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[OM] Re: little rant on e-mail politeness

Subject: [OM] Re: little rant on e-mail politeness
From: Jan Steinman <Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:04:39 -0700
> From: Mike <watershed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> As an outsider well versed in Canadian politics (too well) I have to
> challenge that statement. The Canadian electoral system has a few big
> problems of  its own.

I'm not disagreeing, but there's a difference between fraud and  
structural problems. Call me crazy, but I think structural problems  
may be more easily resolved.

For example, some form of proportional representation and multi-voting  
are coming to Canada -- there's just too much support for it. A  
clumsily worded and poorly promoted "Single Transferrable Vote"  
initiative got 58% of the vote recently -- but the Fiberals had made a  
requirement for 60% for passage. People are pretty unhappy about stuff  
like that!

But I don't believe there have been accusations of outright voter  
fraud in Canada recently. Politicians here prefer to steal with a ball- 
point pen than with back room sweetheart deals. That makes it easier  
to bring before the public, except the press is all owned by one  
company that pays off, er, contributes to political campaigns.

Hmmm... mebby the two systems aren't all that different, after all...

> For example Jan Steinman's Riding of N. Saanich
> and the Gulf Islands voted upwards of 70% center-left, left or far  
> left
> and so who should represent him in parliament but a rather right wing
> conservative!

Yea, Gary Lunn won his seat on just 37% of the votes cast -- most of  
those from rich retiree communities near Victoria. Everybody hates him  
here! But the Liberals, Socialists, and Greens can't seem to work  
together to defeat him. I do blame the NDP (Socialists) and Greens in  
this particular case if Lunn gets re-elected, because a Socialist- 
Green (Briony Penn) will be running as a Liberal against him.

I'll tell ya, a multi-party system is so much more entertaining than  
the "tweedle-dee, tweedle-dum" choices you get in the US. ("Let's see,  
am I for the Big Business candidate that also believes in eating  
babies, or the Big Business candidate that is also a member of the  
Mafia...")

Requisite Oly content: I didn't touch my camera today, although I  
glanced at it several times as I walked by the table it's sitting on.


:::: I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims, did not have  
weapons of mass destruction. I told the world, contrary to your  
claims, that Iraq had no connection to Al Qaeda. I told the world,  
contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to the atrocity  
on 9/11, 2001. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that the  
Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of their  
country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the  
end but merely the end of the beginning. Senator [Norm Coleman, R-MN],  
in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you  
turned out to be wrong, and 100,000 people paid with their lives;  
1,600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of  
lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack  
of lies. -- George Galloway, UK Member of Parliament ::::

:::: Jan Steinman http://www.EcoReality.org ::::




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