The Open Notebook of an Atypical Teenager

Wow. I haven’t posted in a /really/ long while…

Okay. In lieu of the very near elections (3 days 2 hours!!!!!), I strongly urge everyone (even if you’re not voting) to take this quiz. In history class on friday we all did, as a sort of class project, and I thought it was very very helpful. Even if you don’t support the candidate that comes up, it can be very interesting to review the results and see what the presidential candidates feel about topics in relation to what you think. The best part is they have the other parties too, besides Democrat and Republican!

Please keep in mind, this should only be one tool of many in not only determining which candidate to support, but also developing your political ideology (bandgeek, LOLLL). One of many. Don’t instantly vote for whoever comes up as number one on your quiz. Review their stuff. Research, research, research!!

So yes. Everyone, right now, go to glassbooth.org . Right now.  Not only is it an extremely handy website for anyone, it’s really interesting!

Please don’t feel obligated, but if you want to, please put the candidate that ‘won’ your quiz into my poll. And then comment about it, talking about whatever you like (percentage similarity would be an interesting statistic). If you guys want to know, I have taken the quiz twice (the first time, I didn’t exactly know what all the stuff meant, so I did it again). The first time, I was ‘most compatible with’ Barack Obama, with 70%, the second time Cynthia McKinney (GREEN PARTY ALL THE WAY LOL) with 83%. Final note, if you don’t understand the question, don’t always go right to skipping it. Click on the blue link on the part you don’t understand. It will Wikipedia it. These definitions can be very helpful. If you still don’t understand, of course, please do skip the question.

Okay, I lied. Real final note. Please. This is your own personal quiz, not the media’s, your friends’, or your family’s. Answer what YOU honestly think. What do you believe in? What is your political ideology?

Please, take the quiz.

Disclaimer: The title is only partly right, the part about the economy being in a death spiral. The other part however, is just to exaggerate the significance of what I’m going to talk about. There is no way in hell that this could even minutely affect the economy. But I was just thinking…

Feedback please. (This is definitely the shortest post yet.)

Sorry, my interent was down for a couple of days. Couldn’t blog.

Also, I really wanted to watch the Second Presidential Debate so I could comment on that one here too, but unfortunately I was bust and I could only watch the first 20 minutes and the last 30 seconds. Hmph. Sorry again.

I will post tomorrow, I have something really interesting to talk about but for right now I have to work on a biology project.

I know this is a little late, but I have some thoughts on the VP Debates. I think I’m going to break down a basic “scoring system” to determine the “winner” of the debates.

FIrst, though, I would like to make a few points about the debates that stood out to me. First, on the topic of the war in Iraq. I noticed Biden stressed getting out in 16 months. Palin stressed troop surges. She also said getting out in 16 months would be raising “a white flag of surrender, which is not what our troops want to hear now”. My opinion on the matter: the Palin and McCain camp appear to be the only one that hasn’t suggested an exit strategy. I also disagree with Pain regarding the aforementioned quotation. I believe, although not being a troop or a family thereof, that troops and their families want nothing more than to be home and safe. I believe very strongly that they most likely aren’t very concerned about “surrendering”. McCain has voted for troop surges. Obama has not. I think we should get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan etc. etc. and McCain/Palin will not do that. 

Moving on to energy. I believe that our addiction to foreign oil can be stopped by supporting alternative fuel sources. (Although this was not a point brought up in the debates, I think nuclear energy should be being used 10x more than it is now here. But that was just random.) Palin claims authority in this category. Biden jabs at McCain, saying that McCain has gone against supporting alternative fuel. My opinion on the matter: I grant Palin such an aforementioned authority. She is governor of Alaska. Being in such a position requires you to make decisions about drilling for oil in Anwar, etc. The question is: will she make the right decisions? Also, Biden’s jabs were true: McCain has against alternative energy 20 times (he stressed that point quite often, although the real number is 23). Obama has, as far as my research brings me, never done so. Biden and Palin both get checks in the reliability. But which reliable point is more significant? I think Biden’s. (Another random point: please do not give Exxon Mobil 4 billion dollars in tax breaks. They are already number 2 on the Fortune 500 list. I’m quite sure they can fend for thenselves without tax breaks.)

Two HUGE topics aside, I think I’ll enter the realm of strategies. I think both candidates had very set agendas. Palin veered the topics toward energy whenever possible, and Biden tried to correlate McCain to the Bush administration whenever possible. Both acts are misleading viewers. However, it is true: Palin has more experience dealing with oil and energy, and the McCain camp has striking similarities to the Bush administration. I think that Biden did an excellent job of doing this. The Bush administration has about 20% of the United States in support of it, 80% against it. If Obama and Biden could get 80% of voters, it would be nearly impossible for them not to claim the White House. Palin also was right in steering the questions away from her un-expertise. However, they were poorly done, I found.  Evading question comes, I presume, with years of debating experience which Palin simply does not have. On the other hand, Biden has been known to flip-flop or crack under pressure during debates. He did this a few times. I found both candidates making mistakes, but Palin more so.

Now. I spent quite a while devising some sort of rubric for organizing the key things I would look for in a vice president. There are 7 categories, listed below. Now, my point system may be a bit odd, but it helps me give weight to the characteristics I thought were more important (any key characteristic I thought was more important will have a note near it, indicating its relative weight (i.e. 3x)). Each candidate begins with 50/100 in each category. So, in a category where I find them to be perfectly even, they will both be awarded 50 points, listed as: Biden 50, Palin 50. After this base, I then add more points to a candidate who excels in this category (the more points, the more excellence) and subtract that number from the other candidate’s point stock. For example, if I feel that Palin showed mild relative excellence to Biden in a certain category, I might giver her 8 points, making the points Biden 42, Palin 58. In this way, you can easily see each number as a percentage. The two points will always add to 100. Now. The rubric, then each candidates’ grades, plus any comments I may have.

GENERAL APPEARANCE DURING DEBATES (1x):

Biden 55 Palin 45

I found Palin to have a more homespun feel… “Joe’s six-pack”, “Can I call ya Joe?” . This didn’t sit well. However, this should only minutely affect my consideration for her as a vice presidential candidate. So only a 10 point swing.

RESPONSIVENESS/GERMANENESS (1x):

Biden 67 Palin 33

This is where I found Palin to slip up majorly. While Biden responded to most questions with at least some sort of an acceptable answer, Palin responded to quite a few with a mediocre evasion technique. To be honest, Biden only got 67 because Palin got 33. Biden got upped because Palin got downed. Biden wasn’t too hot in this category either, but Palin was worse.

HUMOR (0.25x):

Biden 48 Palin 52

This is just thrown in there. Palin smiled a few more times than Biden. Yay.

USE OF TIME GIVEN (1x):

Biden 50 Palin 50

Both did average. Not much to comment in here. Neither of the candidates pulled a McCain, who, during the first of the presidential debates, I found, spent too long thanking the committee. Get on with it, I want to hear your views on foreign policy. But that’s another story.

SENSE OF PURPOSE (1x)

Biden 40 Palin 60

Biden seemed to waver around. He was never exactly steadfast an bold. Palin, however, had a purpose: she was set on talking to the American People. She looked right at the camera, said “I’m talking to you, the American People, and here is what I have to say”.

POLITICAL VIEWS (3x):

Biden 60 Palin 40

This is a strictly opinional section, much of which was dealt with above. Read the first paragraphs and you’ll discover many of my opinions and why I gave Biden more points here.

OTHER (0.5x)

Biden 54 Palin 46

Four words, Palin. STOP WINKING AT ME! I don’t know about you, but I found that kind of creepy.

OVERALL TOTAL:

Biden 431 Palin 344 = Biden 56 Palin 44 

This is just me, but I thought that was even a teency bit generous. Biden won the debate, unquestionably.

4000 hits. Hoorah!

This is primarily for fun… I tested making a PPP. The next post, the password to get in is my birthday (mm/dd/yyyy) SPACE my age (##). For example, if you think my birthday is April 15, 1990 (you can try it if you want, but it’s not my birthday) and therefore I am 18, you would put in this exactly as if appears into the password box:  04/15/1990 18

SO YEAH. Try it out.

Damn. I have so much school work. I can’t even think about my blog. Rawr.

And mathgeek needs to finish those math puzzles. It’s getting ridiculous.

I would blog about how awesome (naht) my day was today, but I’m too tired. And I have too much stuff to do.

Damn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUG02M2sHAQ

Sorry if this wasted 37 seconds of your life, but it’s so random. Seriously. Don’t ask.