I don't know what Americans are going to do with their current voting system because it seems to be in a bit of a mess.

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How so? We've had peaceful, free elections in this country for more than 200 years. I'd say that's a track record to be proud of.

Tens of millions of ballots are cast every election. It stands to reason that a tiny percentage of them are going to be flawed or suspect in some way. That's normal for any process of this scope - it doesn't mean the overall system is broken.

Craig - whereas I'm from SF, I now live about 2 hours away - so I'm sadly disconnected from the details of the campaign!

Having said that - yes, street walking prostitution is pretty grim.  But if it becomes legal, I think it'll move more girls off the street and into massage parlors and craigslist and other places that are already filled with our sex workers.

Speaking of whores in SF - the locals here will remember this story... in SF there are two neighborhoods for street walkers - the TL has the more upscaleish ones, and the old tired worn out whores (as well as the 14 year olds that that Richmond pimp had kidnapped) were sent to Capp st in the Mission.

Some guy living on Capp st decided he had had enough, so he'd wait on his roof and then hurl objects at the whores and thier johns.  He was arrested, but it was kind of a circus because a lot of people agreed with him - he was just trying to clean up the neighborhood!  Thankfully justice prevailed and it was decided that hurling objects with deadly force at people does not constitute cleaning up the neighborhood. 

But it took care of itself - the old whores just retired and the Richmond pimp was busted, and now Capp st is pretty devoid of whores.

Funny old world.

~cough~Electoral College~cough~

Maybe we should just have a Battle Royale!  At halftime of the Superbowl.  Once every four years.  Sponsered by Kellogg Brown & Root.  Come to think of it . . . . .

I wouldn't say the overall system is broken...just horribly out of date and not fully applicable to the nation we've become, at least insofar as the Electoral College is concerned.

I understand the rationale behind putting it in place.  However, it was put in place in a time when widespread, immediate communication to the entire populace wasn't possible.  We've reached the point where, not only is it possible and commonplace, it's something that we all take as a given.

If the ideal of "one person=one vote" is unreachable (as opposed to the current "one person=a fraction of a vote...assuming you voted for the candidate your Elector is supposed to vote for...even then, that fraction is different than the fraction of a vote that one person equals in a different state" model we currently have, and if we absolutely MUST retain the Electoral College, the system needs to be revised to more accurate reflect the populace.  Divide a state's electoral votes along percentages:  Candidate A got 47% of a state's popular vote?  Then Candidate A gets 47% of that state's electoral votes (naturally, rounding as necessary).

The cops will look the other way at prostitution but will bust you for smoking afterwards!

Do you smoke after sex?

I don't know.  I've never looked!