Rob's got a confession to make. . .

I've already confessed this to several of my classmates, but I'd like to come out before everyone as a "non-voter" in this '08 election. I've got several reasons:

1) I don't mean to be fatalistic, but is this not a sinking ship? What's the use of moving a few marbles around in the hull?

b) Alas, I'm an isolated college student that doesn't even own a TV

γ) I was too lazy to register absentee

So, there you have it peoples. Please don't blame the outcome of this election on me
(*cough* MPK). My tiny little vote would have done hardly anything; you are apparently laboring under the delusion that this is a democracy.

I play the prophet

Tomorrow, around 8 or 9 PM CST, the major news media is going to realize that this is a much closer race than anyone wants to say. States like Idaho, New York, Kansas, and Oklahoma will go exactly as polled. CNN's predictions, though, that Obiden will lap McPalin on electoral votes is just dang ridiculous. Virginia will not go to Obama, and neither will Montana or North Dakota. I'm having trouble seeing Washington going that way as well. I think Palin will swing a large portion. North Carolina is another easy shot for the Reds. We may have another state (a la New Hampshire in y2k) that's up in the Blue Northeast that ends up swinging over. The big problems will, as always, lie in the swing states. What will be interesting though, is that this election will do roughly what the 2000 election did. Ohio and Pennsylvania will be split between Dems and Reps. Ohio will again go to the Red and Pennsylvania Blue. The battle will end up in Florida, like it always seems to, and this is where Wolf Blitzer will get all shrill and flustered. 

All of a sudden he and the rest of the "best political team in the frippin universe"™ will realize that their polls were wrong. Here's the thing about Florida, Alabama, and Georgia: more than half of the people who will vote for the Republicans no matter who is running are the working class heroes that anarchist musicians love to sing about and then love to hate come November. They are the trailer-living, gun toting, beer drinking rednecks who would hang up on any pollster in the world. But they'll show up tomorrow, and Wolf Blitzer and Anderson "The Grease" Cooper will shake their heads in sadness, and swear blue streaks on and off of cats when commercial breaks come. 

Come 12 am on Nov. 5th, we'll be no closer to a result. This one will take days, more likely weeks. The battle will start in the courts, and we'll see how it goes from there. It will be quite interesting to see how Charlie Crist (FL governor), a democrat, will react when his sponsor John McCain (they have a long track record together) and his party's nominee are both fighting over his state's votes. It'll be a very amusing couple of weeks

N.B. I have made at least two dozen controversial claims unfounded on any sort of real data except my own, limited experience. Most of this is sheer conjecture. But I do really think it's what will happen. May God, as Pastor Wilson said this Sunday, give us mercy and not justice. 

What my dad does when I'm away. . .

Well, last Saturday my dad went diving with Ron Smith, Al Stout, Rachel his assistant, and her dad. There's a funny story about how Mr. Smith let the boat go and my dad had to jump in after it, but I won't go into it. Here's a video he made with his new underwater camera mount:

First Week of NSA

I would like to apologize to my loyal readership for leaving you all in the dark as to how my first week of NSA classes is gone. I can only imagine all the heartache and soul-searching I have subjected you to. I intend to set this straight right now.

I'll start with the academic side first. . . Classes started on Wednesday August 20 but as every NSAer knows, the pain (and fun) begins before classes even start. At the end of convocation all the Professor chaps in their cool robes come up and tell their students what they want them to do for their first class. My class had to prepare for a small Latin vocabulary quiz (DOWN WITH BUSH, I've got political Turrets), read 190 pgs. of "How to Read a Book" (for Thursday), and finish C.S. Lewis' introduction to "On the Incarnation", and the first five books of St. Augustine's "Confessions." This was light compared to what the uppaclassmen [sic] had to do. They like had to answer the question "What is the meaning of life?" with an answer that doesn't involve a number, solve all the issues behind world debt, and cure cancer and AIDS (as long as they're curing cancer they might as well cure AIDS).

Anyway, my point is WE HAD IT EASY!!!

Anyway, I did all that with the help of my compadres who stayed late up into the night with me comforting me that it would "be alright."

Speaking of compadres, I still haven't spoken of any of the wonderful people I have come into contact with in this, my first week of NSA. I can't name them all but let me just tell you that they are wonderful. All the homework does not seem as daunting when I am around people with such good attitudes.

God Bless Us Every One.

and this my friends, is a dead muskrat:

P.S. my apologies to Charles Dickens; that last part just slipped out on its own