My life + Olympics

[greenie_breizh]

Allie and I were talking earlier and for some reason I brought up Hush and I was like, "y'know, the Buffy episode where they don't talk?" And she was like, yeah, Hush! Which makes my little geeky heart so happy, that she would even know episode names, and so I ventured to ask if she'd seen Dr. Horrible, and she has. This, on top of general

Comments

[menyhapyreturns]

I had no idea Vancouver had that many homeless people.

The Green party here in the US is pretty worthless (IMO) but the Independent Green Party of Virgina I like a lot and have been voting for these past few state elections (to no avail, obv). I don't know why no one else does, whenever we get into discussions about how both the D's and the R's have too much stuff we disagree with, i point out the IG's and they're all "yeah!" but then they still vote for one of the "big two" so they don't "waste their vote".

This is why 3rd parties never get anywhere, people.

[greenie_breizh]

What's the difference between the national Green Party and the Independent Green Party of VA? It frustrates me a lot when people vote "strategically" for big parties - not only does it mean smaller parties never get anywhere, but it also fails to call the big parties on their BS, because all they see is that people keep voting for them no matter what. Sigh.

[menyhapyreturns]

The Independent Green Party of VA trends more to a fiscal conservative position (full disclosure - i too tend to trend a bit more towards the libertarian side myself on some things) which I find appealing about them. And they are huge advocates for renewable energy and most of all, the light rail system which we really need expanded in NoVa. Aside form their foreign policy/military stances, I like the US Green Party's...values, I guess, but as a friend of mine pointed out recently, "They'll need to pay for all that non-bureaucratic bureaucracy they’re going to have to create to impose their platform."

[petit_rhino]

i point out the IG's and they're all "yeah!" but then they still vote for one of the "big two" so they don't "waste their vote".

It's frustrating indeed. IIRC it was even more the case at the last presidential election in France because of the election before that. The extremist Le Pen managed to go on the second round of votes (1st round it's all parties, 2nd one only the main 2), supposedly because people were voting too much for the little parties.

[terra_placidus]

So, obviously the Olympics have gone hideously over budget, and this exact magnitude probably couldn't have been forseen, but this was something people were fully expecting and complaining about back in February 2003, when there was a pathetic 50% turn-out at the city-wide referendum over whether we should even bid on the games. The fact that this is over budget and that taxpayers will have to pay is not a surprise. (I was ineligible to vote as I lived on campus at UBC, which was a load of bull, because I intended to be in Vancouver for a very long time and as a British Columbian and a Canadian my taxes will pay for this until the day I die, grrrr). A fifty percent turnout means that there could have been a little under a million additional votes.

I wonder if this will serve as a lesson to people how important it is to get out there and exercise their responsibility as citizens in a democracy? Something tells me that would be too optimistic. Sigh.

[tanisafan]

I can't open that second link (the skid row link) for some reason, is that just me?

I remember the homeless problem all too well, I can imagine the city trying hard to 'clean up the streets' as they say, but it pissess me off so badly. I wish people who put less money in prestigious events, and more money in solving the problems they encounter now. Bah.