Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot, The Elections, and Space Exploration
We've been putting off coverage of the US elections for a long time now, but with the election only weeks away, we figure its time to let
loose. The stories about the election will be posted under the United States topic, and will stop with the announcement of the winner. Stories that are selected will be very few, so expect to be have submissions rejected. Submissions must have some sort of angle for them to be considered for Slashdot, and we will be brutal: we're not CNN here.
And if you don't care about the election, login and disable the United States topic and you'll be free from this. We're starting this
off with a link from
TOTKChief where you can read NASA Watch's of journal of space-related election news, which is just the first of many issues we think is
relevant in this upcoming election. Read it, make up your own mind, and vote goddammit.
And if you don't like Gore or Bush, vote third party. Nader, Browne, Buchanan. They won't win, but:
1) If they get a certain percentage of the vote this election, they get more official money and recognition in the next election and more power between times
2) It's a form of protest. If you are sick of the system as is, protest vote for a third party.
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An abstained vote is a vote for Bush and Gore.
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
(Hey Ryan! Here's your proof!)
Rather than serving the people, our government has tried it's damdest to become our ruler instead, starting with the imposition of the 16th Amendment
Actually, this isn't entirely far from the truth when you go back and look at which states actually ratified the 16th amendment and which states were counted as having done so even though they didn't. Kentucky's senate voted against ratification, yet they were counted. Oklahoma voted to ratify a substantially different version of the 16th amendment (making provision for appropriation according to census, not the absence thereof as in the official version of the 16th amendment). There's even an argument to be made that while Texas did vote to ratify, it could not have done so according to law, because it would have violated certain provisions of Texas's own constitution to do so. (The interesting part of the argument is whether state's own constitutions can restrict their ability to ratify federal constitutional amendments -- the language of the Constitution is ambiguous and perhaps even approving on this point).
So, then the result is a corrupt central government aggrandizing this power onto itself without respect for the contitutional processes that bear legitimacy. A similar argument can be made concerning the 14th amendment (which was ratified by southern "states" which hadn't been fully let back into the union since seceding) and even the original constitution (which required a smaller number of states ratifying it than even the 3/4 majority needed for amendment under Article V, much less the unanimity required under the Articles of Confederation). But it's sad, none the less.
-- Anne Marie
I see too many people speaking of boycotting the election. People don't want to pick the lesser of two evils, so they're choosing not to vote. This is not the best response.
Don't vote for the lesser evil. Find a candidate you do believe in and vote for that one. You're not throwing away your vote. You're showing that you're fed up with the two main parties. That you are no longer represented by them.
This govenment is not going to be changed overnight. Ralph Nader, for instance, has no chance in hell of winning this election. But, if all the people who believe in his ideas vote for him, instead of voting for the big party candidate that they fear the least, a very clear message would be sent to the government. And then in 4 years, maybe Ralph Nader, or another 3rd party candidate, would really have a chance.
We must respect evil, and we must make evil respect us.
The solution is not throwing away your vote every 4 years for the same lost cause,
This is the Big Lie that's ruined the chances of any third party and wrecked what was once the model of democracy for the rest of the world to follow.
Voting for someone you're pretty sure won't win isn't "throwing your vote away." A poster on Slashdot long ago said "It's not a horse race." You're choosing who you think is the best person for the job, not "the lesser of two evils."
You, and the rest of the country, have more than two choices for President, Governor, House and Senate members, etc. It's just the largest two parties have done a good enough job of skewing the electoral system in their favour that other voices almost never get a chance to be heard - witness Nader not even being allowed to view the debate even though he had a ticket, never mind - horror of horrors - he could actually get a chance to espouse his left-wing, anti-corporate views in front of a nation that believes it only has two choices. And Harry Browne and his Libertarian wingnuts? He absolutely must be kept silent, lest people start thinking they actually have a choice that could result in politicians having less power and individuals having more freedom.
I suppose that Jesse Ventura guy in Minnesota doesn't exist - after all, he's not a Republican or Democrat, so Minnesota voters must have thrown their votes away.
Vote your conscience - vote for Brown (or Nader, or whomeever). Don't give extra votes to people you think are morons just because they're the "lesser of two evils" (even though you have more than two choices!), and don't eschew going to the polls. Elections are the one time when individuals such as yourself actually wield more power over the formation and direction of government than lobbyists and "friends", and it's a shame more people don't exercise that power. Even if your favoured candidate loses, your vote shows there are some people who believe a candidate is right. The more people who vote their conscience rather than just stay home because "it doesn't matter," the more it proves to others that non-Republicrats might be worth listening to.
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Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
Dave and Declan,
I am taking the liberty of sending to you both a brief summary of Al Gore's Internet involvement, prepared by Bob Kahn and me. As you know, there have been a seemingly unending series of jokes chiding the vice president for his assertion that he "took the initiative in creating the Internet."
Bob and I believe that the vice president deserves significant credit for his early recognition of the importance of what has become the Internet.
I thought you might find this short summary of sufficient interest to share it with Politech and the IP lists, respectively.
================================================== ============
Al Gore and the Internet
By Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development.
No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented" the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among people in government and the university community. But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time.
Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role. He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were listening. We feel it is timely to offer our perspective.
As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship. Though easily forgotten, now, at the time this was an unproven and controversial concept. Our work on the Internet started in 1973 and was based on even earlier work that took place in the mid-late 1960s. But the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on how advanced technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating the response of government agencies to natural disasters and other crises.
As a Senator in the 1980s Gore urged government agencies to consolidate what at the time were several dozen different and unconnected networks into an "Interagency Network." Working in a bi-partisan manner with officials in Ronald Reagan and George Bush's administrations, Gore secured the passage of the High Performance Computing and Communications Act in 1991. This "Gore Act" supported the National Research and Education Network (NREN) initiative that became one of the major vehicles for the spread of the Internet beyond the field of computer science.
As Vice President Gore promoted building the Internet both up and out, as well as releasing the Internet from the control of the government agencies that spawned it. He served as the major administration proponent for continued investment in advanced computing and networking and private sector initiatives such as Net Day. He was and is a strong proponent of extending access to the network to schools and libraries. Today, approximately 95% of our nation's schools are on the Internet. Gore provided much-needed political support for the speedy privatization of the Internet when the time arrived for it to become a commercially-driven operation.
There are many factors that have contributed to the Internet's rapid growth since the later 1980s, not the least of which has been political support for its privatization and continued support for research in advanced networking technology. No one in public life has been more intellectually engaged in helping to create the climate for a thriving Internet than the Vice President. Gore has been a clear champion of this effort, both in the councils of government and with the public at large.
The Vice President deserves credit for his early recognition of the value of high speed computing and communication and for his long-term and consistent articulation of the potential value of the Internet to American citizens and industry and, indeed, to the rest of the world.