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And I can't stop watching it.

Toccara got axed last night. She wanted to be the first plus-size supermodel and now she'll only be a plus-sized model. Her personality, her upbeat personality faltered. Her pictures didn't click with the judges. Adios.

But there's six girls left, one of whom will be - according to Tyra - "Americasnexttopmodel" said just like that. Here's the breakdown in order of odds to win:

(I can't believe I just handicapped that show. Damn Bush! ) What I find nauseating and fascinating about the show is this concept called "glamour". The girls are supposed to be glamourous at all times or at least when there's cameras or humans around, meaning copping an attitude. Sadly, this attitude is one of friendly condescension, that they are glamourous models and we're not. That they are what we should aspire to be, that it's all about looks and attitude. Considering that combined IQs of the remaining six girls wouldn't equal Toccara's bust size, I guess looks and attitude are all these girls have to offer. I guess it's their attempt to switch packs from the commoners to the privileged. They should take a look. If Janice Dickinson (judge and "worlds first supermodel") is any indication, their future is less than guaranteed. Janice comes across as an alcoholic - barely in control of herself.

What else I find fascinating is the shoots, of "working the camera" or "working the runway". I don't get it. The wife and I watch each week as girls "work it" and we've yet to discover what "it" is. Maybe it's an ESTian thing but the pictures that the judges either orgasm or puke over...usually look stupid. Most of the pictures they proclaim as perfect the wife and I look at each other in confusion. It must either be a big inside joke or we're just not part of "that crowd".

Damn Bush! Go Amanda!

Arafat
is dead. Maybe now there can be true peace worked out in the Mideast. But not likely with "Bomb first" Bush on board.

Rumsfeld stated that the fight for Faloujah wouldn't result in many civilian casualties. In reality, the fighting is fierce and the bodiesd for both sides are mounting up. I wonder how The Rummy will explain this minor dissonant event. I mean, gosh, he said something and it didn't turn out to be true. Reality doesn't jive with the Bush view - what will we do?

Meanwhile, the moral highground is rearing its ugly head in pharmaceuticals. "The American Pharmacists Association, with 50,000 members, has a policy that says druggists can refuse to fill prescriptions if they object on moral grounds, but they must make arrangements so a patient can still get the pills. Yet some pharmacists have refused to hand the prescription to another druggist to fill." So, here's a woman taking responsibility for her life and using birth control in order to not have to take care of a potential unwanted life. But some pharmacists with "moral objections" are deciding for her that she must either abstain from sex or chance getting pregnant. And with the Right slowly turning the noose tighter around everyone's neck, our choices are disappearing. Ironic - Republicans boats about smaller Government yet here they use Government to force decisions on everyone. If they pass laws making abortion illegal will they institute a new department to enforce the law (and thus grow Government even more)? Truly sickening.

We have our Government supporting Faith-based charities and allowing religious plaques in our National Monuments. As the separation between Church and State fully crumbles, as this once great Nation descends into a dark, mediocre Christian-based enclave I can only wonder if one day there will be waiting for me and my family a package full of yellow stars for our clothing, courtesy of Uncle Sam. And while our Government seeks to make everyone a good Christian I wonder if they'll remove the Theory of Evolution from our science classes. I wonder if they'll even care that Johnny can't read or even think. But - hey! - you got to have Faith for God will provide, right? Besides we got nucular weapons and Big Bubba.

Every so often while channel-flipping I'll watch Dr. Gene Scott just to catch a gander at his wife. She fancies herself a singer but (and please don't tell anyone) she's truly awful. Anyway, apparently old Doc has some sort of cancer and it seemed like he refused to go to a doctor, claiming that God will take care of him. Recently, however, it appears that God (and a fervent belief therein) isn't enough. The good Doc is seeking professional medical help. He even kinda, sorta, quietly hemmed-and-hawed and said that his belief wasn't enough. It's sad, besides the fact that he looks like Hell. Here's a typical preacher claiming the superiority of God and the Powers of Belief with the misguided impression that having the Belief will solve all problems. Well, it won't. Add in a bit of common sense. If I come down with cancer, I can Believe all I want and play the odds that maybe God will intervene (not likely) or I can visit doctors for treatment. Why not consider medicine a gift from God? Problem resolved - you can maintain your Belief and get help. Common sense.

Last rant. The previews for "Polar Express" are pissing me off. It's all about believing and how it's OK and safe to believe. Believe in what? Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? It's not OK or safe to tell your kids that if they believe hard enough then great things will happen. If they believe hard enough that they can fly and go up to the roof and jump, guess what? If they believe hard enough that the bottle of lye is just like water and they take a drink, guess what? If they believe hard enough that a bullet won't hurt them and they take out daddy's gun, guess what? Belief is all well and good up until reality intervenes and demonstrates otherwise. Hopefully common sense will intervene before reality but I find common sense gets lost in the Fanatics.

Great! Now I have a headache. Politics and Religion aer guaranteed headache inducers. The next four years will be murder.

First, the map of the U.S. all nice and Red is an illusion. Even though most of the U.S. is shaded red that doesn't mean every one in a red state voted for Bush. The geographical representation doesn't take into account population density. Sure, less blue but blue counts for more people. Second, the electoral college is (mostly) all or nothing. A state can be red or blue but it doesn't mean everyone in that state is red or blue - it's just the color of the "winner". I ran a re-count of the electoral distribution awarding partial votes based on the popular vote for each state and the results were still a Bush win but not by nearly as much. Don't be fooled. We're not a Red, Republican American. We are pretty much evenly divided.

So for Bush to proclaim a mandate that America is behind him is pretty naive. Half of America is not for him. Sure, Bush may have gotten more votes than any other election but he also got more votes against him (for Kerry) than any other president. We are a divided nation and seeing what Bush has done the past four years, the divide is likely to get greater. Nice, comforting article in todays Los Angeles Times about how all the companies that supported Bush during the election are licking their chops and making wish lists - reduced corporate tax cuts, reduced corporate oversight, open up Alaska (and other environmentally sensitive areas) for "exploration", and so on. So Bush answers to corporations and the Religious Right. Ummm, when does he listen to us Americans?

The wife and I talked about Election 2008. Already there's talk about Edwards as the candidate. I hope not. I wasn't impressed with his debate or his personality. For the Democrats, Edwards would be more of same. Wouldn't it be daring, truly daring, if the Democrats had a ticket of Clinton / Obama? Sure, Obama would be attacked on his lack of political experience but he has the charisma to sidestep the issue. For the Republicans, Bush has shown that an idiot can win as long as the party and the evangelicals unite behind him so the thought of Jeb Bush running may be right (in more ways than one) even though their best ticket might be McCain / Guilani. But McCain might not be far enough to the right to satisfy the Republicans. We asked ourselves - if McCain ran as an Independent could he suck up the middle from both parties...interesting though, especially since Kerry courted him. My wife admitted she would vote for him in that context. I might do the same though Clinton / Obama sure is appealing. All I know is that I'm sick of rich, white dudes.

I took my two older kids to see The Incredibles - what a great film! Pixar has yet another hit and another franchise on their hands. Sure it's a cartoon but it has enough James Bond - geek elements to satisfy most adults. We saw the early morning matinee and the theater was packed. But there wwere some kids there a bit too young for the film. Please! It is a cartoon but the action may be too much for little ones under 6. Get a babysitter.

Evidence against Saddam probably lost: rights group

AMMAN (AFP) - US-led forces compromised the case against Saddam Hussein and former Iraqi leaders by failing to safeguard official documents and secure mass grave sites, according to a leading human rights group.

So Congratulations to us Americans. We get four more years of the most capable incompetence money can appoint. But don't blame me when the rightwing thought police come a-knocking. I didn't vote for Bush.

Faith and Intuition has won over Intelligence. "Lowered expectations" is continuing as the American calling card. Mediocre will continue as our standard of achievement. We may leave no child behind but be assured that little Johnny won't be able to read or write but that's acceptable as long as little Johnny can make his mark on the army papers. Education will belong to the wealthy and well-connected. For the rest of us, better teach our kids Arabic while they play in the sand box. Get them used to sand.

Stubborness has won over flexibility. From "United We Stand", we have progressed to "Divided We Fall" as our Liberties will continue to disappear. Bush will lead the world as a nation alone - the U.N. be damned, for we all know that the country with the most advanced military calls the shots.

With the Republicans in control of all branches of the Government - or soon will be once a few Supreme Court Justices retire - expect this to be the beginning of an American Dark Ages. The separation between Church and State will fall and we will become the Christian version of the same Islamic states that we are fighting. Abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research will become non-topics.

For the next four years Bush has to account to no one. He has free reign. If the last four years didn't scare the crap out of you, wait until you see the massive bait-and-switch Bubba pulls. Who knows? This could guarantee that the next four Presidents will be Democrats, or more likely our country will continue to swing to the extreme right until we do have a Nation Divided, with Liberty and Justice for the Privileged Few.

Kerry talked about a "Global Test" of our actions, that is, we have to have logical, demonstrable reasons for our actions. Bush has failed the "Global Test" and the "National Test" with his distortions, manipulations, and ignorance of facts. His Administration thrives on secrecy and control. How can we trust and back our Government if they won't trust and play fair with us? That's what Bush represents - a Lone Star, "trust what I do", Lone Wolf who really is little more than a mumbling head for his advisors.

Be scared. But if you didn't vote for Bush try not to be ashamed or embarrassed. It's still our America. We have four years to recruit, to unite, and to eventually make things right.

Osama
Any one want to bet that Bush still won't get Osama over the next four years? Not that any one will notice because we'll have the Hussein Trial to divert our attention.

Weird Thought
Assuming our election process doesn't change, how long before we see people "moving" to other states just to vote and perhaps reverse the Electoral outcome? Will we ever become that desperate?

Halloween
This year was a surprise - we had a large turnout, about 30 kids, knocking on the door - including a handful of teenies and some absolutely adorable wee-uns. The trend for the past few years was maybe 10 kids at most even though our neighborhood is relatively safe. So we had bought candy accordingly and came close to running out. I'm wondering if nervousness about the election brought people out. Y'know, something to take their minds off the craziness, though I'd expect Halloween horrors to serve as reminders of political horrors. Ah well. I have my chocolate stash ready in case Bush steals another one.

Stupid PC Obsolescence
I picked up Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 over the weekend. I loved the first 2 versions and had high hopes for the latest and greatest. So while at the Northridge Maul (sic) I purchased the oddly shaped box and with kids in tow, went home, and installed it. On my "new" XP machine (i.e. inherited) with a geForce 2 MX 400 64 mb the game ran OK with the lowest video setting. But the game recommends ATI Radeon cards. OK, fine. On my older Win 98 machine I have a Radeon 7500 with 64 mb. Installed the game and it chugged. The video looked terrible and kept tearing.

OK, look for new drivers for the ATI. Nope. The latest ATI driver for the 7500 support up to DirectX 8 and RCT3 uses DirectX 9. None of newer graphic cards support Win 98. Fudge.

OK, look for a new graphic card for the newer machine. Off to Frys to look at an ATI Radeon 6800 XT which concistently gets good reviews. Hmmm, $200 or so. Errr, arrrgh! Can't do it. Plus the fine print on the box says the card needs an AGP 2.0 spec slot and a 300w power supply. Drive back home and open the XP machine. AGP slot is unlabelled and can't find any info on what version it is other than it supports 4X. Doesn't matter because the machine has a wimpy 200w power supply (my older machine has a 400w supply). Do I want the hassle of getting a new card and power supply? That's about $300.

Or I can buy a new computer for about $800 and get all the latest. To play a game.

This is why consoles are so popular...