NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 03:31 PM) Ok, party politics aside, at this point in the race with less than 28 days to go, what is the poll gap marker that tells you a candidate cant win that state? That's pretty poorly worded, so let me elaborate. If McCain is +5 in a state, is that a toss up? An uphill battle? Locked down for McCain? What if it's +3 or +10? We have said for a while to wait until we are closer to the election to see what states will really do on Nov 4th. Well, we are int he crunch. I set the number as +6 for a "lock" and +3 to +5 a uphill battle. Less than +3 is toss up. Just remember, whatever the polls say, add as much as 2 or 4% to McCain. The fear factor is still there for people to run from Obama, although its mitigated somewhat by the Palin effect.

Major markets down another 5 to 6% on the day. S&P 500 drops below 1,000 for first time since 2003, and has shed about 30% of its value since Labor Day. Consumer Borrowing dropped last month for the first time since 1998. Fed hints at near and far term rate cuts.

Oh and, remember, Congress just renewed and enhanced the federal tax breaks for solar panels. So make sure to include that in your math.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 01:20 PM) http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/005606.html Thin, rollable PV cells here soon! This could be really cool, and make solar available cheaply, to all. Might now power your whole house or anything, but if it covered 40%-50%, that would be cool too. I had heard about these. Basically, instead of trying to increase the efficiency rates, they try to make the cells cheaper and more flexible. It takes more to get the job done, but they are far less expensive. I'm glad to see they are working in both directions on this. This will make all types of cells cheaper as time goes on.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 02:15 PM) That seems to be the defense for Obama in his lies and negative ads. McCain does it, so its ok if we respond. Maybe I'll boomark your response here for everytime I see that as a justification for Obama being just another politician and paste it in reply. I just said that if she relied on the advice of her accountant, I don't see this as being some national emergency. People do that all the time, and sometimes the accountants are wrong. I doubt you've seen me use that defense (the other guy did it) for anything. Negative campaigning is certainly a reality, and they do both do it. But you won't see me throw out some random GOP'er in response to a negative accusation about Obama.

By the way, I finally managed to watch most of the first debate recently. Nothing earth-shattering, nothing really new. As I may have noted recently, no one really "won". But one thing did stick out, and it bothered me. It was the way they treated each other. Obama referred to Senator McCain as "John", and addressed him directly, a lot of the time. McCain on the other hand, referred to Obama with general phrasing and never made eye contact. Its like McCain had no respect for sharing the stage with him. This is yet another picture of the way the McCain campaign has turned me off in recent months, and IMO, why many independents are moving to Obama. Its a lack of respect for anyone or anything that doesn't toe the conservative line. Which is disturbing to see from McCain, who I had previously seen as someone more likely to be truly willing to be a "maverick". There is nothing maverick or independent about this version of McCain.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) If Charlie Rangle, the guy who helps make up all the damn IRS rules and crap, can conveniently 'forget' to claim rental income, I can't see where her relying on an accountants information to be anything to talk about further. Unless you want to note how much the Palin's donated to charity, as compared to Biden. So, Palin is OK because some random Democrat did something questionable? If your child tries to tell you something is OK because *insert name* did it, do you accept that? Wrong is wrong. I am not 100% sure Palin is wrong here BTW - I just take issue with the "but so-and-so did it!" tactics.

QUOTE (Soxy @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 11:23 AM) I'm sure this stat/polling site has been posted. But I thought it was cool. And the guy running it (Nate Silver) might be familiar to those of you who follow baseball stat stuff. Yeah, the Trib is going to be running a big story on him soon. Fascinating stuff.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 11:23 AM) Yeah I think I still might do it if they let me put them on the back, where people can't see it, but that's in another couple of years. But solar shingles would be bad ass. The problem is that they are bluish-gray and my shingles are brownish-red and I'd be the only one in the neighborhood with that color. They won't like that. Solar shingles? new one on me. I had put off researching the solar options until we moved into a house (we're in a condo). I'll have to do some research, but, can you give me a brief idea on how solar shingles work?

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 10:07 AM) The rules favor Obama's position in this case. Questions are prescreened and preprepared. Mikes are cut off by the audience members so that no follow ups can be asked, and Brokaw can't challenge either candidate, and neither candidate is supposed to be able to challenge the other either. So this event may end up being extremely boring and with little to change the outcome. Hm. Maybe not as fun as I thought.

I think this will be a fun one. McCain is on the ropes, but by no means out yet. He'll have to pull out the big guns. For Obama, that gets interesting - Barack is actually very, very good when he responds off the cuff. But he's going to be hemmed in by his talking points, per guidance of his campaign, I'm sure.

My place has gone for a ride too. Bought in 2004, and I had it appraised in early 2007 for $60k more than we paid. But we tried to sell this year, with a list price of $40k above purchase price, and couldn't get it sold (we did get one offer from a bottom-feeder looking for a bargain, who offered $70k less than our asking price). I'd suspect its worth only just a little more than we paid. We're going to try to sell again next year (need more room for a kid on the way), but I'm not holding out high hopes for what I might get. We have the added oddity that our neighborhood is being rebuilt - intersections being redesigned and moved around, new development going in, rebuilding our street and alley... all good in the long run, but the area will be torn up to s*** around the time we're trying to sell.

No doubt in my mind that Obama's campaign has been less scummy tham McCains. Key word: less. Note I didn't say Obama's campaign has been clean. But more than anything, this is probably due to the fact that McCain has been playing from behind.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 02:42 PM) i know obama supporters will write this off just as some fluke. but this is a serious issue. If its more than, say, 00.1% of the money, then yeah. Its a serious issue.

I'll be there. Win this one and its a new series. Of the 1 game variety. And we like those.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 01:55 PM) The problem is that over half his donations are of the 'small' tyoe needing little or no documentation, so people can just keep donating in the name of ABC at 123 main street, over, and over, and over again. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail...laint_on_o.html I hardly think McCain has raised anywhere near that amount of money in small donations or anything that isn't fully recorded. And Obama isn't exactly jumping forward with his records either. The rules need to change. They should all be reported. But I don't think its some grand conspiracy to bring in big money. I mean, if you are trying to pull off some sophisticated political money laundering, would you really be so stupid as to have people donating under those ridiculous identifications? I think these are just doofus types.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 01:41 PM) Here. http://www.newsweek.com/id/162403 Interesting. If the goofy ones like that are just a handful or some very small %, then I'd say its the same as any campaign. McCain probably has some too. What would make it interesting though, is say, what % of the contributions were "questionable" in the eyes of the FEC.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 10:57 AM) Name: HKVKV, K VKN K V City: KHVKHVHKVHKV State: HI Employer: GH Occupation: GF Another interesting donation is: HDUSAHFD, DAHSUDHU He (could it be SHE?) gave $7,597.59 in July and August of this year. Works for: CZXVC Occupation: ZXVZXV Now if this is the level of fraud being reported, what the heck is buried in the over $200 million in WALKING AROUND MONEY? Where are you getting these? We prefer you source your material on this board. Link?

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 11:57 AM) Anyone that f's with my radio is a dead man. I think the idea here is, its not your radio. This is a key that the owner of the vehicle could give to someone else - i.e. their child - when they use the car. If its your car, and your radio, you just use your regular key.

I like it.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 5, 2008 -> 03:43 PM) I remember posting after MacDougal was traded hear that his IQ made Jenks seem like a rocket scientist. I have wondering if he has the opposite problem - thinks too much.

With McCain in dire straights, his desperation will make the debate interesting in any case. Ads or no ads.

I have a pair of Garmin Rino 530Hcx - full color handheld GPS unit with integrated GMRS 15-mile radio. I love them, but, probably not what you want for a car just driving around. My car has a built in Nav system, which is great. Unless you plan to move it from car to car, you may want to consider getting an in-dash unit. This has the added benefit of letting you upgrade your car stereo system, to pick up some of the other recent technology (HD radio, Aux audio input for iPod, etc.), all in one swoop.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 07:24 PM) There's an excellent expose on FOX news about this mortgage crisis called "saving our economy". I know, cheesy name, but it's actually really good. I recommend. I may not be able to catch that. Major bullet points?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 10:04 AM) Does this really need a separate thread? Probably not. By the way, your sig is great. When Palin did that in the debate I almost spit out my drink. What have we come to that people actually like the idea of someone who thinks that cute winks and exaggerated country bumpkinisms are appropriate for a national VP debate?