[geeks] Global warming, was Mr Bill?

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 02:21:37AM -0500, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:
>I wish we hadn't any parties at all.  The party platforms don't mean
>anything.  The Democrats have platform items like "Good Jobs for Good Pay"
>and "Support Small Business and Entrepreneurship" and then pass commercial
>regulations that make running a business nearly impossible.  The
>Republicans have platform items like "Empowering the States" and
>"Entitlement Reform", but have been the bigger source of government
>consolidation and welfare (Medicare "part D", anyone?) for decades.
>
>Why have such organisations if the folks those organisations support don't
>espouse the values those organisations claim to hold?
>
>Or, hell, at least give folks the option to vote "No Confidence".
>
>Not that it matters, anyway.  Stalin was spot-on about counting the votes,
>and anyone who can actually make sufficient headway is already purchased.

We have that system here. It stinks. For a short time we had a reform
movement that wanted to do direct election of the Prime Minister and the
memebers of the Keneset (our single house). They got halfway and we had
direct election of the Prime Minister. 

That was voted down, and now you vote for a party, and the party with the
most votes gets to appoint a prime minister. Each party publishes a list
before the election of whom they will give a seat if they get enough votes,
but by the time the government sits, the list is revised, so it really 
means nothing.

A couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister resigned, so the MEMEBERS OF HIS
PARTY VOTED and picked a new one. The new one can continue with things as
they are, or call for new elections. 

Note that any party with enough members can run, but the reform of the
reform of the election process required a party to get at least two seats
or they got nothing.

That was a shame because there were all sorts of interesting parties in
the previous election including the green (as in leaf), the casino (as in
legalize gambling), the "throw the arabs out",  and the pensioner's (which
a friend of mine calls the angry immigrent) parties. 

TV adds were allocated fairly (equal time to each party) and they were
broadcast on the state (TV tax funded) channel all at once. It was to me,
the best Hebrew programing I've ever seen, before and after.

So we have only a "vote for all of this party" box, and we can't pick and
choose. 

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM