When I started this blog, I wasn't too comfortable talking about politics. Consider my coverage of the 2004 presidential election (1 2 3 4). Pretty even-handed, it was, even though I had my opinions. But over the course of 991 posts, I've become more comfortable in my own skin. If you haven't been able to tell, I'm a lefty to the core. (I'm also a lefty to the hand, but that's neither here nor there.) Dennis Kucinich was my dream candidate, but I am left supporting Barack Obama.

It's hard to be 100% excited about a candidate you don't support 100%, but he's much better than the alternative. Yes, this dichotomous thinking isn't helpful for real democracy, but it is realistic. For what it's worth, I think it's a shame that Obama and McCain are still on the ballot in Texas. They both missed the filing deadline, so Libertarian candidate Bob Barr sued. The Texas Supreme Court decided without an explanation that Obama and McCain should remain on the ballot. This stuff makes my blood boil. It's bad enough that people think there are only two parties to choose from, but when the government gets in on the act, it threatens democracy.

Besides Obama and McCain, four candidates are on the ballots in enough states to win the presidency. So how come the news channels aren't going on and on about Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader? It's a vicious cycle, I guess. The newsmedia don't think people are interested in these candidates, so they don't tell people about them. The people aren't interested because they don't know. I think these candidates should be included in the presidential debates, but you know who organizes those debates? The Democrats and Republicans. The two-party system has been very good to them, so they will try to maintain it for as long as they can.

That said, I will be voting for Obama. I happen to agree with him on most issues, and I feel that he can undo the damage that Bush has done for us at home and abroad. While I can understand the frustration that supporters of third parties experience, I don't think it's appropriate for them to refer to Obama and McCain collectively as "McBama" or what have you. Barack Obama and John McCain would be very different presidents, and I am convinced that Obama is the best candidate out of those who are running.

Interestingly enough, I have a connection to Barack Obama. My mom's cousin's ex-boyfriend's friend (or something) went to school with him. My mom's cousin even hung out with "Barry" at least once. That's like five degrees of separation between me and him. I wonder if he knows Kevin Bacon.

Michael Moore is making his latest movie, Slacker Uprising, available on the Internet for free (in the US and Canada). The movie chronicles his campaign to encourage young people to vote (against George W. Bush) in the 2004 election. It's definitely worth watching.

Here are 10 Creatures People Didn’t Think Existed. Then people found out they existed after all.

See historic aerial photographs of (some parts of) the United States at Historic Aerials. The interface is kind of hard to navigate, but it was interesting to see part of my neighborhood as it looked in 1940 (i.e., it wasn't there). You can compare different photos of the same place too.