Once again, I am relieved that I live in a country where voting is compulsory. As it should be.
The Big Picture: One Day in November
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You obviously don't know how lobbying works. Big businesses "donate" large sums of money to a certain presidential candidate (among other politicians they have in their pockets). More money means a better campaign with more media coverage. So it doesn't matter who wins because politicians in power are already being payed by the big business owners. What politicians do and how they do it depends on the agenda of the ones paying for his campaign, reelection etc.erttheking said:
Look at that stupid git Newt Gingrich. He's out of the race now but that's irrelevant. One of his biggest campaign contributors is NRA (The National Rifle Association). NRA's goal is to sell more weapons because it's good for business. War is also good for business because it means more government contracts with gun manufacturers. And look at Newt's view on weapons and wars. He thinks that the country would be a lot safer if EVERYONE had a gun. Not only that, but he even went as far as to say that the entire world should have guns. This kind of crap is coming from a guy who think that nuclear weapons make the world a more dangerous place. A guy who wants to go to war with Iran because of some imaginary nuclear weapons. So it's not OK for other countries to own nuclear weapons but it's completely OK for everyone in the world to have a gun. There is a country in the world where almost everyone has a gun. It's called Somalia. And it's further from safe than North is from South.
That's politics for you. Pushing corporate agendas without thinking if what you actually say makes any god damn sense at all. And the worst thing of all are people like you who can't fuckin' see what's right in front of their eyes.
I think at this moment only Half Life 3 could have the potential to do something like this. And that'd only be if Valve announced that it was on sale for one day only, the day right before the election.
I really doubt it'll make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, they've probably chosen the date because it'll be easy to remember due to more mainstream publicity.
I really doubt it'll make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, they've probably chosen the date because it'll be easy to remember due to more mainstream publicity.
Adam Jensen said:
it's not as simple as politicians getting payed to promote certain interests. there is a complex dynamic of the politician's own opinions, the will of the people, and the donatations from lobbyists: newt gets money from the NRA because he believes guns make society safer, and because the people who vote for him believe the same. these people are members of the NRA because they want their viewpoint to prevail. the NRA does this by donating to Newt.
dismissing certain politicians as puppets of lobby groups is very easy, but none of them would be in office if people didn't vote for them. the truth is that even though you may not agree with politicians like Gingrich, they are representing the people.
Could any of you Americans explain to this Dutch person how much of a hassle voting actually is in the states?
Over here, in the city that I live in, it is quite easy and quick (as long as you don't go when people are getting back from work). There are multiple voting locations, you can go to any of them as long as they are in the city, including one at the university which I attend (quite convenient). And voter registration is automatic. Voter turnout is usually around 80% for national elections.
Our cabinet just fell (good riddance I say) and our next elections will be on September the 12th.
Over here, in the city that I live in, it is quite easy and quick (as long as you don't go when people are getting back from work). There are multiple voting locations, you can go to any of them as long as they are in the city, including one at the university which I attend (quite convenient). And voter registration is automatic. Voter turnout is usually around 80% for national elections.
Our cabinet just fell (good riddance I say) and our next elections will be on September the 12th.
I think another poster already put it well, these people represent the people not "the man" Also you're being awfully hostile...but then again IT'S THE LA LE LI LO LU IT'S THE LA LE LI LO LU!Adam Jensen said:
Interesting video, very plausible. I'd definitely drum up extra support for the release of Halo 4, if it meant that Obama doesn't get a second term. He shouldn't have had a first term.
Basically, if people wanted to register to vote, they had to go to the local Bureau of Motor Vehicles building and register there. I ended up registering for the first time when I was 21 when I had to go in an renew my driver's license.
The BMV is one of the slowest places to sign up for things in the US. At the BMV near me, at the time, there could be six people working there and five patrons, then I walk in and it could take me anywhere from one to two hours before I got done in the place. So doing stuff takes forever at the BMV. I would say the typical American sees that as being 55 to 115 minutes too long to wait just to show my ID, input a little info into a computer, sign a document, and then get a printed document saying I'm registered.
::: Now comes the stuff I do know is still in effect:
Every state is broken up into counties, and some states have over a hundred counties. If you move to a new county, you have to re-register to vote so you can vote in that county. If I lived next door to another county, and then I moved a few feet into the neighboring house that is in the next county, I would have to re-register to vote.
In most states, counties are pretty small, so usually if you move to someplace new, chances are you are going to be in a new county and have to re-register.
Now on voting: If you do it the normal way, you have to figure out what public buildings the election areas are in. Now unless you live close by, which most people won't, people are looking at a minimum of driving 5 miles to 10 miles to get to the election place, and in some cases with cities those miles are going to take 30 minutes to an hour to drive. Now, most people don't have the time to take off work to go vote, so they have to go after. So since most people are going after, there will be incredibly long lines, so it can take hours to vote on top of the time to drive there. I remember when I was a kid that my mom came home from work and then left to go vote and she wasn't back for four hours and all she did was drive to the place, vote, and come right back.
Now, lets take college students, and people that can get home to the voting place. When I voted in the last election, this is what I had to do since I was three hours from home at college. I got a form from an office at my college(I think other people can print one off online), I filled out the form with my reason for needing to mail in my vote, then I mailed it off. I then waited for one to two weeks, then I got my form to vote(I voted for McCain, because he was the much lesser evil compared to Obama), then I sealed my ballot in a special envelop, then I put that in another envelop, and then mailed it to wherever it went to be counted. Mail ins usually have to be mailed out at least couple weeks or more in advance of the election.
Basically: Voting in the US is a very long and usually convoluted process. The only way it is going to be easy, is easy for the most patient people that know they are going to live in the same place for many many years to come.
It's been awhile since I registered to vote, so I don't know how it works now, but this is how it went for me:Wieke said:
Basically, if people wanted to register to vote, they had to go to the local Bureau of Motor Vehicles building and register there. I ended up registering for the first time when I was 21 when I had to go in an renew my driver's license.
The BMV is one of the slowest places to sign up for things in the US. At the BMV near me, at the time, there could be six people working there and five patrons, then I walk in and it could take me anywhere from one to two hours before I got done in the place. So doing stuff takes forever at the BMV. I would say the typical American sees that as being 55 to 115 minutes too long to wait just to show my ID, input a little info into a computer, sign a document, and then get a printed document saying I'm registered.
::: Now comes the stuff I do know is still in effect:
Every state is broken up into counties, and some states have over a hundred counties. If you move to a new county, you have to re-register to vote so you can vote in that county. If I lived next door to another county, and then I moved a few feet into the neighboring house that is in the next county, I would have to re-register to vote.
In most states, counties are pretty small, so usually if you move to someplace new, chances are you are going to be in a new county and have to re-register.
Now on voting: If you do it the normal way, you have to figure out what public buildings the election areas are in. Now unless you live close by, which most people won't, people are looking at a minimum of driving 5 miles to 10 miles to get to the election place, and in some cases with cities those miles are going to take 30 minutes to an hour to drive. Now, most people don't have the time to take off work to go vote, so they have to go after. So since most people are going after, there will be incredibly long lines, so it can take hours to vote on top of the time to drive there. I remember when I was a kid that my mom came home from work and then left to go vote and she wasn't back for four hours and all she did was drive to the place, vote, and come right back.
Now, lets take college students, and people that can get home to the voting place. When I voted in the last election, this is what I had to do since I was three hours from home at college. I got a form from an office at my college(I think other people can print one off online), I filled out the form with my reason for needing to mail in my vote, then I mailed it off. I then waited for one to two weeks, then I got my form to vote(I voted for McCain, because he was the much lesser evil compared to Obama), then I sealed my ballot in a special envelop, then I put that in another envelop, and then mailed it to wherever it went to be counted. Mail ins usually have to be mailed out at least couple weeks or more in advance of the election.
Basically: Voting in the US is a very long and usually convoluted process. The only way it is going to be easy, is easy for the most patient people that know they are going to live in the same place for many many years to come.
That would actually be a really cool idea. I have no idea how it could be implemented (not from the US so I don't know the exact details of their in person voting process) but I would be 100% in support of it.Satosuke said:
Voting rates here in Canada are pretty pathetic, especially amongst the young, so anything that could encourage younger voters to actually vote (even if it takes something as silly as a sale price on a game) can't be a bad thing.
The NRA is not about selling guns. It is about protecting the right Americans have to own guns. It is also a non-profit group.Adam Jensen said:
It is also club for gun lovers/owners.
My dad is a member. He was in the US Navy for several years, served on the aircraft carrier Enterprise. He later worked security on a naval base and then worked for a couple decades and is still working with guns for the Navy. He doesn't hunt, but he is all for guns as a means of protection, so that is why he is a member.
It is a organization that supports the right to own weapons for not just protection, but also sport like hunting.
Get your facts straight before spouting stuff like what you said.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association
And all of a sudden I understand the relatively low voter turnout in the states (that and voter-apathy due to living in a, for all intents and purposes, 2 party country).Sonic Doctor said:
Do you have to register to vote once per election or just every time you move? (If so not that dissimilar from what we do here, each time you move (even within a single municipality) you have to inform your local government (which can be done online, yay).)
A minimum of 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 km) to the nearest polling place?! Damn those scale differences between the states and the Netherlands just keep surprising me. Let's run the numbers. The city I live in (Nijmegen) has about 165000 inhabitants and is about 57 km^2 (~22 miles^2) in size, the closest city is Arnhem (~141000 inhabitants) and lies at a distance of about 17 km (~10 miles). During the last elections there were 97 polling places in Nijmegen, about 1.6 per km^2 or about 4.3 per mile^2.
Sounds to me like the states needs a reliable system for voting over the internet. Mmm apparently we used such a thing in 2006 to allow expats to vote in the elections, Rijnland Internet Election System [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rijnland_Internet_Election_System].
Anyone who can't be bothered to wait a few extra hours for a video game probably couldn't have been bothered to do a lot of research to inform their vote. In general, the more voters of that mindset that you take out of the equation, the BETTER the process gets.
That said, I don't like the demographic focus that is at play here, as it will likely benefit one candidate more than another.
That said, I don't like the demographic focus that is at play here, as it will likely benefit one candidate more than another.
... For the record, yeah we do XDDr Jones said:
Halo 4 is part of a confirmed new trilogy. Chances are, we'll get the next in three years (and possibly a Halo 2 anniversary in the mean time).
Now, for the episode: Bob, you just had an entire episode about Halo without needlessly bashing it. That deserves a congratulations. I didn't think you had it in you!
Why the Hell would people think this release date would favour the republicans? Only based on two false assumptions:
-it is the "youth" who mainly play games (even though average age of gamer is mid-30s)
-The "youth" will so reliably vote Democrat above all other factors.
I think the people (old enough to vote) who will camp out all night for Halo 4 and play it all through election day are far morel likely to vote republican. I mean Halo is a simplistic idealistic war-shooter, idolising the military and an inhuman religious-fanatic enemy with a huge focus on a mindless repetitive war shooter.
Microsoft may be a "Big Corporation" but they are Silicon Valley idealists, they have a very strong DEMOCRAT leaning. If there is any conspiracy or group conceit, then it is towards the democrat party or another liberal policy.
"youth vote" is far too broad a demographic. Not EVERY 18-20 year old is going to vote Obama, and those who won't are more likely to vote Republican... I think.
Remember:
-Not EVERY 18-20 year old will be big enough halo-fans to buy and play all launch day
-Of those 18-20 year olds who are big Halo fans, I think a larger proportion vote republican if they vote at all. So it'll hurt republicans more... if anyone.
Mitt Romney's association with Microsoft shouldn't be surprising, he is RICH AS FUCK! And so is Microsoft. Rich knows Rich.
PS: I don't think this is a conspiracy, it is a coincidence. A conspiracy would be indicated if the date was MOVED to remove this obama-favouring move.
Solution to this: MAKE IT EASIER TO VOTE! THAT is how you increase voter turnout, there is not reason to keep voting in the same way as was done 200 years ago, make it electronic. If I can securely transfer thousands of pounds/dollars via internet banking then surely America can devise a way of securely voting online? OR how about this, a voting Weekend. WHY OH BLOODY WHY is voting held on a single Tuesday? Make Voting day a national holiday. That's how you increase turnout.
A game sale may get in the way, but ANYTHING could get in the way. What if there was bad weather, then the elderly may be less likely to leave the house so affect that demographic.
-it is the "youth" who mainly play games (even though average age of gamer is mid-30s)
-The "youth" will so reliably vote Democrat above all other factors.
I think the people (old enough to vote) who will camp out all night for Halo 4 and play it all through election day are far morel likely to vote republican. I mean Halo is a simplistic idealistic war-shooter, idolising the military and an inhuman religious-fanatic enemy with a huge focus on a mindless repetitive war shooter.
Microsoft may be a "Big Corporation" but they are Silicon Valley idealists, they have a very strong DEMOCRAT leaning. If there is any conspiracy or group conceit, then it is towards the democrat party or another liberal policy.
"youth vote" is far too broad a demographic. Not EVERY 18-20 year old is going to vote Obama, and those who won't are more likely to vote Republican... I think.
Remember:
-Not EVERY 18-20 year old will be big enough halo-fans to buy and play all launch day
-Of those 18-20 year olds who are big Halo fans, I think a larger proportion vote republican if they vote at all. So it'll hurt republicans more... if anyone.
Mitt Romney's association with Microsoft shouldn't be surprising, he is RICH AS FUCK! And so is Microsoft. Rich knows Rich.
PS: I don't think this is a conspiracy, it is a coincidence. A conspiracy would be indicated if the date was MOVED to remove this obama-favouring move.
Solution to this: MAKE IT EASIER TO VOTE! THAT is how you increase voter turnout, there is not reason to keep voting in the same way as was done 200 years ago, make it electronic. If I can securely transfer thousands of pounds/dollars via internet banking then surely America can devise a way of securely voting online? OR how about this, a voting Weekend. WHY OH BLOODY WHY is voting held on a single Tuesday? Make Voting day a national holiday. That's how you increase turnout.
A game sale may get in the way, but ANYTHING could get in the way. What if there was bad weather, then the elderly may be less likely to leave the house so affect that demographic.
Hmm, I'm not sure if you are distinguishing between "controlled by lobbyists" and "Limited by political realities".Adam Jensen said:
What you see is Politicians saying they will do things and then they don't.
That isn't because lobbyists controlled them. That is because they made promises they couldn't keep. Wow, politicians do that!
They can't "wake up" from this, you are asking them to turn a blind eye. People aren't "waking up" they are buying into ignorance and denialism. Denying the legal precedents and commitments.
Obama wasn't "controlled by lobbyists" when he didn't shut down the P.O.W. camp in Guantanamo Bay, he was face with the political reality that it WAS a Prisoner Of War camp and not a civilian prison. So he couldn't just unload the prisoners onto civilian courts or to other countries. Realise that terrorists and guerilla fighters captured in this war when they were taken off the plane and realise they were in Guantanamo Bay they whooped and cheered with delight... they'd rather be in US custody that ANYWHERE ELSE! The most inhumane thing Obama could do would have been to give these prisoners to Egypt, Libya or Syria (this was before the Democratic uprisings) or Saudi Arabia or Oman.
Renowned sceptic James Randi said now is a time of great danger, the danger of a new dark age precisely because the internet allows the spread of information. Particularly the allure of false information, nonsense and flawed ideology. The Internet is the biggest contributor to that. It can spread nonsense like politicians need to "Wake up" (turn a blind eye) and do exactly what a misinformed masses want regardless of the actual reality of the situation. Just "give us what we we want even if you know it is wrong".
Just because people can legally light their crotch on fire with axe doesn't mean they should.Baldr said:
And that's where it begins. Obviously they can't vote for themselves, their life would be better if we decide laws for them. Suddenly they fall out the bottom of democracy. A democrocy of other people decided for them. The problem is where do you draw the line. I guarantee someone in the world feels like your choices are so dumb they want to draw that line above you head saying, "you choose so poorly things would be better if you didn't influence any vote." In a true democracy everyone gets to choose no matter how dumb or easily taken in by flashy campaign adds and loud noises. In truth we have the electoral college which was set up so the smart business men could vote and if they win they get all the votes from their state, even from the bumpkins who did not or could not vote, because they know best for everyone.PsychedelicDiamond said: