presidential elections in America are a joke ran by corporations and their subsidies (don't know the correct word in english for it but presidents just lobby everywhere for financing of their campaign).

what do you mean by "worth it," poin? I don't think I'd ever say that voting isn't worth it. It's easy, free, and I've got nothing else to do. I'm still just not convinced my individual vote is meaningful even in a local election, though that would depend some on city size I'd think.

'

wat

I'm happy to have kicked off a discussion on politics (we had religion a few weeks ago, after all), at least until it gets tiresome. I've not been particularly politically minded until recently (the Republican candidate selection process really kicked things off for me, in fact I would nominate Rick Santorum as being the guy that scared me into action).

As for your question, there is a difference between being born in the US and becoming a naturalized citizen, and I would be more concerned about someone that went through the time and expense of immigration and still didn't vote.

Having said that, while I totally understand the futility of the individual's vote, it saddens me that >40% of the eligible population didn't bother to vote in 2008. If you can look at the reason why you don't vote, for example, you might solve the problem of why all your peers don't vote, and then you are getting meaningful change. But, I was just reading a snippet from wiki about voter turnout and game theory, Reasons For Voting:

"In any large election the chance of any one vote determining the outcome is low. Some studies show that a single vote in a voting scheme such as the Electoral College in the United States has an even lower chance of determining the outcome. Other studies claim that the Electoral College actually increases voting power. Studies using game theory, which takes into account the ability of voters to interact, have also found that the expected turnout for any large election should be zero."

Getting involved at the local level and with specific policies that are important to you (e.g. legalizing poker) are going to be more effective strategies - and "getting involved" means more than simply voting: campaigning and writing letters, making donations, can all be effective.

At the national level, its harder to see why you should bother*, but I still think you should, simply given the unique history of the United States, and the embarrassing turnout % currently. Being too busy is a lame excuse, it does not take a meaningful amount of your time once every four years. (being apathetic about the candidates is a better excuse imo). I know there is some inconsistency in this view, but I think even a miniscule impact resulting from acting on your civic duty is still meaningful on other levels, in comparison to sitting on your ass.

* biggest reasons: i) electoral college can make your vote in a majority region completely futile, ii) campaign donations from big business dwarfs anything from individuals, and this is a really big concern. Also iii), the impact of having one president over another is not really that great, the president can't do much on his own (veto's being one particularly powerful option).

We will see. Wisconsin almost lost at home to Northern Iowa. Michigan would lose by 60 if Alabama didn't take their foot off the pedal. The conference is a bushel of suck.

Yes I think the conf as a whole is really down this year. MSU D is very good but the qb looked like a 17 year old. Michigan obv same story as usual. It's going to be a wild season since the talent gaps keep shrinking.

Anyone (AHEM KLINK), have some good recommendations for Fantasy Football draft prep reading? I don't know **** and my draft is tomorrow.

Halp plz

Man, it annoys me that I can't just play poker online right now.

I hadn't played poker in a year, going to the casino today was a rush.

You're the one who started it!

Ive started many things I wish I hadnt

learn vbd, google it

im looking for one person to coach/stake at hunl, made a post about it on my blog at leggopoker figured i would post here for the headsup

What are you seeking in a student? Might be interested, because I've played 6max for 6 years now, but with 5 month absents I feel like I can make a transition easier now, because I can absorp new information better.

You can buy an app for like $5 that will allow you to enter your league's scoring settings and then it reranks the players according to their value in your league. I did that and ended up with fairly decent teams with minimal effort/research. I used one called "Rotowire Draft Kit," but there are a few others that are just as good.

Wayyyy interested.

i have yet to vote. don't care!

Romney will prob do ok in Nebraska even without your vote

Yeah - I used to do some intense VBD stuff on my own for fantasy baseball. I used a number that I called 'excellence factor' which took into account how many more points a player scored on average versus the league average at his same position (meaning that something like 2nd base would be have a pretty broad range).

Unfortunately I don't have time to do that this year being that my draft is in 7 minutes now.

Did some random reading and think I at least have a handle on injuries.

Maybe next year you just give me the work you do and I'll owe you a sick meal next time you're in SF?

BOOKED 100%

Honestly fantasy football is 10x less exciting to me now than it was when I was in college/played ****. I'd love some mathematical approaches to drafts but I'm probably to drunk to offer anything in return. Hokies vs georgia tech tomorrow LET'S GOOOOOOOO

so, kil, where's this newfound trust come from?

after having a talk with her

BEES!








That is all.

BEES http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...readid=2243176