News Flash

Wow. Tonight's debate left me with goosebumps. This is what gets me going -- not stump speech after stump speech from Ohio, Wisconsin, PA, etc. -- but real debate between two candidates! This was democracy, pure and simple.

After the debate, I was talking with my mom, and she mentioned something about how Sen. Kerry and President Bush both gave completely conflicting statements about funding for anti-proliferation of nuclear weapons (Kerry claiming there were certain cuts; Bush claiming he actually increased spending). During a debate, the key to remember is not to wholeheartedly trust either candidate, and I said as much to my mom. When you have such an awesome right such as the right to vote for president, you don't buy the line either candidate gives, you go out and find the facts for yourself. That's what an informed citizen does.

But where do you go to find these things out? After a debate, each side will try to spin the outcome so that their side appears to be the winner. If you watched Fox News, CNN, or any of the networks after the debate, you saw interviews with representatives from both camps trying to say that, in effect, their guy won. But they can't both be right. Even the "talking heads," who are supposed to be impartial observers (yeah right) are part of the process of spin.

So in addition to any of your other news sources, I'd like to (once again) steer your attention to a website I enjoy very, very much, spinsanity.org. The basic goal of the guys who run this site is to separate the truth from the spin, and get to the heart of what these candidates are saying, and how much of what they're saying is true. They back it up with facts, and keep both parties on their toes. They hate spin as much as I do, and hopefully, as much as you might, too.

And remember to catch the next debate, a week from tomorrow. This is good stuff.

Now, back to more boring stuff about science.