Totally off topic post but hey, couldn't resist :)

[Michel Carleer]

Chris,
For the most part, I do agree with you. However, do you have any reason to believe that the London bureaucrats are any better than the Brussels ones? After all, do you remember "Yes, Prime Minister"?
What I mean is that it is not important the country from which the bureaucrats come from, it is their number and influence that counts. Agreed, the people elected or appointed in the various European institutions still think nation first, but this will change with time. And then will come the time of the federasts.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Michka

[Dr Mordrid]

"As one outside the USA, I often wonder whether the average US citizen realises by how much the USA has become the laughing stock of the civilised world over this affair."

Actually I believe it's an example of the strength of our system during political adversity. Look at what's going on in the Phillipines. At least we don't have mobs burning things in the streets.

Although we do have complex procedures that may not make sense to someone on the outside, those same procedures are what we substitute for in-the-streets revolution in this country.

Sometimes they take time to work their way through to a solution, but it's still the better alternative and lets everyone vent their speens peacefully. Witness the impeachment situation.

In the end there will be a President and no blood will have been spilled except on the editorial pages and late-night talk shows

Dr. Mordrid



[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 30 November 2000).]

[Brian Ellis]

Well, of course, the EU is outrageous. When I was in Switzerland, I subscribed to a weekly standards digest. A few years ago, do you know how many EU directives were in force? 58,000. Probably 100,000 by now. And I'm not just talking about straight bananas and cucumbers. Nearly everything under the sun is regulated by technocrats, the majority of whom have no idea what they are talking about. I have been directly involved in some of them, where it is transparent that the proposed directives are not only based on fallacious arguments, they counter common sense. I could expand on this ad inf.

However, living on this delightful little island which will probably accede to the EU in 2003 or 2004, I realise that the locals haven't a clue what is going to hit them. It will be amusing to see how their current happy-go-lucky ways and their total disregard of law and order, not to mention jobs-for-the-boys (up to third cousins twice-removed), will be licked into shape. I think it will cause an enormous rift between the already-distant political parties and also between them and the Orthodox Church which is traditionally the most powerful political and moralist faction on the island. Fireworks are promised to the fiesta

Of course, this will be assorted with increasing vituperation from the Turks who will be forced more and more to the sidelines by Europe unless they change their way of life, and I very much doubt they will do so.

As for the UN, they are a powerless and even anachronistic sink for public money, as far as peace-keeping is concerned. I don't think there is a single place where there have been blue berets which still doesn't have them, including Cyprus, where they have been since the Turkish invasion of 1974 and totally unable to find any settlement between the factions. This also applies to everywhere else they are deployed. Their only useful purpose is to stop a few of the bullets from being fired - which is good - but they are incapable of finding a peaceful solution to prevent the need for bullets.

As for Chris' comments on the UK, I believe Blair, who is more conservative (and opportunistic) than many of the conservatives is the better choice available at this time, whether pro-European or not. The alternative made his only decent political declaration as a teen-ager. Since then, he has shown himself to be a born loser. However, in recent weeks, Blair has done one excellent thing: he has hammered the last nail into the political coffin of that dragon Thatcher who totally destroyed Britain as a manufacturing nation. As one who started his premiership as a disciple of that wicked woman, his volte face has been remarkable and I can only congratulate him for it.

------------------
Brian (the terrible)

[Dr Mordrid]

The US election, according to the greats;

Ogden Nash:

I regret to admit that all my knowledge is
What I learned at Electoral Colleges,
So tell me please, though I hate to troubya,
Will the winner be Al, or will it be Dubya?

H. W. Longfellow:

Listen, my children, don't dare ignore,
The midnight actions of Bush and Gore
In early November, the year ought-ought,
Hard to believe the mess they wrought.
Two billion bucks of campaign bounty
All came down to Palm Beach County.
What result could have been horrider
Than the situation we found in Florider?

Edgar Allen Poe:

Once upon a campaign dreary, one which left us weak and weary
O'er many a quaint and curious promise of political lore
While we nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a yapping,
As of some votes overlapping, energy-zapping to the core
'Tis a mess here, we all muttered, as the network anchors stuttered,
Stuttered over Bush and Gore.
Could there be another election with such a case of misdirection, yet
fraught with tension to the core? Quoth the ravers, Nevermore.

And now, for the greatest of them all, Dr. Seuss:

I cannot count them in a box
I cannot count them with a fox
I cannot count them by computer
I will not with a Roto-Rooter
I cannot count them card-by-card
I will not 'cause it's way too hard
I cannot count them on my fingers,
I will not while suspicion lingers.
I'll leave the country in a jam
I can't count ballots, Sam-I-Am.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 30 November 2000).]

[This_Idiot]

Doc, once more you have hit the nail on the head ! Nash, Poe - the greats ! But who the hell can come close to Dr Seuss. He got my vote from Green Eggs'n'ham onwards, and I never enjoyed reading to my own kids more than when The Cat in the Hat was the selectd book

[Dr Mordrid]

My feelings exactly. He's of particular utility now that my son Erik is 2.5 yrs and getting into his books.

And then there was the day Erik saw the promo for the new "Grinch" movie. Gawd.....

Jim Carrey IS the Grinch in that flick. Perfect casting.

Dr. Mordrid

[Marijn]

Such a large country, the states... But what an old fashioned method of voting. In the Netherlands we do this electronically, select a name and on a screen you see (very clear) the name of the person, now confirm your vote and you're done. Counting is so easy...

Marijn

[Dr Mordrid]

This is used in many portions of the US, but our election laws ARE in need of updating.

Some states, like Florida, have a different machine in each precinct (abt. 250k persons), not to mention counties. Other places you see nothing but electronics like you discribe. Also the counting methods can change from county to county, which is how we got into this mess to start with.

Oh well, here's hoping the U.S. Supreme Court decides to put the hammer to this mess (and the Florida Supreme Court, who botched it in the first place) once and for all. They have the opportunity and the power, if they choose to use it.

Dr. Mordrid



[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 01 December 2000).]

[Chris B]

I just don´t see what´s wrong with a piece of paper and a pen! Put an X next to the name you wanna vote for, and should you be so stupid that you place your X with the wrong name.... get a new piece of paper!

We´ve been using that system since forever, and never had any problems (voting or counting)

[Dr Mordrid]

The problem with that is that some folks (Palm Beach, etc.) can handle 100 bingo cards but can't handle 1 ballot with 2 pages unless there's a computer and 10 poll workers to hold their hand. Sheesh....

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 01 December 2000).]