World Politics

[Supermary]

Voila! Any takers? Hmm....

[Supermary]

Last political post from the World Clocks thread:

Originally Posted by Ciza29

It has been proven statistically that one's vote doesn't matter. However if you can become active and convince others to rally behind your ideas then you have something.

A weekend vote would be better. That way it isn't just senior citizens and unemployed people voting. However, the electoral college can still go against the people's vote.

My comments are in regards to the US system of government. I don't not pretend to understand any other systems of government or actually my own.

The whole electoral college is baffling to everyone, me thinks. It doesn't seem to make much sense at all, and I have heard people saying that it is a rather outdated system and should be abolished. It never bugged me until the whole Bush thing, round I. So why exactly is the electoral college still around? I know what it does and I think I understand the basics of how it works, but I don't get the "why".

Here in Brazil, aside from being on a weekend, civilians are required to work at the booths. You get an official letter and all that at your house telling you that you have to work, and you may be called upon for up to four terms, or none at all, luck of the draw it seems, and if you have a "proper" job, regulated and with your work permit signed and stamped, you have the right to two days off. Are people penalized if they go vote instead of go to work in the morning? One would assume that employers would be understanding if someone missed an hour or two of work to perform their civic duty, as long as they can prove it and don't run off for the whole day unless they are actually working at the polls. We get computerized stubs after we sign in and we have to sign like 3 different forms to prove we were at the poll house. I can whine about how politics work (or don't work) but if I'm not mistaken, Brazil is well known for having one of the most transparent and efficient voting systems. When the whole Bush thing with Florida and the chads and all that happened we used to kid around that lots of things in Brazil sucked but we could at least get through our elections without fear of it being screwy during the count.

[Micky10]

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Ouch!

Oh how Micky hates politics and politicians! It is a generalization, but;

1. Get elected.
2. Get re-elected
3. Get as much of the power and money pie as they can.

Serve the people - what a ****ing joke!

Love - Micky

Tinto I´m calling you now for a cafe at Juan´s -

P.S. - Mary I hope you and G are having a GREAT time!

[Flaco]

Anyone had any problems staying in Colombia during election periods ? During Panama's Noriega elections a gringo I visited choose to be offshore fishing until the election was over.

[Supermary]

Originally Posted by Micky10

P.S. - Mary I hope you and G are having a GREAT time!

We are, thanks!! It is a bit of a drag that he had to work these last couple of days though, but it's been wonderful anyways. He worked the rest of the day after I arrived, Wed, Thurs, and today, and then he is off again till I leave So just keeping myself amused till he gets home.

[Micky10]

Flaco -

The elections here were just last month, something like that, and here in Med there were no problems at all.

Love - Micky

[Tinto]

Originally Posted by Micky

...and here in Med there were no problems at all.

Oh yes there was! I couldn't buy any cervesa on voting day.

[Supermary]

Originally Posted by Tinto

Oh yes there was! I couldn't buy any cervesa on voting day.

Oh gawd you poor thing! How ever did you survive?

That happens here too. You can't buy any drinks on voting day, or the day before, and all the bars and clubs close early.

[HonkyTonk]

We have a Forum dedicated to "Latin American News-Politics-Religion". Political threads should be directly related to what this Board's all about. In the past some political threads have gone off into the wild blue yonder with posts having nothing to do with the theme of GringoTalk.

It's a fine line and I fully understand that some think I'm a spoil sport when I rein 'em in or lock 'em.

How it relates regarding political unrest in LAm during elections, stores opened/closed, the unavailability of alcohol etc. are revelent subjects to talk about.

Tinto, you can get alcohol on election day in some restaurants, especially if they recognize you or your date. In Carbon de Palo/Bogota they wouldn't serve a bottle of wine for a special date and myself. I lightly insisted with a with a and they brought it out in an opaque coffee pot with cups to match. It looked like coffee if the police were to check things out. I'm not saying all restaurants will oblige you, they did in the one case I asked.

BTW: I tipped the waiter $20k pesos on the spot for the wine in addition to a tip for the meal when we were done. No wonder they recognize me and once even offered to have the house band serenada my date at our table with a song of my choice.

It's pretty sad when the waiters recognize you Maybe that's why I've asked for restaurant reports from some Gringos who have posted trip reports. I'm always looking for quaint, romantic off the beaten path restaurants. I try to avoid Parque 93 and Zona Rosa in Bogota.

I'll transfer this to the correct Forum, but let's not turn this into a World Politics debate.

[Ciza29]

I guess they don't want someone voting while they are drunk. It is ok if you are stupid but not drunk.