I have seen rates lower, but that was at a far far different time. Do you have someone who could run the numbers for you?

This is kinda awesome [link] Video of little kid making faces and noises edited into a song.

Given the high stress - Chicago clearly needs access to even more good chocolate.

Oh are you fucking kidding me?

-- John McCain suspends campaigning to work on economy, requests postponing Friday debate; asks Obama do the same.

Video of a cat defending its owner's boobs: [link]

Worksafe.

John McCain suspends campaigning to work on economy,

Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason.

-- John McCain suspends campaigning to work on economy, requests postponing Friday debate; asks Obama do the same.

What the....

The dude's fuckin' crazy. He's been attacking the NYT (rather than dispute what the NYT is reporting) and he's been disputing the accuracy of polling data... reality does have an anti-McCain bias.

Meanwhile, in more serious news, A woman on the north coast of New South Wales in Australia is being held hostage in her own home by a large pig, Australian media report.

Uki woman Caroline Hayes, 63, says the pig is as big as "a Shetland pony" and that she cannot get out of her house because of its aggressive behaviour.

"It started knocking on my door at 4 am, head-butting the door, [after] some food," she told ABC television.

When she opened the door, she said, the pig pushed her back inside the house.

The offending animal, whom neighbours have named Bruce, also pulled a king-sized mattress out of her garage and ripped it up.

Ms Hayes, who describes herself as an animal-loving vegetarian, admits she and some of her neighbours had begun feeding Bruce.

Rangers from Murwillumbah Council tried to catch the large animal but the cage was too small.

Animal ranger Len Hing, who visited the scene, explained that Bruce's large size makes him difficult to control when hungry.

"He is a bald pig [weighing] about 80 kilos [176lb]," he said.

"I wouldn't like to see the pig go as a pet anywhere because he could become a potentially dangerous animal."

Rangers say the pig will be captured and taken to a piggery.

Actually, I think it's a win-win for him. If Obama agrees, McCain gets to look presidential (and he's gotten there first); if Obama refuses, Obama looks like he doesn't care about the economy.

I detect the smell of a turd blossom in this.

tell Bush that giving a speech tonight is a massive example of not helping in the least

He'd better not fuck with Bones tonight.

It is a prime time speech.

McCain gets to look presidential (and he's gotten there first)

I don't think requesting a time out looks presidential at all. I think it either looks like he's exploiting the economy to get out of the debate or best case, he can't keep up.