Steelers vs. Bengals LiveBlog

Here we go again. Ocho Cinco is out, but we're in. Join us for some more cutting football analysis, which so far usually involves making fun of CSI promos, Bram complaining about Willie Parker, and me leaving the chat for 15 minutes to attend to an injured set of babies.

Killing time before the Steeler game: Happy Philosophy Day

David Bain, a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Glasgow, wrote a neat little piece for bbc.com. He puts forth 4 questions, the first being my favorite which i will post here for debate until kickoff at 8:15 tonight.

The question: Should we kill healthy people for their organs?

Suppose Bill is a healthy man without family or loved ones. Would it be ok painlessly to kill him if his organs would save five people, one of whom needs a heart, another a kidney, and so on? If not, why not?

Consider another case: you and six others are kidnapped, and the kidnapper somehow persuades you that if you shoot dead one of the other hostages, he will set the remaining five free, whereas if you do not, he will shoot all six. (Either way, he'll release you.)

If in this case you should kill one to save five, why not in the previous, organs case? If in this case too you have qualms, consider yet another: you're in the cab of a runaway tram and see five people tied to the track ahead. You have the option of sending the tram on to the track forking off to the left, on which only one person is tied. Surely you should send the tram left, killing one to save five.

But then why not kill Bill?

Me? I would kill one to save many.

Steelers vs. Chargers LiveBlog

Okay.  Looks like the Ravens are gonna lose pretty badly.  Let's see if the Steelers can't make up for last weekend.  Or at least try to hold a 4th quarter lead.

Apropos of Nothing

I thought I would mention this. We have in our house a small, stuffed bear, whose hands are made of plastic filled with the same sort of gel that is found in the icepacks you put in a cooler. it lives in the freezer, the hands get frozen, and when one of the little ones has a boo boo, we break out the bear instead of ice.

His name: Stephen Cold Bear.

You're Kidding Me...

Three votes. (FiveThirtyEight)

BHODS

It was Charles Krauthammer who coined the annoyingly-overused phrase "Bush Derangement Syndrome," defining it as:

...the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.

At the time, he surely recognized that it was just a matter of time before the shoe would be on the other foot. And while the Right at large had shown signs all year of the early stages of "Barack Hussein Obama Derangement Syndrome," we may have our first official case in an elected official.

Republican Congressman Paul Broun, within the hour, has taken back his taking back of comments about Obama planning to build a domestic security force so that he can impose a Marxist dictatorship. Meant it just the way he said it, thank you very much.

Keep talking, "Congressman." It's nice to have a little post-election comic relief!

Comprehending What It Means

I think it might be impossible for whites to truly comprehend what Obama's victory means for many African-Americans. But two images have let me appreciate it just a little bit more.

First, as shown above, we have Jesse Jackson welling up while standing in Grant Park after Obama won. This picture is cropped, however. When the image was broadcast live, Jasckson was standing among several seemingly random people -- all white -- who were assuredly happy, but were not emotional and were completely oblivious to Jackson and his tears. I felt it was doubly-symbolic. Not only was the reality of a black President enough to move Jackson to tears, but the lack of similar emotion from those surrounding him highlighted the difference in the meaningfulness of the moment among the races. I think there was also, then, a triply-symbolic aspect to this image, in that not only was it historic that a black man was elected President, but the fact that he was black was hardly meaningful to most whites that voted for him. Basically, it was moving that the white people didn't find the moment moving. So it was another reason for Jackson to be overcome with emotion. The content of Obama's message, if not his character, completely dwarfed any part about the color of his skin. Well, maybe that doesn't count as triple symbolism. We'll stick with double. Someone let me know if they find a screen-cap of Crying Jesse with the white people around him. (Jay Leno said that Jesse was crying because he makes more than $250,000 per year. Apparently, Jesse had other reasons for the tears. Very moving).

Second, while coming out of the Metro station on the way to work this morning (Friday), there was a line of 35 or so people snaked around a corner. All of the people in line were black. They were lining up to buy a copy of Wednesday morning's Washington Post from a specially set-up street vendor. Newspapers all over the country have been printing out extra copies. The Post had to print out an additional 350,000 copies due to demand. Newspapers sold out in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Detroit, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles as well. I know that there's no evidence that this is all due to large masses of black people wanting to buy a commemorative newspaper, but I'm also fairly sure that white people in general would not be standing in a long line to wait to buy one, especially two days after the paper came out. I stopped for a minute or so to just look at the line. It was a good visual representation of the meaningfulness for African-Americans of Obama's victory.

Little Help: Soviet History.

Quick. A little while ago I read a piece about how the fall of the Soviet empire had not as much to do with Reagan bankrupting them and Pope John Paul being a mensch, but more to do with something else.

I forget what. Anyone?

[Czhallo. Is Gorbechev. I am out of town right now, but Andelmans have been gracious enough to give me job answering telephone.]

Prediction Update: I Kicked All Y'all's Ass. Unless I Didn't

There are still several races to be decided, so we can't establish a true WNW Predictions winner. But here's how things look so far. Winner is bright yellow. Possible winner is in less-bright yellow. If our average guess would have won (or possibly won), I made it teal. The actuals are in green. I believe all of that was unnecessary.

So, I have at least 4 "points", with a possible of 6. Except others can also approach 4 points. So I might win nothing. And even if I win, I win nothing. So I will at least win the nothing.

I knew I liked them

And now for the truly important post-election news.

Malia and Sasha Obama, promised a puppy after the election, are instead considering a rescue dog.

As a habitual rescue pet adopter, I encourage the Obama girls to go in that direction. It would do wonders for animal rescue in the U.S. to put the first family's face on their efforts.

Rahm n' Noodles

There are no noodles. I just wanted to make a pun.

Anyway, Rahm Emanuel has apparently accepted the Chief of Staff job. On the one hand (the bigger hand), I really dig this. I like Rahm, and I think it's very smart to immediately slap down a Jewish guy in a high-profile position. That ought to (at least for about 12 seconds) shut up the Barack Heart the P.L.O. crowd.

On the other hand, he's kind of a fiery guy, and that breaks a little with the Obama tradition to date. Also, he's always struck me as more of a policy/advisory dude -- though I guess that is part of C.O.S. Anyway, I'm sure O will choose a pretty diverse cabinet that will have a little something for everyone.

The Morning After

I'd like to first begin with how accurate I was with the predictions, not perfect, but pretty spot on- you are welcome. The live blogging I felt went well and was much fun, sorry I ducked out early, but I had to go to sleep so I called the race. VA and IN were nice surprises.

- WTF in CA!!?? They banned Gay Marriage? That's the whole point of CA!!
- Ted Stevens still holding on. He better not win, I don't want Palin in the Senate...nor does McCain.
- Al Franken demands a re-count. Well a recount is mandatory.
- 300 dollars says Obama appoints Hillary to the Supreme Court.
- Another 300 says Dems set up shop in AZ in an attempt to turn it by 2012.

Election LiveBlog starting at 7:30PM tonight!

too cute

A morning prayer

Barack atah Illinois, Elohenu melech ha'olam, boray p'ri ha-electoral landslide.

Amen.

[cross posted at the other joint]

Predictiooooooooons.... Predictions.

Let's See Who Can Get Closest. I'll bump up from the Comments later in the day, so they're easier to see:

1) Electoral Votes for your winner of choice. Use CNN's Election Calculator for even more precision.

2)  Difference in Popular Vote Percentage.   Use "O +x.x%" for example.

3) Number of Senate Dems.  DO NOT INCLUDE Lieberman or Sanders (the Independents) in your count.  Right now, Dems have 49.  There are at least 5 pretty-solid pickups, for a seeming floor of 54.  That leaves, in order of polling chances for the Dems: OR, NC, MN, GA, KY, MS.

4)  Number of House Dems.  The current House is 232 to 200 (with 3 vacancies).

5)  Tipping State.  This is the same question as last week, and I think the most thought-provoking one, as you can't rely on any single poll to figure this out.  What state will be the one that the networks claim gives your candidate his 270 electoral votes and announces him as the winner?  It could be any state, since it depends on the chronology of how quickly each state's votes are counted.

6)  Turnout Compared to 2004.  In 2004, turnout was pegged at 60.7% -- the highest since 1968.  There seems to be a wide variance in the statistic though (this chart pegs 2004 at 55.3%, "but has a voting-age population 20 million people higher than the other figure), so a hard-number prediction will not work.  So, predict how many percentage points higher/lower turnout in 2008 will be than in 2004. (Still not perfect, I realize, but doable).

7)  Will John Murtha Pull Through?  Murtha is the longtime Rep from Johnstown, PA, but called his constituents racist, an assessment that no one agrees with, except for everyone.

UPDATE:  

Here's a handy sheet of everyone's guesses so far.  I have the low on the popular vote differential, but Jason has the low on electoral.  Yet, Jason also makes the apparent stunning prediction that Obama carries SC.  

Didja Vote Yet?

I voted shortly after 6 AM, since I don't know if I'll have time after work. The line was out the door. I was number 106 at my station (there are two separate wards at my polling place, each with a separate count), about 20 minutes after the polls officially opened in NJ.

How about you?

Amazing Race

I enjoyed Rachel Maddow's Sunday recap of the gaffes, greatest hits, and downright strange moments from this seemingly eternal campaign.

So many great moments. McCain talking about the plan he's laid out for his fellow prisoners. Mike Gravel's bizarro commercial with the silence and the rock throwing. Biden trying to get a paraplegic to stand up. Obama visiting 57 states. Palin knowing nothing about anything.

Take a gander.

Kos Election Contest

Kos has an election pool where you can win a laptop (you have to be a registered Kossack to enter). When I fill mine in, I'll try to post a screenshot or link or something as my official predictions.

Right-wing quote of the day

From PowerLine:

"Still, I have a feeling that once you get past his core constituencies, Obama's support is very thin."

Interesting.

Predictions: Senate and Prez

Let's just do it-

Virginia: Mark Warner over Jim Gilmore
New Mexico: Tom Udall over Steve Pearce
Colorado: Mark Udall over Bob Schaffer
Alaska: Mark Begich over Palin's Pet Toy Ted Stevens
New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen crushing John Sununu
North Carolina: Kay Hagan upsets Elizabeth "Godless" Dole
Oregon: Jeff Merkley over Gordon Smith
Minnesota: Norm Coleman barely beats Al Franken
Kentucky: Mitch McConnell over Bruce Lunsford
Mississippi: Roger Wicker in a close one over Ronnie Musgrove
Georgia: Jim Martin upsets Saxby Chambliss
Louisiana: Mary Landrieu ontop of John Kennedy (not that he minds)

Obama wins: HI, CA, OR, WA, NV, NM, CO, MN, IA, WI, IL, MI, FL, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, NH, VT, ME.

McCain wins: AK, ID, UT, MT, WY, AZ, TX, OK, KS, NE, SD, ND, MO, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, TN, SC, KY, IN, WV, OH.

Obama over McCain 333-205

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You heard it hear first. Let's go Steelers!!