valornhonor

Great article, wouldn't you know that it was a woman that pushed for action, and got it?! Three cheers for Ms. Goyal and the Indian MSM bringing pressure to bear.

"Ms Goyal's relentless pressure appeared to have forced the government to deploy warships in the Gulf of Aden to prevent pirate attacks and secure her husband's ship." excerpt from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7737084.stm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5192674.ece

Somali pirates seize ninth vessel in 12 days

Love the question, and nice job of avoiding the potentially combustible phrase of "old white guys" lol ...

Ran out of room for background links, here are some relevant articles:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1086658/Now-Somali-pirates-try-hijack-British-ship-demanding-10m-ransom-captured-Saudi-supertanker.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/18/somalia-oil

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5183710.ece

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f36e8dc4-b5ac-11dd-ab71-0000779fd18c.html

These events bear a resemblance to another question I wrote a long time ago about a Southern nation holding a Northern nation hostage over food. Bypassing this chokepoint is not an easily feasible option for many ships, but the level of piracy seems to be increasing substantially.

Diss-custing....

wow, considering all of the O'euphoria on this site, the consensus seems to be that the US unemployment rate will tank another 25% off current levels in the first year of this new administration, interesting...

A news article specifically sighting an arrest for anything, onsite @ the resort, during the party month.

@ vot.org

Per Jennie's note, I'd be happy to work with you also, if you like.

...world... not word...

The presumption in this question is certainly inflammatory, I agree. It presumes that if one wagers a Yes, then somehow one assumes that one or more of these gentlemen will travel abroad AND doing so with a severe hand-wringing kind of apprehension about being arrested, I would submit that it's entirely likely that one of more of these men WILL travel abroad, but that they will not necessarily be doing so at great personal peril although much of the word is waxing eloquent about our New Day pending our new Administration, it is a stretch to assume that venturing beyond a 12 mile threshold from our borders will equate to any apprehension or arrest action.

He looks pretty good for 84 & 86 wives, don't you think? That's his actual current picture!

6.5% in October 2008, highest in 14 year.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

Change that did us good, as quipped by Cheryl Crow?
Peacemonger?
Yheswheekhan!
Changer
The Big O
Barry the Man.... Oh!
Barack the Rock
Barack Rocks
Da Rock Who Sang Fo' All a ya
Black is Back
The politician formerly known as Barry
44/O
BO/44/OH as hummed by Harry Belafonte
.44 Magnum
World's First President
Malia and Natasha's Papa
The Great Reconciler
The Agent of Change
Barack Obama President Providing Everyone Riches... BOPPER
Barack Obama President Governing United States...BOGUS
Barack Obama President Enhancing Everyone's Progress...BOPEEP
Barack Obama Delivering Individuals Daily Devotional Lessons Energizing Youth...BODIDDLEY
Barack Obama Reneging Imaginative New Gumption...BORING
Barack Obama President Troubadour of Bottom of Pyramid...BOPtoBOP

and finally, my personal favorite...

PB&J President Barack and Joe (Biden)

I concur.... completely.

OK, now my stab at a Conservative definition...

Personally I think Conservatives suffer from poor semantics. Non-conservatives often think that a conservative label means 'old white guys' looking to ruthlessly preserve a status quo, keeping women, minorities, less fortunate away from the big table and maintaining a status quo against all challenges and attempts at reform by liberals and progressives. Granted, conservatives are often thought of synonymously with Republicans, but old school conservatives would protest that this was a lazy and incomplete linkage. Admittedly the candidates that the Rep. party has offered up in recent years have been more 'lifetime achievement winners than viable contenders for the Presidency. It's not at all surprising that Obama, young charismatic, fresh and likable beat McCain who looks like the poster child for 'old establishment'. For me conservative means individual liberties, that the government's role should be limited and reviewed often for unnecessary, but natural incursions into peoples lives, that government should stick to a balanced budget, think long and hard before spending money, keep this military properly funded, protect us against enemies, keep roads and bridges in good repair and start from a position that our heritage, Constitution and capitalist system has merit.

I think a blind adherence to either dogma is intellectually lazy and soft. Debate and the clash of ideas is both helpful and necessary in a Democracy, long live the debate!

v&h

@ jsevigny

OK, I'll take a stab at this, Liberal is a word that Conservatives say with a wrinkled nose to try and distinguish the 'other' guys, whereas a Liberal frequently describes themselves as progressive, modern or enlightened. There is a semantic resemblance to the way that Muslim's refer to anyone else as Infidels and Jews categorize everyone else as Gentiles. Most cultures have a word to describe others, typically in at least a mildly derogatory fashion, for the Japanese it's gaijin.

I'll try to define liberals & conservatives and invite you, jsevigny, and anyone else to tear it up and offer something more precise.

Liberal
A world view that is sympathetic to people with less, or with hardship or less opportunity. The desire to normalize, or otherwise make common everyone's status, possessions and ranking, kind of an anti-caste mentality. Liberals will tell you that they are all for everyone being wildly successful, but this eventuality is trumped by the larger and more important understanding of equality first. Meshes nicely with the Americanism of All Created Equal. Liberals typically are sympathetic all things being shared for the good of the community at large. People themselves are considered to be suspect and lacking in the ability to self determine, they are better served by a communal authority releasing them of the bother of making decisions as collective wisdom is certainly superior to anything an individual could attain. The earth and nature itself is considered sacred to many liberals and replaces the 'space' in what conservatives would call the 'soul' in a liberal as the Thing to be revered, alone these lines man is considered an interference in nature, animals, plants, flora and fauna are 'holy', man is to be considered warily. Liberals pine for the day when a group of people will finally 'get it right' and call up their better angels and usher in a nirvana by being communal and non-selfish. Liberals have deep and intense loathing for individuals who place a premium on slow, methodic wealth born of individual effort and drive, most wealth is considered to be ill-gained and rightly owed to the masses rather than be monopolized by evil rich who obviously persecuted, enslaved, tricked, hood-winked or otherwise took advantage of others. Also liberals, in general, despise the use of military force to resolve conflict, preferring instead sit-downs and committees and conferences, ironically though the subservience of individual liberties is often tolerated, even though liberals espouse a policy that would appear to be libertarian.

Now I'm off to breakfast, will post my view of Conservatives later.
v&h

This question is a riddler, to think that Nolan has been robbin' Batman all this time, what a two-faced joker!

It will be fascinating to see how Pres. Obama's approval rating plays out millions of voters thinking that the Change he has in mind is the Change that THEY prefer, they won't all be pleased.

@ # 124

Thank you Markov, well said.

Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz....

ding ding ding....

alright dragon, C2R, dd, curios, js, ... Take a breather Sports, on behalf of many users here @ HD I'd like to invite you to be a bit more gracious with your comments and a bit less bombastic with the vile, throwing opinions over the wall at your philosophical opposite is one thing, but wishing for the death of ~ anyone ~ seems a bit harsh. One of the best aspects of this site is that we can all 'put our $HD where our mouths are' and create markets to stimulate interest and bid away when we think we know the future, we also have the forums section which is a useful resource for dialogue. Let's try and keep the comments section focused on discussing the markets rather than throwing spears at each other. And as previously noted the Person of the Year designation is not a honor bestowed on someone for merit but is actually a reflection of the entity that produced a large volume of 'news' for that year.

May I suggest a cease-fire, comment wise?

In case anyone is interested, the blue S by my name has no relation to the above comment, I'm speaking purely for myself, although I suspect others would agree.

Cheers and happy wagering,
v&h

Tisha, if/when you distribute T-shirts I recommend a contest for wildest pictures/backgrounds wearing the shirts as avatar pics.

Hubdub.... Wanna bet?

Don't be bitter cause my bet's better than your bet.

That was inspired by a rhyme that my father used to practice breathing cadence while in auctioneering school, it went like this:

Betty Botter bought some butter
But she said "This butter's bitter."
So she bought a bit of better butter
Made her bitter butter better
So tis better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

Hubdub where imaginary money chases real events.

Hey Know it All, Prove it! www.hubdub.com

So you say you knew that would happen huh? Next time Hubdub it.

Hubdub, where intelligent contrarians clean up.

Hubdub, where clairvoyants one up each other.

Hubdub, where prophets profit.

Dazzle the doubters, Astound the aggravators, Charm the cynics.... Hubdub.

Hubdub, where analysts go for second opinions.

Hubdub, not a poll of what you want to happen, what you bet will happen.

Win one for the G.I.P.P.E.R!

Globally
Informed
Prognosticators
Predicting
Eventual
Results

copied from the other thread....

Hubdub forums, the virtual soapbox for the rest of us.
I learned about it on Hubdub
My Hubdub market Rocks!
Hubdub, where the MSM goes for a reality check.
Hubdub, tomorrow's trends... today.
Hubdub, where passion and knowledge go to tussle.
Meet me at the Hubdub Pub, Bub.
Raise a pint! Post a Q, Hubdub!
Requesting anonymity the unnamed source referred only to the logic of the crowds, and Hubdub....
Ready for change? Change your mind @ www.hubdub.com
Where Lefties and Righties clash about PC.... Hubdub
Everything I need to know... I learned on Hubdub
Polling indicates that people are sick of polls, go to Hubdub for a breather
Two guys walk into a bar.... and go online @ www.hubdub.com
Hubdub, all the passion and fun of a bar brawl, without the annoying hangover and bail $.
Your swag owes my swag an apology, on Hubdub
Show prep for the MSM, Hubdub predictions
Every since I lost my hometown newspaper, I've used Hubdub to learn about things

@ 19

Cool! Here's a few more for your consideration...

Hubdub forums, the virtual soapbox for the rest of us.
I learned about it on Hubdub
My Hubdub market Rocks!
Hubdub, where the MSM goes for a reality check.
Hubdub, tomorrow's trends... today.
Hubdub, where passion and knowledge go to tussle.
Meet me at the Hubdub Pub, Bub.
Raise a pint! Post a Q, Hubdub!
Requesting anonymity the unnamed source referred only to the logic of the crowds, and Hubdub....
Ready for change? Change your mind @ www.hubdub.com
Where Lefties and Righties clash about PC.... Hubdub
Everything I need to know... I learned on Hubdub
Polling indicates that people are sick of polls, go to Hubdub for a breather
Two guys walk into a bar.... and go online @ www.hubdub.com
Hubdub, all the passion and fun of a bar brawl, without the annoying hangover and bail $.
Your swag owes my swag an apology, on Hubdub
Show prep for the MSM, Hubdub predictions
Every since I lost my hometown newspaper, I've used Hubdub to learn about things

j,

Would you care to proffer some metrics for this thread? Expectations and Right decisions are awfully subjective. Perhaps I can suggest a few for your consideration...

1.) Number of armed conflicts that the US is involved in four years from now vs. current?
2.) DJIA
3.) Unemployment rate
4.) Interest rates
5.) Adjustments to the US Constitution
6.) Infant mortality rate
7.) Student test scores, such as SAT's
8.) Size of US deficit
9.) Successful intervention by UN to resolve ANY disputes
10.) Diversity of Presidential cabinet
11.) Status of NATO and other US involved treaties
12.) Status of current illegal aliens, whether granted amnesty
13.) Solvency of Social Security Trust Fund
14.) Range of Federal Income Tax rates
15.) Date during 2009 that citizens are estimated to have filled their tax burden by
16.) Peace in the Middle East
17.) Rate of nuclear device proliferation
18.) China attacks Taiwan? Israel attacks Iran? Iran attacks anyone? Saskatchewan attacks Manitoba, ok just kidding
19.) Ozone hole change in size?
20.) Greens report any measurable progress on environmental efforts?

btw... J.... How do you plan to quantify settlement for this? Just curious.

1. a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.
2. absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.
3. the office or position held by a dictator.

Based on this definition, source is http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dictatorship, I'm guessing that a dictatorship is somewhat subjective.... would Executive Orders that over road or trumped the other branches of government suffice for your purposes here? Would a Federal program to privatize citizens 401K plans be creeping that way? Would confiscation of more than 50% of anyone's gross earnings be cause for concern? How about the resumption of the Fairness Doctrine to squelch selected media outlets or impede on Free Speech? ... just wondering ...

If you like this market, you may be interested in mine as well, created almost simultaneously without any collusion between jsevigny and myself... wouldn't that make for interesting conspiracy theory, lol!

http://www.hubdub.com/m22006/Will_a_new_National_Security_Force_have_boots_on_the_ground_inside_US_during_2008

Well good morning, "J" ... I see that we're both giving this some consideration...

http://www.hubdub.com/m22007/Will_Barack_Obama_use_a_civilian_security_force_to_establish_a_dictatorship_in_the_US

I think this is a bit silly, for security reasons I prefer that Presidents always send their children to private school and have tutors also, it would be unfair to the other students and their families to have such a liability as having the First Kids and their requisite security detail at a public school.

'xcuse me, Upton THREW out runner, not THROUGH out. too early....

alright, I'm requesting settlement on this. Follows are the 'obscure things' that I could find that occurred during the 2008 World Series Championship. The listed things may have happened more than once, if I found an instance I stopped looking further for that thing.

1.) Wild pitch thrown by Grant Balfour in Game # 3.
2.) Possible balk by pitcher Hammel in Game # 1, not called, but much discussed on blogs.
3.) B.J. Upton, stole 2nd base and 3rd base on consecutive pitches in Game # 3.
4.) B.J. Upton, Centerfielder, also through out Victorino at home plate in Game # 1.

By my count this means that either 3 or 4 of these obscure things happened so that the Blue, "Two to Five tof these things happen during the WS" option, (the highest one @ 45%), settled for the answer.

According to philphan1, likely one of the best sources on this matter there was a fifth instance as well, but I couldn't find it. Either way there does not seem to have been a sixth qualifying event, which would make the last option the winner.

Thank you to everyone for the 93 wagers on this unusual market.

Regards,
v&h

working on cataloguing these this morning, will be back with my results soon.... v&h

@ 12

...perhaps because for someone so wonderful, so full of poise and confidence, so proud of their story, so inspiring yet so reluctant to be addressed by their entire name, it just seems.... odd.

tisha et all...

I fear that I've muddled what I was trying to say. I'm merely trying to opine an extrapolated trend that if citizens are convicted of crimes prior to the actual act, then presumably persons could be rounded up and held and prosecuted for things they might have been contemplating, granted when actual steps are taken and it seems obvious to a judge or jury of peers that the commission of a crime was imminent, then yes, I think judgement should be swift and severe, but taken to a logical extreme, an otherwise moody person whose personal diary or journal is absconded and there are notations in it wishing for the demise of someone important could be considered a crime.

curios... Do you know the significance of the name... "Da!"...? just curious.

Fascinating picture, many previous instances of photos of African Americans being 'darkened' in pictures, fewer instances though of Caucasians looking 'extra white' in their pictures, President Bush looks positively anemic in this avatar!

@ # 11 ....

No, for the record I'm not supporting these two fellows, certainly not. Granted, I have not studied THIS case in detail, but just going of the information in the background above, it appears that the CRIME was intent, I don't think "driving around with swastikas and racial slurs painted on their car". is in and of itself a crime commensurate with several years in jail. Despicable? Yes. Likely to incite trouble? Certainly. But a crime? I don't think so. Let's say Timothy McFay had been apprehended prior to the Oklahoma City bombing, he was driving around with a large bomb, but if it hadn't yet been detonated what would he have been charged with? Multiple counts of intended murder?

In our country a threat against a President, or pending President is an obvious and legitimate crime, just as bad mouthing the monarch in the UK will get you in trouble. What DOES trouble me though is a bit of a creeping idea that intent alone is considered criminal, prior to a specific tangible action occurring. I think that folks who do not look like the majority of citizens in a community, for whatever reason, are frequently the recipients of additional scrutiny, that often evolves into profiling. I heard a good proverb one time that goes like this.

Guard what you see...it becomes your thoughts...guard your thoughts they become your plans...guard your plans they become your actions...guard your actions they become your legacy. Or something like that. I just think that our liberties are precious and if we begin to incarcerate citizens for things that they haven't yet done, it will become a bit of a slippery slope. You look like a thug, thugs do bad things, so we'll just go ahead and hold onto you now, because you WILL be doing something bad at some point. Sounds a bit too Minority Report-esque to me, and NO, I'm not saying these particular two guys are not guilty. If we (society) get TOO skittish about security then soon our rights will be in peril, like freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.

# 8 bks I the original market listing O _ _ W _ _ _ _ Guys was voided for being potentially insensitive, just havin a bit o' fun.

Tisha,

Lesee, off the top of my head, I think any of these would be shirts or hats I'd wear with pride...

From Fargo to Finland, the world is wagering, Ja! Your Betcha!
I'd rather be Hubdubbing
Put your $ where your :) is, www.Hubdub.com!
Hey, Bard, Where's the rub? Hubdub!
World's Best Digital Soapbox, www.hubdub.com/forum
I created:
1 million dollars of Hubdub wagering
1,000 markets on Hubdub
Me and my 100 friends on Hubdub think otherwise
You think you're so smart? Bet me! www.hubdub.com
I read about it on Hubdub.
Where the world's brightest pontificators gather....www.hubdub.com

posted Nov 8th, 2008, Valornhonor

It's been speculated that there are sea creatures in Loch Ness.

Can I get a leather jacket with HubDub emblazoned on the back for $1,000,000.00HD?

Nicely done Jen! Very creative and newsworthy, thanks!

@ # 6

I prefer to go with a definition of cabinet as the Sect. level appointments by the President for the various departments of Government, as ladylara ref in # 4, This def. includes 15 persons in the current administration.

"Elderly Man River, Elderly Man River, it just keeps rolling, it just keeps rolling, it just keeps rolling along...." Sung to the tune of.... Oh never mind...

C2R,

No problem at all! Like Will Rogers quipped, "Everyone is an expert at something." I've enjoyed being educated about seeds from your posts.

What are odds on Putin preferring the title of Czar? hee hee

C2R.... Among the various things impacting the market I think included in them are some measured calculations that some investors, mutual fund holders, etc. are trying to anticipate implications of the new administration and choosing to take $ out of the stock market, with the extremely wide representation of average citizens having their 401K accounts associated with the stock market I think your assessment about grasping economics of Wall Street is probably true. The bouncing around of the DJIA is not being driven exclusively by fund market managers lounging over mai-tais with black berries on beaches somewhere, it is an aggregate reflection of how the whole country feels about the near term future economic prospects, I'm only saying that if the general, overall, public mood was one of unbridled optimism that the market would have reacted differently during the past couple of days, that's all.

...and now today down another 350 points so far after yesterday's sell off, wonder why the Obama euphoria isn't translating into investor confidence, love to hear from one of the faithful you take on this....

...largest one day drop in DJIA, in history, day after a presidential election and now down ANOTHER 350 points today, so far, anyone wanna take a stab at why the Obama euphoria is resulting in such a sell-off?

Anyone?

I have an idea for a market beginning to bubble up in my mind... something about the definition of "hate crimes" being somehow expanded to include things that might be done later, or are being considered, or can be inferred from a look on someone's face, or the way they dress...

Amazing, when I think of all the cogent, error free exchanges from the two gentlemen that actually won the election it makes me want to go out and visit the other 8 states that I haven't seen yet, I've only been to 49....

To whom it may concern, I'm within shouting distance of my own "old white guy" definition. Whilst playing laser tag with my boys a few years ago one of the other whipper snippers commented afterwards, "Hey Old Guy is pretty good!" Since then this is always my handle when I play laser tag.

V&H

I'd intended to create a market comparing and contrasting market performances on 11/3/08 & 11/5/08 in the US. Now I regret that I didn't....

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The stock market posted its biggest plunge following a presidential election as reports on jobs and service industries stoked concern the economy will worsen even as President-elect Barack Obama tries to stimulate growth.

I'd intended to create a market comparing and contrasting market performances on 11/3/08 & 11/5/08 in the US. Now I regret that I didn't....

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The stock market posted its biggest plunge following a presidential election as reports on jobs and service industries stoked concern the economy will worsen even as President-elect Barack Obama tries to stimulate growth.

How is this quantified? A firing? Headlines? Just curious.

Current list of Johns and others....

Let's see... Min $498M through September... another $36M or so through first two weeks of October http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/24/obama-fundraising-drops-million-october/.... $534M... I guess this will be closer than I thought.

Kinda like spreading the wealth around...

"Current" cabinet level positions are... Secretaries of... Agriculture, Interior, Commerce, Justice, Defense, Labor, Education, State, Energy, Transportation, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Homeland Security, Veteran's Affairs, Housing and Urban Development... pending Departments of Hope and Change.

Just kidding about those last two.

Why so serious?

Silence talk radio and we'll sharpen our pitchforks...

Here's a riddle for you, when does the chorus of Diversity! Diversity! Diversity! suddenly change to Unity! Unity! Unity!

Answer is... the very SECOND that the liberal is voted into power, prior to the vote it's demanded that all parties embrace the diversity of opinions but as soon as the votes are tallied the insistence is that the "other guys" now acquiesce in the name of unity.

Amazing.

Congratulations Senator Obama to you, your family and your team.

I'm confident that you will understand that those of us in the country that have different visions for the country than you do will remain vigorous in defense of these ideals.

Congratulations Senator Obama to you, your family and your team.

I'm confident that you will understand that those of us in the country that have different visions for the country than you do will remain vigorous in defense of these ideals.

I'm going to randomly and mysteriously arrange for C2R to win an all expenses paid cruise, only requirement is an immediate launch date, returning on 1/21/09.

just messin' with ya.

This ought to rile things up a bit but I'm going to take a stab at it anyway...

I think citizens often get the government that they deserve, or perhaps this phenom. is more common in the US, I've only otherwise lived in Canada and Venezuela and only studied or visited dozens of other countries. Here is what I think.... I've seen many questions about whom is to blame for the current economic crisis and the Big Bailout.... Wall Street Fat Cats? Sleazy government officials? But the party that has, I think, gotten the least amount of scrutiny in this debacle is the Americans themselves that entered into these agreements, true the closing process when buying a home kills a few trees, but it remains true that these new homeowners bear some culpability also. In loose terms here is a dynamic that I think has played out...

Party A.
Citizens who had not previously been homeowners, but wished to be and considered themselves disenfranchised. In many cases these folks had not yet attained sufficient wealth or credit for traditional minimums for home loans, and in some cases they were likely discriminated against.

Party B.
Banks that are in the business of moving money to and fro and earning money on the 'action'. They have an interest in the maximum number of sheer transactions, but desire some immunity for dubious or risky arrangements.

Party C.
Politicians looking to score goodwill with electorates, see A. above, who are in a position to influence banks, such as, "Oh, you want the green light on your M&A activity? You want to expand into other states? Guess what, the quid-pro-quo will be your absorption of these loans that you would have otherwise considered to be too risky.

Party D.
Fannie & Freddie, the quasi-government institutions which had been exempted from valid oversight for the above reasons.

I know this is really simplifying things, but this is how I see this incestuous relationship.

Anyone else? Certainly there are some financial minds here in the community that can correct my understanding on this.

@ chatarra

What he said.

:)

oops, sorry about that, yes, IN should only be counted once, in the bottom half (rural)

@ 47

Nope.

More love for PA....

http://media.newsbusters.org/stories/hidden-audio-obama-tells-sf-chronicle-he-will-bankrupt-coal-industry.html?q=blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/11/02/hidden-audio-obama-tells-sf-chronicle-he-will-bankrupt-coal-industry

Or whether those gun clinging religious redneck zealots in PA will cast their lot with McCain... just a thought.

@ pippi1500

Yes, of course, Iowa should be included. For anyone bidding, the ACTUAL list is.... Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, IOWA, Ohio and Oklahoma. My apologies!

For purposes of this market the following are the MOST densely populated states which are being tracked for candidate Senator Obama:

1. D.C.
2. NJ
3. RI
4. MA
5. CT
6. DE
7. NY
8. FL
9. OH
10. PA
11. CA
12. IL
13. HI
14. VA
15. NC
16. MI
17. IN
18. IN
19. TN
20. NH
21. SC
22. KY
23. WI
24. LA
25. WA
26. TX
27. AL

Every state above this line, # 1 D.C. through # 27 Alabama has MORE people per square mile than the National average of approx. 80.7/square mile, these are considered to be the URBAN states in this market. Every state below this line has estimated population density less than 80.7/square mile, these are considered to be the RURAL states in this market.

28. MO
29. WV
30. VT
31. MN
32. MS
33. AZ
34. AR
35. IA
36. OK
37. CO
38. ME
39. OR
40. KS
41. UT
42. NV
43. NE
44. ID
45. NM
46. SD
47. ND
48. MT
49. WY
50. AS

So, do you think Obama will take a greater SHARE of the top 1/2 of states than McCain takes from the bottom 1/2 of states?

....hmmnnnn after the election, maybe I'll take a 2nd bike trip across the country and interview folks for their reactions and find somewhere to post them for money.


... if only it were that easy ...

Although I'm not swayed from my positions/opinions I continue to appreciate the discussion, much more stimulating than a tennis match of slogans.

My predictions on possible things that may occur if McCain is elected President.

1.) Before dawn on 11/5 suits will be filed in a dozen cities or more protesting that the election was stolen.

2.) Rioting will ensue in D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Fran, Chicago and New York City.

3.) The word racism will appear in the first paragraph of election results in the largest newspaper reports.

4.) A loud boycott of anheuser busch products will be announced in Arizona, and quickly fade, without fanfare.

5.) The UN will call for an investigation of US election returns for accuracy.

6.) To preserve his dream of being a life long maverick, (my opinion more fundamental to Senator McCain than the Presidency).... his cabinet will contain 50% or less obvious Republicans, however, no matter how few Republicans are in the cabinet, it will be roundly condemned by the Democratic Congressional leadership as being tokenism.

7.) A 'proxy' fight will ensue between Senators Clinton and Obama to wrestle the coveted leadership position away from Harry Reid.

8.) One or both Senators Clinton or Obama will be recipients of a 'grass-roots' online movement to draft their candidacy for the 2012 Presidential election.

9.) Most of President McCain's remaining hair will be gone from the top of his head by the end of his first term.

10.) Additions/improvements to the existing border fence between the United States and Mexico will be severely slowed, curtailed outright or simply abandoned.

Oh yeah, and one more prediction for an Obama Presidency.... within the first 90 days President Obama will call for amnesty for all persons presently residing in the United States, aka illegal aliens, aka undocumented workers.

... Since this is a prediction site, here are a few of my predictions...

If Obama wins.

1.) Each time President Obama attempts to enact one of his visions the first and most automatic labeling of any dissent or discussions will be, "Racism!".

2.) President Obama will be unable to do all of the big things that he wants to do without dismantling the military.

3.) Social Security will become obviously and quickly insolvent (actually true for whomever wins).

4.) Alternative fuels and engines will become better and cheaper.

5.) Global warming will remain a quasi-religious tenet to beat citizens into compliance, much like the Endangered Species Act is used as a club to inhibit personal property rights.

6.) Insistence on an array of reparations will escalate, dramatically.

7.) The Supreme Court will be obviously much more liberal at the end of President Obama's first term than at the beginning, but it will be described as being Progressive, rather than Liberal.

8.) Restrictions on abortions will fade away.

9.) US military missions will become increasingly subservient to UN musings.

10.) Discussions of an active rebellion, civil war, or secession from the collective states will reach a feverish pitch as the citizenry realizes that they cannot afford to fix global poverty, tolerate an internal military force and an obvious disdain for so many of the institutions that they hold dear, such as traditional religious beliefs and a general feeling that America is not virtuous.

After dinner I will post my thoughts about what a McCain Presidency might result in.

Again, before I jump in again, I appreciate this forum method as being superior to the normal sound biting and ranting so typical these days. Someday over drinks, perhaps in front of a roaring fire we can all convene for an even more vibrant discussion, until then, some of by observations/thoughts/impressions gleaned from my life thus far.

A few things I know to be true, in the last few days before Christmas the ads for perfume and jewelry are incessant... in the last few days before an election the charges and countercharges are ridiculous, for similar reasons, trying to influence behavior for those who haven't yet moved.

During my life I had the privilege of having many missionaries over to our home for dinner while they were 'state-side' that and a prodigious love of geography and cartography and general reading broadened my horizons beyond my street, hometown, country, state and country. If there was one think I could do for young people that I think would most benefit our future society it would be to somehow facilitate travel in general and international travel in particular by young people, it is difficult to remain provincial, bigoted or boastful if one travels.

During my junior year in high school my parents felt a burden to be supportive of my church's missionary efforts in Venezuela, our family came to realize that many of these fine folks that had Divinity or Bible School backgrounds found that once 'in-country' they often ended up working out their faith through presumably more mundane 'blue-collar' type work. My father felt a calling this way and as a family we went to South America so my Dad could do the dirty fingernail kind of work and the missionaries could attend to the things that they were actually trained in. I've also taken many road trips including a cross-country solo bicycle trip and hundreds of trips as a flight attendant, every time I travel I'm reminded of the amazing panorama of ideas, cultures and richness of various peoples, it has been a blessing.

My opinion is that there are a few things that seems intrinsic to all peoples, not a lot but I do have a core list... laughter, dance, music, creativity, a desire to leave the world better for one's children, and the option to enjoy the rewards of ones own labor. When I think MY idea of an ideal government, as I walk through life I think of it in terms of a literal walk; I want a portion of my riches (taxes) to pay to keep the wolves out of the park that I'm walking through, but should one get through to my path I want the option of defending myself (2nd ammendment), rather than just a panic button (911 call), to request the calvary to come and save me, I don't mind a tax on food to pay for health inspectors and if I want to divert from the path to visit a park I think a fee for entrance is warranted, what I'm unwilling to do is to surrender the majority of my wealth in exchange to ride a bus along with everyone else, I don't want to be carried through life, I want the option to walk myself, knowing full well that I will frequently fall, and even if I never get up I prefer the knowledge that I did it under my own steam. l understand that it is tempting to have a kind of compassion that attempts to correct ever indignity suffered by anyone but it just doesn't seem plausible to me. When I say Conservative, what I mean is that I want my government to be slow to do things for me, I would rather that they, judiciously and slowly, consider removing obstacles from my path that I cannot lift alone rather than actually carry me or tell me how fast to walk and when to rest and where to give all of my money to, not the alternative definition that understands Conservatives to be old white guys that want to preserve some kind of status quo.

destry, to your point about leadership... I remember seminal moments from previous Presidential administrations... Carter kept our athletes home to protest the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, Reagan's posture contributed to the demise of the Soviet Union's ambitions that they could not sustain on a one-to-one basis with the United States, Bush 41 cobbled together a vast international coalition to thwart Iraq's visions of grandeur, Clinton deployed our military all over the place on missions that seems to be functions often ill suited for military and then ironically launching cruise missiles while the Blue dress was 'still wet' if you'll pardon the crass pun, Bush 43 had 9/11 almost instantly after getting in and although there are many things about his administration that make me sad, I don't think the absence of another such attack on US soil during his tenure is a result of lack of will from those folks in other lands that would prefer America to be extinguished. When I think about how other countries might interact with America going forward I think Senator Biden is on to something, I think MANY parties are eager to see if we'd respond like Carter (Obama) or Reagan (McCain) if threatened.

enmag,

Feel free to check my publicly posted wagers, I'm putting my HD$ where my mouth is, if Senator Obama wins the Presidency I will be down to about $10HD, if he loses it'll balloon to about $100K. Happy to play the contrarian on this one. To your point, Senator Obama typically appears very calm, curiously so many around him.... less so.... Michelle, his pastor, his friends, his associates, etc.

@ destry & conspiracy2riot

Excellent! I accept these terms as well and find parallels in both of your bios to my own. Some pertinent background on myself...

I am nearly the same age as Senator Obama, JFK was killed in the Fall of the year I was born, I live in Texas but have also lived in Washington, Colorado, Venezuela and Canada, I have traveled to dozens of countries and consider myself to be an above average consumer of news, history and I enjoy trying to find linkage in disparate events and details, as evidenced by the headaches I've induced in destry with my odd market creations.

I consider myself to be first a Conservative rather than a Republican and I've more frequently than not found kindred theories, less in practice, with the platform positions from the right than from the left. Like destry I have been dismayed at the explosion in government, for example the HSA which is now larger than the State Department, I suspect that the NSA actually does more to keep us safe than the window dressing TSA efforts at airports, etc.

My discomfort with Senator Obama springs largely from a cynical nature in that I suspect that the plethora of lofty things that he seems convinced he will accomplish is very dubious. My observation is that University students, around the entire world frequently have an imbalance of understanding about how to impose/create utopia and a dearth of understanding about how hard it actually is to "make everything nice". On the other hand working people (another distasteful class-baiting phrase, most people are working or their wealth is working), are often too tired to be very engaged in "big picture things". Also Senator Obama's plans for a domestic security force with a budget on par with the externally focused military is frankly troubling. Whenever I see crowds swoon over a politician I am skeptical. When I see the ferocity unleashed by so many Obama supporters I am troubled, one would think that to have such intense passions it would be an easy matter to espouse a list of things that made a supporter feel so strongly. Granted, both of you have been exceptions to this general trend and I welcome this forum for discourse, but I think even you would have to admit that many Obama supporters seem virtually euphoric but at the same time unable to form a cogent explanation of why they feel so strongly.

Again, thank you for the forum, I'd also like to suggest that in very general terms online discussions like this tend to be more heavily skewed left, could it be that the right leaning types are simply busy working instead of talking? Based on the nearly 50/50 split in the last two elections... I suggest yes.\

As a counterpoint to all of this venom here many Americans, myself included, consider these associations to be very troubling and pertinent.

Now Mork, take a breath my friend, taxes do two things, they provide for the implementation of the things that the society apparently considers most critical, including things like the military and roads and health inspectors and parks and a plethora of other things besides strict redistribution of wealth. The tax code also serves as a blunt instrument to mold behavior. Senator Obama has been quite clear of late that he intends taxes to not merely pay for running the govt. but that they should also play a large role in redistributing money from the 'rich' which is either those over $250K, or $200K or $150K or $42K and passing it along to those with less. Such experiments have been tried over and over and they never work as intended.

Actually no, I anticipate Senator Obama actually being very antagonistic and a veiled call for a "long hot winter"...

The massive crowds that are greeting Governor Palin everywhere she goes are because they don't like her... No wait, that can't be right....

Hey all you Obama supporters... do None of You wish to engage me in debate or are you only interested in bumper sticker waving style discourse? Just curious.

I'm happy to include the District of Columbia, my apologies for the oversight, and it will, without any doubt whatsoever be bright blue, Virginia.... TBD.

Yes, although AZ is a something of a maverick with regard to how they consider time, for example DST... MST, yes.

Technical review? Perhaps someone questions my allocation of states to time zones? I thought this was fairly straightforward.

$10/vote should be a cake walk considering recent trends.

HERE is the link for the time zone map:

http://www.statebits.com/files/time-zone-map-iv.gif

Here is the time zone map that I used to construct this market.

Follows in my rationale:

1.) Only using the 48 contiguous states, not including Alaska which should go to Palin/McCain and Hawaii which should go to Obama/Biden.

2.) PST defined as WA, OR, CA & NV, keeping ID in MST as the larger portion of the state is there.

3.) MST defined as MT, ID, WY, UT, CO & NM.

4.) CST defined as ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX, MN, IA, MO, AR, LA, WI, IL, IN, AL, MS. Put IN in this group as a bit more than 50% of the real estate is west of the CST/EST line. KY into EST for the same reason; more than 50% of KY in EST, and Yes, I know that El Paso is MST and will likely, locally, go for the Democratic ticket.

5) EST is the remaining 48 states including IN, KY and FL which all have lines running through them.
2.)

Like Nicholas Cage said in National Treasure, "People just don't talk like that anymore." Couple hundred years ago when our fore-fathers were clamoring for change they said it like this:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Regretfully our modern discourse is not nearly so lofty:

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=195133

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d/paris-hilton-responds-to-mccain-ad-from-paris-hilton-adam-ghost-panther-mckay-and-chris-henchy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMqqpl-mGNw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdCz4lyknqo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d28IFaRvkJ8

Thank you dieseldog.

I'll like to put a couple of items along side each other for your consideration, first the oath of office when a President is sworn in:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Next a portion of a radio interview by (then) Illinois State Senator Obama. Please consider what the speaker's point of view about the sanctity and merit of the US Constitution might be.

OBAMA: If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to vest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples. So that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order and as long as I could pay for it I’d be okay. 
But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as people tried to characterize the Warren court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and the Warren court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. It says what the states can’t do to you, it says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn’t shifted. One of the I think tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributed change and in some ways we still suffer from that.

Lest anyone think I might be wrenching these paragraphs somehow out of context, I assure you, I am not, but here is the link for the entire transcripted conversation if you'd like to read it in its entirety: http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/forums/2/2584303/ShowThread.aspx

part # 2.

11.) Senator McCain hails from Arizona for a long time now, so what are the big concerns of Arizonans? Many retirees, immigration, water to name a few, basic and substantial considerations. Senator Obama however has had precious little time in the accountable hot-seat in the Senate and seems to have little to show for new bills he chartered or championed.

12.) There seems to be some kind of disconnect between how Presidents and Presidential candidates are critiqued and the day-to-day common sense that we employ in our personal lives. For example, when I’m counseling my four sons about their friends and associations I’m very concerned with who they ‘hang-out with’ because the people we choose to associate with are those that we have affinities with and in particular older people that we associate with tends to influence down to the younger party rather than the reverse. It seems incredulous to me that so many associations by Senator McCain’s rival seem on the one hand, (by Senator Obama’s own testimony and the preponderance of evidence), to have been so important but upon scrutiny so misunderstood.

13.) I’ve often wondered where was Jesus between say age 13 and age 33, kind of gap there... seem to be some gaps in one of these two candidates too... Senator McCain admittedly sowed wild oats and hoped for a crop failure but at least we have an accounting of these years.

14.) Senator McCain belongs to the party that appears to be less beholden to the UN than the other party and I find scant evidence of instances where the UN has been the easily identifiable solutions to world problems.

15.) At a very visceral level I have the unshakeable impression that much of the fire that ignites the left is anger and resentment and anticipated entitlement the right also has frequent flaws, but it’s been my life’s experiences that I’ve encountered more contented people on the right than on the left. Now I’m quite sure that lefties will say, “Sure white boy, easy for you to say, not hard to be happy when you have every advantage and the money, we’re mad because we’ve been disenfranchised/abused/enslaved/etc.”

16.) Senator McCain appears to has, by virtue of his tenure if nothing else (back to # 1), more opportunities to work with his political rivals and craft legislation. His rival appears to be very recalcitrant to such collaborative efforts.

17.) Having studying politics my entire adult life I’m left with a general impression that conservatives want to grow bigger pies and liberals want an infinite number of slices to existing pies. No, Senator McCain is not as conservative as I’d prefer in a candidate, but on a spectrum he is closer to what I believe has been demonstrated to be effective than his rival.

18.) I cannot find ANY good examples in history of societies that were democratic and instead elected to become socialist and prospered more for the change. The basic premise that government can redistribute wealth from those With it to those Without it and it will be a long term solution is fallacious.

19.) America has one strong, solid, historical ally in the Middle East, Israel. Based on past comments and associations it appears that Senator McCain would be the candidate that would be most likely to perpetuate this important alliance.

20.) I don’t believe that it is random or accidental that a massive terroristic attack has not occurred on US soil in the past seven years, I strongly suspect that the covert and diligent efforts of many brave men have kept us safe, not by virtue of non preconditioned chats, but rather a reasoned and carefully considered use and threat of leverage, force and effort. It makes me uncomfortable to hand over the keys to the kingdom to a polished, ivy-league community organizer who primary skill seems to be rhetoric, I’ll side with the more clumsy, aged, principled man who is scarred from personal experience rather than vicariously as part of a protesting group.

These are some of my reasons.

Thanks for asking.

Valornhonor

jenni & boys,

Thank you for the service to our country from your household and for the tireless hours you've spent making this forum the excellent site that it is, and now thank you for asking this concise and salient question now in the twilight of this campaign. I understand that we see the world through different eyes and I appreciate this polite forum for a discussion. I accept your question, follows is my reply, broken into pieces to accommodate the 10K word limitation.

Reasons I am supporting Senator McCain for President.

1.) I have a higher standard for the highest office in the country than for other positions, as such I want to see someone older than myself in this capacity. The older I get the more I’m convinced that much wisdom is gleaned from simply living and that it takes years of real life experiences to correct the starry-eyed-ness of college life in many people.

2.) I prefer a commander in chief who has personally fought and bled to be charged with the grave decisions to commit our sons and daughters to battle rather than one who has been at best ambivalent about the military, although I may have missed alternative positions it appears that when McCain’s opponent talks of the military it is most frequently with annoyance of a pledge to slow it down and shrink it. For those of us that haven’t personally served our country, myself included, we often think of noble episodes in movies to try and crystalize our respect and appreciation of the military. The lines from Col. Jessep (Jack Nicholson), in the movie “A Few Good Men”, come to mind:

“Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and curse the Marines; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to defend something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.”

3.) I’ve had the good fortune to live in several countries and to visit dozens more, what I’ve seen with my own eyes is that much of the world, at the individual level, not the media or governmental level, yearns for and appreciates the example that America represents at it’s best. True, America’s mistakes make fantastic headlines, but the option to actually excel via effort and personal drive are a beacon for many people who have ambition but are shackled by their surroundings.

4.) I believe that our Constitution has served us well, and although it is rarely taught proactively in school, it is vital in it’s original form, it should not be considered to be a nice ‘starting point’ for corrections and I resent the language that it is primarily a document of ‘negative rights.’

5.) It baffles me that any man that would aspire to the ascendancy of the Presidency without a large entourage of associates that could easily and plainly serve as character witnesses on his behalf. McCain is a self styled maverick, but he does actually have a record and he has not spent this campaign dodging his associations or trying to avoid them or belittle them.
6.) Racism is a toxic word in our lexicon, and I am qualified to speak on this, doubt me? Look at my avatar again. Anyway it offends me that this little word is so often used as a trump card to interrupt and quell otherwise serious discourse. I have watched both campaigns critically and it has been my observation that the word has most often come up in these two contexts: The Obama campaign warning about racism and Senator McCain tripping over himself to deny any association with any accusation of racism.

7.) Change! Like a mantra. Odd that I haven’t heard the old saw about a Devil you know vs. one you don’t this cycle.... Incredulous to me that Senator Obama selects a very, very senior old white guy, lifetime politician from a tiny state to be his # 2 and Senator McCain selects a woman governor of the largest state, one that is vital to our energy interests , yet Obama gets all of the change kudos.

8.) Speaking of their #2’s it is amazing to me how simple it is to find gaffe after gaffe after mysterious pronouncement by Senator Biden without really any serious examination yet Governor Palin has been hounded relentlessly. Mythinks thou doest protesteth too much. If Governor Palin was ACTUALLY such a light-weight, non-threat that didn’t actually resonate with so many Americans, then why spend so much capital attacking her? Why not just ignore her?

9.) When I think of someone writing their memoirs I think of someone that is in their twilight years, someone who has a lot of things to be proud of, perhaps with a ghost writer helping them out. I DON’T think of someone in their 40’s writing one or more memoirs.

10.) As a salesman for years I have a sensitive ear to presentation style and crowd influence and I give props to Senator Obama for his delivery style, in fact your can hear the suave-ness of his voice even when reading transcripts of his speeches, but I do prefer to read them, because it provides a more rationale examination and so much of what I read seems fluid and self contradictory.

While we're all being so tolerant of each other can someone pass me a scone and we can broach the next topic, shall I suggest the religious imperatives in child rearing? LOL.... Seriously though I'm compelled to post something here, I'll be back...

V&H

.... or in spite of the Obama tsunami of marketing and peer pressure remain squeamish about handing over the keys to such a junior politician ...

Dewey defeats Truman....

I feels very redemptive that THIS video is now the most watched:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8 (Iraqi war vet with video msg to Senator Obama)

So much more substantial that this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ25-glGRzI (Avril Levine being a brat)

when seconds count the authorities are just minutes away...

To f_o_f's point.... Who was vetted more vigorously by the MSM? Joe the plumber or Obama the candidate?

@ mrperfkt, a fist bump would be an other, or something interrupted the ceremony, or the new President decided he/she wanted to be king/queen instead, any number or obscure things, through trial & error I've tried to always leave one small sliver of an option to cover the extremely rare options.

@ jsevigny part 2....

btw... lest you think that I'm unread and hard headed, I DO think that other countries are making significant advancements in the field of health care, an excellent example is innovative system that Ruben Torel has launched in Bangkok....

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/125/medical-leave.html

@ jsevigny

such fascinating perspectives that you offer! Pray tell us, why do so many well to do sick folks come to the world class medical facilities in Houston, or the Mayo Clinic or any of a number of other world class medical facilities in this country, from other countries for treatment? Better, which would be the country that you would showcase as having a superior medical arrangement, I'm sure you can name several, I'm interested in the one that you admire most. I will not argue you on the education assessment, I agree that it is dire, what I can't agree to though is that an increase in taxes/bonds/etc. *automatically* and irrefutably will be the cure and I'm assuming that you are making a comparison between the United States and perhaps Europe with regard to public transportation, could it be that the distances between major cities are not conducive to train service? Perhaps a massive land grab, public domain style will be in order to commit billions to new rail lines? Do we not have a plethora of low fare air carriers that allow frequent trips between business centers that are equivalent distances as between entire countries in Europe? Please showcase for us an example of a society that vastly improved their quality of life with an obvious linkage to a spike in taxes. I look forward to your comments and thank you for your frequent participation on this site.

Seriously!

Based on the cavalier way that the US generally treats our largest trading partner... it will likely be Spring at best before the new US President gets around to meeting with his Canadian counterpart.

And for the record... here is what it is SUPPOSED to be:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Joe the ant was working hard. Hard at work plumbing the depths of the ant community. One day while on a break Joe noticed a very striking grasshopper preening himself nearby. “Barry, I recognize you from the sound of your song, I’ve heard the song before, do you really intend to redistribute my stored winter food?”

“Heavens no, Joe!”, Barry assured him, continuing, “It is merely prudent that your pile of food, which is much larger than you need, trust me on this, is flattened out and spread around, what about the the pill bugs and the aphids who don’t have the luxury of your good fortune? Your food pile is simply to steep and too highly piled, a bug could easily be injured if there was a fall, your pile needs to be flattened out, for the good of everyone.”

Joe returned to his digs and some fellow ants inquired of him, “Joe, we heard the lyrical sound of the grasshopper outside, what news does he bring?”

Joe, a common ant with common ways returned to the surface with his fellow ants to get a clarification on the mysterious plans of the grasshopper but was met instead by a battalion of crickets and a cartel of chameleons. Immediately a cacophony of voices rang out. Barry motioned for silence and a hush fell over the assembled pests.

Shimmering in a plumage of constantly changing colors a large chameleon climbed upon a pile of acorn husks and with eyes independently swiveling addressed the masses. “Welcome fellow ants! What a glorious day this is! For this Fall we select our Alpha insect and what could be more obvious? ... the charming dapperness of Barry the Grasshopper or that silly old, boring, stale has-been rhinoceros beetle, John McGrain? Sure, we know that he was held in a gourd by the Asian fruit flies for years while defending us, but that was a LONG time ago, now is the time for Change! Pick Barry to lead us!”

One small ant waived his antenna hoping to catch one of the eyes of the chameleon with a question but his query was drowned out by the mesmerizing hum of the crickets cooing, Barry Chang-Chang, Very Chang-Chang, Barry Chang-Chang.

The crickets took a break and Barry continued, “Little ants, you need to trust me, we know better than you, we grasshoppers fly high, we see the entire panorama of the meadow, we see things you ants don’t see here on the ground, do not let yourselves be troubled worrying about your stores, we will attend to them for you, all you need to know is that your pile of food will be just as high as ever, in fact higher and that it will be spread around for the good of the entire community, you merely need to stop piling your food by the poppies and instead turn left towards the bluebonnets and place your food at our feet, we’ll make sure that you remain warm and happy.

To be continued....

This is spooky. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck

Joe the plumber, and everyone else with a dollar, watch out, 95% of us will "not see our taxes go up", but somehow, mysteriously the wealth will be spread around, fascinating....

Wow, I launched this Q. with a 50/50 split on whether the Obama campaign would end up spending at least $10 per eventual vote and now it's sitting @ 33% Yes.... we'll see...

Corner Gas is an excellent little show, if you watch it notice how it doesn't have an annoying laugh track built into it.

Well said.

How'd I miss this fray? @ jsevigny I welcome the opportunity to engage you in some cogent debates about the merits of various schools of thought?

V&H

aka, a proud Conservative, and by Conservative I don't mean that I'm wedded to the idea that things must never change, rather I mean the more 'old school' idea that we must be good stewards of our time/talents/energies and make the best use of finite resources, both individually and as a society, not with an eye to giving everyone equal and meager portions, but rather creating a climate that is ripe for pie expansion rather than pie slicing.

OK bigken1, I'll take the bait, although your questions to me are a bit hard to interpret...

I was tepidly going to vote for McCain, actually I was seriously thinking about a write in for Thompson for the top spot, it's what I did in the TX primary even though he was already out then. So yes, my enthusiasm came back with the Palin pick, unlike 99.99999% of Americans I actually know people from her part of Alaska! I concur with you that the balance of power has been seriously tinkered with in the past decade or so and it might surprise you to learn that I think the Patriot Act is overreaching, I fear that too many Americans roll over when they hear code words like War on Terror...I shudder to think how future administrations will use these tools to trample personal rights further. Your last sentence though is actually what I wold say in the inverse... I'm unwilling to roll the dice on Obama I'd rather take McCain who appears to desperately want to retain his personal legacy of being a Maverick. It amazes me that the GOP is taking such a bashing when so much of the recent economic mess has spiked since the Dems took a majority two years ago and promised us all sunshine and roses. True Bushs' approval ratings are dismal but they are not even as low as Congress' you have to get down to things like violent criminals to get lower approval ratings than Congress these days, yet the appearance is that the Dems will retain their majorities, baffling really. Although I was not a fan of BC he did do a few things during his tenure that I agreed with, he acquiesced to Welfare reform and did give our currency an upgrade... although I honestly think that the surpluses during Clinton and the deficits under Bush have been imprecise on both counts. For example, I remember watching one of Bill Clinton's State of the Union addresses and tallying to myself what he was going to do with the budget surplus..5% here, 10% there, etc. When he got to 700% of the surplus I stopped counting. I agree that most of the country is clamoring for a change, but it discourages me that so little intelligent discourse has resulted from this campaign about WHAT either of these gentlemen would actually like to promote. The recent economic turmoil seems to have caught left-footed and I'm not convinced that Senator Obama has the exact character traits that I'd like to see at the pinnacle of government. For example. Senator Obama loves to poo-poo all of the critiques of his associations, but shouldn't someone gunning for the Presidency have a wealth of folks that would stand up as character witnesses for them? He should have a long list of stories about "What I did"... "Who I helped"... "How my actions made things better." And the business about how Rev. Wright was so instrumental to his beliefs but so strategically 'different' on the Sundays that the Obamas were in his pews smacks of incredulous to me.

So, what would be my ideal Presidential candidate? Someone that had run a business, maybe even run a state, had some personal and business difficulties, be at least in their early 50s, tall, articulate, sincere, tested, charming, self disciplined, well-traveled and studious.

Sigh.

I have no problem with this and I'm racking my brain to think of ANY precedent where a male politician or candidate was ever lambasted for looking nice, curious that there was so much ridicule of her 'plain-ness' and now of her updated wardrobe. I would like the # 1 and # 2 "faces" of our country to look especially sharp and dapper.

chutzpa: (Yiddish) unbelievable gall; insolence; audacity

The Audacity of Hype: Having hauled in a record $208,333 every hour of every day last month -- $150 million in all -- plus a few more unreported millions so far this month, Barack Obama is worried that he might come up short in the political money war with the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket.

I believe, constitutionally that Bill would have been allowed to be Hillary's VP, because if he was, and she could not complete her term he could step in, a President is allowed to serve more than one term, but not three in succession.

Nice Q Dragon, I tried to do this one myself but had trouble finding sales figures for Vespa.

I think it's more likely that riots will result if Senator is NOT elected, than if he is.

@ dieseldog,

I agree completely, I remember once a young well dressed scrubbed young man from Provo, after first doing recon work at my next door neighbor's house for an hour knocking on my door, pamphlets in his holster, asking me this question when I opened the door,

"Hello, is your family educationally minded?"

although I was only a teenager, I was quick enough to snap this softball of a straight line and quip back to him...

"Heck-fire NO! We's all dumb as dirt and plan to stay that way, no go peddle your religious mumbo-jumbo elsewhere!"

Not exactly the reaction he was hoping for, although we continued to receive periodic drive-by pitches like this for years which provided me ample opportunities to hone my wise-@ssedness.

@ nigel

for what it's worth, I was tepidly going to vote for McCain anyway, but his VP pick changed my frame of mind from begrudging to enthusiastic, and although it gets very little play in the MSM, I have encountered many other people I know of a similar mind.

@ dieseldog, I assume your Q to me was rhetorical, of COURSE I don't think the main stream media is going to hold him to the same standard as the Grand Old Party bunch.

Huckabee was too busy doing those Cambell's Soup sea salt commercials to also run for Vice President. I know it wasn't REALLY him, but he was a dead ringer for Huckabee. http://www.tom-hanna.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/eat-more-campbells-soup-to-defeat-john-mccain.jpg

@ randburg,

Sorry you're ineligible for a refund as your $HD balance is in excess of $250,000. It's going to some other "Joe."

Tisha,

I hope I get to meet you someday, sorry you've had such cumbersome encounters with your friends. I've often thought that living a life well was one of the best was to attract other's to one's belief system, admittedly is somewhat passive, but the notions of mass marketing to convert or holy wars against decliners just doesn't seem quite right.

...here's one that supposes a least a casual relationship between religion and happiness.... http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/happy.htm

such a curious assumption, that believers in God would be automatically not enjoying their lives... I think I read somewhere recently that a global study of happiness found a surprising (to the researchers) linkage between a faith and a general sense of contentedness.

I was trying to originally do this market using the price of a chicken in every pot, but it became too cumbersome to find a static price for a chicken.

....lighting and stages....

to anyone interested.... my intent was to see if Obama can pull the upset and have an unbroken chain of states stretching from the West Coast to the East Coast, and yes Nigel, the odds are low, and I set them low initially deliberately.... and to Nadine's initial Q... yes, the Great Lakes can be "stitched together" to form this chain, but that's not really the tough nut to crack, the Midwestern states currently polling Red will be much tougher.

...the state cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some other man, and this latter must be a man who has produced and saved it. This latter is the Forgotten Man."

These are the words of William Graham Sumner

C'mon bulls, bring it on home.... like yesterday....

In concur with nigel about Romney, to a point, he certainly has an excellent resume, he's polished, has great hair and just looks and 'smells' like a calm reasoned, mature person. I think if Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana had been interested he would have been an excellent choice for Senator McCain. That said I'm not ready to count out Gov. Palin just yet, she resonates with thousands of constituents, many of whom are also looking for change, but change to a personality that they understand. Keep in mind that Reagan was polling 8 pts. behind Carter 10 days before he whipped his you-know-what. I'm honestly flummoxed about how little reporting is done on the outrageous and error prone remarks that Biden has been making his entire career but esp. during the past couple of weeks. This week he warned an audience in grave, solemn and cryptic tones that we should anticipate unpopular moves by the pending Obama/Biden Administration and offered a guarantee that a rogue body would attack the US IF Obama is elected. If Obama loses the Obama faithful will be in the streets with pitchforks looking for someone to blame and the 'old-white-guy' that Obama picked will be