Re: Nitpicking, and some political theory

Scratches head, sorry - No Nits!  No Lice!  No Fleas!  No Ticks!

Does that mean the grooming session's off again?  Just when the weather's
getting warmer, too! :-)

(Pant-hoot, pant-hoot, pant-hoot! ;)

Wesley Parish

(Well, we are the third chimpanzee! ;)

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 19:05, Thomas R. Wier wrote:
> From:    Muke Tever <hotblack@...>
> Subject: Re: re Periphrases?  Re    Re Question about Latin.
>
> > >  what's a periphrase?
> >
> > The singular of "periphrases" is "periphrasis".
>
> Except for most English speakers, for whom the paradigm goes
> "periphrase : periphrases".
>
> From:    Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...>
> Subject: No Cross, but a little Crown (sorry) (was Re: Toki Pona survey)
>
> > On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 19:46:32 -0400, Trebor Jung <treborjung@...>
wrote:
> > > Support the fight against the lack of choice on November 2: spoil your
> > > ballot!
> >
> > In most elections in America, spoiled ballots aren't even counted. They
> > serve no protestorial purpose, because no-one ever sees that the ballot
> > was spoiled. Fight the lack of choice by voting for one of the
> > non-duopoly candidates (there are several on the ballot in most states,
> > from the Constitutionalists to the Socialists). Fight the lack of choice
> > by actively getting involved in voting-method reform organisations -- a
> > fairer voting method breaks a duopoly in single digits of terms.
>
> Far be it from me to defend the antics of the duopoly, but I feel
> obliged to point out that the mere presence of a multiparty system
> in no way automatically improves actual governance.  Just look at
> Italy:  there, a proportional representation system guarantees the
> extremist, antiimmigrant, quasifascist, secessionist, Northern League
> a place in Parliament. Because such systems typically must form
> governing coalitions from discrete parties, rather than factions
> within parties as in the US, proportional representation systems
> are typically much more unstable, and fights over bills become hostage
> to a tiny percentage of the voting population. (The Northern League
> left a coalition about a decade ago over some petty issue, and this
> brought about the downfall of Berlusconi's government the last time
> he was in power.)
>
> In the US system, for all its faults, the US parties (which are really
> more like permanent standing coalitions) seek to absorb extremist
> elements, but can never stray too far from the center, lest the other
> major party actually win more seats.  Thus, a major change in one
> party's agenda tends more likely to reflect an actual change in the
> voting population's opinions than in many European systems. Some
> more modern European constitutional arrangements have realized this:
> Russia's constitution (well, at least until Putin's new monarchizing
> changes go through) has one chamber elected by proportional representation,
> and one by Anglophone-style first-past-the-post system.
>
> Also, as far as America is concerned, it's not clear how one would
> introduce proportional representation and simultaneously not weaken
> the balance of power between the states and regions and the federal
> government.  We've already fought one civil war on the nature of
> federalism, and I'm sure most of us would like to avoid a second...
>
> ==========================================================================
> Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
> Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
> University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
> 1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
> Chicago, IL 60637
--
Wesley Parish
* * *
Clinersterton beademung - in all of love.  RIP James Blish
* * *
Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?"
You ask, "What is the most important thing?"
Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people."