Sunday.

And it is chilly this morning--in the mid 30s.  We still don't have the heat on but the inside temperature didn't get below 68F.

On to what I am reading--

I found this by way of the Political Wire and include it only because it illustrates rather well a thought I had watching the (damned) political commercials this morning.  We, as conscientious voters, are supposed to research candidates to make rational choices in the voting booth.  Where do we go to find the information we need to make an informed decision?  Obviously not the the highly manicured and manipulated web pages the campaigns maintain.  Nor can we go to the political ads which are well crafted to present the candidates in a way to appeal to a wide segment of the voters while showing the opposition as the spawn of hell.  We can't depend on their previous votes (if any), or any bills introduced or sponsored (if any), or public pronouncements (all too many) because they have become amazingly adept at explaining those in a way that make black look white.  The one thing that does come through the ads and "debates" is a strong strain of hypocrisy--on all sides.  Sometimes I think our political scene is simply smoke and mirrors.

On that theme but switching to product ads, this article suggests we should be highly skeptical of "scientific" looking graphs and other graphics which provide an aura of authority but no real information.  Too often we accept the graphs or statistics without asking key questions.  What is the source of the information?  Who paid for the studies?  How relevant are the lab conditions to every day life?  How preliminary are the results?