Showing posts with label vote early spoil often.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vote early spoil often.. Show all posts

21.9.12

A Reminder

That our lords and masters really think their turd smells of warm cinnamon rolls with gold nuggets in it:



“Open these gates, I’m telling you – I’m telling you, I’m the chief whip and I’m coming through these gates. Best you learn your f***ing place. You don’t run this f***ing government. You’re f***ing plebs.”


Don't for a minute think the last lot were any more dyed in the wool - they just wore a different rosette.

5.5.12

Victory For The 99%, Or 15% As It Stands

My ward results: 2686 votes, or 62% for the Labour Suit, on a turnout of less than 25%, meaning 15%, or 3 in 20 residents wanted this councillor.

Me? I voted for all of them, but undoubtedly the fact that I care enough about the democratic process to partake but register my distaste and non-acceptance of the status quo for what is offered yearly will be counted as little more than a "spoilt vote", and probably not even reported.

Depressing.

12.9.11

As We Enter Silly Season




Conservative party members enjoying last years conference. Probably.


Something to take on board in case you are the type to tow tribal lines:

Politicians who can take supporters for granted will do precisely that, particularly when taking supporters’ issues seriously would require upending the status quo.


Matt Welch in this months Reason Magazine; this goes doubly strongly for all those on UKIPs train.

9.6.11

Comment On Richard Murphy's Tax Clog: D'ya Think It'll Get Through??

Done in response to this piece of odourous doublethink:

No - I prefer freedom within a defined rule of law and the means to pay for it's upkeep; it matters not one jot if that is achieved by a dictatorship, democracy or theocracy, though all 3 and more besides have been found profoundly wanting.

Democracy beyond arbitrating over how best to deal with infringements on negative freedoms will also trend to tyranny and their suppression; it has become a decision between 2 wolves and a sheep as to who to eat for dinner.

And I will have no part in moralised cannibalism.


Apologies about my absenteeism - work calls, and frankly the pays better. I am still reading and seething though people.

Peace.



5.5.11

The Terrifying Reason I'm Saying #Yes2AV Today

In my post yesterday I discussed how PJ Byrne's views on the AV referendum today were only partly right: i.e. it is a question nobody wanted to ask that has replaced several we were all asking, and how he was wrong that an AV system would largely be an irrelevance - let's illustrate the pros and cons of AV; I'll start with con:-

Con
1. It is complicated.
2. It will be expensive; additional layers of complexity always are.
3. It does reward the most "useless" votes/voters the most: you could effectively give multiple votes to a voter intent on the most insane and unelectable of candidate choices.
4. It will lead to more coalitions: this could be viewed as a bad or good thing - in one way endless coalitions mean nothing much can be changed without enormous amounts of horse trading and compromise; however, ultimately the good is that they cannot introduce too many laws straight out of parliament - it will become fast apparent that much of our laws come from the EU which is something a Bory/UKIP caucus is likely to get a referendum on more than a Bory or UKIP minority government.

Pros
1. It does require a great deal more focus of the candidate on their electorate; how likely that will last when the whip comes in to play is debateable.
2. It will be more representable of what voters actually want: 3 in 4 voted against New Labour in 1997, likely a government will come in in 2015 that the electorate will grudgingly accept under AV.
3. .
Pro 3. I believe weighs out all the cons above.
3. There is now a credible link to a desire for the majority of the electorate to select one candidate: any candidate will need 50% of the total number of voters at least agreeing to their representative; for example, look at Ed Balls fiercely contested 2010 constituency of Morley & Outwood:




Let's assume under AV that UKIP vote for the Bory's as a second, the Watermelons vote for Labour and the Lib Dumbs split between Bory and New Labour and the BNP vote for a single preference; my fag packet calculations indicate that no one will win and the election will void; where any candidate to pander for secondaries from the BNP will surely result in alienating other voters leading to the same problem.

This has been portrayed as a bad thing, but think about it for a second - the problem lies in the fact that we are presented with candidates who wield absolute power over the electorate and in most cases we wouldn't be willing to pee on them if they were on fire.

We have abrogated responsibility for our lives to incompetents and fools and wonder why things are going wrong - the least we can do is thwart the system, make it clear that we are not consenting to their rule, as often as possible until they actually start listening; to dictate to as their role demands rather than us being dictated at.

And I think AV gives us a powerful weapon in being able to void elections which in the absence of a recall or NOTA vote we desperately need to restrain the legislature.

My yes vote is not an endorsement of the #Yes2AV camp; it is a statement that the status quo, and of having a firm None Of The Above vote summarily ignored year on year.

And anything likely to deprive Ed Balls of his seat can only be a good thing.

4.5.11

In Which I (Partly) Disagree With PJ Byrne

Master Byrne in many ways manifests my own thoughts on AV in this article: that it matters little how we vote when we have no real choice over who we vote for and to what extent they control how we live our lives:

Despite the best efforts of the belligerents, I still struggle to care. The facts are these: the referendum will not end debate on electoral reform, since the twin bugaboos of proportional representation and reform of the House of Lords lurk still in the wings. Nor will the referendum, regardless of outcome, make our system "more democratic"-- not that this would be a good thing, since for seventy years "more democracy" inevitably meant more bureaucracy, unsustainable deficits and a lot of unwanted, oppressive and inflexible laws, with negative implications for day-to-day life. So why on earth are Libertarians talking about AV at all-- which seems, by comparison, such an inconsequential issue, a procedural tweak of a right we exercise for thirty seconds every five years?
...
Libertarians seek to minimize the existence of masters generally, particularly the state, a goal which currently no major UK political party is prepared to adopt and we are, therefore, only notionally able to participate in mainstream policy debate; free elections of whatever major party will not change the fact that in Britain, the tax-to-GDP ratio hovers around 40%, the state gags private citizens and the media over trivial information and singing Carl Douglas constitutes a hate crime. In this context, the central question for all reform of any kind -- electoral, fiscal, penal, or otherwise -- must be: will this reform emancipate individuals? And if not: what position can we adopt to try to steer public debate in our direction?

The answer is not to lose hope, to keep writing and keep moving; as put by Sam Bowman, to "'stand athwart history, shouting'... Faster!" For everywhere we look-- Greece, Spain, Japan, here in the UK, and even in the United States-- the onslaught of circumstance operates to prove libertarians right: global economic shifts, individual empowerment, demography and the structure of democracy itself conspire together to undermine the foundations of the western welfare state. As the catastrophe unfolds, the conventional wisdom will cling to the old ideas, the quartet will play the same familiar tunes-- "our institutions are sound," "our way of life is sustainable"-- despite a growing recognition from all quarters that Western governments will, one day this century, no longer wield the coercive and economic power to meet the obligations they set themselves in the last one.

In the meantime, however, I suggest getting used to being told you're wrong.


Quite, and whilst PJ isn't necessarily agreeing/disagreeing with the concept of the currently mooted electoral reforms, stating rightly that it doesn't really matter how we pick our masters, I disagree with him saying AV is a bad system.

That is not to say I am siding with the #Yes2AV cretins as a vehicle for greater Lib Dem recognition at elections.

My interest, as I stated in an earlier post, is that AV does enable a disaffected electorate to essentially derail election results effectively voiding results.

If the outcome of the entire libertarian philosophy is to point out how our western welfare statism will eventually fail for the sheer balk at reality that it is then why not merely underline it by upsetting the electoral system a bit?

Currently the FPTP enables governments to wield absolute power on not very many votes; New Labour royally screwed over the country on the basis of a little over 1 in 4 people voting them over the last decade and it seems Euroslime Dave couldn't even muster that kind of support; he had to bribe Clogg with a European Commission role when he is summarily ejected from his Sheffield Hallam constituency, just like Bliar had to do when Mandelson indicated he knew where the bodies were buried.

If AV offers anything, it gives us the chance to show how ultimately nonsensical an idea it is to give some idiot ultimate power over our lives, particularly when we are vehemently against the idea or have simply accepted their existence is at best unnecessary, as most NOTA voters have done.

And wrapping politicians up in knots and forcing them to pander to a wider community, then watch as there election is voided for lack of voters, is just too tempting.

20.4.11

The Alternative Vote: A Flawed Guide




Course their is a flaw with this explanation, in that all your really choosing is between varying qualities and flavours of dog turd.

10.4.11

In Defence of AV

Having nearly given Mrs. Tomrat an embolism by asking her if it were ok for me to stand for local elections I embarrassingly withdrew at the first hurdle (having also asked LPUK isf I could stand under their banner); the strain on my personal life and time did not stack up against cowtowing to the vast horde of ingrates that currently occupy my particular ward.

The date for the local elections also happens to be the date when we get to choose how we will vote in the future for our mps'; I've covered my thoughts on this earlier post, and whilst my view hasn't changed - electoral reform to the way in which our mps are elected is a poor substitute for improving the ways we un-elect them - I do think my view has evolved somewhat.

Lets assume that the referendum passes and the next election is decided by AV; this graph from an Aunty Beeb Radio 5 phone in discussion and experiment on a mock election under AV shows just one potential result:

As you can see even with several rounds leading to Nulabourious and the Watermelons coming 1st and 2nd neither group obtain the pre-requisite number of votes to be declared the winner, and as Guido pointed out this result would be declared void.

You see, as I pointed out in this post, the biggest party in any election result is probably the NOTA party; that group of people who, whether through ignorance or apathy, are simply not interested in taking part in our political system - to me this seems to be a gross injustice, in so much as the few grant the power over so many; left leaning zealots, moochers and and looters dictate the election because the NOTA party, that group of people who do not want their life divied up by politics or simply don't care who does the divying, rightly figuring that there vote wont matter; democracy is merely a tool legitimising theft.

If AV has the potential though to remove this legitimacy - by voiding the result - then this is at least part way there to effectively calling time on the whole stitch up; plonking in candidates who will tow the party line, cowtow to the whip or sell out their constituents for vested interests and professional lobby groups will get shown the door, all of them potentially.

This is a. good. thing.

Ultimately I think I may even partake in this referendum in favour of the #Yes2AV camp; if anything it cant detract from the FPTP system - you can still vote for only one candidate, just that if they poll the lowest in the group they are eliminated; how is that really that different ito your candidate losing in FPTP? The left will ultimately opt for any quasi-marxist/maoist/stalinist loon who will keep the funding faucet running and who will never sit well with the majority of the electorate.

Ultimately people are working out the scam being presented to them by the elitist clique, this can only add to that.

6.4.11

You Got It All Wrong Mr. Martin..

This is a good thing:

MPs broke up yesterday for the start of a series of holidays that will see them in Parliament for just 17 days over the next two months.

As part of what is being dubbed the Great Westminster Shutdown, they will not return from their Easter break until Tuesday, April 26.

Even then they will only be in the Commons for three days before they get time off for the royal wedding.

When they return to work on May 3, they will only be sitting for three weeks before they have another fortnight off for Whitsuntide.

Taking into account the Fridays they are away as a matter of course, it means that in the two months from now until June 7, MPs will only sit in the Commons for 17 days.


I might run an experiment from now to June 7 and monitor the effect on the FTSE and the non-appearance of our MPs; would it be wrong to posit a theory that their absence is matched by the market doing better? We will see.

20.3.11

The Whole #Yes2AV/#No2AV Debate In a Nutshell

Really, this is all any electoral arguement boils down to.

A lot has been said about the Alternate Voting system and no doubt more will be said in the near future; there are many pros and cons to changing the electoral system so that everyones votes' counted in a more effective way (not withstanding the fact that the type of people who vote for the Monster Raving Loony party or the Free-Banana party would effectively get multiple votes in AV, but lets not split hairs over this).

But really, when all the choice available to you boils down to a giant douche or a turd sandwich, then it really doesn't matter how you vote for them, but how you unvote for them; currently the only way this happens is if the MP in question:

  • Goes to jail for a year or more.
  • Resigns of his own accord.
  • Dies.

So you catch them in the act of committing crime, you appeal to their conscience or sense of honour or you will them to keel over with all your might.

In no other job in the UK can you earn in excess of a quarter of a million pounds (topped up by a generous expense system and ridiculously long holiday period with no accountability other than a box ticking, glad-handing exercise once every 4-5 years, tickling the bellies of a few, dedicated but ultimately ill-informed and potentially delusional activists in their constituents, the remaining votes coming from people who see it as a tradition for vote for the giant douche or the turd sandwich party's their parents and their parent's parent's voted for, because, you know, "that's democracy an' that".

Our political masters are happy as larry that the only opinion you hold is who has the prettier rosette - arguement over policy never gets to more than the token strawman stage nor is discussing how your selected politico will achieve his aims ever called into question; if they say they will build a mountain of cheese to the moon to set up a space gun to kill martians invading from mars then the cost is not to be mentioned or considered - it just is something no doubt the other party will put a stop to.

No.

Truth is all we do with our current electoral democracy is abrogate responsibility for some pretty crucial aspects of our life: how we will fund our old age, how we will fund our education and that of our children or who we will contract with to take of us if we get sick/have an accident/lose our means of making money. The ones we palm this off to have royally screwed us all over and no AV system will change this.

Nothing short of a revolution in ideology, a veritable waking the f**k up from the comprehensive welfarism we inherited from the past will be enough.

Otherwise someone is going to get stuck holding the cheque for this debacle. People need to learn to be masters of their own destiny, again, and not mere appointees to either a giant douche or turd sandwich to rule over it.

7.3.11

Joke Of The Day #2. Sadly Not

David Cameron launched an extraordinary attack on his own civil servants last night for loading costs on to business, as he set out the ‘moral’ case for enterprise.

The Prime Minister expressed intense frustration with the failure of officials to understand that firms buckling under the weight of Labour’s red tape ‘frankly cannot take it any more’.


Brilliant you may think, and what does he intend to do about it?

‘If I have to pull these people into my office in No 10 to argue this out myself and get them off the backs of business, then, believe me, I’ll do it,’ he said.


Oh my! he's going to have stern words with them. No doubt he might even write them a letter.

Chancellor George Osborne’s March 23 Budget will include plans for at least ten new enterprise zones, with tax breaks and relaxed planning laws.


No doubt the new "enterprise zones" will be placed in the wary of some northern dossholes and will eventually become filled with QuANGOs and fake charities (a future blog there methinks); I'll ask the obvious though - if tax breaks encourage growth and entrepreneurship, then why stop at 10 geographic locations? Better yet why not have one: the UK?

Steps are also expected to try to increase trade with economies such as India and China, cut red tape and open up public sector contracts to small firms.


Now the second idea I like; opening up trade with the new tiger economies is a brilliant idea, but last time I checked we already were trading with them en masse - what business is that for the government anyway?

The first sentence though is pure boilerplate - every government since time immemorial has said they will "cut red tape" and/or "open up the public sector to competition" etc. - few have EVER gone much further than soundbite-land in the search for pastures new.

This remains a joke till Cameron actually puts something meaty behind his soundbites.

Like a plan for starters.

4.3.11

Barnsley Central: A Victory For N E Bodyelse (NOTA)

Labour have won the Barnsley Central by-election, while the Lib Dems slipped to sixth in the South Yorkshire seat.

UKIP, the Conservatives, the BNP and an independent all finished ahead of the Lib Dems, who came second in the seat in last May's general election.

Lib Dem candidate Dominic Carman said his party had been given "a kicking", while Labour's victorious Dan Jarvis said it was a message to the coalition.

The seat's previous Labour MP was jailed for fiddling his expenses.


The votes as reported by Aunty Beeb:

By-election results

Dan Jarvis (Lab) 14,724
Jane Collins (UKIP) 2,953
James Hockney (C) 1,999
Enis Dalton (BNP) 1,463
Tony Devoy (Ind) 1,266
Dominic Carman (LD) 1,012
Kevin Riddiough (Eng Dem) 544
Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 198
Michael Val Davies (Ind) 60

Lab maj 11,771: Turnout 36.5%


And the votes as reported by me, or to put another way as they are, complete with the real percentage voting:

N E Bodyelse (NOTA): 42,135 (64%)
Dan Jarvis (Lab) 14,724 (22%)
Jane Collins (UKIP) 2,953 (4%)
James Hockney (C) 1,999 (3%)
Enis Dalton (BNP) 1,463 (2%)
Tony Devoy (Ind) 1,266
Dominic Carman (LD) 1,012
Kevin Riddiough (Eng Dem) 544
Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 198
Michael Val Davies (Ind) 60
Lab maj 11,771 (18%)


The top bods in this one horse race rely on the None Of The Above party's non-participation.

If you don't vote, heck, don't even spoil your vote to register your discontent, you have no right to complain about what these bastards do in your name.