Quadsville

But I need some ideas. What have you done at your house to keep the focus more on human interaction and less on the gift count?

Flickr user Vinu is uploading photos from the scenes of the attacks in Mumbai.

@jakrose reports that "Twitter is about 10 minutes ahead of CNN Live for Mumbai news - judging from the bomb blast inside one of the hotels."

Here is a Google Map that plots the locations of the attacks.

Here is a live blog by a Mumbai resident.

Any Quad-Citians in Mumbai right now? I hope all of your loved ones are safe.

Here's the Executive Summary (recommended) and the full report (if you want all the charts and data). Or read Times reporter Deirdre Baker's story.

It turns out there's less crime here than you think. And more people use public transportation than you realized. And guess how many people visited our cultural attractions like the Adler Theatre, Figge Art Museum and i wireless Center last year: 1.3 million.

Maybe you're not surprised to learn these things about our community. After all, only 9 percent of the 800 adults surveyed gave the Quad-Cities a "fair" or "poor" rating. Our unemployment rates are similar to the national average and our poverty rates are lower.

Fewer Quad-Citians smoke now than five years ago, but about two-thirds of the adult population is overweight (which is consistent with the national average - ?!?!).

One stat I found particularly amazing was that 96.6 percent of residents say they recycle and conserve energy on a regular basis. That's terrific!

People's opinions of the public school systems are more positive than they were in 2002. Teen pregnancy rates are declining, however, they are above the national average at 12.2 percent (versus 10.4 percent).

I'm not sure how to interpret this bit: "New construction housing permits went down about 20 percent for single-family homes, but up more than 73 percent for multifamily units from 2006 to 2007."

Some commenters on qctimes.com have said it's a bad thing, because it means more renters and Section 8 housing. But I can think of a lot of downtown lofts and high-end condo construction that has occurred recently that would also fall under the "multifamily unit" category. And why do renters get a bad rap? I rent. There has been some research that indicates too many Americans own their own home and that has contributed not only to sprawl but to the mortgage crisis we are in.

It was a cold, wet, windy morning for the Davenport Veterans' Day Parade. I'd like to think more people would have shown up for it if the weather had been better. As it was, a few generous handfuls of folks dotted the sidewalk in downtown Davenport.

I stood near Linda Lewis from the Figge on the corner of 2nd and Main. She clapped for every group that went by thanked me afterward for coming out to take photos. I wish I had gotten a picture of the young girl with the St. Patrick Society who ran over to the female cop directing traffic and handed her a little American flag. That was a nice moment.

Here are the photos I did get, as well as a video of the West High School marching band and North MCJROTC. Enjoy.

From top: American Legion Riders, Vietnam Veterans and an unidentified veteran riding in a nifty Ford Model T Touring. For more photos from the parade, visit my photo gallery. 

And now for some video...

Those of you who are big fans of open government will dig this site, too. It's the first step in fulfilling a campaign promise to make government more transparent. It certainly gives insight into the transition process.

The site's Learn page includes background on Obama and Biden and also explains the transition process, complete with a link to the GSA, "developed to introduce Presidential nominees, appointees, and members of the President-elect's Transition Team to the operation of the Federal government and to the resources available to help them begin their service in the new Administration."

Want a job in the administration? Apply online. 

Change.gov follows in the footsteps of Obama's campaign site, mybarackobama.com, in fostering two-way communication. Visitors to the site are asked to share their stories, photos and videos from the campaign and election as well as to write in with their vision for the United States and specific suggestions for the new administration. Yes, they are collecting your personal information to provide future services. You can read the whole privacy policy here.

For example, Iowa Courts Online far exceeds Illinois' judici.com in access to individual court records. Rock Island's city Web site is pretty comprehensive, frequently updated and includes easy access to City Council agendas, minutes and video of the meetings. On Davenport's site, I like the Action Center, Payment Center and Document Center.

I'm going to leave reviews of the rest of our city government sites to you. What can local (and state) government do to be more open and accessible to citizens online? How can they use their sites not only to provide information to citizens but to encourage acts of good citizenship in the community? And what do you think of the change.gov site?

Here are more links. Add your comments and any links I've left out below.

Moline, Bettendorf, East Moline, LeClaire, Eldridge, Milan

State of Iowa, State of Illinois

There's plenty of commentary out there on what the election of Barack Obama means to our country and to the world and on what he must do now that he's won the office. I've enjoyed reading your views on Quadsville on these topics.

I was fascinated by the role of technology and social networking in this campaign. I signed up for the text message alert to find out who Obama chose as his running mate and to see how they would use the data they gathered after the announcement. I think they used it sparingly, but effectively.

I received a text a few hours before each debate reminding me to watch it. I received a text Monday night and Tuesday around noon reminding me to vote. And at 1:13 a.m. Wednesday, just as I was drifting off to sleep, I received this text: "We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion to this campaign. All of this happened because of you. Thanks, Barack."

My mom always impressed upon me how far a thank-you note goes. I was imagining all the other people who got that text, whether they signed up as supporters or curious observers, and wondering if it made them feel more connected to the highest office in the land, more willing to keep giving their "time, talent and passion."

The grass-roots network amassed by Obama's campaign could play a huge role in changing this country if they remain engaged and mobilized for the next fours years. I wonder how Obama as president will keep all of these young people engaged. I wonder if they will heed his call to service and sacrifice now that the election is over.

The thing that struck me most about Obama's acceptance speech was that he spoke not only to his supporters, but to the entire nation and to the world. I get the impression that he knows it is just as important to win over the citizens of Wyoming, the reddest state in the 2008 election, as it is to win over world leaders.

The fact that Oprah and Jesse Jackson were mingled in with a crowd of college students and supporters from all walks of life in Grant Park, speaks to the notion that money will not get you special treatment in an Obama administration. In fact, Joe Biden has the lowest net worth of a vice president since Walter Mondale.

Even the weather seemed fortuitous. The warm, Indian summer evening in Chicago contrasted starkly with the below-freezing temperatures the crowd in Springfield endured when Obama announced his candidacy. Being the dorky English major that I am, I thought of the line from Shakespeare's "Richard III": "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son/sun of York (substitute Illinois)." To many of the people in the crowd, it must have seemed like the world was thawing out.

It will be interesting to see how long that warmth lingers as we head into what is predicted to be a hard winter, along with difficult economic times. The world may be looking much colder on Jan. 20, 2009.

Rereading this entry, it sounds more pessimistic than I'm actually feeling right now. That's the realistic journalist in me, I guess. If I killed your buzz, you can probably get it back by watching will.i.am's new video, "We Are the Ones."

Keep the blogs coming with your post-election reflections. Tell us how you are feeling and how inclined you are to give your "time, talent and passion" to this country - not a candidate - over the next four years.

10:50 p.m.

Wow. We had 84 people with us tonight for our live election night chat. It was terrific. And I was happy to share this historic night with my fellow Quadsvillagers. You can reread it here. 

I look forward to reading everyone's post-election reflections on Quadsville tomorrow. Good night. 

Anyone watching CNN? That hologram thing they've got going makes me feel like a Jedi. Check it out. 

Illinois polls are now closed. Iowa has two more hours to go. And we are 30 minutes away from our live chat in Quadsville. 

It's getting close to poll closing time in our area. I hope all of you have gone out to vote. Remember, we're not just voting for the president. There are lots of local races for you to weigh in on that could potentially impact us more (well, there are if you live in Iowa). 

Thanks to everyone who has blogged about their Election Day here on Quadsville. Check out these videos from Adam Peters and this analysis from Quad City Images. Srm posted his reasons for voting for a third party candidate. And one person blogged about not voting at all.

Let us know where the action is at. And don't forget: live chat right here in Quadsville at 7:30 p.m.! 

Several national chains are giving out freebies to voters today: Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and Ben & Jerry's, to name a few. But who is rolling out the red carpet for voters locally?

Marismom mentioned free beer and tattoos this morning. Where? Can I get them in the same place? ;-) What else have you heard of?

I'm heading out of the office for a mid-day break before the long election night haul. I'll be looking for good deals for voters as I run errands and will report back. Please leave your findings in the comments below! 

Thanks to Joe Kelley for pointing this out.

If you go to BarackObama.com, you can type in your address to find your polling place, complete with Google Map directions.

But if you live in Iowa, you will also get a list of neighbors you can take to the polls with you. It lists their name, address - including apartment number - and in many cases, their phone number.

Now, I'm guessing these people voluntarily filled out a form indicating they were likely to vote for Obama or at least considering it. But WOW. I think I would feel a little weird about this.

This does not come up for locations in Illinois. Must be a difference in law. Check it out for yourself. See which of your neighbors may have voted for Obama.

10:20 a.m.

I found Iowa State Rep. Jamie Van Fossen on Twitter at the end of last week. Now this is no knock on Jamie, but if I had to guess which local candidates were on Twitter, he probably wouldn't have been the first one to jump to mind. I thought maybe I would find Elesha Gayman or Shawn Hamerlinck on there, but no. As far as I can tell, it's just Jamie. (If you know of other local candidates on Twitter, please comment below!).

Jamie just tweeted that his volunteers knocked on more than 6,000 doors over the weekend. What a great weekend for door-knocking, too. It was gorgeous.

I tweeted my congrats on this accomplishment and asked if he would be joining us for our live chat tonight. Rep. Van Fossen replied:  "I'll sure give it my best! Say hello to all the peeps in Quadsville for me!"

Consider it done.

9 a.m.

After voting, which took all of 10 minutes, we went to Gus' Coffee Break for breakfast. I had promised Gwen pancakes for going along with my early morning Election Day plan. She gets to vote at her school today and is hoping that she gets a cool "I Voted" sticker like mom's.

I see Sikpuppy was out there early this morning, too. Anyone else bringing their kids along? Looking forward to hearing everyone's Election Day stories. And don't forget to send in your #Votereport, too.

Live chat tonight starts at 7:30 p.m. Rep. Cindy Winckler will be joining us at the beginning and I've heard from several other candidates who may be dropping by after the Iowa polls close at 9 p.m.

MM

That's a little more than a dollar per person for all the campaign appearances in Davenport. But it's only a fraction of the price tag on your vote.

The Associated Press's Jim Kuhnhenn analyzed the amount of money spent by the presidential campaigns - almost $1 billion - and figured every ballot cast tomorrow costs about $8. This does not include spending in the primaries, which would bump up that number a bit.

The questions:

Should communities charge dignitaries for overtime associated with their visits or should they just budget for them in an election year? Is the benefit of having a candidate here, with the attention that brings (and the large pizza or sandwich orders to feed staffers and volunteers, for instance) outweigh the cost? 

Do candidates spend too much money on elections? Is a publicly financed campaign still possible or practical when party and 527 spending isn't limited?

What was the most innovative or effective way you saw a candidate get their message out (local or national)? How did you make your decision?

Don't forget to blog tomorrow about your Election Day experiences. Post some photos and videos. And join us for our live election night chat from 7:30 -10:30 here in Quadsville.