Octopus Overlords

Kraken wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:18 pm "Just maybe it’s a social-media page or an Instagram page where it gives daily facts about how to do things or DIYs on how to vote for yourself, something like that. Just to make it easily digestible to a younger audience that’s on social media, ’cause that’s how they digest their information."

Good lord. Maybe America just doesn't deserve democracy anymore. It's such a hassle.

I don't know about the rest of it, but those last 2 comments are actually good ideas and the federal and local governments should absolutely be running twitter accounts with either the information itself or links to "voting for dummies" information. And I don't use "dummies" as a pejorative. Ignorance isn't stupidity.

Chances are the government is still making pamphlets that you can pick up at the post office or information kiosk. It is 2018 after all. An easy to find and digest electronic version of the pamphlet concept is completely reasonable.

How did you guys learn about the mechanics of actually participating in the democratic process? Is it taught in schools down there? It absolutely is not up here, and if you don't have a friend or interested parent, then it's up to you to be a self starter and find out for yourself. Having that information available through a google search is the absolute minimum I would expect from government.

Unless you're GOP of course. Then all bets are off. Chances are their information site will just tell visitors that they've just voted by clicking on the site, no need to do anything else.

There’s at least a half year of government class in high school.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 12:25 am There’s at least a half year of government class in high school.

Fair enough. It wouldn't hurt to have an easy way to review the information, when you're finally of age to vote, potentially years later.

Also, I said "absolutely is not taught up here" but I really have no idea at this point. I personally never had a course in any of it, so it might have been an optional class or not even exist, potentially. Today, I have even less idea if it's taught in HS or not.

I'm still baffled you don't get mandatory paid time off to go do your civic duty. Crazy.

I do remember the first voting machine I ever used. It was for a high school election. You walked into a booth and moved a lever that closed a curtain behind you. Then you pushed down switches for the candidates you wanted, and moved the lever to the right. It ker-chunked your votes onto a computer punch card and opened the curtain. The punch card stayed in the bowels of the machine, to be taken later to a central computer for tabulation. In the 1970s normal people had never even seen a computer.

I never saw a machine like that again. I don't remember the procedure for the first time I voted for realsies, which would have been in 1976. I voted for Jerry Ford. My dad was his insurance agent and we went out for coffee together once when I was still so young that giving me coffee was a big deal.

The idea that young people can't register today because they don't have a printer or stamps or know how to use a post office is...well, voter suppression, I guess? I've been at the same address for 30 years and have no idea how one registers nowadays.

Kraken wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 2:55 am I do remember the first voting machine I ever used. It was for a high school election. You walked into a booth and moved a lever that closed a curtain behind you. Then you pushed down switches for the candidates you wanted, and moved the lever to the right. It ker-chunked your votes onto a computer punch card and opened the curtain. The punch card stayed in the bowels of the machine, to be taken later to a central computer for tabulation. In the 1970s normal people had never even seen a computer.

Do you want hanging chads? Because that's how you get hanging chads.

Z-Corn wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:37 pm

Fitzy wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 6:31 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 5:43 pm

Z-Corn wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 5:27 pm I would hope you vote Yes on all three proposals!

As your attending physician I recommend moderate doses of reefer, stat!

In all seriousness though...you ever think of seeing if CBD helps you at all? Please don't feel you have to answer if I'm prying.

I strong Yes on all proposals but I won't be touching CBT or anything else until it becomes without a doubt legal. My company still reserves the right drug test and medical card wouldn't shield me from their discretion.

I thought the days of companies interfering in employee’s sex lives was long over.

For real, you might need CBD to get over the pain of CBT...don't forget your safe word!

And see a therapist for CBT to avoid PTSD from the other CBT!

I don’t know why, but CBT jokes are my favorite. Thank you LordMortis for the typo.

By at least some metrics, it looks like young people are voting at least more than they did in 2014:

Wow my state killed it. Hope its the smart voters though.

My most used and liked voting machine you slid your card into a book like thing and used what looked like a big thumb tack to 'punch' the ones you wanted down a middle strip. I miss that.

Clearly Taylor Swift is the real leader of Tennessee.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:Clearly Taylor Swift is the real leader of Tennessee.

Seriously. Holy crap. I didn’t put much stock in the idea that her few statements moved the needle in getting people to register to vote. But that 700% increase number is impressive.

Be wary of reading too much into early voting.

The 2016 election definitely made clear that early voting numbers don’t necessarily mean much. Still, it can’t be bad news, right?

AWS260 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:45 am I think I'm going to vote for the Republican in the NY governor's race. I can't recall the last timed I voted R. Maybe 1994, in the Illinois governor's race? Maybe never.

But the Republican candidate has run a substantive, centrist campaign, while Cuomo has been his usual bag of bluster. Cuomo will win, of course, but I'll feel better about myself on Wednesday morning.

Cuomo is pretty awful. I think I'd probably do the same were I in NY.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 11:25 am The 2016 election definitely made clear that early voting numbers don’t necessarily mean much. Still, it can’t be bad news, right?

There would be much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth if youth participation among early voters was declining. But yeah, it only means more people are voting early, not necessarily that more are voting.

See how many dog whistles you can find in Junior's tweet from this afternoon:

Angus King is a Fake Independent who votes with Schumer 88% of the time. Angus wants to repopulate Maine with Syrian and Somalian refugees. Support @SenatorBrakey who fights for secure borders and Better Jobs for Maine.

I removed the hash tags from the quote, because F that nonsense.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:20 am By at least some metrics, it looks like young people are voting at least more than they did in 2014:

Spoiler:

Turnout among 18-29 year olds, compared to 2014 early voting:
- AZ +217%
- FL +131%
- GA +415% (!!!)
- MI +128%
- NV +364%
- TN +767% (!!!)
- TX +448% (!!!)

How are young people voting early in Michigan? Absentee voting is precisely what's on the ballot.

What percentage split of votes is required to be an independent?

LordMortis wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:27 pm How are young people voting early in Michigan? Absentee voting is precisely what's on the ballot.

I wonder if that's a typo and he meant MN.

It looks like the data is available here: https://targetearly.targetsmart.com/

It has numbers for both MI and MN, and it looks like the numbers include both Early and Absentee votes cast.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:28 am Hope its the smart voters though.

Meaning those that agree with you?

Moliere wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 1:52 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:28 am Hope its the smart voters though.

Meaning those that agree with you?

No I meant anti trump

Moliere wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 1:52 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:28 am Hope its the smart voters though.

Meaning those that agree with you?

Yes, that's what he meant. It's what I would have meant if I wrote it. It's what you would have meant if you wrote it. Your baiting is uncalled for here.

gbasden wrote:

AWS260 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:45 am I think I'm going to vote for the Republican in the NY governor's race. I can't recall the last timed I voted R. Maybe 1994, in the Illinois governor's race? Maybe never.

But the Republican candidate has run a substantive, centrist campaign, while Cuomo has been his usual bag of bluster. Cuomo will win, of course, but I'll feel better about myself on Wednesday morning.

Cuomo is pretty awful. I think I'd probably do the same were I in NY.

I am sitting here watching commercial after commercial telling me about how Bob Menendez rapes children in foreign lands. Bob Menendez is a steaming pile of corrupt bullshit.

On Tuesday, I’m voting for Bob Menendez for US Senate in NJ. For the simple reason that he’s not a Republican, and the entire Republican Party can go fuck themselves sideways. I’ve never voted for Menendez before (SEE: steaming pile of corrupt bullshit). I will happily do it on Tuesday.

I fully understand and support than line of thinking and will be doing exactly the same thing. I'm not in New York, though. Given that Cuomo seems nearly as much Republican as his opponent, I'm not sure how much it would hurt over all.

gbasden wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:44 am I fully understand and support than line of thinking and will be doing exactly the same thing. I'm not in New York, though. Given that Cuomo seems nearly as much Republican as his opponent, I'm not sure how much it would hurt over all.

Well, the one thing I would worry about is that New York state government is one of the fallback options if the GOP retains control of Congress and Trump successfully fires Mueller. In that scenario I would trust Cuomo over a moderate GOP governor (to back up the state AG and not fuck things up).

That's a fantastic point. Ugh.

Donny boy tried to play Rhianna's music at his rally here in Chattanooga. She shut him down online and I hope she sues him personally.

https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2018/11/ ... is-pissed/

Merry Democracy Eve everyone!

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 10:44 pmI am sitting here watching commercial after commercial telling me about how Bob Menendez rapes children in foreign lands. Bob Menendez is a steaming pile of corrupt bullshit.

On Tuesday, I’m voting for Bob Menendez for US Senate in NJ. For the simple reason that he’s not a Republican, and the entire Republican Party can go fuck themselves sideways. I’ve never voted for Menendez before (SEE: steaming pile of corrupt bullshit). I will happily do it on Tuesday.

I'm holding my nose and voting for Menendez too. Part of me starts to think "maybe this is how some Republican voters felt voting for Trump" and then I come to my senses. He's a more-corrupt-than-normal politician but he's a vote against the Trumpian insanity.

Maybe, hopefully, something will befall Menendez in a year or two and he'll be forced out in one way or another.

Daehawk wrote:Donny boy tried to play Rhianna's music at his rally here in Chattanooga. She shut him down online and I hope she sues him personally.

https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2018/11/ ... is-pissed/

He didn’t try to play it, he actually played it, and will likely continue to do so. Unless you think Rihanna has a legal superpower that the Rolling Stones don’t.

Better than a cease and desist IMO is a tweet from [insert outraged musician here] denouncing Trump and his amoral worldview, and asking fans to vote against him and his evil minions.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:41 am Donny boy tried to play Rhianna's music at his rally here in Chattanooga. She shut him down online and I hope she sues him personally.

https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2018/11/ ... is-pissed/

Like with the Rolling Stones, there is likely nothing she can do. His campaign bought rights to a music catalog. If her music is in there, she's out of luck.

gbasden wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:44 am I fully understand and support than line of thinking and will be doing exactly the same thing. I'm not in New York, though. Given that Cuomo seems nearly as much Republican as his opponent, I'm not sure how much it would hurt over all.

I think it's less that Cuomo is a Republican at all and more that it's a mix of corruption and gives him more power/control. He has gotten through some impressive progressive achievements passed (while the article poo-poos the tuition plan for only covering tuition, that's the same thing Sander's plan would have covered).

Personally, corruption aside, I would normally like having bipartisan control (even if this is a bizarre setup) because we've seen the downsides of one party having complete control of government, but that's before the Republicans went off the cliff. However, with the Democrats looking very likely to gain control of the State Senate, I think it's much more likely that they would have an easier time passing things with a moderate Democratic Governor than with a moderate Republican Governor.

May be a useful tool, if you're want to see what sorts of things your elected officials tweet about:

For anyone who wants to look at what to track tomorrow night, take a look at this, with both a pdf and spreadsheet version of notable things (elections, control of congress/state legislatures, referenda, etc) to track.

Just remember, NJ had a recent change in our laws so Tuesday's results won't actually be final until Thursday, based on the counting of ballots postmarked 11/6.

So in summary, we most likely won't know if human garbage person Menendez beat out larger human garbage person Hugin until later this week.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:13 am Just remember, NJ had a recent change in our laws so Tuesday's results won't actually be final until Thursday, based on the counting of ballots postmarked 11/6.

So in summary, we most likely won't know if human garbage person Menendez beat out larger human garbage person Hugin until later this week.

How many mail in ballots are there? I assume that NJ would likely have a projected winner by the end of Tuesday, just not an official winner.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:16 amHow many mail in ballots are there? I assume that NJ would likely have a projected winner by the end of Tuesday, just not an official winner.

From the article:

As of Saturday, tens of thousands of ballots hadn’t yet been returned. A record number of vote-by-mail requests were made in all 21 counties in New Jersey, according to Durkin.
...
Election officials will also have to compare every mail-in ballot they receive with paper provisional ballots to ensure New Jersey residents haven’t voted twice — a process that will take time given the mail-in ballots slated to arrive through Thursday.

From what I've seen locally, I fully expect it to be a mess. The deplorables I'm surrounded by are getting frothy at the idea that they're going to be forced to live under (D) rule.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:19 am
From what I've seen locally, I fully expect it to be a mess. The deplorables I'm surrounded by are getting frothy at the idea that they're going to be forced to live under (D) rule.

Don't they already live under D rule?

Broadly speaking, yes. But locally, I'm in the Reupblican stronghold of NJ - deep within the walls. I knew it, but over the last ~2 years I've seen the masks come off and people around here are f'ing nuts. The idea that the (D) party will take seats is seemingly an affront to them.