All your base are belong to us

Watching returns.....looking good. Here is the thing-the Vikings fan in me won't feel safe until the clock runs out with the lead or there is an overwhelming lead.

If the call for Ohio is legit it is done.


Obama wins.

Tomorrow is the day!

I am optimistic that my legion of five or six readers are aware that tomorrow is a fairly important day for this fine country. Get out there and vote tomorrow folks. No excuses.

Minnesota residents can find their polling place on this site provided by the secretary of state.

Since I am an unabashed partisan, here is the link to the DFL page that will let you know who the DFL endorsed candidates for your area are.

If you are not registered, Minnesota is one of the few states enlightened enough to allow election day registration.

From the Secretary of State's site:

If you are not registered to vote or need to update your registration information, you may do so at your local polling location on Election Day. However, you are required to provide proof of residence when registering on Election Day.

To register at your polling place on Election Day, you must have one of the following with your current name and address in the precinct to verify your residence:

* A valid Minnesota driver’s license, learner’s permit, Minnesota ID card, or receipt for any of these
* A valid student ID card including your photo, if your college has provided a student housing list to election officials
* A Tribal ID card that contains your picture and signature
* A valid registration in the same precinct under a different name or address
* A notice of late registration sent to you by your county auditor or city clerk
* A voter registered in the same precinct as you who can confirm your address with a signed oath
* An employee of the residential facility where you live who can confirm your address with a signed oath

Alternatively, you may provide both 1) a photo ID from the list below, and 2) a current bill with your current name and address in the precinct.

Photo IDs (may be expired)

* Minnesota Driver's License
* Minnesota ID Card
* United States Passport
* United States Military ID Card
* Tribal ID Card
* Minnesota University, College, or Technical College ID Card

Bills (delivered electronically or by mail)


* Utility bill due within 30 days of election day:
o Telephone (landline, cell, VOIP, etc.)
o TV (cable, satellite, etc.)
o Internet services
o Electric
o Gas
o Solid Waste
o Sewer Services
o Water
* Rent statement dated within 30 days of election day that itemizes utilities
* Current student fee statement

Happy Halloween

Bush appointed hack lets assassination threat slide

This what you get when you appoint political hacks to be U.S. attorneys:

Legal experts question US Attorney's decision not to prosecute Obama 'assassination plot'

Interviews with numerous legal experts suggest that Colorado US Attorney Troy Eid misled reporters and diverged from state law when declining to prosecute any of the three men arrested in Denver for threatening to assassinate Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Eid, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006, declined to prosecute the three men on charges of threatening to assassinate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, saying that the suspects were "just a bunch of meth heads" and their words failed to meet the legal standard for "true threat."
"When you talk about threatening presidential candidates, there's a legal standard you got to meet," Eid told reporters. "It's got to be a credible threat as defined by the law. And that means that someone has a way to carry it out. And at this time we don't have sufficient evidence that there was a true threat."

He added, "They didn't reveal a plan" and characterized the alleged threats and assassination plot as merely "the racist rantings of drug users" and "one meth head talking to another about life."

But multiple legal experts interviewed by RAW STORY -- including criminal and constitutional law scholars, former Assistant US Attorneys and Denver-area defense lawyers also familiar with Colorado state law -- agreed that voluntary intoxication is not exculpatory and that such a claim, especially for a prosecutor, is unorthodox. While it may be presented in an effort to reduce a sentence after a conviction, experts say it is normally the domain of defense counsel.

...Legal experts say that Eid's definition of true threat directly conflicts with the statue covering threats to presidential candidates, 18 U.S.C. 879, which defines the threat as "whoever knowingly and willfully threatens to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a major candidate for the office of President or Vice President, or a member of the immediate family of such candidate."

...In downplaying the threat, the US Attorney's spokesman also characterized the physical evidence recovered from the suspects "including, along with methamphetamine, two high-powered rifles with scopes (one threaded with a silencer), 85 rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, wigs, two walkie-talkies, three fake IDs, tactical pants and camouflage gear" as merely "tools of the drug trade." (FBI special agent and spokeswoman Kathy Wright admitted to RAW STORY that this physical evidence initially "sounded ominous," which is what compelled the FBI to obtain a warrant for search and seizure; yet contrary to reports in alternative media and the blogosphere, the FBI never sought to "charge" any of the suspects for threatening or plotting against Obama.) The implication was that all of these men were, at once, "just a bunch of meth heads" incapable of following through with any plan yet also hardened drug dealers, whose ownership of these items would be commonplace.

But according to narcotics experts, while the amount of methamphetamine recovered from Adolph's Denver hotel room legally constituted enough to charge him with intent to distribute, it does not suggest he or the other suspects are serious drug dealers or even drug dealers. Nor does it explain the kind of weaponry found on them.

One narcotics expert, a former senior DEA special agent who spoke with RAW STORY on the condition of anonymity due to his current consulting work, said that such a relatively small amount seems to point to either "very low level" dealing, the kind in which those involved are selling just to make ends meet, or an amount they simply planned on using themselves.

Michael Levine, one of the most highly decorated former DEA agents in agency history and an expert witness in over 300 federal and state criminal and civil cases, said of the amount of methamphetamine recovered in this case, "It's really not that much at all; that's roughly one ounce of meth. And one ounce of meth is what someone using might buy for himself or to share with friends. It was a small amount, still within the bounds of reasonable intent for use."

Levine also disputed the characterization of the weaponry recovered. "They are not tools of the trade," he said, explaining that while some drug dealers carry weapons, real evidence of drug dealing is the seriousness and amount of trafficking materials, primarily packaging materials, records of buyers' names and contact information, and evidence of witnesses who've said they've purchased from them.

Raw Story

Great seats!

Just as I was leaving work yesterday I got a call for a well connected friend asking if I wanted to go to the Timberwolves season opener. Of course I am not going to turn that down. Even though the Wolves are currently a shadow of their mediocre former selves it was a fun time. They squeaked out a 98-96 victory over the lowly Sacramento Kings. One bright light-rookie Kevin Love had a great game. He is going to be someone to pay attention to.

Put some cloths on!

Finally some siding progress!

David Sedaris on undecided voters

For those who don't know, David Sedaris is a writer, humorist and a regular on NPR's "This American Life". He had this piece in The New Yorker

I don’t know that it was always this way, but, for as long as I can remember, just as we move into the final weeks of the Presidential campaign the focus shifts to the undecided voters. “Who are they?” the news anchors ask. “And how might they determine the outcome of this election?”

Then you’ll see this man or woman— someone, I always think, who looks very happy to be on TV. “Well, Charlie,” they say, “I’ve gone back and forth on the issues and whatnot, but I just can’t seem to make up my mind!” Some insist that there’s very little difference between candidate A and candidate B. Others claim that they’re with A on defense and health care but are leaning toward B when it comes to the economy.

I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

Hit the link above for the whole piece. Good stuff.

Thanks to BobZ for posting that on another site.