Frauds and Lies of various kinds….

So, Obamacare is being “forced” on the rest of us, but not on Congress and the President?

Millard Fillmore can’t find the text in the act itself…and here is why he can’t: it isn’t in there. What is on the side of the van is a lie put forth by…surprise, Fox News.

Religion
Crazy Rick is talking about Satan destroying America (or attempting to):

This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war. This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country – the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age. There is no one else to go after other than the United States and that has been the case now for almost two hundred years, once America’s preeminence was sown by our great Founding Fathers.

He didn’t have much success in the early days. Our foundation was very strong, in fact, is very strong. But over time, that great, acidic quality of time corrodes even the strongest foundations. And Satan has done so by attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition.

He was successful. He attacks all of us and he attacks all of our institutions. The place where he was, in my mind, the most successful and first successful was in academia. He understood pride of smart people. He attacked them at their weakest, that they were, in fact, smarter than everybody else and could come up with something new and different. Pursue new truths, deny the existence of truth, play with it because they’re smart. And so academia, a long time ago, fell.

And you say “what could be the impact of academia falling?” Well, I would have the argument that the other structures that I’m going to talk about here had root of their destruction because of academia. Because what academia does is educate the elites in our society, educates the leaders in our society, particularly at the college level. And they were the first to fall.

Surf to Right Wing Watch to read more.

Of course, we have our own right wing clowns in our backyard; check out the Peoria bishop (Catholic Church):

For 2,000 years the enemies of Christ have certainly tried their best. But think about it. The Church survived and even flourished during centuries of terrible persecution, during the days of the Roman Empire.

The Church survived barbarian invasions. The Church survived wave after wave of Jihads. The Church survived the age of revolution. The Church survived Nazism and Communism. And in the power of the resurrection, the Church will survive the hatred of Hollywood, the malice of the media, and the mendacious wickedness of the abortion industry.

The Church will survive the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the President of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS, and of the current majority of the federal Senate.

This is Daniel Jenky who is rather loud at times.

Unfortunately, there is a kind of fraud that bothers me more than any of the above.
I like science, but unfortunately, more articles (as a percentage) are being retracted than ever before. True: this might be because there are more fact-checkers, but some signs point to scientists succumbing to the pressure to publish in the best places and rushing to do so prior to rechecking their work.

Now of course, much of this might be statistical error; after all, something verified at the .05 level has a 5 percent chance of being wrong (e. g., the experiment worked due to randomness). But remember that the percentage of retracted articles are going up, so this shouldn’t be the cause of so many retractions.

And of course, given that papers often assume previously published results, well one retraction might lead to dozens of other related retractions…and this might stem from using work and results that haven’t been replicated.

Again, it is the race to be “first” that might be the issue.

In any event, this is a major black eye for science and one that we really can’t afford right now, given that so many issues depend on science.

Santorum Drops out….Doesn’t mention Romney…even once.

He mentions the House, the Senate and mentions President Obama, but doesn’t deign to mention Willard “Mitt” Romney…even once??

Note the letter to supporters:

Ollie

Thank you. For your support, for your encouragement, and for your prayers for our family, especially Bella. You may have heard that we were able to bring her home from the hospital last night.

She has pneumonia, but like her Dad, she’s a fighter. It’s in the blood.

Today I announced that I am suspending my campaign for the President of the United States. This has been one of the hardest decisions Karen and I have ever had to face together. And it has been hard in large measure because of you. I know that my candidacy has offered you a way to fight for your convictions, and I do not want to let you down.

Since I first ran for Congress in a Democrat-majority district in Pittsburgh, I have fought for struggling families. I have fought for the unborn. I have fought for those losing hope in the American Dream.

And during this Presidential race we have fought hard. Together. You have been with me every step of the way. Every volunteer, donor, friend and family has given sacrificially of their time and their treasure. We are humbled and thankful.

We literally started this campaign in our kitchen with family and a few friends. The way that you make decisions. We believe America is the land of opportunity, and decided to do what we can to protect the hope that our forefathers sacrificed to give us a future for our children. A future of freedom secured through our sacrifices today.

Over 160,000 of you contributed to the campaign. Like you have for your children, we have sacrificed almost everything we have to ensure that this hope and dream is not lost with another four years under Barack Obama. Our average donation has been only $73.10. Few races in history have so many people give so modestly to preserve liberty.

We have been outspent in most states 5-1 or even 10-1. And we still won, or we’ve come incredibly close. Iowa and the three-state sweep. An over 20-point win in Louisiana. Only a few votes short of victory in Michigan and Ohio. We have made history. There has been no other Presidential comeback race like ours.

Our good friends in Texas have been working non-stop to make sure that they have a say in the choice of our nominee, but without the state changing its delegate allocation to winner-take-all, I do not see a path forward that does not risk our shared objective of defeating Barack Obama in November. I want to thank them for their valiant efforts.

I am planning to do everything in my power to bring a change about in the White House. But our campaign has debt, and I cannot be free to focus on helping defeat him with this burden. I am asking you to consider one more contribution of $25, $50 or even $73.10.

From the start of this race I have offered a unique voice in the debate. One that the party and the country needs to hear. I have been your voice. I have been positive. I have been willing to stand for issues that some believe are controversial and would prefer to sweep under the rug.

We have carried the torch. High. Together we have fought for the principles that this country was founded on; that made this country great. Without fighting for them, this country cannot continue to be great.

And we have fought fair. I am proud of the race we have run. We talked issues. We avoided character attacks. We have run almost entirely positive ads.

I want to continue to be your voice. Please CLICK HERE to contribute $25, $50 or even $73.10. We have had miraculous days of almost $1 million from supporters like you that allowed us to be competitive and win key states. We need you to step up again.

When I ran for the Senate in 1994 and defeated a sitting incumbent Senator, I asked the people of Pennsylvania to Join the Fight. They did.

I know you will. God bless you, and please keep us in your prayers. And know that we keep you in ours.

Working hard for America,

Rick Santorum

Barack Obama is mentioned twice. Willard “Mitt” Romney: zero times.

Perceptions, noxious speech and other topics…

Weekly address

Mr. Romney: quit lying:

But hey, some porn stars are backing Santorum? Really, they released a hilarious ad.

Noxious Speech
This is NPR’s interview with Randazza about the Cox case and how one fights bad speech with more speech.

Of course, free speech carries consequences, and the National Review canned the writer who wrote a very openly racist screed in an e-magazine. Of course, the National Review used to publish stuff just like this: (via here)

Here’s what NR had to say about the Birmingham church bombings after they occurred:

Let us gently say the fiend who set off the bomb does not have the sympathy of the white population in the South; in fact, he set back the cause of the white people there so dramatically as to raise the question whether in fact the explosion was the act of a provocateur — of a Communist, or of a crazed Negro.

And let it be said that the convulsions that go on, and are bound to continue, have resulted from revolutionary assaults on the status quo, and a contempt for the law, which are traceable to the Supreme Court’s manifest contempt for the settled traditions of Constitutional practice. Certainly it now appears that Birmingham’s Negroes will never be content so long as the white population is free to be free.

And, of course, there’s more. Lots more after the fold.

From an unsigned National Review editorial printed August 24, 1957, titled “Why the South Must Prevail” (probably by William F. Buckley Jr.):

The central question that emerges . . . is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not prevail numerically? The sobering answer is Yes — the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is a fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists

So, with this in mind, it is no wonder why people are so divided on the Trayvon Martin case and why whites are so reluctant to condemn this murder.

The Race for the GOP Presidential Nomination…..

Certainly battle lines are being drawn for the 2012 general election; the Paul Ryan budget proposal is under attack (and should be). It is basic social Darwinism.

Of course, the Obama reelection team has decided that Mr. Romney will get the nomination and are hitting back:

If you say: “well, President Obama says one thing but does another”, I invite you to look at the actual record of his proposals.

But is the race for the GOP nomination really over? Many (most?) say “yes”.

Now Rick Santorum claims that he isn’t going away just yet. Pennsylvania votes on April 24, and he is favored there…as of right now. He claims that he wants to last until May, when he can campaign in some conservative southern states. In fact, this is part of the message he sent to me:

Ollie

I am emailing you to share some important news that will reset this race.

In Texas the Republican Party is moving today to change the primary there on May 29th to winner-take-all, meaning all 155 delegates will be up for grabs and awarded to the popular vote winner.

If our campaign wins Texas, and we will, the delegate gap with Mitt Romney will have closed dramatically and this campaign will head to the convention and be decided there. If we do not, our grassroots, issue based campaign together for a better America will end in the Lone Star state (hopefully nowhere near the Alamo).

Between now and the Texas we must do everything we can to make sure we win in places like Pennsylvania later this month and in states such as Kentucky and Arkansas so that we are able to sustain our momentum until Texas has a chance to vote.

Let me be clear: the final goal of our campaign is the defeat of Barack Obama. That’s why I ran for President in the first place and it is why I am continuing in this race until at least Texas.

I firmly believe Mitt Romney’s support for his Massachusetts health care mandate, Cap and Trade and the bailouts make him unelectable in the fall. We cannot afford a nominee that does not stand strong for our conservative principles.

But, will he raise enough money to win these states? And, if he DOES win them, will it really matter in the end? Evidently, he is trying to set himself up as the “I told you so” candidate for 2016, should Mr. Romney lose the general election.

Crazy Rick: ying/yang; R-budgets and Insurance

Politics
Rick Santorum’s “say what he thinks” temperament may have helped him become the “last non-Mitt” standing, but it might have also prevented him from pulling the upset.

On the other hand Willard “Mitt” Romney is having trouble in rural areas; more so than Senator McCain did. Of course, while Democrats might hope that this spells trouble for Mr. Romney in the fall, I highly doubt that he’ll have trouble in the deep red states; the Republicans can run a rubber chicken and win those states. The keys will be the big swing states: Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Virginia.

So what about the big money in the SuperPacs? Well, many feared that democracy could be bought, but then again much of this money is coming from “crank billionaires”, so perhaps these won’t be so disciplined?

Health Care Reform
Paul Krugman points out that the mandate is much like, say, a non-government run Medicare. So what is going on with the challenge to the mandate?

Why have the mandate?

Economics

The New Republican Budget basically, cuts for the poor, tax breaks for the wealthy.

Education
Paul Krugman argues that some of the lower economic class is being priced out of education. He has made this argument convincingly before.

Here he points out that the older population in the US is as educated as the younger population, whereas in other countries, the younger population is becoming increasingly educated.

Two comments:
1. The U. S. had a high percentage of older people with college educations; a higher number is always harder to improve on.
2. I’d need to know the birth rates; it could be that in the United States, the birth rates among lower educated people is higher.

The Word – Dressed to Kill – The Colbert Report – 2012-26-03 – Video Clip | Comedy Central

Florida’s “stand your ground” law leads to the shooting death of teen Trayvon Martin, but top legal minds have other ideas about where to place blame.

The Word – Dressed to Kill – The Colbert Report…, posted with vodpod

Republican and National Horserace

Hey fellow academics: Paul Krugman has our back. Of course, how hard some work is a matter of opinion. But what is an established fact is that faculty salaries have been flat over the past couple of decades (and teaching loads have been flat), hence faculty salaries are NOT the reason for the big tuition increases.

Republican Horserace

Republicans are trying to pressure Mr. Santorum into quitting:

A friendly primary calendar in March, in which Mr. Santorum has carried seven states, gives way to more difficult terrain for him in April. He has struggled to expand his coalition of supporters beyond evangelical Christians and voters with lower incomes and less formal education. After Wisconsin, there is a three-week break, and the contest resumes in Pennsylvania, New York and a series of states with some of the most expensive advertising rates in the country.

The Romney campaign, after initially holding back in calling for its rival to leave the race, has intensified its criticism. Ryan Williams, a spokesman for Mr. Romney who was standing in the back of the Santorum event here, said Mr. Santorum sounded “less like a person who is committed to helping conservatives defeat Barack Obama and more like a spoiled child who wants to take his ball and go home.”

A series of high-profile Republicans, including former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, have urged Republicans to start uniting behind Mr. Romney. The sentiment continued Sunday, with former Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi saying the Republican race would soon wind down. “Unless Romney steps on a land mine, it looks like he will be the nominee,” he said.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina added: “It will be Romney. The elephant hasn’t sung yet, but she’s warming up.”

My guess: Mr. Santorum wants to hold on until April 24 so he can win his home state of Pennsylvania.

Here is part of a letter he sent to those who have given money to his campaign (emphasis mine)

Romneycare Equals Obamacare.

Maybe the most tragic part of all is that a member of our own party, Mitt Romney, is considered the architect of Obamacare. As Romney’s own advisors have admitted, Romneycare is the blueprint for Obamacare. And today Obama’s political strategist went as far as to call Romney the “Godfather” of Obamacare.

In my book, that disqualifies Romney from being our nominee. Not only does it show Romney a proponent of the type of freedom killing legislation most in our party abhor, it completely takes off the table one of the most potent issues we have to defeat Obama.

I’m Ready to Take On the New York Times.

Earlier today, while campaigning in Wisconsin, I criticized Romney and Obama for their outrageous healthcare legislation. Predictably, I was aggressively attacked by a New York Times reporter all too ready to defend the two of them, and all too ready to distort my words. Let me assure you, I didn’t back down, and I didn’t let him bully me. I think it is high time that conservatives find the courage to expose the liberal press for what they are, a defender and enabler of Romney’s and Obama’s liberal agendas.

“Disqualifies”????

Note: as far as “sticking up to the New York Times reporter, he meant this:

Campaigning in Wisconsin, Santorum said of Romney:

‘Pick any other Republican in the country. He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama,’ Santorum said at an evening rally near Racine…

Santorum later tried to clarify that he was talking only about Romney’s ability to campaign against the national health care law championed by Obama and the Democrats. But the candidate’s temper flared when he was pushed by reporters…

Pressed by a reporter from The New York Times, Santorum said: ‘Quit distorting my words. It’s bulls**t.’

National Horse Race
It is way too early to make any conclusive predictions yet, but this is a nice article for junkies:

(For the election junkies in the house, what follows is the actual current averages, placed in six categories: Obama +10, Obama 5-10, Obama 0-5, Romney 0-5, Romney 5-10, Romney 10+)

Obama lead of 10+ points (201 electoral votes): Washington DC (+86); Rhode Island (+27.8); Hawaii (+27); Maryland (+25.4); Delaware (+25); Vermont (+25); New York (+21.8); Massachusetts (+19.8); California (+19.2); New Mexico (+14.3); Illinois (+14); New Jersey (+12.4); Oregon (+11.3); Connecticut (+11); Minnesota (+11); Maine (+10.8); Washington (+10.8)

Obama lead of 5-10 points (68 electoral votes): Wisconsin (+9.2); Michigan (+9); Virginia (+7.6); Pennsylvania (+6.6); Colorado (+5)

Obama lead of less than 5 points (78 electoral votes): New Hampshire (+3.8); Ohio (+3.2); Iowa (+2.2); Nevada (+2.0); Florida (+1.4); North Carolina (+0.8)

Romney lead of less than 5 points (32 electoral votes): Arizona (+2.6); Missouri (+3.6); Indiana (+4.0)

Romney lead of 5-10 points (88 electoral votes): Tennessee (+5.2); South Carolina (+6.8); Georgia (+7.8); Kentucky (+8.0); Texas (+8.0); Montana (+8.3); North Dakota (+8.7)

Romney lead of 10+ points (71 electoral votes): South Dakota (+11.0); Mississippi (+12.0); Arkansas (+13.2); West Virginia (+13.3); Nebraska (+15.0); Louisiana (+16.0); Kansas (+17.0); Alaska (+21.5); Alabama (+22.0); Idaho (+25.3); Oklahoma (+31.3); Utah (+32.0); Wyoming (+32.3)

In short, as of right now, Mr. Romney’s path, while not impossible, is a bit harder than Mr. Obama’s. But 7 months is an eternity in politics.

Politics: Romney and Santorum again; Subliminal comparison of Obama to Ahmadinejad

The sane

Now for the Clown Show:

Mitt: the Amorphic candidate…or one who is always in a state of quantum super position of states?
Ask him a question and he collapses his political wave function.

Illinois
How did it end up in Illinois? Crazy Rick won 12 of the pledged delegates:

all 3 in CD 12, all 4 in CD 15, , all 3 in CD 17 (where I live), 1 of the 4 in CD 16 1 of the 4 in CD 18.
The places where Santorum swept were not at all a surprise.

Now Santorum hurt himself with an ill advised line:

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term if Santorum isn’t the GOP nominee and for a second day compared rival Mitt Romney to an Etch A Sketch toy.

Santorum reiterated an argument he has made before: The former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough to offer voters a clear choice in the fall election and that only he can provide that contrast.

“You win by giving people a choice,” Santorum said during a campaign stop in Texas. “You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”

Santorum added: “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future.”

Santorum was referencing Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom’s comment Wednesday that “everything changes” for the fall campaign. “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch,” he said on CNN. “You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.”

The remark reignited criticism of Romney as the type of politician who will say or do anything to win.

Romney, who made no public appearances Thursday, issued a statement expressing disappointment “that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican.”

“This election is more important than any one person. It is about the future of America,” he said. “Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure.”

Now of course, Santorum is “walking it back” His campaign sent the following out (I got on the mailing list by making a token contribution)

Knowing that their candidate lacks a consistent conservative message, Romney’s spin machine is once again working overtime.

That’s why, even though Rick is busy campaigning in Louisiana today he wanted me to rush this email out to you regarding his comments yesterday about Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.

Rick’s response is here:

“I would never vote for Barack Obama over any Republican and to suggest otherwise is preposterous. This is just another attempt by the Romney Campaign to distort and distract the media and voters from the unshakeable fact that many of Romney’s policies mirror Barack Obama’s.

I was simply making the point that there is a huge enthusiasm gap around Mitt Romney and it’s easy to see why – Romney has sided with Obama on healthcare mandates, cap-and-trade, and the Wall Street bailouts.

Voters have to be excited enough to actually go vote, and my campaign’s movement to restore freedom is exciting this nation. If this election is about Obama versus the Obama-Lite candidate, we have a tough time rallying this nation. It’s time for bold vision, bold reforms and bold contrasts. This election is about more than Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, or Rick Santorum – this campaign is about freedom and I will fight to restore your freedoms.”

Please forward this email to your friends and family. Let them hear the truth from Rick, not what Mitt Romney wants them to hear.

Thanks for all you are doing.

Proud to stand with Rick,

Mike Biundo
Campaign Manager

And his campaign released this nasty attack ad:

The key is at 40 seconds into the ad, where Santorum’s campaign puts a super brief photo of President Obama between shots of Iranian President Ahmadinejad; quite subliminal.

I agree with Rick Santorum…..but not on creationism in Tennessee

Workout notes I added a second workout: a hilly 4 mile racewalk over lunch hour. Of course my legs were tired from the 10K of running this morning, but this is sort of the idea. It was rainy.
I might keep this “extra walk”.

Now for a decision: do I do any of the McNaughton events a few weeks from now? I am thinking of signing up for the 8 pm 30 mile “fun run”; there is no reason I couldn’t slow walk it in 12 hours or so, even while being out of shape. And if I do that, I’ll keep my “one marathon or longer a year” streak from 1998 going.

Social
Bill Maher: we apologize too much. Ok, maybe it is “we get offended too easily” which is something I can agree with, to a degree. However, I think it is just fine to point out things like racism and I will continue to do so.

Politics
Did Rick Santorum just say that we are better off with President Obama than Mitt Romney?

“You win by giving people a choice,” Santorum said during a campaign stop in Texas. “You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”

Santorum added: “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future.”

Ok, he’ll catch some flak for saying that, but to be perfectly honest, it reminds me a bit of this (from 2008) and we know how that turned out.

Science/Education
Science: does Mercury have…..ice?

The state of Tennessee is trying to protect incompetence in the classroom:

The state legislature of Tennessee has given legal cover to public school teachers to challenge the science of evolution and climate change, in a move that looks set to deepen a debate about politicisation of the classroom.

The bill passed in the Tennessee Senate this week provides legal protection to teachers who personally do not believe in evolution or the human causes of climate change, and instead want to teach the “scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories”.

It comes at a time when science associations are increasingly concerned by moves to inject religious or ideological beliefs into science teaching ahead of the release next month of a new set of education standards which give a central place to climate change.

Hey, why don’t we take it further? Why don’t we protect teachers who:
1. Teach that (and not just in rings of characteristic 2)
2. Teach that
3. Teach geocentric astronomy.
4. Teach impetus physics.
5. Teach alchemy.
6. Teach that an animal’s physical characteristics are determined by what its parents are looking at when they mate.

Genesis 30:30-43

English Standard Version (ESV)

30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

37 Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

In the paper, reactors and ads…

Workout notes Yoga, then a somewhat sluggish 6+ miles (1:06); I ran 21 minutes to the Goose Loop (about 2 miles), did 9 laps (3.24 miles) than ran about 1.1 miles back to the car. I was uneven and didn’t concentrate that much.

I saw a woman who “remembered me” (political rally? Building Steam?) while out on the trail (paved bike path really).

Posts
Yes, I was in yesterday’s paper:

Obama man shakes Romney’s hand

Ollie Nanyes, a Bradley University professor and blogger, missed out on Election Day.

He voted early.

“I guess I kind of miss not going on the same day as everybody else,” he said. “But it’s worth it not to risk something coming up and not being able to vote on Election Day.”

Instead, the Barack Obama supporter went to two area rallies Monday for GOP contenders for the presidential nomination – Rick Santorum’s in East Peoria and Mitt Romney’s at Bradley University.

At Bradley, he got to shake Romney’s hand.

“It’s not everyday you get to shake the hand of a man who’s going to finish second in the presidential election,” he told his wife afterward.

Someone in the crowd overheard him, he said, and responded, “You want four more years of this?”

“I yelled back, ‘I like getting 200,000 jobs a month!’ “

The DNC is jumping all over Willard “Mitt” Romney’s campaign “Etch-a-Sketch” remark:

(snicker)

Science
Can “fast fission” reactors burn off the current excess plutonium? Check out the Scientific American article.
Note: “fast fission” neutrons are those what have high energy; usually these do NOT cause the fission chain reaction. This is what “moderator” is for (usually: regular water; in the early days: graphite). This takes some of the energy away from neutrons thus making them more likely to be absorbed by a uranium nucleus, thereby causing it to get unstable and split.