Critical Tuesday - Here We Go!

Clinton is finished tonight, as is Huckabee. Having said that... let's start our coverage of "Critical Tuesday".

Edit, 19:00 EST: CNN is projecting Obama as the winner of Vermont. Same with McCain, he's also being projected as the winner of Vermont.

Ohio polls to close in the next half hour, at 19:30 EST.

Edit, 19:09 EST: Barack is capturing key segments of the Vermont vote, and subsequently, key segment of Clinton's voter base. Women and senior citizens who typically voted for Clinton, are now switching sides to Obama, and in BIG numbers.

Edit, 19:25 EST: Ohio polls close in 5 minutes, with the exception of the polls in Sandusky County, which are open until 21:00 EST due to a storm in the area. Updates to follow shortly.

Edit, 19:31 EST: CNN is projecting John McCain as the winner of Ohio. No Democrat is being projected, CNN is calling it "competitive" in the Democrat race.

Edit, 19:39 EST: Some exit poll stats from Vermont: 56% of Democrats who attended college voted for Obama. 62% of those who didn't, voted for Clinton. A virtual tie of non-union households split the vote. Clinton got 54% of the vote from union workers, compared to 45% who voted for Obama.

Edit, 20:58 EST: Polls in Texas close in 2 minutes. Race in Ohio way too close to call.

Edit, 21:00 EST: CNN is projecting that John McCain has won the Texas race, and has clinched the GOP nomination! More details to come very shortly.

the big "mo"

Momentum. This seems to be THE buzzword for the 08 race to the White House.

As some of you may already know, I'm an avid Obama supporter. His position on the war on Iraq, stabilizing the US economy, and many other issues is why I would vote for him if I could. Sadly, all I can do is donate. And donate I have.

Let's talk about momentum though. Last night, Obama won his 9th and 10th states in a row. Let me say that again.

Last night, Obama won his 9th and 10th states in a row. Momentum? Yeah you could say so. Let's crunch the numbers on why Obama's momentum is taking small, but significant bites into Clinton's campaign.

Obama posted gains in key areas since the Super Tuesday contests. Obama got increases in the senior votes, the woman's vote, the white vote, and the union vote.

On Super Tuesday, Obama got only 41 percent of the white. Yesterday, he got 53 percent.

He got the vote of 48 percent of women in Wisconsin compared to 41 percent on Super Tuesday. He also increased his standing with white seniors by 8 points, from 31 percent to 39 percent since Super Tuesday. He has split the non-college-graduate vote 50-50 with Clinton compared to getting 42 percent of it on Super Tuesday.

Why is this? One, money. Obama is quickly approaching 1,000,000 campaign donations, something that hasn't been done before. Two, attack ads. Mud-slinging. Finger pointing. He said, she said. Have you seen an attack ad come from the Obama camp? I haven't, and I spend a few hours a day catching up on the election news. (No I don't watch FOX news. That network is for right wingers.)

So again, I'll ask. Momentum?

Yeah, you could say so. I can think of a better word.

Velocity. If only one candidate has it, my money's on Obama.

why i wouldn't vote for clinton...

Now here's something interesting.

I first saw this on CNN and it made me VERY VERY angry.

What happened is during Bill Clinton's speech at a Clinton rally, a "heckler" called for opening an independent investigation in 9/11.

What really boils my blood about Clinton's reaction is this:

Clinton automatically referred to him as an "inside job guy." That's insulting. So because a hard working, tax-paying citizen wants an independent investigation of 9/11, he's automatically labeled as an "inside job guy"?

Clinton refers to the "heckler" as "rude". Since when is exercising your right to freedom of speech rude? And of course he yelled at the top of his lungs; he was probably 100 feet away, and wanted Clinton to hear him.

Clinton, like the closet Republicans him and Hillary are, continues the government approved rhetoric of "Bin Laden did it". I guess all those Republican campaign donations have paid off, eh?

Finally, as if Bill hasn't been enough of an obnoxious asshole already, he proceeds to tell this "heckler" to "go away."

GO AWAY?!?!?! What on earth is this guy thinking? What gives Billy the right to tell a possible Clinton supporter to go away?

This is why I would not vote for Clinton. And neither should you. Do you want to be told to go away when you need help?

If not, vote for Obama. He's better for America, and won't lie on national television about sleeping with a certain woman. Right Bill?

dear ttc...

... oh how you frustrate me sometimes...

I cannot fathom why there is a 5 minute gap between trains going westbound into Sherbourne station. Aren't the trains supposed to be 2 minutes apart? The next stop eastbound (Castle Frank) is a 5 minute walk away. So why the delay?

I rely on you to get me to Bloor station within minutes of arriving on the Sherbourne platform, however, lately, I have started to notice that the wait times for a train are growing longer and longer. The other day, I waited almost 20 minutes for a train that had enough room for just me and my laptop bag.

And let's not speak of the lack of commuter room on your trains these days. My g-d! I am now fully aware of what it feels like to be a sardine.

So please, dear ttc, help me understand why it takes so long to get a train from Castle Frank to Sherbourne. Otherwise I may start walking to work. The weather is nice out there and I could use the exercise.

sick as a dog

I really need to stop pushing myself so hard... This week has been the worst week for me from a health (or lack of it in this case) perspective.

Having a cold, working 11 hours a day and not getting enough sleep is, apparently quite deadly.

And on that note, I'm going to curl up on the couch with a bottle of wine and watch a movie. I hope I pass out soon.

online dating, and why I'm starting to despise it...

For some time now, I've been on a number of online dating sites. Four of them to be exact. (Yes, I was on Lavalife until recently, and no I won't tell you which of the other 3 I'm still on.) Hey, I need options.

Lately, I'm starting to really despise online dating. It seems that online dating sites like Lavalife are an e-meat market for people looking to get laid, have no-strings-attached fun, or just generally conduct themselves in hedonistic ways. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but that scene just ain't for me.

You see at my old age of 29, you begin to move away from the typical behaviour of younger people (you know, getting crowded into a dark, smelly room called a nightclub with 500 other oversexed individuals looking to get their freak on), and start to look for something of substance. For instance, take my friend (name has been stripped out). Great guy, has a great career, has everything going for him. Yet he insists on fucking everything that walks. Is he physically satisfied? From the phone calls/IM conversations we have, it certainly sounds like it. How about emotionally? I don't know. We don't talk about that sort of thing. I'd be willing to bet he isn't.

There was a time when I was like this, but I quickly got tired of that whole scene.

So why do I despise online dating so much? Well, as convenient as it is, sometimes it's aggravating. I mean honestly, whatever happened to etiquette? I think it's gone the way of the dodo bird.

So, here's some advice for those of you that are thinking of jumping into the world of online dating:

1. If someone sends you an email, and you aren't interested, don't just delete their email and not respond. A quick line to say "thanks, but not thanks" goes a long way. Likewise, if someone emails you, and you ARE interested, don't wait 2 weeks to email someone back. But don't email back right away. Too slow and it will seem as though you are not interested, too fast, and it will seem that you are desperate.

2. Post a photo. This should be fairly obvious. I know, mystery is good, but people like to know what the person they are talking to looks like. While we are talking about posting photos, POST YOUR OWN! Don't post a photo of someone else and pass that off as yourself. I had a woman do that to me. Needless to say, that date didn't last too long.

3. First impressions are everything. Spelling, grammar and punctuation (or lack thereof as I've seen in some ads) are important. If you aren't good at any of these, have your ad checked by someone who understands these very important parts of your language. Like being polite, it goes a long way, and people are more likely to communicate with you if they think you can actually carry a conversation in their language.

This has been a Public Service Announcement from someone who is tired of the world of online dating and those that inhabit it.

random silliness, or ...

I'm not entirely sure why I started this blog. I already have one somewhere else that I barely use. In fact, I may just shut it down and blog here instead. Yes, I think I will do that.

Hmmm. Random silliness. It seems I'm surrounded by it. Maybe random silliness isn't the right term to use here. Maybe it should be called "people-isms". Whoa, I like that one. People-isms.

I've noticed that there are a number of people in my life who have some very strange people-isms. Like the one who never returns my phone calls, or the one who assumes my intentions are not entirely honorable. Or the one who clings to me worse than Saran Wrap. Scary indeed. I've come to the conclusion that people act this way because it's comfortable for them; it's part of a routine they've become accustomed to. For them to change this routine would put them outside their element, something that they just can't allow to happen.

I don't have a problem with any of this, of course. Where it becomes frustrating is, as a single male, you date and date and date until you are blue in the face, and no matter what, the end game is the same. Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, sometimes girl likes boy, and, well you know how the rest of the story goes. However, sometimes the cart falls off its wheels and things get strange right around the boy likes girl stage. Feelings aren't necessarily reciprocated and things get awkward.

Awkward. That seems to be the story of my life. Or maybe just the last 7 months of my life. Or maybe the last 7 months have found me starting to see the people-isms of those around me.