G W Bush...

[Ken J]

I heard on the news yesterday (seriously) that there are many more psychologists in the blue states per capita than the red states

Ken

[Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Ken J

...there are many more psychologists in the blue states per capita than the red states
Ken

Maybe this explains the considerably higher divorce rate in "red" states?

Doug

[Stefrobrts]

Actually, that's just California throwing off the average for the other blue states.

I don't actually know who's blue and who's red, I didn't pay any attention to it in the media. Like I said, it's not real information, it's just a handy way for the media to pigeonhole everyone. I think WA and OR are blue, but I don't know for sure.

[85MH325]

I think that shades of purple would be a much better way of illustrating how each state voted. The red-blue thing is too black-and-white to suit me...

The attached chart was sent to me immediately after the election by a friend who lives in NEPAL. He alleges that it came from a friend of his who is a Brit (Chris? would it be you? ) I present it here only for it's "Fun" value. Please don't anyone take offense... it's about as meaningless as the ratio of psychologists by state!

I tried to copy and paste it into a post, but it was too large. I've attached it as a Word document... darn it. Sure takes some of the fun out of it!

Here, however, are the references if anyone is so offended that they want to look up where this stuff came from:

The IQ numbers were originally attributed to the book "IQ and the Wealth of Nations", though they do not appear in the current edition. The tests and data were administered via the Raven's APT, and the The Test Agency, one of the UK's leading publishers and distributors of psychometric tests. This data has been published in the Economist and the St. Petersburg Times, though this does not mean it should be taken as fact.

[85MH325]

Washington DC (AP)

Congress today announced that the office of President of the United States will be outsourced to overseas interests as of the end of this fiscal year. The move is being made to save $400K a year in salary, a record $521 billion in deficit expenditures, and related overhead.

"The cost savings will be quite significant" says Congressman Adam Smith (D-Wash) who, with the aid of the GAO (General Accounting Office) has studied outsourcing of American jobs extensively. "We simply can no longer afford this level of outlay and remain competitive on the world stage," Congressman Smith said.

Mr. Bush was informed by e-mail this morning of the termination of his position. He will receive health coverage, expenses, and salary until his final day of employment. After that, with a two-week waiting period, he will be eligible for $240 dollars / week from unemployment insurance for 13 weeks. Unfortunately, he will not be able to receive state Medicaid health insurance coverage as his unemployment benefits put him over the limit.

Preparations for the job move have been under way for some time now. Sanji Gurvinder Singh of Indus Teleservices, Mumbai, India will be assuming the Office of President of the United States as of July 1, 2005. Mr. Singh was born in the United States while his parents were here on student visas, thus making him eligible for the position. He will receive a monthly salary of $320 (USD) but with no health coverage or other benefits. Due to the time difference between the US and India, Mr. Singh will be working primarily at night, when offices of the US Government will also be open.

"I am so excited to serve in this position," Mr. Singh stated in an exclusive interview. "Working nights will let me keep my day job at the American Express call center. I always knew I could be President someday."

Congress stressed patience when calling Mr. Singh as he may not be fully "on board" with all the issues involved with his new position. A Congressional spokesperson noted that Mr. Singh has been given a "script tree" (not unlike Telemarketers) to follow, which will allow him to respond to most topics of concern. The spokesperson further noted that "additional savings will be realized as these scripting tools have been used successfully by Mr. Bush for years, and will enable Mr. Singh to provide answers without having to fully understand any of the issues."

Mr. Bush has been offered the use of a Congressional Page to help him write a resume and prepare for his upcoming job transition. According to a representative from Manpower, Inc., ( a job placement agency) Mr. Bush may have difficulties in securing a new position as job prospects in the Sports Franchise Ownership arena remain limited. A local community college in Texas said they would be glad to enroll Mr. Bush in vocational training classes such as auto mechanics or air conditioner service and repair. The classes are a bit tight right now due to federal and state budget cuts but, if he enrolls early, he has a good chance of getting a spot. A spokesperson for the Comminity College also stated that tutors are available to help Mr. Bush with the remedial math and science classes.

A recently released report from the Pentagon suggests a good prospect for him as a newly unemployed person would be to join the Army National Guard. There he would be called up with his unit and stationed in Iraq, a country he has visited briefly. "I've been there, I know all about Iraq and the conditions there," stated Mr. Bush. "I gained invaluable knowledge of the country on my first visit, at the Baghdad Airport non-smoking terminal and gift shop."

News Update: Congress, now a fully controlled subsidiary of Halliburton, continues to explore other outsourcing possibilities, including that of Vice-President and most Cabinet positions. Stay tuned for further news on overseas job outsourcing...

[dscluchfc]

85MH325....that is hysterical.
Found
On
Road
Dead
F-O-R-D

[john hd]

ha ha roger! pretty funny!

when they get checking all the fraud that was commited in milwaukee alone wisconsin may go red just like you guys in iowa!

john

[john hd]

here is what i was looking for!

the map.....county by county.

sorry for the picture quality, my sub par blue state I.Q. aint what it should be!

ha ha!

john

[Stefrobrts]

That is a really interesting map. What the media can't tell us is why generally major metropolitan areas go democrat and rural areas go republican. Some people speculate it's the rich hollywood types with all their money and causes that go blue, while rural common-folk have more family values. But it's not just money, because we're in a rural/republican area, and there's a lot of money out here too. And it's not just morals, because I know some fine christians who live in the city who went democrat. I just wonder why it is so broke up that citys go one way and country goes the other?

[flamingo-kid1]

Originally Posted by Davydd

This could be the mother of all debate threads. Throw in Ford/Chevy and PC/Mac debates and we're there.

Cool! A GREAT arguing ground!

You forgot TOYOTA.

[garry]

I think Airstreams are great….!!!

Think I’ll switch from dyno oil to synthetic ??

Guess this qualifies for putting the post back on track.


Garry

[flamingo-kid1]

Originally Posted by garry

I think Airstreams are great….!!!

Think I’ll switch from dyno oil to synthetic ??

Guess this qualifies for putting the post back on track.


Garry

I don't know if this post CAN be put back on track !!

[flamingo-kid1]

I tried to post earlier and it said this thread is no longer accepting posts

I wonder why that happened?

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by flamingo-kid1

I don't know if this post CAN be put back on track !!

After re-reading the opening post, I thought we were on track with the opening post! I didn't see any mention of Airstream and it is on the "Off Topic" board.

[flamingo-kid1]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

After re-reading the opening post, I thought we were on track with the opening post! I didn't see any mention of Airstream and it is on the "Off Topic" board.

I know NOTHING.. I see NOTHING...

(quoting Seargeant Schultz, from Hogan's Heroes)

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by interstateflyer

Idiot!!!!!!!!

(Just trying to get the post back on track)

[71_safari]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

That is a really interesting map. What the media can't tell us is why generally major metropolitan areas go democrat and rural areas go republican. Some people speculate it's the rich hollywood types with all their money and causes that go blue, while rural common-folk have more family values. But it's not just money, because we're in a rural/republican area, and there's a lot of money out here too. And it's not just morals, because I know some fine christians who live in the city who went democrat. I just wonder why it is so broke up that citys go one way and country goes the other?

There are many reasons, Stef. It isn't money, per se. In urban areas you have a generally higher education level, more multicultural institutions, greater cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, and higher population density. All of these demographic factors inevitably lead to greater tolerance and more diverse thinking (or drive you out of the city). David Brooks, a sociologist, conservative NYT editor and PBS News Hour commentator, has found that the urban resident, because of his or her environment, tends to be aware of and vote more for "societal needs", as opposed to "individual needs", which rank higher for the rural dweller. Societal needs naturally fall more within the domain of liberal, or progressive politics, whereas the more individual-focused ones fall toward the conservatives.

I would also guess that urban dwellers in general travel outside the country more, reinforcing their exposure to other cultures, institutions, history, etc. The more a person experiences other cultures and ways of life, the more one sees that a variety of religious and cultural values can be successful, which often leads to a less dogmatic view of governmant, or religion, or way of life.

-john

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by 71_safari

There are many reasons, ... ...more a person experiences other cultures and ways of life, the more one sees that a variety of religious and cultural values can be successful, which often leads to a less dogmatic view of governmant, or religion, or way of life.

-john

Good analysis, John. Well done.

Roger

[Stefrobrts]

Excellent explanation, John.

Another thing about city and rural, at least where I've lived, rural folks have a lot of resentment towards city dwellers. Since I grew up in the city, I was surprised when we moved to a rural area to go to school and discovered how much negativity was focused on the citys. A lot of this is because in Oregon, Portland has a population equal to or greater than the whole rest of the state, and so the way Portlanders vote goes. Rural people feel like their votes don't count.

Same problem in WA where people have a real problem with Seattle controlling what happens in the state, but again the population in the greater Seattle area is close to or greater than the rest of the state. There is a LOT of resentment right now about the D winning the close govenor's race, particularly with the extra votes being counted in King County (Seattle). The rural folks seem to see it as Seattle forcing their will upon the rest of the state yet again.

Anyway, the point is, around here I could almost see people voting red just because they know the city dwellers will vote blue, and anything the city wants can't be good!

[dscluchfc]

Ever notice how the blue areas are dependent for their ability to live life the way they do on the raw materials produced in the red areas?...like food, oil, gas....
The blue areas are also more dependent on public works services and infrastructure to do things for them to be able to live the way they do in large cities....so they develop a mindset that government programs are the answer to solve their problems...and thus the continual question: What is the government going to do about this problem? Many large cities have had to be bailed out of financial problems by state and federal government programs due to mismanagement of local governments.

In the red areas, people are more self sufficient and entreprenural, and the government solving a problem for them comes with it's usual bureaucracy handling charge, and bureaucrat pushing a pencil in an office a 1000+ miles away that supposedly knows more about their situation than they do because he has read a report about it and is "more educated"...."I'm from the government, and I am here to help you." And they don't believe a word of it.....