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1. Sandi Saunders | February 20, 2013 at 10:58 am

   Well it is once again “official”, our brains ARE different.

   –

   “The researchers were able to predict a person’s political party by looking at their brain function 82.9 percent of the time. In comparison, knowing the structure of these regions predicts party correctly 71 percent of the time, and knowing someone’s parents’ political affiliation can tell you theirs 69.5 percent of the time, the researchers wrote.”

   –

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/republican-democrat-brain-politics-fmri-study_n_2717731.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics
2. Frank | February 20, 2013 at 11:42 am

   Those idiots who actually conceived and conducted the study are probably moon-lighting “scientists” from the man-made-global warming hoax creaters genre….and are spending grant money from obama’s stimulus.

   What’s the margin for error? I’d bet it’s 100%.
3. Sandi Saunders | February 20, 2013 at 12:55 pm

   I see Frank is still offering civil debate and stunning analysis of the topic.

   –

   Are you calling them “idiots” because you think our brains are really all alike, or are you calling them idiots because you disagree with their conclusions?

   –

   Are you capable of allowing that a differing thought process could be the difference in the two of us looking at the same information, story, or video and having two opposing opinions of it?
4. Chuck | February 20, 2013 at 12:56 pm

   So basically the findings of this study indicate that democrats are more driven by emotion and how they feel while Republicans are more concerned with risk v. reward. Was a study really needed to confirm this?
5. Frank | February 20, 2013 at 1:04 pm

   sandi,

   i must have read a study once that said folks who try to inject political thinking into brain studies…are idiots who have too much time on their hands and too much money to waste….much like the man-made global warming idiots.
6. LB Hagen | February 20, 2013 at 1:12 pm

   Having taught teenagers in a public school for six years after retirement, I have often reflected on another quote credited to Will Rogers:
   * Some people learn by reading
   * Some people learn by watching
   * Some people learn by listening
   * And then there are those who just have to “make water” on an electric fence for themselves!
   -
7. Rob Thommins | February 20, 2013 at 1:12 pm

   “The researchers were able to predict a person’s political party by looking at their brain function”

   How about those of us who have no brain function?
8. Rob Thommins | February 20, 2013 at 1:26 pm

   “Virginia negotiators reach transportation deal”

   This is going to hurt even more than increasing the cents per gallon tax.
   04.5% is progressive, as prices rise so do taxes.

   If History is an indicator, these increased funds will be miss-used for
   every thing but roads.
9. Frank | February 20, 2013 at 1:41 pm

   LB Hagen,

   As I read your list of learning processes, I was looking for one of the best teachers of all…that of the “living experience”…..which you covered quite well with …….”those who just have to “make water” on an electric fence.”

   Well done.
10. pistol pete | February 20, 2013 at 2:06 pm

    Nope..

    Believe it or not, I used to be a pro-union democrat that voted that way for 8 years. The study is a sham.
11. Sandi Saunders | February 20, 2013 at 2:09 pm

    “Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other” ~ Benjamin Franklin
12. Henry | February 20, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    Anyone else find it ironic that William White got jail time for posting someone;’s name and address? I wonder if the guy had a conceal-carry permit.
13. gdad | February 20, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    Yep, pistol pete, I guess that one example would definitely prove the whole study a sham.
14. Sandi Saunders | February 20, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    Do you have your brain studies to back that up anonymous blogger Pistol Pete?
15. pistol pete | February 20, 2013 at 2:21 pm

    Umm.. no Sandi, but if my brain was wired to be the conservative I am today, then why did I vote Dems for a while?

    Duh
16. Kristen | February 20, 2013 at 2:28 pm

    When i was young I was a conservative, so I do think it’s possible to change.
17. wayne goodman | February 20, 2013 at 2:40 pm

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/daily-news-chuck-hagel-friends-of-hamas-dan-friedman_n_2723951.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=022013&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

    Next the GOP/Faux News will be citing stories from THE ONION as sources
    for their craziness. Oh wait! They already have.
18. Frank | February 20, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    hey pistol pete,

    looks like sandi brought out her best dumb stuff today, attacking folks for not posting their official names and addresses. that just rankles her! that’s just like a lib.
19. Ron May | February 20, 2013 at 3:28 pm

    Dan,

    I hate to say this, but this new iteration of the website and its limitations on the comments section of your blog is more than annoying. I even tried to go to the regular Roanoke.com site to make comments and found that even more annoying.

    It is likely that I will stop participating unless vast improvements are made.
20. pammala | February 20, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    btw dannyboy, this site is slower than any I’ve seen, you call this improvement? oh, but then you are a liberal..probably spent 10′s of thousands on it..
21. James Bayly | February 20, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    I suspect that Frank doesn’t believe in evolution, and also thinks the world is flat and the center of the universe.
22. DON | February 20, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    If you have a brain you will not belong to a political party.
23. Ron May | February 20, 2013 at 4:31 pm

    Geesh! I didn’t think my opinion was that important!! Complain about the new site at about 3:30 and by 4:30 the complaint is taken care of. Wish it was that easy on my campus!!
24. Dan Casey | February 20, 2013 at 4:33 pm

    Good golly, former 6-term GOP Sen. Pete Domenici is a daddy! With former GOP Sen. Paul Laxalt’s daughter!
25. Ron May | February 20, 2013 at 4:35 pm

    Wonder what Sen. Laxalt & his wife thought of that at the time of their daughter’s pregnancy?
26. gdad | February 20, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    pammala once again demonstrates her vast lack of understanding. Thank you, pammala.
27. Sandi Saunders | February 20, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    Pistol Pete, are you now saying that no one should be able to override anything their brain is “wired” to do? It is not the study that you are making look like a sham…
28. gdad | February 20, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    Impossible, Dan, according to the blog’s Dem haters, only Bill Clinton would do something like that.
29. mike o | February 20, 2013 at 4:44 pm

    I agree with ron may it is difficult to follow a thread with limited posts showing. However, I believe Dan said that was being worked on.
30. mike o | February 20, 2013 at 4:52 pm

    Sandi,
    I thought that an interesting study, although I don’t know the “scientific” bona fides. As the earlier poster noted it is not groundbreaking news that R’s decide logically in terms of risk/reward vs D’s deciding by emotion.
    I am just glad that there are many in the middle.
31. mike o | February 20, 2013 at 5:06 pm

    Dan,
    I notice when posts are submitted a “typeover” states “your comment is awaiting moderation”, does that show up for posters flagged as left as well as right…LOL…
    I keep thinking I need to rewrite in a more moderate tone to pass inspection…
    (joke of course, but I couldn’t pass it up, and if anyone beat me to it it is only because I only see read 9 posts on a thread (another joke).
    I understand the difficulties in these types of changeovers and wish your company the best.
32. Dan Casey | February 20, 2013 at 5:22 pm

    mikeO, “awaiting moderation” shows up for gdad just like it shows up for you.
33. Mike Scott | February 20, 2013 at 6:13 pm

    LB Hagen

    ….it is the ones that “make water” on the fence the repeatedly that always puzzled me. Yet they sometimes grow up too.
34. Dave Gresham | February 20, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    The following is a repost from one on my Realtor online magazines. (No doubt John Wilburn will has seen this ltlle gem in his email today as well )

    The author of what follows now is Andrew Kantor, with the Virginia Association of Realtors….

    So the $25 billion mortgage settlement deal that was supposed to help keep people in their homes? Turns out banks have found a loophole: They’re forgiving second mortgages while refusing to modify the primary mortgage.

    Quick recap: Lenders were found to have forged documents, falsified signatures, and otherwise broken the law in an effort to foreclose on people as quickly as possible. As part of the settlements reached for doing that, they were required to use billions to forgive mortgages and help people stay in their homes.

    Here’s the loophole, as the New York Times explains: Banks get credit for forgiving either first or second mortgages, so they’re choosing to forgive the second loans (which, in a short sale or foreclosure, would be worthless anyway).

    So a lender can forgive a second mortgage — which in the event of foreclosure would be worthless anyway — and under the settlement claim credits for “modifying” the mortgage, while at the same time it or another bank forecloses on the first loan.

    The upshot, of course, is that the people the settlement was designed to protect keep losing their homes.

    The five banks covered under last year’s settlement are wiping out second mortgages in record numbers.

    end repost
35. Bill Perdue | February 20, 2013 at 7:17 pm

    This is funny! The Tea Party puts out a picture of Karl Rove in a nazi uniform:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/karl-rove-nazi-image-_n_2718349.html

    …turns out, they really didn’t mean too/it
36. Art Hill | February 20, 2013 at 8:11 pm

    “Complain about the new site at about 3:30 and by 4:30 the complaint is taken care of.”

    Still no answers from tech support. Can’t see the lists of recent comments, recent threads or archives. All I can do is toggle back and forth between the threads put up after the changeover using the next and previous buttons (which finally began working yesterday.) I know the archives exist somewhere because I can access the old server with my bookmarks. I wouldn’t give this Beta version’s problems to a monkey on a rock. Anyone else having Mac issues?
37. Dan Casey | February 20, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    Art, have you tried clearing your cache?
38. Laura | February 20, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    Art, which browser do you use? I use Firefox as a default and the site works fine for me (now that the major issues seem to have been fixed), but I also checked on Safari and got the same results there. This is on my desktop, mind (using OS X 10.7); I haven’t tried it with my iPod Touch since this morning.
39. Huntersdad | February 20, 2013 at 9:34 pm

    I love the Will Rogers quote. The same has been said about playing golf, one way to improve your game is to play with folks that are better (smarter) at it than you are, and from my own personal experience I’ve found that it is true. I bet Obama may have shaved a couple of strokes off of his game over the weekend following Tiger around the course for a round.
    Now if he could find someone in the room who is smarter than himself and apply it to running the country, some good might come of his second term.
    Oh that’s right, HE’s the smartest guy in the room…..at least in his mind any way.
40. Scott A | February 20, 2013 at 9:38 pm

    Art, using safari on my iPad…no problems.
41. gdad | February 20, 2013 at 9:47 pm

    I’m also having no problem with either Firefox on a PC or Safari on a Mac.
42. Cold n P | February 20, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    Talk about crazy Conservative Conspiracy conjectures:

    http://conservativeread.com/us-military-planned-mutiny-on-the-bounty-to-topple-obama/

    I stumbled across this gem which basically claims our Military is under the command of the Israelis and we have 6 Nuclear Warheads missing since 2007.

    “Cathleen” the author should add graphics and sell this puppy at gun shows as a “graphic Novel” “Cathleen” would make millions off the apocalyptic nutbags.
43. Art Hill | February 20, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    Thanks. Apparently earlier versions of Firefox and Camino aren’t supported by this beta but Safari seems to work just fine. Go figure.
44. Contra | February 20, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    ‘pammala’ is like a sweat bee with Tourette’s.
45. Sandi Saunders | February 21, 2013 at 8:33 am

    Pistol Pete, the study said: “…can’t say whether the functional brain differences nudge people toward a particular ideology or not. The brain changes based on how it is used, so it is possible that acting in a partisan way prompts the differences.”

    –

    And Mike O, your interpretation is not really correct, they said: “…the way the brain processed risk worked differently between the groups, with Republicans showing more activity in an area linked with reward, fear and risky decisions and Democrats showing more activity in a spot related to processing emotion and internal body cues.” They do not grant anything about it being “logic” versus “emotion”. Although it might prove the axiom “Republicans will fall in line, but Democrats have to fall in love”.

    –

    BTW, does it ever occur to either of you when complaining about the partisan nature of this blog, that your own partisan natures are all you ever bring here too?
46. Ron May | February 21, 2013 at 8:49 am

    Here’s just one example of what Pres. Eisenhower warned us about in 1961.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-21/ships-leaking-37-billion-reflect-eisenhower-s-warning.html