"Does Saddam's capture make Bush's re-election a sure thing?" This seems to be the question everybody is asking since we arrested the former Iraqi leader (looking very much like a drunken Santa Claus). The implication is that the answer is "yes" - may as well forget the election; Bush caught the bad guy, give him four more years to catch the other bad guy (remember Osama?)

I disagree. If the election were to be held next week, then this would guarantee four more years. But a lot can happen in 11 months. More importantly, there's a lot that probably won't happen. For example; the killing of American soldiers on a regular basis probably won't stop just because Saddam is gone. Another example; we probably won't have completely pulled out from Iraq.

Now that Saddam is out of the way - and because Bush put such an emphasis on the importance of that one man - the public is going to get more and more restless with each passing day that their sons and daughters are being fired upon in a foreign land, long after we've "freed" them. G.W. won't have Saddam Hussein to kick around anymore. So what excuse will he have to use to continue to justify our presence in Iraq?

From today's email - Just had to share.... (be sure to forward it to any geeks you may know)

WARNING ALERT

At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule, and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney general John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a fearsome cult," Ashcroft said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like "x" and "y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns," but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

"As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle," Ashcroft declared.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.

"I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence," the President said, adding: "Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line."

President Bush warned, "These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor-in random facts of vertex."

Attorney General Ashcroft said, "As our Great Leader would say, read my ellipse. Here is one principle he is certain of: though they continue to multiply, their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks."

Big Al Gore has now officially endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic nomination for President - if anybody cares what Big Al Gore has to say. So, does that help Dean or hurt him? It certainly doesn't help raise his stature in this household. Says Leslie, "You mean Dean isn't a Republican?" That's right - although everybody seems to be buying this new image of Howard Dean as the progressive choice, he's still a guy who can count on his 100% OK rating from the NRA.

Meanwhile, a few miles north of here in San Francisco, today is election day, with a run-off for mayor between a conservative Democrat and a Green. Big Al's old boss, Bad Bill, is in town today pulling for his party's boy. The national Democratic Party has been putting more of their attention on this election than the upcoming Presidential election, as if San Francisco were the last major battle ground for the hearts and minds of America. It isn't. It's a progressive city which should choose the more progressive candidate.

An article on the Common Dreams web site explores the question of partisanship over progressivism in relation to the SF race. In explanation of the above, the article states that, "Next year, Democrats will call on Greens and Green-leaning voters to abandon third-party politics in order to help beat George W. Bush. Many Green voters are likely to answer the call. But many others will ask why top Democrats always seem to demand concessions in the name of electing the more progressive major candidate at the national level but are not willing to make concessions in the name of electing the most progressive major candidate at the local level."

If you're reading this posting past March 11, 2004, we've beaten the odds. It seems that the average lifespan of a web page is only 100 days. For "information" such as this useless blog that may well be fine, but what about pages which contain important research or scientific information? As a reference tool, 100 days doesn't hold up very well.

That's the problem uncovered in this Washington Post article on the ephemeral nature of web research. The authors were working on a two-year research project (on another subject) when they realized that their footnotes (referring to online sources) were becoming outdated almost as quick as they could type them. They then decided to do another research project to find out just how serious this problem was.

It turns out old-fashioned footnotes referring to print sources aren't all that much more reliable than web links. A high percentage have typos or other issues that make finding the original source impossible, not to mention books going out of print. (Or, the ever-popular just making the reference up to look smart - but we won't go there).

Maybe the temporary nature of information in the web age is a fitting footnote to our lack of regard for history or depth in our public and political discourse. Troubled by facts that show you're on the wrong course? Just wait 100 days and those facts will disappear, as will any public interest in finding those facts.

And so, today is Thanksgiving. A month ago, even a few weeks ago, I was not particularly looking forward to the holiday, as I was obsessed with worrying about my employment situation - Not to mention that family occasions, such as this, always carry a certain amount of baggage with them that I just didn't feel like dealing with.

Let's recap the last month or two. Towards the end of September I learned that my job of two years would shortly run out of funding and that there was little chance of my continued employment. I left the job on a full-time basis at the end of last month (Halloween being my last happy day), although I still have a few part-time hours left through the end of the year.

The last month I've had to suddenly figure out that which I thought had already been settled: What am I going to do when I grow up? I obviously started looking for full-time work, but wasn't getting excited about any of the opportunities I was coming across, so I floated the possibility of my becoming an independent consultant to a few people even though I wasn't sure if I could find enough work to survive.

Since November 1, when I was supposed to be a semi-employed person of leisure, I've actually been remarkably busy; going from worried about losing my job, to being under-employed, to be being self-employed in an incredibly short time. By the end of next week I should have two signed contracts for consulting work, and I have meetings with three other organizations that may result in work as well - So, I guess I'm a consultant (and no longer looking for a "real job").

So, today I do have much to be thankful for after all - - - and I was so hoping for a depressing Thanksgiving! This is a hopeful new start on a new phase in my career, and I'm looking forward to a great year of learning and trying new things. Happy T-Day, everybody. It may not suck after all!

Dust off the old converted school bus, paint it up in some wild colors, and let's hit the road once more!

Yep, it's all the rage these days. Here are just two recent examples:

* Ken Kesey's merry pranksters fire up their magic bus for a Bay Area book tour, and,

* VH1 puts the Partridge Family's bus on the road in search of America's next great Pop 'n' Roll family.

Me, I'm just looking forward to Thanksgiving later this week, when we'll load up the old VW micro-bus with garbage and set out to find a place to dump it in our annual recreation of the Alice's Restaurant Massacree.

The humble toilet gets its due

"The toilet, though a humble instrument, is a microcosm of society at large," or so begins an essay called "Toilet as a Social Space" on the World Toilet Organization Web site. Did you know that toilets "are not merely dung holes and are considered as a place for powdering, resting, conversations and even diaper changing for dainty, civilized, enlightened women"? Well, I know that now!

Also on site is "A Study of Japanese Toilets" and other fine toilet articles and studies. Some more tidbits... "Did You Know?"

1. "An average person visits the toilet 2500 times a year. About 6-8 times a day. You spend about 3 years of your life in the toilet.

2. "Poor toilet condition is a worldwide problem. More than half of the world population have no proper sanitation.

3. "Suppression of urination due to dirty toilets can lead to kidney and bladder diseases. In order to avoid visiting public toilets, Some people refrain from drinking and suffer dehydration.

4. "Most toilets are designed incorrectly.

5. "Female takes 3 times longer than male, yet both toilet sizes are often same.

6. "Toilet remains as a 'taboo' as people are shy to discuss the subject.

7. "There are toilet associations worldwide promoting toilet education and culture."

You too can be a toilet expert and laugh at all the wonderful toilet art cartoons. Just head on over to the World Toilet Organization and celebrate World Toilet Day today!