This isn't my opinion, although I share it after finishing watching the debate last night.  Edwards clearly won the debate.

So says reviewers from the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, MSNBC, live news bloggers from numerous other organizations, and many others... see for yourself!

I'm a Family Guy fan, so naturally I recorded the Family Guy season premier Sunday night and watched it last night.

The season premier was a one hour remake of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, featuring all Family  Guy characters.  Peter as Han Solo, Chris as Luke Skywalker, Lois as Princess Leah, Stewie as Darth Vader, Brian as Chewbacca, Cleveland as R2D2, etc...

There were, as always, a few jokes that didn't work, but this made me lol a bunch of times.  Check it out if you get a chance!

Last night as a big TV night.  I also watched the season premieres of Two and a Half Men, The Simpson's (DVR'ed on Sunday), Rules of Engagement, and How I Met Your Mother.  Thumbs up all around!   The chalkboard gag in The Simpsons was pretty funny.

I've got bowling tonight.  I think I may have screwed my team by bowling too well the first 3 weeks.  You see, we used "book averages" for the first three weeks - book average is our average from last year, and mine was 177.  But I bowled REALLY well the first two weeks, and pretty close to book average the third week, so my new average going forward is something like 191.  Ouch! 

It'd be cool if I could keep that up... but it seems unlikely =)  We'll find out tonight!

National polls are pretty meaningless.  Does it matter if a democratic candidate does better in New York than another democratic candidate?  No.  The dems are going to win New York, whether it be 55-45, 60-40, or 70-30.  It simply does not matter.  Of course, if Giuliana runs, can he carry New York?  That'd be a huge blow for the dems.

Anyway, what matters are how individual candidates will perform in swing states like Ohio.

Take a look at the results of this SurveyUSA poll regarding electability in one specific swing state (Ohio).

http://url.rickroot.com/u/2c

It pits Clinton, Edwards, and Obama against Thompson, Guiliani, and Romney.

Giuliani beats both Clinton and Edwards by a very slim margin (48-47%) but holds a significant advantage over Obama (52-39%).

Clinton beats Thompson (48-47%) and Romney (52-42%)... Obama LOSES to Thompson (42-50%) and Romney (45-46%).  Edwards defeats Thompson (52-43%) and Romney (56-36%)

So it's worth noting that of these three candidates, Edwards fares the best against all three republican opponents.

It also supports my belief that Obama is unelectable, as he loses by significant margins to all three republican candidates - two of which lose to Edwards and Clinton.

So stop wasting your money supporting a losing candidate.  We dems need to get on the bandwagons that can win the general election. 

Watch this video.  If you're on the fence about who to support in the upcoming democratic primaries, maybe this will help sway you to the Edwards campaign.

I think Edwards would make a great President.  He's personable, intelligent, and a fantastic public speaker.  I believe that he would be a President for all of us, not just the rich.  I also believe he would be more likely to win a general election than the other presidential wannabes, Clinton and Obama.

Just watch the video.  It's long, but worth while.

So, Donovan McNabb goes on HBO Real Sports the other night, and talks about how he's held to a higher standard because he's black.   Here's part of the exchange:

McNabb: “I pass for 300 yards, our team wins by seven, ‘Oh, he could have made this throw here. We would have scored more points if we would have done this.’”

Brown: “But doesn’t every quarterback go through that?”

McNabb: “Not everybody.”

Brown: “You don’t think that Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, the white quarterbacks, isn’t the press as tough on them in those situations as, as the average black quarterback?”

McNabb: “Let me start by saying, I love those guys. But they don’t get criticized as much as we do. They don’t.”

First of all - every quarterback faces criticism, win or lose.  Peyton Manning was, for a long time, "the guy who can't win the big one". 

All quarterbacks get criticized for their mistakes.  You could complete 19 of 20 passes with 4 touchdowns and one interception, and you'd get criticized for it.

Winning will quiet a lot of critics, and so yes, you don't hear as much about Peyton Manning, but people do still criticize him.

As for McNabb - this HBO interview was taped a few weeks ago, before the season started, before the Philadelphia Eagles were 0-2 and it became apparent that Donovan McNabb is not the same quarterback he used to be.  But in fact, McNabb is going down hill.  He was 5-5 in 10 starts last year.  He doesn't have the same speed and mobility he had, and his only really good year was 2004 when he threw 31 touchdowns - the only year in the last 5 years that he's even gotten more than 20.

I remember a few years ago, Rush Limbaugh said that the media was actually overly kind to Donovan McNabb - that he wasn't that good of a quarterback and yet he took very little criticism because the media was "desirous" to have a a good black quarterback.

Which is it?  Is the media harder on black quarterbacks, or more lenient?

I don't think it's either.  The media is hard on all quarterbacks, and it's harder still on quarterbacks that aren't winning.  Heck, the media is VERY hard on Rex Grossman (white), even though the Bears are a pretty good team.  How does that fit into this?

The media is hard on Rex Grossman because he sucks.  The Bears win in spite of Rex Grossman.

The media is hard on Donovan McNabb because he's not getting the job done.  And it's only gonna get worse if the Eagles keep losing.  And that won't have anything to do with the color of McNabb's skin.

From someone on The Register's forums, about why Chuck Norris is such a bad-ass.

Forget Wikipedia, if Chuck Norris wants you to know something, he will tell you.

Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer. But he has never cried. Ever.

Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you cant see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death.

Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.

Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.

Chuck Norris doesn't wash his clothes, he disembowels them.

In fine print on the last page of the Guinness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Chuck Norris, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten.

There is no chin behind Chuck Norris's beard. There is only another fist.

The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed misserably.

There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.

Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.

When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes ever.

A Handicap parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.

Chuck Norris will attain statehood in 2009. His state flower will be the Magnolia.

Chuck Norris originally appeared in the "Street Fighter II" video game, but was removed by Beta Testers because every button caused him to do a roundhouse kick. When asked bout this "glitch," Norris replied, "Thats no glitch."

Chuck Norris once shot down a German fighter plane with his finger, by yelling, "Bang!"

Chuck Norris has two speeds: Walk and Kill.

Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks arent the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.

Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.

Chuck Norris is the only human being to display the Heisenberg uncertainty principle - you can never know both exactly where and how quickly he will roundhouse-kick you in the face.

Chuck Norris can drink an entire gallon of milk in forty-seven seconds.

Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris.

The Chuck Norris military unit was not used in the game Civilization 4, because a single Chuck Norris could defeat the entire combined nations of the world in one turn.

In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Chuck Norris could use to kill you, including the room itself.

Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

It's amazing how a little rain can green things up.  My lawn was looking about as poor as it ever has, given that we hadn't had any significant rainfall in something like 6  weeks.  Well, we got almost 2 inches of rain Friday evening in what turned out to be a pretty wild evening around the Triangle and surrounding communities.  There were numerous tornadoes - the nearest being out in Fuquay-Varina where my folks live.  Luckily, tornados in North Carolina are rarely very powerful and almost never stay on the ground for long.  To my knowledge, the one in fuquay caused tree damage and nothing more.

But the lawn greened up considerably!  And the weather is now absolutely gorgeous.  It was a beautiful weekend.  I raked up the pine needles and stuff from under the trees, sprayed weed killer in the back yard, and had some random door-to-door folks clean my gutters for $40.

And then, it was time to watch some Michigan football!  The Michigan-Notre Dame game is always a big game.  It held a little extra national interest this time because both teams were 0-2, meaning one of them was going to be 0-3.  Well, Michigan proved that it wasn't as bad as its 0-2 start might've suggested.  And Notre Dame proved only that they're a really bad football team with very little talent on the offensive and defensive lines.  Michigan completely dominated the Irish with a 38-0 victory.  Hopefully, it will give them some confidence as the big ten season starts next Saturday.  They'll need it, because Penn State is a fine football team this year - possibly one of the best in the league.  Michigan will have its hands full!

Proof that nobody is REALLY impressed by a win over Notre Dame is that fact that once again, nobody voted for Michigan in the top 25 poll.  That's fine and completely understandable.  If they beat Penn State next week, they might start getting a few votes again, but they're definately going to have to earn their way back into the rankings!

As for Notre Dame... it's not going to be a good year for them.  Michigan State heads to South Bend next weekend, where I'm reasonably certain Notre Dame will be pummelled as State looks pretty good this year.  Then Notre Dame heads to Purdue where they'll again be pummelled by a very solid and underrated Purdue squad.  They'll follow that up with a trip to UCLA - a game they'll almmost certainly lose, and then back home to host 14th ranked Boston College and top ranked Southern Cal.  That would take them to 0-8.  Then they'll have to deal with Navy (probable loss), and they might finish with wins against Duke, Air Force, and Standford.  Maybe.  I think 4 wins this year might be a best-case scenario for the Irish.

Yesterday, Emily and I went to the Caniac Carnival to get some free tickets to the preseason opener, which was yesterday at 3pm against the Wasington Capitals.  Emily couldn't go to the game because she had a playdate scheduled with her friend Leah, and then had to go to Awana with her friend Rachel.  Awana is a children's ministry that is big in the baptist church.  We don't go to a baptish church, but Emily does like to go to Awana with Rachel, so that's cool.

The Canes game was a lot of fun.  There was a decent crowd on hand to see them win a 4-3 "overtime thriller" - at least if you can consider a preseason game to be a thriller.  The Canes trailed 2-0 going into the third period, but scored two quick goals (less than a minute apart) by Babin and Cole.  The Craps took a 3-2 lead with only 2 minutes left in the game, but Justin Williams tied it up again with only 1 minute left, and Erik Cole scored the game winner in overtime.  Staal assisted on both of Cole's goals.  Staal also assisted on Babin's goal.  With 5 points in 1 game, things look good for my prediction that Cole and Staal would combine for 180 points this seasn.

I watched Resident Evil: Apocalpyse on TNTHD last night.  Though I've never played the game, I assume the movie is much like the game - basically a shoot-em-up Doom-like movie.  The premise of the movie is interesting.  A giant, powerful corporation ("The Umbrella Corporation") runs a lab where they create biological weapons, and there's an accident involving the "T-Virus", a virus which reanimates dead cells.  Unfortunately, it kills everyone and then they turn into Zombies.  Umbrella tries to cover up the incident by releasing the Nemesis experiment to wipe out non-infected surviving employees with knowledge of the incident.  Another "experiment", the main character named Alice, attempts to get out of the city and save a couple other survivors before Umbrella nukes the city in order to contain the epidemic, and claims an meltdown at the nuclear power plant caused it.

It was interesting enough where I might go see the upcoming Resident Evil: Extinction when it comes out in theaters.