On:

In Texas, you can vote early (and, in the past, often), and Anne and I cast our ballots last week. By mutual agreement, we do not discuss our voting preferences, so I have no idea how she voted.

As I read down my own ballot, I voted as I always vote, mostly for people I either know or with whom I share mutual friends. I am not partisan. I will vote Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal. My criteria tends to be personal, and I found, as I went along the list of state and local elections, that I was voting in practically every one. In some cases, I found myself voting for somebody I didn?t know because the person I did know I did not like, and the person unknown to me had a good record.
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On:

Unlike Whitley, I voted for a Presidential candidate, because I?m in the same situation that most of you are: I don’t know the candidates personally and I feel a need to vote for somebody. I share Whitley’s concern that Bush and Gore may have personality problems, because in today?s climate of scrutinizing and finger pointing, what sane and normal person would run for political office?

I was reminded of this during the Clinton scandals. At the time that Lewinsky fever was sweeping the media and causing old friends to disagree so violently that they stopped speaking to each other, and when parents ran to turn off the nightly news lest their kids receive an unintended sexual education, we buried a dear friend.
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On:

Opposition is mounting against the new legislation that would make it a felony to disclose classified information, even if you had never signed a secrecy agreement. According to Secrecy News, pressure is building on the White House to veto the Intelligence Authorization Act containing the “leak” statute between now and November 4.

In a front page story today, the New York Times reported that “There is now strong opposition to the bill inside and outside the White House.”
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On:

Another “storm of the decade” similar in intensity to storms that struck Europe last December has swept across northern Europe, killing at least thee people and doing billions of dollars worth of damage.

The worst weather hit Great Britain, with the southern half of the country thrown into chaos. France, the Netherlands and Sweden were also hit hard, and thousands of passengers were stranded at sea on ferries that were unable to land.

Airline operations were thrown into chaos across the continent, and there were extensive flight delays between North America and Europe. Rail travel in the United Kingdom was thrown into disarray, and the Eurostar train between England and France via the channel tunnel was cancelled.
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