Mockingbird Rehearsal

We ended week 2 of rehearsal. The practice of each scene is getting more intense. We had to go over the scenes I was in several times. I am in one of the only two "action" scenes in this play.
The first is when the lynch mob appears (of which I am one). Anyway, I get to try to drag Jem out of the way, and when I grab him, Scout kicks me. Believe it or not, it takes a little practice to get the timing down on such a scene. It has to move quickly and look as natural as possible. By the time we got through practicing it, the director appeared to be happy with our progress.
This is alot of fun for me. I've never had this experience before.

Why is it important to Vote?

Okay V., the Electoral College is easy to understand. It is an ingenious device planned by our founding fathers to protect the population against the tyranny of the bare majority.
Each state in the union has electoral votes equal to the number of Representatives to Congress they have. That is the number of Representatives and Senators combined. Each state has 2 Senators and a number of Representatives proportionate to the population of the state.
The states with the larger populations have more Congressmen, and therefore more electoral votes.
The popular vote is important because if a candidate wins the popular vote in the state, he or she gets 100% of that state's electoral votes. The first one to reach a majority of the total 535 electoral votes wins the election.
This is important because, without it the more populous states could dictate to the less populous states. Theoretically, California and New York could constantly pick the President and set the policy for the entire nation. Rural America would have no voice at all. The cities would control all of the time.
The Electoral College gives Americans an equal voice to one another, no matter where they live. The more populous states still have the most votes, so they are the most attractive to the candidates to court. However, the less populated states cannot be ignored because together they make up a substantial block of votes.
Your individual vote helps determine which candidate gets your states electoral votes. Every 10 years, there is a census. When the population shifts, so does the number of Congressional representatives are assigned to each state. For example, if most Californians decided they wanted to live in North Dakota, the number of Representatives for California would be decreased and the number for North Dakota increased proportionately, and North Dakota would become a very powerful state.
I vote every single chance I get. Most of the time, that is the only voice I have in my government. I'm not wealthy, so I can't gain influence by giving large sums to my favorite candidates, but I do believe my vote is important.
When people don't vote, it has an even bigger impact on the local level. Individuals running for county or municipal office generally have a specific group backing and supporting them. Therefore, if everyone doesn't vote you have you local leaders selected by a relatively small group of people, such as, 3000 people selecting a District Judge for a mere 14,000 people selecting the District Attorney for a county. Those are very pathetic numbers, indeed. When that happens you wind up with very poor choices for local leadership.
Also, how can you complain in good conscience if you don't exercise the most basic right that every individual has?
If we don't vote, doesn't that kind of mock those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberty?
(supplemental edit: By the way, the splitting votes states only applies to which candidate gets delegates in the party convention. That is only a primary thing.
When a candidate in the Presidential election in November wins a state, that candidate gets all of that state's electoral votes. There is no vote splitting in the electoral college.)

KLH letter published 04 09 08

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/opinion/letters/stories/DRC_Letters_0410.4db70f07.html

Letter to the Editor published in 04 09 08 paper.

Denton County Voters should be Ashamed.

I open the paper this morning and I see that Doug Robison beat Steve Burgess by a count of 1922 to 1115. That was the only runoff on the ballot in the whole county. OUT OF ALL OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS IN THIS COUNTY, ONLY 3000 OF YOU VOTED IN A DISTRICT JUDGE RACE, A COUNTY WIDE ELECTION?
Are you kidding me?
This is just the kind of thing that gets you the poor leadership that you have. This is the kind of thing that gets chronic underachievers elected to county offices where they have control over aspects of your lives.
You are letting a small committee make all of the important decisions for the whole. That is not democracy, it is oligarchy (government by committee).
Generations of Americans have fought powerful enemies to perserve our liberties, freedoms, and rights, and you all don't care one bit.
Is the office of the President of the United States the only election you all care about? Do you realize that you could have some complete moron tampering with your property values? Or presiding over your divorce? Or deciding whether there is enough evidence to prosecute a crime against you?
DO YOU REALLY CARE SO LITTLE?

Texas Rangers Home Opener...

...is being spoiled by the Baltimore Orioles. Right now, Baltimore is winning 6-0 in the sixth inning. If I were there, I would be having a good time anyway.

How about that?

...the Record-Chronicle just called to verify authorship of a letter I wrote to the newspaper. The guy said they will print this one. Be watching the paper for it this week.

Disappointing

The writers's forum was very disappointing. I thought there would be lectures and advice. It was merely a glorified book sale and signing. If I had been looking for that, it would have been fun.
Perhaps it is about time to birth this baby.