Alabama Politics in
Doc’s Political Parlor
& Home of Lawn Mower Repair

Flash Earth.

Way fun… Zoom maps in and out, scroll in any direction, rotate maps… Switch maps from Google to Microsoft to Yahoo to Ask.com… Find your house…

This link will get you started looking at Alabama…

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

The Iron Bowl is tomorrow, and this felt like a good time to pull out of the closet our use of Google Trends…

No telling who will prevail tomorrow, but we can know now who predominates in Google searches. As a general rule, people are searching for “Alabama football” on Google more than they are looking for “Auburn football.”

“auburn football”    “alabama football”

As always, may your team win tomorrow. Unless, of course, your team is not my team.

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Related Articles:

• This Week's Pressing Matter

For the demographic lowdown on any zip code (based on census data), check out Zipskinny.

Really interesting, and you can compare up to 20 zip codes on one page.

Hat tip to A Bama Blog.

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If you want Doc and the rest of the back room gang to put down their tools for a moment and maybe even get glassy-eyed, ask them about last week’s lawn mower pull in Oak Grove and what they would do with a lawn mower if they had five or six thousand dollars to put into it.

Mowers competed to pull a “weight-laden sled down a dirt track as far as possible, up to 300 feet.” Lawn mowers in the outlaw division can cost five or six thousand dollars and pull sleds weighing around 6500 lbs.

The event was a fundraiser for the Oak Grove-Thach Volunteer Fire Department in north Alabama.

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This has to take the prize for being the most amazing Rube Goldberg-type machine I have ever seen.

If you are even a little curious, I encourage you to check it out.

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Both parties have essentially three first-tier presidential candidates and several more seeking to break into that group from the next tier.

New Mexico’s Democratic Governor Bill Richardson has created some humorous TV ads hoping to help spring him into that top tier.

I appreciate the attempt at humor.

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

How about that… searches for St. Valentine peak higher than searches for Christmas’s St. Nicholas.

“st. valentine”     “st. nicholas”     “st. francis”     “new orleans saints”

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I have always enjoyed hearing from readers, and some point me in the directions of very interesting stories that you end up seeing here (and that you will end up seeing here).

Now, you can call the Political Parlor, thanks to a new service from Jaxtr. It’s free, easy, and no special equipment is needed. My phone number remains protected from any ninny who thinks his red hot internet stock tip is more important than my dinner time, and the caller’s number is protected also.

Feel encouraged to call up and pass on any constructive criticism, tell me about a story that you think is underreported, simply say ‘howdy,’ or test how the whole process works. Settings will usually be set so that calls go straight to voice mail.

BTW, this is a beta version. You can sign up for an account of your own at the website, but if they put you on a waiting list, I think I can send you an invitation that allows you to try it out immediately if you let me know.

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Merry Christmas…

• I have no doubt that our own cultural traditions are probably odd to other people, but as Christmas traditions go, this may be about as odd as it gets. (If you want the full effect, the accompanying slide show may be worthwhile.) Thanks to a friend and reader.
• Did the reindeer Donder have some sort of the brush with the law that necessitated the change to Donner? Does Santa even do background checks? (Rudolph has a hoof in all this.)
• Prancer - clearly not as popular as other reindeer…. (Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.)

dasher     prancer     blitzen    

I wish the best for you this season.

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

We haven’t done Google Trends here lately. And so, in honor of the announcement that Rich Rodriguez has decided to remain at West Virginia University instead of coach at the University of Alabama…

“as the world turns”     alabama football     “one life to live”    

All three soap operas have been going on so long that they all have their devoted fans. Interest (as measured by Google searches) will spike for one or another, but “As the World Turns” appears to be on top a bit more than the others.

Truth be told, “General Hospital” leaves them all in the dust.

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

People are searching for “University of Alabama” on Google more than they are looking for “Auburn University.”

“auburn university” “university of alab…

May your team win tomorrow. Unless, of course, your team is not my team.

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

For whatever reason, folks are searching Google for Democrats more than they are searching for Republicans.

Democrats Republicans

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

I’m thinking Halloween costumes…

princess     witch     skeleton     ghost     pirate

Looks like the real story here is how Pirate has begun to put distance between itself and Witch over the last year and a half or two years. Witch showed a rally in the fall of 2005 but couldn’t sustain it.

Princess’s ongoing challenge of Ghost for the top spot may have to make room for Pirate who appears to be elbowing into the mix.

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

MacGyver? Or Jack Bauer?

macgyver     “jack bauer”

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Google Trends lets you compare search volumes for multiple terms.

Today, of course, is Friday the 13th.

Which brings more bad luck, Friday the 13th or having a black cat cross your path? Google Trends won’t tell you that, but it will compare how often those terms are searched.

“friday the 13th”     “black cat”

Other things that bring bad luck: singing before breakfast, three butterflies together, and sending explicit text messages to Congressional pages barely a third your age.

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