From a Ryan Villopoto interview with RacerX magazine.
Villopoto was last years Supercross Lites champion.
Who are you going to vote for? Do you vote?
"I’ve never voted. It doesn’t matter who runs the country, it’s still going
to be jacked up."
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Dropping Like Flies
Edwards- OUT!
Giuliani- OUT!
Thompson- OUT!
Wouldn't it be cool if they all dropped out. If no one ran for president what would happen?
And what will happen if it does come down to Clinton and McCain two people who polarize even their own parties.
From the site filibustercartoons.com
Almost all countries in the world with an executive, decision-making president allow the voters to elect him or her directly, in an open, nation-wide election. This happens in the US as well, of course, but the American system is distinct because of the presence of the United States Electoral College.
The American electoral college is the closest thing to an American parliament, in the sense that it selects the head of government in a similar manner in which most parliaments select their nation's prime minister. Each state elects a certain number of members to the College, and the members assemble and collectively vote to choose the President of the United States. Of course, nowadays this is just a huge formality. They no longer even put the names of Electoral College candidates on the US ballots anymore. Americans just vote for their president, and the party whose candidate gets the most votes sends some figurehead delegates to symbolically cast their votes for the same person.
What makes the College controversial is the fact that there is always a narrow possibility that the formalities do not go quite as planned. Because the electoral college is a "first-past-the-post" state-based representative body it is possible for a candidate to win more seats despite winning a minority of the popular vote. This is what happened in the 2000 election, when George W. Bush won the most seats but Al Gore got more of the popular vote.
Anyway, the point is, no other country with a directly elected president has to go through such shenanigans. In countries like France, Finland, Ireland, and all of South America, the president is chosen solely on the basis of whoever wins the largest percentage of the popular vote, with no middleman.
The closest equivalent occurs in some countries with figurehead presidents, like India, Germany, and Israel. In those cases the presidents are elected by the national parliament (sometimes along with state legislatures). But since their presidents are largely powerless nobodies, this is not of much practical relevance to the government.
Giuliani- OUT!
Thompson- OUT!
Wouldn't it be cool if they all dropped out. If no one ran for president what would happen?
And what will happen if it does come down to Clinton and McCain two people who polarize even their own parties.
From the site filibustercartoons.com
Almost all countries in the world with an executive, decision-making president allow the voters to elect him or her directly, in an open, nation-wide election. This happens in the US as well, of course, but the American system is distinct because of the presence of the United States Electoral College.
The American electoral college is the closest thing to an American parliament, in the sense that it selects the head of government in a similar manner in which most parliaments select their nation's prime minister. Each state elects a certain number of members to the College, and the members assemble and collectively vote to choose the President of the United States. Of course, nowadays this is just a huge formality. They no longer even put the names of Electoral College candidates on the US ballots anymore. Americans just vote for their president, and the party whose candidate gets the most votes sends some figurehead delegates to symbolically cast their votes for the same person.
What makes the College controversial is the fact that there is always a narrow possibility that the formalities do not go quite as planned. Because the electoral college is a "first-past-the-post" state-based representative body it is possible for a candidate to win more seats despite winning a minority of the popular vote. This is what happened in the 2000 election, when George W. Bush won the most seats but Al Gore got more of the popular vote.
Anyway, the point is, no other country with a directly elected president has to go through such shenanigans. In countries like France, Finland, Ireland, and all of South America, the president is chosen solely on the basis of whoever wins the largest percentage of the popular vote, with no middleman.
The closest equivalent occurs in some countries with figurehead presidents, like India, Germany, and Israel. In those cases the presidents are elected by the national parliament (sometimes along with state legislatures). But since their presidents are largely powerless nobodies, this is not of much practical relevance to the government.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Hacking Democracy
Electronic voting machines count about 87% of the votes cast in America today. But are they reliable? Are they safe from tampering? From a current congressional hearing to persistent media reports that suggest misuse of data and even outright fraud, concerns over the integrity of electronic voting are growing by the day. And if the voting process is not secure, neither is America's democracy. The timely, cautionary documentary HACKING DEMOCRACY exposes gaping holes in the security of America's electronic voting system.
PART ONE of NINE
PART ONE of NINE
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Take Me To Your Leader
We are living in an artificially induced state of consciousness that resembles sleep. The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent.
They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices ...their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness.
We have been lulled into a trance.
They have made us indifferent, to ourselves, to others, we are focused only on our own gain. They are safe as long as they are not discovered ...that is their primary method of survival. Keep us asleep, keep us selfish, keep us sedated...they are dismantling the sleeping middle class.
More and more people are becoming poor. We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery."
Friday, January 4, 2008
Iowa
So I guess we can see why the candidates focus so much on Iowa. I don't think you could have a more divided state. How do you have the numbers of people who would vote so that on one side Huckabee wins and the other Obama wins?
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Buy My Vote. Please.
So I guess this statement doesn't really stand anymore:
..."and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
An unprecedented swell of money is flooding into Iowa for tomorrow's caucuses, with campaigns on track to spend roughly $50 million - a record-setting figure that doubles the staggering per-vote amount billionaire Mayor Bloomberg shelled out in 2005.
The shocking expenditures: about $200 per vote for each of the roughly 250,000 caucus-goers expected to turn out.
..."and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
An unprecedented swell of money is flooding into Iowa for tomorrow's caucuses, with campaigns on track to spend roughly $50 million - a record-setting figure that doubles the staggering per-vote amount billionaire Mayor Bloomberg shelled out in 2005.
The shocking expenditures: about $200 per vote for each of the roughly 250,000 caucus-goers expected to turn out.
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