I'm breaking diary rules most likely, but it's in the interest of calling attention to and reminding others of a very interesting tool I used in 2004 -- Electoral-Vote.com.

The creator of this tool is a US citizen living outside of the country and a computer science prof, I believe.  He uses his math savvy to "map" what he thinks is a compilation of US state vote polls in federal presidential elections.  And he literally uses a US map to illustrate his outcomes.  

At minimum his results have been interesting, and they have also been historically fairly accurate....although often disappointingly so.

More + Link after the fold.

I saw on MSNBC that Guiliani is offering a new health insurance "plan"

Link

Paramount to his "plan" is to give families a $15,000 deduction for purchasing insurance in the private sector.  In addition, he says that when so many people enter the market due to his wonderful plan, the insurance companies will lower their rates!

I laughed out loud, because I'd just been performing research on health insurance plans across the nation.  Below the fold are some interesting bullet points I found that illustrate that Guiliani's "plan" is not very well "planned," aside from the instantly obvious fact that, for many of the uninsured, the $15,000 "deduction" along with other deductions, might place their income levels at less than 0!  In addition, insurance companies don't magically lower their rates based on numbers of subscribers!  LOL!  So funny!

Yes, the fact that Bush is having a colonoscopy is BREAKING news, while talk of vetoing health care legislation for children, wars that are failing, etc, are page 9.

Personally, I think, as usual, the Bush is administration is lying, so I've posted a poll pertaining to what they're really diong this Saturday.

I am getting really tired of the media spinning that the Democrats won power because of the Iraq War.  Iraq was only part of the picture.

Democrats WON because of corruption.  The exit polls showed that corruption was the #1 deciding factor in voting.

Yes, Iraq, the needless war based on lies, was a wholly owned subsidiary of the big picture of corruption, but it was only part of the picture.  The rest was...

(beneath the fold)

This morning the Seattle Times endorsed Mike McGavick for Washington U.S. Senator.  

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/...

It is no surprise, since Seattle Times is so obsessed with the repeal of the estate tax, that no ethical or moral principle would get in the way of doing anything they possibly can to ensure that "their candidates" achieve office.  They claim that their endorsement is only partly due to the estate tax repeal possibility, but judging by their lobbying editorials this year, they definitely have their eye on that ball.

Anyway, I was mad, no PISSED and here's what I wrote this morning as a rebuttal to their crap.  I'm posting it here, because it's highly unlikely that the "Times" will ever give audience to the dislike I have for them today.

My letter beneath the fold

Since Clinton was generous enough to hold a lunch in Harlem to schmooze with bloggers, I thought I'd call attention to Froomkin's report of who else the Dawg has lunch with.  

A link and a snippet of Froomkin below the fold:

William Arkin of the Washington Post truthfully stabbed Rummy on his ridiculous comments from this week.  I posted this information in open thread but nobody paid attention.  I felt I needed to call better attention to his article so I'm posting it via a diary.

Here's a link to his editorial. Link

Arkin hits the mark directly here:

Either Rumsfeld has delivered one of the most important speeches of the modern era, or he's gone crazy.

I think the latter....<snip>

A sampling of some other of his truthful stabs are below the fold.

I really am sorry for posting a few line diary, breaking all the rules, but I wanted people to see this and we don't have a current open thread.

Please, people, have you ever seen such an amazing display of cynical hubris in your entire life as this?" And no, this isn't the Onion, this is a REAL link from Yahoo!

Bush announces escalation in 'war on kleptocracy'

Someone needs to tell Bush that Kleptocracy starts at home.

Article excerpt posted below the fold

It's true that in many cities, our politicians have designed mass transit so that it's completely impractical for many of us. (Did they do this on purpose?) That means that many of us have to drive to work.

However, we do have the option of not driving on weekends.   (more beneath the fold.)

Martha had better schedule her class on "microwaving dandelions in jail".  Looks like there'll soon be quite an audience for it!

From AP via Yahoo

From The Lexington Herald

Aren't we already donating to this charity?

I'm once again going to break the one-line diary rule to post the Gallup Poll.  Apparently Bush's response leads to no outrage from the public.

Gallup: Criticism, but little outrage, for Bush's and federal agencies' response to hurricane

What we're forgetting is that people who were abandoned in New Orleans were mostly brown and poor.  Our public has shown time and again that they don't much care about people "like that".

I've heard that Bush's presence yesterday kept rescue aircraft grounded.  That said, Bush is returning to Gulf region on Monday

If it's true that rescue crews can't fly when he is present, I enlist your help in preventing his photo-ops from hindering rescue efforts on Monday.

Please write your Congresspeople, your senators, your media, begging them to request that he stay out.  Let's help prevent our citizens in the south from further suffering due to his need for PR repair.  

Thanks.

Here's an interesting bit referenced in the Note today pertaining to Rove-Gate (emphasis mine):

At one point, the aides were asked why Mr. Cooper's call to Mr. Rove was not entered in Mr. Rove's office telephone logs. There was no record of the call, the person who has been briefed said, because Mr. Cooper did not call Mr. Rove directly, but was transferred to his office from a White House switchboard.

The Note

All I can say is, "how conveenient".

I overcame the shock and decided I'd better post my second ever diary to report this news:

Bush Approval at 44%
Lowest measurement of his presidency
Gallup link

It appears Gallup has polled more independents than usual -- or have Republicans suddenly become "Independents"?  It's refreshing to know that Bush's rating has dropped 10 points among this faction.  People are actually waking up!

Maybe this is why Frist suddenly feels confident in breaking away from Bush on stem cell research?  Or is the stem cell research headline just another Rovian shiny object to distract us away from Plamegate?

I'm truly elated to know that things are going so well in the United State and abroad that Bush can throw his full weight into pushing a program that nobody in their right minds would want (Social Security "privatization" blitz)!

If nothing else, fighting this losing battle certainly takes his mind off creating new wars to fight.  Besides, it relaxes his temptation to take a vacation for 4 years.  At least we can say he's doing something to earn his keep ;-), whether it's the right thing or not.