After a week hiatus where NBC learned that Heroes fans don't like shows set behind the scenes of smalltown football teams any more than shows set behind the scenes of big network comedies, the Studio 60 Recap is back:

Week ? (I've lost track already) - More Mocking of Organized Religion and Drug Laws

SPOILERS BELOW

Completely unaware that no joke has ever started with "A Chinese billionaire, his pop-obsessed daughter, and a network executive walk into a courtroom...", Sorkin starts this episode in media res with guest star John Goodman demonstrating that Southern Redneck is the dialect of choice for small town law enforcement officials everywhere. In flashbacks, the slow-motion shaggy dog story unfolds. It somehow involves the Third (or Second, Yahweh wasn't big on arithmetic back then) Commandment, gay bashing (literally), a shepherd costume, a speeding ticket, a leftover roach, a viola, and a round-the-world west to east trip. It would have been a lot meta-funnier if the controlled substance had been 'shrooms and the basset hound had been a trained truffle digger.

Sorkin gets attacked a lot for not having the 'feel' for a late night sketch show where too many sketches go on too long pointlessly until someone just turns off the camera. Well, he nailed it with this episode, which is actually a "to be continued" two parter, leaving us with a lot of cliffhanger questions like:

Just why did DorkBoy speed through a desert town at 120 mph?
Why wouldn't he?
Will Ed Asner ever retire?
Will Matt and JesusGirl EVER show any chemistry?
Will John Goodman's check clear?
Will Studio 60 be on the air long enough for us to find out?
Will we care?

Gotta go vote early and often. A lot of my Pennsylvania refugee coworkers gave me their voter ID cards for the day. Is it a felony to walk around the polling place carrying a 10,000 gauss magnet?

Alas, I am still looking hard on the ballot for the perfect candidate JA campaigned several days ago.

I cast my first vote in 1980. The polling place was a Continuing Education Center, which was notable for the extensive graffiti that decorated the exterior walls.

Back in those days, the voting machines were strictly mechanical. You had to pull a heavy lever. This sometimes required two hands. In fact, there were several muscular volunteers wearing special blindfolds on hand just to help. I liked those old machines. They made the voting experience seem important. Anything that required so much physical exertion to accomplish just had to be significant.

These finky new-fangled 'lectronic voting machines lack the visceral charm of the older machines. You push a button and a little red light goes on. Big whoop. It's like starting a dishwasher.

Although the physical act of voting nowadays is less strenuous, just getting to the poll is more of a challenge. I do not recall having to run a gauntlet of political activists back in the olden days. It makes me nostalgic for the graffiti.

RDP;

I'd appreciate the voting experience (have you ever been experienced?) a whole lot more if they included the machine that goes "PING!"

That being said, I'll have my headphones on max volume until I actually enter the polling place.

:-)

I really miss the little levers and one-armed crank of the old school curtained booth.

*Repost*
I would like to remind Canadian boodlers not to distract our American friends today. They have very important work to do. They must
Deliver us from evil.

What a crappy start to my morning. I got up and was at my local polling place by 7:00 a.m., having dutifully gone online to figure out where I was supposed to vote. (We moved since the 2004 elections). I got there, handed the woman my driver's license, and was told that I wasn't on the list! My husband was, but I wasn't. I could have SWORN that I filled out the appropriate form when I changed my address on my driver's license. So I get sent over to another woman, who asks for my SS#, and then tells me that I'm not in "the system". WTF? I voted in 2004! And 2000! I wasn't allowed to do any kind of a provisional ballot or sign an affidavit or anything. So I filled out another voter registration form (for the next election) and left.

I was literally crying by the time I got in my car (which my husband found funny). I was furious! I have such strongly held political beliefs, have been looking forward to this election, have DONATED for the campaigns, and now to not be able to vote??

GRRRRRR.

Harold Stassen, ha!

I was the third person in line when the polls opened at my Place of Voting. They've changed they way they send voters to the judges for check-in this year. Previously, election workers/judges checked voters in using big books of computer printouts on greenline paper, and made notations by pen what time a voter checked in. The big books were broken up into alphabetical sections by last name (e.g. A-C, D-G, etc.), and the main queue coming in the door was divided into lines for each of the sections in the voting room (aka the elementary school cafeteria). Some lines (e.g. R-T) were much longer than others, resulting in a bit of a logjam. This year, they have computerized check-in systems where voters go through on a first-come first-served basis. This change seems to have improved the overall throughput, though a couple of the check-in judges seemed to have a little trouble with the technology...

bc

OK, just got off the phone with the Virginia State Bd. of Elections & Arlington County. SBE told me I could vote in Arlington County (where I used to live), Arlington County said I had been made inactive b/c of my address change. So I was made inactive but my voter registration never changed to Falls Church. So I can't vote in either place (at least, not in this election).

It feels more like a Monday than a Tuesday.

I heard an interesting story on NPR this weekend about how the voting location can influence your vote. Most obvious example: people who cast their vote in a school (a study showed) are slightly more likely to vote in favor of a school bond issue.

Some precincts hold voting in churches, as was mentioned last week. What effect would that have on the voters? For early voting, this year, I voted at a library. There's no question I have strong emotional associations with libraries, but how might that affect my vote?

Then there is the new trend for "absentee" voting, that allows you to fill out the ballot while discussing it with family members or watching television (who knows what commercials might come on while you're marking your ballot, and what effect they might have).

I find this all very interesting because it comes back to my favorite subject: we do not know why we do what we do. The fact that we *think* we understand our own motivations is a huge barrier to our ever finding out the truth about them.

I believe my vote is beyond being influenced by anything so ephemeral as the polling place. I always carefully research all the candidates, check their backgrounds, their families, their lists of contributors, and their positions on all the issues. And then I vote the straight Democratic ticket. (I miss the days, that were actually before my time, when you could vote the "straight ticket" by pulling one lever.)

PLS, that sounds very frustrating, we have an election next week (municipal - Mayor, city counsel, regional counsel, school boards). I know I am not on the voters list as we moved in the last two months, but have been told I just have to show ID with my new address and I can vote - we shall see!.

Our manual system of voting, as dr described, quite literally marking an x beside a name seems quite quaint in comparison to your systems. Then again municipal elections aside we only vote for one person on a ballot at a time.

Hum..
The Capitals came back from behind 3-0 to win it 4-3 Monday against the Senators. The Skins come from behind and win an improbable game against America's team Sunday. If I were a betting man I wouldn't hesitate to wager some money on the Wizards if they play tonight. But I really don't get that sport where freakishly tall people run around making squeaky sounds on the court and hurl themselves at a small net. The court should be a lot bigger.

I moved over a year ago - no time issues here. :-) And I was just talking w/ a co-worker who had the same issue in the same state and was allowed to cast a provisional ballot. I have one more idea, to call up the DMV and confirm that I did fill out the form and they screwed up...

Do it, PLS, do it! Wow, how incredibly frustrating. Good luck!

dmd, many cities around here been using an electronic system for municipal elections. It is not really an electronic voting system as much as a reporting system. The voter fills the little square of his/her choice with a lead pencil in front of the candidate/issue and then the 8.5x11 ballot sheet gets scanned by the voting machine. At the end of the day each machine reports its results to the central system by phone or internet lines. The results are usually available within 20 minutes of the polls' closing and yet a paper ballot is still available for review. It has been working fairly well, the only weak point is that all the machines try to talk to the central system at the same time right after the polls are closed. A little software tweaking should easily take care of that for the next cycle in 3 years. Neat system overall I find.

Sliding perilously off topic, sorry boss. The poem In Flanders Field, was written by a Doctor with the Canadian Army. Nice little blurb here.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm

If you ever have a chance to see "King and Empire" a series of documentaries about the Canadian military in WW1, the story is featured in the Ypres story. The documentaries are some of the finest done about Canadian WW1 battelfield experiences.

http://www.kingandempire.com/

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm

Please return to your regularly scheduled boodling.

I shall look closely Shrieking, can't remember if I voted in the last municipal election. My area is one of those where very little changes politically, sleepy suburb without any major issues, traffic aside. My best friend who works in regional government disagrees but she is an accountant and much more detailed oriented than I and deals with the issues on a daily basis.

dr, did you see the links I posted near the end of the previous boodle re WWI?

Still using scan-tron bubble forms in Martinsville--we don't need no stinkin', new-fangled, fancy 'lectronic machines here!

My museum is a polling station (although not mine). Wonder what effect that has on voters?

Mostlylurking, I hope your feet are dry this monring. In fact I hope everything is dry around you. We were watching the BC news last night and they showed some problems south of the border too. Tried to catch the news on the Spokane feed, but I missed that part of the news.

Is the rainfall going to affect the election in your neck of the woods?

My fellow Murikins...I am pleased to report that I was THE very first person in line at my poll this morning, circa 6:52 a.m., and the very first to vote, circa 7:00:45. This means there is some slight statistical possibility (1 in...however many polling places there are) that I was THE very first person in the state of Merlin to vote against Michael Steele (absentee ballots notwithstanding).

It was a proud yet humbling moment. I voted with anger and gusto. I voted with disdain and pesto. I voted with contempt and panache. I wanted to do it a few times more, just to practice my finger-touch on the electronic screen, you understand, but the wouldn't let me.

Joel, I'm willing to be interviewed as the Very First Person to Vote in the State of Merlin. As an extra added redundant free gift bonus, I'm giving away autographed copies of "Singing in the Methane" for $2.98.

On a related note, when I was editor of a certain (small) newspaper in PG County, I used to get press releases from Robin Ficker all the time. Ficker is currently running against Ike Leggett up in Montgomery County, I guess it is (not my turf). After a while, I began to collect these Ficker press releases, rather than throwing them immediately and unceremoniously into the trash, where they properly belonged, because they were funny, and often hyterical and almost always outrageous.

How can I explain this diplomatically, and without getting anyone (like me) sued? Ficker's elevator is stuck between floors; it not only doesn't go all the way to the top, it goes up and down lateral elevator shafts, and into air ducts, wiring chases, steam trunks, and utility corridors no other elevator has ever visited. He is apparently an attorney, but he is best known (and very well known) as "The Heckler," the guy who stood two rows behind the bench of teams playing against the Bullets and screamed at the basketball players.

Ficker launched some sort of campaign where he went around attempting to shake the hand of every single person in Montgomery County, and sent out period press releases saying "Robin Ficker just shook the hand of the 20,000th voter," etc.

By the time I left that newspaper I had a collection of about 50 to 70 truly bizarre Robin Ficker press releases. I was doing some spring cleaning a few months ago (before I knew Ficker was running again), and threw them all out. But in retrospect I think I should have donated them to somebody like Oliver Sachs. Or maybe Oliver Stone, I dunno. But the man is certainlky a piece of work.

Dooley,
maybe they vote for the most fossilized politico ?

CmmmMudgeon -- when I see Robin Ficker emphemera my brain reads this a a strange birdie sighting -- his name is birdie, with Robin obvious but the Ficker is like FLicker, a kind of bird also.

And now, I think of the way cool photo sharing site:

Flickr

No danger of voting for the bird stuck in the elevator shaft.

Cmmrbnd, did you get a special ribbon for being first, were you honoured in any way.

Come to think of it something like that would be a great way to increase voter turnout, free coupons to Tim Hortons' up here for voting. I like that this polling station brought to you by Tim Hortons, they sponsor just about everything else, why not voting.

The US equivalent would be I guess Starbucks?

PLS, I felt this way in 2000 (I was in Virginia). I'm so sorry for you, and I think the virginia electoral system needs to be ripped apart. I got my mail out in MD which tellls me the polling place etc. I'm just simply bringing that and my license as proof.

If they say I'm not in the system... my foot! How do they explain my voting brochure which MATCHES my address? Going to vote soon to save the world from evil.

Congratulations, all who have voted! PLS, I'm so sorry! If all else fails, take the day off, go to the Election Board personally, and sulk until their error is straightened out. I'll repeat here my strategy to combat low voter turnout: anyone who is registered but fails to vote continues to receive political phone ads.

The Boy asked whether we HAVE to vote and I said yes, it is a privilege and responsibility of citizenship. As Cassandra said yesterday, I told him too many people have fought and died for our right to at least attempt government by the people. This, by the way, is why I consider instruction in U.S. and local (state) history an essential component of citizenship. It is vital that voters, more and more of whom may be first or second generation immigrants, or just clueless, understand the principles on which the country and state were based, and the history of how that unfolded. Certain quirks on the Oklahoma ballot today, for instance, can only be explained by knowledge of the frighteningly populist attitude prevalent when the state's 148-page long constitution was adopted.

Anyway, the Boy & I are voting after school today. We use optical scanner machines, where you mark your vote with a special pen and the ballot is read by machine. Reliable electronics and a paper trail. Happy voting, all!

dmd, zipped back to catch them.
WW1 is some of our most interesting history.

The Vimy Memorial moves me even when I see it on tv. One day I am going to go see it in person.
That is a long standing promise made when I was very young.

I have always been strongly moved by Remembrance Day. I have few family members who were involved in the fighting in either war that I am aware of, no personal connection other than my husbands uncle, but remembering those valiant boys is a deep and very personal commitment.

I see little benefit in using voting machines over hand counting a polls returns, only opportunities for mischeif.
Paper and pencils are a lot cheaper to buy and might be less expensive to store and maintain than complicated electrnic equipment. Penicil sharpeners or small knives could be distributed at polling stations.

dr, here's the link to the CBC article about the state funeral petition for the last WWI veteran, there is a link to the petition as well.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/06/funeral-veteran.html

Ivansmom, the state constitution is 148 pages long - Wow.

Question to Americans on this board: do you sometimes have second thoughts about the idea of some of you having to vote in a church? (that's where my son is supposed to vote: Our Lady of Visitation).

Before you say it's just a building, would you vote in a mosque? in a wiccan worship house (or whatever they call their church buildings)?

SF, I'd vote wherever they let me cast a ballot -- even McDonald's, which I will not otherwise willingly enter. Many Oklahoma polling places are in churches, because of a dearth of public buildings and for convenience's sake. They are actually better to vote in than schools, given the increased level of security surrounding schools and the inherent distractions posed by children moving about their building. Polling in churches here usually takes place in the parish hall (often a small austere room) and absolutely no effort is made to tie anything religious to the act of voting. You don't have to go near the "churchy" part of the building. It is just another location, usually with ample parking.

Boko99, "small knives could be distributed at polling stations" ha! What mental images THAT provides! You know, you can't buy wine or liquor in Oklahoma on election day (one of the state questions on our ballot would change this). Change that, provide small knives, and imagine the possibilities.

Okay, I'm already worried and confused. One of the important warnings with my absentee ballot package was the instruction DO NOT SIGN THE BALLOT! DO NOT INITIAL THE BALLOT! DO NOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF IN ANY WAY! THIS WILL INVALIDATE YOUR BALLOT! But the article that Joel linked (about a "reasonably fair election") mentions right away that many absentee ballots were not counted in 2004 because they weren't signed, or the counting machinery did not recognize the signature as such. Excuse me? This is very confusing.

It's time to think up questions for historian Niall Ferguson, who's got a live discussion in a few minutes on his latest book, over 600 pages explaining why the 20th century was so violent.

For Japan, I nominate the notion that their leadership thought it was an eat-or-be-eaten world. It didn't help that the army and navy that were responsible only to the Emperor (meaning responsible to no one).

Joel,

"Hubert Humphrey" on the ballot, too funny. And, despite the potential for harassment, remember to vote early, and vote often...

I spent a good hour or two last night, filling in my absentee ballot and researching the candidates as much as I could as I went along. I discovered that very few candidates actually maintain web sites for themselves. Even fewer (approximate percentage = 0%, maybe lower) commit themselves to any position on any issues. Ron Miller, running against Mike Miller (R. Miller's campaign slogan: "The Right Miller". Really.) has a page on his web site devoted to "Issues". Promising! The page provides a list of the important issues of our time -- right-to-life (immediately interpretable as code for "no right to decide for yourself"), health care, and other stuff. At least the right-to-life thing constitutes a definite stand on an important issue. Mr. Miller also says that he wants to hear YOUR views on these important issues. Click the list of links and you discover, behind each door... an opportunity to post a message to Mr. Miller. He has no statement of his own views with which you might argue or agree. He doesn't just want you to tell him what you think; he wants you to tell him what he thinks.

I was able to find WaPo endorsements for many of my local races. The lower the office level, the less complete was the endorsement statement. For governor -- "We endorse such-and-so, because he has done this, this, and this, and because he says he will do this. His opponent also is a fine fellow, but he has less experience; although he proposes to do this good thing, and this good thing, he also proposes to do this dumb-ass thing." When you get down to the obscure positions, it's more like "We support Ms. X because, well, why the heck not?"

VoterTim, balloting is largely governed by state law, with a layer of federal law. HAVA is the latest federal jaunt, enacted after the 2000 elections in a moment of panic. As long as you followed the instructions on your ballot, you shouldn't worry. From the League of Women Voters:

"If the state was able to verify the social security or drivers license number on your voter registration form you should receive a voter registration acknowledgment which indicates that you do not need to show identification when you vote."

Let me put in a plug for the League, nonpartisan citizenship serving you for a century (more or less). Men and women can join. Join your local League today! If you don't have a local league, join the national League, www.lwv.org (they can also provide information about any local leagues).

What I really would have liked from the WaPo was an indexed set of pages with clear statements by the candidates about what they want to accomplish in office, what are their guiding principles, and what are their stands on the issues that they see as central to their motivation to run. Assuming the candidates refuse to be so clear and unequivocal, WaPo reporters could digest their reporting to provide a suitable dispassionate statement.

A resumé for the candidates would be nice, too. For one obscure judicial position for which one was permitted to vote for up to 3 candidates, there were 4 nominees -- three Democrats and one Republican. I wanted to share the wealth and try to vote for a Republican for something. They run as the party of grown-up competence (despite the evidence of the past 6 years), so how bad could it be? Still, I thought I should do a little research. I found a brief statement of the candidates' most relevant professional qualifications somewhere-or-other:
Democrat #1: law degree, years of experience.
Democrat #2: law degree, years of experience.
Democrat #3: law degree, years of experience.
Republican: certificate for a community college introductory computer class.

Call me a snob, but I voted for the 3 Democrats. What, did they have a meeting and ask "Who's stupid enough to want to take a shellacking from the Democrats for this office?" "I'll do it! I'll do it!" At the very least, it should be easy to find out whether a candidate has even minimal qualifications for the job.

PLS - That's rough. Your only options are to find someone whom you are pretty sure is going to vote against you and either convince them to abstain or lock them in a closet. Although I strongly recommend the former, I can see why the latter might be considered more therapeutic.

No, dmd, I was not honored or recognized in any way for being The Very First Person To Vote In The State Of Merlin, which I think frankly is a damn shame and a travesty of the Murikin political system and a smear against democracy in general. I didn't even get a sticker or a lollipop or nuthin'. I mean, what HAS this world come to? It's an outrage, I tell you, an outrage.

A simple pat on the head? Would that have been too much? *sobbing quietly in the corner* This whole voting thing just takes such an emotional toll on me.

I spent much of the latter 1960s and early 1970s voting and whimpering, too, as I recall. To say nothing of the last six years. I'm proud to admit that I've voted unsuccessfuly against some of the biggest [sphincters] in U.S. history: Nixon, Reagan AND Carter (simultaneously), several Bushes, Hubert Humphrey, etc. (The anti-Hubert vote hurt, but there was a war on then, too, and I had to do it. Total Hobson's choice.)

dmd and dr, since you are interested in Canadian military history in WWI, I highly recommend one of my alltime tippy-top favorite mystery/spy novels, "Other Paths to Glory," by Anthony Price. Though set in the 1970s and featuring members of the British spy services, the action takes place mostly in [censored] as a young military historian investigates what happened to something like 600 Newfoundland soldeirs whose battlion almost literarlly "disappeared" at the Battle of the Somme. (Price is one of my favorites, and this is his best novel, won the Edgar Golden Dagger award. I've read it 5 times.)

Ooops. Strayed off-topic. Sorry.

My experience went smoothly. I too had the laptop check in. As long as you know a person's name, address, and date of birth, you can vote for them. No ID necessary.

The voting machines are bright wit large tall screens and positioned so that everybody in line can see you who are voting for. It also flagged me when I didn't vote for enough orphans' court judges. Who knew orphans were such trouble makers?

The one moment of confusion was when I removed the credit card thingy and was looking for a ballot box to put it in. There was just one judgey looking guy collecting them and sticking them in his pocket. It took me a moment to realize that the machine had already collected, manipulated, and ignored my vote. I like the physical act of putting a vote in a box. I'm such a geezer.

Just to be safe, PLS, find a couple of voters opposed to your candidates and lock them both in a closet. Too bad they didn't issue you one of those small knives.

Some jurisdictions in Canada still close liquour outlets on election days.
I think we should vote as our Forefarthers voted. Drink a hearty breakfast, then off to the churh for little vote bartering and brawling.
Unfortunately they had to clean it up when they let chicks vote.

Back to global warming--interesting article in NYT about long-term climate variables, which talks about some of the things I've mentioned here before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/science/earth/07co2.html?8dpc=&_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1162914766-OYYpdkm+DG7T1dSy6MF5mQ

LOL, alas, I think every single Virginia resident co-worker I personally know is also a democrat. We're an LA-based company. ;-)

From MSNBC:

"In the Washington, D.C., area, NBC affiliate News4 reported on its Web site that it had received e-mail from a viewer in Virginia who said he received a phone call from so-called volunteers threatening voters with arrest if they cast ballots.

News4 reported: "The viewer's e-mail stated after he had voted, he received a call from an unknown caller who said they knew the voter was registered out of state and would be arrested if they voted today. The viewer's e-mail stated he's been registered to vote in Virginia for the last three years and has the Virginia Voter Registration card to prove it."

The Webb campaign also said other voters are getting calls telling them their polling location has changed.

There are also allegations that fliers that say, "Skip This Election," are blanketing African-American communities, News4 reported."
__________

From the website of our longshot Democratic candidate for Congress:

"President of the Institute for Space and Security Studies, Executive Vice President of Millennium III Corporation, and retired Presiding Archbishop of the United Catholic Church. He flew 101 combat missions in Vietnam and directed all the "Star Wars" programs under Presidents Ford and Carter."

Story about Diebold and voting machines with a nice chart on different methods for voting:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/13/8393084/index.htm?cnn=yes

Ivansmom, we used to have similar laws for liquor on election days, still might, there are humourous, get out the vote stories from older days when trucks would go out to pick up rural votes - in the trucks LIQUOR.

You would be talking about the "Blue Boys" so called because tiny Newfoundland could not get the green serge for uniforms, so they went in blue. The loss of the regiment decimated almost every family and certainly every village town and outpost.

At the time Newfoundland was still a colony, joining Canada only in 1949.

I will look for the book but I have a funny feeling I have seen this book many times. Probably not read it, but seen it on the shelves. I gotta get me a library card again.

And now I shall go back on topic, assuming of course that by doing so, my entire post becomes ok.

How come there are so many different physical systems used? Has anyone ever tried to get a consensus on what the most accurate machine would be? Are there published rates of errors in the various systems (I am assuming that the bottom line still goes back to the paper record)? How long has it been a machine process rather than paper slips to be counted? Just curious. Due to a lack of cable tv, the first of your elections I saw was the 2000 election, and I am left with all kinds of questions.

PLS, I emailed my relative (the one who is a former Democratic volunteer election attorney) about your plight. Unfortunately, his response was not encouraging. Apparently, some DMV offices have never taken their voter registration responsibilities seriously, and don't bother to file the forms, in which case you may be out-of-luck.

He did suggest that you may want to call the Webb campaign office in Arlington at 703-778-4080, and see if they can give any advice. They might be more up-to-date on election legalities than the poll workers.

I think they should not only keep liqour stores and bars OPEN on election day, they should set up a little booth outside the polls giving voters a wee tot of grog either before they go in (to steel their resolve) or after they come out (not so much as a reward for doing a good deed, but simply to help wash out the foul taste of the deed they've just committed), at each voters choice. Or maybe a drink going in AND a drink after coming out. We've been voting sober for quite a while, and I don't see that it has done us much good. Maybe for just one election cycle we should try it with a little buzz.

Humor note on voting process. We now vote in Ritche Colliseum -- U2 played there in the 80s, but Elvis played Cole as did Lew Alcindor -- and I was called out by loud speaker for standing on the painted M/Turtle center.

Voted anyway despite being shamed before about 25 sleeply but civic-minded college students.

Comment on the earnest but greying election judges. Boy, are they nervous around technology. This does not inspire confidence.

PLS,

Not to be to harsh on you, but that is why I always vote in the primary. Just to make sure they haven't dropped me from the rolls in the past two years. Obviously, even that isn't fool-proof.

I love all the voter disuassion urban myths that float around on election day. It's like a version of the "check your candy for razor blades" nonsense. Please show me these fliers and somebody tape one of these dirty trick calls.

OTOH, I got one of those silly push-poll calls the other day. When the WaPo used the word "alleged" I cringed. They're not alleged. People really got them.

The other robo-calls got hung-up on or deleted from voicemail as soon as we realized what it was. Saturday we recycled an enormous pile of mail flyers unread. Money not well spent for my attention.

I did take in the HCEA endorsements which presumambly is a list of the people promising the biggest raises to teachers. Gotta vote your pocketbook, at least in the local races.

Cmmrbnd, that would be unacceptable for the shop steward to veer off-topic but you may do so.

It wasn't happening in your precinct obviously :
"In one of the worst fiascoes, Maryland election officials forgot to send the cards primary voters needed to activate electronic machines at their polling places, and some voters had to cast provisional ballots on scraps of paper."
I think those provisional ballots are called placebo ballots, they'll never be counted as their sole purpose is to soothe the irate voters.
I got burned once by the liquor ban on election day (not in force anymore around here). I moved in with Shrieking Spouse on the day Brian Mulroney was first elected in 1984. We were subjected to the unsufferable duress of a beer-less celebratory Mexican dinner. Just thinking about it gets my mouth all parched again.

Dooley, thanks, I'll give them a call. I should at least be able to cast a provisional ballot, right?

Cmmrbnd - Liquor and elections have always benn tightly bound. I can guarantee that no matter who wins, there will be some heavy drinking going on.

Shrieking, looking back the unsufferablility of that beerless mexican dinner is an apt reflection of the Mulroney era - sorry couldn't resist the shot at one of my least favorite people.

yello, article on the election problems in Virgina and problems elsewhere.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15603344/

i don't answer my phone so i don't/didn't get (i don't think) any of the political, robo, polls or other calls (i screen all my calls and a lot of times when they realize it's voice mail, they hang up)...
i'm voting today after work - i remember the first time i went to vote (currently the same polling place i have now) my high school government teacher was one of the volunteers! she was so tickled pink that one of her students was there to vote... (she was an awesome woman and a crazy loon of a teacher - that's why everyone loved her! she was pretty old then, she's prolly not still around)

off topic (or older topic) - wilbrod - i had all my education in nothern va - i remember the very (VERY) virginia-centric history but i also remember having very good american/european/other history - let's not knock va education! in my day fairfax county had one of the top rated education systems in the US and i graduated with an "advanced governer's seal" diploma which rewarded advanced studies and extra classes (i don't think they have it anymore). i'm very proud of my va education!

college parkian - another old boodle question - my cat's name is Aristotle...

A small point of interest, yellojkt; those registered as Independents are not allowed to vote in Md. primary elections.

To Cmmrbnd's 11:17AM comment - love the headline on the WaPo page in the Election 2006 section:

"Area Turnout is High Early"

Sounds like the Glaucoma Test Pilots are hittin' the polls *hard* today.

I should add that I was the third guy in line at 6:38 AM, 'zackly. I didn't cast my ballot until 7:06 though; there were seven pages worth of items to go through.

bc

Funny thing is I voted for Mr. Mulroney, and it directly led to my voting for Mr. Chretien. I was batting 0.

also - for those who haven't voted yet and looking for info on candidates - here's a site for the fairfax county elections:

http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Cidate_Information/Cidate_Lists/CidatesList-Results.asp?ED=11/7/2006&ET=General&LOC=059&OFF=ALL&PTY=

Let me guess the vote for Mulroney was a I am so fed up with Trudeau, (Turner being a zero), vote. :)

scc - all my pre-college education in NOVA...

To Mo -- great name for a cat. I have wanted to name a dog Arisdogal for so long but certain people close to me with the goods on me VETO this every time.

Hey to boodlers here. Should we be worried about the greying of the election judge population and the technology-phobia thingie?

By greying, I should say that the ages my election judges are known to me since they are largely my neighbors:

all are well into their 70s....

And, they were all struggling with the technology, this after two cycles in our precincts of digital-voting.

(Installing myself under the pointey hat of krypton rather than foil as I hear the volleys of incoming....and I guess that the grey panthers will visit me or my lawn soon....)

The Spouse noted the synopsis of the VandeHei and Balz article this morning: "Democrats say that a vote for them would force change in Iraq strategy; Bush and GOP warn that opposition cannot be trusted in a time of war."

I hope this is just an example of ineptly summarizing the President's position. I wish that we had a President of whom I could be sure that he didn't really say that.

Dear Canucks!

I mentioned to my son about voting and that some of my imaginary friends from "O Canada"-land vote...

He stopped in total dude-of-14-amazement. "They vote. She lets them? I did not know that."

'She' is your QUEEN. I mean, she is on the money, right? Boy do I need to update (my) Boy, here.

So, now the history topic is how does US SOCIAL STUDIES present the case that is Canada?

And SOCIAL STUDIES -- ban that term.

Just voted with a sense of near-pointlessness. I struggled mightily for Soil & Water Conservation Chief, but made a spur-of-the-moment decision that makes me feel unworthy: I should have studied. I did well in the State Supreme Court elections. For that, I DID study. Thus reversing my previous self-judgement.

My congressman, the cagy Mel Watt, is sure to retain his seat but I worry about ol' Mel, so I did my part.

The biggest thing, and I want to lord it over you all who may be snookered, (although the national fallout from such hypothetical snookery may be our undoing), is that we have new touch-screen machines that printed out a visible slip of permanent record! Hooray! Although come to think of it, it looks kind of like that process they use on certain sales receipts whereby the ink flakes off and falls away into dust after a certain amount of time. Like that receipt for the $4000 set of tools I bought for work and by tax day, the ink was completely gone... Well, I hope it's not like that on the paper records...

Now if they could come up with a way to pick a random number in a public meeting, we'd be on our way to some sort of statistical process control for post-election verification of fairness.

College Parkian, I think it is reasonable to be concerned that the average (read: older) poll worker may have some difficulties with the new technology. Nationwide the backbone of the election system has been the volunteers who consider it their privilege to assist at the polls -- and I mean that very sincerely. However, in many areas those people are by necessity retired, as not many other folks can take the day to perform this service. While a great deal of effort has been put into poll worker training on new voting methods, it can be a steep learning curve and there may well be some inadvertent error.

This is not like the vertent (?) errors deliberately committed in the linked stories above. I only wish they were urban myths!

GOOD MORNING , TEAM -- and greetings from Washington, DC, our nation's last colony. I voted in the morning as I always do. And I was pleased to see long lines, considering that there's really not much at all for DC people to vote about this time.

There's the mayoral race, which is a foregone conclusion. There's school board, which if the incoming mayor has his way (and I hope he will) will be abolished. That leaves us with city council.

So I cast my ballot and went on about my day. But I must say, there is something noble, and ennobling, about the process. The volunteer poll workers know what they're doing and take their roles seriously. People exhibit greater patience waiting in the poll lines than they do at, say, the line at Starbucks. Campaign workers pass out literature up to the very last minute but no one is up in people's faces in an aggressive way.

I have the same Capra-esque reaction to jury duty. My city is, it must be admitted, one of the most racially and economically divided in our country. The gap between the haves and the have-nots shocks the conscience. But if all you had to go on was the evidence of the jury waiting room? It's as pure a cross-section as you could hope for, and it is cause for optimism. There's a TV, but most people have brought a book or the paper. Lots of people are working the crossword. Nobody shows up in sweatpants or over-sexy clothes.

I don't know, I just have a lot of faith in my fellow citizens as decent and reasonable. It's important to keep sight of, when our leaders seem to spend half their time trying to poison us against each other, that "THOSE PEOPLE" might just possibly love our country as much as we do.

May God bless our ongoing 230-year experiment and may we keep it going strong.

College Parkian, I think it is reasonable to be concerned that the average (read: older) poll worker may have some difficulties with the new technology. Nationwide the backbone of the election system has been the volunteers who consider it their privilege to assist at the polls -- and I mean that very sincerely. However, in many areas those people are by necessity retired, as not many other folks can take the day to perform this service. While a great deal of effort has been put into poll worker training on new voting methods, it can be a steep learning curve and there may well be some inadvertent error.

This is not like the vertent (?) errors deliberately committed in the linked stories above. I only wish they were urban myths!

Sorry for the double post, the Comment Monster lied to me. However, it provides me an excuse to cheer Annie's comment. Despite my extreme cynicism, I believe in the systems (electoral and criminal justice) because fundamentally I believe in our citizens as a whole.

And I really am pretty cynical.

I too have had a crappy (I see this passes the Hal bot) morning, but it wasn't the elction that caused it. Tuesday Morning was selling three shelves (as it turned out) of Polish cookware/pottery, the store opening at 7 a.m. I left the house at 7:50 and should have been there at 8 a.m., since it's only five miles, although it was extremely foggy this morning. Sunny at our house, but within a half mile I was in the soup. It took me 45 minutes to drive five frickin' miles!

We got government problems, and it ain't necessarily up in Austin or in D.C. There isn't a land developer that our collective city council doesn't love.

Which means I returned to our neighborhood polling station at 10 a.m. straight up and could get one of the limited number of parking spots there. On the parkway of the curb, it was like the Sherwood Forest of placards on pickets sticks. No line at check-in. Yeah! The location is the place where residents of precincts 2099 and 2066 vote.

After signing in with one of two clerks, the clerk than hands a little old lady either one popsicle stick dyed deeply red from a stack of red sticks or a popsicle stick dyed deeply green from a stack of green sticks. Depending on the color of the popsicle stick, the little old lady then enters the voter's four-digit precinct number into the electronic voting machine after walking the voter over to an avialable machine. Her old hands had a heck of a time punching in the four numbers of my precinct, but after my ballot was initialized, I was up and running.

To game the system a bit and since I have several years of software testing under my belt, I decided to give the ballot a workout by changing my vote, entering a missing vote on two uncontested races, and reviewing my votes several times.

It all worked, but I still feel spooked by not putting a paper ballot in the box. (Long gone are sample ballots chock full of information mailed out by the state--as they did for years in California.)

My only criticism is that the horizontal hairline rules separating each candidate's name one from the other were too light. And there was no rule above the first candidate's name--which was only confusing when there were more than three contestants' names. Since I have a vision problem, I had to count candidates' names and boxes in one of the most important races, just to be absolutely certain I had cast the vote for the candidate of my choice. (They're only pixels--why be so stingy? Darken up them lines!)

But my voting chuckle was the physical use of low-tech Christmas-colored popsicle sticks as the lead-in to high-tech electronic voting machines?

Mo, I'm not knocking Va education-- too muc-- certainly my HS was very good. I'm just knocking the whole concept of "American history" and not even mentioning our diplomatic relationships with our neighbors to any extent. But you gotta go to school in a couple of states to see the glaring difference in historical emphasis in the education.

I just hope there's no Achenmob out for my blood now.

That said, I had an slightly odd election experience. It was the first time I'd ever taken a service dog with me, and I got pulled out of line and offered a seat.

I finally realized what was up and said "excuse me, my legs work fine, I'll be waiting in line, thank you." I mean, there are guys 4 times my age who look like they might have had a few body parts replaced standing in line.

We plod along again in the line and Wilbrodog is doing his martyred "waiting in line slump" just fine. The kids are a bit of a distraction, natch.

Now when it's my turn to vote, I ask them to please write down any questions, and I ask one very simple thing, do I need to go to a specific booth. I march off and Wilbrodog halts me because somebody is calling me, and another poll worker grabs my arm, with a third one. Oh no, I'm encircled by a pack of poll wolves?

And they ask me "can you read this?" Yes. One poll worker insists on hovering over me to show me the large print and high def features. I punch in what I want and basically have to cough very loudly and say that I can read, thank you, I'll be JUST FINE, and my dog is for deafness not for eyesight.

I managed to shoo her off before somebody else decided I had upper body handicaps and needed helping supporting my arms to vote.

Oh well at least it was a good walk for my dog to vote and back. But that was a little TOO accomodating for my taste. Like Yellojkt, I miss those big polls with the curtains so you could do anything you want without people taking a look-see. Whatever happened to the concept of voting as a private right?

wilbrod - i think it's funny that ppl can mistake wilbrodog (and a lovely dog he is - you know how much i heart him) for a blind service dog! i mean, CLEARLY, you can see! and he even has markings on his service dog vest... too funny!

Loomis, at least the MD machines do have large print and high def options (separately, I think). So that is nicer on the eyes.

Some deaf-blind people can see but have tunnel vision, meaning they have very poor peripheral vision.
Also, most legally blind people can see vaguely, like many nearsighted people with glasses off, but they just can't fix it with glasses.

It was sure funny because I obviously could read and write to start with. LOL. If I had a white cane I might have been tempted to beat the poll workers off, so good thing I didn't.

Several folks commented on the difficulty of finding info about candidates for local races, others mentioned the league of Women Voters. But I didn't see a link to their site. Here's the LWV voter guide for Howard County, MD:

http://www.lwvmd.org/howa/election2006.html

They really do a nice job of getting the candidates to answer a set of questions, and they reach down to very local races (at least in MD).

I'm sure it was frustrating, but you have me smiling Wilbrod.

I'm currently reading all about that possible ancient ancestor of yours, St. Wilibrord. I bump into him every 2-3 pages. I am working my way thorugh a history of the Anglo Saxons.

Annie, a lovely sentiment. It's all too often true that you really don't realize the diversity of your neighbors until you go to the polling places.

And I don't think voters themselves are the "They". A lot of time both sides manipulate their message to make sure voters vote for them, forcing voters to swallow a lot of what they don't want.

I think issue voting can be dangerous, taken to a certain extent, because it's so often not values voting at all. Too often politicans renege on promises or take the position much further than most voters expected.

I must admit I'm not familiar with the DC school board. What's wrong with it and what else can be done to make sure DC schools improve and be safe places to learn?

I worked with a HS student from DC once. She wanted to be a lawyer, but her English was bad enough that she'd need remedial English for a while, never mind law school.I hope she did get the excellent English teacher she needed.

Loomis,
California still sends out sample ballots, plus it sent a large (191 page) voter information guide with overviews, pro and con statements, and the entire texts of all propostions, a voter bill of rights, and where to call if you detect fraud or feel that you've been denied your rights. Used a lot of newsprint paper for those, but we have no excuse for being uninformed. Also I have to say that those sample ballots are a great way to confirm that you're actually on the voter rolls.

I'm going to go vote now.

Dr, you need to give me the name of that book. He sure hung out with a prestigious crowd, including the Venerable Bede.

He's more an ancestral namesake, bring the patron saint of the Frisians, so he's like St. Patrick the Irish, St. Daffyd to the Welsh, etc.

I will post it tommorrow. It was one of those discount finds, probably an ok but but not authouritative.

SCC: Full-day membership for today:
help, not helping; being, not bring; surely, not sure, and anything else.

Heck, I might call a SCC for yesterday just to avoid the mob beating me down for daring to say Virginia history ain't all that. Uncle. Uncle.

Jumper! You're local with me! If this keeps up, we're going to have enough Tarheel boodlers to have our own BPH.

Will vote after work, at the elementary school behind the house. Voting is set up in the multipurpose room. School's in and it's raining today, which means the kids had no place to go to recreate. I hope they'll be okay.

Her's another question for you. How come DC residents have no federal representatives? That doesn't seem quite fair somehow.

Oh dr, that's going to start something! I know it's a touchy issue.

I could look this up, but while on the subject of voting, what is the status of US territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam? Is there someone that is supposed to be "their" senator? What about Congress?

Oh dr, that's going to start something! I know it's a touchy issue.

I could look this up, but while on the subject of voting, what is the status of US territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam? Is there someone that is supposed to be "their" senator? What about Congress?

SCC, Here's

Loomis, you are so right about Spain, and their quest for silver and gold. My point was that many came to the new country with a goal that was used to hide another goal.

PLS, that very same thing happened to me many years ago in a presidential election, and the woman that told me I couldn't vote said it with a smile. I vowed right there on that spot that she would never get the chance to say that to me again. This was during the end of the Civil Rights era.

Ivansmom, I took the g-girl with me this morning, and she got the little sticker that said my vote counted. She was so happy. She even went in the little booth next to me while I was voting. She wanted a ballot when the guy handed me mine, and they all laughed, but the g-girl was serious. And we got soaking wet just getting in the church. You're right about the churches as voting places. Here it is usually in the fellowship halls, one does not see any thing "churchy" in these places. I have a sinking feeling the rain will keep many voters home.

Martooni, I do hope everything is well with you. Take care of yourself, and know that we miss you and want good things for you and your family.

Slyness, I seem to recall that the person you mentioned in your post, did she not take her neighbor's husband, or did I dream that? I like Harvy Gantt. He always seemed like a decent man. The race card was played with a vengence in both of his runs.

Hi, Sly, There are several Charlatans on this boodle. I used to keep track but it seems everyone changes their handle every so often. I just wikied "charlatan." John Brinkley the famous "goat gland doctor" was a Carolinian. To what heights we do aspire.

I've been in this berg longer than any other place I've lived in this transient too-often-rootless land. I've got the 6 degrees down to about 2 by now.

23 Studio. See?

You just asked the $64,000 question dr, and DC residents are ticked about it and have been complaining bitterly for years. In fact, they even have it on their license plates: "Taxation Without Representation."

But I heard a snatch of something on the radio this morning, something about a proposal to add two more Congressional seats, one for DC and for (IIRC) Nevada. Anybody else hear that?

There's been a DC statehood campaign for years, too, but that has a lot of (in my view, legitimate) opposition because there's no good reason why it should be a state, with two senators. I always thought it should just be incorporated into either Maryland or VA, at least for Cong. and Senate voting purposes, but that'll never happen either.

I don't know about historically, but in the modern era one reason why it wouldn't ever happen is that Republicans would never let it happen, because the seat would be guaranteed to Democrats. Maryland already has enough of a problem with frequent one-party rule, and putting DC in MD would kill forever any chance of a Repub. winning in MD ever again. Likewise, including it w/ VA alters the balance in VA away from Repubs, though not nearly as decisively as it would in MD. But if DC voted in VA in THIS election, Allen would be toast (and good riddance). So that ain't gonna happen, either.

I know, and I hesitate to ask it, but curiosity killed me.

Regarding the Canadain vote, some one asked about. It's not Canadian, its expat Americans, to the tune of a million in Alberta, according to the consulate in Calgary. CBC said the Consular office said they have been extremely busy.

The idea was that Congress would need to administer the city themselves, with it being neither a red state nor blue (before the distinction was so nicely color-coded), forcing them to keep in touch with the day-to-day operations of a local government and stop them from doing things that weren't practical (unfunded mandates, the like). But then they came up with a committee, and next you know, WHAM!

No kidding, dr. A lot of DC cars have the bumper sticker: "Taxation without representation."

The constitution names federal representatives as coming from states.

I believe DC has enough population to meet the statehood requirement, although I can't really find what it is-- apparently it's not ironclad in the constitution. However, Nevada became a state even short of the 127,000 something population required because Lincoln decided so.

According to the web site for the Council of the District of Columbia, "In 1790 when the District was established on land ceded by Maryland and Virginia to the federal government only about 3,000 citizens lived in the area--far less than the 50,000 required to be a state. The people living in the federal district continued to vote in Maryland and Virginia respectively."

Since then several laws have been passed giving home rule to DC residents. And District residents obtained the right to vote for the President and VP with the 23rd (?) amendment to the constitution. Somewhere along the line the Virginia portion of the original DC was given back to Virginia. And the remaining DC residents lost the right to vote in Maryland.

It is a raw deal, since DC residents pay Federal taxes but are not represented by a vote in Congress. Yet I believe they would have to be added as the 51st state, and go through that whole process, to gain two Senators and a seat in the House. That would require a fair amount of effort, and I don't know of any serious push right now to take that step.

DC has more people than all of WYOMING, putting it 50th in the nation when it comes to population.

Wikipedia has info (take with grain of salt as usual) about unsuccessful amendments to give DC some federal representation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%2C_DC#Representation_in_federal_government

I think letting DC residents vote for Maryland state candidates would at least be fair enough, although that'd add 10% to the voting population (I'd love to see Montogomery county share a voting district with DC for state senators... LOL.)

Local interest..the old southern DC 'cornerstone' is in Jones Point Park, underneath the Wilson Bridge.

There is an organization called the National Governors Association, which includes Governors of Marianas, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Samoa. Even Rhode Island!

I still fantasize this organization as a "fourth branch" which might get some good things done if the other branches refuse, which they usually do.

As far as D.C., their Representative should have a vote, and they should be allowed one Senator. Not two.

Love the Wikipedia. "District of Columbia Voting Rights."

oh boy dr. - you DO like to open a can o' worms don't ya? DC non statehood has been a serious point of contention in this metropolitan area! from what i gather, its federal status is mandated by the constitution... making it a state would go against the constitution?

Only if Wyoming gets to split their senator with DC, Jumper. I know Wyoming is a big state with lots of scenery that does need to be safeguarded, but DC IS the nation's captiol and prime target.

It just occured to me: Joel is one of the disenfranchised.

Joel? You don't normally respond to that, but considering your last two kits, how tdo you feel about being out of the loop, by law?

SCC: don't normally respond to questions

Adding DC would really mess up the flag.

By the by, I see that Puerto Rico has nearly 4 million people.

BTW, mo, Panama just got a seat on the UN Security Council.

Dept. of Dirty Tricks:

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2006/11/07/kfbk/index.html

SoC, not really. DC's always been around, so we could just say the blue stands for the Nation's captiol.

Puerto Rico has voted a few times on the statehood question. Almost always they vote "no" because that way they don't have to pay federal income taxes. and it's 3 million, not 6 million as of 2005 according to Wiki.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_rico

"While residents of the island do not pay federal income tax, Puerto Ricans do pay U.S. federal payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). Puerto Rico residents are eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement. Puerto Rico is excluded from Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Because Puerto Ricans do not pay federal income tax, Puerto Rico receives less than 15% of the Medicaid funding it would be alloted as a state. For Medicare, Puerto Rico pays fully but only receives partial benefits."

SCC: 4 million, not 6 million. I need to wring out my brain today.

The time has come. Voices raised. CHANGE is our chant. With the winds of corruption and buggled foreign policy it would be a tragedy if the Democrats can not bring back the government to the center and give it back to the people.

I'm happy to report that the election officers at my precinct were: one was sixty-something, one was over 50, and two were 25 years old or younger. In fact, I think one of them was a high school student. According to my sample ballot/voter information packet:

"High School Election Officers: Student election officers are excused from classes on Election Day, may receive credit from their High School, and will receive a stipend for their efforts. You must be a US citizen, a senior at least 16 years of age in good standing with a GPA of 2.5 or better."

I'm glad to see that we're encouraging participation of students to get them involved in the process even before they're eligible to vote.

I almost wrote scc in sj...

SCC: That first sentence is screwy, sorry.

I wonder how the K Street pirates veiw a Dem House of Representatives.

"I wonder how the K Street pirates view a Dem House of Representatives."

Half of them will be happy, and half will be sad.

How do the network s handle the time zone issues? Are they announcing winners and losers while the polls are still open in the mountains and on the west coast?
I know that people in Lotus land and Alberta get pretty riled up when the TV networks announce the colour of the next federal government when their polls are still open.
Alberta makes its own misery somewhat by always voting conservative minus a few liberals in city centers. That makes it darn easy to make a prediction. Unless it is an unusually tight race when the Ontario vote has been counted you can go to bed after a stiff drink or too, as per RD Padouk's instructions.

SCC I should go and have a stiff drink or two, too.

ac in sj,
Thanks for answering my question about whether the California sample ballots still exist. All the info a voter would ever need is in them--especially the props California voters are so found of raising by referendum.

Though not exactly the length and heft of "War and Peace," those California voters' pamphlets do kill lots and lots of trees. Hey, isn't this entire midterm national election a referendum on "War and Peace"? I amuse myself.

Alberta makes none of its own misery, sniff sniff, and the only people who vote with sense are people east of Manitoba, and west of BC. Ok, I know I am pushing it too far. That pesky Saskatchewan always seems to throw a wrench in it by voting NDP.

Loomis,

Of course, being good Californians, we'll recycle the voter's pamphlets instead of throwing them in the trash...

PLS,
moveon.org is offering legal help if you go to the polls, have difficulty, and are not offered a provisional ballot.

Here's the number:
Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

ac in sj:
I am so pleased to know that you are a GOOD Californian!

Cassandra, I do believe you are correct about the representative from my district taking another's husband. But she claims conservative Christianity now.

Maybe I should have said *typical* Californians.

I suppose a bad Californian doesn't recycle, and probably smokes indoors, too!

My husband lived in California for about a year a LONG time ago (late 1970's)--and he still hasn't stopped talking about the voter information packets. He complains every election that we don't have them in Florida. They do seem to be a wonderful idea--even if they weren't mailed to everyone, they could be printed up and made available at schools, libraries, courthouses, community centers, maybe mailed upon request.

So if DC is generally represented by a committe of the house, how does it stack up as representative of the people. Do the people have any right to bring concerns before the comittee? To have issues dealt with? Is there a process to get in touch with individuals on the committee or do all the deciding, no consultation is few and far between.

We actually had a similiar situation in our North for years, but over the course of my life, we've sort of fixed that. Since 1985, the north has had 3 seats. We have a ways to go to get to fair and equal representation for them, but its better than it was.

SCC that should read or do they do all the deciding and consultation is few and far between.

today, for the first time ever, i voted in a residential GARAGE. yes, ladies and gentlemen, even though there are numerous eligible buildings (schools, churches, etc.) in every direction, my polling station was a 3 block walk away down my residential street in a GARAGE, across the street from a school.

off to recycle voter pamphlet...

A legend of Canadian football has died.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/story/2006/11/07/jackie-parker.html?ref=rss

ahem: non sequitur. not sequitor

He will be missed dr.

We got sample ballots yesterday. Nothing like having plenty of time to review the issues. The one referendum-type issue that seemed odd was to change the minimum amount for a civil jury trial to $10,000. No word on what it was before. I think the US Constitution had the limit as $20.

Of course, Maryland is not nearly as referendum happy as CA or other places where the process has been hijacked by astroturf organizations that put out Trojan Horse ballot initiatives that do the opposite of what they purport.

I voted in my new town without incident. We are small enough to still have paper ballots, which I love for the hands-on feel of it. No lines, just a steady trickle of people coming and going at the elementary school gym, and yes, school was in session. Had to run the gauntlet of candidates and supporters all standing just beyond the line drawn on the sidewalk. Really wanted to tell them all to be quiet and go away.

dr, DC has a mayor/city council form of local government; the citizens interact with them. Then the mayor/council interact with the Congressional committee, but not very often.

Anne Applebaum uses the word "shambolic" in her column, which I think must be a personal coinage to represent "of or like a situation which is in a shambles." I like this word.

yellojkt, I received my sample ballot last week, which was adequate time for me to look things over.

I thought that the $10,000-minimum table, er, civil jury trial thing was a bit odd, too.

Grammarian, I know *I've* been pointedly ignoring that all day, hoping JA would post an SCC.

bc

We did have one interesting ballot question, whether to allow convenience and grocery stores to sell wine. There has been quite a battle between the two sides, but even MADD didn't come out against it. It's wine for heaven's sake and the towns still control who gets a liquor license, so I voted for it. I realize most of you probably live in places where wine is already available in grocery stores but here in MA, we may allow gay marriage, but don't mess with our antiquated "blue laws." Our state does send out a voter info booklet about a month before the election, it's very helpful.

LA, I voted in a garage last election too. The lighting was very poor and I should add that those darn ballot boxes are heavy once you get them filled up with your votes.

dr, Yukon and the NWT (and now Nunavut) aren't really the same because they have territorial gov'ts as well as Members of Parliament. Re: Parker, a bad year for football in AB all around.

LA, I voted in a garage last election too. The lighting was very poor and I should add that those darn ballot boxes are heavy once you get them filled up with your votes.

dr, Yukon and the NWT (and now Nunavut) aren't really the same because they have territorial gov'ts as well as Members of Parliament. Re: Parker, a bad year for football in AB all around.

Shambolic sounds like some people who live in chronic states of disorganization, like they're addicted.

Scottynuke's closet might need to join Shambolic Anonymous, from what he says.

The way stuff gets done in DC is very , umm, improvisational due to our unique status. We are not our own state and yet not part of any other state. We have home rule on some matters some of the time, but the Feds can step in, and have done so in the past, if public safety or essential services are compromised by local corruption or ineptitude.

So it's murky. Complications ensue.

At the neighborhood level, things work pretty well. Every neighborhood has an advisory commissioner. It's very grass-roots; each guy is an unpaid volunteer and has maybe ten blocks he's responsible for. My guy came to our co-op board meeting, handed out cards with his home # and yahoo.com address, and brought cookies.

Anyway, so the advisory commissioners make recommendations to the people who actually do call the shots, the city council. The city council must give "great weight" to those recommendations. That sounded pretty empty to me at first, but my guy explained that it means that, if a councillor doesn't vote on a given issue the way the advisory commissioners direct, he has to state why not publicly, in writing.

So at the pothole and garbage collection level, things works pretty well. You have a more than decent shot at being heard.

Where it gets tricky is where local interests bump up against the Feds. The prime example, in Annie's little world, is the parks. My neighborhood is lovely and has a number of beautiful parks (Wilbrod and Wilbrodog can back me up on this). But the parks are Federal property and are managed by the National Park Service.

Great! you're probably thinking. Let the nice park rangers patrol the parks and keep them mowed and raked, less work and money for the city to have to take on.

Unless there's a conflict. Let's say that you and a whole lot of your neighbors would like an area of the park fenced in so that dogs might race and chase and frolick off leash without freaking out the parents of small children. We're even willing to PAY for the fencing, even though all of us already pay taxes, quite a lot of them in fact. WE WOULD BUILD THE BLOODY FENCE WITH OUR OWN HANDS if we were were allowed to.

The advisory commissioners all think it's a fine idea and long overdue. But the Feds don't answer to the advisory commissioners. So . . . take it up with your Congressman.

Oh, wait . . .

A lot of us really wanted speed bumps on the streets that bound the park because people drive too fast and there really are a lot of kids who play there and don't always pay attention to what they're doing. We really wanted to fence in an area to promote happier coexistence with our dog-averse neighbors.

We got the speed bumps but not the fence because we're in charge of the streets but not the parks.

Go figure.

Pat Robertson has expressed concern for the "plate tectonics" in Washington state. He's afraid local flooding there will set them off.

Saw this article today about a 25 million dollar donation for a biodiversity centre at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Its a nice story immigrant arrives in Canada, an starts a company that goes multinational and then gives back to the community.

http://www.rom.on.ca/news/releases/public.php?mediakey=rn3a2ia8t0

Joel, There is a special place in heaven for us centrists, for we are reviled by so many.

fyi I've added a little material to the top of the kit. I'm in one of the NoVa Starbucks bureaus of the Post, having made the rounds of 7 precincts so far. Very heavy turnout as you know. Go get in line now if you haven't already voted.

Sorry to go off-topic, but this is a NEWS FLASH OF MONUMENTAL PROPORTIONS: WaPo radio just reported Britney Spears has filed for divorce from K-Fed!

I think I need the smelling salts.

Dare I say it, does Brit-Brit have an iota of common sense?

To clarify: I meant, does she *finally* have a smidgen of common sense after all of her so-wrong-yet-painfully-obviously-the-result-of-a-sheltered-childhood-decisions?

Re: Britney, now if we win back the House and (maybe) the Senate, my schadenfruede will know no bounds.

I note that Joel has added a 4:00 PM update to the Kit; also, he has corrected the heinous misspelling of non sequitur.

Annie, thanks for explaining. Gene Weingarten said in a chat a week or two back that Congressional Cemetary was the best dogpark in DC-- not free, but 40 acres and fenced. Sounds worth a try.

Ken Melman was on CNN disparaging exit polls. If there's a large voter turnout I predict a Dem Congress. Or massive fraud.

I dunno, PLS. I got lightheaded and a little woozy a minute ago when I read in Liz Kelly's Celebritology blog that there's going to be an action figure of Kate from "Lost" coming out next week.

Am I the only one who wonders if Joel only ever reports from the field if he can do it from the caffeinated comfort of a local Starbucks? If Joel ever won the Pulitzer, I have a suspicion he'd only accept it if they gave it to him at the Starbucks on 53rd St. in NYC.

By the way, Joel, I'm still waiting to be interviewed as the Very First Person In All Of Maryland If Not The Entire Eastern Seaboard To Vote This Morning.

Boy, the things ya gotta do to pitch a story. Sheesh. Guess I should have offered to throw in a triple venti latte mocha double-foam triple axel pike position low-fat extra Splenda civit cat bean espresso frappachino.

Hopefully this doesn't double post - apologies for the previous ones.

I am shamed (shambolic?) to admit that I already heard about Britney. My attention was drawn by this article about a rumoured "tape".

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061107.wspears1107/BNStory/Entertainment/home

This is the best part:

"It claimed Spears and her husband, Kevin Federline, feared the release of a secret sex tape, which they had viewed with their estate planning lawyers. The article said that Spears gave a copy of the tape to lawyers on Sept. 30 and she and Federline were "acting goofy the whole time" while watching the video."

So...many...comments...

Hopefully this doesn't double post - apologies for the previous ones.

I am shamed (shambolic?) to admit that I already heard about Britney. My attention was drawn by this article about a rumoured "tape".

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061107.wspears1107/BNStory/Entertainment/home

This is the best part:

"It claimed Spears and her husband, Kevin Federline, feared the release of a secret sex tape, which they had viewed with their estate planning lawyers. The article said that Spears gave a copy of the tape to lawyers on Sept. 30 and she and Federline were "acting goofy the whole time" while watching the video."

So...many...comments...

Boko, you made me guffaw with your post about Pat Robertson.

Am just back from voting. It's pouring rain, so there was just one forlorn candidate standing outside the school, under her umbrella. She handed me a list of Republicans who are running for non-partisan offices. I used the list to vote for the Democats. Hehehehe.

I see that I have Boodled Out of Order.

That's weird. My wife and I have an estate planner, too, but he's never let us watch any sex tapes. All he does is talk about stuff I don't understand about low-risk diversified mutual fund portfolios, I struggle to stay awake, and my wife takes notes.

Thinking of the (purported?)Pat Robertson's rain-and-tectonics comment, the last great subduction earthquake in the Pacific Northwest was about 9pm local time, January 26, 1700. The approximate time was determined from local evidence, and the detail came from Japanese tsunami records. Quite a feat of scientific detective work.

It would have been an awful night.

As F. Scott Fitzergerald said, "The rich are different." Apparently in Spears & K-Fed's case, that means they can hire estate planners that engage in ahem, life affirmation with personalized porno services, Cmmrbnd.

It seems a strange way to spend one's money, but then it'd be a funny old world if we were all alike, and thank goodness there's nowt as queer as folk.

You know, it takes something like the Britney/Kevin breakup story to put all this "future of the republic" stuff into its proper context.

Cmmrbnd: //I struggle to stay awake, and my wife takes notes.//

Cmmrbnd, your sex life is of very little interest to the rest of this group!

Hey, Wilbrod -- I used to go to Congressional Cemetery but I stopped. It's too far to walk, which made it a "destination", weekends-only phenomenon which in turn made the economics not work. Plus . . . I always got home mildly but definitely depressed.

Partly it's the sheer weirdness of running around with your dog between ancient tombstones and crumbling crypts. But the place just has bad feng shui. It's bordered on the east by the DC Jail and on the south and west by an abandoned rail switching yard that's now used as a dump.

Look up estate planning, Superfrenchie.

If Mudge wanted to discuss his sex life he'd be talking about his wild bachelor days, with a lot of exaggeration and corsetry thrown in.

For those who have been hectoring me over not having pictures to go with the 10thcircle log item from last week, your prayers have been answered. Go back, and you'll find it updated with pics:

http://www.10thcircle.com/10/?p=139

Re. Britney filing for divorce from K-fed, I suspected that might be coming. I understand she has had some elective surgeries, etc. recently, which led me to believe she was preparing to re-enter the market, if you know what I mean.

Before JA interviews Cmmrbnd (who clearly showed an utter lack of commitment by arriving at the place of poling some 7 minutes after I did), I should mention that a lady handed me a Republican guide to the ballot this AM (before I crossed into the Neutral Zone, perfecty legal). I thanked her, took it and asked if she had a lighter. The lady's eyes grew wide and she backed up a step.

"Nevermind," I continued as I folded it up and put it in my pocket, "This could come in handy later. The bathroom stalls at work have been running short on toilet paper. Thanks!"

Then I turned and walked to the front door, looking forward the day's first cup of coffee and doing my civic duty.

bc

Gotcha, Annie. That wouldn't bother Gene Weingarten who probably grew up next to a dump and a jail in the Bronx and thus finds it home-like and cozy.

Speak for yourself, Super[CENSORED]ie, very few things in this life are more interesting than sex.

So who's doing what for Election Night? I am going over to a friend's to eat chili and watch the news.

Re Britney: I have as much schadenfreude as the next guy, more than most, but I actually feel sorry for ole Brit. No, really. Not the hundreds of millions part, but the stage-mother, no-childhood, under-educated part.

The ones I *really* feel sorry for, of course, are her poor children. The *older* child is barely one year old.

annie, I'm with you 100% that this is worse for the kids than for anyone else.

Wouldn't be surprised if Brit/F-fed's kids end up with the same doctor as Frances Bean Cobain, sadly.

bc

annie - you are quite right. It is a shame when innocent children are placed in such a heinous and undeserved environment. Although, after a while, I do get sick of my offspring reminding me of the fact.

Not to be exigent or anything, Tim, but I can't let it go. Shambolic has been British slang for years and years (at least since WWII); now recognized by both Oxford and Princeton. The below is from Princeton:

(adj) shambolic ((British slang) disorderly or chaotic) "it's a shambolic system"

Regarding Britney Spears, like well sure.

Messy person: I'm a shambolic
Shy person: I'm a shamolic
Dancing fool: I'm a sambolic
Seamstress: I'm a seamolic

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