RIP: VOTER NEWS SERVICE



After the most recent elections, I was struck by how much I enjoyed waiting for the final results to roll in, sans the usual goofs spawned by that network voter prediction service with the initials VNS. Like minded readers will enjoy the following, AP story:

NEW YORK � Six major news organizations announced Monday they are disbanding Voter News Service, the consortium they had built to count votes and conduct surveys on Election Day. The decision follows two major election-night failures in a row by VNS.



Given the expense of mounting such operations on their own, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and The Associated Press said they were considering other options for sharing vote counts and exit poll surveys.

I have an idea: Why not wait for the official returns to roll in, like everyone else? The entire story can be found here.

JUXTAPOSITION OF THE DAY



I caught this little tidbit in James Taranto's "Best of the Web" today (from a few weeks ago -- a feature of the WSJ's OpinionJournal website):

Life Imitates Watt



"I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent."--Interior Secretary James Watt, 1983 (the comment led to his resignation)



"The Army wants commercial freight handlers to help it ship 30,000 vehicles to the Middle East in the coming weeks from bases in Germany, according to European transport industry sources invited to contract for the job. . . . Potential European carriers were being asked to hire 'American military veterans, preferably black, Jewish or disabled' as drivers and crew."--Reuters, Dec. 24, 2002

Classic.

HAPPY NEW YEAR



This is a somewhat belated greeting to you all this new year. I hope all of your dreams come true.

FIRST SHOPPING DAY OF THE SEASON...



...and I can't believe how full I still am. Really.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING



I hope you all have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Take care!

DON'T TREAD ON ME

AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT...



I loved this letter to editor which appears in today's Wall Street Journal:

Islam in Practice



According to Mr. Moeser, chancellor of UNC at Chapel Hill, requiring the reading of parts of the Koran is fulfilling the responsibility of the university is to provide students "with an atmosphere in which they can deepen their sense of themselves and the complex, often contradictory world around them" (Letters to the Editor, Aug. 20). To that end, may I suggest that the program include a study of the genocide and forced slavery in Sudan, or how Islam has brought its version of "peace" to Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Balkans, as well as a consideration of democracy and human rights in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, et al. Interviews with those attempting to practice a religion other than Islam in Islamic countries would be enlightening, along with interviews of women, or family members of those who have disappeared at the hands of these "enlightened" governments. Video clips of the numerous celebrations in various Muslim countries at the destruction of the Twin Towers and the murder of 3,000 innocent Americans would also be instructive.



Alan Biehl

Dallas

Excellent work, Mr. Biehl!