Greg Palast - BBC Documentary
05-28-2008 at 07:50 PM
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#2
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The whole US election system is FUBAR. They have no standardised voting system; in some places they use punch out paper ballots (which of course led to the infamous "hanging chad" problem that screwed up Florida in 2000), and in some places they have electronic voting which can be easily tampered with and is more difficult to use.
If you look at most of the methods used in the past two elections, you'll see that there is an obvious bias towards getting more old white voters (the base of the republican party) to the polls. In 2004 in Ohio, polling stations in minority communities were understaffed and line-ups were very long...some people waited for hours and didn't even get to vote. In Florida that same year, the computerized voting was so confusing that people actually found it difficult to choose which candidate they wanted if they weren't tech savvy and patient enough.
This year in Indiana, an important swing state, legislation was passed that would make voters go through a lengthy and compicated process of registration...which again caters more to retired white people with lots of time on their hands, rather than working-class minorites.
Not to mention the US electoral college system allows a candidate to win by 500 000 votes, yet still not become president (which is what happened with Gore vs. Bush in 2000)
"Model of Democracy" my ass. This year looks like its going to be a close race and I really hope its not too close so that Rove and his buddies in the RNC can swing it their way....
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05-28-2008 at 08:00 PM
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#3
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MacInsiders Founder/Admin
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Wow I never knew those pieces of paper that get punched out (the little circles) were called "Chad" (and the pural is also 'Chad'). Crazy! I'm a hole punched piece of paper! hah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_(paper) |
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05-28-2008 at 08:05 PM
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#4
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There is also a country called Chad.
And a shirt that says "Chad is Rad' and has the geographical drawing on the country drawn behind.
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McMaster Combined Honours Cultural Studies & Critical Theory and Anthropology: 2008
McMaster Honours English with a minor in Indigenous Studies: 2010
Carleton University Masters of Arts in Canadian Studies: 2012 (expected)
We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed in universities, looking uncomfortably into the world we inherit. -- Port Huron Statement
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05-28-2008 at 08:07 PM
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#5
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Ya, I knew about the country  ... but paper punches? lol, come on! Couldn't they come up with some other name for them? I could think of many better 'paper' related names lol |
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05-29-2008 at 08:02 AM
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#6
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Everyone wants your name--nations, paper, people-- embrace it! You're a celebrity! |
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