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Re: Nitpicking, and some political theory

From:Wesley Parish <wes.parish@...>
Date:Monday, October 18, 2004, 10:53
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."