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SubscriptionsSites I Read
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| It's really disheartening to me to see how many people my age don't know anything about things outside the little bubble that their personal life is in. I don't get it because it seems to me it takes nearly as much effort to stay ignorant of everything. I find out about current events by glancing at the front page as I bring in the newspaper, open Firefox and have 3 news stories linked on my Google homepage, stop at Yahoo, or pause on a news program for a few minutes while channel surfing or during dinner. And I bet you all get enough probably illegally downloaded music at home, why not tune into KNX 1070 news ra-di-o in the car for a bit (and the catchy jingle)? Safer than continually switching between stations trying to find a song you like. And you say news is boring? I assure you it's better than the crap KIIS-FM has turned into.
This has bothered me for a long time. People not knowing what a pope is when John Paul II died during my freshman year comes to mind. But I really thought the government class we all had to take senior year would change things. We learned about all the corruption that goes on in Washington and how embarrassingly low the voter turnout is for 18 to 24 year olds. Surely we would we'd all be like Hermione and desperate to prove we're not dunderheads?
Guess not. Not all of you have jobs, but for those of you who do, don't you get mad to see the government taking away a substantial portion of your paycheck and waste it on pork projects? Or maybe someone you know is risking his or her life in the military for a war that you don't believe in. But what right do you have to complain if you don't vote for the people who decide these things?
One explanation I hear a lot is that a single vote won't make a difference. I will admit that there probably hasn't been a recent election decided by one vote. But our decision affects more than just ourselves. My hope is that by writing this someone else will be motivated to vote. And maybe that person will convince another person to vote, and then when the three of us are with two others who aren't planning to vote those two will realize it's not cool to not care about the direction the country is headed. The scenario's really not as far-fetched as you might think. I'm not trying to promote blind conformity or peer pressure here; I'm not telling you to vote for a certain candidate, I"m just asking you to vote.
And if you decide the candidate you like most is a third-party candidate with no realistic chance of winning, does that mean your vote really won't matter? Not in the slightest. Most third-party candidates don't seriously expect to win, they just realize that the two major parties both want to get the votes that would go to the third-party candidates, so they adopt the policies of popular third-party candidates.
So really, please vote if you can. It's not to late to register, and it's more important than you think. Let's say that at FVHS, 600 of the 700 graduating seniors are old enough to vote. And let's say that only 100 of those 600 are going to vote in the upcoming election (not a big stretch considering the voter turnout for 18 year olds is around 20%). Maybe if a certain teacher promised to change his profile picture and all the eligible seniors voted, there would be 500 more votes. Or if just one more student out of every 4 high schools in California decided to vote, there would be 500 more votes.
By the way, that's how much Al Gore lost Florida and the 2000 election by.
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| Would you rather have one (a few) really good friend(s) or a lot of acquaintances/friends who secretly hate you?
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| So I've been sucked into World of Warcraft. I should be studying for APs but I'm just trying to get my Warlock to level 49 so I can pvp again.
I really want to go to UCLA. My dad's making me put myself on the Stanford waitlist though in case I get in and they provide a lot of financial aid. He's right, of course, but I'd really rather not have to make the choice between the two.
Bohemian Rhapsody has replaced Pachelbel's Canon as my favorite song. A cappella for life. Too bad we sound a lot better as we're singing than when we're listening to a recording of what we sang.
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| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday
approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President
George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our
Constitution," local media reported.
The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro
in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues,
instructs town police to "extradite them to other authorities that may
reasonably contend to prosecute them."
Vermont, home to maple syrup and picture-postcard views, is known for its liberal politics.
State lawmakers have passed nonbinding resolutions to end the war in
Iraq and impeach Bush and Cheney, and several towns have also passed
resolutions of impeachment. | | |
| My parents bought me pants.
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