So while the actual board of the World Bank adjourned without deciding anything definitive about Paul Wolfowitz, the drumbeats are starting worldwide to have Paul Wolfowitz fired.

Avaaz.org has a "Fire Paul Wolfowitz" petition, with 40,378 signatures at time of writing. In fact, ParkRidge47, late of the Hillary Apple 1984 ad, has made another ad supporting Avaaz's campaign using another cultural reference.

On why he made the Vote Different ad...

techPresident:

(Phil) de Vellis explains that he chose to mash-up Apple's 1984 ad because he's a big fan of the company, plus he had recently re-read the book and thought that by working from their ad he'd get interest not just from political folks but also Apple fans.

He also says that he was "stunned" by all the attention the video has gotten, and that he was "basically a spectator" after he posted it and was "fascinated" to watch how it spread. He gives a nice shout-out to Adam Conner, an Obama-blogger, who posted a great examination of the video's viral course on MyDD. And we're of course tickled that he thinks this humble site has been doing a good job of analyzing what it all means.

de Vellis also gives a great defense of the tradition of anonymous political speech in America, in explaining why he didn't post the video using his real name. The Federalist Papers, he notes, were written under pseudonyms, as was Joe Klein's book Primary Colors. Even George Orwell is a pseudonym, for the writer Eric Blair. But he admits "the system worked" in eventually outing him, and he seems completely at ease with that.

Crossing the news wires today is the report that Vice President Walter Mondale's daughter, Eleanor Mondale, has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Doctors have discovered two brain tumors and she will begin extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatment immediately.

Sounding upbeat in news reports, Mondale, 45, said "It's bad but not that bad. I've got a really good chance to beat it."

It's strange how hard news like this hits you when you've actually met the person involved. I met Eleanor Mondale in 1984 at one of the many parties I attended during the Democratic convention, which was hosted in San Francisco, where I was in college.

As a student politician at San Francisco State University, I was in heaven with the convention right in my back yard. I was also a strong supporter of Senator Gary Hart and, despite my high regard for Walter Mondale, thought Hart had a better chance of unseating Ronald Reagan in the presidential election that year.

But aside from wanting to shake hands with Hart and Jesse Jackson, I, like every other red-blooded male in his twenties, had the primary goal of getting a glimpse of Eleanor Mondale. She was 23 or 24 at the time and, for a politically-active young man, had all the goods – she was brainy, liberal and a total babe.

I thought I was pretty cool at the time but my bravado turned to mush when I actually spied her across the room at a delegate cocktail party. When the rare moment arrived when she was actually alone, I overcame my star-struck awkwardness and approached her.

I'm not sure what I said... I think I babbled something about welcoming her to my town and offered to fill her in on the night spots favored by locals. I know I also mentioned that I was from Nebraska, thinking that our common Midwestern roots would prompt her to fall in love with me.

No such luck.

But she also could not possibly have been nicer. She gave me that movie-star smile, offered me her hand, said it was nice to meet me and gushed over how much she loved San Francisco. She then asked what brought a Nebraska kid to the big city and I tried to give a coherent explanation, despite feeling like a nervous schoolboy.

She sweetly excused herself when her friends came back – and that was that.

But I've always remembered that encounter and how genuinely nice she was when, as the focal point of so much attention, many people would not have been.

I know you don't remember the Nebraska kid in San Francisco, Ms. Mondale. But please know that I remember and that my thoughts and hopes are with you.

But aside from wanting to shake hands with Hart and Jesse Jackson, I, like every other red-blooded male in his twenties, had the primary goal of getting a glimpse of Eleanor Mondale. She was 23 or 24 at the time and, for a politically-active young man, had all the goods – she was brainy, liberal and a total babe.

I thought I was pretty cool at the time but my bravado turned to mush when I actually spied her across the room at a delegate cocktail party. When the rare moment arrived when she was actually alone, I overcame my star-struck awkwardness and approached her.

I'm not sure what I said... I think I babbled something about welcoming her to my town and offered to fill her in on the night spots favored by locals. I know I also mentioned that I was from Nebraska, thinking that our common Midwestern roots would prompt her to fall in love with me.

No such luck.

But she also could not possibly have been nicer. She gave me that movie-star smile, offered me her hand, said it was nice to meet me and gushed over how much she loved San Francisco. She then asked what brought a Nebraska kid to the big city and I tried to give a coherent explanation, despite feeling like a nervous schoolboy.

She sweetly excused herself when her friends came back – and that was that.

But I've always remembered that encounter and how genuinely nice she was when, as the focal point of so much attention, many people would not have been.

I know you don't remember the Nebraska kid in San Francisco, Ms. Mondale. But please know that I remember and that my thoughts and hopes are with you.

Yes, it's a distraction from real issues, but there's been an awful lot of crying/triumphant hooting from those poor, marginalized wingnuts who first questioned the CBS memos, so... an independent lab from Utah State University has weighed in on the authenticity of the CBS Bush memos and concludes that "All indicators imply they are authentic." This is a lengthy report; read what you will.

Scroll down for the Conclusion and websites. This appears to be legitimate.

There are a number of reasons for identifying the physical source for the recently released memos indicating that President George Bush failed to meet his obligation to the Air National Guard and disobeyed both written and spoken orders to take a flight physical.

A careful forensic examination of even the worst copies may provide some evidence of the documents’ authenticity or disprove their authenticity. For example, if the evidence demonstrates that the documents were originally digitally produced, it would disprove their authenticity.

On the other hand, if evidence indicates they were typewritten, it lends support to the credibility of CBS in general and to Dan Rather and his producers in particular. If evidence demonstrates that the memos were typewritten using a font usually available in the military, but less common among civilians, at least on this evidence they were right to air the memos.

Given the current extent of political animosity, the voice of indisputable evidence can be useful. In short, there is justification for a qualified, independent lab to examine the documents and make the results publicly available.

Qualifications of the Lab

Interactive Media Research Laboratory is a small university lab that does scholarly studies and writes about issues involving the impact of technology on communications. Among other things, it is investigates archival and authentication problems. As the principal investigator and lab director I have researched and written on these topics since 1991, with more than 50 peer reviewed publications.

In addition, I served in the U.S. military (Army) from 1963 to 1972. For five of those seven years I was an Army illustrator responsible for short run publications including memos such as those in question. Ultimately, I have a total of almost 35 years experience examining document production, including analyzing and spec’ing type. I have an archive that includes military documents produced between 1963 and 1984 and have access to a repository of military documents here at the university. Finally, I have extensive experience using computers to manage and manipulate images, including type.

...

CONCLUSIONS

Since current odds hold that the Bush memos are faked, the question of their authenticity turns to whether CBS should have known they were inauthentic – if, in fact, they are. In fact, there seems to be nothingg in the memos that indicates they are faked. All evidence points toward a mechanical production process and away from a digital process.

Furthermore, the mechanical process seems to be consistent with typewriters used in the military at the time in question.

The Lab's website