Middle East Tourists Attractions - II

The Pyramids of Egypt

There are no more famous ancient sites within Egypt, or for that matter elsewhere in the world, than the Great Pyramids at Giza. They are, without question, the icon most associated with the Egypt. They have been both the main destination for tourists, and a source of imaginative thought to the world for over three thousand years.
However, there are actually over 100 pyramids in Egypt, many of which are relatively unknown to anyone who is not an ancient Egypt enthusiast. All but a very few are grouped around and near the City of Cairo, just south of the Nile Delta. Otherwise, only one royal pyramid is known in southern Egypt (at Abydos), that being the one built by Ahmose, founder of the 18th Dynasty and Egypt's New Kingdom. It may have also been the last royal pyramid built in Egypt.
For more information about The Pyramids of Egypt see the Official site of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism

Middle East Tourists Attractions - I

Touristic site of the week.

Petra, Jordan - Undoubtedly the most famous attraction in Jordan is the Nabatean city of Petra, nestled away in the mountains south of the Dead Sea. Petra, which means "stone" in Greek, is perhaps the most spectacular ancient city remaining in the modern world, and certainly a must-see for visitors to Jordan and the Middle East.
The city was the capital of the Nabateans - Arabs who dominated the lands of Jordan during pre-Roman times- and they carved this wonderland of temples, tombs and elaborate buildings out of solid rock. The Victorian traveler and poet Dean Burgon gave Petra a description which holds to this day -"Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time." Yet words can hardly do justice to the magnificence that is Petra. In order to best savor the atmosphere of this ancient wonder, visit in the quiet of the early morning or late afternoon when the sandstone rock glows red with quiet grandeur.

The proposal for five super Tuesdays.

The proposed five super Tuesdays one every month starting from Feb. and runs through June. It includes which state should vote on that day and the number of Eectoral Vote the state has. Every Super Tuesday will have an equal number of states and Eectoral Votes with the exception of DC which was added to Super Tuesday II to offset the Eectoral Votes.

Proposed November General Election
Super Tuesday I - Feb.
State	Eectoral Votes
Arkansas	6
California	55
Deleware	3
Maine	4
North Carolina	15
North Dakota	3
Nevada	5
South Carolina	8
West Virginia	5
Wyoming	3
Total	107
Super Tuesday II - Mar.
State	Eectoral Votes
District of Columbia	3
Hawaii	4
Kansas	6
Louisiana	9
Maryland	10
Nebraska	5
New Jersey	15
Oklahoma	7
Rhode Island	4
Tennessee	11
Texas	34
Total	108
Super Tuesday III - Apr.
State	Eectoral Votes
Alaska	3
Alabama	9
Connecticut	7
Idaho	4
Indiana	11
Mississippi	6
New York	31
Ohio	20
Utah	5
Washington	11
Total	107
Super Tuesday IV - May.
State	Eectoral Votes
Arizona	10
Florida	27
Massachusetts	12
Michigan	17
Minnesota	10
New Hampshire	4
New Mexico	5
Oregon	7
South Dakota	3
Virginia	13
Total	108
Super Tuesday V - Jun.
State	Eectoral Votes
Colorado	9
Georgia	15
Iowa	7
Illinois	21
Kentucky	8
Missouri	11
Montana	3
Pennsylvania	21
Vermont	3
Wisconsin	10
Total	108
Last Updated: 3/27/2008 8:45 PM

Last 5 US General Elections Review

In this post, I will be looking at the November 2008 US General Election and what would’ve happened if the GE is held today based at the all information available including the last 5 years of the US General Election plus various national poll data and my own analysis.
I didn’t include the scenarios where Sen. McCain might run against Sen. Clinton or Sen. McCain might run against Sen. Obama for one simple reason. The information is a little complicated and won’t fit in one simple post. Therefore, for this analysis, this post assumes that it won’t really matter whose Democratic Party Nominee is.

Notes:
1. This post is “Work In Progress”.
2. Last updated: 4/9/2008.
3. States are sorted by State codes.
4. EV = Electoral Vote.
5. National Poll: There are too many news sources, companies and organization with national polling data. It is unrealistic to list them all. There is no preference in one way or another. I just look at many polling data as I can and used my personal judgment as well.

Color Codes:
D = Solid Democrat State
LD = Leaning Democrat State
R = Solid GOP State
LR = Leaning GOP State
TU = Toss-Up State

A Look at the Last 5 US General Elections
State	EV(4)	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008 DEM	2008 LD	2008 GOP	2008 LR
AK	3	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	3	-
AL	9	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	9	-
AR	6	R	D	D	R	R	-	-	-	6
AZ	10	R	R	D	R	R	-	-	10	-
CA	55	R	D	D	D	D	55	-	-	-
CO	9	R	D	R	R	R	0	0	0	0
CT	7	R	D	D	D	D	7	-	-	-
DC	3	D	D	D	D	D	3	-	-	-
DE	3	R	D	D	D	D	3	-	-	-
FL	27	R	R	D	R	R	-	-	-	27
GA	15	R	D	R	R	R	-	-	-	15
HI	4	D	D	D	D	D	4	-	-	-
IA	7	D	D	D	D	R	0	0	0	0
ID	4	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	4	-
IL	21	R	D	D	D	D	21	-	-	-
IN	11	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	11	-
KS	6	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	6	-
KY	8	R	D	D	R	R	-	-	8	-
LA	9	R	D	D	R	R	-	-	-	27
MA	12	D	D	D	D	D	12	-	-	-
MD	10	R	D	D	D	D	10	-	-	-
ME	4	R	D	D	D	D	4	-	-	-
MI	17	R	D	D	D	D	0	0	0	0
MN	10	D	D	D	D	D	-	10	-	-
MO	11	R	D	D	R	R	0	0	0	0
MS	6	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	-	6
MT	3	R	D	R	R	R	-	-	-	3
NC	15	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	-	15
ND	3	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	3	-
NE	5	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	5	-
NH	4	R	D	D	R	D	0	0	0	0
NJ	15	R	D	D	D	D	-	15	-	-
NM	5	R	D	D	D	R	0	0	0	0
NV	5	R	D	D	R	R	0	0	0	0
NY	31	D	D	D	D	D	31	-	-	-
OH	20	R	D	D	R	R	0	0	0	0
OK	7	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	7	-
OR	7	D	D	D	D	D	-	7	-	-
PA	21	R	D	D	D	D	0	0	0	0
RI	4	D	D	D	D	D	4	-	-	-
SC	8	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	8	-
SD	3	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	3	-
TN	11	R	D	D	R	R	-	-	11	-
TX	34	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	34	-
UT	5	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	5	-
VA	13	R	R	R	R	R	0	0	0	0
VT	3	R	D	D	D	D	3	-	-	-
WA	11	D	D	D	D	D	11	-	-	-
WI	10	D	D	D	D	D	-	10	-	-
WV	7	D	D	D	R	R	-	-	7	-
WY	3	R	R	R	R	R	-	-	3	-
This is a divider
Empty TD				Dem. Base			168	-	-	-
Empty TD				Leaning Dem.			-	42	-	-
Empty TD				GOP Base			-	-	135	-
Empty TD				Leaning GOP			-	-	-	81
Totals (DEM and LD / GOP and LR)							210		216
Empty TD			Toss-Up States			112	-	-	-	-
Last Updated: 04/09/2008 - 10:40 PM