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Lyndon LaRouche -- the left-wing perennial candidate for president of the United States -– was the first candidate to broadcast a paid half-hour television address, which was pretty much was the only way the U.S. Labor Candidate could get attention on the airwaves back in the good old days of UHF. Now Barack Obama is resurrecting those half hour segments by buying up the air-waves a la LaRouche (and Ross Perot, remember those glorious charts?) all in an effort to make a last minute pitch to seal the deal with voters.

I'm series. :)

Their optimism, which is said to be shared by the Democratic candidate himself, is based on information from private polling and on faith in the powerful political organisation he has built in the key swing states. Insiders say that Mr Obama's apparent calm through an unusually turbulent election season is because he believes that his strength among first time voters in several key states has been underestimated, both by the media and by the Republican Party. ... But his aides are convinced that he has a strong chance of winning no fewer than nine states won by George W.Bush in...

US elections: Barack Obama's team believes he can win by a landslide Barack Obama's senior aides believe he is on course for a landslide election victory over John McCain and will comfortably exceed most current predictions in the race for the White House. By Tim Shipman in Washington Last Updated: 1:46PM BST 27 Sep 2008 Their optimism, which is said to be shared by the Democratic candidate himself, is based on information from private polling and on faith in the powerful political organisation he has built in the key swing states. Insiders say that Mr Obama's apparent calm through an...

One of the country's top pollsters was in Rochester on Thursday and suggested that the November presidential election will end in an electoral landslide, even though the candidates are running close. "Essentially the election is at equilibrium," said John Zogby, president of Zogby International. "This election will stay close until the end." Zogby said he thinks the race will turn in the last weekend before Election Day and though the popular vote will be tight, the successful candidate will win in a landslide. He likened this year's election to the contest in 1980, when Ronald Reagan defeated President Jimmy Carter....

Maybe Zogby was just out giving a lunch speech to a bunch of numbers geeks and his mouth got ahead of him, but it looks like he thinks this thing may already be over. You be the judge. Forget the fickle presidential polls - it’s the Electoral College that’s going to produce a landslide victory Nov. 4, a noted pollster predicts. John Zogby, president of Zogby International, told a coffee and number-crunching crowd in Rochester, N.Y., that one of the presidential candidates will walk away with a mountain of votes. Which candidate is he talking about? Sounds like Obama, with...

BROCKPORT, NEW YORK--Pollster John Zogby hinted Thursday (September 25) that he sees a McCain landslide as a real possibility. According to the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle:(O) ne of the country’s top pollsters thinks the race will end in an electoral landslide. John Zogby, president of Zogby International, told a group of businesspeople today that it’s up to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to convince voters to go with him. If he’s not successful, the country will likely vote for “a comfortable old shoe”, that being Republican Sen. John McCain. Despite the books Obama has written, Americans are still asking, “Who...

Googling Landslide victory for Obama you get practically nothing. Google Landslide victory for McCain and you get a few confident thinkers out there who believe strongly that McCain/Palin will have over 300 Electoral Votes. I for one do not fully believe the current national polls. I do believe that the internal polls of the candidates, that target specifically those battleground precincts, are showing a slow but steady surge for McCain. I don't have these polls, but I'm basing it on the actions of the candidates. Obama has returned to around where he was in June at roughly 48%, while McCain...

You have to create a sign on to cast your ballot. But the results are interesting even though it's only just over 1,000 votes cast.

Presidential Race in New Jersey • Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Leads Republican Opponent John McCain by 7 Percentage Points in New Jersey: With 15 electoral votes up for grabs in New Jersey, 47% of registered voters in the state say they support Senator Barack Obama for president while 40% say they back Senator John McCain. That’s the same margin in New Jersey with which former Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry beat President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election. However, Obama’s lead shrinks when looking at likely voters, including those who are leaning toward a specific candidate. 48%...

Democratic jitters about the US presidential race have spread to Capitol Hill, where some members of Congress are worried that Barack Obama’s faltering campaign could hurt their chances of re-election. Party leaders have been hoping to strengthen Democratic control of the House and Senate in November, but John McCain’s jump in the polls has stoked fears of a Republican resurgence. A Democratic fundraiser for Congressional candidates said some planned to distance themselves from Mr Obama and not attack Mr McCain. “If people are voting for McCain it could help Republicans all the way down the ticket, even in a year...

Monday was one of the most unusual days I have experienced on the campaign trail to date. The looming hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico turned months of planning for the GOP Convention upside down and last minute changes were being made due to the storm. We were all very concerned for the entire region. I love New Orleans and I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been for those residents to once again be displaced by the evacuations. What made this day bearable for me was having my entire family together - something that rarely happens with...

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s shelf life is quickening. When I watched Obama in Berlin, I thought he’s full of it and in fact-checking his speech, I realized he will pander to anyone anywhere. Then, once he gets their support, under the bus they go. Ah, the long-term commitments of a son abandoned by a father in infancy. More sage voices than mine now are wondering if Obama and the Democrats are through. Georgia showed weakness on foreign policy at a time when strength is needed. Insisting that drilling won’t help make America energy independent (but tire gauges will). And then...

From the fever swamps of the blogosphere to the halls of academia, there is a chorus of voices coming to the same conclusion about the presidential election: Barack Obama is going to win in November, by something resembling a landslide. Yet for all the breathless analysis and number-crunching that has convinced observers Obama is en route to an epic victory, there is one key historic fact that is often overlooked—most popular vote landslides were clearly visible by the end of summer. And by that indicator, 2008 doesn't measure up. In five of the six post-war landslides (defined as a victory...

From the fever swamps of the blogosphere to the halls of academia, there is a chorus of voices who have come to the same conclusion about the presidential election: Barack Obama is going to win in November, by something resembling a landslide. Yet for all the breathless analysis and number-crunching that has convinced observers Obama is en route to an epic victory, there is one key historic fact that is often overlooked—most popular vote landslides were clearly visible by the end of summer. And by that indicator, 2008 doesn’t measure up. In five of the six post-war landslides (defined as...

"Too close to call." "Within the margin of error." "A statistical dead heat." If you've been following news coverage of the 2008 presidential election, you're probably familiar with these phrases. Media commentary on the presidential horserace, reflecting the results of a series of new national polls, has strained to make a case for a hotly contested election that is essentially up for grabs. Signs of Barack Obama's weaknesses allegedly abound. The huge generic Democratic Party advantage is not reflected in the McCain-Obama pairings in national polls. Why, according to the constant refrain, hasn't Obama put this election away? A large...

John McCain is surely the dullest candidate for president we've had in years and all signs point to his defeat come November. Barack Obama appears to be a shoo-in and it's all over but the voting. I say - not so fast. There's no question that Obama has positioned himself as the second coming of John F. Kennedy, especially with this trip overseas where he's being adored, namely in Europe, just as he's adored here in the USA. In fact, all the trappings are there for a repeat performance. He's doing the JFK rag. But wait a minute. With all...

Article published June 21, 2008 McCain in a landslide? Could be Jack Kelly SEN. Barack Obama has the lead for the time being. But three signposts point the way to a McCain landslide in November, in the unlikely event the Arizona senator has the wit to heed them. What figures to be by far the most important issue this fall is the skyrocketing price of energy and its deleterious effect on the broader economy and national security. Now that Sen. John McCain has flip-flopped on drilling off our coasts, there is a substantial difference between him and Mr. Obama on...

Duncan D. Hunter scored an overwhelming victory Tuesday in the Republican primary election to replace his father, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, beating a field of candidates by the kind of margin more often won by incumbents than first-time candidates. With nearly 90 percent of precincts reporting, Hunter, 31, a Marine Corps Reserve Captain, led with 73 percent of the vote. His nearest Republican opponent, Brian Jones, a Santee Councilman and former minister, trailed with just 16 percent. The win propels Hunter into a fall showdown against Democrat Mike Lumpkin, 43, a retired Navy SEAL Commander, whose willingness to stray from...

The man portrayed by the left as evil incarnate is saying Barack Obama will win by a landslide in November. This isn't supported by the polls at this time, but with more than five months to go, anything can happen. We already know one Murdoch who's hosting overseas fundraisers for Obama, so it wouldn't be a shock if her father jumped on board.AUSTRALIAN expatriate Rupert Murdoch today predicted a Democratic landslide in the US presidential election against a gloomy economic backdrop over the next 18 months. Mr Murdoch has yet to endorse a US presidential candidate but considers Barack Obama...

The case they make for a comfortable McCain win is not beyond reason. Begin with the 2004 electoral map. Add Iowa and Colorado to Obama’s side, since both are considered states Obama could pick off. Then count McCain victories in New Hampshire and Michigan, two states where McCain is competitive. In this scenario, McCain wins the Electoral College 291-246, a larger margin than Bush four years ago. If Obama managed only to win Iowa from Republicans and McCain managed only to win Pennsylvania, McCain would still win by a much greater margin than Bush — 300-237. “McCain is in a...

Biggest landslip in 100 years hits Jurassic coast Last Updated: 1:18PM BST 07/05/2008 Fossil-hunters were warned to keep away today after a landslide described as the "biggest in 100 years" destroyed 400 metres of a World Heritage coastline. Experts were assessing the damage along the Jurassic Coast between Lyme Regis and Charmouth in Dorset after the rock fall yesterday evening. The Lyme Regis Harbour Master's wife and several nearby residents alerted the Coastguard to the slide at around 8pm. Simon Palmer, Portland Coastguard watch assistant, said the cliff was still "rumbling" when rescuers left last night and there was more...

CBS Election Night 1984 http://youtube.com/watch?v=1e4t1qKGFao&feature=related A great night. Sure to lift your spirits.

Bob Herbert: voice of reason? On economics and the role of government, no. On the dynamics of the Dem nomination race? Actually, yes. In both his TV appearances and columns, Herbert, an Army veteran who grew up largely in a comfortable New Jersey suburb, comes across as more clear-eyed and down-to-earth, less angry and ideological, than his NY Times confreres like Paul Krugman or Frank Rich. Take Herbert's column of this morning, Heading Toward the Danger Zone. My sense is that, at heart, Herbert backs Obama. But that doesn't deter the columnist from offering an unblinking assessment of the very...

Huge, perhaps historic, victory for Berlusconi's "Popolo della liberta' " (which translates a bit awkwardly as "the people of liberty;" maybe it's better to call it "the freedom folks"). It's considerably worse than AP lets on. Berlusconi defeated Walter Veltroni's "Democratic Party" by a full 9 points in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. And since the Italian electoral system gives a bonus to the winning side, the margins are very big and stable: 340 to 241 in the Chamber (with another 36 for a couple of small parties), and 167 to 137 in the Senate (with 5...

British scientists have deciphered a mysterious ancient clay tablet and believe they have solved a riddle over a giant asteroid impact more than 5,000 years ago. Geologists have long puzzled over the shape of the land close to the town of Köfels in the Austrian Alps, but were unable to prove it had been caused by an asteroid. Now researchers say their translation of symbols on a star map from an ancient civilisation includes notes on a mile-wide asteroid that later hit Earth - which could have caused tens of thousands of deaths. The circular clay tablet was discovered 150...

A cuneiform clay tablet that has puzzled scholars for over 150 years has been translated for the first time. The tablet is now known to be a contemporary Sumerian observation of an asteroid impact at Köfels, Austria and is published in a new book, 'A Sumerian Observation of the Köfels' Impact Event.' The giant landslide centred at Köfels in Austria is 500m thick and five kilometres in diameter and has long been a mystery since geologists first looked at it in the 19th century. The conclusion drawn by research in the middle 20th century was that it must be...

Vladimir Putin's chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev is set for a landslide victory in Russia's presidential election, according to an exit poll and early results. First official results from the Central Election Commission showed Mr Medvedev was leading with more than 64% of the votes after ballots from 16% of polling stations had been counted. Sky's Moscow correspondent Alex Rossi said: "As election dramas go, this was never going to be nail-biting - it was not going to be a cliff-hanger. "We all knew Dmitry Medvedev would romp home to victory against the three non-competitors he's been lined up against. Essentially...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A mud slide slammed into three homes and blocked a highway to the coast on Tuesday in a region that was hit hard by last week's storms. The slide of mud, trees and debris covered five acres. To view a static map of the area, click here. For an animated map of the slide area, click here. It hit at least three homes, moving one onto U.S. Highway 30, said Chris Friend of the Oregon Department of Forestry. Another home showed signs of giving way on its foundation and a third had mud up to its...

Deadly landslide raises more concerns about China's Three Gorges Dam Aileen McCabe , CanWest Asia Correspondent Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 SHANGHAI - A deadly landslide near China's controversial Three Gorges Dam has killed one construction worker and left two missing in central Hubei Province, near the dam's massive reservoir. The official news agency Xinhua said the tragedy occurred on Tuesday, the same day Chinese government officials pledged to step up measures to deal with environmental problems caused by the dam. Xinhua did not say what caused the fatal landslide, but in a story about the new environmental plan, Xinhua...

An enormous underwater landslide 60,000 years ago produced the longest flow of sand and mud yet found on Earth. The landslide off the coast of north-west Africa dumped 225 billion metric tonnes of sediment into the ocean in a matter of hours or days. The flow travelled 1,500km (932 miles) - the distance from London to Rome - before depositing its sediment. The work, by a British team of researchers has been published in the academic journal Nature. The massive surge put down the same amount of sediment that comes out of all the world's rivers combined over a period...

FRENCH SOCIALISTS HIT BY NEW ELECTION DRUBBING Received Sunday, 10 June 2007 19:05:00 GMT PARIS, June 10, 2007 (AFP) - France's Socialists faced a new humiliation after a dismal showing in round one of a parliamentary election Sunday set to deliver a huge majority to President Nicolas Sarkozy. Reeling from the defeat of their presidential candidate Segolene Royal last month, the Socialists, already in a minority in the National Assembly, look set to lose up to half their 149 seats, projections said. Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party and its allies were on course to secure between 383 and 501 of the...

Seriously. A resurgent, fired-up GOP would win in a LANDSLIDE! Reagan democrats would support a Norris ticket, just on his gung-ho image alone. And Chuck Norris is no RINO. Norris is certainly more qualified than (any) of the three current Democrat candidates -- and arguably one or two of the leading Republican contenders. What could be more obvious? Could he be convinced to run? Draft Chuck!! :)

SAN FRANCISCO - A landslide of rocks and boulders tumbled down onto an apartment building early Tuesday, sending 150 residents of San Francisco's North Beach district into the streets. No injuries were reported, but at least four buildings were evacuated after the 3 a.m. slide, and officials shut off water and electricity to the structures. City engineers were assessing possible damage as boulders and mud piled several stories high against an apartment building and the club. "Fortunately, everyone had just left," said Gary Marlin, whose management company oversees the Broadway Showgirls Cabaret at the bottom of the hill. The slide...

Democrats pledge array of investigations By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer 12 minutes ago The incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is promising an array of oversight investigations that could provoke sharp disagreement with Republicans and the White House. Rep. John Dingell (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., pledged that Democrats, swept to power in the Nov. 7 elections, would govern "in the middle" next year. But the veteran lawmaker has a reputation as one who has never avoided a fight and he did not back away from that reputation on Sunday. Among the investigations he said he...

Earlier in the summer, after Phil Angelides had won the Democratic nomination for governor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political advisers publicly declared that it would be a close, hard-fought battle for a second term. Privately, however, those professional campaign strategists considered it possible, if they did their jobs well and the intangible factors broke Schwarzenegger's way, to run up a double-digit victory over Angelides. With seven weeks -- just 49 days -- remaining before the Nov. 7 election, the possibility of a landslide Schwarzenegger victory is growing stronger. Given what's happened, and not happened, in the 3 1/2 months since the...

S.Korean conservatives win big in local polls By Jon Herskovitz 1 hour, 21 minutes ago South Korea's main conservative party scored a landslide victory in local elections, official results showed on Thursday, dealing a blow to President Roh Moo-hyun and a key aide tipped as a possible successor. The drubbing for Roh's liberal Uri Party means Roh will likely will have little power to push forward his agenda to implement new tax policy, corporate reform and rules on foreign investment for the little under two years he has left in his term, analysts said. It also puts the main opposition...

... Run for Your Lives! It's a Landslide!--II In an item yesterday we asked if readers could come up with news articles from 1994 that anticipated the Republican landslide that year. A reader named Pete said he tried and failed to do so at the time: This comment brought to mind a senior high school project we helped our son with that year (not going to mention his name because he's in the "think-tank world"). We had collected all the New York Times print versions from Labor Day through November to look for bias in their reporting leading up to...

Wednesday May 31, 5:11 PM S. Korea's opposition GNP wins big in local elections: exit polls (Kyodo) _ South Korea's main opposition Grand National Party won a crushing victory over the ruling Uri Party in Wednesday's nationwide local elections, widely seen as a weathervane for next year's presidential election, according to exit poll results released by local TV networks. The state-run Korean Broadcasting System said its exit poll results showed the GNP won 11 out of 16 contests for either mayor or governors, with the Uri Party winning just one and the others going to minor opposition parties. The YTN...

National Republicans may pay a huge price for not doing more to oppose Hillary Clinton's Senate reelection bid this year. In fact, it may cost them control of the House. Bloomberg News reports that the former first lady, along with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer, now lead their opponents by such wide margins that their coattails could help Democrats "pick up as many as six New York congressional seats - more than one-third of the 15 they need nationally to gain a House majority." Lee Miringoff, director of the Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, agrees that...

Contrary to conventional wisdom, minorities and the poor overwhelmingly favor a get tough approach on illegal immigration - as they proved just two years ago by supporting Arizona's Proposition 200 in a landslide. As the 2004 election approached, the immigration crackdown, which proposed denying state services to anyone who couldn't prove they were in the country legally, was decried by critics as "draconian" and "xenophobic." The proposal was trashed by Arizona's business community. All the state's big newspapers came out against it. Governor Janet Napolitano, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Jon Kyl echoed their opposition. The Chamber of Commerce and...

Landslide in the Philippines: 200 deaths dreaded, 1.500 disappeared TACLOBAN (the Philippines) - Approximately 200 people would have died and 1.500 ranges disappeared after a landslide which has occurred Friday in the center from the Philippines where a village was entirely swept, indicated the person in charge for the Red Cross Richard Gordon. The landslide occurred on the central island of Leyte, according to the same source.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Residents of seaside La Conchita who lost their homes or relatives during a deadly landslide last year filed lawsuits against Ventura County and a private ranch company, claiming both were negligent in protecting the tiny community from harm. Eighteen lawsuits were filed late Thursday in Ventura County Superior Court and another five were expected Friday, covering a total of 39 plaintiffs. Among the allegations are wrongful death, negligence, trespassing and damaged property. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages. County officials have previously stated that they have warned residents about the dangers of living in La Conchita,...

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Islamic militant Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, winning 76 seats in the 132-member legislature, election officials said Thursday. The rival Fatah Party, which controlled Palestinian politics for four decades, won 43 seats. Hamas supporters raised their flag over the Palestinian parliament and rushed into the building amid clashes with Fatah loyalists a day after winning parliamentary elections. The two camps threw stones at each other, breaking windows in the building, as Fatah supporters briefly tried to lower the green Hamas banners. The crowd of about 3,000 Hamas backers cheered and whistled...

Jan. 17, 2006 7:53 New poll forecasts 52 seats for Kadima By JPOST.COM STAFF A poll conducted among people who were certain they would vote in the next elections revealed on Tuesday that Kadima was expected to receive 52 seats in the upcoming elections. Maagar Mochot, who conducted the poll that was published in Globes, noted that the definite voters would eventually constitute only 60% of the final turnout. It was also predicted that Likud would get 21 seats, and Labor would have a representation of 12 MKs.

There has been a landslide on Mt. Kilmanjaro. Two members of one tour group have been killed. One member of a second group was also killed. There have been other injuries.

Can you imagine the Dow Jones Industrial Average at, say, 3000? Can you visualize inflation and interests in double digits? And per capita income maybe two-thirds of what it is now? It's not so difficult to see those things in your mind's eye -- provided you can also visualize the American people re-electing the 39th president, Jimmy Carter. Instead, 25 years ago today, on November 4, 1980, the voters in 44 states chose Ronald Reagan. So this day, like any happy anniversary, is worth celebrating. But in addition, we should remember that while Reagan demonstrated the importance of optimism, another...

Link post, provided to interested Freepers in the News/Activism section so that they may access the post in the General/Chat section (and post thine commentary THERE): Geology Pictures of the Week, July 10-16, 2005: Landslides, Ash Layers, and Property Values

Learned a few new things last week, leading to this week's posting: The town of Orting, in Washington, sits right on top of the landslide deposits from the Electron mudflow generated by Mount Rainier. A buried tree stump excavated from the Electron mudflow. Ash layers from Mt. St. Helens. I learned last week that after the 1850 BC eruption, the native population abandoned the area for about 2000 years. That's a pretty long length of time for "you don't want to live in that neighborhood" to get passed along around the campfire.

A proposal by the mayor of Laguna Beach to move people left homeless by a recent landslide into a 300-unit seaside trailer park has further complicated a plan by the state to convert the property into a public campground. The mayor, Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider, said up to 20 families could be temporarily housed at the trailer park, El Morro Village, which is part of Crystal Cove State Park. The trailer park has been an issue since 1979, when a state agency, California State Parks, spent $32 million for 3,000 acres of beaches, bluffs and hillsides to create Crystal Cove. The purchase...