Today’s topic: what I think about politics, arranged as a list of random items.

1. Political Apathy

I am currently sitting next to a friend who tells me that she feels she is unable to make an informed decision regarding tomorrow’s election, so therefore she is voluntarily foregoing her civic right.  I would like to know what information is required for the decision, other than the candidates’ policies, which are readily available on their respective websites.  For example:  I believe in universal health care, an aversion to wars, expansion of civil rights, and strict environmental protection.  Therefore, I have already voted (via absentee ballot) for Barack Obama.

The general consensus is that those who don’t vote are not generally to be allowed to complain about the government they refused to help select.  I don’t think we should be legally required to vote, but I think slightly more than 50% voter turnout is not a way to successfully run a democracy.  In particular, despite the general political enthusiasm on college campuses (not including mine, incidentally), voter turnout is alarmingly low (anyone have any figures?  google failed me).  To remedy this problem, I have a proposal.  Call it the Panico Amenment:  if you vote on election day, you recieve a ticket good for one drink, to be billed to the federal government and used at the venue of your choice.  This drink could serve to either celebrate a victory or console a loss.  Plus, the nation’s bars recieve a surge of business on election day!  It’s a win-win!

2. Relevant Information

I don’t care who Barack Obama has met or served on a school board with.  He is his own person.  I don’t care of Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.  She holds her own views.  I care what these people believe, and what they plan to do in office.  That is all.

3. The Environment

It bugs me that neither of the major candidates have extensive environmental policies.  I would like to see an expansion of the National Park system, and extremely strict regulations put into place so we don’t destroy our beautiful wilderness areas.  Also, I would like to see us reach out to developing nations and help them to reduce their environmentally harmful practices, for the good of us all.

4. Religion

Obama’s response to accusations that he is a Muslim should have been:  “No, I am not a Muslim, but there is nothing wrong with being one.“  John McCain got this one right.  Story.

5. Nationalism

We are not unconditionally the best country in the world.  We are bullies, and disliked by many other nations.  National pride is not a bad thing, but let’s keep it reasonable.  We should have to earn our sense of pride through good actions by our nation.

But I’m missing the point.  Here it is:  does age really matter?  With the life expectancy growing like a magic beanstalk (it was 77.8 in 2005), couldn’t he do it as well as anyone else?  Am I being unjustly critical?

Let’s look at some more important facts.  The lives of American youth and the businesses of everyone now revolve around the personal computer and the Internet.  When the Apple II was released in 1977, John McCain was 41.  Obama was 5. When asked what operating system he used, McCain couldn’t answer.  He said “I leave those kinds of things to my wife.”

The internet is our #1 tool in catching terrorist groups.  What’s going to happen if our commander-in-chief doesn’t use a computer?  How is he going to deal with new national issues like net neutrality and digital piracy?  Personally, I’d like to see him field some questions on these issues.

Well, I don’t really have a great way to end this post except to thank thingsyoungerthanmccain.com for its information.  That’s all, folks!

• Cliché blog titles
• Things to do in the 10 minutes before it’s time to leave for class
• Mini-economies (linden dollars, meal points, and other types of monopoly money).
• Why oregon trail is the greatest pc game ever made.

Feel free to comment on your favorite!

Memo: Bush’s power trumps laws on torture. (CNN.com)

Apparently, the Bush administration decided back in 2003 that the President’s supreme wartime powers could supersede national and international law.

The 81-page memo was almost entirely about ways to skirt legal troubles for those caught torturing prisoners. One quote stood out especially for me:

What!? Bush has the power to decide which UN laws apply to America? Excuse me, but I seem to recall something in the constitution about this. Oh yeah, this:

So, apparently, it’s perfectly within Bush’s authority to completely ignore the constitution whenever he wants. Oh well, this election farce was fun while it lasted.

Tags: politics

On March 29, 2008, as many people as can be contacted will turn off all non-essential power from 8:00 – 9:00 PM, their local time. This event is being sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (the cool environmental group with the panda mascot). This happened in Australia sometime this morning, and apparently was a huge hit. They ended the event with government-sponsored fireworks in Sydney.

To support the event, Google turned their homepage black:

Funny thing is, according to some studies, LCD screens actually use slightly more energy to display black. Oops! (Side note: someone wants to keep google like this: Blackle)

According to wikipedia, the energy saved during this hour is between 2% and 10% of the normal electricity usage. Of course, this data is based on Sydney’s past celebrations – this is the first year the event has gone global.

I like this idea. I think it’s cool that a group can orchestrate such a global response for an environmental cause. I’d really like to see the extent of participation, and, more importantly, the impact on world energy consumption.

However, I have some reservations. Events like this are increasing rapidly (don’t buy gas on this day, don’t buy gas from these companies, etc.), but they always seem to be a lot more symbolic than practical. It’s great that we can mobilize millions of like-minded people at once, so let’s try mobilizing them to do something that actually has a reasonable impact.

On a similar note, researchers just proved that corn-based ethanol actually hurts the environment more than it helps it from cleaner burning, due to all the forests that had to be clear-cut to grow corn. I think there’s still merit to killing our oil dependence so our society doesn’t implode, but we shouldn’t stop looking for new fuels so our planet doesn’t implode.

So, I leave you with two questions: what will you be doing this earth hour, and how do you think we could mobilize the green population to more effect? I will be attending a comedy show.

Tags: environment

I realize I have come to this subject rather late in the game, but I have perused the interblag, and I have compiled the following list of pros and cons to expanding this into the general vernacular:

Pros:

• We don’t have to say “he or she” every time we’re unsure about a single third person. This matters more for New Yorkers than the rest of the country, but as a New Yorker, I’m putting it in here.
• Grassroots grammar is cool.

Cons:

• “Yo” is also used as: a) a general exclamation, and b) a shortened version of “your.” This much use of one syllable will give it a serious ego trip.
• “Yo” is already the Spanish first-person pronoun. With America’s Spanish-speaking population growing like a radioactive Chia Pet, this is sure to cause confusion.
• This could just be a regional thing. In Pittsburgh, one uses the word “Yinz” as a plural second-person pronoun (like “y’all”).

In the end, however, I actually think this debate is quite academic only, because the plural “they” seems to have completed the takeover, just as the plural “you” replaced the singular informal “thou” so long ago. So, basically, my first blog post is useless. Welcome abord!

Tags: grammar