Up here in Canada we use technology known as the "pen and paper method" to mark and cast ballots. Americans reliance on voting machines would be funny if you didn't hold yourselves up as a shining beacon of democracy to the world.
Federal and provincial elections are organized and supervised by an independent electoral commission that operates at arms-length from the government. There are no partisans in charge of any aspect of the electoral process except scrutineers appointed by each political party to watch the votes being counted. These scrutineers can only challenge a ballot; they can not allow or disallow it since they are not employed by the independent electoral commission. In fact, they aren't even allowed to touch the ballot.
Now back to the technology we use. After the polls close, it takes about one hour to tally the ballots and submit the results. We have never had a final election result take more than a day in any provincial or federal election, nor has any election result been marred like the questionable result of your last presidential election. Each ballot counter is supplied with a chart of acceptable ballot markings. The only criteria is that the intent of the voter must be clear and that there are no personally identifiable marks on the ballot. Having personally been involved in this process, I can assure you that there is never any question as to the intent of the voter if the ballot has been marked correctly. No marks or two (or more) marks on the ballot disqualify it. As long as there is a mark in the circle then the intent is clear. Determining such things is much easier when a sentient creature (as opposed to a machine) is making this determination.
Of course all of this depends on having a truly independent electoral commission and standardized ballots...neither of which the US has. You Americans have a long way to go on the road to a real democracy.
remember that these are only the planets they can detect with current technology. there could be earth-like planets closer to the star that are undetectable so far.
as well, while the planets may not harbour life, their moons may.
you see...this is the root of many problems...light pollution. when you walk outside at night and are not simultaneously awed and frightened by the wonder of the sky you are less than natural...you are cut off from the world around you...you dont know what its really about. dont try to fool yourself into thinking you do.
if a boulder rolls down a hill in the forest and knocks down a tree with no one around to hear, does it make a sound? and if it does, how many decibels would it be?
oregon trail!! i thought i was the only one that remembered that game. ill never forget playing it on the one computer my elementary school had, an apple 2e. i can still remember the thrill of hunting deer with the space bar/shotgun...
if you look a little more carefully you will see that all but one blank spot (central/north carolina) are at the intersections of the bright green (2 pass) lines...its just the way the SRTM orbited. you can also see a tiny unscanned point on the coast of surinam(?).
im certainly not trying to impose my laws on you...its just that to see the US actively arming underage combatants outside their own country is quite obscene. if you americans want to supply guns to 12 year olds in your own country then fine...go ahead and do it. i draw the line at your border...tell me what right you have to arm child soldiers that have been forced into combat?
...the BBC is reporting that the US is planning to arm child soldiers in Sierra Leone and Angola with light arms. quoted from the article: "US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton said 'firearms [are] used for traditional and cultural reasons'"
this is obviously an attempt to bolster gun sales abroad when domestic light arms sales are falling, putting the pinch on the bottom lines of more than a few US gun manufacturers.
or wjat about mp3 encoding programs? or scanners? cd burners?
there are legitimate uses for bulk email programs you know...just like ther are for the above examples, though people tend to use them for illegal means.
Slashdot Mirror
very public...that's why they call them public, right?...ummm...right?
shuddup sissy
goddamn...you linux geeks suck
even if that's true, did they use the phrase "the big bang"? didn't think so...now STFU
mod this up. the article you linked to is very informative indeed. its surprising how few people are aware of this.
Federal and provincial elections are organized and supervised by an independent electoral commission that operates at arms-length from the government. There are no partisans in charge of any aspect of the electoral process except scrutineers appointed by each political party to watch the votes being counted. These scrutineers can only challenge a ballot; they can not allow or disallow it since they are not employed by the independent electoral commission. In fact, they aren't even allowed to touch the ballot.
Now back to the technology we use. After the polls close, it takes about one hour to tally the ballots and submit the results. We have never had a final election result take more than a day in any provincial or federal election, nor has any election result been marred like the questionable result of your last presidential election. Each ballot counter is supplied with a chart of acceptable ballot markings. The only criteria is that the intent of the voter must be clear and that there are no personally identifiable marks on the ballot. Having personally been involved in this process, I can assure you that there is never any question as to the intent of the voter if the ballot has been marked correctly. No marks or two (or more) marks on the ballot disqualify it. As long as there is a mark in the circle then the intent is clear. Determining such things is much easier when a sentient creature (as opposed to a machine) is making this determination.
Of course all of this depends on having a truly independent electoral commission and standardized ballots...neither of which the US has. You Americans have a long way to go on the road to a real democracy.as well, while the planets may not harbour life, their moons may.
until someone mods your OT comment down...then youll be posting at 0. check out the score on this post.
yep...pretty funny. such good mods here.
why did colonel sanders cross the road?
because his dick was stuck in the chicken!
auhuhauahuuauuhhuhuhuh!!!
you see...this is the root of many problems...light pollution. when you walk outside at night and are not simultaneously awed and frightened by the wonder of the sky you are less than natural...you are cut off from the world around you...you dont know what its really about. dont try to fool yourself into thinking you do.
if a boulder rolls down a hill in the forest and knocks down a tree with no one around to hear, does it make a sound? and if it does, how many decibels would it be?
maybe if YOU hadn't passed out while reading the article (assuming you did) you would have seen that it is an unmanned craft.
finally snagged a few with this one eh?
probably the most interesting post i have ever read on /.
mod this up!!
how about a scanner and OCR?
a new US lavasoft site has been launched...youll find it at http://www.lavasoftusa.com
RPGs even
are you at all familiar with the concept of a dual boot machine?
how could they have missed that one...definitely one of the best (maybe even THE best) PRGs of all time.
oregon trail!! i thought i was the only one that remembered that game. ill never forget playing it on the one computer my elementary school had, an apple 2e. i can still remember the thrill of hunting deer with the space bar/shotgun...
if you look a little more carefully you will see that all but one blank spot (central/north carolina) are at the intersections of the bright green (2 pass) lines...its just the way the SRTM orbited. you can also see a tiny unscanned point on the coast of surinam(?).
is this a troll or are you just misinformed?
im certainly not trying to impose my laws on you...its just that to see the US actively arming underage combatants outside their own country is quite obscene. if you americans want to supply guns to 12 year olds in your own country then fine...go ahead and do it. i draw the line at your border...tell me what right you have to arm child soldiers that have been forced into combat?
this is obviously an attempt to bolster gun sales abroad when domestic light arms sales are falling, putting the pinch on the bottom lines of more than a few US gun manufacturers.
or wjat about mp3 encoding programs? or scanners? cd burners? there are legitimate uses for bulk email programs you know...just like ther are for the above examples, though people tend to use them for illegal means.