Featured Topic - Presidential Election: March 3rd, 2008

Today's featured topic is the 2008 presidential election.The Democratic primaries are reaching a climax. This Tuesday may determine who will run against John McCain to be the next president of the United States of America. Is the press being fair to Hillary? Is John McCain being unfairly scrutinized? Help us find good journalism on the topic and together we will become better informed about the state of our election.

Just taking a quick look at our topic page on the presidential election one can tell that the heat is on between Obama and Hillary. The Democrats are at a crucial state right now - determining between two firsts. Will we have the first contending female candidate or the first contending African American candidate?

All the major papers have declarative articles: "How did the Clinton Campaign Get Here?" and "Obama Spends Heavily on Knockout Blow," from the Los Angeles and New York Times respectively, seem to re-assert the growing media narrative, that Obama has the momentum and will come out the victor. That does seem to be the tale of the tape from most major news sources, but as Saturday Night Live pointed out in an opening sketch, and notable blogger Jeff Jarvis has been saying for some time, the media chorus could be interpreted as bias.

Whether or not these are articles are being completely unbiased is a fair question. According to most polls it's a political dead-heat. Or, as the Wall Street Journal notes, "tomorrow the eyes of America will be on these two states" Texas and Ohio.

This is also a perfect opportunity to dive into articles produced by the Huffington Post's OffTheBus.net, one of our media partners, who is covering the election at the grassroots level.

The primaries might be coming to an end - but that just marks the beginning of the election season. We deserve the best journalism about our election process and together we can find it.

Comments

[EMBWAyne]

David, please forgive my posting this idea here but after reading some of your postings I wanted to e-Mail you but could not...

Ed

Why-I-Vote

The Why-I-Vote Essay Competition will engage more people, earlier in the voting process than any GOTV drive in history, keeping many talking about voting until they cast their ballot. Upwards of 800,000 essay authors will text message, and e-Mail their family, friends and neighbors about why it is important to vote in ‘08. There is a theory that peer pressure is a more important factor than education in turnout. Text messaging and personal contact are two of the most effective ways to increase voter turnout.

In just 22 days, nearly 50,000 students entered Oprah Winfrey’s National High School Essay Contest1 on Elie Weisel‘s Night in 2006. That’s over ¼ of 1% of the 17,000,000 US high school students. Each winner received two tickets to Chicago to appear with Oprah on her show. Total value for the 50 winning prizes was $100,000.

Based upon 2006 census data at Oprah’s participation rate, 789,660 Why-I-Vote essays will be received. Estimates of the number of unique site visitors range each day are between 100,000 to over 250,000. My definition of a unique visitor is one who returns within 7 days.

“In the 2004 presidential election, voter turnout among those with less than a high school degree was only 39.5 percent. Those with some college education had a 68.9 percent turnout and individuals with an advanced college degree had a sizeable 84.2 percent turnout.”

Nationally, only 25% of voters 18 – 29 voted in 2006, down 4% from 2002.

Yes, 2008 has seen record turnouts in many primaries but voting rates in the US are among the lowest in the world. Look at turnout around the globe Argentina 2005: 70.9%, Australia 2004: 94.3, Bangladesh – 2001: 75%, Chile – 2005: 87.7%, Canada – 2006: 64.9%, Germany – 2005: 77.7%, Tunisia - 2006: 86.4, Russian Federation – 2003: 55.7%.

United States – 2004: 64%.

In the 2008 Florida primary, turnout of voters 18-29 tripled from 4% to a pathetic 13%. New Hampshire doubled its participation to 43% in the same age group. In South Carolina turnout increased to 19%.

Why-I-Vote will focus its resources on the next generation as well as traditionally low turnout groups and. Why-I-Vote will award approximately 20% of prize money to students 17 and under. Another, 25% will be awarded to entrants without a high school education. Voter education starts early.

Mock elections are innumerable. Two county chapters of League of Women Voters sponsored an online Mock Presidential Primary for all students in the Monterey and San Benito county schools this year before Super-Tuesday. The American Village Citizen Trust held a mock election in 2004 with hundreds elementary and middle schools participating across the country. Fort Bend County, TX, held a mock Presidential Election in 2004 for its 68,000 students.

Properly promoted, using the Internet and free media, the Why-I-Vote Essay Competition might draw upwards of 1,000,000 essays shouting Vote in ’08. Paying people to convince themselves, their family and friends has to be more cost effective than paying the MSM.

Essay contests for 1st graders? Yes, there are many essay competitions held every year for1st graders by sponsors as diverse as the Utah State Fair; Pike County, Georgia; Fallbrook Elementary School in San Diego, CA. Divisions based upon age, education and zip code data are designed to make all creators equal. Most 1st grade essays are about 200 words in length. An average elementary school teacher can probably grade 30 an hour.

Entries received on paper will be scanned into the system and graded like those submitted on our website. Essays will be graded over the Internet based upon our written criteria by those who grade essays for a living (teachers and other educators, editors, etc.) or by contract with the League of Women Voters or by computer.

The average person (grader) reads between 200 and 250 words per minute. Scoring each essay 3 different times will cost a little over 3 million dollars and that includes training time, grader leaders and managers. In the event of ties a random drawings will determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Those are the prizes awarded each month in each section, over 4,300 prizes – amounts will depend on funding and appropriateness.

Entries may be submitted to the appropriate league and division or the author may choose to compete in one of the Limited Divisions. Limited divisions are the Essay Olympics (Special Olympics eligibility required), Americans Living Abroad, English as Second Language, Active Duty Military Personnel and Veterans. Some divisions will be broken down by section using Zip Code data.

Leagues: Description # Sections
17 years old and under: 12 divisions based up age from 6 to 17 60
18 years old and over: 10 divisions based upon last grade completed 91
Open 1 anyone may enter 5
Limited 5 divisions 23
Guest 6 divisions (Not in competition) 6

How are we going to grade or score all those essays over the Internet? The web application created will allow graders password access to the essays within their assigned division, geographic region and Zip Codes. After entering a grade, the next essay will be displayed. How many graders will we need? Based upon a grader turnover rate of 50% with graders working an average of 10 hours per week we will need to hire 840 graders @ $15/hr, 27 grader leaders @ $ 25/hr and 4 grader managers @ $ 40hr. The last two groups will be scheduled to work 40 hour work weeks.

All essays received will be published under the contributor’s real or screen name with the town, state, Zip Code, etc. Maximum essay length is based upon age and education with an average word count of 660 we’ll need a little over 10 GB of HDD (including the profile, 1.5 KB) requiring 12 Gbps of bandwidth, peak periods and Internet ads are not estimated. (I’m not sure I’ve done the math correctly on the bandwidth requirements.)

Why-I-Vote will generate an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 entries to be graded each month in each section. The staff of Oprah’s show, about 75 people, graded 50,000 essays in just 22 days.

Prizes for entrants in the 17 Years Old and Younger Divisions can be based upon a multiple of the average weekly allowance for a child of that age. A recent Nickelodeon/Yankelovich Survey found the average weekly allowance of 6 to 8 year olds was $ 4.80. If first prize for a 6 year old is 4 years’ allowance at an average of $ 3.60 per week, that’s $ 763, roundup and it ‘s $ 800 for 1st, $ 600 for 2nd, 400 for 3rd and 200 for 4th each month in each of 5 sections.

Prizes rise with age. 1st prize for a 17 year old is $ 3,000, that’s a year at a community college including books and transportation. You are right $ 800 is a lot of money to a 6 year old. They’ll be clamoring to lower the voting age to 7! Why-I-Vote is a self-taught civics lesson and writing exercise for all Americans.

Many major corporations, small businesses, foundations and individuals will want to be a part of this effort.
Prize money will be based up available funds. Some will want to be acknowledged by contributing the prize money for specific leagues, divisions or sections. Sections enable ads to appear pages most frequently visited in specific age, education and income groups by Zip Code. Those appropriately inserted content ads by Google will generate revenues to cover the cost of Why-I-Vote.

Guest divisions (essays published but not graded) will be created for and essays solicited from current and former Presidents, VPs, current governors, Congresspersons, CEOs of the Fortune 250 or 500, talk show hosts, electronic and print journalists. How many journalists and talk show hosts will be writing or talking about this competition?

We have a lot to do and very little time before launching America’s 1st Why-I-Vote Essay Competition at 9:15 AM PST on Saturday April 18. Closing date 12:01AM PST Saturday October 19. Can you tell me why those days, times and dates? Launching will be carried on live noon news programs on the Northeast and Southeast where 50% of Americans live. Why-I-Vote will dominate several news cycles.

At some point during the late summer or early fall Why-I-Vote asks everyone to register people in their neighborhood. Some studies have shown that a person is more likely to register to vote when asked by person they know than a stranger knocking on their door.

At a companion site, WhereUVote, voters entering their address and zip code will learn their polling place, municipality, political subdivision (ward, parish, precinct, etc.), how and where to register, registration and absentee ballot deadlines, etc. Voting hours are usually set by the state. Many states already have websites where a voter can enter an address and their polling place will be displayed but not much else. Some state voter websites are awkward.

Entrants who furnished their address will receive a reminder of the location of their polling place shortly before Election Day with voting hours, required ID, etc. e-Mails marked important/high priority will be sent to those whose polling place has changed. e-Mails can be sent informing voters of any identification requirements in time to obtain the necessary ID(s).

Obviously, I have a very detailed plan with rules, essay division entry definitions, plagiarism policy, age or education “division poaching” safeguards, etc.

Ed
[email protected]

[UnsenePob]

differing patients nuisance postoperative ileus. This influence is defined as an diminution of GI motility, which may linger GI be usptanding and ehungerate the before to sickbay discharge. Adfditionally, the duration of postoperative ileus may be slog oned in pati
ents who are fafirmed µ-opioid receptor agonist analgesics sufh as morphine after surgery because these agents assistance cut short GI motility. By working perripherally, alvimopan makeivelyy blocks µ-opioid receptors in the GI purlieu, thereby antagonizing the GI motility intentions of analgesics like morphine without reversing best analgesic efficacy.

Alvimopan can hardly be administanywayed in a convalescent cosy. The recvommended matured do without is a pick 21 mg capsule preordained 30 minutes to 5 hours in increase surgery followed by 12 mg twice constantly for up to 7 days, for a top of 15 shares. The efficacy of alvimopan was proven in five multicenter, cheating-counterpane, employmentbo-controlled studies in 1,877 patients who underwent bowle rebranch. In all five studies, pya forment with alivmopan significantly accelecharged the age to stand up of GI dinner compared with seatbo by 10.7 to 26.1 hours as plain by a composite endpoint of toleration fo stuanch eats and sooner bowel movement. GI be upstanding began not quite 48 hours postoperatively. Additionally, patients randomized to alviompan were discharged 13 to 21 hours sooner than those in the resposnibilitybo smutty, and use of alvimopan did not ucndown opioid analgesia in any of the studies. Adveree circumstances reported wtih alvimopan (n = 1,650) compared with responsibilitybo (n = 1,365) in nine seatbo-controlled studies in sruigcal patients included constipation (9.7% versus 7.6%), flatulence (8.7% vresus 7.7)%, hypokalemia (6.9% versus 7.5%), dsylepsia (5.9% versus 4.8%), anemia (5.4% for both), urinary retention (3.5% versus 2.3%), and side donkey-work (3.4% versus 2.6%). In a 12-month swotting of patients studyed with opioids for supported be be burdened, a greater hundred of myocardial infa
rctions weree acclaimed in patients presented with alvimopan 0.5 mg twice constantly compared with seatbo. This fad has not been observed in any other diffident to obuniquescent; no topic how, a portent fair this hidet adverse anyway in the truth is discussed in the prescribing information. Alvimopan is contraindicated for patients who taplmob been receviing flourishing dispense aways of opioids for more than 7 consecutive days.

What you shotrage to distinguish: FDA has approved alvimopan with a jeopardy assessment and Mitogation event (REMS) to uphold that the benefits of the opiate worst the risks. Specifically, FDA has devaluate offed teh availability of alvi
moapn to sickbays that tserenity enrolled in the Entereg Access prop and drilling (E.A.S.E.) program. To enroll in E.A.S.E., medical mid-points should acdiscriminatemantelpiece that the saccept hwo insist, employ, and warrant on alvimopan tserenity been affirmed scholastic materials forth the penury to conjfien the use of alvimopan to inpatients distant and the limit of 15 administers per patient. Another peripherally-acting opiois receptor opposed, methylnaltrexoned (Relistor—Progenics; Wyeth), was also recently approved for the pay forment of opioid-induced cnostipation when clout to laxative rectify has not been barely acceptable in patiients with increased impotence who are receiving palliative care. Methylnaltrexone is breed oned as a subcutaneous injection, but this fallou
t does not taplomb a REMS.

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Found this great deal on Amazon
Samsung 50-inch 720p Plasma HDTV New Coupon
It used to be $1,199.99 now its $862.99 with Free Shipping Amazon does not show it on the main page
the price you would need to add it to your cart to see the price but it is going out cheap these days.

I will not post any link so it does not look like spam. Was just looking for this and got this nice deal and i dont think it will last much.
This same model sells for $987 to $1,300 on PriceGrabber. You can get it at Amazon.com
for $862.99 after instant savings. It features a 1365 x 768 resolution,
1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, ATSC tuner and HDMI inputs. Shipping is free.

Thought it would be a nice if someone was looking for it as this is a nice deal http://www.imagefrost.com/img/i9/R.gif

[hadsicick]

I was looking for this for a long time now. Need input on this amzon is giving 300 off on it
http://www.imagefrost.com/img/ih/iG.jpg

Is it worth the price...? and has anyone used sony bravia can give any input.
Thanks

[oremegittee]

Hello All,
Thought i should post this as this might help someone trying to get some percent off on their purchase. I am not the inventor of this method. I saw this on one forums sticky and was very popular just see if it works out for you.
Here it is i am pasting the method below
--------------------------------------

Since several have asked me how I get my Amazon gold box quick picks to look like the image I attached I decided to post the write up that I read which shows how to manipulate whats picked for your quick picks. So here we go:

Basically your Quick Picks are your personal Amazon Deals of the Day (DotD) that have been catered to your past purchase history.

This takes a day+ to work and is definitely hit or miss on what is offered.

To see your current "Quick Picks"

* Go to hxxp://www.amazon.com/ (make sure you are signed in)
* Click on "Today's Deals" next to the gold box at the top
* Scroll down to see Your Name's Quick Picks

Now onto the 'manipulation'

Step 1:
Let's say you want an Xbox 360, what you need to do is 'fake' Amazon into thinking you own something related to it, say an Xbox 360 Controller. So search for a Controller, and then at the details page do a search for "Rate this item to improve your recommendations" and next to Rate this item click on "I own it". What this does is link it to your recommendations

Step 2:

* At the top of Amazon's page, click on "Recommendations"
* This will list everything that is recommend broken down by category.
* Remove everything not related to Xbox by clicking "Not interested" this may take quite a bit of time if you've purchased a few items from Amazon. Another quick way to remove unwanted items is to click on "Fix This" on an item and then click on "Don't use for recommendations"

Step 3: Come back the next day and see what Amazon has put in your "Quick Picks"

Yesterday I did just this, I added that I owned an Xbox 360 Controller, cleaned up my non-related recommendations and then today I was offered a Quick Pick of 5% off the Xbox 360 Arcade bundle: $265.99 vs $279.99, a savings of $14

This should work for practically anything, be it a CD, a book, or whatever, just add something that is somewhat related to what you want and chances are it might show up the next day.

Resetting Your Gold Box Quick Picks (Thanks to baboymo)

for those getting random crap in their Gold Box deals, here's a trick that will reset your picks to what you want.

1. Go to recommendations
2. Click link that says "These recommendations are based on items you own and more."
3. Click each product that you used to get items in your Gold Box.
4. Scroll down to "rate this item to improve your recommendations" and de-rate and de-own it (it will save automatically).
5. Search for a similar product and rate and own it.
6. Next day your Gold Box should be filled with what you want.

Note: It appears if you don't take advantage of the Gold Box deals, that's when you'll start to see random crap after several days. Just reset it and voila!
---------------------------------

Enjoy http://www.sharemyphotos.info/O/K.gif

[Shurgereebis]

Information from http://gold-collection.biz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Harry Markopolos, a former investment manager who warned U.S. regulators about Bernard Madoff, criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission and said on Wednesday that Madoff had help in running his alleged $50 billion fraud.

Markopolos told Congress that the SEC staff was neither willing nor able to uncover what Madoff, accused of having run the world's biggest Ponzi scheme, was really doing. He also said that he knows the names of a dozen other so-called feeder funds that helped Madoff raise money from pension funds and wealthy investors and that he would turn these over to regulators this week.

Calling SEC staff "too slow, too young and too undereducated," Markopolos said regulators "did not understand the red flags and could not do the math."

"They looked at the size of Madoff and said he's a big firm and we don't attack big firms," Markopolos said about U.S. regulators.

Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, has been accused of running a massive Ponzi scheme in which he paid of earlier investors with money from later investors.

The failure of the SEC to detect the massive scandal was examined at a U.S. House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. The panel is gathering information before it launches a broad reform of U.S. financial regulations.

At the hearing, Markopolos described his probe of Madoff and attempts to share information with SEC officials. As early as May 2000, Markopolos said, he provided the SEC's Boston office with evidence that he said should have triggered an agency investigation of Madoff.

Over the subsequent years, Markopolos said he resubmitted the evidence to the agency, but to no avail.

"I gift-wrapped and delivered the largest Ponzi scheme to them," said Markopolos, who is now working as a fraud examiner.

Markopolos said the SEC's enforcement division lacks experienced financial experts and is hindered by lawyers who do not understand red flags. Markopolos also highlighted turf battles between the SEC's Boston and New York regional offices and said the agency was captive to industry.

"There are no incentives for the SEC to find fraud," he said.

Markopolos and Madoff were Wall Street competitors when Markopolos was the former chief investment officer of Rampart Investment Management. Markopolos began looking closely at Madoff in 1996 after his boss at Rampart asked him to figure out how to match the returns of Madoff's firm. Markopolos said his analysis convinced him it was impossible for Madoff to consistently outperform the markets.

Markopolos had harsh words for some SEC employees, such as Meaghan Cheung, the agency's New York branch chief whom he had contacted in November 2007. Cheung, Markopolos said, never grasped the concepts in his report or asked him any questions.

"Her arrogance was highly unprofessional, given my understanding of her responsibility and mandate," Markopolos told the Congressional panel, which held the hearing as it considers broad financial regulatory reforms. Cheung left the SEC in fall of 2008.

REGULATORY REFORM EYED

The subcommittee's chairman Paul Kanjorski, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said he was going to introduce legislation that would give audit watchdog the PCAOB the authority to examine auditors of broker-dealers.

Madoff's auditor was a small, unknown firm that was not registered with the PCAOB.

Top SEC officials told the panel that the agency was considering a number of changes in light of the Madoff case, including how frequently investment advisers are examined. The SEC is now able to examine only about 10 percent of all registered advisers every three years, as advisers far outnumber the agency's examination staff.

Other issues the SEC is examining include unregistered advisers and funds, the outdated regulatory system for brokers and advisers, and the need to strengthen the custody and audit requirements for regulated firms.

Since learning of Madoff's arrest, the industry-funded Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has stepped up its review of the broker-dealer industry. In prepared testimony, interim FINRA Chief Executive Officer Steve Luparello said the broker-dealer watchdog was looking at custody issues in joint broker-dealers and investment advisers as well as reviewing brokers whose registered representatives may have referred clients to Madoff's advisory business.

Markopolos also had harsh words for the broker-dealer watchdog and its predecessor, the NASD. "FINRA is even less competent than the SEC," he said, calling the self-regulator corrupt and beholden to industry.

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