all-encompassingly

Advice From a Syrian Executive

Another bit from loyal blog participant, Marshall:

As an intern in a Damascus based multi-national company, I took every opportunity to glean nuggets of business wisdom from the Syrian owner-founder Khalid Mahjoub. Although some of it went over my non-marketing head, one piece of advice stuck with me:

The U.S. needs to watch out for the E.U. and China. China is becoming a large competitor for natural resources, not to mention direct business. An example of this is their role in driving up demand, and thus prices for that most important raw material: petroleum. The E.U. wants to replace the U.S. as the dominant economy by focusing its efforts and finances on asset (including human through education) building.They hope to accomplish this by allowing the U.S. to spend all of the money on security organs (such as the military and arms), then hiding behind us and our capability.

Khalid, If you ever read this, let me say that your words are proving to be prophetic. Read Thomas Friedman's editorial this week about the the E.U.'s arms deal to China. This is scary stuff. Read the article here (login required).

doug's note: Marshall points out that "China is becoming a large competitor for natural resources."

Imagine for a moment the global demand for oil when China is even half as industrialized as we are. This is truly an impending geopolitical apocalypse. Our mutual thirst for black bubbly will inevitably create major problems if we don't invest heavily in alternative energy now.

Jon Stewart - Cautiously Optimistic; Nancy Soderberg - Hoping For the Worst

If you want to enter the twilight zone of liberal foriegn policy wonkery, watch the six minute clip of Jon Stewart interviewing Nancy Soderberg, author of The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might.

Favorite quotes (courtesy James Taranto):

Stewart: He's gonna be a great--pretty soon, Republicans are gonna be like, "Reagan was nothing compared to this guy." Like, my kid's gonna go to a high school named after him, I just know it.

Soderberg: Well, there's still Iran and North Korea, don't forget. There's hope for the rest of us.

---------------------

Soderberg: There's always hope that this might not work.

I love how the bulk of the segment was devoted to debunking the premise of the book, namely that American might has been misused by the Bush administration.

Watch the video here, click on the Nancy Soderberg clip.

File Under: Stupid Network Execs

Amy Gahran has a fascinating post on her blog, Contentious, examining the dearth of women narrators in the documentary business. My favorite quote from Jason Kottke's article on the topic is:

An acquaintance of mine is doing some documentary work for the History Channel. One of the channel’s guidelines for their documentaries is that they don’t generally allow the use of female narrators…men only. The History Channel’s audience is mostly men and they want to continue to target only men.

Personally, I enjoy (shall I even go so far as to say I prefer?) the voice of a female. In fact, I listen to Nicole Simon's Useful Sounds not only for the interesting blog/tech commentary but the German accented female voice delivering the material.

Oh well, hopefully Nickolas Davatzes will realize that men actually do enjoy listening to a woman's voice.

The United Nations: Does it have any legitimacy?

First this:

A Frenchman has become the first United Nations worker to confess to having sex with under-age girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but 19 peacekeeping troops implicated in the abuse scandal are likely to escape prosecution.
[source]

Disturbing numbers published by UNICEF: "One in 12 of the world's children is involved in the worst forms of child labor, including slavery, forced labor, hazardous work, militant action and the commercial sex industry, according to a report published Monday by the U.N. child welfare agency, UNICEF."
[source]

Does the UN even have any legitimacy left to squander?

BYU Basketball : The Saga Continues

Another addition to the sad string of BYU basketball news this year:

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -- For more than 10 1/2 strange and painful minutes, the string of futility played out. Layups, 3-pointers, free throws -- Brigham Young couldn't get anything to drop.

The result was a 19-0 deficit on the way to a 70-39 loss to Air Force on Monday night, an unmistakable low point to a season that has been full of them for the struggling Cougars.

Ouch.

On a brighter note, BYU was able to raise enough money to construct a state-of-the-art facility for our favorite student athletes!

Gmail nearing exit from Beta?

Just got this email from the good folks at Google:

Hi there,

Thanks for signing up to be updated on the latest Gmail happenings. We hope it's been worth the wait, because we're excited to finally offer you an invitation to open a free Gmail account! Just click on this link to create your new account:

http://gmail.google.com/gmail/-------------------(url deleted)

Since last April, we've been working hard to create the best email service possible. It already comes with 1,000 megabytes of free storage, powerful Google search technology to find any message you want instantly, and a new way of organizing email that saves you time and helps you make sense of all the information in your inbox.

And here are just some of the things that we've added in the last few months:

- Free POP access: Take your messages with you. Download them, read them offline, access them using Outlook, your Blackberry or any other device that supports POP

- Gmail Notifier: Get new mail notifications and see the messages and their senders without having to open a browser

- Better contacts management: Import your contacts from Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Outlook, and others to Gmail in just a few clicks. Add phone numbers, notes and more. Even use search to keep better track of it all.

We also wanted to thank you. For showing us your support and for being so patient. And to those who have already signed up for Gmail, thank you for giving it a try and for helping us make it better. Our users are what have made this product great. So whether you're just signing up for your account or you've been with us since the beginning, keep letting us know how we can build you the best email service around.

That's it for now. We hope you like Gmail and will share it with your friends. We've got lots of cool new stuff planned and we can't wait for you to see our work in your Gmail accounts! Stay tuned...

Thanks,
The Gmail Team

==
We sent you this message because you signed up to be updated on Gmail. If you do not wish to receive such updates in the future, you may opt-out of receiving Gmail updates by visiting:
http://services.google.com/inquiry/gmail_unsub_link?email=----------

(If clicking the URLs in this message does not work, copy and paste them into the address bar of your browser)

1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

It looks like Gmail is going public soon...

Another Karl Rove Coup?

Every Republican's favorite Democrat was officially elected DNC Chair.

Where have we been?

Ice fishing in Alaska of course!

If no movie appears, click here to download Macromedia Flash Player 7.

Excuse the Hiccups

In the first of a number of transitions, we're in the process of moving to a new server. If you see any problems with the site, please let me know at doug@all-encompassingly.com.

Thanks for your patience with the move.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Just when you think that the United States was as litigious as possible, you read something like this:

Two teenage girls decided one summer's evening to skip a dance where there might be cursing and drinking to stay home and bake cookies for their neighbors.

Big mistake.

They were sued, successfully, for an unauthorized cookie drop on one porch.

The July 31 deliveries consisted of half a dozen chocolate-chip and sugar cookies accompanied by big hearts cut out of red or pink construction paper with the message: "Have a great night."

...

Inside one of the nine scattered rural homes south of Durango that got cookies that night, a 49-year-old woman became so terrified by the knocks on her door around 10:30 p.m. that she called the sheriff's department. Deputies determined that no crime had been committed.

But Wanita Renea Young ended up in the hospital emergency room the next day after suffering a severe anxiety attack she thought might be a heart attack.

The girls wrote letters of apology to Young. Taylor's letter, written a few days after the episode, said in part: "I didn't realize this would cause trouble for you. ... I just wanted you to know that someone cared about you and your family."

The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims.

Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person. The matter went to court.

Young said she believes that the girls should not have been running from door to door late at night.

"Something bad could have happened to them," she said.

[source]

Heroes

hero: A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life

Here are some experiences of Iraqis while voting.

Ali:

As I got out it was still early and I saw no one on the streets but as I got near to the voting center I started seeing people in groups heading the same way. Most of them were women. I saw a crippled man and my old neighbor and his older wife leaning on their walking sticks going to vote. An old woman cleaning her door step stopped me, "Say son, can I go and vote?" She asked after she saw many people going to vote. "Sure Khala (aunt)! Everyone can". She thanked me and went inside apparently to change and get her IDs.

....

The voting center that was chosen in our district is a high school in the middle of the Neighborhood . This was the same place I went in 1996 to cast my vote in a poll asking if we wanted to have Saddam as a president for life or not. I had to go at that time. The threats for anyone who refused to take that poll were no less than the death penalty.

...

This time we went by choice and the threat was exactly the opposite. As I was walking with many people towards the center explosion hit and gun fire were heard but most were not that close. People didn't seem to pay attention to that. Some of them even brought their little kids with them! It's like the Eid but only a thousand times better.

...

As I left one of the gurads said to me as he handed me back my cellular phone,"God bless you and your beloved ones. We don't know how to thank you. Please excuse any inconvinience on our part. We wish we didn't have to search you or limit your freedom. You are heroes" I was struck with surprise and felt ashamed. This man was risking his life all these hours in what has become the utmost target for all terrorists in Iraq and yet he's apologizing and calling us heroes. I thanked him back and told him that he and his comrads are the true heroes and that we can never be grateful enough for their services.

We would love to share what we did this morning with the whole world, we can't describe the feelings we've been through but we'll try to share as much as we can with you.

We woke up this morning one hour before the alarm clock was supposed to ring. As a matter of fact, we barely slept at all last night out of excitement and anxiety.

...

We had all kinds of feelings in our minds while we were on our way to the ballot box except one feeling that never came to us, that was fear.

We could smell pride in the atmosphere this morning; everyone we saw was holding up his blue tipped finger with broad smiles on the faces while walking out of the center.

I couldn't think of a scene more beautiful than that.

From the early hours of the morning, People filled the street to the voting center in my neighborhood; youths, elders, women and men. Women's turn out was higher by the way. And by 11 am the boxes where I live were almost full!

Anyone watching that scene cannot but have tears of happiness, hope, pride and triumph.

The sounds of explosions and gunfire were clearly heard, some were far away but some were close enough to make the windows of the center shake but no one seemed to care about them as if the people weren't hearing these sounds at all.

I saw an old woman that I thought would get startled by the loud sound of a close explosion but she didn't seem to care, instead she was busy verifying her voting station's location as she found out that her name wasn't listed in this center.

How can I describe it!? Take my eyes and look through them my riends, you have supported the day of Iraq's freedom and today, Iraqis have proven that they're not going to disappoint their country or their friends.

...

I walked forward to my station, cast my vote and then headed to the box, where I wanted to stand as long as I could, then I moved to mark my finger with ink, I dipped it deep as if I was poking the eyes of all the world's tyrants.

I put the paper in the box and with it, there were tears that I couldn't hold; I was trembling with joy and I felt like I wanted to hug the box but the supervisor smiled at me and said "brother, would you please move ahead, the people are waiting for their turn".

Yes brothers, proceed and fill the box!

These are stories that will be written on the brightest pages of history.

It was hard for us to leave the center but we were happy because we were sure that we will stand here in front of the box again and again and again.

Today, there's no voice louder than that of freedom.

No more confusion about what the people want, they have said their word and they said it loud and the world has got to respct and support the people's will.

God bless your brave steps sons of Iraq and God bless the defenders of freedom.

Aasha Al-Iraq….Aasha Al-Iraq….Aasha Al-Iraq.

Only Because I'm Blonde Too...

Another joke from everyone's favorite genre of humor.

A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car and was pulled over by a woman police officer, who was also a blonde. The cop asked to see the blonde's driver's license. She dug through her purse and was getting progressively more agitated. "What does it look like?" she finally asked.

The policewoman replied, "It's square and it has your picture on it."

The driver finally found a square mirror, looked at it and handed it to the policewoman. "Here it is," she said.

The blonde officer looked at the mirror, then handed it back saying,

"Okay, you can go. I didn't realize you were a cop."

Grocery Ads for the Mathematically Challenged

As they say, you just can't make this stuff up.

This ad is courtesy of Smith's, a grocery store here in Provo, Utah.

Perhaps there were complaints from some Provo High students as to the confusing price structure of 10 cent cookies.

Those pesky decimal points are so hard to move around!

Steve Ballmer Plugs Windows 1.0

Here's a funny video of current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer back in the 1980's pitching Windows 1.0

Although not aired on TV apparently, it was made for Microsoft employees.

If no movie appears, click here to download Macromedia Flash Player 7.

Many thanks go to the Spanish blog tintachina for providing this code to bloggers everywhere.

Comment SPAM will soon be a thing of the past!

Google, now joined by Yahoo and MSN Search, is taking steps to eliminate comment spam on this blog and all others.

In non-tech jargon, the reason that we get so many ads for pills and mortgages in our comments section is that those links help those sites appear higher in Google's search engine. So, what Google is going to allow now is for the links to be automatically labeled "nofollow", meaning that they won't help the spammers, thus removing the incentive to post comments on blogs.

Hooray for Google!

When a Japanese baby is born....

This is our first (of many!) video posts. This is an ad produced in Australia, showing the birth of the average Japanese baby.

Just press play, and enjoy!

If no movie appears, click here to download Macromedia Flash Player 7.

Many thanks go to the Spanish blog tintachina for providing this code to bloggers everywhere.

Ban the swastika?

Apparently some German lawmakers, seizing an opportunity provided by the outrage at Prince Harry's wardrobe malfunction, are suggesting that there be a Europe-wide ban on Nazi insignia.

"All of Europe suffered under Nazi crimes in the past, therefore, it would be logical for Nazi symbols to be banned all over Europe," said Silvana Koch-Merin, vice president of the Liberal group in the European Parliament.

[source]

If this ban simply bans favorable public displays of Nazi insignia then I would be inclined to applaud the effort. But I can't see the benefit of trying to outlaw symbols (anywhere and everywhere) associated with Nazism.

want to laugh/cry? read these insights from provo's best, brightest

Tsunamis | ProvoPulse.com

doug and i have both chimed in on the discussion, but most of the gargantuan BS is coming from joseph price (aka provojoe) and r. blades (aka mr. marbles). here are a few excerpts from the discussion:

UPDATE: as is the case in many discussions that pit liberal BYU students against conservative ones, this thread has degenerated into a battle over whose political ideology is more righteous. indeed, the post makes fascinating reading, and i cannot attempt to do it justice with a summary. provo pulse

when powell called the united states generous (in response to a UN official who called us "stingy") price called powell's statement "tacky".

price would apparently be opposed to putting any country on the terror watch list until we fully cleanse our nation of al-qaeda's presence. his rebuttal to one of my arguments was, "Al-Qaeda operates in the United States, too. Remember?".

he is also the king of cliches and overused talking points. i'll note the best ones here:

Life is not a football game

I hope Bush will think twice before "wrapping himself" in 9/11...

You can't understand the world from an easy chair.

blades is no dud either. he enters the discussion late, but piles on the BS real quick to catch up! for example, he suggests that osama bin laden doesn't hate americans and calls such an idea a false "paradigm" we all have.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

the thread is kind of getting that "democratic underground" feel to it.

then, blades, in sputtering disbelief, demands, "On what evidence do you base your statement that entire populations are taught that we are the Great Satan?".

maybe it's the fact that muslim schools, muslim religious leaders, and muslim political leaders all teach the young and impressionable that we are. see the results here and here.

update: it's getting worse. blades excused the fact that while arab leaders were sending condolences to the united states, palestinians were dancing in the streets on september 12 "because they thought the war against us was over" and they had won (not because they saw news reports that thousands had been killed).

he then goes on to claim that LDS church president gordon hinckley was actually advocating peace when he cited the war prophet moroni in justification for taking up arms against aggressors. laughably, blades called it a "semantic matter".

blades justified muslim aggression against us (like the september 11 attacks) because of US investment in saudi oil. seriously. he claimed this link supported his point.

the inconsistency of both price and blades' positions is appalling. for example, someone noted that blades had made both of these statements:

"I'll give you pictures of us celebrating the death of 90,000 Japanese civilians."

"I'm not saying that we were celebrating the death of Japanese civilians"

perhaps it was a semantic matter.

the blog administrator points out price's history of rabidly demanding the separation of church and state, and notes the inconsistency of his current position with that stance. in the thread, price argues for a theocratic government that will never fight a war, only turn the other cheek repeatedly, and have "unconditional" love (an unscriptural term) for our enemies. as i said, this is one of their many inconsistencies.

one of my favorite inconsistencies, which both seem to espouse, is, "muslims don't hate us!" alongside "muslims hate us because of x !"

i'll keep updating the discussion from here, but you can read the entire thread at provo pulse.

Merry Christmas

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem…

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

1 Luke 2:1, 3-14

all-encompassingly would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

May this holiday season bring peace, joy, and happiness to you and yours.

Christmas Day - 1776

Read the story of George Washington and the crossing of the Delaware in today's NY Times.

AS 1776 was drawing to a close, Elkanah Watson, a young man in Massachusetts, expressed what many Americans feared about their war for independence. "We looked upon the contest as near its close," he wrote, "and considered ourselves a vanquished people."

There was good reason for pessimism. The British had driven Gen. George Washington and his men out of New York and across New Jersey. In early December, with the British on their heels, the Americans had commandeered every boat they could find to escape across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. They were starving, sick and cold. The artist Charles Willson Peale, watching the landing from the Pennsylvania shore, described a soldier dressed "in an old dirty blanket jacket, his beard long and his face so full of sores that he could not clean it." So disfigured was the man, Peale wrote, that at first he did not recognize him as his brother James.

...

...

Who is running PR for Michael Jackson?

Regular all-encompassingly reader and esteemed scholar Dr. Richard Kimball sent us the following tidbit from the news today, with comments in italics:

Michael Jackson hosts 200 children at Neverland party

LOS OLIVOS, Calif. Pop singer Michael Jackson today greeted some two hundred children who were brought to his Neverland ranch to play in its amusement park.

"I hope you have a wonderful day. Merry Christmas. I love you,” (emphasis added, but we know it was implied) the pop singer called out to the children from the driveway of his estate.

Jackson, who faces trial next year on child molestation charges next year, appeared happy in the few minutes he spoke to the arriving throng (does anyone wonder why he was happy?).

Jackson spokesman Raymone K. Bain (I bet you he doesn’t observe “Take your child to work day”) said he chose to make an unusual personal appearance as a surprise for the last group of children touring Neverland before the Christmas holidays.

Bain said there was no relationship between the event and Jackson's upcoming trial. (But there will be a relation between this and a future court date)

Santa Barbara County authorities have charged Jackson with molesting a (many) boy(s), conspiracy and administering an intoxicating agent, alcohol, to his alleged victim(s).

The visitors, from six organizations and ranging in age from about three or four years to teenage, (mostly boys) were bused to Neverland and then rode a train up from the parking lot (where they were served “hot chocolate” with a Jackson favorite flavor).

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (ha), or redistributed.

The Record Books

* Used performance enhancing flaxseed oil

** Took "andro" (androstenedione)

*** Caught corking his bat after setting these records; may have also used a product similar to Bonds' arthritis rubbing balm

Barry Bonds Used Steroids

His grand jury testimony has been leaked.

My favorite part (emphasis mine):

Bonds told the federal grand jury last year that Greg Anderson, his personal trainer, told him the substances he used in 2003 were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis, according to a transcript of his testimony reviewed by the Chronicle.

...

Sheffield testified to the grand jury that Bonds arranged for Anderson to give Sheffield "the clear," "the cream," and another steroid from Mexico, but also said he did not know they were steroids, the Chronicle reported.

Gary: Man Barry...you're getting huge...who's your personal trainer?
Barry: Oh this guy Anderson helps me out.
Gary: Really? You're not juicing are you?
Barry: Heck no, I'm on flaxseed oil and use a crazy-cool arthritis rubbing cream. Builds muscle mass in no time...amazing stuff!

Read about Bonds steroid use here.

Pat Tillman: Sportsman of the Year

From little green footballs:

Sports Illustrated is running its annual fan poll for Sportsman of the Year, and Pat Tillman, who was killed fighting in Afghanistan after walking away from a multi-million dollar contract to join the Army after September 11, is in the running. I say this as a huge cycling fan, in a year when Lance Armstrong won his sixth Tour de France—but Pat Tillman deserves this award more than anyone else. His sacrifice shows what true sportsmanship is all about. (Hat tip: Al di Grandpa.)

Note: The voting page will automatically load a certain athlete, so you'll need to select Tillman from the athletes on the left side of the screen, and then hit "Vote."

Reed Irvine

Reed Irvine, the founder of Accuracy In Media and longtime media critic, has passed away.

You can visit the site dedicated to Reed and his work, where there is a more extensive biography of this great man.

The Terrorist & The Whore

We are reminded, on this day of celebration, that The Terrorist was married. Many people are surprised to learn that Yasser Arafat's wife, Suha, had not seen the terrorist/Nobel Peace Prize recipient since 2002 (the start of the recent intifada). It must of been a joyous reunion when Yasser was wheeled into a Parisian hospital to receive treatment for his unknown illness. But alas, all disgusting and repulsive things must come to an end. Including the marriage of The Terrorist and The Whore.

According to dictionary.com:

whore n.

1. A prostitute.
2. A person considered sexually promiscuous.
3. A person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain.

intr.v. whored, whor·ing, whores
1. To associate or have sexual relations with prostitutes or a prostitute.
2. To accept payment in exchange for sexual relations.
3. To compromise one's principles for personal gain.

Allahu Akbar

God is great.

Seriously.

The wretched human life form known as Yasser Arafat has officially begun his long sojourn in hell.

Lead a Happier Life: Get Firefox.

Are you sick of popups and other weird things happening to your internet when you use Internet Explorer?

Then you need to make the switch that millions of fellow web surfers have made. Get Firefox!

The wait is over. Firefox 1.0 empowers you to browse faster, more safely and more efficiently than with any other browser. Join more than 8 million others and make the switch today — Firefox imports your Favorites, settings and other information, so you have nothing to lose.

Mark Steyn

If there are any all-encompassingly readers who do not regularly frequent marksteyn.com, add it to your list of "must-read" sites today. Not only is he hilarious and brilliant, but his incisive commentary is right on the money.

My favorite from a recent Steyn column on the election:

On election day, I was driving through Vermont and found myself behind a car with a Kerry-Edwards sticker and an Instead of Being Born Again, Why Not Grow Up? sticker. Fair enough, the feeling's mutual: the secular, coastal, libertine Democratic Party has zero appeal to born-again Christians. The problem is the crude numbers: 40 per cent of Americans identify themselves as born-again. So right there you've written off 40 per cent of the electorate. What have you got in return? The gay vote? Five per cent? And Bush got a quarter of that.

David Brooks With Some Interesting Insight

David Brooks hits the nail on the head explaining how the entire election wasn't decided exclusively on values. Or as he says:

This year, the official story is that throngs of homophobic, Red America values-voters surged to the polls to put George Bush over the top.

This theory certainly flatters liberals, and it is certainly wrong.

Brooks goes on to point out:

The reality is that this was a broad victory for the president. Bush did better this year than he did in 2000 in 45 out of the 50 states. He did better in New York, Connecticut and, amazingly, Massachusetts. That's hardly the Bible Belt. Bush, on the other hand, did not gain significantly in the 11 states with gay marriage referendums.

Daily Kos: The Gift That Keeps On Giving!

The liberal lunacy knows no end...may it continue for many moons to come!

From Daily Kos:

...the Democratic Party as currently constituted is on its deathbed. It needs reforms, and it needs them now. Quite frankly, the status quo simply won't cut it.

Howard Dean for DNC Chair.

Typical Reaction of Liberals

Democrats are so confused about their STUNNING defeat at the ballot box yesterday. Unable to accept the fact that they are outnumbered by conservative Americans, they will wander in the proverbial wilderness for a while now.

In the spirit of bipartisanship, I offer a glimpse of their confusion, courtesy of Democratic Underground (aka, The Net Nuthouse):

The reported results coming out of Florida and Ohio simply make no sense to me. I cannot comprehend how we could have such a massive increase in turnout and not win the election.

The public has spoken...the fools!

Breck Girl: "They made me do this."

The most pathetic lap dog performance EVER. 2:30am.

[on john edwards awkward 'speech' to his dwindling crowd of supporters in the middle of the night. the man looked beaten. so much for the 'sunshine boys' moniker. --travis]

Bush Winning Florida and Ohio

It seems that Bush is doing much better in certain areas where he did not do as well in 2000...

No New Design Yet, But Tons of Blogging Tonight!

As with most things on this blog that I am responsible for, the new design is behind schedule and over budget. But don't worry, since I have returned early from Colorado, both Travis and I will be blogging tonight!

One Week Until Complete Meltdown

On Wednesday, November 3rd, America will wake up to watch the beginning of the great unraveling. Even when Bush wins big I think that the Democrats have so much emotionally invested in this election that they will not go down without a suicidal Dean-scream and a fight to their death.

Let's review what's going to happen this coming Tuesday:

The GOP will widen their lead in the House.

The Senate will stand at least 53 GOP - 46 DEM - 1 IND, if not better. Tom Daschle won't be returning.

George Bush will be re-elected with more than 50% of the popular vote and 300+ electoral votes.

And finally, a somewhat obvious prediction:

John F. Kerry will announce that once every vote is counted he will be elected President of the United States.

The Republican victory will only be met with lawsuits from the Democrats, which will expose them as the whining panzies they are, and reassure America that it made the correct decision in trusting the GOP.

It will be interesting to see how badly the Democrats are able to hurt themselves after the election.

Best Ad of The Campaign

For all those who love Reagan, there is a new ad that is by far the best one of the season.

Watch it here courtesy of Americans for Peace Through Strength.

Bush In The Homestretch

Eleven days and counting.

The Bush campaign has an excellent ad out regarding Kerry & Co. wanting to slash intel spending after the first World Trade Center bombing in the 90's. It is being compared to The Bear ad that Reagan ran in '84.

Read all about it, and watch it, at the Daily Recycler.

http://www.dailyrecycler.com/blog/2004/10/oh-my.html

Kerry: Declare Victory!

From an AP report regarding Kerry's election day strategy, emphasis mine:

"Right now, we have 10,000 lawyers out in the battleground states on Election Day, and that number is growing by the day," said Michael Whouley, a Kerry confidant who is running election operations at the Democratic National Committee.

While the lawyers litigate, political operatives will try to shape public perception. Their goal would be to persuade voters that Kerry has the best claim to the presidency and that Republicans are trying to steal it.

Bush to Win Election

So say America's children...and they have only been wrong twice in the last 64 years.

Scholastic Election Poll

John/John : The Manly Candidates

In the past several days the duo known as John/John to millions of admirers has quashed...I mean QUASHED...any doubt that they are, in fact, the manliest of all duos.

Kerry playing soccer.

Edwards playing Barbie (with his own hair).

Looking to buy a laptop?

Today would be a great day to do it.

Follow this link for $750 off Dell Inspiron laptops. The original price must exceed $1,500. So you basically can get a system for half price. Very nice...

Kerry's Motto: I will say ANYTHING to get elected

David Brooks at The New York Times has a great summary of why John F. Kerry is a true political scumbag.

An excerpt:

So nobody could imagine how incompetent, crude and over-the-top Kerry has been in this final phase of the campaign. At this point, smart candidates are launching attacks that play up the doubts voters already have about their opponents. Incredibly, Kerry is launching attacks that play up doubts voters have about him. Over the past few days, he has underscored the feeling that he will say or do anything to further his career.

If only Zoolander had brought injury upon the Malaysian Prime Minister...

...then we would be spared his anti-semetic diatribes.

But alas, the Jew-hating has taken a back seat to his most recent crusade: ensuring the election of John Kerry! In a not-so-stunning declaration to American muslims, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said that voting for Kerry "...is truly an ibadah (act of devotional worship) that you perform."

The fundamental reason to vote for Kerry, according to Mahathir, is that George Bush has been "the cause of the tragedies" around the Muslim world. "In the past four years, during the Presidency of George W. Bush, the Muslims and their countries have suffered oppression and humiliation as never before in the history of Islam."

Oppression? Humiliation? Maybe he feels that the U.S. is oppressing and humiliating...but give me break, can anything beat their current government and religious practices? I for one would be humiliated if I lived in Saudi Arabia, for example, just knowing that people outside the Islamic world knew how we treated women. Good grief.

As a side note, Mahathir didn't elaborate his feeling as to whether blowing oneself in terroristic civil disobience was also an "act of devotional worship", but I'm guessing we can surmise where he stands.

UPDATE: Anti-semites be unafraid! Respected world leaders are coming out in droves to support Kerry. Yasser Arafat has made clear his support for Kerry as well.

Jon Stewart Destroys Crossfire

Daily Show host Jon Stewart was on Crossfire yesterday and was not funny at all. Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala were expecting him to ham it up, but Stewart came out of the gate criticizing Crossfire (and other "political shows") and didn't stop swinging until the end.

The thing is, as Mitch would say, that Stewart is right on in his criticism. Crossfire usually devolves into a shouting match of talking points, just like so many other "debate shows." Why can't we have Michael Kinsley and Pat Buchanan back?

Video -- Transcript

Google Desktop vs. X1

Many have probably heard about the launch of Google Desktop.

However, there seems to be a more mature product already on the market, with features that (at least on paper) beat Google hands down. It is called X1. And the blogger who runs "the unofficial google weblog" swears by it.

an all-encompassing redesign

In the next two weeks, in anticipation of wild election night blogging by travis, we are designing the web site.

So, if the current design has always bugged you, or you just have a suggestion or two, email doug@all-encompassingly.com. All ideas and suggestions of what the new site should/should not include are wanted. In addition, lists of favorite blog designs are also welcome.

Thanks!

Maybe Something...Maybe Nothing...But Definitely Strange

This is downright spooky....or cool, depending on your interpretation. And depending on what happens in the next couple days.

If you watched the debate last night you might remember that Bush seemed to want to talk to Kerry for a couple extra seconds after they shook hands. I didn't think anything of it at the time more than "That's weird..." But now some interesting stuff is circulating on the net. Here's a summary of the video, from a comment on punditguy:

At 1:29:18 in the video the candidates approach. You can clearly see Bush say, "Where you gonna be?". Kerry's back is to the camera so you can't see his response. Bush then can be seen saying, "We'll find ya."

Note that Bush made the point of pulling Kerry back as Kerry was walking away to ask him the question.

anyway, I am new tonight... as you may not have seen me before in here.. just a FYI that I am deaf here and can read lips okay..

at the end of debate where Kerry and Bush shook hands.. Bush was asking Kerry, Can I talk to you later tonight? Kerry said sure then Bush