j44

Uh...I didn't say I was surprised.

I lol'd.

That might be the starting salary but I'd be very, very surprised if that is the average salary for a teacher in Ontario.

Not that this will slow down this foolish back and forth but tonight I watched about an hour of that Romney doc. on CNN. I'm not surprised that Romney came off just as robotic and insincere as he always has to me. Even as an Obama supporter I don't dislike Romney. I am not a huge fan but he gets it from both sides pretty hard. Sometimes, this is a sign to me that he is a pretty reasonable person. Anyway, I don't believe all the spin coming from the Obama camp about him but he does come off as almost having zero personality. Despite what Shady would call the liberal press attacking him at times I don't see them doing much that is unfair. although it should be noted that I don't watch the more partisan shows. I do have a small point so stay with me.... Shady can point to all the extremes of the left and their hate for him but I don't see it in the mainstream press. There are unfair attacks but I don't see anyone really calling him a terrible person. They question his views and continue on the tax issue but I see those as fair criticisms. Maybe it is just me but I don't see this derangement syndrome in the mainstream media. That being said I usually watch PBS. Although I do watch Meet the Press, CNN sometimes.... Anyway, my original point was going to be this. Tonight I caught Romney's 5 (?) sons on CNN for about 5-10 minutes and they ALL come across as better politicians than their dad. All of them. Even the one that is kinda creepy looking. If Romney loses it will mostly have to do with his personality, in my opinion. It isn't that he is just out of touch; it is that his personality reinforces it. Maybe if the big speakers at the convention can make him seem more like an actual person (Ann Romney I'm looking at you) that will help but he can't do it himself. Unless he pulls off some amazing speech. That seems unlikely to me.

I still don't know hat you are getting at. Even on busy Friday nightsI don't see any staff other than the high school kids that sell me tickets and popcorn. There are no security guards. I Doubt there are even cameras near the emergency exits. And regardless of the hype For a movie I would expect even less staff on duty for a midnight showing. And even if there were security guards. What do you think they would do if they see someone carrying a shotgun? I'm betting not confront him.

Deleted. Posted it twice by mistake.

I think you are overestimating the amount of security and surveillance at a movie theatre. And what are you getting at? Do you think there is some sort of conspiracy or cover up for some reason?

Maybe there was no alarm on the door. Some theatres have side doors you can exit from. I did it last week after a movie. How much light do you think there would be? The door could have been open an inch. Maybe the parking lot isn't lit up like a baseball stadium at night. Why are you surprised they didn't release footage? Why would they? I'm not sure I understand your last line. What would it matter if he was noticed in the lobby before the movie?

When he left to suit up he propped the door open with a rock. It probably seemed like more than one shooter because he was armed to the teeth.

I spelled it wrong too. Lol Just checking to see if it was the Joan I thought it was.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/us/before-gunfire-in-colorado-theater-hints-of-bad-news-about-james-holmes.html?_r=1&emc=na AURORA, Colo. — The text message, sent to another graduate student in early July, was cryptic and worrisome. Had she heard of “dysphoric mania,” James Eagan Holmes wanted to know? The psychiatric condition, a form of bipolar disorder, combines the frenetic energy of mania with the agitation, dark thoughts and in some cases paranoid delusions of major depression. She messaged back, asking him if dysphoric mania could be managed with treatment. Mr. Holmes replied: “It was,” but added that she should stay away from him “because I am bad news.” It was the last she heard from him. About two weeks later, minutes into a special midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” on July 20, Mr. Holmes, encased in armor, his hair tinted orange, a gas mask obscuring his face, stepped through the emergency exit of a sold-out movie theater here and opened fire. By the time it was over, there were 12 dead and 58 wounded. Mr. Holmes, who was arrested outside the theater and has been charged in the shootings, has remained an enigma, his life and his motives cloaked by two court orders that have imposed a virtual blackout on information in the case. Yet as time has passed, a clearer picture has begun to surface. Interviews with more than a dozen people who knew or had contact with Mr. Holmes in the months before the attack paint a disturbing portrait of a young man struggling with a severe mental illness who more than once hinted to others that he was losing his footing

I'll have to see this poll breakdown for myself. As much as I want it I don't believe he is 'just killing Romney' in battleground states and is 'killing Romney with the public at large.' I think you're being too optimistic, sorry.

I think it is much closer than that and more complicated.

But that's my point. Obama is winning the women vote. Winning it by more is great but isn't winning older voters more important? And it's not a matter of filling the news cycle. After all, it is important to keep a candidate on the defensive about what he perceives as his biggest positive.

I wonder if the Democrats spent too much time on those idiotic rape comments. Don't get me wrong the comments should have attacked and I think there are more women than men voters but did the Democrats take their foot off Ryan and his Medicare plans? Maybe it was more of the media shredding Akin and his comments but it seems to me that if the Democrats kept on the attack Ryan would be on the defensive going into the convention and maybe have to explain his ideas more. And we all know that, in politics, when you are explaining you are losing. Maybe it'll be easy to get back on message and attack Ryan and maybe it was worth connecting Akin to Ryan and Romney because it plays into their narrative that the GOP ticket is extreme. But wouldn't it have been better for the Democrats to be talking about Medicare?

Joan Crockett?

Yeah, I agree. It is a little vague. I just wanted to get some results from people. To see if my guess and their results were close. Plus, the built in results from other focus groups was nice. The more in depth test that was posted was great. You should give it a shot too, Shady. The break down and comparison to candidates was nice.

Great. Thanks.

With such a short quiz I bet one or two slight changes in answers could make a difference. It seems all the tests I see are pretty short. Usually 20 or so questions at most. If anyone comes across a longer (and decent) one I would love it if they could post it. And I would love to see a really detailed one with specific policy questions.

I wasn't sure if this deserved its own thread but I thought it would be interesting to see where some of you fit. It is a very basic test (12 questions) but it shows where moderates, independents etc. fit and where you fit compared to race, age, sex, religion and Obama and Romney. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2012/quiz/ Note: I had trouble doing it on my mobile. The last question wouldn't appear and I couldn't click the button to get my result. PS. I ended up exactly where I thought I would be--a moderate Democrat. I was very slightly to the right on economic issues and past the liberal Democrat on social issues (I attribute this mostly to the fact that the gay marriage question was one of the few--or only--questions I answered with completely agree.) I'd like to see people post their results.

Also, I heard (briefly) on the news that in Chicago 19 people were shot overnight in several incidents. I would like to see this stuff covered more often and the madmen not being blown up so much. No pun intended.

Even cops will tell you that in a situation like that with your adrenaline pumping it is incredibly difficult to stay calm and shoot accurately. All of your senses are off. I think this is why you don't hear too many stories of of civilians pulling their gums and saving a life. Or even defending themselves successfully. Unless they are experienced. And it is possible it wasn't 9 stray bullets. It could have been a couple that fragmented on a busy NYC street.

How/Why?

Ok, maybe not following the same procedures but it is the same principle. I have a problem with that. I think it is a slippery slope. And they can say that this will only be the case in extreme cases but....

Yeah, I can give a band a break if they can produce more than a few great albums. All of that great music is no easy task. Most bands have one or two good/decent albums in them. The fact that any band can be great for 10 years? I'll let a few bad albums pass. That being said, St. Anger was dreadful.