DTD, and Odds and Ends

In the dumber than dumb category, from the Mayor of NYC:

Bloomberg called the marathon an "integral part of New York City's life for 40 years" and insisted that holding the race would not require resources to be diverted from the recovery effort. But, he said, he understood the doubts. (as reported by The Washington Post)

The only thing dumber than the belief that holding a race that would wind through 26 + miles of NYC's five boroughs would not require resources to be diverted from the recovery effort, was the failure to realize that fact on Wednesday, and continue to insist on holding the marathon up until the time it was canceled.

Seriously, will anyone ever just come out and admit that they made a wrong decision, instead of trying to defend a ridiculous position.  The generator that would be needed for the press enclave could power 400 homes.  The emergency response personnel to cater to the runners and crowds are still needed across the city.  The workers used for set up and clean up of the marathon would be diverted from cleaning up just a tad bigger problem.  Let's not mention the squeeze on hotel rooms that could have been alleviated, at least in part, if the race had been called off on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Is there anyone out there that seriously believes that if the marathon was to in fact be held today that it would not require resources to be diverted from the relief effort? Anyone besides the Mayor that is? It was articles like the one that appeared in The NY Times and The NY Post that cause the Mayor to reflect and come to the conclusion that perhaps the marathon was not quite as good an idea as he thought it would be, not to mention the deluge of posts and tweets on social media sites.

Switching gears ...

America's newest pastime is? - A).  Ignoring any call from a number you don't recognize during campaign season; B). Answering robo calls; C). Telling "live" callers to take your number off the list; D). Telling the poller/supporter calling you would be happy to talk to them if they could just wait a second, then putting the phone down and go back to doing whatever you were doing.

Occasionaly I will actually listen to a robo call.  I will answer surveys.  I will even give "truthful" answers  occasionally.

The serious flaws with the "do not call list" are the exceptions to the "do not all list".  People should have the right to opt out from all solicitation calls.  Heck, we could save the postal service that way.  Make everyone go back to mailings.

Moving on ...

I know I have been saying it will be all over after Tuesday.  But it may very well not be.  Provisional ballots folks may very well hold up finding out who is president for 10 days.  If Ohio is as pivotal as is being predicted, and if the margin of victory is less than the number of provisional ballots, political life will be put on hold until they are counted.

Another point ...

Those of you going to the polls Tuesday, and I hope it is all of you, do in fact have ballots to cast that are meaningful.  So get out there and do it.

Top reason to vote for Scott Brown - I don't want to dish out the money to pay off my breakfast bet.  Although from the recent polls it does look like I will have to.  It will even out though, I hedged the bet somewhat with two other ones One for lunch and one for supper).  The Dems would retain control of the senate; and, the GOP keeps control of the house.  So, I probably will come out at least one meal ahead.

Each day I look at the projected electoral college maps from various sites.  Each day it hits home just what is the true direction the country is heading. Embedded here is the map to The Huff Pollster.  Assuming an Obama victory, the end result will be along the lines detailed in the map.

My gut tells me of the four toss ups on that map, Florida and Virginia will go Romney.  Colorado probably will join them; and, New Hampshire is a coin flip, but if I had to decide, to fill out the map I will say Obama.  I do think Wisconsin and Ohio are still toss ups, but for discussion purposes, assume the map is an accurate prediction, and assume the toss ups go the way stated, or if they don't, it doesn't matter a whole lot.

See the trends?  Take a look at the results for the past elections from 1996 forward, maybe that will make it a little clearer.

Say what you will, the bent, the votes and the power is slipping away from the rust belt and Northeast.

Finally, I have seen several news flashes, and read on line a number of sources, that tomorrow, in the Washington Times, there will be an ad from nearly 500 retired Admirals and Generals supporting Romney.  Why they would wait until the day before the election is a mystery.  One rumor mill tale is the fact that the decision to do it came after the Powell endorsement of Obama and the time factor in getting it organized.

In the influence factor though, it might be too late.

Okay, that's it for today.  Personal schedule is not in flux to the point that posting on Monday or even Tuesday might not be possible.  So remember, GO Vote!