I just assembled it today.  It's just a cheapie that cost $400, including shipping, taxes, and several accessories (tire pump, baskets and back rack for cargo, etc.).  It tops out at 15 MPH, but I bought it to take me to various places within 5 miles of my house.

Our candidate is Barack Obama.  Decent, principled, not for sale.

They have John McCain.  Paid for by lobbyists.

The primary has been long - and let's face it - ugly.  I long ago made up my mind that I would support whatever Democratic candidate got the nomination.  Heck, after 8 years of Bush, I would support the Democratic Donkey for the post!

So, the primary is all sorted out and Barack Obama is our candidate.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Suicide victims who were abused as children have clear genetic changes in their brains, Canadian researchers reported on Tuesday in a finding they said shows neglect can cause biological effects.

The findings offer potential ways to find people at high risk of suicide, and perhaps to treat them and prevent future suicides.

And, the researchers said, they also offer insights into how neglect and abuse can perpetuate unhealthy behavior through the generations.

Moshe Szyf of McGill University in Montreal and colleagues studied the brains of 18 men who committed suicide and who were also abused or neglected as children, and compared them to 12 men who also died suddenly but from other causes, and who were not abused, although some had various psychiatric problems such as anxiety disorders.

http://news.yahoo.com/...

The raid at the FLDS polygamist sect in Texas has revealed a few things - both about them, and about the people who live in the same god forsaken state I do.

Congress has filed a lawsuit against the Bush Administration because of the failure of Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to appear before Congress in response to a Congressional Subpoena.  Old news.

Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s, according to the latest poll.

There are two new stories up at Raw on illegal spying.  I find them very disturbing.

I ran across the info on another web site.

From the Fed:

"The H.3 statistical release indicates that nonborrowed reserves of depository institutions have declined substantially since mid-December to a level that is now negative. This development reflects the provision of a large volume of reserves through the Term Auction Facility (TAF) and has no adverse implications for the availability of reserves to the banking system.

By definition, nonborrowed reserves are equal to total reserves minus borrowed reserves. Borrowed reserves are equal to credit extended through the Federal Reserve's regular discount window programs as well as credit extended through the TAF. To maintain a level of total reserves consistent with the Federal Open Market Committee's target federal funds rate, increases in borrowed reserves must generally be met by a commensurate decrease in nonborrowed reserves, which is accomplished through a reduction in the Federal Reserve's holdings of securities and other assets. The negative level of nonborrowed reserves is an arithmetic result of the fact that TAF borrowings are larger than total reserves."

http://www.federalreserve.gov/...

BREAKING NEWS: White House says a presidential aide has resigned after engaging in improprities using USAID grant money

There's no story up yet, but the headline is on MSNBC.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Given how crooked Republicans have become, I'm not surprised.

My son, who just turned 18, lives with his father.  I just got the news that he joined the military.

Unlike some, I don't have ethical objections to the military as an institution because I believe a lot of military personnel have idealistic goals - to protect and defend our country, and us.

Whatever objections I have are related to the idiots currently residing in the White House and their stupid decisions.  Fighting WWII was necessary no matter what the cost.  A Cheney misadventure in Iran is not.

Part of the environmental deterioration we're experiencing is due to reduced species diversity.  I often wonder if our love for lawns and ornamental shrubs and trees might be contributing to this.

I guess the markets don't like the Bear Stearns/JP Morgan deal, since the dollar has dropped to 97 yen (UPDATE: 95 yen).

http://money.cnn.com/...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Carlyle Capital Corp. said late Wednesday it expects its creditors to seize all of the fund's remaining assets after unsuccessful negotiations to prevent its liquidation.

WASHINGTON - The White House says President Bush will veto legislation on Saturday that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding — a technique that simulates drowning — and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.

Update:  Lobbyist for United Technologies works for John McCain - see below

Yahoo isn't the only target of an unwelcome takeover. Diebold Inc., maker of automated teller machines, security systems and voting machines, was the recent target of an unsolicited $2.63 billion takeover offer from United Technologies Corporation, a leading aerospace defense contractor, whose divisions also include Otis elevators.

After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

I thought something a little lighter might be nice on a Friday night, so here it is.