, prisoners being made to squat outside under the scorching sun, the survivors of a B-52 bombing attack stumbling in with their ears bleeding from the concussion of the bomb misses, etc. I saw photos of napalm attacks and the like.

War is horrible; it completely sucks.

But I’ll tell you what I still remember. He talked about the Vietnamese eating frog legs (ok, so far). But he told me that the Vietnamese would skin the frogs while they were still alive. That thought haunts me even today; I admit that my first thoughts weren’t all that complementary toward people who think that is ok.

(yes, other cultures have done horrible things to animals; example: the French used to burn cats alive because they enjoyed listening to the noises that the cats made while they burned to death, but that was a long, long time ago).

I wondered about this and last night, I looked it up.

Oh boy; evidently this happens not just in Vietnam, but in many places in Asia.

Japan:

But for the next course, the chef comes out with a live frog. A live. frog.. It’s alive… still blinking… And we are not talking about the tiny little frogs around here either, it looked the size of a small cat. The chef proceeds to skin the frog alive (alive) and then the camera cuts to what looks like a 2 joints of finger being held by a pair of chopsticks. Its not still mind you, it is moving… not moving… moving… not moving… I then think, is it beating???? argghhhh… It can’t be! He continues to explain that this is the heart of the frog, still beating mind you… To my utter horror, he puts the still moving (and beating heart) into his mouth and chews away… Again ARGHHHHHHHHHHH…. So I’m there squirming in reflex, backing in terror away from the tv, holding onto my chest and I may have blacked out for a minute… but definitely re-swallow my previous normal non reptilian, non moving, non frog heart dinner.

I look back and the next thing I see is the host being given his frog sashimi (raw frog meat), presented on a bed of THE FROG’S OWN SKIN!!! with accompanying head… arranged rather nicely, Martha Stewart would even have festively approved. MMMMM Yummy…. (bleah…)

Korea:

Interviewer: In the United States we can watch films depicting animal cruelty and tell ourselves “it’s only a movie” because of established laws and regulations. If I dog is kicked out a window in a mainstream comedy like There’s Something about Mary, we know it’s not real. But in The Isle the audience is actually watching a real frog get skinned, real fish get mutilated, and so on. It’s very disturbing and seems to place an obstacle to the films reception, or maybe I should say distribution, to other countries. Thoughts?
KK: Yes, I did worry about that fact. But the way I see it, the food that we eat today is no different. In America you eat beef, pork, and kill all these animals. And the people who eat these animals are not concerned with their slaughter. Animals are part of this cycle of consumption. It looks more cruel onscreen, but I don’t see the difference. And yes, there’s a cultural difference, and maybe Americans will have a problem with it – but if they can just be more sensitive to what is acceptable in different countries I’d hope they wouldn’t have too many issues with what’s shown on -screen.

Going away from frogs, consider what happens to snakes in Java:

At a slaughterhouse, deep in the Javanese jungle, blood-stained hands untie a wriggling sack and pull out a ten-foot long python.

The snake is stunned with a blow to the head from the back of a machete and a hose pipe expertly forced between its jaws. Next, the water is turned on and the reptile fills up — swelling like a balloon.

It will be left like that for ten minutes or so, a leather cord tied around its neck to prevent the liquid escaping.

Then its head is impaled on a meat hook, a couple of quick incisions follow, and the now-loosened skin peeled off with a series of brutal tugs – much like a rubber glove from a hand.

From there the skin will be sent to a tannery before being turned into luxury shoes or handbags. Finally, they will be snapped up by an army of pampered Western fashionistas desperate for the latest look and happy to pay thousands of pounds to get it. [...]

Meanwhile, back in Indonesia, the python’s peeled body is simply tossed on a pile of similarly stripped snakes. After a day or two of unimaginable agony it will die from the effects of shock or dehydration.

Barbaric, cruel, stomach turning – those are just a few of the words used by those who have witnessed snakes being skinned alive.

Now don’t get me wrong. I know that we eat animals. I know that we’ve found cures for horrible diseases by doing experiments on animals. But there is really no excuse to kill them in ways that cause such agony. Humaneness has to be part of the equation.

And before you bring up Michael Vick and dogs, remember that he went to jail for doing such things.

So anyone who says that somehow, we are inferior to the Eastern cultures when it comes to moral or so called “spiritual” issues, I say BULL**IT.

Yoga: Attitude Less Rotten But…

A week or two ago, I blogged about my rotten attitude toward yoga.

The good news: I’ve practiced more and I’ve done better in class. That comes with practice. Currently, I’d like to focus more on my Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose) The yogi in this link looks better than I do; I have trouble getting my shoulders perpendicular to the floor.

But, I want to look more like this:

Note the shoulder position. It will take some work.

Now, as far as the attitude: my wife went to class with me, and she has noticed that my attitude toward my teacher has been cold and “broodish”.

The problem is that when I start to like someone, I start placing expectations on them, including expectations that they didn’t ask for.

When we first became friends, we went to out of town yoga classes together. But I misunderstood the reason she went: she went to get ideas for her class whereas I went to improve my own practice. She is a fitness teacher first; one that specializes in teaching yoga for beginners. Her personal practice just isn’t that important to her, and that disappoints me.

But hey, I’ve got enough room in my life to have all sorts of friends, including those who aren’t driven to push themselves.

I’ll just have to use my prayer/meditation periods to ask for a proper attitude.

Football and Expectations

A bit of football: I am watching a knock-down and drag-out brawl between Wisconsin and Illinois. The Illini raced out to a 17-0 lead only to see the Badgers adjust to pull within 17-13. It is currently 24-19, Illinois.

Maybe Illinois is for real? (photos from the Yahoo College Football Gallery)

Illinois has a ton of team speed; it is obvious that Zook recruited well. Now he has them playing well. Of course, Illinois fans are used to having the rug pulled out from under them, but hey, it is fun at the moment!

In another interesting game, Kansas is staying with Kansas State; in fact the Jayhawks lead 21-17. I thought that the spread (K-State by 3) was too small, given that the Wildcats trounced Texas and almost upset Auburn on the road.

Later today: Oklahoma vs. Texas, (Texas is going to get clobbered), Notre Dame vs. UCLA (team with the blue and gold will win; ok I’ll take the team in the gold helmets, all right: UCLA should win, but they have been so up and down this year), and then Ohio State vs. Purdue. Ohio State is a good “big game team” and should win, though Purdue should score some points.

Update Illinois now leads 31-19 and has Wisconsin on the ropes. There is only 4:13 left in the game.

Update Oh boy; now it is 31-25 with 1:39 left in the game; Wisconsin will have to try the onside kick.

Ok, with 1:04 to go, Illinois converted 4′th and inches to seal the win.

Update My goodness, I am getting skunked on my Yahoo “pick-em” picks. I took Wisconsin and the points (wrong), gave Kansas the 3 points (wrong); I just know so little about how good some teams are and aren’t. Good thing I don’t bet money!

Update I had been following the Florida State-North Carolina State game which has been delayed due to lighting. Hence we are seeing University South Florida (who upset West Virginia last week) against Florida Atlantic. It is 17-14 Bulls, but it appears that Florida Atlantic may have recovered a fumble. (replay shows tha the runners was probably down).

In any event, it will be fun to see teams that I am not used to following. Howard Schnellenberger (the guy who coached the University of Miami to their first football national championship) is the coach of the Owls. The Owls are 3-2 going in, with wins over North Texas, Minnesota (Big Ten), and Middle Tennessee State. Their losses were by big scores to Oklahoma State and Kentucky. Of course, South Florida is ranked number 6 with a 4-0 record, including wins over Elon, Auburn, North Carolina and West Virgina.

These are not traditional teams but they can play some football!

Update: South Florida just broke a long touchdown run to open a 28-17 lead, but there is still almost 10 minutes left.

Update: 47 yard touchdown pass, but the Owls gave away 15 yards because the receiver had to dive into the endzone. Unfortunately, they are switching back to NC-State and Florida State so I didn’t see how the 2 point conversion attempt went. They missed it; it is 28-23 with about 6-7 minutes to go.

Comment So, just how bad is Notre Dame: Ok, Purdue is undefeated (plays Ohio State tonight), Michigan lost its first two and struggled to win against Eastern Michigan today (33-22), Georgia Tech is 3-3 and lost to Maryland, Penn State is 4-2 and lost 2 of their last three, and Michigan State has lost its last two, including this last game to Northwestern!

These next three (UCLA tonight), Boston College and USC are going to be very, very ugly.

Update Oklahoma was up 28-21 but missed a 38 yard field goal, so UT has the ball at their own 21 but only has 19 seconds to work with. UT went down 28-21 but still covered the spread.

Update I caught the end of the Washington State, Arizona State game. It was wild, and was only won when Washington State missed a long field goal at the end (23-20).

The game that I am watching (Purdue-Ohio State) is a bust so far, with Ohio State up 14-0 in the middle of the first quarter. The Buckeyes look as if they are playing at a different speed than the Boilermakers.

Update Notre Dame is down 3-0, but got a fumble at the UCLA ONE YARD LINE, first and goal at the UCLA ONE. Notre Dame fans know what happened next…no, ND didn’t fumble it right back. They held on to the ball and got a field goal.

Groan. Gads, ND sucks. First and goal at the one yard line, but no touchdown.

Ohio State is still moving almost at will against Purdue. Evidently, they saw Notre Dame throw on Purdue; hence Ohio State started off by passing; they are now up 17-0 with 10 minutes left in the quarter.

Update: Crimy! Purdue just fumbled the kickoff; this game is getting uglier by the minute.

But ND got a stop (UCLA using the second string quarterback) and the offense has the ball first and 10 at the 46. Hmmm, maybe ND will get a good pooch punt of of this?

Well, at least the Purdue defense stiffened and forced a Buckeye punt.

As far as ND, am I a prophet or what? ND indeed punted, but pinned UCLA at the 22.

Update: Purdue-Ohio State is going to be 17-0 at the half; Purdue has made some defensive adjustments.

The Notre Dame offense is doing nothing at all (surprise) but the defense is holding UCLA ok; given that UCLA is playing a walk on Freshman quaterback.

Ok, there is 1:19 left in the half and UCLA got it down to the ND 32. They ended up with a field goal to make it 6-3.

Frankly, ND should just take a knee; being down by 3 at the half is good for them.

Update: My eyelids are getting heavy; I might fall asleep listening to the game. Ohio State just kicked another field goal to go up 20-0.

Oh my, ND has a drive going, but now there is a false start penalty. But they are at the UCLA 27 yard line.

Oh no, ND gets another penalty; ND gets pushed back again. ND is now at 4′th down at the UCLA 32. They made it (48 yards); it is now 6-6.

Here you see the two quarterbacks that UCLA has used.

In another game: USC has fallen behind Stanford 24-23 in the second half of the game (49 seconds to go? And they are on their own 11 yard line. Still, given their offense, getting into field goal position is not out of the question.

Good news: Notre Dame got a UCLA fumble (call overturned on review). They have the ball on the UCLA 32, here is a good chance to take a lead.

Oh goodness, USC was intercepted, no. 2 USC goes down!!!!!

Back to Notre Dame: of course, they have to punt after getting the ball at the UCLA 32 yard line. Notre Dame sucks. But they have the Bruins back on their own 1.

Yeah!!! ND intercepts a UCLA pass and has the ball first and goal at the 3 yard line. Maybe a field goal?

Second and goal at the one. Maybe a field goal? (ND fans can’t get their hopes up too much).

Third and goal inside the one. Maybe a field goal?

OMG!!!!! A THREE YARD touchdown drive!!!!! ND takes the lead! 13-6, Notre Dame!

Hey if Stanford can do it, so can Notre Dame!

Update: another Ohio State field goal; it is now 23-0. Ohio State is completely stuffing the Purdue offense.

Update: ND defense scores a touchdown! They blitz, sack the quaterback, and run in the fumble. That is UCLA’s 4′th turnover. A fumble lead to a field goal, interception lead to a touchdown, and now another one run in. 20-6, Notre Dame.

I’ve turned it to the LSU-Florida match-up. Florida is up 24-14 with 13:39 left in the game, but LSU has moved it to the 24 due to a nice option play.

Goodness, LSU missed a field goal that would have pulled them to within 7.

UCLA got a touchdown called back due to a holding call, now they intercept (UCLA’s 5′th turnover). But ND turned it over on downs, close to midfield.

LSU just got an interception and is back in business. Now LSU is inside the 5. But they are stuffed on third and one. Do they kick the field goal? They are going for it. It pays off: touchdown LSU. It is now 24-21.

UCLA: down to the ND 15 with plenty of time. Now down at the 12. 6:44 left, 4′th down for UCLA. Ball at the 9 yard line. ND intercepts in the end zone (quarterback was under heavy pressure) UCLA gets a 15 yard penalty for a facemask (6 turn overs now)

Make that 7; ND intercepted again.

If ND wins the game, this is what you need to know:

they were forced to go with an inexperienced Freshman (as opposed to Notre Dame’s experienced freshman).

In fact, ND wins their first game as a 22 point underdog; Standford also wins in Los Angeles as a 48 point underdog. Crazy football in Los Angeles today!

Back to Purdue-Ohio State: 2:12 left in the game, Purdue not close to scoring yet; well maybe they’ve gotten to the Ohio State 20 with 1:06 left. The game is not in doubt but will Purdue be shut out? Oh, they are now at the three.

Purdue scores with 10 seconds left; it is now 23-7. That is how it ends.

Now I’ve turned it to split screen; Florida-LSU and Cincinnati-Rutgers on the others. The Bearcats lead the the Scarlet Knights 28-23 in the 4′th, and LSU just tried for a 4′th down and short near the 5, with 2:10 left.

LSU made the first down and has it first and goal on the Gator 5. Now it is 3′rd and goal.

On the other hand, Rutgers is at their own 44 with 2 minutes left; then they got it to the 40 yard line. Oh, make it the 25!

Back to LSU-Florida: touchdown Tigers! There is 1 minute to go, and if they make the point, they’ll be up 28-24. But given how fast the Gators can score, who in the heck knows!

Rutgers-Cincinnati: the Bearcats just intercepted and have the ball and the lead with 1:15; if they don’t fumble they win; wait, Rutgers has some time outs. But it appears as if the Bearcats made a first down; if they did it should be over. Yes, they did, and now they move to 6-0 and up in the rankings.

Now the Gators have 37 seconds left to drive 73 yards. It looks as if the Tigers will hold on. I like the fact that LSU is continuing to put pressure on the quarterback.

Now there are 12 seconds left at the LSU 45.

Time for one more play, now they have to go to the end zone with this one. No good; LSU holds on.

What an end to an exciting day of football; I picked a good day to watch!

Humor and my walking to this point

Update 8 easy miles; 3 before, 5 after yoga. It was warm and I wore long sleeves. Slight twinge in the left hip/butt at times; it feels like a slightly sore muscle.

I was able to restart my walking this March. But progress has been slow; and at first my walking was of very low quality. During the early days, walking workouts were often done at 15-16 minutes per mile, or even slower when walking the trails.

My weekly mileage (which sometimes includes a bit of running) looked something like this:

4, 9, 21,11,14, 21, 36, 40 (paced at McNaughton), 32, 57, 54, 49, 24 (taper), 73 (66 at the FANS 24 hour)
19, 51, 50, 43, 51, 57, 53, 46, 50, 63, 55, 41, 48 (34 at the F/X 12 hour)
Note: the mileage during these weeks was mostly slow, low-quality “near hiking” mileage at 15-16 minutes per mile)

I then attempted to improve the quality of my walks:
45, 44, 37 (Quad Cities Marathon attempt), 60, 33 (so far this week)

I am indeed walking much faster miles (mostly between 12-14 minutes per mile), though these aren’t what anyone would call “fast” miles. But I can’t seem to be able to handle more than one longish walk per week at this pace. My old hip/piriformis injury is staying at bay, and I am cross training by swimming 1-2 times a week, and doing some yoga.

I have the Farmdale 33 miler trail race coming up next weekend (a huge time limit; no excuse not to finish) and then I’d like to get one more very long training walk in; in between I’d like to get a few more 55-60 mile weeks of quality mileage; provided my body can stand the strain.

I can’t seem to build up any faster.

Hence, I have to go into the November 17 Ultracentric 24 hour with lots of humility; I am guaranteed to be undertrained.

One possible “stretch goal” would be to aim for 100 km in under 16 hours and then do whatever I can after that. My lifetime PR for the 100 km walk is 14:08, but that was May, 2004.

But, if I build up wisely, I do have time to build up to being able to handle a proper 24 hour walk training plan, and aim for FANS in June, 2008.

Funnies

Larger

Larger

Note: Non Sequitur has been on fire lately; their latest series about corporate corruption of science has been outstanding.

See the whole series on this issue:

October 1
October 2
October 3
October 4
October 5

Republican Lunacy, Vote Early and Often, Spaghetti Trees

Right now I am watching the Louisville-Utah football game; the Utes are up 21-7. Up to now, it appears as if the Cardinal defense has been sleepwalking. But I don’t want to give up too early; a couple of nights ago I went to bed when Rice was up on Southern Miss 31-7 with 12 minutes left in the game; it ended 31-29 with the Golden Eagles fumbling away their last chance.

Ooops; make that 27-7, Utes.

Politics

John McCain: no fan of civil liberties.

Taken from the October 8′th 2007 of The American Conservative, page 5:

Say what you will about the now notorious MoveOn ad making a sophomoric pun on General Petraeus’s name. It has gotten results–of a sort. The most interesting, if inadvertent, may have been its smoking out the leadership temperament of leading Republican candidates.
Take John McCain, once a frontrunner, still a darling of the neoconservative wing of the party. He responded by telling a New Hampshire audience that MoveOn “ought to be thrown out of the country.” Of course, that was only his initial reaction, and campaign aids rushed to remind him that MoveOn members were citizens with constitutional rights, etc.
McCain may have gotten confused and believed he was running for president of Pakistan or some place where vexatious critics can simply be deported. [...]

Huge issue for the Republicans: Barack Obama’s fashion: no lapel pin! Of course, his detractors don’t bother to wear one either; see the article.

Note: the other major candidates don’t seem to care too much about it.

John Edwards, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson didn’t return calls for comment.

Republican hopeful John McCain said he doesn’t wear a flag pin on a daily basis. Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for the Arizona senator, said “his record of service to his country shows his dedication.”

Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo said he wears a flag pin to show he’s proud to be an American and dismissed Obama’s decision. A representative for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he always sported the pin when he was governor.

A spokesman for Sam Brownback said he wasn’t sure how often the Kansas senator wears a flag pin. “It might be on some of his jackets — just there,” ready for the wearing, said John Rankin. He said he didn’t know if the Brownback had a set policy on wearing Old Glory as an accessory.

Brownback apparently doesn’t wear one all the time. On the cover of his 2007 book, “From Power to Purpose,” displayed on his campaign Web site, his lapel does not show a flag.

California Rep. Duncan Hunter “is proud to wear an American flag pin as much as possible and on any occasion,” said spokesman Gary Becks.

Other Republican contenders Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul didn’t respond to calls.

Wearing an American flag lapel pin is seen as a tradition on the campaign trail. Obama said Thursday that he stopped wearing one shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, telling reporters at a campaign stop in Iowa that “I probably haven’t worn a flag pin in a very long time. After a while, I noticed people wearing a lapel pin and not acting very patriotic….

“My attitude is that I’m less concerned about what you’re wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart,” Obama said. “You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who serve. You show your patriotism by being true to our values and ideals. That’s what we have to lead with, is our values and our ideals.”

Clinton wouldn’t comment on Obama’s decision not to wear the pin.

NewsMax: getting desperate. They claim that Democrats might bring on “another 9-11″.

In their efforts to demonize the American intelligence community, Democrats and the media are playing with our safety.

The latest example is the way these critics are minimizing and distorting warnings from Mike McConnell, director of National Intelligence, about how defenseless America would become if warrants were required to intercept terrorists calls and e-mails even when those communications are in foreign countries.

The issue should not be controversial. Going back to the founding of the National Security Agency in 1952, the government could intercept calls and e-mails of targets situated in foreign countries without a warrant. But because most such communications now pass through U.S. switching systems in fiber optic cables, a Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) court judge ruled on May 31 that intercepting such communications requires a court order.

E-mail in 1952??? Ok, minor matter. But they fail to note that the government is routinely screening all e-mails; taking something of a “needle in a haystack approach.”

The old “scare them all” approach is working; perhaps Jackie Broyles should be on the Republican ticket?

Politicians in general: Texas State Legislature: they want voter accountability for the general public, yet cast votes for each other, thereby violating their own rules! (that is, Mr. Hernandez will sometimes cast his own vote, and then cast Mr. Smith’s vote and Ms. White’s as well). This is widely done by members of both parties.

Sexy Women: my favorite spitfire let’s ‘em have it! Check out the title of her post:

A challenge to all theistards, kooks, goons, woos, and various idiots

“Theistards” means “theistic bastards”. I love this woman!!!

She takes on the tired old “all-too-familiar idiocy that ‘there are other better ways of knowing than the scientific one’.”

Humor This predates the discovery/founding of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster; but perhaps this is prophesy of some sort?

Note that this was broadcast in 1957 by the BBC by their news show; this was NOT openly billed as a spoof.