that the person that we pick to run our country's government is just someone that is good at getting the

From my small grasp of US politics (which an american friend just told me is better than that of a lot of americans she knows...), the political system is set up to do just this. you vote for a personality really, this

hm. and wow. hello all. n|ck g mentioned american politics, thus reading my mind... i'd been sort of guiltily ignoring it for a while (a bit of a complex guilt since i'm canadian...), but then the bits and pieces i would see started being interesting (! or maybe i started to care...) and i began to get a little antsy and ill reading all the coverage of demonstrations around republican/democrat conventions. Because the thing is, this all matters. The world is not made up of individual countries concerned only with what goes on inside them; it is made up of powers working together. But are they actually "working together for a better world"... And what are bush and gore's definitions of "a better world" anyway? I see a lot of corporate rule, a bigger gap btwn rich and poor, and a few band aid solutions. I don't see any global shift in thinking. but some would argue, with twisted stats and tv images of californian splendor, that nothing needs shifting... And what kills me is that so few people vote. the reasons for this, well, i don't know. apathy? disgust? belief that not voting is actually "taking a stand against government"? yes, so, if we're really looking for oxymorons: "the united states, land of the free" seems pretty apt. one of the many things i've read, mainstream and otherwise, is z magazine online, which has a lot of Vote Nader stuff that has honestly been the only interesting and sensical thing i've seen/read/heard about (http://www.votenader.com/). (Yes, Nader is yet another personality, yes, he is playing at politics, but he's actually interested in, oh my god, *change*. i'm sure he's not perfect, but he's a hell of a lot better than bush and gore. and at least (one hopes) his presence during the election run will raise some currently apathetic/cynical/disenchanted eyebrows, spark some thought, start some action.) n|ck g said: public to like him? personality makes final decisions (never mind that these decisions are often based on financial backing, historical influence and your friends in the senate. sorry, that's the socialist in me getting out.) I don't know, but it's pretty clear to me that if citizens don't understand their country's political system, then they don't understand how to vote (check out the current state of public education in the US). there's some interesting, and more knowledgeable writings on this at: http://www.lbbs.org/ZNETTOPnoanimation.html, read michael moore's letter especially and http://www.villagevoice.com/ as well as miriad others, i'm sure. Frustratingly, what is common sense to one person, is absolute nonsense to another, and we see this all the time, from politics to music. And we get bogged down in the arguments, losing the big picture to power issues. But hey, if mainstream radio listeners are suddenly buying belle and sebastian and liking it, then there's hope in other areas, isn't there? i don't think it's all that weak an analogy, really. jarring leap in topic: Is anyone going to Bumbershoot in Seattle on labour day long w.e.e.k.e.n.d.? because you know who's going to be there, don't you? hm, oh, only the Magnetic Fields. and lots of other bands and writers and artists, of course (http://www.bumbershoot.com). so i must go this year, if only for two of the four days. i've never stayed overnight in seattle though, so here's my plea for tourist sympathy - what are some good places to stay (hopefully nearby the festival site) that don't cost too much and are, well, clean? i've looked on the web, but one never knows; they're all trying to sell themselves or there's too little info to determine okayness. i'd so appreciate any suggestions, thank you. in return i will give you huge travel tips on vancouver and very small almost meaningless tips on new york, toronto and small towns in eastern poland. never speaking in sound bites, Robyn ===== I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything. ~Steven Wright ~~~ Robyn Fadden rfadden@yahoo.com Vancouver, BC __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "peculiarly deranged fanbase" "frighteningly named +-+ +-+ Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+