In response to Locamama's Is it time for the Electoral College to go? 2. There will be times when the winner of the popular vote will lose the electoral college such as our last election. Your strongest point and I agree that it is a major flaw. The electoral vote messed up a few times. But recounts from a close race would require the recount of every vote in every state, rather than the one in 2000, so you trade one big problem with 50 individual smaller ones. 3. The electoral...
Dorothy : How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain? Scarecrow : I don’t know…But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking…don’t they? - The Wizard of Oz These are some sites I think are useful to separate the meaniful wheat from the partisan chaff. If you know of any others, post them in the comments section and I'll check them out and add them to the list! Snopes.com Lots of myth debunking. An extensive site with lots of urban legends (not just pol...
"I can't believe I actually died for this war." -national motto of The Oppressed Peoples of Blood Gulch Canyon Nation States is a free online game. You control a small country that you can rule as you see fit. You are asked a series of questions about what you want your country to be like at setup. Then you get a short description such as this one of my nation: The Oppressed Peoples of Blood Gulch Canyon "I can't believe I actually died for this war." ...
When I learned that Google Ads saw fit to place an ad for the RNC on some articles of my blog some of the time, I was displeased. But, actually, what better way to teach and inform about the "Compassionate Conservatism agenda", as the ad proudly proclaims? First, let's try and see an example of this compassion. How about in the race against Max Cleland ? He's the one in the wheelchair, with no legs and one arm. He lost them as a company commander during the Vietnam War (he was a vo...
Interactive Electoral Votes Map from some John Edwards site. Just saw a link to this neat map on another forum. Just click on a state to get it to be "blue" or "red". Automatically counts up the votes to see who will win (270 needed). Not sure if every state's electoral vote is accurate but still fun to play with. In this scenario, a massive quake causes California to sink into the ocean after Texas successfully secedes from the union. Also, due to a programming error, the New Yo...
I don't care if it's a lie as long as it's entertaining. -Commoner, Rashômon Previously on Urban Legends are Fun I listed reasons why the "Dear Mr. Clinton" article being sent through email was at least 50% bs. Now another Urban Legend has been posted: The inevitable fall of democracies The article lists several sources and facts that are false. The source for my bitching at their sources? The usually dependable urban legend debunking site, Snopes.com . Fi...
Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul. - the Principal, from Billy Madison I consider an urban legend "anti-knowledge". You take something that sounds amazing bu...
Reservists and citizen-soldiers stand ready, in every free nation, to stand to the colors and die in holocaust, the big war. Reservists and citizen-soldiers remain utterly reluctant to stand and die in anything less...The man who will go where his colors go, without asking, who will fight a phantom foe in jungle and mountain range, without counting, and who will suffer and die in the midst of incredible hardship, without complaint, is still what he has always been, from Imperial Rome to scepter...
Hey out there. Some people out there read a poorly written conspiracy article on some funky conspiracy site that mentions the possibility of remote controlled planes and Mormons and Jews involved in the WTC and get very confused. Now to say with absolute certainty about someone usually leads to the person saying it to looking foolish. But be warned what I am going to say might be offensive to you: if you think 9/11 is a government plot, you're dumb . Really dumb. Drool on yourself dumb. N...
There is a neat article in the New York Times (free registration required) on Jonathan Blattmachr. Apparently he is a superstar lawyer who specializes in finding loopholes in the tax code for the rich. Normally I hate these guys, but at least he speaks out on some of the biggest loopholes. And when he sees something in the code he considers egregious, he speaks up, as he did when he objected to the repeal of the estate tax. The repeal would ''shift the tax burden from the wealthy to ev...
While reading over some Joeuser articles I noticed that there was a surprising lack of support for universal suffrage. In the comments section I listed my opinion that universal suffrage is necessary. I went on a soapbox a couple times and wrote a bit on my beliefs. The social evolution of the United States voting requirements changed through the centuries. Requirements were at first, only white male landowners, then white males, then women and blacks, finally the United States' proud achi...