Great story on the bulge in Bush's jacket at Salon or here:

"NASA photo analyst: Bush wore a device during debate
Physicist says imaging techniques prove the president's bulge was not caused by wrinkled clothing.

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By Kevin Berger

Oct. 29, 2004 | George W. Bush tried to laugh off the bulge. "I don't know what that is," he said on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, referring to the infamous protrusion beneath his jacket during the presidential debates. "I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt."

Dr. Robert M. Nelson, however, was not laughing. He knew the president was not telling the truth. And Nelson is neither conspiracy theorist nor midnight blogger. He's a senior research scientist for NASA and for Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and an international authority on image analysis. Currently he's engrossed in analyzing digital photos of Saturn's moon Titan, determining its shape, whether it contains craters or canyons.

For the past week, while at home, using his own computers, and off the clock at Caltech and NASA, Nelson has been analyzing images of the president's back during the debates. A professional physicist and photo analyst for more than 30 years, he speaks earnestly and thoughtfully about his subject. "I am willing to stake my scientific reputation to the statement that Bush was wearing something under his jacket during the debate," he says. "This is not about a bad suit. And there's no way the bulge can be described as a wrinkled shirt."

Nelson and a scientific colleague produced the photos from a videotape, recorded by the colleague, who has chosen to remain anonymous, of the first debate. The images provide the most vivid details yet of the bulge beneath the president's suit. Amateurs have certainly had their turn at examining the bulge, but no professional with a résumé as impressive as Nelson's has ventured into public with an informed opinion. In fact, no one to date has enhanced photos of Bush's jacket to this degree of precision, and revealed what appears to be some kind of mechanical device with a wire snaking up the president's shoulder toward his neck and down his back to his waist.

Nelson stresses that he's not certain what lies beneath the president's jacket. He offers, though, "that it could be some type of electronic device -- it's consistent with the appearance of an electronic device worn in that manner." The image of lines coursing up and down the president's back, Nelson adds, is "consistent with a wire or a tube."

Nelson used the computer software program Photoshop to enhance the texture in Bush's jacket. The process in no way alters the image but sharpens its edges and accents the creases and wrinkles. You've seen the process performed a hundred times on "CSI": pixelated images are magnified to reveal a clear definition of their shape.

Bruce Hapke, professor emeritus of planetary science in the department of geology and planetary science at the University of Pittsburgh, reviewed the Bush images employed by Nelson, whom he calls "a very highly respected scientist in his field." Hapke says Nelson's process of analyzing the images are the "exact same methods we use to analyze images taken by spacecraft of planetary surfaces. It does not introduce any artifacts into the picture in any way."

How can Nelson be certain there's some kind of mechanical device beneath Bush's jacket? It's all about light and shadows, he says. The angles at which the light in the studio hit Bush's jacket expose contours that fit no one's picture of human anatomy and wrinkled shirts. And Nelson compared the images to anatomy texts. He also experimented with wrinkling shirts in various configurations, wore them under his jacket under his bathroom light, and couldn't produce anything close to the Bush bulge.

In the enhanced photo of the first debate, Nelson says, look at the horizontal white line in middle of the president's back. You'll see a shadow. "That's telling me there's definitely a bulge," he says. "In fact, it's how we measure the depths of the craters on the moon or on Mars. We look at the angle of the light and the length of shadow they leave. In this case, that's clearly a crater that's under the horizontal line -- it's clearly a rim of a bulge protruding upward, one due to forces pushing it up from beneath."

Hapke, too, agrees that the bulge is neither anatomy nor a wrinkled shirt. "I would think it's very hard to avoid the conclusion that there's something underneath his jacket," he says. "It would certainly be consistent with some kind of radio receiver and a wire."

Nelson admits that he's a Democrat and plans to vote for John Kerry. But he takes umbrage at being accused of partisanship. "Everyone wants to think my colleague and I are just a bunch of dope-crazed ravaged Democrats who are looking to insult the president at the last minute," he says. "And that's not what this is about. This is scientific analysis. If the bulge were on Bill Clinton's back and he was lying about it, I'd have to say the same thing."

"Look, he says, "I'm putting myself at risk for exposing this. But this is too important. It's not about my reputation. If they force me into an early retirement, it'll be worth it if the public knows about this. It's outrageous statements that I read that the president is wearing nothing under there. There's clearly something there."

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About the writer
Kevin Berger is a senior news editor at Salon."

Or see the photo here.

Predicting the Electoral College Results via Polling

A few interesting website have been incorporating the latest polling information to predict who will win the Presidency.

1). Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 - this is pretty interesting - it has Kerry leading at the moment but no clear winner (no one at 270 electoral college votes).
2). Los Angeles Times Interactive Electoral College Turnout - this site is neat because it lets you change the results in all 50 states to see how the race would turn out under different circumstances. You control the outcome! And then it plays the Presidental theme song or convocation that they play when the President is inaugurated when either Bush or Kerry's total reaches 270.

Of course, over dinner last night, a bunch of friends and myself were saying that all the polling is really bunk because they are not taking into account a). the surge in voter registration all over the country and b). the heavy use of cell phones as a person's single point of contact. None of these cell-phone only folks ever get included in polls, so how accurate can they be?

Here is a comment I left on the blog for Dan Kennedy who writes for the Boston Phoenix - it's called Media Log. His latest comment is a decent assessment of last nights VP debate.

"For those that wish to determine who "won" the debate last night (which really doesn't accomplish much), you have to place both candidates in the proper context:

Cheney: mysterious & powerful vice president and decision-maker, main advisor to the monkey president - here's a guy that hides in his secret bunker when the alert level gets too high. He also chooses to work for a huge corporate conglomerate, Halliburton, where we have no REAL idea what he did - we can only guess by seeing how Halliburton conducts itself; they get a multi-billion dollar no-bid contract after we invade Iraq - to say that Cheney had absolutely no influece in our relationship with Halliburton is naive. Even if Cheney's hands are clean since he left the company (doubtful), I would guess that during his tenure at HB, he had an intimate knowledge on how to get government contracts, which they had many of. HB is no doubt benefitting from this advisement to this day. AND Cheney is still getting money from them (I don't care what it's called).

Edwards: Pretty much an unknown until the Democratic primary; we all know he is a wealthy trail lawyer and we might know a little about his voting record in the Senate.

Given how much we know about both candidates and have them in better context (admittedly my own context), I thought Cheney seemed evil ("... blood dripping from his fangs ..." is exactly how I see him - it seemed like he was always about to lunge at Edwards and strangle him & then stomp on his body) and it was clear that Edwards got under his skin, just like Kerry did with the President. For Edwards to have held his own and come across as very "Presidential" and to simply be at the same table as Cheney was a HUGE boon to the Democratic ticket."

I'm trying to get a free iPod - go here if you want to participate in an offer - I'll be your best friend - honest! Basically, if I can get 5 friends to participate in one of the trial offers (i.e., BMG music service, Columbia DVD service, Blockbuster Online Movie rentals, etc) , then I'll get a free 20GB iPod.

A few sites on the Internet were put up by people to prove that this isn't a scam - you can visit one of them here and read about it in Wired.

Don't you think Al Gore has gained a little weight lately?

Taken sometime in 2003 (I think)	Taken this week

Al!! Bill just had a quadruple bypass fer christs sake!! Don't go down that road!!

OK, since my last post, I took a way fun trip to Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard and Vermont.

Besides just relaxing and having nice people cook for me, I had a hell of a time getting pulled around a lake in Vermont on a inner tube. I was on the tube with Heather's cousin, Audrey, and I think she got mad at me because I lasted on the tube longer than her. Her dad, Stott, was driving the boat and he couldn't throw me off until he took the boat up to full throttle. I wish I had pictures of me flying off the tube and hurtling across the lake. I hyper-extended my knee but apart from that and getting the wind knocked out of me, it was a total blast. Thanks Stott and Audrey!

The first time I went on the tube, Zoë happened to be in the boat with mom and when she saw us wipe out, she had a fit. I guess she thought the lake ate me up or something. Poor thing.

George and Janice Sue's place is coming along, it's located in Barton, VT	View from the porch with George clutching his toy animal (he goes nowhere without it - don't ask) (. . .just kidding George. . .)

We happened to be in Vermont during the weekend of the final Phish concert - which made us have to alter the route we took up to Island Pond. Other than a trip through Barton and then down I-93 (I-91?), we didn't see much of it. During a drive down from Canada, we saw the ruin along the highway where cars had left their rubbish along 8 miles of interstate. I woulda thunk hippies and yuppies would be more responsible about their garbage. Maybe all the drugs they took made then forget to pick things up. Oh well.

Zoë had a swell time on Martha's Vineyard. What with the Flying Horses, the beach and Jalen's birthday, it was non-stop action fun!

Here's us after we caught the Brass Ring on the Flying Horses (yay!)	Ever see the movie "Open Water"?

The flight back was not too memorable except for one part of one flight (thanks Benadryl!) - Zoë got to experience the pleasure of your ears decompressing upon landing - what fun that was for everyone.

Now we're getting ready for Zoë's big week of birthday activities which includes a party for my dad and Zoë at Trinacria and then a kids-oriented party at our house the following weekend.

Oh, I had to include this link to a great Flash movie about the End of the World. I cried the first time I saw it b/c it's so funny.

I've been a little gonzo over Wilco the past week and a half.

I can't remember what it started with; probably anticipation and build-up to the release of A Ghost is Born. I've also been reading Greg Kot's new book about them, Learning How to Die.

It's been a great read so far - I like the part when Tweedy was at the Grammy's for their nomination for Mermaid Avenue . . . "The band was quickly reminded it didn't belong at the glitzy Los Angeles ceremony for the Grammys when Tweedy stood in the aisle with a handful of programs while he waited for his bandmates and Sean "Puffy" Combs mistook him for an usher".

There's a lot of great information (probably too much) into the relationships between the bands members.

The Wilco hubub will probably die down once I see the Sam Jones documentary, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (I need to buy that).

I also ordered two Wilco stickers this morning - I'm so bad. I've also been trolling and posting on ViaChicago.Org a lot the past week - I'm such a nerd.

This is a really funny webpage - George W. Bush's hotmail account.

Also, if you're looking for some good alt-country/insurgent Internet radio, my latest find is Boot Liquor on Soma.

Oh man, I'm totally jizzin' over this software I just discovered . . . it's called Replay Radio and it lets you record internet radio on a schedule . . . I've been looking for something like this for a long time . . . there are tons of radio programs I should be listening to that I can't because I work for a living! It will be fun to try this software out.

Here's a link to the software manufacturer.

I found this mentioned in the NY Times Circuits section where they reviewed a radio that records broadcast stations on a schedule - the reviewer didn't like the quality of the player, however, in the Yahoo group he mentioned, one poster claims the reviewer doesn't know what he's talking about.

Way to go NYT! The way the so called "Tech reviewer" trys to compare
his antenna in his car (BIG) verses the one in RYW is a fine example
of his incompetance.

"In a neighborhood where my Toyota Corolla receives nine AM stations
clearly, the RYW pulls in only three."

Obiously technology is not the NYT's strong point.

If RYW is such a piece of garbage like the NYT claims it is, why did
PC world give it an award???

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,113747,pg,4,00.asp

Oh, OK, I'm lame. I didn't PUBLISH the damn thing.

Anyway, so . . . . assuming this thing works now, my latest website of interest reviews the major new news media of the day. It's part of Slate/MSN and written by someone named Josh Levin - I know, I know, corporate media, but it's good if you don't want to have to review all of it yourself firsthand. I don't have time to do that - I have to much stuff lying around that I want to read in the first place - I don't have time to buy and read the New Yorker, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The New Republic, the Economist, etc., etc., etc., . . . . oh, here's the link:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2095880/

I deleted my last blog but I was never able to view my blogspot website (still not sure why). This is a test post to see the different templates.

Oh, by the way, you smell.