What is currently on your mind?

[Chesterton]

Sounds vaguely familiar. I'll be honest, lately I have been tuning out during my Fraiser binges.

There was a Frasier scene where they were singing the Major-General's Song and the dad didn't know the song and he misheard "the square of the hypotenuse" as "the scary hippopotamus" and he sang that. It was a little funny.

 

[Chesterton]

On the other hand, it also encourages people to think about their vote. There is also a major effort by our (non-political) Electoral Commissions to make sure that everyone has easy access to voting without queueing for hours. We don't try to discourage voters.

How does it encourage people to think?

Incidentally - gerrymandering is virtually unknown here - politicians are not involved in drawing up electorate boundaries .

I agree with you there. The gerrymandering we do here is ridiculous.

We don't press buttons. Voters fill out ballots manually and all counting is manual. There are no 'voting machines' in Australia. In spite of this unofficial results are usually available by 10pm (or earlier) on the day of the vote.

Throw in ranked preferential (ranked choice) voting and you'll find we have a very different approach to voting compared to the US.

OB

I know you don't press buttons, that was just a figure of speech. But I admire that a lot. I've long said we should go back to manual voting here.

 

[Occams Barber]

How does it encourage people to think?

If voting is compulsory you're far more likely to think about it since you don't have the option of ignoring the political process. It also means that political parties don't need to waste effort and money on getting their followers out to vote.

I know you don't press buttons, that was just a figure of speech. But I admire that a lot. I've long said we should go back to manual voting here.

Counting is manual and highly decentralised. Votes are counted at each voting place. There is no risk of interfering with the results by hacking or technical problems etc.

OB

 

[Chesterton]

Counting is manual and highly decentralised. Votes are counted at each voting place. There is no risk of interfering with the results by hacking or technical problems etc.

Yeah, hacking is a big concern, but even before digital technology, when I was young they used these really big, heavy voting machines where you pulled levers. They had to be transported to polling places by trucks. The local politics are largely controlled by Democrats, and wouldn't you know it, the trucks would frequently break down when heading towards majority Republican polling sites, so the voting would take place half a day late and many people did not get to vote. I'm not saying Democrats are cheaters, I'm just sayin'.

 

[timothyu]

After reading this article it occurred to me our expanding universe could just be divine flatulence.

James Webb telescope confirms there is something seriously wrong with our understanding of the universe

Depending on where we look, the universe is expanding at different rates. Now, scientists using the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes have confirmed that the observation is not down to a measurement error.

www.livescience.com

 

[timothyu]

"When Jesus come to town, all the working folks around
Believed what he did say
But the bankers and the preachers, they nailed Him on the cross,
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave." ... Woody Guthrie

 

[MehGuy]

Phone battery already dying. Not too surprising.. this time around I went with a cheap smartphone. My last phone lasted like 7 years. This one.. About a year and a half to 2 years.

 

[Paidiske]

Autumn has arrived and suddenly mornings are cold. Not a fan.

 

[Michie]

Autumn has arrived and suddenly mornings are cold. Not a fan.

How cold is cold in your area?

 

[Paidiske]

Not really that cold, compared to parts of America. We've got overnight lows of about 8 degrees Celsius just now (about 45 degrees Fahrenheit). In midwinter we'll get temperatures around freezing, and heavy frosts. But that's enough to make me not keen to get out of bed in the morning!

 

[timothyu]

Well thanks for tending to the weather for us as spring gets into gear here

 

[Michie]

Not really that cold, compared to parts of America. We've got overnight lows of about 8 degrees Celsius just now (about 45 degrees Fahrenheit). In midwinter we'll get temperatures around freezing, and heavy frosts. But that's enough to make me not keen to get out of bed in the morning!

Well you are so used to those warm temps, I imagine it does feel very cold to you.

 

[Paidiske]

Well you are so used to those warm temps, I imagine it does feel very cold to you.

I love the warmth, and find the cold physically painful. But that's a personal thing; my husband is enjoying it being cooler!

 

[Michie]

Paid property taxes for the year. Highway robbery imo.

 

[Michie]

I get alarmed when I see someone talking like my sister. Sad but true. It’s funny the things that affect you.

 

[returntosender]

Phone battery already dying. Not too surprising.. this time around I went with a cheap smartphone. My last phone lasted like 7 years. This one.. About a year and a half to 2 years.

Me too

 

[returntosender]

I hope you're right man..

I've even had to break out the winter coat.. anything about 10 degrees is jacket weather for me. I hate walking around with a bulky coat.

You could live here. It's already 100.

 

[Tuur]

If voting is compulsory you're far more likely to think about it since you don't have the option of ignoring the political process. It also means that political parties don't need to waste effort and money on getting their followers out to vote.

Ah, no. You can force someone to cast a ballot but not to take an interest in the process. Someone who otherwise wouldn't vote will simply choose candidates based on name recognition or based on placement on the ballot. The former is why you see the most campaign signs just before voting day on roads voters are most likely to travel to the poll. The latter is why name placement on ballots have come up before.

 

[Tuur]

Front of my mind is repairing a garden hose. Simple repair. Back of my mind is replacing a storm door.

 

[returntosender]

My list is greater, put screws in cart so i can take the garbage out. Find someone to turn the water off on the cooler. Figure out how to do dishes without water. Wash more clothes. Get the clog out of the vacuum hose. Feed the cats but it's too hot. A Yard FULL OF WEEDS. and the list goes on.