The Best Time Of The Year
We’re Getting There
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The image above is the view from the back door of Chez Big Mike (also known as Casa della Persona Amata and the world headquarters of this communications colossus, The Electron Pencil. Natch, our server farm and all our satellite transmission technology are located in the modest-appearing shed. Don’t be fooled:
A Peek Inside The Shed
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Anyway, it’s a good bet we won’t suffer through any more frosts or snowfalls for the next seven or so months. I’m hoping at least.
Spring is that season of hope and rebirth — unless, of course, you’re a Cubs fan.
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Democracy
The people of India today begin their third week of voting in that’s nation’s 2014 general elections. This year, Indians will be able to vote for a total of five weeks, the longest such period in the country’s history. Indian election authorities and politicians, apparently, believe the more time they give voters, the more they — the voters — will vote.
Imagine that. Here, of course, state after state is shortening voting periods. Probably because American election authorities and politicians believe the more time they give voters, the more they — the voters — will vote.
Back to India. It’s expected that some 810,000,000 people will vote. Let me type that again: More than eight hundred million people. Okay, sure, India has a pop. of more than 1.21 billion. Still, that’s 66.9 percent of the entire population.
In this holy land’s last presidential beauty contest, only 57.5 percent of eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot. That translates to a paltry 40 percent of the population.
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Acc’d’ng to our advertisements, America is the greatest democracy on the face of the Earth. And whenever we stick our noses into other countries’ business, we claim to be doing so in order to bring them democracy.
We are, in other words, full of shit.
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