Some people simply don't get it.  When it comes to science, you don't begin a study already knowing the outcome.  Generally, you begin a study by asking a question, then conducting tests to determine whether or not you were correct.  But to far too many politicians, science is simply another tool to advance a political agenda.

The Associated Press has recently conducted a five month survey of our nation's water systems, with some very unnerving results.  Normally, people don't think about the water that comes out of their faucets unless it's off-color or smells or tastes funny.  But then along comes an enterprising group of journalists and they make us all stop and think about what it is we're taking into our bodies, and worse, giving to our children.  In this case, it's prescription medications.  Everything from Tylenol to sex hormones.

A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics,
anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found
in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an
Associated Press investigation shows.

I'm usually not the kind of person who gets overly worked up when I hear about minor contamination.  I don't like it, but I don't let it scare me like, say, a bomb under my house would.  But this... this scares me.

I hate to waste a diary on this, but this is important.  The precinct I voted at this morning has apparently shut down, and I can't seem to get in touch with anybody.

I've seen Obama's stump speech probably three dozen times by now, and each time I hear it, I get goosebumps.  But tonight I had the pleasure of actually seeing Barack speak up close and in person, and OH... MY... GOD!!!  It was absolutely unbelievable.  And when I say up close and personal, I mean up close and personal.

The story and pics are after the jump.

Hey folks, all this celebrating of the Rock's victories tonight is great and all, but it's after midnight and the start of a new day.  He can't win this without your help.

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Ok, so maybe you don't have to SFTU, but you do need to get back to work.

Politicians generally don’t like to talk about the environment.  That’s a fact that almost any environmentalist knows.  They all support the environment, and claim to be doing things to help the environment (even when those claims are outright lies like those of the Bush Administration), but for the most part they don’t want to talk about it.

This has always bothered me.  For a long time I thought it was because of the way environmentalists have been labeled as extremists, and in some right-wing circles terrorists.  In fact, I don’t think a day goes by where right-wing talk radio doesn’t try to equate the environmental movement with the likes of Al Qaeda or 9/11 attackers in one way or another.

I’ve also felt that politicians don’t like to talk about the environment because many of their large donors come from corporate interests who really don’t want to see new environmental regulations put in place.  They have interests that new environmental regulations would hurt, namely short-term profit margins.

This is an open letter to Senator Kerry specifically, but also anybody else who has ever run for public office and is endorsing Senator Obama for President.

In just a few hours voting begins in 22 states, and a lot of people are treating Tuesday as a sporting event.  That's fine, and I have no problem with that.  I tend to treat the primary elections like a sporting event as well, at least on some level, and this is like the AFC & NFC Championship games all rolled into one (sorry, saving the Super Bowl metaphor for November).  

Most people here seem to be poll junkies and armchair pundits in some fashion, and we spend a lot of our time promoting and predicting and hoping and even sometimes bashing candidates and those in office.  Sometimes it seems like we're an over-sized version of Meet the Press.

But unlike the Sunday morning talk shows, we don't have staffers to help us frame our questions or years of interviewing experience.  We have questions, but sometimes it seems like the answers or statements we get are framed just like they would be for a television audience.

It took me a while to do it, but I've finally made my choice, and it feels good.  I've been reading a lot of the diaries on candidates here, and a lot of them truly turned me off, but some of them turned me on as well, from all sides of the campaign.

That's why I decided to share here the post I made on my blog talking about the process that went into my choice for the next President of the United States.  

The meat and potatoes is below the fold.

In February of 2005, Dorothy Stang was was murdered in the Amazon jungle in February of 2005 by a gunman at the behest of a farmer. The farmer wanted to cut down a large section of the rainforest to plant crops, yet Stang understood that not only would this be disastrous for the environment, but disastrous for the people and animals who depended on the jungle for food and shelter.

(semi-cross-posted at my blog)

I know, it's sad, isn't it?  Founding editor and all around lunatic Joseph Farah at World Net Daily has decided once and for all that New Jersey will never get a World Net Daily office, or see his beautiful (gag) face again.

Why?  Because you can't openly discriminate against the gays anymore.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's look at a few other issues.  

Simplicity.

We've talked and ranted about it on this blog endlessly.  Republicans have for 30 years been mastering the technique of the simple argument, and they've perfected it to the point where even Joe Simpleton can spew off talking points without need for guidance or further thought.

After reading some of the complaints about the recommended diaries a rare but definite thought entered my brain. I figured I'd go ahead and add it to a diary entry before I forgot what the thought was, otherwise I'd be lost to it forever.

Now, I've worked with a number of content management systems for websites, and I'm basing this idea on something I've seen used for administrators. I'm wondering if it could somehow be used to add another layer of functionality for end-users.

Breaking news:  Air Force One has landed at Dayton International Airport, and President Bush's bus tour has left for Hara Arena.  Bush began his Tuesday bus tour at a pancake breakfast in Maumee, outside Toledo.

Err, I understand the reasons for this, but why call it a bus tour if you're traveling on Air Force One?  It's like calling our President a scholar.