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Gaaark (41)
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Linux user. Tries to keep feeding the brain with stuff. Husband and father of a young lady and a younger son who has autism/is autistic... that nut didn't fall far from this nut-tree, I'll tell ya: he gets it honestly. Now if only he'd sleep..............
I believe that God gave us the science, curiousity and intelligence to one day conclusively prove that God does not exist.
****should have a 'Politics' section for Journal Topics!
There is an election coming in Ontario, June 7th (though I usually try to vote in the early polls in case I'm sick on election Day (and lines are non-existent!)
The Liberal party in power, currently, have pretty much blown their welcome for a lot of people but the Conservative party looks like Trump 2.0 (Doug Ford won't give interviews because he's afraid to blow his lead by opening his mouth).
With our voting system, I may be 'wasting' a vote by voting green but it's not a wasted vote for $$$ (each vote brings the party $$$), so my vote will matter $wise.
I'm just tired of status quo, corruption and favouring big business because of money (although parties in Ontario (Canada too???? Not sure) aren't allowed to accept donations from companies, only individuals and up to $1000ish per person WHICH IS AMAZING!!!)
So, I'm going green and Gaaark is becoming Kermit.
Hoping the conservatives don't get a majority, but I want to keep helping the green numbers grow.
The more they grow, the more people may see them as an option.
If you don't know Doug Ford, you may remember his brother Rob Ford...made a scene on (Letterman???) a few years back, lol. Our loveable bum-fuck Rob. :)
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday May 14 2018, @11:58PM
I heard something a campaign slogan a while back that I liked
I would much rather "waste" my vote than vote for a candidate that I find unacceptable
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @12:14AM (1 child)
I used to vote green, happier days but wasted votes. I was also a fan of spoiling the ballot as a "none of the above" protest vote, there should be an option for that and if it's a higher count than the winner...
$current_year means vote for $complete_asshole so long as they oppose $complete_asshole. Liberal democracies are becoming colonoscopies and it's assholes all the way down.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @01:30PM
I think "none of the above" would be a good idea to pursue. Our voting systems need to be redone. But wishing for that to happen isn't good enough. We need practical strategies to try to save our democracies using the ballot box and soap box.
On the rhetoric of "wasted votes".... How could voting for the best candidate in one's view possibly be a wasted vote?
If one votes for one of the candidates of a "major party" (approved and vetted by our rulers), does one then feel that one has not wasted one's vote?
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Tuesday May 15 2018, @01:16AM (3 children)
Liberals are incredibly corrupt, Doug Ford is even painting himself orange for TV spots it seems, and they both creep me out completely. NDP has a bad history, but my views are more in line with the greens anyway. I voted Green last time and likely will again.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday May 15 2018, @01:53AM (2 children)
That's why I started voting at the early polls: when the NDP got into Ontario, my wife and I didn't go to the early polls and then were sick as dogs on voting day (both of us having it coming out both ends with one bathroom! Yeah...good times....)
We hoped the NDP getting in wouldn't be too bad, then watched my taxes get jacked up while my welfare neighbours got to drink more beer: come home from work Friday night and they're outside drinking. They drink all weekend. Go to work Monday morning, there are beer bottles all over their lawn.
But could I afford to drink all weekend? Nooooooo....
I believe in supporting people, but not so they could drink more.
Mike Harris came in and put them on workfare: suddenly they weren't drinking so much, and they started taking care of their place and themselves.
Now I try to always vote early so I have less chance of not getting to vote.
Yup: don't know how supporting green initiatives could be wrong.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Tuesday May 15 2018, @02:19AM (1 child)
Ever hear of a "Vanier Vacation"? It's where you spend the week drinking beer on your *neighbour's* porch.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday May 15 2018, @04:47PM
You don't know the (ex) neighbours....the old man of the family was convicted of child molestation (or whatever....he was a pedophile).
Our daughter could never understand why she couldn't go over there.
We moved.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @02:20AM (5 children)
Have you considered becoming more active than simply casting a vote?
Maybe sign up with the party?
Offer to drive other Greens to the polls.[1]
Become even more deeply involved with the party? [google.com]
[1] If, instead of putting their money into TV ads in 2016, the Dumbocrats had paid party members to take the day off from work and drive folks to the polls in Rust Belt states, that would have paid bigger dividends, according to some smart folks I have read.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Tuesday May 15 2018, @03:00AM
Interesting. Useful tactic to know about if the Dems decide to run someone I find absolutely unacceptable again.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday May 15 2018, @04:57PM (3 children)
I've signed up and am getting a sign for the yard, but time wise...
...we pay out of pocket for a guy to take our son to special Olympics basketball and baseball once a week for three hours. The rest of the time, usually If we are home, he is home.
Extra curricular activities are not easy.
Am looking into donating monthly, but...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @08:27PM (2 children)
I'm wondering if that takes both of you, all day, every day.
The driving folks to the polls thing is 1 day every 2 years.
...and that day is the most impactful one in the process.
Attending (and participating in) meetings can also steer things e.g. getting the best candidates on the ballot.
N.B. I check out the OrangeJuiceBlog here (a political sounding board with comments enabled).
The 2 main writers are active Democrats and they are very vocal when e.g. the party gives its endorsement to a corporate candidate instead of a Progressive.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gaaark on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:47AM (1 child)
Before work, we get ourselves and him ready for work and school.
After work and school there is supper to make, dishes to wash. Usually I do the dishes and my wife works with him to further his education (as I've said before, high school sucks for special needs kids, but surprisingly his new teacher is trying hard to actually educate him)
House to clean, (he sometimes regurgitates meat and throws it: the walls need regular cleaning), laundry to do (he chews his shirts and does not eat cleanly), yard work (cut grass, water/weed gardens), vacuum, visit with our daughter, ...
Relaxation time: watch a movie with him and talk with him about his day (either with his laptop, or with him nodding yes and no). FAMILY time.
Bedtime (get his meds/supplements ready, give him a shower, toilet him......
Weekends (when I'm not working): more yard work (we had high winds recently and had to dig new post holes and mix and pour concrete)...one of us watching him (my wife) and one of us pouring concrete etc (ME!), grocery shopping (best with both of us, one to actually shop the list, one to distract him from doing his own shopping (a cart full of rice Krispy squares)(I take him around to find the odd stuff and dog food/treats).
Visit relatives, do other shopping (remember he chews his shirts?), other errands as needed.
Now we're tired.
WAIT!
I forgot his special Olympics (we take him to bocce and skating and Isaac takes him to basketball and baseball, giving us 3 hours a week JUST THE TWO OF US (no, I will no give up that time alone with my wife....even if it is just holding hands and walking while we talk about guess who (his schooling, his job (my wife takes him to a store where he is learning to stock the shelves twice a week), his future needs, his sexual needs (there is a girl in his class that he likes, but she is severely autistic and completely in her own world, but he kisses her anyways...we're looking at how he could maybe talk to her more, or try to start a conversation with some other girl), when his adult 'pension' might be coming.
There's also autism get togethers where you learn, basically, about the future for them, financial dealings, etc.
Gotta also get him registered to vote, then tell him about the candidates so he can choose who to vote for....
Sigh. Our lives are full. And now my wife's cancer scare has made me realize I need to spend more time with her and so I do.
Wrote this while folding laundry while my wife read library books to him before bed.
Our lives REVOLVE around him and chaos. Most often chaos wins.
How's your life?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @02:44AM
Very relaxed when compared to yours.
Carry on with what you were doing.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @04:39PM (2 children)
I thought Gaaark was going back to the green site.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @08:31PM
The title of this journal entry as it appears on the front page had me wondering that as well.
I also considered that he might be changing his theme for this site and announcing it to the world.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Marand on Wednesday May 16 2018, @02:27AM
That's why I'm here, too. I thought the same and was worried that he might need talking down from his bad decision.
Luckily that's not the case; carry on with the politics discussion, guys.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday May 17 2018, @02:32AM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday May 17 2018, @11:43PM
Ah, sorry, lol.
Thanks for reading! :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---