In the news today

[KitKat]

For those of you who may be following international news, Canada had a national election yesterday. It's hardly the big news that the American election is, but this is what annoys me about it. Voter turnout drops to record low

What this news article doesn't mention is that a whole lot of people were turned away at the polls, because they didn't bring proper identification with their address. For a large number of students, we don't have ANY id with our current address because we move around so much. Another option is to get someone who does have sufficient id to vouch for you and swear under oath that you live there, but for for some of those people who had to wait up to two hours in line just to get in to vote only to be told they needed to go find a friend and come back, I'm betting they just left. It was a school day and a work day after all, and students don't have buckets of free time to throw around.

I didn't vote either. Does that make me a bad Canadian? I would have been fine if I'd only had to show up with some ID proving I'm a Canadian citizen, but I just moved into my current house a couple months ago and I have nothing official with my address on it. I also had classes all day, and my university is outside of the city. So voting would have meant finding someone who had proof of residence and dragging them with me on a half hour busride to the nearest polling station, and waiting in line with them for who knows how long, and then bussing home. Most of my friends had already voted by the time I got out of class. I just didn't feel like my vote was going to be worth enough to justify so much effort, and I had a lot of homework to get through (and let's be honest...doing my homework has a much more direct affect on my immediate future right now). Kudos to you Conservatives, for complicating the voting process so much for those most likely to vote against you, the students.

[Animeniax]

Does Canada have an electoral college system like the US or does the popular vote actually decide the outcome?

[KitKat]

What happens in Canada is that in every riding, the people in that area will elect a representative to the House of Commons. The party with the most seats in the House is in power, but we don't have a single individual who is in control like the President in the US. What we have (again) is the Conservatives with the most seats, but not a majority of them, which means that they will be held in check by the other parties. Not an ideal situation, and they were hoping to gain a majority by calling this annoying and unnecessary election, but they're still stuck as a minority government. Honestly though, as much as I dislike the conservatives, the liberals haven't been doing much better, and the NDP still haven't been able to establish enough credibility to be seen by Canadians as potential leaders. It might take a while before someone steps up who Canadians actually WANT to vote for, instead of choosing the lesser of two evils.

[Kraco]

Identification with an address? I see. That's certainly troublesome. Over here you only need an official id of some sort. And luckily ids don't have addresses on them as it would be a pain (and expensive) to get a new one every time you move. I have no idea, though, what would happen if you had no address whatsoever. Maybe you wouldn't have a right to vote. At least you wouldn't get the note of your right to vote if they had nowhere to send it.

[Animeniax]

When I went off to university I left my parent's home address on my driver's license. As long as you're in-state they don't care. If you move to another state, you have something like 60 days to get your license for the new state. Nothing will happen if you don't except you can't register your car and get new license plates if you don't have a license for that state. If you drive around with expired plates from another state, you'll get pulled over by the police and fined for not having the new license and new plates and vehicle registration.

[Buffalobiian]

Inventor Michelson offers $75M for a way to sterilize pets

Come on, think, GotWooters, Think!!!

[Kraco]

Inventor Michelson offers $75M for a way to sterilize pets

Come on, think, GotWooters, Think!!!

Since I just began to read The World Without Us yesterday evening, it's not hard to guess what was my first thought...

[Death BOO Z]

can't we just cut the thing off?
no? too bad.

the solution is probably some crazy radiation pill that would give the dog cancer down through the 30th grandson.

or just sand paper the wiener. it's bound to cut down at lest 50% of all dog pregnancy.

[Pandadice]

I second the sandpaper idea.

[Buffalobiian]

I second the sandpaper idea.

I dare you to sand yours. That's just animal cruelty

[Assertn]

the solution is probably some crazy radiation pill that would give the dog cancer down through the 30th grandson.

If the dog has a 30th grandson then it probably wasn't a very effective sterilization pill.

[Death BOO Z]

that's the catch. the radiation is so powerful that it would've destroyed the genetic make-up of of the dog to the level that even his 30th grandson would get cancer.
but we made sure that he can't get children, so it's all good.
it's like having your wife promise the devil her first born son to cure you from cancer, and then divorce her and screw her sister.

[Animeniax]

More likely the 30th grandson would be the Kwisatz Haderach, the Messiah.

[Death BOO Z]

wait, so unless we sterilize the dog, the Messiah can't be born, but since we sterilized him, the Messiah won't be born. it's a lose-lose situation.
damn this quantom physics and possibility mechanics. I just wanted money.

note: I had to google that term before realizing that it was really a hebrew phrase. I really should read dune...

[rockmanj]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...bucks-and.html

Not today's news, but still disgusting...well if you understand United States racism, that is.

[animus]

Funny how they don't think they're racist when they put the biggest stereotypes of blacks on that ad, and then put the guy's head on a donkey. She can say it's just for fun or it's just food, but there'd be no reason to put them on there if she didn't see the need to be a bitch.

[Buffalobiian]

Arrested for virtual murder
-Online divorcee jailed after killing virtual hubby

LOLWUT?!

[Jman]

Arrested for virtual murder
-Online divorcee jailed after killing virtual hubby

LOLWUT?!

That's a funny article, made me raise the "WTF" flag. The bit that had me rollin was "The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead." Needless to say, it's kinda messed up she could face up to 5 years or a 5 grand fine...and over maple story.

[masamuneehs]

as someone who played Maple Story a long time ago+ good lord, that shit just makes me laugh.

I don't know what's funnier, the fact that the dude went to the police about his video game being ruined or the fact that the woman put so much emotional stock into an 'online marriage'

[Psyke]

Japan's Nissin recalls 500,000 noodles over insecticide fears

Great. Now we're going to face another wide spread paranoia about instant noodles.