SoCalDem
SoCalDem's JournalHAVA was a bust..Section 5 may be a goner.. What now?
How can an end-around be crafted to successfully address the multiple/multi-state voting issues?
Surely there are some rather easy fixes that no one could argue with.
the constitution says that states "run their own elections", but a more modern interpretation of "running" could lead to the actual mechanics of it rather than a comprehensive and vastly different-from-state-to-state situation we now have.
Perhaps something as simple as peeling off the FEDERAL races (the winner goes to DC) from the other parts of an election could unify the process so that no one anywhere is disenfranchised.
Whatever states do for their other races in any given election could be done however they choose, but those federal races should be uniform from state to state.
Democrats need to also reconsider issuance of an automatic INDEPENDENT voter ID card ( Opt-out..not IN ) for every identifiable citizen in the US who is not already registered. They could choose to align with ANY party at the first election the choose to vote in, but at least they would be a registered voter.
That card could allow them to cast a vote for house/senate/president in ANY state they happen to live in.. If "their" state mandates a diamond encrusted holographic ID to vote for dogcatcher/town council/governor..so be it, but for FEDERAL offices, a simple cardstock ballot with no more than THREE races in any given 2-year cycle should be plenty.
Once in place, turning 18 would automatically trigger voter registration, and an ID...valid in ANY state you happen to live in.
Naturalization would also trigger an automatic registration...as would completion of parole/probation.
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New legislation could also address gerrymandering once and for all.. We have powerful computers and zipcodes maps. The US needs a simple grid system based solely on population, and let the chips fall where they may.
New census? new grid map..
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By having things spelled out uniformly, states would lose thew ability to mess around with elections.
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There should also be a formula in place that sets up appropriate precincts/polling places w/ voting machines based on voters..not by the whim of a political party.
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Counting day "first Tuesday of November" would be that..counting day, but elections could be a 30 day process with early voting EVERY DAY, at various venues or by mail.
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Democrats HAVE to stop being on defense, filing lawsuits.. We need to be the ones on OFFENSE, setting UP the rules & regs and being ahead of the schemes that have yet to pop up from the GOP.
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The electoral college needs to go bye-bye.. we are no longer slave states with plantations and "gentlemen farmers" who own land and are "free white & 21"
....we have evolved..
Congress - Cockeyed Optimists
So VAWA has finally passed ...AGAIN!..but only for 5 years.
Is there empirical evidence that supports the thought that in 5 more years, there will be NO NEED for this law?
The same thing exists for the Voting Rights "re-vote" that apparently SCOTUS is prepared to scrap.When a law is passed, why on earth bother to sunset it?
Human nature drives most laws anyway, and human nature has remained pretty constant since we started walking upright.
A law passed should remain law until it's obvious that it's no longer needed..
Do we "re-vote" on the 2nd amendment?
But we have to keep re-voting on the 15th amendment?
I know that VAWA is not an amendment, but it's a law we have had on the books for a long time, and why do we keep wasting rime, energy and ink on re-authorizing it over and over like we think that someday domestic violence will cease to exist..
Our congress is so jammed up that we cannot afford to waste time continuing to re-vote on the same things over and over and over.
Why not just do it and keep it? If something new comes along that comes along that needs to be addressed, just make it a standalone bill and make people choose sides.
What things will shock/amuse your kids when they go through your "stuff"
when you pass on?
I was watching the news today about Dennis Rodman & Kim Jun Un and I remembered the Dennis Rodman Bridal Doll I once bought for my son and only recently discovered in a closet.. He's now 34, so I doubt that he would find it a clever stocking stuffer (what I had planned it to be)
I'm sure there is more that they will look at and say WTF??
Average age of priests is 63..
It used to be 35
Now with Alex Wagner panel is discussing why.. Isn't it a no-brainer?
Religious life (even with all the vows of poverty) always had an appeal to younger people (of the past ) in a way quite similar to the appeal of the military in times of hardship.
People used to live rural lives, and much of their day-to-day lives included religion. People married quite young, and were expected to go out on their own in their teens or early 20s.
For a poor person (male or female) who for whatever reason, decided that they did not want to marry and start a family, the religious life gave them an opportunity to go to school, and provided a life-long envelopment in a society that would always "take care of" them..
Priests/nuns always had a roof over their heads and food to eat.. they always had clothing and personal/medical needs met, and they never had to do manual/dirty/hard labor. They were teachers/moral leaders/ministers.
If they were a person who never intended to marry, and have a family of their own, they had a "family" they tended to spiritually, but did not have to endure the day to day grind of making a marriage work and tending to cranky/disrespectful/willful children. They were spared the necessity of doing a crappy job just to put food on the table.
Until quite recently (in evolutionary terms), most marriages were NOT "love-matches". They were often "arranged" (sometimes loosely-sometimes not so much) by families, and (for the girls) often before they even had a chance to find a "love-match".
It's not surprising to me, that in the past, many young people facing a lifetime of struggle and poverty, perhaps found a "calling" in the religious life.
In my own family there were 3 elderly nuns (Great aunts) who flat out told us kids that they all joined together because they were in their late teens when their father died in a farm accident and their Mother could not afford for them to stay on the farm. They had NO desire to follow in her footsteps, and college was out of the question, since none of them had gone beyond 6th grade, and what they saw in their future was marriage to some farmer and too many kids to care for, so they chose to become nuns.
None of them regretted their choice.
Many young people in recent years have said that they joined the military (even during wartime) because they saw no other option to get educated, get medical care, get a regular paycheck.
First times... (not the "obvious" first time)
The first time I ate pizza, I was 17 years old
My son and I were gabbing, and that little gem emerged.. He was shocked 
I was 16 the first time I saw color tv ..did not have my own color tv until I was 27
I was 36 when I got a computer
What are your "firsts"?
Pssst.. Jan Brewer.. whatcha-gonna-do-about-this? 1-2 buckle my highway
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/21285159/n-arizona-highway-closed-due-to-pavement-buckle
Photo taken by a FOX 10 viewer Photo taken by a FOX 10 viewer
Photo courtesy of Jeremiah Begaye Photo courtesy of Jeremiah Begaye
PAGE, Ariz. -
A 'geologic event' closed a northern Arizona highway Wednesday, after a 150-foot section of pavement buckled. U.S. 89 in northern Arizona is closed in both directions about 25 miles south of Page. Residents in the area reported what they thought was an earthquake Wednesday morning, but geologists say it was a landslide. The Arizona Department of Transportation says the buckling was not related to the weather.
The call came in around 4:30 a.m. There were a few minor accidents as a result.
snip
According to ADOT, it isn't known how long the stretch of U.S. 89 will remain closed south of Page. Crews are on the scene deploying geotechnical engineers to investigate
Before you see Argo, watch the real version. movie made in 1981
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082339/
it's available free online at many sites..
https://www.google.com/#hl=en&newwindow=1&sclient=psy-ab&q=escape+from+iran+the+canadian+caper+watch+online&oq=+Escape+from+Iran:+The+Canadian+Caper&gs_l=hp.1.1.0l4.2859.7174.0.9610.2.2.0.0.0.0.99.189.2.2.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.2j1.4.psy-ab.o6GbQJv8Ofw&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42768644,d.cGE&fp=eb12fef3c2b8dd85&biw=683&bih=387
436 advertising catch phrases
I went looking for "How ... of you".. and stumbled on this
the one I was looking for was not there but this was a trip down memory lane
http://coolrain44.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/tv-commercial-greatest-slogans-jingles-taglines-catchphrases/
a few samples:
Fly the friendly skies of United (United Airlines)
Because even an airline hostess should look like a girl (Braniff Airlines)
Mr. Bubble gets you so clean your mother won’t know you (Mr. Bubble Bath Soap
Cleans your breath while it cleans your teeth. (Colgate Dental Cream)
If you believe in peanut butter, you gotta believe in Peter Pan (Peter Pan Peanut Butter)
My wife….. I think I’ll keep her (Geritol Iron Supplement)
Help! ….. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! (LifeCall)+(LifeAlert)
This is your brain — This is your brain on drugs. (Partnership for a Drug-Free America PSA)
The president will NEVER "schmooze" with republicans
There will be NO "buddy-buddy" compromise.
They have NO respect for him
They see him as a usurper/unworthy-of-office.
They are perfectly willing to continue to tank the economy
They have effectively taken our economy hostage, and are willing to "kill" it one finger/toe/ear/eye at a time.
As long as they have enough republican governors busily working behind the scenes so they can steal "just enough" votes, they will bide their time and run down the clock on Pres. O's administration.
They are content to work at the edges:
Nibbling away at women's rights
Smearing reputations of the nominees who manage to successfully run the gauntlet of sharpened knives
Continuing to cater to their wealthy donors who are also content to perch atop their piles of loot until a "worthy" administration comes along.
SC governor was caught using campaign funds/state funds illegally, and
he paid a fine..resigned and will now probably become a congressman.
He will marry (has already married?) his foreign mistress (former mistress?)
What will be her immigration status? Will she "move to the front of the line"?
Louisiana senator admits to (after being caught) frequenting prostitutes, and is overwhelmingly re-elected...and continues to put himself forward as a "morality-barometer".
and yet Illinois (Chicago, in particular) has a snickery reputation for "corruption", when they DO prosecute and IMPRISON their political ne'er-do-wells.
They do not seem to go the "pay a fine" and all is forgiven route like the overtly "religious" states seem to always do.
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