The Big Picture

Here's a fantastic news photo blog from The Boston Globe.

Some of the Breeder's Cup photos, and the ones of our president elect, are breathtaking.

We Win

I'm hearing yelling on the streets, and fireworks explode on the river here in Brooklyn as the real John McCain finally makes a reappearance with his gracious concession speech, and Jesse Jackson stands alone with tears in his eyes (can't someone give a brother a hug?). I'm welling up, seeing and feeling something I never thought possible. Putting the race part aside for a moment, I can't believe that my country did the right thing, at long last by electing the right man; Americans took a risk on what might be, and acted on the belief that things can be better, rather than 'more of the same.'

I can't shake my head any more, easily dismissing our leaders as someone else's fault, as people I can't relate to, or as some out-of-touch old insiders put in power by someone else's vote. I've never actually liked any of our Presidents my entire life; or ever felt that the best minds of my generation were leading; or even believed that things could be any different.

This time, at least for tonight, I do. It's overwhelming. Indescribable. All I can think, is, please carry us all safely on our new path.

Dare I say it, and really mean it for the first time ever? God Bless America.

DWTS Tragedy

Yes, I'm watching the debate but I also am reading that Misty May-Trainor, one half of the gold-medal winning USA beach volleyball team, ruptured her achilles tendon while competing on Dancing with the Stars. She had surgery today and needs nine months of rehab before she can hit the court again. Injured from being on some ridiculous TV show.

That is the lamest shit I have ever heard.

(almost as lame as Tom Brokaw's moderation job tonight)

Dr. Ralph on Obama

Listen here for an powerful ad currently running in Southwest Virginia from Ralph Stanley. Think about that -- an 81 year old bluegrass legend from deep Virginia endorsing a black man for president. If you can't trust Dr. Ralph, who can you trust?

Thanks to andtheend. for the link.

Sarah Silverman on Obama and Florida

The Times on Palin

An article in the mainstream media that is starting to get to the heart of the matter here. Money caption:

The Wasilla City Council, with Sarah Palin, the future governor and vice-presidential nominee, at the center, in a 1998 photograph. Throughout her career, Ms. Palin has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and blurred the line between government and personal grievance.

Elections

I may have to stop reading TPM. All of the blatant lies being thrown out by McCain and Palin are only making me angrier and angrier. If the US public votes these clowns in, I'm moving to Southern Spain.

And justifying my occasional enjoyment of the View, Barbara Walters took McCain to task on today's show. Go Baba. Love that she nailed him to the wall, seemingly more than any other major reporter has to date.

Lots more clips from the View here. Nice job, ladies.

Seriously.

WHY is that Palin baby up every night at the convention?? The kid has Down (when did it become 'Down', btw? I thought it was 'DownS' my entire life) Syndrome, is four months old and they simply MUST trot him out every single night past a reasonable bedtime to gain some votes? Seems like a crap mothering decision to me. And does his mother ever hold him? (Assuming that the Sarah dope is the mommy, ahem) What is wrong with these people??

No reply needed. I truly am trying to cease the hourly frothing.

Fred Thompson is like James Earl Jones for the Republicans now. King of the Douchebag voiceover. And Tina Fey must be pissed about that whole lookalike thing.

Food Exacta

I was in Richmond VA yesterday for a quick Art+Auction cover check, and was able to eat at BOTH the Olive Garden AND Applebee's in an 8 hour period. Jealous?

I'm going to have to give the Olive Garden the higher rating, only because everything on the menu wasn't covered in cheese and salsa and ground beef. And then deep fried.

The OG was absolutely packed at lunch. Seriously, like 85 people in the place around 12:30 (Those damned early mealtimes are present everywhere but NYC). Meanwhile, a lonely little Vietnamese Pho place half a mini mall down was totally empty.

Applebee's was what I thought was the only bar in the airport, complete with FOX news on 10 channels in a frenzy over Obama's "cling" comment. Some lady tried to talk politics with me. I got scared of where that might go, and put on my Ipod instead.

I really wanted to say "Obama was a little hamfisted, but right."

House Of Lords

For those of you confused like myself, my college friend Neil down in Houston has some swell posts on his always insightful blog Texas Liberal about who and what superdelegates are. Also interesting is the link he provides to the 2008 Democratic Convention Watch, where a current tally is kept on how each superdelegate plans to vote.

The New Gov

From David Paterson's Wikipedia entry:
Paterson is also a basketball player and an avid fan of the New York Mets, the New York Jets and the New York Knicks. He has been known to call in to WFAN, a major sports talk radio station in New York City.

And from the Saratoga paper:
Governor Paterson’s great grandfather on his mother’s side was a blacksmith. Like many blacks of his era, he worked with horses. He put shoes on them and one of the horses he shod was Upset. Upset delivered Man O’ War his only lifetime defeat, right here in Saratoga, in the Sanford Memorial on August 13, 1919. Upon recognizing the significance of defeating “de mostest hoss that ever wuz”; Upset’s owner, H. P. Whitney staked all of the people responsible for the horse. It was not the usual stake; he bought the trainer, the breeder and three or four stable-hands houses. One such house was for the blacksmith, Patterson’s great-grandfather.

The new house enabled Governor Paterson’s ancestors to move from, “not necessarily squalor, but certainly a giant step forward.” The brownstone was in what is now the Fort Green section of Brooklyn. It is the home where Governor Paterson returned after his birth.

Maybe he'll save OTB.

Obama's Masterful Speech

Everyone else is going to say it way better, but when I read the text of Obama's speech from yesterday in Philadelphia after finding out about it via friends' blogs, I welled up from inside with emotion. True story. It's going to be a benchmark in American history, pure and simple. It took courage to address the issue of race in America, while on the defensive, instead of avoiding a touchy topic because of fear of possible missteps during a campaign. There isn't much international coverage of it in the papers (my beloved Int'l Herald Tribune, the South China Morning Post) or on the television news (CNN World, BBC, SkyNews) besides short blurbs, yet to any American who is almost inevitably mishmash of different ethnicities, inlcuding my personal involvement with someone that is multi-hued, it was news I wanted to know about.

I haven't been on the bandwagon with him as much as everyone else I know is, mostly because I've been lazy and distracted by other things, but that speech finally made me sure he's the type of man I want leading my country. His words were powerful, moving, eloquently stated, and he's dead on. See below for some choice bits.

UPDATE on the 20th: With 36 hours now passed after his speech, and more time to allowed to print the stuff, much more coverage is appearing in the international press.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction....the path to a more perfect union...requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

...I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible...It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.

Taxis Going Hybrid by 2012

I oddly enough don't have a strong opinion about Mayor Bloomberg one way or the other, but you certainly can't fault him for his measures in taking baby steps toward a healthier, greener city. And smoking friends, I'll admit it: I love smoke-free bars and restaurants. Although the transfat ban is a a little too nosy.

NEW YORK - Every yellow cab in this city will be a fuel-efficient hybrid by 2012, and stricter emissions and gas mileage standards for taxis will be phased in starting next year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday.

There are now 375 hybrid vehicles among the 13,000 taxis rolling on New York City streets. Under Bloomberg’s plan, that number will increase to 1,000 by October 2008 and will grow by about 20 percent each year until 2012.

The standard yellow cab vehicle, the Ford Crown Victoria, gets 14 miles per gallon. In contrast, the Ford Escape taxis get 36 miles per gallon.

Automakers said hybrids are uniquely well-suited to be taxis. Many of them, like the Ford Escape, run solely on battery power while stopped or at low speeds, so they don’t cough exhaust while navigating through city traffic. At higher speeds, the gas-powered drive system kicks in and the two work together.

God Bless the Red, White and Blue

I am feeling mighty chipper this week after the results of the midterm elections came rolling in. It's nice to have faith in your country and its citizens again after feeling like somewhat of stranger in a strange land at times over the past six years. As in: How in the HELL can people be so stupid as to keep voting for this guy and his party of idiots and crooks???

The Guardian thanks us for managing to get it together.

You are welcome.