at-the-water-cooler.com

I just put my hand out and touched it …

Popularity: 7% [?]

I was really hoping firefox 3 was going to support direct declarative animation; I am using SVG for the 2008 election maps, if you use the adobe plug in you will see early primary states pop ups. These pop ups also still appear on the S2205 senate vote map, with the New Hampshire senators vote Tom Tancredo may do better in the early primaries than I had thought. Data on population from sources in Mexico will replace the 2008 data soon — This site is unfunded work.

Well about a week ago Firefox has frozen it feature list, javascript animation is supported - I did not want to have to deal with programing differences between adobe, firefox, opera, and balik engines.

Go here to start looking at the upcoming features. An alpha build is available while they fix features that have minor bugs, rebuild, test, fix, rebuild.

Popularity: 17% [?]

This is what happens with a broken criminal justice system where the administrative branch administers decisions outside of a jury http://cafr1.com/Plea.html

Popularity: 16% [?]

This Associated Press story Pits police radar technology against GPS technology. The actions of the police don’t surprise me; I would of thought the DA would have enough common sense not to waste court time.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Green states senators voted for, red states against and yellow one senator for and one against — 4 senators did not vote.

Add this map to your site with this html:

<embed src=”http://www.at-the-water-cooler.com/2008/S2205.svg” width=”500″ height=”300″ pluginspage=”http://www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/”></embed>

Popularity: 9% [?]

A pickup truck pulled up to Qualcomm stadium and filled up with supplies, a lady reported the strange behavior to authorities. The truck returned for a 2nd load and the thieves were arrested; it turns out they are illegal immigrants who where being paid to grab whatever they could pick up of value. The police turned them over to the border patrol.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Wednesdays vote on DREAM Act failed in the Senate to receive the 60 votes required to break a filibuster attempt, with Sam Brownback dropping out of the presidential race as a conservative and voting with 39 Democrats in support of the dream act. 11 other Republican senators joined him.

Role call house published on hot air.

Sam’s position on abortion now lines up with Rudy Giuliani’s

Popularity: 19% [?]

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/forums/?forumID=3123 is providing a public service in letting people communicate across the internet on the fire status in San Diego … over half million have been displaced, Fireman have been heroic in this fire which may be the worst in the cities history. Saving countless homes that would of been lost and countless lives.

<update>

Sparksrelief.com Humanitarian Relief page

Popularity: 9% [?]

That headline deals with autism but seems to fit for some pundits …

Headline: Emotion Trumps Logic in the Voting Booth

The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation, by Drew Westen.” Quoting the article’s author, Charles Onyango-Obbo, “Westen has studied elections over the years, and found an inconvenient truth: People almost always vote for the candidate who elicits the right feelings, not the one who presents the best arguments.

…

Thomas Frank’s big question in What’s Wrong with Kansas was why do people vote against their own self-interest? And that’s the same thing that a clinical psychologist is looking for, isn’t it? Why do people behave against their own self-interest?

First lets look at Thomas Frank’s question, he appears to be projecting his self-interest onto others. And in doing so does not hear what others take for granted. Not everybody wants a big government to take care of them. Having grown into adulthood, they grew ready to take care of themselves. Not only are they able to take care of themselves but they enjoy it. The emotional appeal that government can take care of them, they understand, comes with a price - free will.

Freedom is by no means perfect, mistakes are made - take for example all the people who did not take creed of the natural cycles of the economy when they refinanced their homes - now they they are having trouble in paying the bank loans. That is what I would call a decision based on emotions or a desire for instant gratification. No alternative to freedom actually works better this is why socialism keeps failing.

So Thomas Frank question seems to be one that lacks maturity and understanding. Kansas did vote for against their best interest, they rejected empty promises from politicians who can show no realist method of delivering. It is not that they want expensive health care, or that they don’t care if others don’t get as much care as they believe they need; expensive health care is the lessor of two evils, the alternative which is being tried in Canada and is failing.

Emotion does play a part, although small, in appraising if a politician can be trusted. It is healthy not to trust any politician, history shows they lie. The mistake the book is appears to have made is that people voted against their interests because of what was promised to them from candidates that earned distrust by misrepresentations of their past, and by a non spiritual rebirth have new beliefs on the issues. In fact they voted for their interests and saw though empty promises that did not match what the politicians had done in the past, saw through apparent misrepresentations of their past, and voted for somebody who could at least deliver what was promised and had not earned distrust. It was for many the lessor of two evils.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Winds have been calm most of today, allowing firefighters to make headway, they have been heroic. Air resources have been of aid but in short supply. But the National Guard has aircraft and personal trained, willing and able. The only problem has been calfire, does not know how to work with other aircraft. Calfire has their way of doing air drops, not Arizona’s way or Nevada’s way or the National Guard’s way. And unless they have spotters and air traffic controllers and Calfire’s radios they believe it is dangerous to work with other teams. Well a congressional delegation spoke with them about their proprietary way to put out fires.

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego County Representatives
Duncan Hunter, Brian Bilbray, and Darrell Issa will attend a Congressional
briefing tonight detailing efforts to fight San Diego County wildfires and
aid evacuees. Representatives from the offices of Rep. Bob Filner, Rep.
Susan Davis, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Sen. Barbara Boxer are also
scheduled to attend.
    Reps. Hunter, Bilbray, and Issa will have a media availability
following the briefing.
    What:   Office of Emergency Services (OES) Congressional Briefing on
            San Diego County Wildfires

    When:   October 23, 2007 at 9:00 PM (Pacific)

    Where:  OES Center
            5555 Overland Drive, Building 19
            San Diego, CA

So if you went to sleep early and the last thing you heard was it was going to take till November to get control of the fires … the situation may have changed again.

<update> 12 Noon 10-24-07

14 Military aircraft waiting, wind is calm, Weather forecast expects inland wind tomorrow. If the eastern edges of fires are not hit hard today fires will burn to the east tomorrow. Next change in weather would be cooling Saturday and Sunday.

Popularity: 11% [?]