The Total Information Awareness system is a truly scary program which existed for some time inside DARPA, the U.S.A Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It's general attributes were to create an ubiquitous spying program that could track and data mine vast swaths of information and supposedly through intelligent data mining techniques detect terrorist threats before they become real threats. To do so requires pulling together a wide range of data such as phone calls, emails, credit cards, etc, and looking for patterns you define as dangerous.
e.g. If the intelligence people had known to look for 20 cash purchases of one way airline tickets to people with middle eastern names, then the 9/11 attacks could have been avoided. I heard that observation in October 2001 but since then we've learned the government knew about the 9/11 plans and failed to do anything with that knowledge.
It's obviously threatening us individual citizens with living under a big brother police state where the government knows everything we're doing all in the name of heading off supposed threats before they happen. In 2002 when the program became public there was a big uproar and the congress passed some resolution banning parts of the TIA project. But parts of the project have lived on, in secrecy, under different names.
There had been a string of disclosures over the years since. Unfortunately the revelation of this story has been spread out enough to keep most from connecting the dots. Since the Obama inauguration in Jan 20, 2009 a former NSA intelligence analyst, Russell Tice, has been in the news whistleblowing about the program.
Department of Homeland Security Wants to Spy on Americans (May 2008) goes over a proposed expansion of information sharing between military intelligence services and state and local law enforcement agencies. There have historically been barriers blocking routine information sharing between military and police. I believe one reason for such a block is the risk of forming a police state. The military's job is to protect the country against enemies whereas the role of police agencies is to keep the peace. The two have different agendas and methods and mind-sets, and if you focus the military on the citizens there is a risk that the citizens become the enemy. The proposed expansion of information sharing is said, by this article, to be illegal and unconstitutional. It was proposed during the Bush Administration.
NSA Whistleblower: Wiretaps Were Combined with Credit Card Records of U.S. Citizens NSA whistleblower Russell Tice was on Keith Olbermann's Countdown (MSNBC) program with revelations that the National Security Agency spied on individual U.S. journalists, entire U.S. news agencies as well as "tens of thousands" of other Americans. This revelation claimed the illegal wiretap program was greatly expanded from the claims made when it was first revealed back in 2005-6. Back then it was claimed they only wiretapped international calls and only when there were connections with terrorists. Tice is claiming there was no such limit, that they wiretapped a much broader set of people including a wide ranging set of journalists.
An article about some advanced technologies being developed. The most interesting to me is VISIBUILDING which is a kind of mechanized clairvoyance that allows soldiers to look through walls and see enemies.
The VisiBuilding program will address a pressing need in urban warfare: seeing inside buildings. Our troops are increasingly being deployed in urban areas, where they no longer have the benefit of dominance in surveillance and reconnaissance once the adversary retreats indoors.
Another program recently launched at DARPA is 'Harnessing Infrastructure for Building Reconnaissance' (HIBR), a capability that translates VisiBuilding into practical terms: DARPA believes that 'opportunistic sensing' could be a practical approach to 'guess' such interior structure, using exterior observations.
Karl Burkart of MNN.com gave this lecture at ECREA, the European conference on media & communications research. It explores the possibility that the internet may (somewhat ironically) have the solution for our greatest environmental challenge -- disconnection from both our positive and negative impacts on nature
Against the backdrop of increasing attention to energy and climate change in the presidential campaigns, recent failure of the Senate to advance the Lieberman-Warner climate bill, and preparations for this summer’s G8 summit, a CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force recommends an overhaul of U.S. domestic and foreign policy to confront the challenge.
Chaired by former New York governor George E. Pataki and former Iowa governor Thomas J. Vilsack, the Task Force says that the United States must leverage ambitious, comprehensive, and equitable action at home to advance an effective policy abroad. It lays out a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global climate accord, outlining what the United States should be willing to offer and what it should expect others, including the rapidly emerging economies, to do in return.
The Task Force cautions, however, that a comprehensive post-Kyoto climate deal will not be easy to conclude, noting: “Even as the United States pursues ambitious and mandatory policies at home, it should not sign on to an emissions cap as part of any global deal that does not include strong commitments to actions from the major emerging economies.”
Even with an agreement, the Task Force concludes that “ensuring that the biggest emitters meet their commitments would still be a monumental task.” It thus recommends creating a Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world’s largest emitters, including India and China, on implementing aggressive emissions reductions. The partnership would complement efforts in the United Nations to get a global treaty.
The Task Force urges policymakers to not ignore the important economic challenges involved in reducing emissions, noting that near-term costs “matter because they affect the livelihood of Americans.” It argues, though, that a “properly designed and executed domestic policy ... can avoid unacceptable shocks or disruptions and smooth the transition to a low-carbon economy.” It also says that climate policy “presents opportunities to strengthen important parts of the economy and create jobs, to rebuild U.S. partnerships and alliances, and to bolster energy security.”
The Task Force, Confronting Climate Change: A Strategy for U.S. Foreign Policy, is directed by David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and Environment Michael A. Levi and advised by Adjunct Senior Fellow David G. Victor. It comprises a coalition of twenty-nine prominent individuals from business, the environmental community, industry, labor, and academia and includes prominent officials from the Bush and Clinton administrations who have long been on opposing sides of the climate change debate.
North America is vulnerable on several fronts: the region faces terrorist and criminal security threats, increased economic competition from abroad, and uneven economic development at home. In response to these challenges, a trinational, Independent Task Force on the Future of North America has developed a roadmap to promote North American security and advance the well-being of citizens of all three countries.
When the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States met in Texas recently they underscored the deep ties and shared principles of the three countries. The Council-sponsored Task Force applauds the announced “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,” but proposes a more ambitious vision of a new community by 2010 and specific recommendations on how to achieve it.
Barack Obama's epic win (salon.com) No president since John Kennedy or Harry Truman will come into office facing graver crises....Tuesday was the night that the 1960s -- the divisive decade that defined American politics for 40 years -- finally died.... by defeating Clinton (representing baby boomers) and McCain (representing Vietnam soldiers) ...The raucous Obama victory rally in Grant Park was the capstone of Democratic strength through unity. The riotous antiwar rallies in Grant Park during the 1968 convention and the brutality of the police truncheons accentuated the cultural fault lines in the Democratic Party that contributed to 28 years of GOP control of the White House, from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush....Obama carried all four of the once reliably Republican suburban collar counties surrounding Philadelphia with a victory margin of nearly 200,00 votes. In Ohio, Obama ran up a 90,000-vote majority in Franklin County (Columbus and its close-in suburbs), turning what was until recently tossup country into a solidly blue part of the Democratic base. The Washington suburbs provided Obama with his victory margin in Virginia, a state that last went Democratic in 1964.
Finally, a Thin PresidentOVER the coming days and weeks, there will be many “I never thought I’d see the day” pieces, but none of them will be more overflowing with “I never thought I’d see the day”-ness than this one. I’m black, you see, and I haven’t gained a pound since college. I skip breakfast most days, have maybe half a sandwich for lunch, and sometimes I forget to eat dinner. Just slips my mind. Yesterday morning, I woke up to a new world. America had elected a Skinny Black Guy president....
Perfecting the Union...For almost eight years, Americans have seen words stripped of meaning, lives sacrificed to confront nonexistent Iraqi weapons and other existences ravaged by serial incompetence on an epic scale....In that four-year span, Obama never got angry. Without breaking a sweat, he took down two of the most ruthless political machines on the planet: first the Clintons and then the Republican Party....An idea has power. John McCain had many things in this campaign, but an idea was not one of them....Obama’s idea, put simply, was that America can be better than it has been. It can reach beyond post-9/11 anger and fear to embody once more what the world still craves from the American idea: hope....
For Obama, a Towering Economic To-Do ListFew presidents have entered office with an economy in such turmoil. ... The reasons are myriad: the financial system, though back from the brink, remains deeply troubled. ... Consumers who piled up credit card debt are pulling back, a major concern because their spending helped power economic growth in recent years. ... ECONOMIC STIMULUS: Obama Is Likely to Act Quickly...MORTGAGES: A Pledge to Aid Homeowners...FEDERAL REGULATION: Tighter Reins on Wall Street...AUTO INDUSTRY: In Detroit, No Cash, No Credit, No Time...HEALTH CARE: An Overhaul Will Have to Wait...TECHNOLOGY: To Shape Policy, a Cabinet Voice...ENERGY: An Agenda Faces Possible Delays...TRADE: Cooperation Fades, Protectionism Rises...
For Obama, Long-Term Ills and Short-Term PainBARACK OBAMA’s victory in Tuesday’s presidential election was in many ways a repeat of Ronald Reagan’s win 28 years ago. His eventual success as president may depend on a willingness to do what Mr. Reagan did: be willing to combat long-term economic problems while accepting short-term pain and the risk of a prolonged slowdown that could damage his popularity. Both men were elected in a year when a recession had severely damaged the popularity of the incumbent. In each race, the incumbent party’s candidate tried to paint the challenger as a dangerous risk. Mr. Reagan was portrayed as a right-wing actor with extremist views; Mr. Obama as an inexperienced liberal who was weak on national defense and had “palled around,” as Gov. Sarah Palin put it, with a terrorist....
Uganda: Diplomats, MPs Celebrate President Obama's Victory...Speaking at the US Embassy's 2008 Election Night event at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Mr Browning welcomed President Obama's historic victory, saying; "It's an important step in our history of Americans for an African -American, a member of the minority to be elected by the majority. It's an accomplishment and I congratulate him for his historic election as our new President of the United States."...At the US Election Night, among the invited guests who turned out to witness Obama's historic victory, were a host of MPs led by Kasilo MP, Okupa Elijah who, like other legislators endlessly praised Obama's election as mammoth success to the black race. "I am extremely happy and I don't regret spending a night here waiting to see Obama, the new president of the United State declared a president. He has indeed made us proud as Africans and we expect a lot from him as a continent," Mr Okupa said. The opposition Peoples Progress Party (PPP) President, Mr Bidandi Ssali was among hundreds who endured the aloofness of the nigh weather conditions to observe Obama's victory. "Obama will change some of the radical policies of George W Bush, double aid to Africa and oversee the donor funds to fight corruption that had dogged African countries for years." The Public Affairs Officer at American Embassy, Ms Lisa Heilbronn, welcomed Obama's election, insisting that any practical policies should emphasise doubling aid to Africa as part of the wider efforts to fight poverty, disease and hunger on the continent....
Blacks see Obama win as path to their healingBarack Obama's win Tuesday night as president of the United States has created a buzz in the black community and has some African-Americans talking about how this moment can reshape how they see themselves and what's possible for their lives....Obama made history -- and fulfilled lifelong dreams for many. And although change won't happen overnight, Metro Detroiters said they believe Obama is the key to bridging the race gap, and has already uplifted their self-image, pride and confidence in the African-American community. ...
Tanzanian Parliament salutes US president-electThe National Assembly in Dodoma yesterday unanimously passed a special resolution congratulating United States President elect, Mr Barack Obama. The Speaker Samwel Sitta told Members of Parliament who are attending the 13 meeting of the House that he will submit the resolution to the Government for forward it to the White House. Mr Obama, the Democratic Party presidential candidate defeated Republican's John McCain to become the first Afro-American president ever in the history of the super-power. The president-elect, Mr Obama, the 47-year-old son of an American mother and Kenyan father, become one of the youngest presidents-elect since independence in 1789. His win has galvanised the world with messages sent from all continents. ...
Congratulations, Barack. Now What?The good news for Barack Obama is also the bad news: He won. With victory comes the responsibility of addressing an economic mess of historic proportion. Obama is not facing the typical post-war recession: This is not a market correction, but a major transformation of our economy that will require going beyond promises to raise taxes on only those making more than $250,000 a year. Instead, the architecture of financial regulation needs to be redesigned, the government must play a larger role in structuring economic activity, labor and community need a stronger voice in the decision-making process, and with the Chinese financing our deficit, the United States will have to find a new place in the global economy. ...
Obama urged to live up to promisesBritish newspapers on Thursday feted US president-elect Barack Obama's victory as a sign of a "transformed" America but warned that the country's first black leader had a monumental task ahead. They said the euphoria triggered by Obama's historic win would soon give way to the hard work of presidential politics, with one paper referring to British prime minister Tony Blair's fall from grace after a landslide victory in 1997. "It was impossible not to feel that the world was a slightly better place -- that civilisation had taken a significant step forward," the Daily Mail newspaper wrote. But it warned that "for a brief honeymoon period, Obama will be given the benefit of the doubt. After that, he will be judged on his actions."
The electorate's great expectationsNever let it be said that Americans don't care, passionately, about the state of their government and the power of their role as citizens. This year's contest, historic on so many levels, generated once-in-a-generation levels of enthusiasm. The next question is, what will happen to all of that energy? How can it be harnessed to meet the huge challenges that await us?
Editorial: Lessons for tyrants of the world...America may have its faults as a nation, and may be hated by all manner of people for all manner of reasons; it is even possible that its electoral system may not be faultless, after all. Nothing is? We take note that African Americans constitute only 15 per cent of the American population. Any system that makes it possible for a representative of such a minority group to offer himself to lead an entire country must be a system which all nations must aspire to emulate....We could, for instance, not fail to be amused by a remark by a Kenyan who called into the BBC yesterday that if Obama had lived in many countries in Africa, he would either have been killed after being seized from his home at dawn by faceless men, or he would have been hounded into exile at his very first attempt. At the very “best”, he would have lived the rest of his life in maximum security prisons, always wearing the tag: “enemy of the people”. This is the work of power-drunk, corrupt megalomanias who have arrived at a point in their lives when they begin to think they have a divine right to rule; African rulers who, once in power, never want to step down, and who, therefore, see every critic as a threat who must be eliminated. This is the lesson the Times draws from the victory of the 44th president of the United States. As African leaders pour congratulations into America, we pray that these lessons are not lost on them.
Michael Moore: What Will It Be Like to Have a Smart President?...In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to Washington, and the majority of the country liked that idea. The racists were present throughout the campaign and in the voting booth. But they are no longer the majority, and we will see their flame of hate fizzle out in our lifetime....There was another important "first" last night. Never before in our history has an avowed anti-war candidate been elected president during a time of war. I hope President-elect Obama remembers that as he considers expanding the war in Afghanistan. The faith we now have will be lost if he forgets the main issue on which he beat his fellow Dems in the primaries and then a great war hero in the general election: The people of America are tired of war. Sick and tired. And their voice was loud and clear yesterday....
World Wonders If Obama Victory Will Live Up to the HypeAs black French civil rights activists and their friends began celebrating US President-elect Barack Obama's election early Wednesday, Nov. 5, in a private club in Paris, one reveler sounded a sobering, and largely unappreciated, note of caution. "Obama is an American politician, and he will govern like an American president," said Cameroonian journalist Paul Heutching. "Let's not jump to unrealistic conclusions just because he looks like us."... "I am afraid that people may be pinning unreasonable hopes on Obama," said French historian Pap Ndiaye, the author of "The Black Condition: An Essay on a French Minority." "He will be working under strict political constraints. The disappointment may be very great."...
Anti-Obama communities in social networking siteWithin hours of Obama registering a decisive victory over Republican John McCain, about 30 communities were registered in popular social networking site 'Facebook' demanding his impeachment even before he formally assumed office, saying his policy will "destroy" America. About 2,000 people have joined communities like 'Impeach Barack Obama', 'Lets Impeach Barack Hussain Obama Now! and 'Impeach President-Elect Obama', asking people to "wake up" against his "radical Leftist agenda that will destroy America".... A group 'Impeach Barack Obama Now!', says: "Save America now, impeach Obama to save us from his radical Leftist agenda that will destroy America". Another group quipped, "There are a lot of Americans out there who do not fully understand the concept of Socialism or Communism which is why they've elected Obama as President." 'Impeach Barack Obama' with over 1,000 members asks people to "come on board" if they want to impeach Obama if he fails to fulfill his promises as it take "approximately seven seconds for a modern day President to violate oath" they took in accordance with the US constitution....
In previous elections I've noticed an interesting thing if you look at per-county results. The main news results focus on per-state results for which state went "Red" versus "Blue" (aside: why is most of the world equating 'Red' with Communism and in the U.S. it's equated with Conservatives?). But what's more interesting is to look at the per-county results.
In previous years the split within a state was Republican=Rural, Democratic=Urban for most states. There were a few exceptions in previous years, but for the majority of states this rule seemed to work. Thus you can expect a couple things.. states with more rural than urban populations will vote Republican overall, and shifting demographics with more people moving to cities ought to represent a shift in voting population to favor Democratic candidates. Maybe. I suppose a rural Republican might still vote Republican even if they move to the big city, but that their children would no longer be rural.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=ALP00map -- Alabams, won by McCain, with blue areas in Birmingham and Montgomery. The other blue is probably rural counties with heavy black population but I don't know enough about Alabama to tell. Telling is that some of those counties were 70-80% for Obama.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=AZP00map -- Arizona, McCain's home state, won by McCain. Phoenix went for McCain going against the pattern I suggested, but having visited Phoenix I found it to be a very conservative city. Tuscon is blue, and is a very different sort of city, if only because of the University presence. The other blue areas may be due to Native American leanings.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=CAP00map -- California, unsurprisingly voted for Obama, even the conservative-leaning southern California counties voted for him. Here the rural/urban split is pretty strongly demonstrated but for a couple exceptions. The coastal counties all went for Obama, the ones north of San Francisco are famously full of liberal tree hugging hippies. Literally.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=COP00map -- Colorado, another surprising win for Obama. The Denver and Boulder region voted for Obama but so did many other areas, many of which showed very few votes implying they are rural counties. The Colorado Spring area is famously hardline fundamentalist Christians who are hardline Conservatives and of course those counties went for McCain.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=DEP00map -- Delaware, won by Obama. It shows three counties, two for Obama, one for McCain. The Obama counties are in the North, the McCain in the South. The Northernmost part of Delaware is the most urban region.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=GAP00map -- Georgia, won by McCain. This state shows a very clear rural/urban split. There are a heck of a lot of rural counties in Georgia, most of whom voted for McCain. Atlanta unsurprisingly was won by Obama.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=IDP00map -- Idaho, won by McCain. With more right wing nutjobs per square mile (stereotype) and the largely rural nature of Idaho, it is no surprise for McCain to win and for the state to be so solidly red.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=ILP00map -- Illinois, Obama's home, and the state he represents as Senator, won by Obama. It's pretty well split between red and blue counties, with the Chicagoland region solidly blue. There is a tendency for the blue counties to be more heavily populated.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=INP00map -- Indiana, won by Obama. I find this surprising since Indiana is so heavily rural. Indianapolis and the Gary Indiana regions both are heavily populated urban centers that voted for Obama, as did Evansville (for it's area it's urban). Also voting for Obama is the county containing the Univ of Indiana.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=IAP00map -- Iowa, won by Obama. There are large swaths of blue counties. This is a rural state but for this sort of showing there must be a strong Democratic party in Iowa. e.g. why are the Democratic party Caucuses in Iowa so important?
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=KSP00map -- Kansas, won by McCain. Not only is there a lot of rural population in Kansas, this state is famously Conservative. The exceptions in Kansas were Kansas City, and the counties containing the Univ of Kansas and Kansas State Univ. This follows the urban=Democratic, and Univ=Democratic pattern. Johnson County is famously Republican though possibly being converted, and while it's an Urban county (suburban) it voted Republican.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=KYP00map -- Kentucky, won by McCain. This state has a lot of deeply rural places. There are only a few blue counties. Owensboro is a secondary urban area, across the river from Evansville Indiana. Louisville and Lexington are the two main urban areas, and they voted for Obama. The Covington area is across from Cincinatti, and voted heavily for McCain.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=LAP00map -- Louisiana, won by McCain. The blue counties are around New Orleans, and Baton Rouge. I don't know what's in Shreveport Louisana, but there's some population there and the county voted for Obama.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=MDP00map -- Maryland, won by Obama. The corridor between Washington and Baltimore is heavily populated, and voted heavily for Obama, while the rest of the state is very rural and voted for McCain. An exception is the county containing Annapolis which voted for McCain, unsurprising as not only is McCain a veteran, but from an old Navy family. Even so the vote in that county was very close.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=MIP00map -- Michigan, won by Obama. Maybe this is the effect of problems in the Car Industry which have heavily hit Michigan. Or maybe this is due to it being Michael Moore's home state, or maybe not. But most of Michigan's counties voted for Obama, even the rural ones. This state did not follow the expected rural=Republican pattern.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=MNP00map -- Minnesota, won by Obama. This state has a lot of blue colored rural counties, also breaking the expected pattern. There's still no sign of where Lake Wobegon is, and it's unknown how they voted.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=MSP00map -- Mississippi, won by McCain. There are a lot of rural counties and primarily the ones who voted for Obama are along the river, while the ones who voted for McCain are away from the river. The county containing Jackson is urban and voted for Obama. The coastal counties, hit by the hurricanes, and more heavily populated, voted for McCain. This state did not follow the pattern very well.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=MOP00map -- Missouri, still undecided at this writing. It is largely red counties, and this is largely a rural state. Exceptions are the counties containing Kansas City (urban), Columbia (University) and St. Louis and environs (Urban). A couple exceptions are some rural counties south-west of St. Louis. This state is following the rural/urban/university pattern very well.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=MTP00map -- Montana, birth state of Palin, and won by McCain. This state famously is almost as outrageously right wing radical as Idaho (or so the stereotype goes). There are many rural counties that voted 70-80% McCain so the state almost completely follows the rural/urban pattern. Except there aren't real urban areas in this state. Some exceptions are the counties that contain connection to the national parks (Glacier County), to Native American reservations (Rosebud County) and I suspect Roosevelt County might have a Democratic party connection going back a ways.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=NVP00map -- Nevada, won by Obama. While most of Nevada is decidedly rural (desert) there are two heavily populated areas, that went for Obama. Las Vegas and Reno. This state follows the pattern.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=NJP00map -- New Jersey, won by Obama. This state has some famous urban areas, and some largely unknown rural areas. The rural southern counties went for Obama, except for Cape May county which voted for McCain. The urban counties across from Philadelphia and New York City voted for Obama as did most of the corridor in-between. Ocean and Monmouth counties, both fairly heavily populated, voted for McCain. The Northeast corner is rural and voted for McCain. Three counties are exceptions to the populated=Democratic pattern in that Morris County, Ocean and Monmouth counties voted for McCain, but I believe each of these three to have a lot of rich people in them. Morris County for example is the home of AT&T. This state does not follow the pattern very well.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=NMP00map -- New Mexico, won by Obama. There are a lot of rural counties in this state, some of whom voted for Obama. Unsurprisingly he won in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Taos corridor. But some other rural counties outside this corridor were won by Obama. Supposedly the Native American vote came in heavily for Obama, and New Mexico is famous for its Native American population.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=NYP00map -- New York, won by Obama. The state partially follows the rural/urban pattern, New York City, Rochester, Buffalo, Erie and Albany voted for Obama. However many rural counties in New York also voted for Obama. Staten Island voted for McCain going against the rural/urban pattern.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=NCP00map -- North Carolina, undecided at this writing. A lot of rural counties in this state with a few Urban areas. The Raleigh/Durham (urban) and Charlotte (urban) areas voted for Obama. Most of the rest of this state is rural and voted for McCain, some exceptions are Greensboro (is this the home of Duke, making it a University area?) and a county in western N.C. which contains Ashland, a new age wacko enclave (or so the stereotype goes). But there are a few decidedly rural counties which voted for Obama. This state did not carefully follow the rural/urban pattern.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=OHP00map -- Ohio, won by Obama, thank goodness. This is a rural state that has some heavily urban pockets, especially in the north. The northern corridor has been badly hit economically. There is a fairly clear rural/urban split in Ohio but with a few exceptions along the eastern portion of the state.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=OKP00map -- Oklahoma, entirely won by McCain. This is another state that is chockablock full of radical right wing nutjobs (or so the stereotype goes). Not even the urban centers were leaning to Obama.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=ORP00map -- Oregon, won by Obama. While there is a lot of rural areas in Oregon, that went largely for McCain, they are outweighed by the area around Portland which is chockablock full of tree hugging hippies. This state follows the rural/urban pattern very well.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=PAP00map -- Pennsylvania, won by Obama. There are a lot of rural counties who voted for McCain, and some deeply urban centers who voted for Obama. Philadelphia (Urban), Harrisburg (urban), Pittsburg (urban) and Erie (Urban) all voted for Obama as did their environs. With only a couple exceptions the state followed the rural/urban pattern very well.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=SCP00map -- South Carolina, won by McCain. This state did not follow the rural/urban pattern very well, in that a lot of rural counties voted for Obama. None of the urban areas voted for McCain so this part of the pattern works.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=TNP00map -- Tennessee, won by McCain. Almost entirely red and an almost entirely rural state. Nashville and Memphis voted for Obama so the state almost correctly follows the rural/urban pattern. However Chattanooga and Knoxville both voted for McCain.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=TXP00map -- Texas, home to the Bushies and home to the Oil Industry. A lot of right wing nutjob rural counties are in this state (or so the stereotype goes) and for the most part it follows the rural/urban split. Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso all voted for Obama while most of the rest of the state (all rural) voted for McCain. However interestingly a swath of Texas that borders Mexico all voted for Obama.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=UTP00map -- Utah, won by McCain. Home to the Mormon Church, a famously fundamentalistic organization. This state does not follow the rural/urban split, but that is no doubt due to the Mormon Church skewing things.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=WAP00map -- Washington, won by Obama. The divide in Washington State is the Cascade mountains. West of the Cascades the counties were won by Obama, east of them the counties were won by McCain.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=WVP00map -- West Virginia, won by McCain. This state is probably the poster child example of rural. The state is almost entirely voting for McCain except for a couple exceptions, most of which are unclear. One exception is in the north where the U of West Virginia is located, and another is in the far east portion that's pretty well disconnected from the majority of the state. W.V. has no real urban areas so it's hard to say what pattern it's following.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=WIP00map -- Wisconson, won by Obama. Interestingly this state was won almost entirely by Obama. Most of it is rural and most of it was won by Obama, making this state one of the clear exceptions to the rural=Republican pattern.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/county/#val=WYP00map -- Wyoming, won by McCain, home state to Darth Cheney. It's an entirely rural state and voted almost completely for McCain. Exceptions are the counties which contain Laramie and the Grand Teton's National Park. Jackson Hole (Grand Tetons) is famously rich-liberal, and it may be that Laramie is home to a University. Otherwise there are a lot of gun-toting right wing nutjobs (or so the stereotype goes) and it's unsurprising they voted for McCain.
