A Lesson to Learn about Elections

Voter turnout is at a low. Has been for quite a while. There are a millions speculations as to why this might be, and I will add another.

People are annoyed.

There is a line, when you've asked so many times that a person will say: "You know what? No, I'm not going to go vote. And you know why? Because this is the 324th time you have asked me! This is the 1987th political ad I have seen that has told me nothing! This is the 2349th time I've been pissed off by everyone, Democrat, Republican, and neighbor."

People are tired. They are fed up. And a lot of the blame is due to the over-funding. No one candidate can acknowledge this and be less intrusive. Then they become invisible. The system has to change. People in this country do not trust that their vote even has an impact. Partly because we are all egotistical, and one vote is not about ego. It is about tide. After you vote, you'll never see your vote again. It doesn't have your name on it. You'll never hear, "Because of Paul, the Libertarians won today!" And so there is this false impression that your vote really doesn't matter. Partly because of population; there are so many people that one vote is an infinitesimal portion of the tide. But also, partly, because the system is corrupted. And people can see that.

So, to everyone who decided not to vote I have this to say:

Next time, just vote 3rd party. If you are so disenchanted with the electoral system and process, then simply vote 3rd party.

Imagine this:

Voter turnout, at its highest estimation, is about 65%*.

In a race where one candidate wins 55% to 45% (of the completed votes, seems pretty typical, we'll even leave no votes for another party), means the actual percentages are 35.75% Winner to 29.25% Loser to 35% No one.

If those votes for No one were a vote for the 3rd party, they would have almost won. They would have come in second. And that would have sent a message. But most likely, that 3rd party already had about 1-3% of the votes.

So they would have won.

3rd parties are not so disadvantaged as they seem. If you vote with your conscious. Vote for who you truly believe is the best candidate. Don't follow fear. Or, better yet, don't vote for the rich ass holes who have monoploized the advertising waves for the last 4 months, have filled your email and your physical mail with trash and junk, and phoned your house 78 times.

Well, then the 3rd parties will get all of the votes. The Dems and GOP will each get about 2%.

Wouldn't that be nice?

*http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/11/04/data-deep-dive-voter-turnout-varies-widely-by-state

"Good"

In the United States, when someone asks for something "good", what will they get?

Cheep? Good value, at least? Good set of features?

How often do we thing of: good. Nice. Kind. Considerate. At the very least, not evil.

I went looking for a mobile network, since I haven't had a phone in over a year, and I strive to be moral. But in the US, there don't seem to be network carriers that care. All of those who do are in Britain.

What value is independence if we can't seem to use it well?

The Jefferson County School Board and Politics in the US

The Jefferson County School board should be recalled. All of their decisions have been shrouded in secrecy, even as they claim to be transparent. They are unfit to govern. Announcing one finalist for superintendent is indicative of an ulterior agenda and a disregard for anyone else's ideas, theories, and opinions. They do not have the confidence to even discuss their point.

https://www.change.org/petitions/the-jefferson-county-board-of-education-colorado-we-want-the-jeffco-boe-to-reconsider-the-announcement-of-daniel-mcminimee-as-the-sole-superintendent-finalist-we-request-that-the-board-reexamine-the-candidate-pool-and-announce-3-4-new-finalists-2

The Best of Modern Computer Syncing

Syncing had a dubious start in my circle of friends. We were all worried about our stuff being stuck somewhere in some "cloud". Security and all that. But I experimented and came to rely on it. Now, I use two different computers at different times depending on what I need to do: the desktop is mostly for getting things done; it has my partners art on it and the power to do drawing as she works on being a professional artist and illustrator (doodlepad.com). The laptop is old and shitty and is used when I don't wanna sit at a desk. It can type, and get the Internet (barely), and that's all it needs to do. But it is nice to be able to have whatever I'm working on accessible on whichever computer I happen to be using.

Then UbuntuOne notified that it was closing down. No longer would I be able to use their service.

At the time, I thought, "bummer. But, I guess I'll be able to find something else if they 'aren't able to compete'".

Then I started searching. And discovered that that wasn't the case. SpiderOak is somewhat useful, and basically fills the gap left in the loss of UbuntuOne, but it doesn't sync as quickly. I have a work on my desktop and every time I work on a different computer, my last changes haven't come over. And besides that, it is more time to set up, and doesn't offer as much space.

I am wondering how UbuntuOne wasn't able to compete. I can't find anything even half as good. I will miss it. Ah, me.

Oh well. It's just computers and their drain on my life anyway. Onward and Upward! Who wants to go hiking?

People are Crazy.

The definition of insanity:

Does everyone know that the internet is not a real place? That Facebook.com isn't like a store that you can go inside? There is not, on the internet, much of a limitation on real estate, like there is in a city.

I guess a little while ago the powers-that-be decided that the internet could expand. So some companies hitherto non-existent sprang up to sell domains ending in such things as .electricians and .kansas and .whatever. .democrat was one of the things that popped up.

I don't know about any one else, but the idea that these words are "for sale" has always struck me as an odd thing. Now, there is an infinity of new permutations for sale. To whomever thinks it is a good idea to buy a domain.

Dr. Larry Kawa got it into his educated head that it would be a good idea to buy up as many domains with .democrat on the end that he could think of. Somehow to limit the democrats from buying any? I am not sure. What's to stop anyone from buying 2016.dem instead of 2016.democrat someday? Or 2016.dems? or 2016.net? 2016.america? 2016.wearetheoneswhoareright? There really aren't limitations. If Kawa is buying domains, the only thing this is really doing, as far as I can see, is funneling a bunch of money into the pockets of "Rightside" (who sells the .democrat domains) for doing nothing but being there. All the thousands of domains he buys will be untenable, unfindable in the multilateral internet. Good job, "Rightside" at making a niche market for yourselves. Wish everyone could have such a cushy job. I just wish we has more occupations in this world that actually meant Anything. 

It is bloody pointless. There is no store-front to let anyone know how he really feels (other than than the media attention). But anyone rational will just laugh at the lunacy.