Trick question, because it isn't a question. The answer is the large, obtrusive, non-hd "Sound from the Floor" picture used on CNN HD during the Democratic convention.

Anyone notice how the sound doesn't even match up. Either time delayed or messed up, which is stupid no matter how you look at it. Thanks for reminding me of this Sean.

As mentioned previously, the Obama camp can't be too happy about polling the day after the Biden selection. In the past, Vice Presidential selections have given roughly a five point bump in the polls. Now, with the three day rolling poll taking the three days after the selection, the news looks even worse for the Democrats.

So, while there was no bump for Obama immediately after the selection, it appears he has lost traction to McCain, which simply shows that choosing a Washington insider with more experience than McCain is not the change that America hopes for. It also doesn't hurt that the most liberal member of the Senate decided upon the third most liberal member of the Senate as his running mate. Those are the values needed to unite the country, right? Obama really didn't have many choices though. He couldn't pick Clinton due to the power struggles and Michelle's disdain for Hillary. Kaine would have highlighted the inexperience of the ticket, and Sebelius would have alienated the Hillary supporters for choosing a woman other than HRC. Rumors that he passed on Bayh and Kaine for not being pro-choice enough are equally disturbing. While the White House isn't won based on a VP selection, it is telling to a candidate's core values and character.

I ran across this story on ESPN... 9-Year Old Boy Told He's Too Good To Pitch

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player -- too good, it turns out. The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

	Officials with the Youth Baseball League of New Haven say they will disband Jericho Scott's team because his coach won't stop him from pitching.

Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned. But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch. "He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?" The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching. "I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play." Jericho's coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators. Jericho instead joined a team sponsored by Will Power Fitness. The team was 8-0 and on its way to the playoffs when Jericho was banned from pitching. "I think it's discouraging when you're telling a 9-year-old you're too good at something," said his mother, Nicole Scott. "The whole objective in life is to find something you're good at and stick with it. I'd rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner." League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast. "He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport." Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns. "Facing that kind of speed" is frightening for beginning players, Noble said. League officials say they first told Vidro that the boy could not pitch after a game on Aug. 13. Jericho played second base the next game on Aug. 16. But when he took the mound Wednesday, the other team walked off and a forfeit was called. League officials say Jericho's mother became irate, threatening them and vowing to get the league shut down. "I have never seen behavior of a parent like the behavior Jericho's mother exhibited Wednesday night," Noble said. Scott denies threatening any one, but said she did call the police. League officials suggested that Jericho play other positions, or pitch against older players or in a different league. Local attorney John Williams was planning to meet with Jericho's parents Monday to discuss legal options. "You don't have to be learned in the law to know in your heart that it's wrong," he said. "Now you have to be punished because you excel at something?"

So basically, instead of praising someone for performing well, we are supposed to limit their potential so that nobody has hurt feelings. Instead of having the other players improve themselves to compete with a better player, they are given the lesson that if you can't beat someone, quit. By the logic presented here, LeBron James should not have been allowed to play high school basketball, because he was too good. Michael Phelps should not have been allowed to swim in the Olympics because the other swimmers didn't have a chance. What a bunch of horseshit. I hope when my son is old enough to play sports, I can find leagues that aren't giving out 13th place trophies and refusing to keep score. The only way to succeed in life is to learn from past mistakes. By not letting our kids make mistakes, our society has no chance of progressing and becoming better.

I'm currently testing a new tablet PC for my work (first thoughts - it's freaking awesome, although how could they NOT include OneNote? That's basically *the* program to have for a tablet...) and saw that Microsoft had a tool to analyze handwriting. Here's my handwriting sample:

Now, here is the analysis provided...

Handwriting Analysis Tool for Tablet PC Results Attitude You are optimistic and enthusiastic about your future. You are impatient and may consequentially ignore details. You enjoy physical and hands-on activities. Mental Abilty You rely heavily on intuition, and make decisions carefully. Communication You keep your inner-most thoughts to yourself. However, you enjoy discussions and are receptive to other opinions. You can be deceitful to yourself. Goals You set ambitious, long term goals, though sometimes vague. Fortunately, you have strong will-power, enthusiasm, endurance, and self-confidence, helping you to achieve those goals. Self Image You are confident and self-assured, and resultantly set ambitious, long-term goals. However, you are also sensitive to criticism and need approval. Emotional You are a cautious person who thinks carefully before acting. You keep feelings inside and do not express them openly, in order to protect yourself. However, you can be empathetic and sympathetic, and forgive and forget quickly. Social Skills You enjoy having a variety of friends, but sometimes you are frustrated with them. At times you feel isolated.

I thought it was pretty accurate...anyone else with a tablet try this?

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A few weeks after the 9/11 attacks...

America needs to show the Arab world that we're not bent on its destruction. "Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran," Biden declares. He surveys the table with raised eyebrows, a How do ya like that? look on his face.

Yup, that'll solve all the problems...and where will the money for things like this come from? Oh, with the tax raises proposed? I see... Hat tip to TJenikins over @ Neowin...

The Obama camp can't be too happy about this...

Typically, presidential candidates have gotten a bump in the polls after naming their vice presidential running mate. Obama apparently received no immediate benefit in the polls from naming Biden as Gallup Poll Daily tracking interviews conducted during the day on Saturday still showed Obama and McCain closely matched in voter preferences for president.

While the partisans have followed the talking poins with a unified sense of support for Biden, the historical polling data is showing the average voter doesn't feel the same way. The conservatives won't like any choice, for the same reasons as the partisan liberals, but the moderate and independent voters don't seem to be too impressed. Tuesday's poll which will be the first daily poll with all three days after the Biden selection will be one to watch...

Peggy Noonan wrote an excellent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, this before the selection of Joe Biden for Vice Presidential nominee. She discussed many topics, but the part about the acceptance speeches struck me as being spot on:

Mr. Obama's upcoming convention speech will be good. All Obama speeches are good. Not as interesting as he is—he is more compelling as a person than his words tend to be in text. But the speech will be good, and just in case it isn't good, people will still come away with an impression that it must have been, because the media is going to say it was, because they expect it to be, and what they expect is what most of them will see.

I suspect everyone has the convention speeches wrong. Everyone expects Mr. Obama to rouse, but the speech I'd watch is Mr. McCain's. He's the one with the real opportunity, because no one expects anything. He's never been especially good at making speeches.

The pressure during the convention is clearly on McCain. Obama is "The Great Orator" and will deliver an amazing speech, with all they hype surrounding not only the historic implications of being possibly the first African-American President, but also the fact that the speech will be held at Invesco Field, in front of some seventy-thousand supporters. Obama is expected to deliver, but McCain is a forgetful old man who isn't eloquent, and isn't fond of speeches. I don't expect McCain to have near the production value that Obama will, but if he stays on message and is to the point, he can rally the conservative base. The die-hard partisans will only see greatness in their respective candidate, but for the undecided and the independents, the speeches offer real promise compared to the plethora of attack ads.

As Obama has decided on Joe Biden for his Vice Presidential candidate, the pundits have begun to spin away. Lets face it, Obama's message for hope and change are not being realized with this choice of Joe Biden. Biden has foreign policy experience, which presumably Obama feels will offset his weaknesses on that front. However, as the Obama campaign has somewhat painted themselves into a corner with the criticisms of McCain being a "Washington Insider." Joe Biden has more Washington experience than John McCain does and is only a few years younger, making any attack on McCain's age or experience a moot point. While the cable news channels are all covering this predictably, the spin being given by Democratic operatives is incredible. For all of the criticisms Biden has made of Obama, they can only claim they were taken out of context. Certain statements, while gaffes, can be considered as that, even if they are borderline racist:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

Believe me, they would be classified as so if Biden had a little R next to his name, rather than a D...Other statements made by Biden about Obama underscore some of the major problems with this choice. In the beginning of this primary season, Biden criticized Obama's experience.

"I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."

Biden then reaffirmed that statement to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week in August of 2007:

Stephanopoulos: "You were asked is he ready. You said 'I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training." Sen. Biden: "I think that I stand by the statement."

I haven't seen the new McCain commerical echoing these things, but the fact remains that they were things said and can potentially hurt Obama. The Democrats already have material ready for a possible Romney nomination, and have actually put out some attacks pre-emptively, which shows to me that they are worried Romney's economic experience will trounce that of Biden. The main issue I have however, as the title of this post implies, is that all the Democrats are coming out saying how wonderful Biden is, and that these quotes don't matter. Furthermore, the most ludicrous thing I heard was from a gal representing the Young Democrats. When asked how the choice affects the mantra of change, she had the balls to say that it doesn't matter because Biden made good decisions over his legislative career while McCain constantly made bad ones. Are you freaking kidding me? Just admit that you don't care about change, but the political party you represent. Here's how she *should* have responded to that question:

While Barack Obama represents change, the entire political platform encompasses more than just the issue of change. Senator Biden brings a vast amount of experience fighting for the issues that Barack Obama cares for and will complement him extremely well throughout an Obama administration.

It doesn't change the fact that the answer is all BS and fluff, but at least it has some semblance of intelligence in it. Speaking of intelligence, during his failed run for Preisdent in 1988, Biden was asked about his time at law school and the type of grades he received, to which he responded with the classic line:

"I think I have a much higher IQ than you do."

Joe, I'd be willing to be a very large some of money that you don't...

Since Obama is set to make a selection at any time, I wanted to make some thoughts first. First, I don't necessarily follow the buzz with Biden, from a practical standpoint. Biden has many things going against him. He is a hothead and prone to gaffes, and is from a small state that won't affect the election, although some in the media play his Pennsylvania connections. He also spoke very harshly of Obama in a borderline racist remark. Finally, while his experience is beneficial, the Obama campaign is based upon the idea of change - Biden's 30+ years of experience don't jive with those ideas. Kathleen Sebelius has been mentioned, but her nomination would alienate Hillary supporters and she simply doesn't have the national recognition. This leaves two people with a chance - Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana or Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia. Bayh would help with the experience, while Kaine would represent change. Both would likely swing their respective state in the Obama column, but Bayh is a safer pick in my book and would be my choice. Only time will tell if Obama chooses him. We'll know by tomorrow. Update: Looks like it will be Biden after all if reports on Secret Service being dispatched to his house are correct. Should be interesting to see how the above comments regarding him play out...