----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bear Powell" <replicant@northstate.net>
To: <tenchi@usagi.org>
Subject: [tenchi:105582] Re: <OT> I have completely lost faith in the    majority
of US Voters.
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 17:42:46 -0500

> 
> > There was a Republican president with a majority in both houses prior to 
> > this,
> > so I don't see that big of a change.  The Republicans in the Senate still 
> > don't have
> > the votes necessary to override a filibuster.
> 
> The difference is now they got a few more seats in each,
> plus got rid of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
> 

I wish they'd gotten rid of Boxer(D-CA).  While I disagree with Sen. Feinstein(D-CA),
I still respect her.  Boxer's a nut, imo.  But the Republican running against her
had a campaign that was pretty much invisible.  Not even TV ads.

As for Daschle - he came across as opposition for the sake of opposition too often
- but my political viewpoint should no doubt be taken into consideration along with
my comment.  It'll be curious to see who is picked to replace him, and what kind of

style the new guy will have. 

And on a side note remember that Cheney isn't really in any position to run.  So the
Republican nomination will be wide open in four years with little chance that the
VP will be the Republican candidate.  I'm guessing former Mayor Giuliani will run

for and get the nomination, but its obviously far too early to say. 

> It just seems to me that the Electoral College goes against the spirit
> of a democratic society. "Of the people, for the people, by the people."
> Yes, it could lead to problems, but with careful consideration of what
> % above your opponent you get at the end of the night it would make
> things more fair IMO. Having a 1 recount rule would also cut down
> on dragging proceedings on. For example when popular vote was
> shown today Bush had won by 3.5 million voters. It should never have
> been questioned how important Ohio or Florida was because the people
> spoke up and said we want W to represent our country. Something
> has to be done to get rid of all the unnecessary crap involved with our
> voting system.
> 

I know what you mean, and I used to have the same opinion that a popular vote would
be a better way to go.  But views change as time passes.  Nearly four years ago, I
wrote what I thought was a pretty good defense of the system for an argument on a

forum (unofficial Sol Ro server forum in EQ), but unfortunately I don't remember any
of it now.  Suffice to say that I support the Electoral College, warts and all.  The
fact that its possible to have a national vote that comes within 10,000 popular
votes is only part of it. 

> 
> > On an unrelated note, are you in the WoW Stress test right now?  And if 
> > so, which server are you on?
> 
> Nah, I played in the Closed Beta at a friends house,
> then on my own in the Stress test. I'm waiting for
> Monday to join in the Open Beta. I still need to go
> pre-order my WoW Collectors Edition, but I've been
> pretty damn lazy about it. Hoping blizz gets the new patch
> out soon because I want to see the rest of the racial traits
> and class talents. If you're in FST let me know and when
> OB happens I'll join your server and we'll cause some
> havoc.
> 

I'm in Final right now.  Ordinarily I wouldn't have joined (because of the Fileplanet
fee), but for whatever reason I decided to go ahead and join.  It might have something
to do with the fact that I'm not even playing much FFXI now (the Promyvion
fights in the new expansion have been a rather frustrating experience, and I've been
annoyed with other things tied to storyline progression), but for whatever reason
I went ahead and shelled out for the one month subscription so I could get in.  I've

been pestering my old EQ guild with information on the game, and I know at least some
of them are planning on playing (one guy has even quit playing EQ and is spending
his time in CoH right now), but none of them joined FST.

Right now I've got a gnome mage on Beta 10 (note the rather generic names - oddly
enough, in the forums the names come up as the old stress test names in most cases;
my comments under my gnome mage don't show a server name, though), and an undead
warlock on Beta 8, but I'm not having nearly as much fun with them as I did my night
elf warrior.  I think its a combination of class differences, and the themes in the
newbie zones, which seem somewhat bland compared to the night elves, humans, and
tauren (no comment on the orcs and trolls as I haven't spent much time in Durotar).
My guildmates know that I've got a character on beta 10, so I imagine that's where
they'll be going - which means that's probably where I'll be staying.

And on the odd chance you haven't heard - the game now has a server selection device
the first time you log in.  However, it isn't like the one in FFXI.  Instead it asks
for your time zone, and whether you want a Normal or PvP server.  It's then
supposed to direct you to a server that fits what you gave as a response, although
you can change to a different server if you want.  Unfortunately, it looks like its
a little buggy.  I told it I wanted a Normal Pacific server, and was instead
directed to the Normal PvP server.  Oops. 

If you haven't already, grab this year's Blizzard Halloween special (its an mp3 audio
file).  And the game introduction is in place now and looks very nice (iirc, it was
originally shown at E3, albeit without sound).  If your Closed Beta friend hasn't

showed it to you already, you should be able to track it down on-line. 


junior

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