GeekNights 071108 - Local Politics

Starfox

Tonight on GeekNights we discuss our disillusionment with local politics. In the news, Major League Baseball lays down the DRM, and the FTC is cracking down on the do not call list.

Scott’s Thing - LotR Origami
Rym’s Thing - Disney's old CG


Wtf is up with Scott doing crap during the opener lately?

Paulathon

I'm not from the US, and I don't think you mentioned it. What about voting for local school boards? From outside, it seems like keeping the batshit crazy fundies out of them is a good reason to get yourself to a booth.

...

Chain/duct tape/tie Scott to his spot during the show! And release him after the opener Rym. We need "And I'm Scott" in there.

Either way, that Origami is hot. Really, really awesome, but the characters look weird. To me, since I envision the characters to look like they did in the movies.

Anastius

You could record that.

HMTKSteve

A week before out local election the library hosted a debate between the three mayoral candidates (incumbent and two challengers). It was comedy gold to watch!

The two challengers would go off and say, "the town needs blah, and I am the man to get it done." The current mayor would then respond saying, "I tried to do blah last year but the town council/finance board, shot me down and would not provide the position/money to do it." Yes, every time this happened. It was all I could do to keep from laughing during the debate.

RichLather

So Rym, let me get this straight--after all was said and done in this episode about local politics, and how important it is to try and get involved at those levels, you didn't vote?

I know there are potential mitigating circumstances, but the core still remains.

Scott mentioned his lack of desire to buy a newspaper in order to be better informed about the local elections, since it's my experience that local newspapers will invariably publish voter guides about candidates and issues.

Would the Poughkeepsie Journal's website not have had that information?

Surely that wouldn't have cost anything to check. In fact, I just went there and Beacon is listed under election results. Heck, I can even click on stories and tell you that Steven Gold is your new Democratic mayor.

Rym

So Rym, let me get this straight--after all was said and done in this episode about local politics, and how important it is to try and get involved at those levels, you didn't vote?Oh, we checked.  The issue was that none of the candidates were different from one another in any real way, and all of them were out-of-touch old men who bothered me with autodialers.  Some of them were a little crazy, talking about poisoned drinking water and other made-up problems.
Voting would have had no effect.  Forming an action committee or getting directly involved has a much greater effect.

RichLather

We get the "poisoned drinking water" bit here in Lancaster whenever a fluoridation issue comes up for vote. Lancaster OH has a very conservative, very old population. It's my hope that the large influx of younger folks who largely populate the huge housing development on the northwest side (where Dr. Mrs. Lather and I live) will start to turn the tide.

It's no coincidence that the massive retail development being built (including a Wal-Mart! OMGWTFBBQ!!) is also on the northwest side of town. Naturally, there are all the usual arguments about how it will kill off small business and the downtown area, but what they seem to forget it that there isn't a whole lot of small business to begin with, and the downtown is already halfway to being a ghost town!

I wish you sincere luck and good fortune with the formation of the PAC. I'm beginning to think it's what Lancaster needs too, in part because the Dominion Homes development I mentioned earlier is so large that it has to be split in two with regards to polling places.

Apreche

We get the "poisoned drinking water" bit here in Lancaster whenever a fluoridation issue comes up for vote. Lancaster OH has a very conservative, very old population. It's my hope that the large influx of younger folks who largely populate the huge housing development on the northwest side (where Dr. Mrs. Lather and I live) will start to turn the tide.

I think we made the point in the show, but it's worth making it again. Even if your town is half young people and half old people, the old people will dominate because they have free time. All of the election workers at my polling location were retired old ladies. In our society of minimal vacation, long commutes, and 9 to 5 hours, nobody has time for politics other than retired people, rich people, career politicians, and children. It doesn't help that children are not allowed. Thus, the majority of people, people who create the gross domestic product that everyone in this country lives off of, actually have less representation in government than the minority. This problem is most dramatically demonstrated in Sanctuary.

HMTKSteve

Doesn't New York City have something called the Straphangers Union?

Apreche

Doesn't New York City have something called the Straphangers Union?

Never heard of it. I will research.

RichLather

Straphangers Campaign

There you go. Discuss. I rather liked the "Pokey" and "Schleppie" Awards for worst bus service.