London News, Talk and Weather

As we gear up for our trip to London it's fun to listen to local London radio news. Their talk radio is considerably calmer and much more fair-minded than most of ours. Very civilised.

• BBC London Radio 94.9, News & Talk


• LBC, London Radio 97.3, News & Talk


• BBC London Weather Forecast

#44

Election Results -- Check back often

HuffPost has a collection of election charts, widgets and live video feeds, it's their Guide to Watching Election Night Results. With constant updates all night long.

Political Polls

With the U.S. Presidential election less than three weeks away, I thought it was a good idea to learn more about pollsters and their organizations.

Here is a list that includes the top opinion polls. These are the ones most often mentioned in news stories and are frequently co-sponsored by the major national newspapers and television networks.

Gallup Organization
Harris Interactive, Inc.
Peter D. Hart Research Associates
Mason-Dixon Polls
Marist College Institute for Public Opinion
National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago
Pew Research Center
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Roper Poll, University of Connecticut.
Zogby International

To see how the various polls compare check out FiveThirtyEight -- Electoral Projections Done Right -- and Pollster.com.

The National Council on Public Polls has interesting statistics on how the major polls did in predicting previous presidential elections. And Wiki has an excellent overview of Opinion Polls: the history of them and how they work -- or are supposed to work.

Keeping an eye on CERN...

Black Hole Machine? [Click here to find out.]

From CERN's press release a few days ago: "CERN reiterates safety of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on eve of first beam."

Geneva, 5 September 2008. A report published today in the peer reviewed Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics1 provides comprehensive evidence that safety fears about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are unfounded. The LHC is CERN’s2 new flagship research facility. As the world’s highest energy particle accelerator, it is poised to provide new insights into the mysteries of our universe.

“The LHC will enable us to study in detail what nature is doing all around us,” said CERN Director General Robert Aymar. “The LHC is safe, and any suggestion that it might present a risk is pure fiction.” [read more]

However, not everyone agrees. Here's what Citizens Against the Large Hadron Collider has to say about the dangers.

You can check out CERN and how it came to be by clicking on the links below.
CERN Welcome Page
CERN Scientific Information Service
CERN Wiki

Hurricane Gustav Lands

[Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Above, Weather.com's radar map of Hurricane Gustav. This was taken about 30 minutes after the eye of the storm's landfall at Cocodrie, Lousiana -- 70 miles southwest of New Orleans. And about 250 miles WSW of Pensacola, a good, safe distance.

Who Knew THIS Was Illegal?

"Possession of imitation controlled substances?"

Well apparently it is illegal, at least in Escambia County, Florida. Here's the report from the Pensacola News Journal, February 13, 2007: FELONY ARRESTS ESCAMBIA COUNTY
The following suspects were charged with felonies Sunday at Escambia County Jail.

[Name deleted], 18, 100 block of Emerald Drive, reckless driving, possession of imitation controlled substances.
[Name deleted], 18, 100 block of Aquamarine Avenue, possession of imitation controlled substances.

I deleted the names as I am sure none of you knows these folks.

Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007

Sad news from Texas.

"AUSTIN – Columnist, best-selling author and partisan wit Molly Ivins died Wednesday after a long and recurring battle with breast cancer. " From the The Dallas Morning News, February 1, 2007. You can read the entire story by Christy Hoppe, as long as it's up.

The Morning News has also posted this video from Austin's KVUE TV, ABC Channel 24.

And be sure to read the tributes to Molly at The Texas Observer.

News from Our Mississippi Neighbors

Jackson County United for Families meeting with Coast Businesses for Fair Play

Who comes up with the names of these special interest groups? What do they want?

One is a group of Mississippi pastors who say it stands for "quality of life and moral values." The other is largely supported by Biloxi casinos and is against the Indian casino's tax-free privledges and potential freedom of location.

The proposed casino to be operated by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians would be closer to Interstate 10 and away from the waterfront locations state law forces upon the non-Indian casinos.

This would take business away from the Biloxi casinos and harm families?

The group of pastors opposed to gambling met Monday with a representative of Coast Businesses for Fair Play to discuss strategies against the proposed Choctaw casino near Ocean Springs.

The pastors plan to ask the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to hold a nonbinding referendum to oppose the casino, or at least a casino operated by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians away from the water.

What good is a nonbinding referendum, anyway? Does it cost the taxpayers anything? Probably. Does the casino cost the taxpayers anything? No, it brings in millions from the casino customers.

For more on this read the story by Tom Wilemon in the Biloxi (Mississippi) Sun Herald, January 24, 2007.

News from Our Alabama Neighbors(do you wonder why we support gun control?)

"Man shot in fight over James Brown's height"
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By Connie Baggett, Staff Reporter
Mobile (Alabama) Press Register

Gunfire landed a 70-year-old Atmore man in jail and a 62-year-old man in the hospital Monday after the two got into a heated argument over the height of recently deceased soul musician James Brown, police said.

Atmore police said David James Brooks Jr. walked into the police station and told officers he had been shot. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital for treatment.

Minutes later, Dan Gulley Jr. arrived at the station, saying he had fired the gunshot, officers said Tuesday.

Investigators learned that the two men had been at a friend's house on Stallworth Street when they argued about just how tall James Brown was.

Brown, known as "The Godfather of Soul" and the "Hardest Working Man in Show Business," died Dec. 25 in Atlanta of a heart attack at the age of 73. His career spanned 50 years, including hits during the civil rights movement and into the 1980s.

So just how tall was Brown, who was known to wear lifts? He was 5 feet 6 inches tall, according to several Internet sources. One of those sources -- CelebHeights.com -- bills itself as a "fairly reliable guide" but does not state its source. Other Internet references to Brown's height also do not list sources.

Witnesses told police that after Gulley and Brooks' argument escalated, Gulley began shooting at Brooks, hitting him twice in the abdomen. Brooks, already wounded, went to his vehicle, got a gun and returned fire at Gulley, missing him, according to a police news release.

Gulley was arrested by Atmore Police officers and charged with assault. He remained in Escambia County Jail on Tuesday. Brooks remained in the hospital on Tuesday, officers said. Information regarding his condition was not available.

Atmore officers said the shooting happened shortly after noon Monday and that alcohol is not believed to be a factor. Police recovered two small-caliber handguns, investigators said.

Gossip Links

"I never repeat gossip, so you better listen real good when I tell you the first time."
Minnie Pearl
American Comedian
1912 - 1995

Here is a list of some important gossip (what I mean is -- celebrity news) links. If your favorite is not listed here please let me know and, if it is tasteful and newsy, I will add it. (Ok, one or the other will be enough. It doesn't have to be both.)

15 Minutes Magazine
Access Hollywood
Celebitchy
Celebrity Babylon
Cindy Adams
Befuddle (UK)
Ted Casablanca
Daily Blabber
Defamer
Drudge Report
E! Online
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Weekly
Fame Tracker
Fashion Weekly Daily
Karen Feld
Fishbowl DC
Fishbowl NY
Gawker
Gossip Central
The Gossip Times
Inside Edition
The Insider
Jossip
Live Daily
Media Bistro
Michael Musto
NY Daily News Daily Dish
New York Post Page Six
New York Social Diary
Notable Names Database
People Magazine
Perez Hilton
Premiere Magazine
Salon.com
Sky News (UK)
Liz Smith
The Smoking Gun
TMZ
Tube Gossip (UK)
ValleyWag.com

Take Destin, please.

Today the Pensacola News Journal printed a wonderful letter to the editor from Mary Brockett. She responded to an article from earlier this month that asked why Pensacola can't be more like Destin -- sleek, trendy, congested...

She closed with, "The only thing Destin hasn't been stupid enough to do is spend millions putting a baseball field next door to a sewage treatment plant in a floodplain."

As much as I want to see the Community Maritime Park built, and soon, I have to agree. The sewer treatment plant is a much more urgent matter. A new one is vital to the survival of Pensacola. We need the new plant built now, on the new site, even if we have to pay for it.

You can read the whole letter by clicking here. When you get there you will have to scroll down five or six letters but it is worth it.

Downtown Pensacola Dining Guide 2006

The new dining guide is available now online. It's on the Downtown Improvement Board's site.

The DIB site has a variety of useful information. And promises to have more, someday -- a lot of pages say "coming in August." Do they mean August 2005 or August 2006?

And on the subject of Downtown Pensacola, here's a site that's sure to help you keep on top of the positive news about the Community Maritime Park.

Another letter to my Congressmen

Here's the text of a letter I just sent to my U.S. Representative (R) and my Senators (D) and (R). If I get any answers I will post them.

Dear Congressperson:

Please don't let any foreign government control our ports, especially a government that is currently an active enemy of Israel.

There is a US law that bars firms from complying with or cooperating with the boycott of Israel by Arab governments. The Dubai government is one of the participants in the boycott.

The Dubai Customs Department enforces the boycott. Its staff members are paid employees of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCZC). This is the same Dubai government-owned entity that runs Dubai Ports World.

In the recent past the U.S. government has fined companies millions of dollars for participating in the boycott. Is our law now meaningless? What will happen to Israel? And to us?

Please help prevent this sale. I follow the news closely every day and want to see that you are taking a stand against this.

A Letter to Washington, DC

The following is the text of a letter I just sent to my elected officials in the U.S. Congress: a Senator in the Democratic Party, a Senator and a Represenatative in the Republican Party. If I get any answers I will post them.

Dear Congressperson:

As I know you are aware, there is great opposition to the proposed sale of U.S. ports to a foreign government. This issue has unified our country in a unique way.

At the supermarket, the barbershop and over the backyard fence everyone I talk with, whether a conservative, liberal or a moderate, thinks this is a dangerous, bad idea for the United States.

I see on the news that now there will be more time to consider the sale. Why do we need more time? What is there to consider? It will still be bad for America—next week, next month, next year.

Please do what you can to keep the sale from happening.