Asheville, North Carolina, City Hall

The Asheville, North Carolina, City Building shows unique, unforgettable architecture which is an eclectic Art Deco masterpiece by Douglas D. Ellington, as our photograph clearly reflects:


As written at Asheville City Hall:

"The unusual octagonal roof is covered with bands of elongated triangular terra cotta red tiles. Between the two levels of the roof are angular pink Georgia marble piers between which are precise vertical rows of ornamental green and gold feather motifs. The interior of the building is designed in a manner typical of 1920s office buildings--the central core contains public elevators and an enclosed staircase while offices lie along the perimeter of each floor. The second floor houses the distinctive City Manager's Office and City Council Chambers, both decorated in Neo-Georgian fashion. The interior of the council chambers features murals by New York artist Clifford Addams that portray the story of the American Indians and early white settlers in the area. City Hall has changed little since the 1920s and still captivates residents and visitors alike with its bold and colorful style."

Asheville, North Carolina : Number One Developing City in the USA?

Asheville, North Carolina is consistently ranked as one of the top places to live in the USA.

We were in Asheville this summer and have by chance seen that InstaPundit has been blogging from Asheville during the Presidential Election, putting up some photos, also of the Grove Arcade. Here are four of our own photos from the truly exciting Grove Arcade in Asheville, taken this June, 2008:









Great place.

OQ - The Obama Quotient : Voting Rank by State in the 2008 Presidential Election : Youth Quotient Variable : Median Family Income Variable

One of the great paradoxes of the Presidential Election outcome of November 4, 2008, is that the resulting electoral map, with few exceptions, meshes with a map of "Median Family Income" in the United States of America, with States having LOWER median family income voting for McCain and States having HIGHER median family income voting for Obama.

MAP of MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME in the USA (2000)
(Green=Higher Income, Blue=Lower Income)

CNN MAP of 2008 Presidential Election Results 5 Nov. 2008
(blue=Obama, red= McCain, grey=battleground States not yet 100% decided)

Is there some kind of a political IQ or EQ difference between the various States?

We googled "OQ" - the "Obama Quotient" - today and found no matches so that we herewith proclaim "OQ" as the" Obama Quotient", which we define as an assessment of the popular vote by State in the United States in terms of the percentage of voters who voted for Barack Obama. A high OQ means a high percentage of voters who voted for Barack Obama. There are important demographic realities inherent in this data.

At the same time - on the national level, as reported at CNN - there was also something akin to "YQ" - a "Youth Quotient" - at work in this Presidential election, as young voters 18-29 years of age had the highest OQ (Obama Quotient), with fully two-thirds of those voters voting for Obama, and the 30 to 44-year-olds also giving Obama a 52% to 46% vote advantage. Persons aged 45 to 64 years of age voted to 49% for Obama and to 49% for McCain, whereas those 65 years of age or over gave the nod to McCain 53% to 45% over Obama. This election thus clearly belongs to the young under the caption of "change" for a more optimistic future.

OQ - Obama Quotient of the 50 States of the United States
(plus Washington, D.C.)
(as of CNN stats, Nov. 5, 2008)

Before we give the actual results, it should be noted as a curiosity, that for this election the following variables could have been used to predict the election outcome:

STATES of the 13 ORIGINAL COLONIES would go to OBAMA
* = one of the original 13 colonies of the United States (of those, 11 went to Obama and only 2 to McCain)

STATES of the CONFEDERATE STATES and SECESSIONISTS would go to McCAIN
** = one of the 13 Confederate States (or secessionist governments) (of those, 10 went to McCain and only 3 to Obama, all by hair-thin margins)
*** =territories claimed by the Confederacy (Arizona and Oklahoma went to McCain and New Mexico to Obama)

COLLEGE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP could be used almost absolutely to predict the outcome of this election

SEC = Southeastern Conference (except for Florida, all of the States in which SEC universities are located went to McCain)

ACC = Atlantic Coast Conference (except for the two teams in Georgia, Clemson and Georgia Tech, all of the States in which ACC universities are located went to Obama)

Big 10 = Big 10 Conference (all of the States in which Big Ten universities are located went to Obama)

Big 12 = Big 12 Conference (all of the States in which Big 12 universities are located went to McCain, except for Colorado)

Pac 10 = Pacific 10 Conference (all of the States in which Pac 10 universities are located went to Obama, except for Arizona)

Ivy League = Ivy League Conference (all of the States in which Ivy League universities are located went to Obama)

HERE ARE THE STATE OQ (OBAMA QUOTIENT) STATS:

Washington DC - 93% for Obama
Hawaii - 72% for Obama
Vermont - 67% for Obama
*Rhode Island 63% for Obama
*Massachusetts - 62% for Obama
*New York - 62% for Obama
California - 61% for Obama
Illinois - 61% for Obama
*Delaware - 61% for Obama
*Maryland - 61% for Obama
*Connecticut - 60% for Obama
Maine - 58% for Obama
Washington - 58% for Obama
Michigan - 57% for Obama
*New Jersey - 57% for Obama
***New Mexico - 57% for Obama
Wisconsin - 56% for Obama
Nevada - 55% for Obama
*New Hampshire - 55% for Obama
Oregon - 55% for Obama
*Pennsylvania - 55% for Obama
Iowa - 54% for Obama
Minnesota - 54% for Obama
Colorado - 53% for Obama
* & **Virginia - 52% for Obama
**Florida - 51% for Obama
Ohio - 51% for Obama
Indiana - 50% for Obama
* & **North Carolina - 50% for Obama

***Oklahoma - 66% for McCain
Wyoming - 65% for McCain
Utah - 63% for McCain
Alaska - 62% for McCain
**Alabama - 61% for McCain
Idaho - 61% for McCain
**Arkansas - 59% for McCain
**Louisiana - 59% for McCain
** Kentucky - 58% for McCain
Kansas - 57% for McCain
**Mississippi - 57% for McCain
Nebraska - 57% for McCain
**Tennessee - 57% for McCain
West Virginia - 56% for McCain
**Texas - 55% for McCain
***Arizona - 54% for McCain
**South Carolina - 54% for McCain
**Georgia - 53% for McCain
North Dakota - 53% for McCain
South Dakota - 53% for McCain
Montana - 50% for McCain
**Missouri - 50% for McCain

NOTICE: Please note that the stats we use here are not final official results for the election and that small changes may yet occur before the official voting tallies are finalized.

President-Elect Barack Obama - Future 44th President of the United States of America - Victory Speech Video : John McCain - Concession Speech Video

The election victory speech of Barack Obama can be viewed in full video at:

THE NEW YORK TIMES
(with a transcript of the text of the speech)

BBC NEWS

BarackObama.com

The election concession speech of John McCain can be viewed in full video at:

THE NEW YORK TIMES
(with a transcript of the text of the speech)

THE GUARDIAN

THE TELEGRAPH