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Re: Ross, Silver take the gold in punditry

AwakeReader — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:45:52 -0500

So what? Please use a little critical thinking on this point. It means nothing to predict the race. It helps no voters or citizens to hear endless daily polls in the press. Why do we have these polls? What if we had no polls reported until the actual poll on election day? In that case we would actually hear from the campaigns on the issues. Wow, what an idea! Please think of who actually benifits from all the polling and you will see why we don't need it. Prediction is not a science, it is opinion. All these Obama predictors could have been made wrong by any overnight incident that got out the last days of the campaign, and then all the McCain predictors would have won. It means nothing. It harms our political life.

Re: Ross, Silver take the gold in punditry

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:30:11 -0500

I'll have another post up sometime today on the results of the office pool.

— RTB

Re: Ross, Silver take the gold in punditry

DustinIngalls — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:26:43 -0500

I'd like to point out that my office pool prediction for this blog was remarkably close to the actual result: 49.8% for Obama, 49.3% for McCain, and 0.8% for Barr. Actual result, last I checked: 49.7% for Obama, 49.4% for McCain, and 0.6% for Barr.

Re: Rankings on the presidential race

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:42:06 -0500

Sorry. I've updated this post multiple times. Will change the lead.

— RTB

Re: Rankings on the presidential race

bragin@nc.rr.com — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:14:28 -0500

Uh, Ryan? You write:

"A quick survey of the major political observers in the days leading up to the election show that they think the state is a toss up, with only a few willing to make a prediction:"

Then you quote 27 different media outlets/pundits, of whom 13 say Obama, 9 say McCain, and only 5 won't make a prediction.

What am i missing here?

He may face a crisis.

domewatcher — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:02:26 -0500

Joe Biden said that Obama would face a crisis soon after being elected. Top ten crisis situations that Obama may likely face:

10. Jessie will actually try to perform that elective surgery he suggested earlier.
9. Rev. Wright will start back preaching and revive the Jim & Tammy Faye Network. Heritage, USA, will be moved to Chicago where the finances will finally be handled properly?
8. Ayers will start back bombing.
7. The main stream media will finally start asking questions like: Who are you? Why do you always say present, even when the waiter asks what you want to eat? What you got against the coal people?
6. The illegal aunt will reveal herself to be the big bearded Palin supporter.
5. Obama will realize that he’s won and Biden will disagree.
4. Hillary, Monica and Cheney will be holed up in the Oval Office and won’t come out.
3. Bush’s team will have removed the “W” from the computer keyboards and Biden will not be able to figure out which letter is missing.
2. All Biden's speeches will be carried live on the Comedy Channel.

1. President Obama’s secretary rushes in:

Secretary: “Sir, we’ve got trouble!”
President Obama: “What?”
Secretary: “A man is out there claiming to be the real Messiah!”
President Obama: “Send him away. How did he get past security?”
Secretary: “No….you don’t understand…..I think he is the real deal!”
President Obama: “What makes you say that?”
Secretary: “He performed a miracle.”
President Obama: “What?”
Secretary: “He made Joe Biden say something smart. It was a miracle.”
President Obama: “Jesus!”

Is your aunt illegal?

domewatcher — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:14:12 -0500

Top ten ways to know that your aunt may be an illegal alien:

10. She refuses to take off her Halloween mask insisting that she is in the Witness Protection Program.
9. She did not report her ACORN registration-scam income of $64,000.
8. She keeps asking if she can still share the wealth without no citizenship?
7. She runs whenever she sees a cop car, a McCain sign or the big bearded Palin supporter.
6. On her coffee table is Dr. Dobson’s book on “Family Values.”
5. She keeps wanting to know if Opie considers being an “illegal” a felony?
4. She reminds you of yourself… in that she has “no past” that she admits to either.
3. She keeps saying, “I’m either related to the Messiah or ET.”
2. She taught Joe Biden how to hide out and not be recognized. He’s been hiding out with her so long she fears he’s lost his citizenship.

1. She is watching the Director’s Cut of Rev. Wright’s Greatest Sermons, and every time he preaches, “It’s God ______ America,” she jumps up and yells, “Sarah Palin is a religious nut!”

Re: Rankings on the presidential race

Unbiased101 — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:08:43 -0500

Part 1
Remember the election in 2006?

Thought you might like to read the following:

A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.
Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $4.10 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
7) Food prices skyrocketing over 30% in 1 year.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember, it is Congress that makes the laws and spends our money -not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

Part 2:
Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.
www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.HTML

Taxes under CLINTON-1999 Taxes under BUSH-2008
Single earning: Single earning:
30K - taxed- $ 8,400 30K - taxed $ 4,500
50K - taxed $ 14,000 50K - taxed $ 12,500
75K - taxed $ 23,250 75K - taxed $ 18,750
Married earning: Married earning:
60K - taxed $ 16,800 60K - taxed $ 9,000
75K - taxed $ 21,000 75K - taxed $ 18,750
125K - taxed $ 38,750 125K - taxed $ 31,250

Barack Obama promises to return to the higher tax rates if elected. It is amazing how many people who fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever.

If elected, Barack Obama has already promised that he will repeal the Bush tax cuts, and amazingly, a good portion of the people who fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen.

PART 3:
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this: Boy, am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS. Read on...

I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://wwwcis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
Verify at: http://transcripts.CNN.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.HTML
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at: http://transcripts..cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and
marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.
Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl..com/t9sht
12. The National Policy Institute, 'estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.'
Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf
13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
14. “The Dark” Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States.'
Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
The total cost is a whopping $338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

Are we THAT stupid?

If this doesn't bother you, then you have some serious problems. We can thank the media, such as Under the Dome, which apparently serves as a detriment as they have never taken the time to do the research and report the facts. Obama is untested and can not handle the challenges…plus we know significantly less about his college days than any other candidate for office in recent history…America wake up…

Changing preachers is sometimes necessary.

domewatcher — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:45:53 -0500

Top ten reasons to run away from your preacher:

10. He is worse in person than on TV.
9. His sermons go a little beyond fire and brimstone. Right much beyond.
8. He ain’t no Billy Graham. He ain’t even a Lindsey Graham.
7. His ego is bigger than yours.
6. The Bible says something about denying me three times. What’s all the fuss? I have only denied him once!
5. His pulpit rants made it difficult to nap without nightmares.
4. He even offended the atheists.
3. Y’all wanted to try snake handling but the snakes were afraid of him.
2. You just switched him for Joe Biden…..he says crazy stuff too!

1. After ten or twenty years all the sermons started to sound the same…..

Re: NYT, CQ: N.C. is a presidential toss-up

pearl89 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:54:50 -0400

I for one hope that NC votes for Obama. He has run a much more dignified campaign than McCain/Palin. I was very disappointed that McCain picked SPalin as his running mate. Not by any stretch of the imagination is she qualified to VP. I also check Mudflats and Alaska Daily News every day and for what I can gather Alaskans don't even want her back. If this is the type of decisions, not to mention all his flopping, McCain makes; I don't want him. McCain has essentially been running for president for 10 years. You would think by now he would know how to run a campaign and if he can't run a campaign any better than he has the last 2, I don't think he can run a country.

Re: Rothenberg: N.C. prez a toss-up

Gosh — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:07:44 -0400

Once again, the media elite and people that know things prove they can't see the national forest for the lumber mill employing dozens.

When all is said and done, there will be a giant oil rig sticking out of Cape Hatterus and John McCain will be flying the plane of America's economy just as he did so adroitly in his military career.

Re: Should comment rules be changed?

captainjack — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:07:11 -0400

I believe that some are getting over sensitive. Why not discuss all the issues. Say what you may and let the chips fall where they may. No need to change the rules. Keep up the good work.

Re: Should comment rules be changed?

Prototype — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:51:10 -0400

I think your rules are fine as they are.

If someone makes a comment that I do not like I can immediately repudiate the comment. I doubt too many will change their views or vote based on the information contained in the comments posted here.

Re: Should comment rules be changed?

bnartist — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:53:47 -0400

If you are considering a Nazi rule please review Godwin's Law.

By 2007, The Economist had declared that "a good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument." And in October 2007, the "Last Page" columnist in The Smithsonian stated that when an adversary uses an inappropriate Hitler or Nazi comparison, "you have only to say 'Godwin's Law' and a trapdoor falls open, plunging your rival into a pool of hungry crocodiles."

Re: Should comment rules be changed?

jjsmith2 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:57:22 -0400

Mr. Terrell,

Do you not see a difference between someone having an opinion of an individual being despicable. There is a big difference between calling someone despicable, which is an opinion, and calling someone a Nazi.

For instance, I find you to be a despicable candidate, based upon your idea that calling someone despicable is far worse than calling someone a Nazi.

Mass Murders>>>>>>>>>someone with an opinion.

One is a lie the other is an opinion.