Posts by Paul Campbell
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The electoral college made sense pre-telegraph where the logistics of electing a national president in such a large country involved taking the ballot results to a central location - electing people to represent you to do that made a lot of sense - these days CNN wants results within hours of the polls closing
I think that the main reason why the big states wont move to proportional representation is because of the effect that would have on the dominant party in their state - for example in California there's been a push from the Republicans to change - because they would win the most (close to half of Ca's electoral votes in a state that hasn't voted for them in years) - while the Democrats who have tended to dominate both the state govt (where the change would have to come from) and the state presidential vote would have the most to lose .... if you're winning a state and in control you don;t want change here, it's not in your interest
It's more an issue of "how can we get them all to change at once" - if they could do that then they would get more buy in .... problem is that Americans seem to b e very conservative with their electoral system - the status quo is very much entrenched in people's minds
A few years ago there was a push for a solution to the "change all at once" problem where some big state people proposed local changes that do along the lines of "if our state plus enough other states to hold a majority of the electoral college then we will appoint our states electors to represent the winner of the national vote" which solves the change problem because local representation doesn't change until enough states are in the pot and it avoids the small states for whom this would reduce their representation (someone in Wyoming, as you say, gets a much larger representation that in CA).
The up sides? all states are in play, presidential candidates have to pay attention to ALL states, not just the few that might change
The down side? well think of Florida, 2000 spread across every state, city and ballot box in the country .... and think of the money they'd have to spend to advertise in the larger media markets - they don't spend much in CA, or NY or TX these days because we already know where those states will vote
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sigh - I miss nights - I'm a night-time hacker - my best work has always done in the quiet focused intensity of 2am
I've been living/working on US pacific time the past 4 years which means starting work at 5am NZ in the winter and 7am in the summer - finishing work at midday is fun but I miss night times and the unslept morning blah just doesn't replace it
I nap a lot and switch timezones every weekend which I guess doesn't help
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Workers of the world unite - Support comrade tan!
geez, another quick switch, now he's joined the wobblies ticket ....
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oh and ski jumping can only be done by guys .... perhaps we need to combine these sports - give the jumpers ribbons or something
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hmmm - maybe I could get gold next time just by showing up - what do you think gymnastics or swimming? (I guess we need at least two of us to actually be synchronised)
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I think it's a great idea - can we start by hiring Phil just to keep everyone's numbers clean?
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I disagree - IMHO the response to speech you don't like is not to ban it but to make more speech - tell Destiny (and the rest of the country) that they're full of it - the counter protest was exactly the right way to handle it
Mind you if you really want to get rid of something like BoB that thrives on the publicity it gets probably the best thing to do is not to fan the flames but to starve it of oxygen - ignore it
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Morgan - I'm glad you see the need that SOMETHING MUST BE DONE - I've decided that we must enlist a cabal of aging overweight topless guys who will then tricycle down Queen street - in the process we will scar the national psyche so badly that no one will ever ever again go to Queen street to watch a parade .... just in case
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I just have to wade in on Critical Tits vs. Boobs on Bikes - I've been to Burning Man 6 or 7 times now and never been to Critical Tits (though my wife and 12yr old daughter have been in it) - largely because, like Boobs on Bikes for a guy to actually go a watch/leer at it is, well, rather crass.
The difference of course is that CT is a celebration for those who are in it while BoB is an advertising stunt.
One of these years I'm going to tow a set of bleachers full of grumpy old men around the desert - Critical Pricks will perform loud obnoxious art criticism decalring everything derivative and shallow
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but without cubes how would one get that first stealthy nerf volley off without anyone knowing its source?
you'd just be the guy in the middle of the office with the unloaded gun - a sitting duck