A Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone poll conducted a few days earlier showed Obama leading McCain 49% to 47% in Ohio.

But only 53% of Ohio voters are now Very Confident that the votes will be properly counted and the right candidate declared the victor. Another 34% are Somewhat Confident in the outcome.

Forty-five (45%) say people who shouldn’t be allowed to vote are likely to vote on Election Day. Just 28% say it’s more likely that some who are eligible will be denied the chance to vote.

Late Wednesday, Ohio's attorney general filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of blocking a lower court ruling that could prevent thousands of Ohio voters from voting on Election Day.

Numerous lawsuits over voter eligibility are already at play in Ohio, where over 600,000 new voters have registered this year. Republicans question the legitimacy of voters registered by the liberal activist group ACORN, now under investigation in Ohio, Nevada and other states. Democrats say Republicans are just trying to eliminate and discourage voters in states where the party's candidates are at risk.

Eighty percent (80%) of Ohio voters believe people who want to vote should be required to show a driver’s license prior to casting a ballot.

Nationally, 76% believe a person should be required to show photo identification at the polls before being allowed to vote.

McCain’s support in Ohio has ticked up two points in this latest poll, but the long-term trend has been in Obama’s direction.

to continue reading: http://tinyurl.com/POLL-McCainObamaTiedOhio

Es gibt auch kleine, elektronische Vorrichtungen, die im richtigen Zeitpunkt eine solche Störung ferngesteuert herbeiführen, wenn der richtige Mann im Auto sitzt. Gut informierte Unfallermittler finden so etwas nicht, sondern sehen auf Ihrem Konto nach, was sie finden dürfen und was nicht.

Zitat Verfasser - Michael Winkler

Worthwhile?

Silly?

3 minutes minutes of your life you'll never get back?

(Hmmm. A poll about a poll. What does this say about our world today? The implications are endless...)

Anyway - have at it, readers. I promise to comply with your wishes as far as the next entry. (But I'm so tempted to throw in an anecdote about today's awards luncheon. No... no... must - not - write. Maybe just an inspirational pic instead. A little somethin' somethin' to placate you 'til next we meet....)

~a

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So, me and CG (and a personnel, although he slept sat a few seats away ... he doesn't like us) went to the movies (again, I know) and saw Narnia: Prince of Caspian (CG's choice, I just couldn't say no) and it was okay, I give it a good    (3 out of 5). Now, as I have no more business reviewing anything, I'd like to try out the new poll function wordpress.com offers (yeah, I was too lazy to download wordpress from wordpress.org and upload to my own ftp and domain, and I like how yokaze.wordpress.com likes, actually), so here it is:

Never mind, I don't want to make an account on another site just to do that so ... screw you, poll.

EDIT: My friend Akaa says I don't need to do a big registration, but it will still have to wait for next time.

I figure I'll start with Barack Obama, since this debate was focused on Domestic policy (including the economy). This really is his bread and butter. It was easy enough for him to reiterate his economic policies - tax cuts, sensible regulation, investment in alternative energy, &c.; he's been pushing these ideas since before the first debate. The real test for him would be how he'd come at the rest of the in-border US issues. On the subject of education, Obama brought forward a balanced platform: vouchers, charter schools and higher education credits. He also made the connection between problems in education and the economy, which this is something that is often overlooked in the heat of campaign politics. Healthcare being one of his major talking-points, he made sure to reiterate his intention to take the first steps towards a government-subsidized program (not so-called 'socialized' healthcare, but a program whereby health is seen as a right rather than a privilege, protected from the whims and competitive price-wars of the free-market). When the discussion turned to the nomination of Supreme Court justices, he pushed for nomination on the basis of judicial experience and competence free of ideological bias. While he's clearly pro-choice on the issue of abortion, he kept away from the idea of this as a litmus test for potential justices. On energy and trade policies, the Democratic candidate took the middle-road (I see this as sensible). While he supports limited off-shore drilling, the major thrust of his argument focused on a broad-based mixture of energy sources including wind-, solar-, and geothermal-power. Similarly, when it came to trade (especially free-trade), Obama suggested that, while he is all for free-trade policies, he believes that they need to be reformed in order to protect Domestic jobs and prevent exploitation of foreign workers (their human rights, for instance).

How about John McCain? What are his views when it comes to Domestic policy? I have to say that he had his best performance to date on economic issues, but it still wasn't enough to get him out of the shadow of the current Republican administration. His strongest point on this topic still seems to be the institution of an across-the-board government spending freeze (except on defense). On education and healthcare he seemed to skirt the central issues, preferring to tear down his opponent's plans rather than state any specifics of his own. He did briefly refer to a $5000 tax-credit to employers to subsidize their employees' healthcare needs, but he failed to detail how this would actually help anyone without insurance get a plan. In a similar way, he discussed the need to support research for special needs children, a good idea; but where is the money going to come from for this research? He didn't say. His over-arching energy policy still seems to be focused on off-shore drilling with limited investment in alternative sources; the Republican candidate talked about these other sources, but with his spending freeze policy it's hard for him to show how he's going to encourage this shift. When the questions turned to trade, once again McCain failed to push any specific plan, preferring to try to demolish Obama's suggestions rather than put forward any of his own. All in all, while I listened intently to Sen. McCain's statements, it was difficult to make heads-or-tails of what he intended to do in terms of a specific Domestic agenda.

So then, those were the hard facts of the meeting (as I saw it, at least). But some of the evening's most interesting (and sometimes infuriating) moments came when the two candidates were driven to address each other directly. Here I'd just like to draw a little attention to the superb moderation and question-generation of Bob Schieffer. Most of the questions were well-formed, precisely directed and specific, which this was a welcome change from the previous debate where the audience questions were vague and allowed the candidates far too much wiggle-room in their answers. If either man wavered from the specifics of the topic under discussion, Mr. Schieffer made sure to interrupt and force them back to business. Good job, sir! Right, back to the exchanges. There were quite a few so I'll try to focus on just a couple. First up was the whole back-and-forth concerning 'Joe the plumber'. This character was mentioned no less than 11 times, and it seems as if those watching (myself included) were not particularly impressed. I'd prefer to hear about specific policies, and this kind of over-pandering and over-simplified storybook thing does nothing to address the roots of the issue. Obama tried to pull the discussion back to the particulars of policy, but McCain wouldn't let it happen. He latched onto 'Joe the plumber' and seemed to utilize the man as bludgeon for the entirety of the night. The topic was taxes and small-business; let's hear numbers, not names. The second exchange I want to bring up here was on the Supreme Court and nominations. This was perhaps the most contentious one of the evening. That said, it had very little to do with the nomination process and everything to do with the topic of abortion (as it seems most Conservative v. Liberal Supreme Court discussions get reduced to). As I said earlier, Obama is Pro-choice; not surprisingly, John McCain is Pro-life. What I found so infuriating about this part of the debate was the fact that the Republican candidate continually referred to his opponent as 'Pro-abortion'. Honestly, who is 'Pro-abortion'? That would be a psychotic position to hold, but it always seems to me that the Pro-lifers put their opponents in that category. Personally, I see this categorization as being on the same level as calling someone who disagrees with you a serial killer or child rapist. It's personal and overly-negative and just not helpful to the debate in any way. I'm all for a rational discussion about the points on which we disagree, but let's be fair about it. McCain made a big mistake here, in my opinion.

Which this brings me to the topic of negative campaigning. There was a direct question last evening on this very subject, and I thought it was good to get it out in the open. John McCain used the opportunity to get in a few more digs at his opponent, saying that Obama has spent more money on negative personal campaign ads than anyone in American political history - this is not the case, by the way; it's true that he's raised more money than anyone in history, but only a fraction of it has been used on what could be called negative personal attacks (most has been spent on negative policy characterizations, which is a very different thing). McCain re-hashed the William Ayres thing ('Barack Obama launched his political career in the living room of Bill Ayres'? Direct quote! Come on!) and the Acorn thing (which McCain is also historically tied to Acorn, so if there's an issue here at all, both candidates are involved). And all this talk about ads is just the tip of the iceberg; what about actual campaign rallies? As I said in my last post, McCain/Palin rallies have gotten right out of control lately, with such disgusting audience-chants as 'Terrorist', 'Arab' and (the worst one) 'Kill him'. And not a word of reprimand from either Republican candidate. Obama did well last night to bring it back to the issues, saying that, while they could discuss whose feelings have been hurt and whose character has been assassinated, the voters are much more interested in who will solve their problems and how they propose to do it. I don't expect the Presidential campaign to improve in this area, but I'm glad it was thrown up at the debate in such beautifully stark terms.

Just a quick final few words here on the subject of the two candidates' styles and how the debate formats worked for them. In all three debates, John McCain came across as uncomfortable, stiff, cold and angry. While he had his best performance last night in the third debate, he still didn't improve in this area. All it takes is a quick run through his reaction-shots throughout the evening to see this. He rolled his eyes repeatedly, he sighed a lot, he sneered openly at Obama's statements, he used sarcasm in his own statements, and overall he seemed to have nothing but contempt for his opponent. In brutal contrast, Barack Obama came across as unflappable and issue-oriented in all three appearances. The town-hall debate (the 2nd) was easily his best performance, but even last evening he was never goaded into needless emotional posturing. It seems that this is actually quite a significant story when it comes to the two campaigns. While I'm not positive about this, I think voters do tend to vote partly on who the more likable candidate is. Considering that the polls are still fairly close, this could be where McCain ends up losing the election.

If you want to participate in the polls I posted yesterday, you can find them here. I'm very interested your responses and any comments you may have. If you missed any of the debates, you can watch them all here. I'll make sure to post a pre-voting-day campaign wrap-up before November 4th.

Fever that loved penguin has a sunset.

We just had a meeting talking about some of the benefits that we had offered to us and I thought about it and had to say it's pretty exciting.  Do any of you know what an ESOP is?  Employee stock ownership plan, and it's a little confusing at first but the basic premise is that each year you work for the company as a benefit the company gives you a portion of your salary in company stock (in addition to your salary) at a certain price.  Every year a company comes in and places a value on the company and a new price on the stock and then your stock adjusts.  In our case it's a completely extra benefit and if you leave the company they need to buy out your shares and that is your money and the company contributes to that too! We still have a 401(k) as well that allows you to save your own money for retirement and we have employer paid health insurance. 

Benefits can be a huge addition to your compensation and something that people don't think about.  Think about this, the company gives you extra money in the ESOP and contributes to your 401(K) and then pays for your health insurance?  Unbelievable and I would challenge people to find similar benefits anywhere. I don't know, but Data Key really gives us a good deal and I thought I would talk about the perks of my job and brag a little because it's a great place to work and I'm happy about that.

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It remains to be seen where these undecided voters go. At last estimate, they account for about 7%. I would offer that they may have already decided. It is still difficult to ask a white person on national TV if they are going to vote against Obama. It makes them a racist, and subject to the Dem's attack plans. Please don't ignore the truth that a Black person voting for Obama because he is black, is fair. The converse is not. There is still something for the civil rights movement to work on. Racism in the Black community is out of hand and dangerous. Get your house in order, and remember the legacy you are leaving. You are spitting on MLK's Dream. Maybe you should go to work on his birthday this year, because you just don't get what he was saying. This 7% is a dangerous number for Obama, not for McCain. The decision is easy, even if both choices are poor. The mud slinging is nasty, and people are sick of it.

The kicker about all this, is anti- Proposition 8 people are calling pro- prop 8 people bigots, narrow minded, and hateful. hmmm, I haven't heard about any "Yes on 8" workers beating up the opposition. Nor have I heard of any "No on 8" signs being stolen from people's yards. Seems to me like the No on 8 campaign is trying to use bully tactics-- name calling, physical threats and theft to make their point.

Lisa

Today on our way home from Wal*Mart the Big One was jibber-jabbering in the backseat telling me what color all the stop lights were as we went through them. Yes they were green. We stopped at a red light and she proudly announced “It’ a RED light.” Yes it is, I agreed.

As we drove a bit further the light changed from green to another color. She proudly announced what color she thought it was. I disagreed and corrected her. She proceeded to argue with me for the next few miles home as to what color the light had changed to.

You see the Husband and I argue about this one quite frequently. One would think that after 6 years or so, we would  agree to disagree by now. But we don't because we both insist that we are right. Obviously that's not possible.

To finally put an end to this madness, I’m going to put up a poll so y’all can decide who is right. Vote now and tell me what color you think is the middle color on every stop light in America.

After I get enough  correct opinions. I will post which color is right (my choice) and which color the Husband and apparently now the Big One thinks is right.

Ready. Set. VOTE. Really this is way more fun than a McCain/Obama poll isn’t it?  So go exercise your right to vote   {and confirm that the FixItMommy is right. }

Filthy Rotten Pigs, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

]]> http://stephen60.wordpress.com/?p=465 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:54:23 +0000 60$ http://stephen60.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/when-we-first-me/ Wordpress開了新的投票功能～

你認識我的時候，我是什麼呢？
可複選！

Yo les comenté que el último audibook que empecé a escuchar (énfasis en que lo empecé) fue El Principito de Saint Exupery.  Digo que lo empecé porque en el quinto capítulo decidí determe ya que no aguantaba la voz de la persona que lo leía.  Sin embargo, está en mi listado de 5 libros favoritos.

¿Ustedes ya han escuchado audibooks?  ¿Cuáles?  ¿Qué opinan de esta experiencia?

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