Early voting is open. I went. there is a vent somewhere because they are doing early voting in my building! (Inviting a lot of people to campus to spread stuff, or catch stuff from the students!! (I got notification yesterday that 3 were just ordered to quarantine from one class! and another is in the hospital, but the hospitalization was not specific, so it could be something else).
The early voting on campus was slow to get in. It took 3 minutes or so for each person to get their Id checked and be admitted. However, once in, there were 10 machines. When I entered, I waited a few minutes for the person in front of me to finish, and then get through my own registration. Then I walked to one of the 4 open ones. I had already printed my ballot and gone through my selections, so I did not take too long. I heard some complain about it taking so long to read all of the ballot initiatives. (Of course, they could have read them before as they are NOT a secret!!)
So when are YOU planning to vote?
I live abroad but still vote in my home state. Amazingly, for people like me the state (which is generally reactionary in its politics) provides an e-ballot. I voted two weeks ago.
Of course, if you look at all the scenarios on 538 about possible outcomes, there's not even one where my state goes for Biden. But I'm a stubborn SOB and voted anyway.
I dropped my mail in ballot off last Monday. You now have me curious to see how on-campus voting is going.
My ballot was deposited in the collection box at the end of my street near the library at 8:10 this AM.
I'm not worried so much about it being stolen or lost, the folks around here are pretty rabid about that stuff...thank goodness.
I'm more worried about the next parts of its journey...will it find enough of its mates to make a difference by the end of the month?
It's those other ballots I'm worrying about, in places where they plot to kidnap governors and set them adrift on large lakes, etc...
Would they do that with sacks of uncounted ballots?
Not your usual election-year worries, you know?
M.
I voted. I had to go to the next town south of here to get to a ballot collection box, half an hour away on a good day. It was worth it not to have to risk the virus to vote in person, and I had other errands to run that day anyway.
I dropped off my ballot yesterday. I wish that would entitle me to no more ads or robocalls...
Local news showed other voting places were packed! City hall was one location and had to call police to keep the social distance as there were too many people there and they didnt have the spacing worked out ahead of time.
another location had several hours wait outside in the sun with near record temperatures!
Im glad I voted on campus and didnt have to wait! However, it was what I had feared in my 'vent' post... that the place would be packed with long lines of potentially contaminated folks breathing in the building and spreading possible illness!
The probability that one's vote will determine the outcome of an election is virtually zero. So why vote?
Makes you feel good! :-)
The choice is between ridiculous and more ridiculous.
I have my ballot, I just need to decide how I'm voting on one of the ballot issues and then drop it off in the drop box. There is very little mystery in the outcome here--I do miss voting in a swing state, though my former state isn't really swinging anymore either (happily).
I dropped my ballot in one of the many official boxes in my city last week. I walked to it, which was nice. I got an email from the city clerk the next day letting me know it was received.
Dropping off mine tomorrow.
Quote from: mahagonny on October 13, 2020, 06:00:57 PM
The choice is between ridiculous and more ridiculous.
The choice is between milquetoast who may get us ever so slightly back on track of not being totally f***ed and a fascist.
Quote from: Bonnie on October 13, 2020, 07:44:16 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 13, 2020, 06:00:57 PM
The choice is between ridiculous and more ridiculous.
The choice is between milquetoast who may get us ever so slightly back on track of not being totally f***ed and a fascist.
No, the choice is between the milquetoast who will make us even worse off because he's so damn weak on defense and international relations and the guy who is failing on other areas that government should do, but is ok on defense that must be done at the federal level.
Ballots were dropped off with the county clerk this morning.
Quote from: polly_mer on October 13, 2020, 08:19:18 PM
Quote from: Bonnie on October 13, 2020, 07:44:16 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 13, 2020, 06:00:57 PM
The choice is between ridiculous and more ridiculous.
The choice is between milquetoast who may get us ever so slightly back on track of not being totally f***ed and a fascist.
No, the choice is between the milquetoast who will make us even worse off because he's so damn weak on defense and international relations and the guy who is failing on other areas that government should do, but is ok on defense that must be done at the federal level.
Ballots were dropped off with the county clerk this morning.
I'm very confused by Trump as ok on defense. Very, very, very confused. His finances alone make him a national security threat.
Quote from: dismalist on October 13, 2020, 05:35:17 PM
The probability that one's vote will determine the outcome of an election is virtually zero. So why vote?
Makes you feel good! :-)
Tell that to the kid who was one point below the cutoff to get into Harvard.
Quote from: Bonnie on October 13, 2020, 08:30:27 PM
Quote from: polly_mer on October 13, 2020, 08:19:18 PM
Quote from: Bonnie on October 13, 2020, 07:44:16 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 13, 2020, 06:00:57 PM
The choice is between ridiculous and more ridiculous.
The choice is between milquetoast who may get us ever so slightly back on track of not being totally f***ed and a fascist.
No, the choice is between the milquetoast who will make us even worse off because he's so damn weak on defense and international relations and the guy who is failing on other areas that government should do, but is ok on defense that must be done at the federal level.
Ballots were dropped off with the county clerk this morning.
I'm very confused by Trump as ok on defense. Very, very, very confused. His finances alone make him a national security threat.
I work in defense and therefore keep a steady eye on international events, priorities for the US military, and known threats as publicly raised by the US State department. Trump's finances as an international business person are not at all a national security threat at the level of what Biden did as vice president nor what Biden supported as policy while he was vice-president nor what Biden has proposed as plans.
Trump's record on supporting areas I'm particularly watching is far, far better than Biden's, but people who only follow the mass media in the US/Canada/UK won't see the necessary information.
How long was Trump's major accomplishment in the Middle East this year in those outlets as a top story? Half a day? A couple hours?
Things that are more alarming, but less accessible to the general public seldom if ever make the mass media.
The actual enemies of the US have terrible human rights records. We're still digging out from bad decisions under the Obama administration where the focus seemed to be on being nice instead of anything that contributes to maintaining defensive advantage in an increasingly unstable world situation where Russia is only one player.
Unlike many government actions that can be ameliorated by states or NGOs, if we fail on defense, then we're all screwed...well, those of us who are at least middle-class in current modern America.
First day of early voting is tomorrow, I will probably go on Friday afternoon.
Quote from: polly_mer on October 14, 2020, 06:29:09 AM
Quote from: Bonnie on October 13, 2020, 08:30:27 PM
Quote from: polly_mer on October 13, 2020, 08:19:18 PM
Quote from: Bonnie on October 13, 2020, 07:44:16 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 13, 2020, 06:00:57 PM
The choice is between ridiculous and more ridiculous.
The choice is between milquetoast who may get us ever so slightly back on track of not being totally f***ed and a fascist.
No, the choice is between the milquetoast who will make us even worse off because he's so damn weak on defense and international relations and the guy who is failing on other areas that government should do, but is ok on defense that must be done at the federal level.
Ballots were dropped off with the county clerk this morning.
I'm very confused by Trump as ok on defense. Very, very, very confused. His finances alone make him a national security threat.
I work in defense and therefore keep a steady eye on international events, priorities for the US military, and known threats as publicly raised by the US State department. Trump's finances as an international business person are not at all a national security threat at the level of what Biden did as vice president nor what Biden supported as policy while he was vice-president nor what Biden has proposed as plans.
Trump's record on supporting areas I'm particularly watching is far, far better than Biden's, but people who only follow the mass media in the US/Canada/UK won't see the necessary information.
How long was Trump's major accomplishment in the Middle East this year in those outlets as a top story? Half a day? A couple hours?
Things that are more alarming, but less accessible to the general public seldom if ever make the mass media.
The actual enemies of the US have terrible human rights records. We're still digging out from bad decisions under the Obama administration where the focus seemed to be on being nice instead of anything that contributes to maintaining defensive advantage in an increasingly unstable world situation where Russia is only one player.
Unlike many government actions that can be ameliorated by states or NGOs, if we fail on defense, then we're all screwed...well, those of us who are at least middle-class in current modern America.
How do some of the issues mentioned here fit into your calculus?
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/14/look-stakes-science-presidential-election
Quote from: Bonnie on October 13, 2020, 07:44:16 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 13, 2020, 06:00:57 PM
The choice is between ridiculous and more ridiculous.
The choice is between milquetoast who may get us ever so slightly back on track of not being totally f***ed and a fascist.
If Trump is a fascist he's one of the most hapless unsuccessful ones the world has ever seen. Should we be expecting him to get it in gear at some point?
I voted a couple of weeks ago, as soon as my absentee ballot arrived.
Trump committed an act of bio-terrorism on himself and many other high level officials. His total irresponsibility on this front, even separate from his other highly questionable behavior, totally disqualify him as a reputable commander-in-chief.
Adding to this is the seriously irresponsible follow-up behavior of him and his minions at rallies, senate hearings, etc.
Thankfully, none became seriously ill that we know of.
Some other defense related issues that are questionable: pulling out of various countries without really discussing with his staff or the other parties involved (or at least publicly stating so), the building of "space force" (not entirely loony, but seems like questionable use of funds)?
As for the peace deals: So what if a couple of rich Emiratis now get to buy some hotels in Tel Aviv? Yes, these deals are better than nothing. But those countries were never a serious threat to Israel, except perhaps via funding of some terrorism at times. Nonetheless, you won't get me arguing that it wasn't a positive development, but not a big deal. Of course, being a Trump deal, I am slightly worried that some corruption may be involved. The next president will have to figure that out.
Quote from: Ruralguy on October 14, 2020, 08:30:38 AM
Trump committed an act of bio-terrorism on himself and many other high level officials.
This may be the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
Quote from: writingprof on October 14, 2020, 11:38:42 AM
Quote from: Ruralguy on October 14, 2020, 08:30:38 AM
Trump committed an act of bio-terrorism on himself and many other high level officials.
This may be the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
You need to browse some other threads here, then.
I'm voting in person on Election Day. There is something about going to the polls in person and exercising your rights that I just don't feel when I mail in a ballot. I'll be masked up and keeping my distance, but I don't expect that many people to actually vote in person so I'm not anticipating a crowd.
I voted last week (via drop box), have gotten confirmation that the county elections board has received and will count my ballot, and I'll be a poll worker on election day.
QuoteI'm voting in person on Election Day. There is something about going to the polls in person and exercising your rights that I just don't feel when I mail in a ballot.
Early voting is not mail in voting.
I voted (in person) yesterday using the same sort of machine that will be used at the regular polling places on election day. I m sure that the very machine I used will be moved to a regular polling place after early voting ends. My precinct is at an elementary school, and they are not doing early voting there, so I voted at the university, (an early voting site, but not a regular polling precinct).
Mail-in is my only "early" option.
Voting early, in person, as clean has done, is exactly what I would choose if it were an option in my state. As it is, I will be going in person on November 3. Our polling place is never crowded, so I'm hoping the same will be true this time. I'll wear mask and gloves.
My daughter and her partner dropped off their ballots at the county election office yesterday. She had the clerk double-check the signature because she was afraid there would be some small discrepancy that would cause them to reject the ballot. But it matched, and she watched as the clerk marked it okay.
We are being encouraged to submit an absentee vote due to the dangerous increase in the infection rate. We ordered our ballots, and I think they arrived late last night and are sitting out in the cluster box ready to be filled out and mailed back. If they're not received in time, we'll go vote in person. I'm not very happy with the voter information and portal, but we will get our votes in and counted.
Voted today. Arrived 30 minutes before polls opened, left 49 minutes after polls opened. Line was much longer when I left than when I arrived.
My county is doing early voting at about half of the polling places that will be open on Election Day. All the polling places will be open the five days before Election Day. Several locations are open Saturday and Sunday this year. Reports are that all the county's polling places have had long lines.
Massachusetts folks-- how many of you who have requested mail-in ballots have gotten theirs yet?
Voted yesterday. Hoping the electorate sends a strong signal that corruption, incompetence, endless misinformation, and racism will get a president ousted from the White House, and glad to contribute from my swing state.
Writingprof-
Maybe I need to work on being more consistently idiotic. Any suggestions?
Seriously though, the President is unhinged and focused on either self-immolation or burning down everything else.
Hopefully, the part of him that would be too embarrassed to lose will avoid the worst such behavior in the next couple of weeks,
but I am not sure if he's capable.
^ Unrelated.
At least the USPS is going to reverse the destructive changes made over the past few months...hope it's not too little, too late...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/14/postal-service-agrees-to-reverse-service-changes-429550
M.
Today. Dropped mail-in ballot into official ballot collection box. No muss, no fuss.
QuoteToday. Dropped mail-in ballot into official ballot collection box. No muss, no fuss.
Same here.
local news is reporting the early voting counts. AFter 3 days of early voting, just under 17%of the local electorate have already cast their ballots!
Anyone else seeing similar statistics from their local news?
Voted today by dropping off a mail-in ballot at the voting commission building
I wonder though about some things.
Why did some people choose to do in-person early voting and stand in line forever like we are voting in a 3rd world country (and also cause a health danger to themselves and others). Is it the sense of community? Because most of the early voters in-person are Biden/Harris supporters who can't wait to vote out Trump and it's like a Biden/Harris rally? On social media, people are posting pictures of themselves in line like they were attending a political rally.
There was no way I was going to stand in line for in-person early voting.
I plan on voting soon (within the next week). I FINALLY received my ballot in the mail. It only took a little over a week. SO received his 4 days after requesting it.
QuoteBecause most of the early voters in-person are Biden/Harris supporters who can't wait to vote out Trump and it's like a Biden/Harris rally?
OR are the Early Voters the Trump voters afraid 'to have their ballots thrown out'?
I believe that the ones in long lines are not aware of the other polling places, or are not able to travel between them easily.
I voted Biden/Harris early in person this morning in FL. Florida early voting started today at 7am and I got there by 8:15. I was worried about long lines, but it looks like my county got ahead of the curve by opening a couple extra large early voting centers. There are now 8 total early voting locations in my county of about 500,000 registered voters.
My county is purple, with slightly more registered Republicans than Democrats. Recently, we have noticed Trump signs only in frankly rural areas. We spent about 15 minutes deriving through the suburbs yesterday and my husband and I bet on how many Trump/Pence signs we would see. He bet 5 and I bet more than 5. We saw zero! As for Biden/Harris signs, we saw only 1. Still, a good sign.
Outside the polling place, I saw zero signs for either Trump or Biden. However, I did see one voter wearing a Biden/Harris face mask. I was actually a little surprised that they let her inside the polling place with it. Technically, I think it should have been disallowed, but maybe someone spoke with her eventually.
They had over 50 polling stations set up and had about 10 volunteers checking people in. I had to wait briefly to check in, but no wait for a polling station. Overall I saw maybe around 40 voters there.
So, everything seems like smooth sailing in my Co. .... so far at least.
Not sure that I will vote this time. I can't make up my mind. The democrats have done such a good job of condoning and enabling the wave of hysteria over supposedly racist police (not borne out by the facts) that if you listen to them you would think white on black racism is our nation's biggest challenge. Which is utterly absurd, yet there are many people who know that who are playing along. More absurd than four more years of Donald Trump as the most powerful person in the world? Not sure. On the one hand, if Donald Trump as POTUS is a bad thing, then ending it for a nutty reason is still a good thing. And with Trump gone, the republican party can begin to reconstruct itself. there are a lot of younger conservatives, and impressive number of them POC, who could begin that important work. OTOH, Biden won't make a better economic recovery than Trump will, and that's what we'll be needing. Hmm...
It used to be I could never have not voted against Trump because he was weakening labor protections via packing the NLRB with a less-labor friendly staff member. I still resent him for that. But in real life, I find liberals more contemptful of labor, irrespective of what laws their candidates support.
If Biden does anything like Obama did with economic recovery, you'll be glad you voted for him.
The cycle of "Republics raid the US government like an ATM for their big-time cronies, while bleating about inflation and scaring the little folks (like my parents), then the Democrats fix it by getting social justice spending to benefit the GNP and turn the economy-ship back on course with a win-win" has been going on for at least a century now.
I was hoodwinked by it as a 19-year-old first-time voter, and voted for Nixon.
I'm surprised you haven't yet seen the light.
M.
Moody's forecast gives Biden's plan quite an edge in job creation: https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-economic-plan-jobs-trump-republicans-democrats-moodys-create-2020-9
And the numbers don't suggest that Trump managed the economy better than Obama, even pre-COVID: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/opinion/trump-obama-economy.html
It sounds like one or two recent posters might concede my point that the supposed epidemic of white on black racism is made up.
Have either of you seen any of the pieces written by young white parents where they say 'I don't want to teach my children that they have innate white supremacist instincts and beliefs lurking in their young minds. It's not right.'
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 08:24:26 AM
The cycle of "Republics raid the US government like an ATM for their big-time cronies, while bleating about inflation and scaring the little folks (like my parents), then the Democrats fix it by getting social justice spending to benefit the GNP and turn the economy-ship back on course with a win-win" has been going on for at least a century now.
I'm surprised you haven't yet seen the light.
M.
Academics may have particular reason to see the social justice fixation as their own gravy train, too. Why I wouldn't see the light is I'm not so much on the train.
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 08:44:08 AM
It sounds like one or two recent posters might concede my point that the supposed epidemic of white on black racism is made up.
Have either of you seen any of the pieces written by young white parents where they say 'I don't want to teach my children that they have innate white supremacist instincts and beliefs lurking in their young minds. It's not right.'
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 08:24:26 AM
The cycle of "Republics raid the US government like an ATM for their big-time cronies, while bleating about inflation and scaring the little folks (like my parents), then the Democrats fix it by getting social justice spending to benefit the GNP and turn the economy-ship back on course with a win-win" has been going on for at least a century now.
I'm surprised you haven't yet seen the light.
M.
Academics may have particular reason to see the social justice fixation as their own gravy train, too. Why I wouldn't see the light is I'm not so much on the train.
Definitely disagree with your point about race, just didn't dig into that facet of your post. Racial injustice is deeply embedded in American history and in the modern American experience.
And "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
Quote from: Sun_Worshiper on October 20, 2020, 09:23:40 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 08:44:08 AM
It sounds like one or two recent posters might concede my point that the supposed epidemic of white on black racism is made up.
Have either of you seen any of the pieces written by young white parents where they say 'I don't want to teach my children that they have innate white supremacist instincts and beliefs lurking in their young minds. It's not right.'
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 08:24:26 AM
The cycle of "Republics raid the US government like an ATM for their big-time cronies, while bleating about inflation and scaring the little folks (like my parents), then the Democrats fix it by getting social justice spending to benefit the GNP and turn the economy-ship back on course with a win-win" has been going on for at least a century now.
I'm surprised you haven't yet seen the light.
M.
Academics may have particular reason to see the social justice fixation as their own gravy train, too. Why I wouldn't see the light is I'm not so much on the train.
Definitely disagree with your point about race, just didn't dig into that facet of your post. Racial injustice is deeply embedded in American history and in the modern American experience.
well then, so are errors in understanding it and even sometimes indifference to those errors.. We are now told that we know for certain that a policeman killed George Floyd because he hates black people. We know nothing of that sort. This is not considered an opinion either.
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
But not so for many academics in our environment.
While the republican and democrat party candidates get the most press, there are 4 candidates for president on my ballot. IF one is unwilling to vote for (or against) one of the major party candidates, the Green and Libertarian parties do have candidates looking for votes.
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
Mine as well; it comes out of my religious schooling and prayer concerns for others.
M.
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 09:45:51 AM
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
Mine as well; it comes out of my religious schooling and prayer concerns for others.
M.
And your economics class, particularly the part about what government does with our money?
Apparently some people have gotten the idea that our library is an early polling station. We just direct them to the actual polling place. Part of the confusion may be due to the fact that one of our local polling places WAS the library--20 years ago.
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 09:44:21 AM
Quote from: Sun_Worshiper on October 20, 2020, 09:23:40 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 08:44:08 AM
It sounds like one or two recent posters might concede my point that the supposed epidemic of white on black racism is made up.
Have either of you seen any of the pieces written by young white parents where they say 'I don't want to teach my children that they have innate white supremacist instincts and beliefs lurking in their young minds. It's not right.'
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 08:24:26 AM
The cycle of "Republics raid the US government like an ATM for their big-time cronies, while bleating about inflation and scaring the little folks (like my parents), then the Democrats fix it by getting social justice spending to benefit the GNP and turn the economy-ship back on course with a win-win" has been going on for at least a century now.
I'm surprised you haven't yet seen the light.
M.
Academics may have particular reason to see the social justice fixation as their own gravy train, too. Why I wouldn't see the light is I'm not so much on the train.
Definitely disagree with your point about race, just didn't dig into that facet of your post. Racial injustice is deeply embedded in American history and in the modern American experience.
well then, so are errors in understanding it and even sometimes indifference to those errors.. We are now told that we know for certain that a policeman killed George Floyd because he hates black people. We know nothing of that sort. This is not considered an opinion either.
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
But not so for many academics in our environment.
I don't know about the bolded - who is telling us these things? Biden? In any case, I'm more concerned about structural racism than trying to get into some individual's head.
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 09:59:45 AM
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 09:45:51 AM
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
Mine as well; it comes out of my religious schooling and prayer concerns for others.
M.
And your economics class, particularly the part about what government does with our money?
Government programs to help minorities may have substantial positive effects on the US economy as a whole: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/the-economic-impact-of-closing-the-racial-wealth-gap?cid=soc-web#
Quote from: Sun_Worshiper on October 20, 2020, 10:09:29 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 09:44:21 AM
Quote from: Sun_Worshiper on October 20, 2020, 09:23:40 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 08:44:08 AM
It sounds like one or two recent posters might concede my point that the supposed epidemic of white on black racism is made up.
Have either of you seen any of the pieces written by young white parents where they say 'I don't want to teach my children that they have innate white supremacist instincts and beliefs lurking in their young minds. It's not right.'
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 08:24:26 AM
The cycle of "Republics raid the US government like an ATM for their big-time cronies, while bleating about inflation and scaring the little folks (like my parents), then the Democrats fix it by getting social justice spending to benefit the GNP and turn the economy-ship back on course with a win-win" has been going on for at least a century now.
I'm surprised you haven't yet seen the light.
M.
Academics may have particular reason to see the social justice fixation as their own gravy train, too. Why I wouldn't see the light is I'm not so much on the train.
Definitely disagree with your point about race, just didn't dig into that facet of your post. Racial injustice is deeply embedded in American history and in the modern American experience.
well then, so are errors in understanding it and even sometimes indifference to those errors.. We are now told that we know for certain that a policeman killed George Floyd because he hates black people. We know nothing of that sort. This is not considered an opinion either.
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
But not so for many academics in our environment.
I don't know about the bolded - who is telling us these things? Biden? In any case, I'm more concerned about structural racism than trying to get into some individual's head.
You're joking, right?
The reverberations from this incident have been immense and worldwide. I can go to my college website anytime and see why they have hired an esteemed authority on racism of all varieties, and how we need to begin teaching anti-racistly (this is a given) to give us a webinar on how recent events compel us to get busy with the work ahead. What is the first sentence in the webpage? 'The recent killings of George Floyd..."
Corporations are getting into similar mania. Workshops on how to detect implicit bias. The name George Floyd will come up in thousands of venues from coast to coast and with it the certainty of racism acting on citizens everywhere.
People with years of solid reputations as professionals getting fired for some utterance in which someone with *a whole lot of perception* finds a racist tinge.
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 09:59:45 AM
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 09:45:51 AM
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
Mine as well; it comes out of my religious schooling and prayer concerns for others.
M.
And your economics class, particularly the part about what government does with our money?
No, actually, from the activist priest into whose diocese I moved in the 1970s, who took soup out to the kids protesting on the commons and let MLK, Jr. and B. Spock hold their debate in the parish hall when the local school turned them down after promising a stadium booking...
They, and the teachers in our Adult Ed/Sunday School programs, were very adamant about the need to hold governments accountable for the use of public funds for the wider public good, as the inverse responsibility to be expected for representational taxation.
Since folks in the burying ground next door (four of whom were enslaved blacks) were a part of the little altercation* on that matter, a few centuries before, and some of them still had descendants sitting in the pews on Sundays, I figured they had some credibility on those matters.
M.
*(two of the aforementioned blacks also fought in that altercation....and I have named all four of them on my tours for the past thirty years.)
ALHS and I voted at the county clerk's office yesterday. Youngest daughter mailed in her ballot a couple of weeks ago, and oldest daughter actually requested a mail-in ballot that arrived last week (this is her first time to ever vote).
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 11:08:09 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 09:59:45 AM
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 09:45:51 AM
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
Mine as well; it comes out of my religious schooling and prayer concerns for others.
M.
And your economics class, particularly the part about what government does with our money?
No, actually, from the activist priest into whose diocese I moved in the 1970s, who took soup out to the kids protesting on the commons and let MLK, Jr. and B. Spock hold their debate in the parish hall when the local school turned them down after promising a stadium booking...
They, and the teachers in our Adult Ed/Sunday School programs, were very adamant about the need to hold governments accountable for the use of public funds for the wider public good, as the inverse responsibility to be expected for representational taxation.
Since folks in the burying ground next door (four of whom were enslaved blacks) were a part of the little altercation* on that matter, a few centuries before, and some of them still had descendants sitting in the pews on Sundays, I figured they had some credibility on those matters.
M.
*(two of the aforementioned blacks also fought in that altercation....and I have named all four of them on my tours for the past thirty years.)
Here is a quick link to current thoughts from the Pope: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/pope-francis-insipring-the-ignatian-solidarity-network/
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 11:08:09 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 09:59:45 AM
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 09:45:51 AM
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
Mine as well; it comes out of my religious schooling and prayer concerns for others.
M.
And your economics class, particularly the part about what government does with our money?
No, actually, from the activist priest into whose diocese I moved in the 1970s, who took soup out to the kids protesting on the commons and let MLK, Jr. and B. Spock hold their debate in the parish hall when the local school turned them down after promising a stadium booking...
They, and the teachers in our Adult Ed/Sunday School programs, were very adamant about the need to hold governments accountable for the use of public funds for the wider public good, as the inverse responsibility to be expected for representational taxation.
Since folks in the burying ground next door (four of whom were enslaved blacks) were a part of the little altercation* on that matter, a few centuries before, and some of them still had descendants sitting in the pews on Sundays, I figured they had some credibility on those matters.
M.
*(two of the aforementioned blacks also fought in that altercation....and I have named all four of them on my tours for the past thirty years.)
We are all like that. We all regret the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, the bad treatment of black Americans, and we weigh in when the situation warrants. It's understood.
Hey, I voted. It was easy. I used the mail, and got a notification from the Registrar of Voters that it was received. Yay!
(Why has this thread morphed so far from where it started? I see the usual suspects who are constantly spouting their political lines in this forum. Enough already. Did you vote? Tell us about it, and then shut up.)
Quote from: brixton on October 20, 2020, 03:56:37 PM
Hey, I voted. It was easy. I used the mail, and got a notification from the Registrar of Voters that it was received. Yay!
(Why has this thread morphed so far from where it started? I see the usual suspects who are constantly spouting their political lines in this forum. Enough already. Did you vote? Tell us about it, and then shut up.)
In my case, I could have voted by now but can't decide, so I explained why. Big mistake.
I won't be voting. It's been 20 years. Not missing anything.
Quote from: brixton on October 20, 2020, 03:56:37 PM
Hey, I voted. It was easy. I used the mail, and got a notification from the Registrar of Voters that it was received. Yay!
We are planning to vote by mail, too. I was curious about whether your notification of it being received also said it was accepted? I have heard about some mail-in ballots not being accepted if they have some issue or other, and I know states differ, but I would be interested to know more about the notification.
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 10:30:26 AM
Quote from: Sun_Worshiper on October 20, 2020, 10:09:29 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 09:44:21 AM
Quote from: Sun_Worshiper on October 20, 2020, 09:23:40 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 20, 2020, 08:44:08 AM
It sounds like one or two recent posters might concede my point that the supposed epidemic of white on black racism is made up.
Have either of you seen any of the pieces written by young white parents where they say 'I don't want to teach my children that they have innate white supremacist instincts and beliefs lurking in their young minds. It's not right.'
Quote from: mamselle on October 20, 2020, 08:24:26 AM
The cycle of "Republics raid the US government like an ATM for their big-time cronies, while bleating about inflation and scaring the little folks (like my parents), then the Democrats fix it by getting social justice spending to benefit the GNP and turn the economy-ship back on course with a win-win" has been going on for at least a century now.
I'm surprised you haven't yet seen the light.
M.
Academics may have particular reason to see the social justice fixation as their own gravy train, too. Why I wouldn't see the light is I'm not so much on the train.
Definitely disagree with your point about race, just didn't dig into that facet of your post. Racial injustice is deeply embedded in American history and in the modern American experience.
well then, so are errors in understanding it and even sometimes indifference to those errors.. We are now told that we know for certain that a policeman killed George Floyd because he hates black people. We know nothing of that sort. This is not considered an opinion either.
QuoteAnd "social justice fixation" is irrelevant to my academic career.
But not so for many academics in our environment.
I don't know about the bolded - who is telling us these things? Biden? In any case, I'm more concerned about structural racism than trying to get into some individual's head.
You're joking, right?
The reverberations from this incident have been immense and worldwide. I can go to my college website anytime and see why they have hired an esteemed authority on racism of all varieties, and how we need to begin teaching anti-racistly (this is a given) to give us a webinar on how recent events compel us to get busy with the work ahead. What is the first sentence in the webpage? 'The recent killings of George Floyd..."
Corporations are getting into similar mania. Workshops on how to detect implicit bias. The name George Floyd will come up in thousands of venues from coast to coast and with it the certainty of racism acting on citizens everywhere.
People with years of solid reputations as professionals getting fired for some utterance in which someone with *a whole lot of perception* finds a racist tinge.
Maybe try decaf?... just kidding.
To your points: (1) The incident is indicative of a bigger structural problem, which is why it has sparked such outcry and also why people use it as a symbol of structural racism in society. (2) I'm not sure why being anti-racist is a bad thing, or why anyone should be opposed to detecting and rooting out out implicit bias. (3) Things can go too far, especially in the social media realm, but how many people have really lost their jobs over benign comments that someone finds offensive? I can think of a few incidents like this, but really very few.
^ Unrelated.
I didn't know my state had a "Ballot Tracker" but I just looked it up and mine has been received and accepted.
So there's that done.
M.
Voted today, early in-person. Took about 15 minutes.
I voted by mail in my provincial election yesterday.
My partner will be voting electronically (!) in your election shortly.
Absentee ballots were sent and have been confirmed received.
Quote from: ergative on October 22, 2020, 05:42:34 AM
Absentee ballots were sent and have been confirmed received.
Mine too were delivered (drop-off) and Accepted.
Sent off my vote today, absentee ballot.
We dropped off our ballots today. I plan to check in a few days to make sure they were accepted.
Quote from: ab_grp on October 20, 2020, 04:30:53 PM
Quote from: brixton on October 20, 2020, 03:56:37 PM
Hey, I voted. It was easy. I used the mail, and got a notification from the Registrar of Voters that it was received. Yay!
We are planning to vote by mail, too. I was curious about whether your notification of it being received also said it was accepted? I have heard about some mail-in ballots not being accepted if they have some issue or other, and I know states differ, but I would be interested to know more about the notification.
My state has something that looks like a completion of a complex task bar with several weigh-stations. There is a station for when it reaches the post office, one for when it is received by the voting office and one for when it has been accepted and counted.
Quote from: brixton on October 23, 2020, 09:58:51 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on October 20, 2020, 04:30:53 PM
Quote from: brixton on October 20, 2020, 03:56:37 PM
Hey, I voted. It was easy. I used the mail, and got a notification from the Registrar of Voters that it was received. Yay!
We are planning to vote by mail, too. I was curious about whether your notification of it being received also said it was accepted? I have heard about some mail-in ballots not being accepted if they have some issue or other, and I know states differ, but I would be interested to know more about the notification.
My state has something that looks like a completion of a complex task bar with several weigh-stations. There is a station for when it reaches the post office, one for when it is received by the voting office and one for when it has been accepted and counted.
Thanks! I appreciate the information.
My ballot was accepted when I looked this morning. Now I'm going to try to tune off of election stuff for the next couple of weeks to preserve my sanity.
Wednesday morning!
Quote from: lightning on October 17, 2020, 02:18:30 PM
Why did some people choose to do in-person early voting and stand in line forever like we are voting in a 3rd world country (and also cause a health danger to themselves and others). Is it the sense of community? Because most of the early voters in-person are Biden/Harris supporters who can't wait to vote out Trump and it's like a Biden/Harris rally? On social media, people are posting pictures of themselves in line like they were attending a political rally.
In some places, people's options are to stand in line or to mail in a ballot. (I am not even sure that all states are allowing people to vote by mail because of COVID, but I'm at least guessing this is the case.) Not all places have a system that lets people track mailed-in ballots, and some may be concerned that their ballot will not be received in time. Some also may have applied for absentee ballots but not received them in a timely fashion and decided to vote in person instead.
Well, we just put our ballots in the mail. It only took watching the state Secretary of State's how-to video 23 more times and practicing signing my name 148 times. I'll keep an eye on the tracker, but they should be on their way. If only voting would stop all the election-related mail keeps flooding in.
Both of our ballots have been accepted!
Early in-person voting yesterday afternoon. Took less than an hour (literally 1 minute less) all told, from the time I got in the socially-distanced line that stretched almost entirely around the large block of buildings, until I had exited after completing the process. Frequent contacts with election officials making sure everyone was masked and separated, and with someone walking around with a placard about what to do if anyone experienced voting difficulties. Freshly sanitized stylus upon entering the building, and plenty of polling place volunteers.
And I had unknowingly managed to park near the door where everyone exited the building! Really much better than the election (2000 or 2004, I don't remember) where I stood in line in the rain for over 4 hours, along with all my neighbors.
Despite our concerns about mail slowness, the ballots we mailed Monday afternoon were received Tuesday. The tracker doesn't say whether they were accepted, and I'm not sure if that will be updated, but I will keep an eye on it.
I've been getting the sense, from the fact that our mail has only been as slow as usual--and no slower--that our local P.O. has more or less ignored or somehow been sheltered from a lot of the nonsense that we've been hearing about elsewhere.
Kudos to whomever is managing that, they already have to contend with a wacky setup in which a locally-mailed object travels from here to the main, nearby, larger town, then is sent by overnight rail to the sorting station in the center of the state, then returned two days later to the local P.O. for delivery.
Friends who live near that sorting station can mail me something and it arrives in a day or two. Anyone else, it takes a week.
Thankfully, nothing is taking any longer, so I think we're good.
But I do worry about those who are not as well-insulated from the Kool-Aid drinkers....
M.
We have a similar mail-routing process, which is why I was surprised our ballots arrived so quickly. Our nearest PO is just about a mile away, the clerk's office is about a mile beyond that, and the main routing PO is many more miles away. Spouse was going to drive all the way out to the main one to try to ensure faster delivery, but we ended up just putting it in the outside collection box at our nearby PO and hoping for the best since we were mailing it before the mail deadline. Some around here have complained about the mail service, but we have been and continue to be pleased with it. I'm glad to be able to avoid going to vote in person given the attitudes around here.
Just did. Straight ticket first time in my life, and I've voted in all Congressional elections since 1972.
Someone dropped off their ballot in our book drop yesterday. Must've missed the official ballot drop box!
My ballot box is right beside the branch library at the 3nd of my dtreet, and that branch has also at times been a polling place.
So it wouldn't surprise me if they get a few errant envelopes as well...
M.
I'm guessing that the type of person that deposits their ballot into a library's book drop, is the same type of person that has not used a library enough to know about book drops. I can probably guess which candidate lost a vote because their supporter was too dumb to know the difference.
Now, now.....
People of good will, and all that.
The post on another thread I just read comes to mind.
We all need to extend grace and forgiveness, even to those we profoundly disagree with.
(As I will strive to recall when I have a shared online mealtime discussion with my two very-differently politically inclined siblings next week).
M.
Quote from: mamselle on October 30, 2020, 05:56:40 PM
Now, now.....
People of good will, and all that.
The post on another thread I just read comes to mind.
We all need to extend grace and forgiveness, even to those we profoundly disagree with.
(As I will strive to recall when I have a shared online mealtime discussion with my two very-differently politically inclined siblings next week).
M.
You are correct. Being clueless about public libraries doesn't mean someone is dumb. But one candidate did not want to continue federal funding for public libraries, and he was lauded for it by his base. I'm guessing his base doesn't care if there are federally-funded public library programs or not. And they are probably the same people that can't tell the difference between a library's book drop and a ballot box. If their vote is lost because of that, they deserve it.
I voted today. Cold, but clear skies. No lines. A total of a few minutes to check in and vote.
Just voted--rather, dropped off my absentee ballot.
Quote from: arcturus on November 03, 2020, 05:03:31 AM
I voted today. Cold, but clear skies. No lines. A total of a few minutes to check in and vote.
I voted at dawn. No lines, but busy. Took under 5 minutes as usual.
About twice as many people had voted there by then as in a typical election year. This volume despite more voters than usual took advantage of early voting or absentee voting.
Dropped off at board of elections yesterday under the watchful eyes of 3 policemen. We've had some noisy demonstrations here in my normally quiet suburb.
I voted Friday. Tramped 20 min. to my early voting site, waited 40 min. in line, and then tramped another 20 min. home—all in a cold, drenching rain. I'm happy that it is mostly sunny here for those voting today.
Didn't vote. So whichever bum turns out the winner, I can complain. So said George Carlin.