Today...

[Arceus]

Jet fuel may not be able to melt steel beams, but...that classroom I was in today might have given it a run for its money. It was absolutely horrible. I'm glad it's my last real class for a while. Now I'm sitting here with the A/C on trying to cool off :P.

[Alg]

On the topic of heat, apparently there is rain in Barstow, but not up here. Nothing like getting less rain than the [bleep]ing desert to make you aware of the drought

[Arceus]

I heard there were water cuts being made in California too :S? Though eventually some actual rain is going to be needed to replenish the supply...

[jasignhagj]

149x more seats per vote for the SNP than UKIP. FPTP is a sham.

[obfuscator]

 

 

Trent's hopefully coming over tonight, then I'm taking him out for lunch tomorrow since I have a day off work. I had to cancel dinner with mum tonight because I thought it'd be awkward making him meet most of my family in such a short time.

Let him meet the family, it's a true test of his commitment.. And it's funny.  :twss:

 

Anyway, what's been happening in my life.. Had to tell someone their sister died, went to a nasty car v motorbike accident whereby the guilty person was a rude woman, went to a firearms incident which turned out to be a suicide, and off for this weekend. Probably gonna take the girlfriend and drive towards central England to do something. And I want to find a Five Guys restaurant..

 

Also it's voting today for the UK, no clue who to vote for yet though. They're all cutting my job except one party.. >_>

 

 

I voted Tory.

 

What's your job and which party won't be cutting it? My guess would be that the Greens are the only ones not to cut it, but given how left wing the Labour Party is on employment - anyone who has been on JSA for a year has to be given a job in the private sector was one of their ideas a while ago, unsure if it made its way into the manifesto - I can't imagine how arcane it has to be for them to cut it. Unless you're like the Sub Manager of Protective Overalls at a hospital or something really out there.

 

he's a cop

[Boris5000]

149x more seats per vote for the SNP than UKIP. FPTP is a sham.

SNP getting more seats than UKIP is not an inherent fault of FPTP, it is unfortunately how the constituencies work out. <50,000 voters in Scotland actually voted for UKIP. 

 

FPTP is still a sham though don't get me wrong. STV /AV would be much better.

[Crocefisso]

FPTP is not a sham, people just don't understand the principle behind it. The media focus on party leaders obscures the fact that we're not voting for a party leader or even necessarily a party, but each constituency sends someone to Parliament and it is Parliament which chooses the PM by expressing the confidence of the house in a certain individual. So how the vote falls within a constituency is, theoretically and realistically, far more important than the national picture. 

 

Meanwhile, what a perfect outcome: Conservative majority which, though narrow, will be bolstered by the de facto collaboration of the DUP and UUP from N Ireland (8 and 2 seats respectively), plus losses for Labour and Ukip and status quo ante for the god awful Greens. Meanwhile, the tribalism of the SNP has only produced a Tory government they were powerless to stop.  =D>

[Boris5000]

FPTP is not a sham, people just don't understand the principle behind it. 

 

*Twists words* So it is a sham if, and only if, you understand why it is a sham?

[Arceus]

 

FPTP is not a sham, people just don't understand the principle behind it. 

 

*Twists words* So it is a sham if, and only if, you understand why it is a sham?

 

Source: every paid programming feature ever!

[jasignhagj]

FPTP is not a sham, people just don't understand the principle behind it. The media focus on party leaders obscures the fact that we're not voting for a party leader or even necessarily a party, but each constituency sends someone to Parliament and it is Parliament which chooses the PM by expressing the confidence of the house in a certain individual. So how the vote falls within a constituency is, theoretically and realistically, far more important than the national picture. 

 

Meanwhile, what a perfect outcome: Conservative majority which, though narrow, will be bolstered by the de facto collaboration of the DUP and UUP from N Ireland (8 and 2 seats respectively), plus losses for Labour and Ukip and status quo ante for the god awful Greens. Meanwhile, the tribalism of the SNP has only produced a Tory government they were powerless to stop.  =D>

 

Even under your premise that the riding matters more than the country as a whole, FPTP is still a failure. If a candidate can win a riding with >30% of the vote, over 70% of the voters in that riding are not represented at all in parliament. I'm a supporter of a form of listless MMP that I could expand on, but STV also achieves representation within a riding and semi-proportional results too (albeit in a far more complicated manner).

[MuffinMaddy]

I did vote Labour but I'm not disappointed with the result.

It would not have affected me a whole lot really, I do hope things improve for the vulnerable but I am scared they will only get worse.

 

The Tories got in in the constituency I live in for uni but for my home constituency, a Labour MP was elected by a landslide.

I do kind of wish I was back home voting, but oh well. I think the Tory guy for the town I go to uni in seemed kinda solid.

 

UKIP got in where my boyfriend is from and it was their only seat, there's a lot of banter regarding that

[Kalphite]

if you haven't had vietnamese food yet you haven't lived

[Boris5000]

if you haven't had vietnamese food yet you haven't lived

I live with a Vietnamese international student and I piggyback off her generosity.

[RpgGamer]

I had no idea I knew so little about UK politics. So many acronyms

[Arceus]

The sad thing is that I probably know more texting abbreviations that British politics acornyms, despite my distaste for the former! :(

[Boris5000]

Well I know very little about American Politics so I don't think you should be ashamed that you don't know British Politics 

[Hedgehog]

I know very little about american politics

[Arceus]

To which I am tempted to comment: the less you know, the better. :P

[Bonez899]

American politics. Two parties, two people. You vote for one or the other based upon which party they represent and their values because of that. One with most votes wins.

 

Beyond that I can only say that each state has nearly as much power within it as the federal system does upon the country.

[Veiva]

American politics is worse than you'd care to know. Rich people champion politicians who grovel as said rich people's feet, get their laws passed regardless of what the general population wants or votes for, repeat. After politicians 'retire,' they end up on boards or otherwise are benefited by said rich people. Parties don't exist except on wedge issues (abortion, gay marriage, drugs). Also, rich people is not limited to those with blood. Personhood applies to corporations.

 

Have a nice day.

[Arceus]

Personhood applies to corporations.

 

That's indeed true, because according to our laws, campaign contributions count as political free speech :v.

[Hedgehog]

I don't have a problem with corporations counting as people. Like idk what the downside of that even is

[Alg]

That's indeed true, because according to our laws, campaign contributions count as political free speech :v.

And are apparently A Good Thing^tm

 

Also as an addendum: our parties' relationships can best be described as a series of temper tantrums where none of the people involved know what they're actually supposed to be working on. The important thing to remember is that none of it is your party's fault.

[Bonez899]

I don't have a problem with corporations counting as people. Like idk what the downside of that even is

The downside is that corporations could care less about global warming or whatever issue you may take to heart. A corporation exists solely for the purpose of making money for its shareholders, which are actually more than likely another corporation.

 

Going back to the global warming thought here, a corporation making a donation as a 'person' to a politician means that they are now 'owed' by the politician. So sometime down the line due to this debt the corporation will get away with dumping toxic waste in a stream, or polluting the air more than allowed. Even more so say a recession hits, all of a sudden GM gets billions in bailouts so it can stay afloat.

 

Good RL example that isn't hypothetical would the the BP oil spill. If I am thinking correctly that had something along the lines of a billion dollars in environmental damage and clean up fees reduced down to something negligible. This is due to corporations counting as 'people' and being able to lobby politicians.

[Arceus]

Not to mention that BP lied to us about the amount of oil leaking from that spill. But hey, they had all those commercials and they kind of sort of looked sincere so maybe we should just write it off. Right?