2008 Presidential Election - County by County Results Map

Excerpt from Rush Limbaugh: "The county by county election map shows this is still a conservative country. » NewsMax: 2008 Presidential Election County by County Results

If you just landed here from Mars, and you looked at that map, you would swear the Republicans won this thing in a landslide, if you didn't know where the population centers are. County and by square mileage, we skunked 'em!"


Here's the problem: Votes are not weighted by "acreage owned".
As I pointed out in an earlier post. This election was a battle between those who have and those who want.

What a race!

Lunch Time at the Ford Factory

How can you tell things are slow in the auto industry?
Watch this video: Lunch Time at the Ford Factory

Spot the Motorcycle

A picture is worth a thousand words.

The Honda rider was traveling at such a "very high speed", his reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident. Swedish Police estimate a speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) before the bike hit the slow moving car side-on at an intersection. At that speed, they predicted that the rider's reaction time (once the vehicle came into view) wasn't sufficient enough for him to even apply the brakes. The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them. The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 10 feet from where the collision took place. All three involved (two in car and rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Stockholm Motorcycle Fair by the Swedish Police and Road Safety Department. The sign above the display also noted that the rider had only recently obtained his license.
At 250 KM (155 mph) the operator is traveling at 227 feet per second. With normal reaction time to SEE-DECIDE-REACT of 1.6 seconds the above operator would have traveled over 363 feet while making a decision on what actions to take. In this incident the Swedish police indicate that no actions were taken.

KISH's ANGLE:
This is very interesting to me. Kind of like different interpretations of art only on an entirely different level of seriousness.

In Sweden, based on the text accompanying the article, the interpretation could be as follows:

Swedish Lesson A: "Based on the "normal reaction time to SEE-DECIDE-REACT of 1.6 seconds", in order to save your life and the lives of the public, when riding your high powered race machine on public streets you must obey traffic laws and DO NOT EXCEED THE SPEED LIMIT.

Swedish Lesson B: "The sign above the display also noted that the rider had only recently obtained his license." This shows that some members of our public are too stupid to own high powered race machines even after passing the state-run training course. Therefore, HIGH POWERED RACE MACHINES MUST BE BANNED from our public streets in order to ensure the safety of our good citizens (like the two that were inside the Volkswagen).

In America, I believe that people would look at this in one of two ways.

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First there is the view of many who identify themselves as Liberal: It's the government's role (because government should be smarter than the general population) to prevent and protect the population from stupidity.

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American Lesson A: See Swedish lessons A & B.

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Then there is the personal protection, personal responsibility viewpoint - Commonly held by Conservatives:

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American Lesson B: In order to ensure the safety of you and your family, let this be another example: PROTECT YOURSELF. DO NOT DRIVE A TINY VOLKSWAGEN!

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The outcome would have been entirely different if the rider had struck the side of an Armored-Up Hummer.

.The Hummer Owner and Passengers would be safe and may even have avoided a trip to the body shop.

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As for the motorcycle rider, who in this case chose to ride at over 2X the speed limit on a public highway, his or her fate can be chalked up in the column labeled "natural selection".

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Check out Ghostrider on Youtube and you will see what I mean.

Ghostrider 1 Video

Obama's post-racial promise - By Shelby Steele

Click the following link for a thought provoking Op-Ed by Shelby Steele.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-steele5-2008nov05%2C0%2C6553798.story

Shelby Steele is the author of the book "White Guilt" - How blacks and whites together destroyed the promise of the civil rights era.

It's a good read. I recommend it.

More on Shelby Steele: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_Steele

From Wikipedia: Steele is a self-described Black conservative.[2] He opposes movements such as affirmative action, which he considers to be unsuccessful liberal campaigns to promote equal opportunity for African-Americans. He contends that blacks have been "twice betrayed": first, by slavery and oppression, and second, by group preferences mandated by the government that discourage self-agency and personal responsibility in blacks.[3]

Obama and the Coal Industry

Obama heralds from a state with some of the largest coal reserves in the entire world. However, he appears to be reluctant to tap into these resources for fear of increasing carbon emissions and greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

Here's a video that explains his reluctance: Video of Obama's Bankrupting Coal Industry Remarks

Here's audio and a partial transcript of the same interview: Audio: Obama Tells SF Chronicle He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry

Here's what he said on January 17, 2008:

"Let me sort of describe my overall policy.
What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there.
I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.
So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

Here are 5 year stock charts from three of the largest coal producing companies in the world:
Consol Energy Inc.

Peabody Energy

Arch Coal

Oh, And for good measure, here's the Dow Jones:


Coal and coal fire power plants are a wonderful source of relatively cheap energy. Our competing super power (China) already "uses more coal than the United States, the European Union and Japan combined. And it has increased coal consumption 14 percent in each of the past two years in the broadest industrialization ever. Every week to 10 days, another coal-fired power plant opens somewhere in China that is big enough to serve all the households in Dallas or San Diego. Source: New York Times

America's population and energy needs increase every year. Looking at these charts, they reflect an increase in energy demand and production, each peaking in June 2008 and then falling off sharply. Did the demand (and the future of the coal business) really decrease that much in June 2008?

Coincidence? Obama was nominated by the Democratic party in June 2008. Campaign Timeline

To a knowlegable coal investor, Obama's nomination would have signaled increased risk that tighter restrictions may be coming and coal demand would fall if Obama were elected. Note that the dow didn't crash until three months later (apparently as a result of freddie and fannie - More on that here.).

I wonder. How much of the economic collapse had to to with politics?

I wonder. What will Obama do to help his home state achieve it's energy and economic needs while keeping his environmentalist supporters happy?

Listening to his statements above, one can draw their own conclusions.

Who he chooses for energy secretary will say a lot: Possible nominees for Obama's energy secretary

It will also be interesting to see what the future holds for FutureGen under the Obama administration: http://www.futuregenalliance.org/



My bet is that the Obama administration will throw a ton of federal dollars at the FutureGen project. If you can figure out a way to make money off of FutureGen, it may be time to get into the game now.

Ross Perot was right all along.

http://perotcharts.com/

Now that we know he was right... Why do people continue to ignore his message?

It is not too late. But time IS running out.

Please watch the following presentation: http://perotcharts.com/issues/

WOW! What a string of poor choices Americans have made.

Your new leaders:

It's official. Liberalism has taken over.

We did it Chuck! I'm the most powerful speaker in 40 years!

Blame it on Bush and the Republicans in the House and Senate.

They had their chance and blew it.

They left the door open.

And now the Liberals have control.

It looks like a LOT MORE people WANT something than HAVE something. We all should have voted for Ross Perot when we had the chance. That "sucking sound" has grown into a full fledged flush.

This election is a battle between those who WANT and those who HAVE (or strive to have).

The result of the presidential election will boil down to this: In the battleground states, it's a battle between those who want something (a handout) and those who already have something (or strive to earn something). If more people who want something vote then Obama will win. If more people who have something vote then McCain will win.

It's clear that the majority of people who want something live in the large cities. The large cities are going to vote for Obama. Given this, I believe that Obama will win the popular vote.

However, as every news agency has reported, this election will come down to the results in the "battleground" states. If, in these battle ground states, there are more people who have something than those who want something... And they vote. Then McCain will win.

Prediction: The popular vote could be a landslide. However, the electoral college and the ultimate result will be very close.

Matt Hughes - Biography & Testimony - Leads to William Booth Enlightenment and Commentary

Matt Hughes is the 9-time World Welterweight Champion of the UFC. With a record of 43-7, Matt has traveled the world and has become a household name amongst mixed martial arts fans. He has proven time and time again that ‘a country boy can survive.’ However, it hasn’t always been like that for Hughes. You see, Matt comes from humble beginnings…

Click here for the full article from www.matt-hughes.com

...Matt came across a picture inspired by William Booth called “Who Cares?” Fascinated by the picture, he asked others who they thought they were in the picture and maybe, more importantly, who they thought he was. In the picture, a platform of people are surrounded by a raging sea. While those on the platform remain safe, many are drowning in the tempest surrounding them. Matt came to the conclusion that if he were indeed in the picture, then he was amongst those drowning in the water...



Click here for more information about this painting.

Here is a link to the William Booth article that inspired the painting: Click here to read the article.

It is clear that Booth's vision accurately represents those who are drowning in sin. However, I don't fully agree with his assessment of disdain for all of those on the platform. I see many of those on the platform freely exercising their worldly gifts from God: Love, talent and work. I believe that if you are performing your God-given talent on this earth, then God is pleased. Rick Warren expresses similar beliefs in his book "A Purpose Driven Life". God doesn't call on everyone to save all of those in the water. It is up to those in the water to choose their salvation. Personally, you can lend a hand to one or lead by example for many but, personally, you cannot be expected save them all. Furthermore, if you find yourself thrashing in the water, as many of us are and have been, it is up to You to make the decision and make every effort to WORK for the salvation of Yourself and of those in Your Family.

What are your thoughts? Please enter your comments here: