Thursday’s Theme Music
‘Ow ’bout a little Bob Marley and the Wailers from 1973? Thinkin’ ’bout the high level of eligibles in ‘Merica who don’t vote. (Have you seen the numbers?) “Get Up, Stand Up” seems like a fittin’ song.
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight
Most people think
Great God will come from the sky
Take away everything
And make-a everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You will look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your rights, jah!
Get up, stand up (Jah, jah)
Stand up for your right (Oh, hoo)
Get up, stand up (Get up, stand up)
Don’t give up the fight (Life is your right)
Get up, stand up (So we can’t give up the fight)
Stand up for your right (Lord, Lord)
Get up, stand up (Keep us struggling on)
Don’t give up the fight, yeah
We sick an’ tired of your ism-skism game
Dyin’ ‘n’ goin’ to heaven in-a Jesus’ name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can’t fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light (What you gonna do?)
We gonna stand up for our rights (Yeah, jah, jah!)
So you better
Get up, stand up (In the morning, get it up)
Stand up for your right (In the night)
Get up, stand up
Don’t give up the fight (Don’t give it up, don’t give it up)
Get up, stand up (Get up, stand up)
Stand up for your right (Get up, stand up)
Get up, stand up (Don’t be a nigger in your neighborhood, yeah)
Don’t give up the fight (Get up, stand up)
Get up, stand up (I don’t think that should be very good, Lord) (Get up, stand up)
Stand up for your right (Get up, stand up)
Get up, stand up (I said, don’t be a nigger in your neighborhood, yeah)
Don’t give up the fight
h/t to Metrolyrics
Vote By Mail
A vote-by-mail storm has been waxing and waning. I’m a proponent of voting by mail, myself. I served twenty years plus in the military. Stationed all over the world, I voted by mail throughout my career, no problem.
Retired, I settled in California for a decade. As a citizen of that state, I voted in person. Compared to how it was done by mail in the military, it was a pain in the ass.
In 2005, I moved to Oregon. All of Oregon’s voting is done through mail-in ballots. Here’s (roughly) how it goes.
- When you get your driver licence, you’re registered to vote.
- A few weeks before an election, you get a voter’s guide summarizing measures, proposals and candidates.
- Closer to the election date, you receive your ballot. You fill it in at home following the instructions provided, seal it in the envelope, sign the envelope, and return it by midnight on election day. There are specific dates circled around this. We usually have the ballot in hand for ten days, plenty of time to review things and make decisions.
- Vote by mail is only part of the equation. Towns have drop boxes for ballots established. Our town’s drop box is by the library’s returned books drop boxes in the downtown area. Drive through or walk up, and put it into the box. Done. The boxes are only opened for the two week period before the election.
That’s the essence. It’s beautifully simple. I recommend it for everyone and anyone.
That is all.
Voting
Is it just me, or does anyone else want to strangle those people who proudly announce that they don’t vote, and have never voted?
Yeah, it’s probably just me.
Today’s Bumper Sticker
There seems to be a law of nature that when I’m watching for a bumper sticker, none will appear. If I forget about them as I’m walking around, I usually spy a few that interest me.
So it was today while walking. This, on a new generation Volkswagen Beetle, gave me a laugh.
“I’m Pro-OPERA, and I VOTE!”
Michael Seidel, writer 