The Wednesday Lull

It's midweek and the taskers are low.

I've decided to invest non-material support in Sen. Clinton's 2006 Senate campaign. As history has shown us, a sitting senator has never been elected POTUS. Go Hil!
Correction: Of our 43 Presidents, only two have elected as incumbent senators - JFK and Warren Harding. Since President Kennedy's assassination (more than 4 decades passed), 41 sitting senators have tried their hand at winning the First Seat. All of which, ended in defeat. Big names include Goldwater, McGovern, Dole, and Kerry. Only 11 former senators have ever won the presidential slot.

Unfortunately for me, rumors from TUAW and Think Secret suggest that the much-anticipated iPhone, to be released First Quarter 2007, will be limited to the Cingular service provider until mid-year. The phone is expected to have a 100-song limit.

FYI: Not only was the increase of gas prices related to the GOP (out of greed and oil love), but critics are now accusing them of decreasing the price due to some big event in November. Nearly 50% of Americans polled thought the elections influenced the price drop. A new Gallup poll puts the number at 42% for people who believe the Bush administration "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections." If the conspiracy theory is true, why would the evil Republicans allow gas to jump that high in the first place? Wouldn't that damage their image to have high gas prices during their term? For a dumb guy, President Bush is quite the powerful thinker when it comes to market manipulation.

Let the mudslinging begin! Drudge and the NYT are reporting that Republicans are pushing an October ad blitz, 90 percent said to be negative. Rep. Reynolds of New York said, (paraphrasing) "You ain't seen nuthin' yet." I love a good catfight.

The slippery slope just got a greasing. New York City's Department of Health is proposing a ban on trans fats in restaraunts. This comes three years after the city told businesses that patrons were not allowed to smoke indoors or even outdoors. The health commissioner claims trans fats are "dangerous and unnecessary. ... No one will miss it when it's gone." That is, everybody that doesn't like McDonald's fries, KFC's chicken, and Dunkin' Donuts. If the government is going to protect people from themselves, I propose we begin place labels on all sugary foods, fatty foods, high-carb foods, and caffeinated drinks. For me, it's another reason to avoid NYC at all costs.

British troops have put to rest a key al Qaeda Operative in Basra, Umar al-Faruq. The radical set up the first AQ training camp in Southeast Asia and had escaped from Bagram, Afghanistan in June 2005. More info on al-Faruq here.

I am currently reading Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity by John Stossel.

Reading Assignments:
David Ignatius: "Democrats ... ducking the hard question of what to do next [in Iraq.]"
Stephen Hayes: The Senate's Intel Report is WAY off.
Rich Newman: Bush's Failure as a Gas Price Manipulater
Jack Kelly: Leaking Times and the Declassified NIE
Rich Vos: Finding a Strategy