#!/user/bin/geek caught something tonight I have not seen on any other blog yet, and I was not home to see the piece on 60 Minutes myself.

Verification (or at least review) of your source material should be one of your basic requirements. No?

Osama bin Laden doesn’t seem nearly so cocky in the unedited version of a videotape aired on al-Jazeera, complaining that the manhunt against him has hampered al Qaeda.

Osama bin Laden’s newest tape may have thrust him to the forefront of the presidential election, but what was not seen was the cave-dwelling terror lord talking about the setbacks al Qaeda has faced in recent months.

Officials said that in the 18-minute long tape ? of which only six minutes were aired on the al-Jazeera Arab television network in the Middle East on Friday ? bin Laden bemoans the recent democratic elections in Afghanistan and the lack of violence involved with it.

On the tape, bin Laden also says his terror organization has been hurt by the U.S. military’s unrelenting manhunt for him and his cohorts on the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Do you think the media here in the U.S. will run the unedited video before the 2nd, or will they wait until the 3rd to tell us what is really happening in the world?

If you have been following along, you know that someone submitted my email address to the DNC, so I now get daily (and sometimes hourly) updates on the Kerry campaign and what “I” can be doing to help. I did, however, sign up voluntarily to get emails from the Bush campaign, and I get those daily as well. I got one email from each campaign today, and I thought I would see if you can pick up the difference that I see daily between the two sides…

From the left:

We are on track for historic turnout in this election. America is coming out in record numbers for John Kerry.

And that has the Republicans scared. They have no plan, no hope, no way to win this election except to stop people from voting. Their strategy is simple:

Discourage Democratic voters from going to the polls by filling the airwaves with predictions of doom and gloom.
Delay voting and create lines at polls by challenging voters and election officials.
Deny voters the opportunity to cast their votes and have them counted.

But their strategy won’t work. We will stop their attempts to deny our rights by using the best weapons in our arsenal: information and education.

From the right:

It is now time to activate our 72 Hour Task Force–the single most important factor for victory on November 2. With your help, we’ll launch the largest and most effective get-out-the-vote ground operation in presidential campaign history.

Let’s get out the vote!

Everything you do will make a difference. In 2000, less than 17,194 votes decided five states, and 55 Electoral College votes. That’s 55 Electoral College votes decided by 2 votes per precinct!

You can make the difference!

Bring your family to the phone bank and turn out our fellow supporters. Recruit your neighbors to burn some shoe leather knocking on doors. Forward this email to your friends and let them know that every phone we call, every email we forward, every door we knock on, every neighborhood we walk, every yard sign we post, and every bumper sticker we stick-matters!

Everything we do will make the difference and we must get out the vote!

Every day, the Bush campaign sends a positive message encouraging me to help get the word out to make sure people vote. Every email tells me how President Bush’s policies will affect me in the next four years. Every message is pro-Bush, not anti-Kerry.

Every day, the Kerry campaign sends a negative message encouraging me to question the Bush campaign because republicans are attempting to disenfranchise the voters. Every email tells me how President Bush’s policies will affect me in the next four years. Every message is anti-Bush, not pro-Kerry.

I have been getting these emails for quite some time and I have yet to get a single email from the democrats telling me why I should actually vote for John Kerry.

I just found that odd.

Frank J from IMAO endorses President Bush, complete with pictures for those who might be confused by large words.

I had the next few days all planned out.

In a perfect world we would be carving the pumpkin on Saturday, taking the kids trick-or-treating on Sunday, anxiously awaiting Tuesday on Monday, voting on Tuesday, and spending the rest of the evening watching the election returns, in front of Fox News, with a nice high speed Internet connection.

In the world we actually live in, the company I work for called late yesterday afternoon. They need me in the Baltimore area next week, which would normally mean that I would have to leave Sunday morning and drive all day, missing Halloween, election day, and all the fun that comes with them. After a few properly placed phone calls, it turns out I am flying this week, and I don’t leave until Tuesday morning, which is good, because the kids were quite upset I might not be here for “their night”.

Because of the short notice, today was filled with doing all those things that need to be done when you have to leave town on short notice, and can’t do some of them on the weekend. You know what kind of stuff I am talking about. On top of all that, Gidget needed to renew her driver’s license and we had to vote early, since I will be out of town on election day.

We left the house around 1:30pm to get the driver’s license taken care of. Upon arriving to a virtually empty parking lot, we were quite happy, because we would be in and out in no time. We got the kids out of the truck, and walked to the door. As I opened the door, I saw the sign “CASH ONLY”. Well, shit. I never carry cash anymore. I have become so dependent on the bankcard I never really need it, until we go to DMV to get a driver’s license renewed. So, we were out the door, into the truck, down the road, into the drive-through ATM, and headed back to the DMV within 15 minutes. When we pulled into the lot, my heart sank. There was but one spot available, and when we got to the door, we could hardly get in, due to the line. (sigh)

After a 45 minute wait, or so, we were finished, and walking out the door. The kids did so good waiting in the line, I promised them McDonalds Happy Meals when we were done voting.

We arrived at the county voter’s registrar office around 3:15 and thanks to a very considerate fellow voter, we got an excellent parking spot. The line was coming out the door, but did not appear too bad. As we took our place in line, we could see about 200 people inside the building in front of us. As the line progressed and we got inside the door, we realized there were two lines. One to fill out the “early voter application” and the other to actually vote. As we waited I chatted with a school teacher in front of us who informed me, amazingly, of almost every election procedure ever known. I learned more about that woman, and the voting history of the state of Georgia, in the time we waited in the first line, than I know about most people I have known my entire life. She was very cool though. (Hi Margaret, if you ever read this).

In the final line, they were calling peoples names as they verified voter precincts on the computer, so the line was not really necessary. Gidget and Margaret were both called before me, in fact, I waited about an extra 10 minutes before they called my name. While I was waiting another woman began speaking to me about the evils of the system and how close this election will be. She went off on a rant about Ralph Nader and how he is going to ruin the election again. She ended her tirade with “anyone who votes for Nader is a moron”. My name was called.

As I finished and placed my ballot in the box, I turned and noticed the same grumpy old woman standing first in line. I leaned down and picked up our youngest son, and as we walked past the woman I said to him, “Just think, next week President Nader will be leading our country”.

I have NEVER seen someone turn that red since Gidget was in the final stages of labor. That lady was quite pissed and I just chuckled as we walked out the door and took the kids to get their happy meals.

All in all, voting was quicker than renewing the driver’s license, and I can rest assured that my vote will be counted on election day. One thing I noticed was the sheer number of people turning out to vote early. If this turnout is any indication, this election may set a new record for voter turnout.

Sitting here tonight I realize that I need to find a different (inexpensive) hotel to stay in this time, as the one I usually stay in does not offer FOX News and has no high speed Internet connection. How in the world am I expected to survive without the basics? Boy how things have changed in the past few years. :wink:

Vinny officially endorsed President Bush this evening, and his post was quite compelling. In fact, I have yet to read such a comprehensive, heart-felt endorsement of President Bush. Vinny covers every aspect of the election and the issues that should matter to us, as a nation.

He quickly reminds us how it all started back in 2001,

When the President took office in January of 2001, the United States was coming off one of the worst stock market crashes in recent years. The .com bubble had burst, the artificially inflated stock market of the 1990?s was in the midst of the biggest and fastest correction in history, and because of numerous legal challenges didn?t even have a cabinet fully in place until right before his innauguration. A crashing headstart to his presidency.

So many people seem to forget that the economy was crap when Bush took over. I remember. Gidget and I had our own dot com business and things were definitely not looking good. Not because of our business, but because everyone we were doing business with seemed to be folding left and right, therefore straining our company to it’s limit. It was by the grace of God we were spared from the dot com fiasco, as one of our biggest clients actually hired both of us full time, thus saving us from dot com extinction.

Vinny’s personal reflections of September 11th brought back all sorts of feelings, none of which could ever compare to those he had that day, or that others who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center had that day.

You see, I lived through the 9/11 attacks first hand. I didn?t watch it on television. I didn?t read about it in newspapers. I watched those buildings hit the ground from the roof of my office. I sat in stunned silence on the highway heading to work as I listened to news reporters frantically relaying messages from the NYPD to all officers that there was a total recall and all officers were to return to work immediately.

I watched people heading, hanging out of pickup trucks, to downtown Manhattan to take bodies out of the wreckage, but hoping they would find survivors.

I watched it. And I prayed that day that it would never happen again. I thanked God that we had a leader with the moral clarity to do what was right for this country, and to avenge the death of 3,000 people, some of which I knew. Iraq had to be dealt with. Not by inspectors, who Saddam systematically deceived, but by the end of a gun and the tip of a bomb. Iraq had to be dealt with because the intelligence we had at the time was warning us that if we didn?t deal with it, we?d almost be guaranteeing that Saddam?s weapons would end up in the hands of a terrorist organization and we?d be even worse off than we were on 9/11.

Maybe that doesn?t mean a lot to you if you live in Kansas, or Arizona, or Wyoming, but it means a lot to me because Arab terrorists seem to have a fetish for my hometown, something I wouldn?t expect anyone who hasn?t been through it to understand.

Vinny concludes his endorsement with the following statements, which I find very compelling,

You?re probably wondering what I think about the other ?pressing? issues of the campaign. Frankly, beyond national security, I don?t think much else really matters much.

Do I think gay marriage matters in terms of the elections? No.

Do I think the government should be giving medical care to everyone and handing out healthcare a la Canada and England? Nope.

Do I think the economy is bad? Frankly, no. By the measure that others use, I?m doing great. I?m making much more money than I was in 2000. My retirement plan is worth double what it was in 2000, and that?s with two years of not participating in it at all. My wife is making almost $15,000 more than she was in 2000. I?m almost out of debt, our wedding is finally paid off, and we?re saving money. Do I owe that to the President? Absolutely not. I owe it to me.

Whenever I hear the question: Are you better off than you were four years ago?

The answer is yes.

And I have every confidence that four more years under President Bush will mean that when that question is asked again in 2008, I?ll be able to say yes again.

National security should be the main issue of the campaign. Without national security, none of the other issues would exist. You cannot have gay marriage, healthcare for all, more jobs, more income, more houses, or anything else if there is no nation, let alone security within the nation.

One aspect of my life that is different from Vinny’s, is my financial situation. Due to the economy, Gidget was laid off and my pay was cut 50% (yes, 50%) when ALL of the employees of the company took a pay cut in order to save the company. It resulted in a 66% pay cut for us overall, and it has been rough. That happened almost two years ago, and only a very small portion of my salary has been restored since. But do I blame President Bush? Hell no. The policies that affected my situation were in place long before W took office. In fact, without his policies I suspect things would have gotten far worse.

So? Am I better off than I was four years ago? No, I am not.

BUT

I have every confidence that four more years under President Bush will mean better national security, a stable and viable economy, and a much better life for me, my wife, and my children. In 2008, I have no doubt my answer will be yes.

Thank you Vinny for reminding all of us where our priorities should be during the most important election of our lifetime.

Seriously ill and perhaps fighting for his life, Yasser Arafat was rushed Friday to a military hospital near Paris that specializes in blood disorders. Supporters holding flowers and waving Palestinian flags greeted the Palestinian leader as he was wheeled into the hospital.

It was the first time Arafat has left his Israeli-besieged West Bank headquarters in nearly three years. The 75-year-old Arafat has been sick for the past two weeks and blood tests have revealed he has a low platelet count ? a possible symptom of leukemia or other cancers, as well as a number of other maladies.

…

“I am waiting for Yasser Arafat, to tell him that we are with him,” said Fatima Mera, a 35-year-old French woman of Moroccan origin. “We hope he will leave here and continue the struggle for the Palestinian people.”

Arafat’s presence in France also stirred controversy. Families of French victims of terrorist attacks in Israel plan to ask judicial authorities to question him, attorney Michel Calvo said. The request was to be presented to France’s chief anti-terror judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere.

The pursuit of any criminal probe against Arafat is bound to complicate the French government’s diplomatically sensitive decision to provide him with medical treatment.

God forbid people might actually want some answers for the atrocities committed while he has been in power. And we all know how much the French hate complications… with their allies, at least.

Osama bin Laden, reading a statement to the American people in a new videotape aired Friday, directly admitted for the first time that he ordered the Sept. 11 attacks and said “the best way to avoid another Manhattan” was to stop threatening Muslims’ security.

It was the first footage of the al-Qaida leader to surface in more than a year. The video, broadcast on Al-Jazeera, showed bin Laden with a long gray beard, wearing traditional white robes, a turban and a golden cloak reading from papers in front of a plain, brown curtain.

In Washington, the FBI and Justice Department had no immediate assessment of the meaning of the bin Laden tape. Officials said one part of their analysis will be to discern whether there may be hidden messages or clues about a possible future attack against the United States. But they said it was too early to know that yet.

There was no way to determine when the tape was made, although it did refer to next week’s presidential elections in the United States.

“We decided to destroy towers in America,” bin Laden said, referring to the World Trade Center.

“God knows that it had not occurred to our mind to attack the towers, but after our patience ran out and we saw the injustice and inflexibility of the American-Israeli alliance toward our people in Palestine and Lebanon, this came to my mind,” he said.

He accused President Bush of “misleading” the American people since the 2001 suicide airline hijackings that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“Your security is not in the hands of (Democratic candidate John) Kerry or Bush or al-Qaida. Your security is in your own hands,” bin Laden said.

Well, well, well. The only thing this tape reveals to me, is the fact that the bastard is still alive.

A U.S. Army officer came forward Friday to say a team from the 3rd Infantry Division took about 250 tons of munitions and other material from the Al-Qaqaa arms-storage facility soon after Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in April 2003.

Maj. Austin Pearson said at a Pentagon news conference that he was tasked in the days after the fall of the Iraqi regime with a mission to secure and destroy ammunition and explosives. He led a 25-man team called Task Force Bullet.

His comments were the latest twist into the mystery of what happened to 377 tons of explosives that the International Atomic Energy Agency reported missing from Al-Qaqaa. The IAEA reported the matter to the United Nations on Monday and said it feared that looters may have stolen the explosives.

Ok, question. Okay two questions. Three questions, max.

Was it 377, 250, or 3 tons of explosives?

Were the explosives gone when we got there, looted after we left there, or disposed of by the 3rd Infantry Division?

Does anyone really know the answer to either of these questions?

European leaders on Friday signed the EU’s first constitution, a diplomatic triumph they hope will give the union a sharper international profile and speed up decision-making in a club now embracing 25 nations.

The treaty was the result of 28 months of sometimes acrimonious debate between the 25 EU governments and now faces ratification in national parliaments. At least nine EU nations also plan to put it to a referendum, increasing chances that it may not take effect in 2007 as scheduled.

A “no” result in any country would stop the constitution in its tracks.

…

The constitution was signed in the sala degli Orazi e Curiazi, the same spectacular hall in a Renaissance palazzo where in 1957 six nations - Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg - signed the union’s founding treaty.

EU leaders signed the constitution in alphabetical order by country, led by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.

“The seeming madness of our founding fathers has become a splendid reality,” Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian premier, said in a speech earlier. “Never in history have we seen an example of nations voluntarily deciding to exercise their sovereign powers jointly in the exclusive interests of their peoples, thus overcoming age-old impulses of rivalry and distrust.”

I just thought you might like to know.