Election Night in the USA

[Windup]

I'm confused by your statement. Was my syntax unclear?

C'mon, Ddog.  You've been around here long enough to know that while this group will respectfully entertain opinions from all up and down the political and social spectrum, we're sticklers for clarity of expression. 

Although, mysteriously, we give a pass to posters who refuse to use capital letters.  I admit that I don't completely understand that... 

[Russell Nash]

I'm confused by your statement. Was my syntax unclear?

C'mon, Ddog.  You've been around here long enough to know that while this group will respectfully entertain opinions from all up and down the political and social spectrum, we're sticklers for clarity of expression. 

Although, mysteriously, we give a pass to posters who refuse to use capital letters.  I admit that I don't completely understand that... 

One of those posters is a Mod and has specifically asked for a waiver for this offense. 

[Russell Nash]

he Brady Effect wasn't talked about nearly as much prior to this election as it has been during this election.  What actually started it was a pollster who was wrong and couldn't swallow his pride.  He didn't take absentee votes into account.

Given Bradley was supposed to win by more than 6% and lost by 5% or so, I find your reason a bit hard to believe.  Find us a link, please.

Looking

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/the_bradley_effect_selective_m.html

This article is written by a guy who worked for Bradley's opponent and was using his own numbers.  Wikipedia uses a much wider example and says that the Effect was probably around 3% before 1996, but that the effect is maybe 0.3% now.  Meaning it's not a factor now, but was before. 

I would actually like to see a break down of the numbers from this race to see if we can finally put a stake in this one.

[deflective]

Although, mysteriously, we give a pass to posters who refuse to use capital letters.  I admit that I don't completely understand that... 

i've explained my reasons, it's a handicap with a goal.

[eytanz]

Although, mysteriously, we give a pass to posters who refuse to use capital letters.  I admit that I don't completely understand that... 

i've explained my reasons, it's a handicap with a goal.

You don't mention capital letters (or the lack thereof) in the post you link to.

[deflective]

keeping off topic for a moment, my natural tendency is toward long sentences as well. this writing style, without capitals, forces you to be exceptionally clear to make sense. short, single topic sentences in concise paragraphs. it doesn't always work out and can wind up backfiring but it keeps you mindful of your writing.

this must be one of those cases where it didn't work out.

[eytanz]

Ah. Well, see, writing without capitals does help you improve your writing style. But it also makes it very, very easy for readers to skip short sentences. Capital letters aren't there for writers, they are there for readers. I would bet you that if you used capitals, I would have seen that shorter middle sentence.

[Bdoomed]

forces the reader to actually pay attention

[wintermute]

Th3r3 4re 10t5 0f w4y5 2 4ce r34d3rs 2 p4y att3nt10n. Tht dsn't nccssrly mk thm gd ds.

[deflective]

yeah, it makes it tough to skim these posts quickly.

i try to use enumerated lists and repetition when it's important and always eliminate unnecessary words but it's usually just a matter of looking at misunderstood post to see how it could be restructured. since i started doing this i've reduced my passive voice quite a bit.

[Zathras]

Go ahead and smack me with the chair for this one!

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_win_causes_obsessive

[eytanz]

forces the reader to actually pay attention

Or, in other words, it's allows the writer to save the effort of thinking about how they write by making the reader have to do harder work.

Seriously, if you think writing without caps improves your writing, write without caps and then add them in later. Capsless posts are not pointless, but they are inconsiderate.

[Heradel]

Or, in other words, it's allows the writer to save the effort of thinking about how they write by making the reader have to do harder work.

Seriously, if you think writing without caps improves your writing, write without caps and then add them in later. Capsless posts are not pointless, but they are inconsiderate.

Or you could try leaving out the punctuation too i think this would make it even more important for the writer to force themselves to write clearly you could even think about not doing paragraphs or spacingbetweenthewordswhatdoyouguysthink

Edit: I could swear we've had this conversation before, do any of the other old-timers remember one?

[Windup]

Although, mysteriously, we give a pass to posters who refuse to use capital letters.  I admit that I don't completely understand that... 

One of those posters is a Mod and has specifically asked for a waiver for this offense. 

That wasn't intended as a critical comment; I was just noting it as one of the charming quirks of our local folkways.

[Windup]

Or, in other words, it's allows the writer to save the effort of thinking about how they write by making the reader have to do harder work.

Seriously, if you think writing without caps improves your writing, write without caps and then add them in later. Capsless posts are not pointless, but they are inconsiderate.

Or you could try leaving out the punctuation too i think this would make it even more important for the writer to force themselves to write clearly you could even think about not doing paragraphs or spacingbetweenthewordswhatdoyouguysthink

We could revert completely to the earliest days of written communication in the West and leave out paragraphs, punctuation, spaces between words and vowels...    lkslkthsIthnk

[deflective]

you could even think about not doing paragraphs or spacingbetweenthewordswhatdoyouguysthink

Edit: I could swear we've had this conversation before, do any of the other old-timers remember one?

i think you're acting deliberately silly. =)

weight training works when you carry enough to make your muscles work without straining them. punctuation placement & paragraph structure is something writers need to work on, capitalization is a set of rules you follow by rote.

everybody has things that bug them. i find fully quoting the post directly above yours both unnecessary & cluttering. if you bring up a little known story or movie then a link to wikipedia (or the equivalent) is just polite, lack of capitalization reinforces it since a hyperlink accents the proper noun instead.

i haven't seen this conversation before but i took a six/eight month hiatus early on. lost my account too, not sure what happened there.

[Bdoomed]

soo... how about that election?

[Windup]

soo... how about that election?

Yes, I seem to have hijacked my own thread.   

[Bdoomed]

anyone see the south park on the election?
im surprised they were able to do that episode RIGHT AFTER the election!  I'm guessing they made two versions and customized it the night before.

YEA! CHANGE!

[Heradel]

you could even think about not doing paragraphs or spacingbetweenthewordswhatdoyouguysthink

Edit: I could swear we've had this conversation before, do any of the other old-timers remember one?

[...]
everybody has things that bug them. i find fully quoting the post directly above yours both unnecessary & cluttering. if you bring up a little known story or movie then a link to wikipedia (or the equivalent) is just polite, lack of capitalization reinforces it since a hyperlink accents the proper noun instead.

i haven't seen this conversation before but i took a six/eight month hiatus early on. lost my account too, not sure what happened there.

I edit my college's newspaper, so I've probably got an overdeveloped case of editor's red pen. I also am constantly writing for publication, so I always try to write like I would in the paper, except with a point of view, personality, and with many fewer quotes.

I find my brain glazes over pretty much any modern text that doesn't follow the normal conventions of english writing. If you're putting enough effort into it to release it into the public it's not that much more effort to make it easy for your reader.

Anyway, to give getting back on topic a shot, I'll put my story on the elections below.

The 20-month campaign for president ended last Tuesday with Barack Obama victorious. He will be this nation’s first black president. He won in New York (carrying Manhattan by 85 percent, the Bronx by 88 percent, Brooklyn by 79 percent, and Queens by 74 percent) and South Carolina, Virginia and Iowa, Florida and Ohio. He won in states that Democrats had not carried since the Civil Rights Movement, fulfilling the dreams of many who still bear the scars of that conflict. The Democrats picked up at least five seats in the Senate and at least 18 seats in the House. In California, Proposition 8 passed,  which enacted an amendment to the California Constitution to ban gay marriage.
One admittedly informal, measure of NYIT student interest in the Election was that every free New York Times provided through the first year program on November 5th was gone from the Main Building and Student Activity Building by 9:45 AM, usually copies are available well into the evening. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post sold out of their Nov. 5 copies, with the Post printing a special edition later in the day. Another would be the hundreds of status updates posted to Facebook in the hours after the election were called, mostly reacting positively to Obama’s win though with some reacting negatively to the win.
Michael Leykum, a senior and self-identified conservative,  posted to Facebook at 2 AM on Nov. 5 that he “ hopes our newest celebrity--er... President... lives up to all the hype. Alas, liberals, your savior has arrived! Let’s see what he’s able to accomplish...”  Obama supporters like Evan Lepore posted that he “has never heard a speech that impeccably perfected delivered in front of so many people.”
Most of the student body has grown up knowing only two presidents, Bill Clinton and George Bush, and were in middle or elementary during the last transition. The period after the election but before the
President-Elect is sworn in on January 20th is called the Transition. Under calm times this is a busy period where the president-elect decides who will make up his cabinet, begins to fill several thousand politically appointed jobs in the Executive Branch of the Government, and plans for his legislative initiatives. President-Elect Obama heads into the White House in the midst of a financial crisis, two foreign wars, and he takes over from a president who has the lowest approval ratings in modern polling, which includes Nixon’s polls during Watergate. Polls taken before the election also find that the percentage of Americans that think the U.S. is on the right track hovers around 10 percent.
World-wide reaction was overwhelming positive. The British paper The Guardian had an editorial saying: “They did it. They really did it. So often crudely caricatured by others, the American people yesterday stood in the eye of history and made an emphatic choice for change for themselves and the world.” However, Russia took advantage of the news to announce that it would be positioning missiles near Poland in response to US efforts to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe.

[deflective]

I find my brain glazes over pretty much any modern text that doesn't follow the normal conventions of english writing. If you're putting enough effort into it to release it into the public it's not that much more effort to make it easy for your reader.

block indentation used to be pretty unconventional just a decade ago youngun'. the medium has changed, so has the message. the written word has never been used for this type of immediate, casual conversation. never before have we had universal access to different type faces, fonts, and colours.

this is a period in time that will create future normal conventions.

anyone see the south park on the election?
im surprised they were able to do that episode RIGHT AFTER the election!  I'm guessing they made two versions and customized it the night before.

YEA! CHANGE!

looking at the polls, they may have only had the Obama episode ready to go. it would have been pretty easy to switch shirts between the winning & loosing sides, maybe have victory/loosing shouts for both in the can.

soo... how about that election?

you mean that long, bacchanal deathmarch to whitehouse? the one that's over?
yeah, it's over. =)

it was entertaining and the implications are interesting but, for right now, as long as people keep talking about something else that's what my fatigued mind will pay attention to.

[Bdoomed]

anyone see the south park on the election?
im surprised they were able to do that episode RIGHT AFTER the election!  I'm guessing they made two versions and customized it the night before.

YEA! CHANGE!

looking at the polls, they may have only had the Obama episode ready to go. it would have been pretty easy to switch shirts between the winning & loosing sides, maybe have victory/loosing shouts for both in the can.

well not so much that as they had the setting where Obama gave his speech, which wasnt set up till that morning (i think), AND they took lines out of his speech that he had said the previous night

[deflective]

yeah, the speeches were definitely added. looks like everyone was breaking out their new toys for election night: holograms and green screens and electronic maps, oh my.

Obama is president elect for one night and we're already seeing unprecedented innovation from the states. =P

edit: they were completely unprepared for a McCain victory.

[Russell Nash]

Congratulations, Mr. Obama.  I hope you do a good job.  But I would prefer a president who isn't a rock star.  Start acting presidential and you may change my opinion of you.  I want some substance in my leaders.  I'll give you time and a chance.

What does this actually mean??  The Republicans came up with this comment to counter Obama getting crowds over 50,000 when McCain's were around 1,000. 

How else is he a rock star? 

I don't see him screaming and jumping on stage.  He isn't trashing hotel rooms.  We doesn't have any girls less than half his age running around his bedroom.  Wait, he does have those two that call him Daddy.

Anyway, how is he a rock star?


(Apologies to the community in general.  I tried to leave it alone, but there are some things I just can't let lie.)

[wintermute]

you mean that long, bacchanal deathmarch to whitehouse?

A death march characterised by copious alcohol, plenty of sex and general merrymaking? Well, I suppose, if you have to go out it might as well be on a high note...

But somehow, I suspect the phrase you were looking for is Bataan death march.