Wha.....?

McCain just called Iran an "existential threat to Israel".

What in the hell does that mean?!?!

Audience Reaction update: flat-lined at just above average for McCain - oh wait, just dipped about his stammering over the Middle East; generally flat-lined well above average for Obama

Points update: on the positive side for Obama, especially after his demonstration of understanding of ME politics (especially the tension between Iran and Iraq)

Wow, just saw McCain take some hits from the pundits/audience...

This is so much fun to watch!!

Watching the debate

Wow, I'm incredibly impressed with McCain - he managed to use every single tag line that he has in his (limited) arsenal, including his shout-out to his VP-nominee without answering the question! Way to go, John!

I'm pretty disappointed that McCain has not provided a single specified answer to any of the questions. Obama has done his fair share of question dodging for the sake of platform promotion, but at least he's provided some specifics. Sigh.

The numbers on CNN's "Analyst Scorecard" are really interesting. As of this moment (9:46EST), Obama's numbers are pretty damn high. Even the staunch conservatives at the analyst table are panning McCain...

BAM - Obama just served McCain for his lame attack re: the defense spending bill. It's starting to get ugly down in Ol' Miss...

So it's almost my birthday...

... in about an hour. I'll be 29 this year.

Is it sad that my kids are more excited about my birthday than I am?

No, seriously - I really couldn't care less that it's my birthday. Even though it's my day off, I'll be spending it doing chores, editing a presentation and writing an 8-10 page paper. Oh yeah, and my daughter has field hockey at 7pm. So from my perspective, it's not much of a birthday. Then again, it isn't much different than past birthdays have been. At least it's better than last year, when I was in Hawaii with the boys and trying to finish checking out of the Navy, or the year before, when I worked late, had watch AND someone threw out my lunch when they spontaneously decided to clean out the office fridge.

Maybe that's why I'm feeling so apathetic about the whole thing. I hope next year is more interesting.

*sigh*

presentation ideas

I'm trying to come up with some ideas for a presentation I have to have ready in two weeks for one of my classes ("Cyber Threats to National Security"). Here's what I've got so far:

- classification of cyberspace as a battlefield for the purpose of drafting operational doctrine
- disparities between US and international cyber warfare policy (NATO, Estonia, etc.)
- foreign policy implications of classifying cyber attacks (on economic, government, commercial infrastructure, etc.) as an "act of war"
- foreign policy implications of pressing charges against foreign nations for cyber attacks (can we prove it? if so, how will that affect foreign relations? will it reveal too much about our capabilities/vulnerabilities?)

Hmmmm...