Democrats Change Logo

From Edwards Campaign Blog:
Washington DC – 2/14/04 – The DNC in a 3-0 vote decided to change the offical party symbol from “the Donkey” to “the Sheep”, in honor of John Kerry winning the Democratic nomination. When asked why only three people got to vote on such a change, Terry McAuliffe responded, that “[he], Hillary Clinton and John Kerry all agreed it would be best, and that was a large enough group of voters to determine what everybody would want.
An Edwards spokesperson, refusing to attack other Democrats, pointed out that, “the logo has never changed without approval in at least 5 southern states.”
Dean, however, was more direct in his criticism, which mostly involved him screaming out a list of states he failed to win delegates in.

End of the Road for Dean?

Behind-the-scenes activity suggests so:

Though the former Vermont governor, who for months led polls in the race for the Democratic nomination, says he will continue campaigning regardless of the results of the Wisconsin primary — which polls indicate he is likely to lose by a significant margin — his actions are beginning to say otherwise.
His calendar for next week is not booked beyond Wednesday, when he plans to return home to Burlington, Vt.
His staff, some of whom are already planning to leave his headquarters for good on Wednesday, has not sought a new contract with the main air charter company that has been flying him around the country, aides say.

If this turns out to be the case, there’s only one remaining candidate who can challenge Kerry. Let’s hope he will; an untested, unvetted Kerry could be disaster for the Democrats this fall.

Senator Kerry’s “Intern’s” Picture

Thus far Drudge’s Kerry “intern affair” story has gone no where. The only thing Drudge has offered in support of his rumors are links to articles (most in tabloids) stating that he is reporting a scandal. Sit down if you start to get dizzy.
Anyway, a few British papers, including the Telegraph now have a picture of the alleged intern. It looks like it must came from an old yearbook. Several reports have described her as a “tall blonde.” Obviously, something has changed.

Fighting Terrorism

Looks like the Israeli government is leaving no stone unturned in the quest to stop the bombings:

Israeli police are said to be considering putting bags of pig fat on buses and in shopping centres to try to deter Muslim suicide bombers.
The suggestion is based on the fact that strict Muslim tradition says any Muslim who comes in contact with a pig before dying will be denied access to paradise.
. . .
Israeli police have considered using pigs, or pig products to ward off terrorism in the past, but needed a rabbinical permit to carry it out, as Judaism, like Islam, regards the pig as an unclean animal, said Maariv.
Previously, Israel’s Minister without portfolio Gideon Ezra and others suggested burying the corpses of suicide bombers wrapped in pigskin as a deterrent. However, the proposal never got serious consideration in Israel, with opponents saying it would only serve to encourage suicide bombers, egged on by clerics claiming Jews were defiling Islamic burial rites.
Rabbi Eliezer Moshe Fisher, of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court, said: “There is no ban on using bags of lard when saving lives is concerned. They may be used in any place that might be a target for suicide bombings, such as schools, shopping malls and railway stations.”
The Maariv also quotes the rabbi saying if pig fat isn’t used on buses, tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews will arm themselves with toy water pistols filled with liquid lard to be used against terrorists.

I’d say we could save quite a bit in homeland security if lard turns out to be an effective terrorism preventative.

Interesting Presidential Factoids

Heard on the radio:
Three of the first five presidents died on July 4.
Seven consecutive presidents elected in the year ending “0” died in office (1840-1960). Reagan narrowly missed being assassinated in 1981.
Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy died on Friday.
Only two presidents have past age 70 while in office (Eisenhower, Reagan).