now remind me:

...why did we bomb laos?

The Single Transferable Vote for Canada

The following overview of the STV (Single Transferable Vote) electoral system (system for electing representatives to government) was taken from the Electoral Reform Society's old pages. They recommend STV as the best option for reforming the United Kingdom's electoral system, and I believe would also be the best system for Canada to adopt! For some reason, they've decided to replace the following text on their new site with what I find to be a less readable overview; so, I rescued and posted the better one here. Hopefully this is 'fair use', and I won't get chipped for copyright violations! Anyhow, onward and upward:

How the Single Transferable Vote electoral system Works:

Each constituency would elect between 3 and 5 MPs depending on its size. Voters rank the candidates, putting a '1' for their favourite, a '2' for the next, and so on. If the voter's first choice candidate does not need their vote, either because he or she is elected without it, or because he or she has too few votes to be elected, then the vote is transferred to the voter's second choice candidate, and so on.

In this way, most of the votes help to elect a candidate and far fewer votes are wasted. An important feature of STV is that voters can choose between candidates both of their own and of other parties, and can even select candidates for reasons other than party affiliation. Thus, a voter, wishing for more women MPs could vote for a woman from their own party and then all other women candidates, whatever party they stand for.

The system is used:

in the Australian Senate, the Republic of Ireland, Tasmania, Malta and Northern Ireland for local elections and elections to the European Parliament.

Arguments used in favour:

STV does more than other systems to guarantee that everyone gets their views represented in parliament and that they have a say in what is done by their elected representatives. STV is the best option for:

• Putting the power in the hands of the voters.
• Keeping MPs linked to the people who voted for them. Most voters can identify a representative that they personally helped to elect and can feel affinity with. Such a personal link also increases accountability.
• Making parliament reflect the views of the voters.
• Only a party or coalition of parties, who could attract more than 50% of the electorate could form a government. Any changes would have to be backed by a majority since public opinion is reflected fairly in elections under STV. This is far more important than that a government should be formed by only one political party.
• It enables the voters to express opinions effectively. Voters can choose between candidates within parties, demonstrating support for different wings of the party. Voters can also express preferences between the abilities or other attributes, of individual candidates.
• It is simple for voters to use.
• There is no need for tactical voting . Voters can cast a positive vote and know that their vote will not be wasted whatever their choice is.
• It produces governments that are strong and stable because they are founded on the majority support of the electorate.

Weaknesses:

• The system does not produce such accuracy in proportional representation of parties as the party list or additional member systems.
• It breaks the link between an individual MP and his or her constituency.
• Constituencies would be 3-5 times larger than they are now but with 3-5 MPs.
• MPs may have to spend an excessive amount of time dealing with constituency problems and neglect the broader issues.
• There are critics who say that this system could lead to permanent coalition governments, but this would only happen if the voters as a whole want it.
• It is disliked by politicians, since it would remove power from them and give it to the electors, and many MPs with safe seats would lose the security they feel now.

Answering the Common Arguments Against STV

It could destroy the link between MPs and the constituents

Under STV, the constituency link is retained, albeit between several MPs and an enlarged constituency. The accountability of MPs to their constituencies is actually increased in that, unlike the current single-member constituencies, no individual MP has a safe seat. Due to the reduction in security of tenure brought about by STV, all MPs will need to win their seats on merit. Voters also tend to feel a natural link with the whole of Leeds, for example, rather than an allegiance to Leeds North or Leeds Central. They may prefer to have real influence with the MPs representing the whole of the city, rather than hold one MP responsible for their sector. The idea of working together, as a team with other representatives in the area is the norm for local government, where working together for a local ward, is often seen as advantageous.

STV could cause internal party rifts

In most cases, party solidarity and loyalty will inhibit individualistic campaigning, and even if this were to happen, a party could exclude a future ticket to a recalcitrant candidate. There is intra-party competition in every election system. With First-Past-The-Post, it is internalised within the selection and re-selection process; with Party Lists, it becomes a permanent internal competition for a high place on the list. In order to maximise its total support in a multi-member constituency; a party is likely to put up a balanced team of candidates. Under STV all existing MPs can stand for election, and may have an advantage in being better known than their new colleagues.

MPs could become bogged down in casework.

There is no evidence in Britain that local casework-based candidates poll better than national names, often voters like to be represented by national names who may have little day to day contact with the constituency.

The ballot papers would be too complicated for the public too understand.

Electors are perfectly able to cope with STV ballot papers. The first Northern Ireland Assembly election under STV in 1973, which produced a 70% turnout, is a good example. The voters elected representatives from both sides of the community in every constituency.

C'est fin! Thanks for educating yourself! If you want an even bigger overview of other systems and the electoral reform debate, check out UK's Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote Canada, or read my paper: Replacing the Junker: An Electoral Systems Shopping Guide for Canada (PDF file).

the new lord's prayer

Armani
Who art in Holts
Hallowed be thy shoes
Thy Prada come
Thy shopping done
On Bloor Street
As it is in Paris
Give us this day, our Visa Gold
And forgive us our balance
As we forgive those who charge us interest
Lead us not into Wal-Mart
And deliver us from Sears
For thine is the Chanel
The Gaultier, and the Versace,
For Dolce and Gabbana...........Amex.

the long emergency - surviving catastrophies of the 21st century

this is a very interesting video about the problems facing our economy and society as we move into the new century, among them our dependence on oil, our automobile-dependent way of life, urban design, etc. it's an interview with James Howard Kunstler, author of the long emergency - surviving catastrophies of the 21st century, editor at rolling stone and writer for the new york times. i recognized him as the pessimist from "the end of suburbia", a great little documentary done by brant local barry silverthorn, but he's much more balanced it seems in this discussion for the massachusetts school of law "books of our time" show.

watch it, it's engaging and informative.

chemicals in my cream / fatherhood

fresh cream. the idea of it connotes some kind of natural, pure state for me, clean and white, full of nutrition and rich fats to nurture a calf to maturity.

so was my naive state of mind when i reached for my neilson "fresh cream 10%" a minute ago and noticed it supposedly expired on oct 23, but its still good as new. so i looked at the ingredients. in addition to what you'd expect, you know, cream, water, milk, there were also sodium phosphate, sodium citrate, carrageenan, and dextrose. in cream! i hate to think what was in my jr. bacon cheeseburger yesterday. maybe its time to revert to vegetarianism and go organic. i don't want my baby being siphoned this crap!

yes, my baby! autumn is pregnant. due sometime late spring/early summer.

i just saw a UFO!

alright, so it was about 7am this morning and i was coming home from autumn's work after walking her there. was up crossing the train tracks by the greenwood cemetary on west st. and lo! in the sky, a few inches down from the cresent moon, really between the moon and the horizon where you could just see the sun's light blue influence spreading upwards, was this period-sized dot of brilliant yellow light! it was moving, and around a 35º fan of luminous gradient diffused out behind it into the sky, like a very large slice of pie. at first i thought it was a plane or helicopter with some kind of ultra-powerful floodlight attached to the front, but as i watched it, i realized it was moving in the reverse direction of the fanning light. i crossed the train tracks in case a freight caravan would come along, still keeping a close eye, and about 30 seconds later, this thing dimmed and then disappeared into what looked like a puff of smoke. the plume behind it wavered and drifted, and became a foggy cloud instead of a sharp-edged, well-lit angle.

either i just saw a spaceship go into romulan "cloak" mode, or that was one massive meteor. either way, it's given me a renewed sense of smallness in the face of the sky, and in the face of all i don't know about this world i live in. and i wish i'd taken a video so i could sell it to the national inquirer.

the ease and turn

finally, i'm out from under the shadow of that electoral reform paper; out from under the shadow of classes, campaigns, etc. just a couple exams, and i'm home free til january come banging in.

so i'm sitting at my desk, sipping some coffee with eggnog. cut myself an extra thick slice of raisin toast with butter. taking the time to wrap up little odds and ends i've put off for ages, plan maybe some nice times with autumn. that poor girl, i'm honestly needing to give her 1. a lot more credit and praise for her intelligence and patience and balance. and it's funny that those are a few things she thinks she lacks in, but she has so much more of all of them than i do. i couldn't have found a more perfect girl. i just hope i can keep it together and let things grow between us again. i've put her through a lot. i need to work on admitting that... especially to her. and to myself. i'm not sure what my problem is.

anyways, i'm the new CEO of the local green party association, which should be a bit of fun on the side, although i can't let it take too much time from me. i'm refocusing on these 4 things, in priority sequence, as my christmas holiday and new years thereafter priorities.

1. autumn
2. paying off debts.
3. school
4. music

speaking of music, my band, false heroics has an album out!: www.falseheroics.com. we're shipping worldwide!