WhimsyLand

I (for some reason I can't fathom) received this email from the Republican National Committee, signed by Michael Steele, the new RNC chairman:

As you know, my mission as the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee is to rebuild our party from the grassroots up – using new technology to spread our conservative message and remind voters that our party is the one and only true party of the people.

But before we get too far down that road, we’ve got some unfinished business to attend to. Specifically, we’ve got to stop liberal Democrat comedian Al Franken from stealing Norm Coleman’s U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota.

As you may know, Norm Coleman won re-election on November 4th by 215 votes. But a subsequent recount -- tainted with inconsistencies and improperly counted ballots -- awarded a temporary 225-vote margin to Franken.

As I write to you, Franken and his allies are working feverishly to persuade a panel of judges in Minnesota that certain un-counted ballots must remain un-counted… and deny the one-person, one-vote principle which is the very foundation of our democratic process.

The Republican Party is so used to being able to lie with impunity, that they continue to do it, even without the cover of the White House.  Coleman did not "win" the election on November 4th, any more than George Bush won the election on Nov 7th, 2000.  Both required a recount.  From Wikipedia:

"On November 18, 2008, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board's certification of the pre-recount results of the election showed Franken trailing Senator Norm Coleman by 215 votes, or less than 0.0075 percent of the over 2.8 million votes cast.^[3][4][5][6] However, under Minnesota state law, an automatic recount was mandated, because the official margin was less than 0.5% percent of the total votes cast. The recount began November 19, 2008.^[6] By January 3, 2009, Franken had taken the lead by 225 votes.^[7] The canvassing board certified Franken's winning margin on January 5, 2009, officially completing the recount.^[8][9] Coleman's campaign filed an election contest on January 6, 2009."

Maybe I should write Steele back and him to research his claim further?  Nah, not worth the time.

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Rauan interviews Rebecca (hat-tip to Reb for the link):  "L’Orchestra du Roi Soleil, Raymond Scott, Sibelius, Mozart, The Beach Boys’ song In My Room, and the gravicèmbalo col piano e forte all make appearances in Cadaver Dogs, as well musical terms like hemiola and tactus."
 
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Square Root Day is a humorous holiday celebrated on dates where the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits in the current year.^[1] For example, the last Square Root Day was March 3, 2009 (3/3/09), and the next Square Root Day will be April 4, 2016 (4/4/16). The final Square Root Day of the century will occur on September 9, 2081. Square Root Days fall upon the same nine dates each century.  (hat-tip to Jilly).

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Apparently, this blowhard is less popular than Bush.  So, why do leading Republicans keep apologizing to him?

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A new study predicts that 87% of all house declines in near-term years will be in exactly 4 states:  California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. 

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Interesting article in The Atlantic.  It says, among many other predictions,  that the Southwest is toast, suburbia is in for problems, and that large urban areas have the greatest chance to prosper all over the world.

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Yeah, I can get behind this:  "Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.", "Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.", "Done is the engine of more."