rob’s place

I’ve found it fascinating to take a look at how America voted in the 2012 Presidential Election.

As we all know, Obama won re-election. But who are the people who voted for him? Check out this chart I made based on Exit Polls published by CNN.com.

If you don’t check out the chart, let me give you a snapshot of who (by the numbers) is a typical Obama supporter vs Romney supporter…

Those who supported Obama are: younger, non-white women who have some high school, college, or postgraduate education, make less than $50k per year, liberal, moderate, and democratic, are either Catholic or not religious, thinks the Government should do more, wants abortion to be legal and immigrants to be granted legal status, feel that the pressing issues are foreign policy and health care, are enthusiastic or satisfied with Obama, and are hopeful for the future (and are in the majority).

Those who supported Romney are: older, white men who have a college degree, make more than $50k per year, conservative, moderate, or republican, Protestant, thinks the government is doing too much, wants abortion illegal and immigrants to be deported, feel that the pressing issues are the deficit and the economy, are dissatisfied or angry with Obama, and are not hopeful for the future (and are in the minority).

In an article entitled 5 Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Obama’s Victory it says:

It’s only been a day or so since the election, but already the conventional wisdom about the 2012 election is that the GOP failed by focusing too exclusively on white men. George H.W. Bush won the White House in 1988 with a 426-111 electoral college landslide over Michael Dukakis by garnering 60% of the white vote. Romney got 59% of the white vote, but in 24 years, the country had changed so much demographically that Romney was trounced in the electoral college. Marketers crafting campaigns would be wise to heed the observation of GOP strategist Chuck Warren who mused that “To be frank, we’re a ‘Mad Men’ party in a ‘Modern Family’ world.”

If the Republicans want to be successful, they better figure out how to broaden their base. Perhaps they miscalculated what America is currently thinking and looking for.

It’s all the rage. Even my 4-year-old nephew knows what Gangnam Style is all about.

The original track by Psy himself…

Here are the lyrics translated into English.

Here’s what “Teens” think about it…

Here’s what “Elders” think about it…

Me personally? I love it. Psy is the LMFAO of Korea!

Everyday I'm Gangnam Style (PSY + LMFAO) Mashup by byronjwu

BTW, there are plenty of parodies out there. Enjoy!

Pomplamoose is a musical duo of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. I found them a couple years ago and though they create original music, they have created a few cover songs that are great … and the videos are just a lot of fun. Here are a few of my favorites…

Single Ladies

September

Telephone

And one original…

If You Think You Need Some Lovin

Working in a retail customer service job and exposed to many international customers, I’ve noticed something about world coin currency that I find interesting.

Have you ever noticed that here in the USA our coins depict their worth with English words and not numbers?

Here in the USA, we require foreigners to memorize what a “penny”, “nickle”, “dime”, and “quarter” is worth (of course here in the US we know exactly what they are worth!).

Compare that to many foreign coin designations especially the Euro…

As I’ve traveled overseas (and I’ve been to most continents), it hasn’t been much of a problem making change for a typical cash transaction because I recognize the number on each coin and I do the math.

Conversely, I’ve noticed many foreign visitors here in the US hand me a fist-full of US coins with the statement “I don’t know what this is worth…is it enough?”

I finally realized our coins either state what they are (“nickle”) or how much each is worth in English (“five cents”). Whereas most other places they place the value of the coin not by it’s local vernacular, but by it’s numerical value! It’s a NUMBER that we all recognize!

I think it explains why I have little trouble making change at a local Global vendor while traveling compared to my International counterparts here in the US using USA coins trying to make change for a typical transaction.

I’m a fan of the Gangnam Style! So it seems to fit that this mashup with LMAFO works so well…

Perhaps you were watching the Olympic ‘Parade of Nations’ when three of the four “Independent Olympic Athletes” entered the arena. They are:

1. Liemarvin Bonevacia formerly of Netherlands Antilles competing in the Men’s 400 Meter run
2. Reginald de Windt formerly of Netherlands Antilles competing in the Men’s 81-kg Judo
3. Philipine van Aanholt formerly of Netherlands Antilles competing in sailing’s Laser Radial competition
4. Guor Marial (also) of South Sudan competing in the Men’s marathon (not pictured above)

You see, in 2010, the Netherlands Antilles dissolved. It used to be an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands that included the two Leeward Antilles island groups in the Caribbean: the ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao near Venezuela and the SSS islands of Saint Maarten, Saba, and Saint Eustatius near the Virgin Islands. Bonevacia, de Windt, and van Aanholt are all from Curaçao and since that country is not currently recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), they were given permission to compete as independents.

Additionally, in 2011, South Sudan became independent from Sudan. Marial was born in what is now South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, but was then Sudan. He became a refugee of the Sudanese conflict in 1993 when he was only nine years old, as he fled across border after border fleeing the violence. Marial was granted asylum in the U.S. in 2001, and is a permanent resident here. He was given permission to compete for Sudan but he responded: “Never! For me to even consider that is a betrayal. My family lost 28 members in the war with Sudan. Millions of my people were killed by Sudan forces. I can only forgive, but I cannot honor and glorify a country that killed my people.”

Join me in wishing these 4 superb athletes luck as they compete in the London 2012 Summer Olympics!

Near Myrtle Beach, SC (more specifically, Rice Circle, Cherry Grove, SC) a 5-ft, 200-lb Bull Shark decided to have a little snack on a 2-ft, 7-lb Red Drum (bass) fish. Of course that’s not really news at all. However, when that Red Drum is on the line of a fisherman (er, uh, fisherwoman) when the shark makes his move and the camera is rolling, well now we have a story!

Sarah Brame was fishing off a ‘marsh-front’ house dock while her fiance William Moore of Franklinton, NC had the camera. She hooked the fish and he aimed the camera to witness the reel-in. Then out of nowhere…(caution: some language justifiably NSFW)

Local news station WPDE caught up with the couple….

“Let’s go swimming” was a phrase not uttered for weeks.

There are typically only three kinds of sharks that will attack humans: Great White, Tiger, and Bull. Bull Sharks are the only ones that don’t care if the water is salty, brackish, or fresh. However, pretty much all sharks attack fish!

And the freaky thing? The more I look at the map, the more I’m realizing that last summer we stayed at a beach house less than a mile from this incident!

Sigh. A mile short and a year early. The story of my life.

You may remember we went to Iceland last spring. Since then, I keep running across some random articles about the county and it’s people that I find interesting. Ready?

Huldufólk
Though we never saw them, we are still fascinated by the Huldufólk — the Icelandic Hidden People (aka: elves).

The term huldufólk was taken as a synonym of álfar (elves) in 19th century Icelandic folklore…huldufólk originates as a euphemism to avoid calling the álfar by their real name. There is, however, some evidence, that the two terms have come to be taken as referring to two distinct sets of supernatural beings in contemporary Iceland…”different beliefs could have lived side by side in multicultural settlement Iceland before they gradually blended into the latter-day Icelandic álfar and huldufólk…The Norse settlers had the álfar, the Irish slaves had the hill fairies or the Good People. Over time, they became two different beings, but really they are two different sets of folklore that mean the same thing.”

Many (most?) Icelanders not only believe in these elves, but they won’t make any big construction decisions without considering the ramifications on the homes of the huldufólk.

In 1982, 150 Icelanders went to the NATO base in Keflavík to look for “elves who might be endangered by American Phantom jets and AWACS reconnaissance planes.” In 2004, Alcoa had to have a government expert certify that their chosen building site was free of archaeological sites, including ones related to huldufólk folklore, before they could build an aluminum smelter in Iceland. In 2011, elves/huldufólk were believed by some to be responsible for an incident in Bolungarvík where rocks rained down on residential streets.

Just a few months ago, this happened…

[Member of Parliament] Árni Johnsen arranged for the relocation of a 30-ton boulder, which he believes is home to three generations of elves…Árni first encountered the elves’ dwelling when he was in a serious car accident in January 2010. His car overturned and landed beside the boulder 40 meters away from the highway…His SUV was damaged beyond repair but Árni escaped the accident unharmed. He considered whether the boulder might be a dwelling for hidden people…a specialist in the affairs of elves [investigated the boulder and] concluded that the boulder’s inhabitants were content with the move. “But they asked whether the boulder could stand on grass. I said that was no problem but asked why they wanted grass. ‘It’s because they want to have sheep’”…The specialist also said that the elves wish for the boulder’s “window side” to face the view…The boulder will be moved on the ferry Herjólfur and the elves will travel in a basket lined with sheep skin so that they can be comfortable on the journey.

Peace On Earth
Ever wondered what the most peaceful country in the world is? Given the context of this post it probably isn’t a shock that it’s Iceland! The Institute for Economics and Peace have ranked all the countries (PDF) by the most peaceful and Iceland came out on top.

Born in Iceland
Iceland’s relatively isolated population is around 300,000 people. That can cause trouble when dating as there’s a good chance your date is a cousin. So to help keep this in check, Icelanders can now check an online database to help.

A search engine called Íslendingabók (the Book of Icelanders) allows users to plug in their own name alongside that of a prospective mate, determining any familial overlap. The site claims to track 1,200 years of genealogical information about the island’s inhabitants. Anyone with an Icelandic ID number — that is, citizens and legal residents — is accounted for.

So what happens when the local population has a child? Well, the first name must be approved by a committee. Luckily there is already a list of approved names (compiled list with name meanings). As for the last name, well, that’s another story.