What Caught My Eye Today - Presidential Election, Scotland, Governance, Pop Culture

Presidential Election - With just 15 days until the U.S. presidential election and one debate between the candidates (foreign policy is the focus of this final debate), it occurred to me that some poor souls feel their vote just doesn't matter. Poopie gook! Let me lay some statistics on to you that show just how wrong you are:

• 138th out of 169 - America's ranking among democratic countries in voter turn out. One can argue that freedom not to vote is a right guaranteed by a democracy. One can make that argument, but it doesn't change the fact that way too many people take the democratic process for granted.
• 47.7% - America's average voter turnout between (1945 and 2001). Among the nations with higher voter turnout; Italy (92%), Iceland (89.3%), Indonesia (87.9%), Canada (82.6%), Mongolia (79.5%) and Mexico (48.1%). Seriously people, Mongolia??? That is wrong on some many levels.
• 61.6% - Voter turnout in 2008. More folks turned out for Barack Obama vs. John McCain than the previous 3 presidential elections. That's still 18% less than Mongolia. Dude!
• 65.7% - Voter turnout among women in 2008. Turnout among men was 61.5%. Maybe if men weren't so reluctant to ask for directions, they might have an easier time of finding their polling place.
• 66.1% - Voter turnout among whites in 2008. A larger percentage of whites voted than blacks (64.7%), Hispanics (49.9%) or Asians (47.6%). Of course, with the minority population continuing to grow at a faster pace than whites, I'm not sure how meaningful this will be in future elections.
• 79.8% - Voter turnout among voters with incomes over $100,000. Turnout drops significantly as income levels drop. Just 51.9% of voters earning less than $20,000 voted in 2008. Maybe that's because voters under the poverty line literally cannot afford to take the time off to vote.
• 80% - Percentage of the minority vote Obama needs (plus 40% of the white vote) to win the 2012 election. Interesting, but not as much as this last one...
• 61% - Percentage of the white vote Mitt Romney needs to win the 2012 election. If he manages this, he won't need any of the minority vote.  I'm a white male but does that make my vote any more important than the vote of a black, Hispanic, Asian or any other minority? The sad fact of the matter is that the answer is probably yes, because I'm more likely to vote (which I already have). Prove me wrong, people!

Scotland - British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond signed an agreement this week to hold a referendum on independence for Scotland by the end of 2014. It appears more likely that Scots will opt for a form of semi autonomy. Polls show that only 34% of Scots support independence, while 55% are opposed and the rest undecided. People of Scotland, being part of the UK isn't so bad, is it? Consider this. Most people can find the UK on a map. If you decide to go it alone, how many people do you think will have the slightest clue where Scotland is? Case in point, I grew up in San Jose, CA, just a stone's throw from San Francisco. I read a survey once where American university students were asked to locate San Francisco and San Jose on a blank outline of the United States. Almost everyone got San Francisco right, while most though San Jose was on the U.S. Mexico border. All I'm saying is that having a popular big brother is not such a bad thing.

Governance - The $5 million Mo Ibrahim prize is awarded to a democratically elected leader in Africa found to have raised living standards and to have voluntarily left office. For the third time in four years no candidate met the criteria to win the prize. I'm stunned, truly stunned.

Pop Culture - As a courtesy, let me preface this last story by saying that these guys are arguably the most talented soccer players on the planet, which is significant outside the United States given that soccer is the most popular sport by a wide margin over anything else (and yes my American friends, that includes our beloved NFL). While the debate rages on as to whether Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi is the best player of this generation, there's a popularity contest being staged on Facebook between the Real Madrid and Barcelona superstars, and it's not even close. Ronaldo became the first athlete in any sport to reach 50 million "likes" on Facebook. Pure speculation on my part, but I'm thinking a fair few of those "likes" come from the ladies. No offense to Messi (who for my money is probably a tiny bit better than Ronaldo), but you'd have to be blind not to think that Cristiano isn't a bit easier on the eye balls than Lionel (be honest, can you even imagine a hot guy being named Lionel?) If all the people who "liked" Ronaldo formed their own country, it would be the 25th most populous nation on earth. Messi is in second place with about 38.5 million "likes", while David Beckham sits in third place with 21.5 million. In terms of American athletes, Michael Jordan tops the list with 20 million "likes." Kobe Bryant is six million "likes" behind Jordan, and LeBron James sits in third with 12.5 million "likes." Ronaldo is about 12 million "likes" behind the most liked celebrity, Rihanna (62 million). After Rihanna are Eminem (61.5 million), Shakira (55 million), Lady Gaga (53.3 million) and Michael Jackson (52 million).