I was waiting for this particular shoe to drop. I apologize profusely for
starting all this with my intemperate remarks.
John
At 09:36 PM 12/20/00, you wrote:
>Off topic. Can we please move on? -- IV
>
>Mark Sires wrote:
>
> > We obviously disagree politically, which is (in my opinion) our greatest
> > strength - we can disagree without fear of retribution (except for flame
> > mail perhaps :-) ).
> >
> > That aside, as a Florida resident, who is actually capable of following a
> > large black arrow from the name of the candidate I want to vote for to the
> > hole I am supposed to punch, I was absolutely appalled with the 'recount
> > them until I win' philosophy that was so readily accepted by both the
> > (extremely biased and partisan) media and much of the public. And
> let's not
> > forget to 'count every vote', unless of course they are probably for my
> > opponent (overseas absentee votes). The 'determining of voter intent'
> > greatly resembled the tea leaf reader at the traveling carnival (most of
> > which winter here in Florida, so perhaps they had a ready pool of qualified
> > individuals available).
> >
> > And let's not forget the 'Florida goes to Gore' announcement by our
> unbiased
> > media. How many voters didn't go to the polls (which was announced before
> > the polls in Florida had closed) will never be known. This doesn't
> generate
> > a lot of sympathy from me I'll admit. Voting is important, and if you let
> > the media decide for you whether to vote or not, then you probably wouldn't
> > have been able to follow the large black arrow to the correct hole anyway.
> >
> > I will say that the unsuccessful party did manage exceed the hypocrisy
> > standard they had set when Sen. Ted Kennedy sat in judgement during the
> > Clarence Thomas sexual harassment hearings. William Daley, son of Richard
> > Daley, complaining of 'voting irregularities' certainly amazed this former
> > Illinois resident! The 'Mr. Technology' candidate declaring that manual
> > recounts performed by personnel working 16-18 hour days were far
> superior to
> > machine counts was also a high point of the process.
> >
> > >From my perspective, the court that showed its bias and partisanship was
> > without question the Florida Supreme Court, which attempted to set
> aside its
> > own ruling that extended the recount deadline to Sunday at 5:00pm to
> further
> > extend the deadline.
> >
> > It was not widely reported in the national press (surprise), but local and
> > regional reports of the results from those counties that were recounting
> > until halted by the U.S. Supreme Court were improving W's lead, which
> > undoubtedly played some role in the final decision by G to surrender
> > gracefully.
> >
> > The only good thing to come from the whole mess (including the final
> > outcome) is that it appears we will spend some time and $$ here in Florida
> > to modernize and improve our election process. So in 4 years it can be
> some
> > other State that didn't in the news for 5 weeks!
> >
> > And the rest of you should be thankful - you only have to deal with the
> > voters of Floriduh once every 4 years. I get to drive on the roads with
> > them every day of every year!
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: John S. Gage <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 4:04 PM
> > Subject: Re: medical informatics and "clinical trials"
> >
> > > You see, I have been tormented by the thought of an upstanding Yugoslav
> > > citizen saying, "Ah, the Americans aren't that different from us after
> > > all. Slobodan used to throw away votes all the time." It will be a long
> > > time before the United States can tell anyone how to run their country
> > ever
> > > again.
> > >
> > > John
> > >
> > > At 07:03 PM 12/19/00, you wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > >"John S. Gage" wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > I will confess that having just witnessed a coup d'etat by the
> > Republican
> > > > > party engineered by its clients in the Supreme Court, the world must
> > have a
> > > > > pretty dismal view of the U.S. Nevertheless, the tradition of
> science
> > is
> > > >
> > > >I have to admit, it was disheartening to see this (the worst aspect: the
> > > >partisan bias of every official in the country, including the supreme
> > court
> > > >judges). The international press I read went from disbelief that W was
> > even
> > > >running to dismay at the election to a well-practiced shaking of the
> head
> > > >at the
> > > >final result. But I have many American friends who I know are shaking
> > their
> > > >heads in the same way. I think they are successful and do good almost in
> > > >reaction to such corruption. America has had some of the best dissidents
> > > >in the
> > > >world.
> > > >
> > > >Open source is a good example: it is a kind of controlled anarchy which
> > lets
> > > >people software control their own work outside of large organisations.
> > The
> > > >energy is there; the trick is to a) shape the energy and b) avoid
> > extremism.
> > > >
> > > >- thomas beale
> > > >
> > > >(Alright. I admit I would have voted for Nader. I thought I might be
> able
> > to
> > > >have a bit of a vote when in Florida in January, seeing the election was
> > still
> > > >going, but it looks like I've missed out. Just. Perhaps a final
> > recount?!)
> > >
