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Flap’s Links and Comments for October 20th on 10:51

October 20, 2011 /

These are my links for October 20th from 10:51 to 18:19:

  • Gallup.Com – Polling Matters by Frank Newport: Occupy Wall Street, Obama, Marijuana, and Facebook – 3. True or false: Presidential job approval ratings don’t rise between the fall of the year before an election and election year itself. In other words, it's unlikely that Obama’s job approval ratings will be much higher next year.

    That’s false. Clinton’s ratings went up over 10 percentage points between October 1995 and 1996. Reagan’s job approval ratings went up over 10 points between October 1983 and 1984. Carter’s ratings went up over 20 points between October 1979 and January 1980 (although they rapidly fell back down again). And George H.W. Bush’s job approval ratings fell more than 30 points between October 1991 and 1992.

    In other words, an incumbent president's job approval ratings can, in fact, change significantly between October of the year before an election and the election year itself. Obama’s job approval ratings are hovering right around 40%. History suggests it is in theory possible that his ratings could rise 10 points between now and next year, which would put him at or around 50% — the bottom range of where he would need to be based on history to win re-election.

    4. What percent of those aged 65 years and older say marijuana should be legalized?

    The answer to that question is 31%. That contrasts, of course to the overall average of 50% for all adults, and 62% among those aged 18-29 years who support legalizing pot. Perhaps some of those aged 65 and older are aging hippies who fondly remember the Flower Power days of the 1960s.

    5. True or False: Facebook users are almost entirely composed of those below age 50.

    False. While Facebook use certainly skews young, 18% of those we interviewed in a recent USA Today/Gallup poll who were 65 years and older said they have a Facebook page. That compares to 35% of those 50 to 64, 58% of those 30 to 49, and a whopping 74% of those 18 to 29 we interviewed. Overall, 48% of Americans say they have a Facebook page.

  • Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland – With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.

    Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department's $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland.

    "There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle," the car company's founder and namesake told ABC News. "They don't exist here."

    Henrik Fisker said the U.S. money so far has been spent on engineering and design work that stayed in the U.S., not on the 500 manufacturing jobs that went to a rural Finnish firm, Valmet Automotive.
    "We're not in the business of failing; we're in the business of winning. So we make the right decision for the business," Fisker said. "That's why we went to Finland."

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    Read it all…..

  • LifeNews.com – The Pro-Life News Source – Cain Releases Clarifying Statement: I'm Pro-Life on Abortion |
  • Dilbert October 20, 2011 – Forbidden Planet » Flap’s California Blog – Dilbert October 20, 2011 – Forbidden Planet
  • Cain Releases Clarifying Statement: I’m Pro-Life on Abortion | LifeNews.com – RT @StevenErtelt: Cain Releases Clarifying Statement: I'm Pro-Life on Abortion
  • Poll Watch: Who Has More Popular Support – The Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: Who Has More Popular Support – The Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street? #tcot #catcot
  • GOP 12: T. Boone Pickens doesn’t like GOP in-fighting – > But, they can't stop RT @GOP12: T. Boone Pickens to GOP field: Listen to Reagan, and quit pickin' on each other.
  • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Should the Federal Government Develop a New Nutritional Rating System for Food and Beverages? – A simpler, easier to use nutritional rating system for food and beverages is proposed…:
  • California Veterinary Board Says NO to Dog Groomers Cleaning Teeth With Dental Scalers » Flap’s California Blog – California Veterinary Board Says No to Dog Groomers in Canine Dentistry issue..:
  • Obama’s numbers down even in Hawaii – Public Policy Polling – RT @ppppolls: Obama's Hawaii approval is 56/35. Down net 15 points from 64/29 in March:
  • Flap’s Links and Comments for October 20th on 06:31 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Chris Christie spurs a candidacy and Herman Cain mocked by Hillary Clinton…: