Not registering to vote

[LittleMe Jewell]

53 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

Of course I don't control the thread but I do hope for some sense of context, ambience, and courtesy. 

Not possible with some people.

[Seicher Rae]

I read the OP, scanned some of the first page, and a little of the last couple. It has been my experience that if several pages are dominated by 2-4 people then I probably don't want to read further because it is a food fight, and probably not about pizza.

:::hugs to @Garnet Psaltery  I totally get where you are coming from, and have read many people issue similar complaints when the FORUMS have become nothing but a USA politics yelling fest, often from extreme sides of the spectrum. I found out what happens if/when one steps out of complete lockstep with the loudest screechers of the current liberal side, even if one is very liberal. It is all annoying. "Happy Birthday!" posts become political. I understand why non--Americans are feeling fed up.

However, I disagree with your OP. I don't find a reminder to vote to be beyond the pale, even if it is aimed at one country. It would be nice if other countries were included (if they have important elections coming up). Sometimes a simple reminder from an unexpected place is the knock in the head to do something you've been "meaning to." Everyone, in every democracy, should be encouraged and reminded to vote. If LL wants to put where to find polling info for Australia, cool. 

If every page had a reminder, that might be a bit much. But this close in, to an election that most people view as having wide-ranging effects outside of our borders, this reminder ain't all that much.

Someone on pg 1 mentioned LL said "no political ads" and then turned around with this "Vote!" post. Those are two different things and one doesn't preclude the other.

Frankly, those of us in the USA could use more exposure to politics not our own (and geography), but considering "we" get our news from QAnon, grand pa, the guy in the next cubicle, and Facebook, even if exposed we'd not pay attention enough to complain "hey, that's not us!"

 

[Seicher Rae]

17 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Not possible with some people.

Hey! It was like that when I got here!

:::gets all defensive:::

[Luna Bliss]

3 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

4 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

An OP does not control any thread they initiate.

 

Of course I don't control the thread but I do hope for some sense of context, ambience, and courtesy.  Most of us feel like a break from politics, and there are plenty of other topics to invade join.   Sadly, the wet blanket here is moving me to call for a lock.  Happy Hallowe'en.

Maybe you shouldn't start a thread with 'voting' in the title if you don't want to talk about politics?  Just a suggestion.
It's actually your talk of cats that is off-topic, not those who talk about voting on a thread with 'voting' in the title. I don't mind the minor derails though, and have even contributed some cat jokes. Why can't you do the same and either contribute to comments about voting or ignore them -- isn't it easy to ignore or scroll past comments not related to popcorn or cats if you want a break from the posts about voting (the title of your thread, right?....I'm confused).

LL did a very good thing by reminding us to vote, as our country could very well slip into authoritarianism, and many are going to die without health insurance remedied by the correct vote, not to mention those who will die from Covid due to a continued botched approach.
Yet here you are whining and complaining in total self-centeredness because their post reminding us to vote did not include you somehow.
If I were you I would call for a lock, because I'd be awfully embarrassed due to the utter self-absorption I displayed.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[Rowan Amore]

Who knew there were so many cute cat pics!

Edited October 10, 2020 by RowanMinx

[Luna Bliss]

[Seicher Rae]

Did someone say "cat pictures"? (Gateau can't be bothered to log into the Forums... but she's here in spirit)

 

[Maryanne Solo]

I didn't vote in our last local election.
I even wrote the electoral commission an e-mail stating we had voted since 1821 so 
provide a suitable candidate.
They cancelled my drivers license and tried to fine me.
I held my line, stood my ground and they reinstated my license and recorded that:
"being an integral element of an essential service provider - I had been asked to provide emergency assistance that
Saturday - therefore was not able to attend a voting station to lodge my vote".

This doesn't fix the problem though does it? 
 

Edited October 10, 2020 by Maryanne Solo

[Rowan Amore]

4 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

 

Yet here you are whining and complaining in total self-centeredness because their post reminding us to vote did not include you somehow.
If I were you I would call for a lock, because I'd be awfully embarrassed due to the utter self-absorption I displayed.

BULLY!!!

Now, where is that ignore button.

[Luna Bliss]

4 minutes ago, RowanMinx said:

BULLY!!!

Now, where is that ignore button.

 

[Ceka Cianci]

How each party see's themselves.

How each party see's the other..

 

How they really are..

 

hehehehe

Edited October 11, 2020 by Ceka Cianci

[Seicher Rae]

1 hour ago, RowanMinx said:

BULLY!!!

Now, where is that ignore button.

Cognitive dissonance is a great spectator sport.

(Not referring to you, Rowan.)

[Garnet Psaltery]

10 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Maybe you shouldn't start a thread with 'voting' in the title if you don't want to talk about politics?  Just a suggestion.
It's actually your talk of cats that is off-topic, not those who talk about voting on a thread with 'voting' in the title. I don't mind the minor derails though, and have even contributed some cat jokes. Why can't you do the same and either contribute to comments about voting or ignore them -- isn't it easy to ignore or scroll past comments not related to popcorn or cats if you want a break from the posts about voting (the title of your thread, right?....I'm confused).

LL did a very good thing by reminding us to vote, as our country could very well slip into authoritarianism, and many are going to die without health insurance remedied by the correct vote, not to mention those who will die from Covid due to a continued botched approach.
Yet here you are whining and complaining in total self-centeredness because their post reminding us to vote did not include you somehow.
If I were you I would call for a lock, because I'd be awfully embarrassed due to the utter self-absorption I displayed.

You might be confused; I'm not.  I assumed that my opening comment was plain enough.  The topic was not about politics, but about LL.  I even restated that further down.  Of course there would be some who'd ignore what I say, and use any chance to stand on a soapbox.  The topic title referred to the blog but I see now it was a handy way to highlight the soapboxers.  I'll file that away as a useful tool. 

Before the cat pics arrived the derailment had already occurred with people posting about politics, so I knew the topic was already doomed.  I let it run so that some of us could have fun with it.  I'm not minded to add to the comments about voting, since that was not the topic, and I have little interest in US politics anyway.  Now cats are a different matter.

You throw the insult at me about being self-centred but it's you who demonstrate that quality when you choose to ignore my actual comments and you throw in another insult with your assumption that those who choose not to talk in this topic about certain issues do not care about them.

Since I asked last night for this topic to be locked (right after I posted the Hallowe'en cat and before you posted that diatribe above) I'm going to post more cat pics.  You can go and seethe some more; I'll probably not respond to anything more you say here (and you will, you can't resist it).

[Luna Bliss]

7 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

I assumed that my opening comment was plain enough.  The topic was not about politics, but about LL.  I even restated that further down.  Of course there would be some who'd ignore what I say, and use any chance to stand on a soapbox.

Let's take another look at what you said in your initial post:

"Has Linden Lab forgotten that not all of the residents in Second Life pass their actual lives within the borders of the United States?  The latest blog entry called 'Register to Vote' blithely tells me that my voice matters, that I can register to vote online, and to check if my state requires identification.  Well, no, my voice doesn't matter in this instance, I'm not qualified to vote, and I do not live in a state.  I understand where this is coming from; I imagine the blog writer found it hard not to display a political bias.  Now is it so hard for them to open their mind so far as to realise that for a good portion of residents, this blog entry is saying we are irrelevant?  All it required was a simple disclaimer that the intended audience was U.S. only but we don't merit even that.  If Linden Lab wishes to enjoy an international presence it needs to acknowledge its international residents' reality."

If you are going to criticize LL so vociferously and unfairly, then I have every right to tell you WHY I disagree with your opinion. We do that on forums, you know -- we agree with another posters assertions and state WHY. The reason I disagree with your overly-critical and ridiculous rant is because the outcome of this election (YES IT'S POLITICS, DUH) determines whether people will freaking DIE if they lose health insurance, and likely lose other freedoms as well, not to mention the fact that the world is so interconnected and the US has such power that the results of the election would AFFECT YOU TOO. Their post reminding people to vote which you find so offensive does not EXCLUDE international residents -- it is simply directed toward those it directly applies to -- those who can vote.

When I can't comprehend another person's viewpoint I often do an imaginary reversal of circumstance in an attempt to get a different perspective. So I'm imagining being in your situation where I'm playing a game based in your country, Germany, when a crucial election is coming up which could effect German citizens in horrific ways, causing thousands to die and limiting freedoms, and so the owners of the game based in Germany make a post to remind people to vote in the upcoming election. Why in God's name would I feel slighted in any way and find the post offensive because I don't vote in Germany? Why would I feel irrelevant if they provided a reminder directed to their residents living in the damm country THE GAME IS BASED IN and currently having an election?  Hell I might even remind some of the Germans myself inworld in case they missed the blog post, as this election could have grave consequences for them and the entire rest of the world.

Your case might have merit if LL repeatedly ignored their customers outside the US -- but they don't, and in fact from what I've seen they value and express diversity in all ways. Yet you take this ONE TIME they don't include you DIRECTLY and feel so offended that it warrants a thread of its own to voice your displeasure. I'm sorry, but your actions in this matter are unbelievably self-centered, short-sighted, and petty.
However it would probably behoove them to make this disclaimer as you request, saying something like "to our US residents" when only applicable to the US, as there are indeed people who 'think?' as you do. But you know what would likely happen? We'd get all these complaining residents whining "waaaaaaaa...LL made a post only talking to the US and didn't say anything about other people who don't live there".

[Rowan Amore]

7 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

You might be confused; I'm not.  I assumed that my opening comment was plain enough.  The topic was not about politics, but about LL.  I even restated that further down.  Of course there would be some who'd ignore what I say, and use any chance to stand on a soapbox.  The topic title referred to the blog but I see now it was a handy way to highlight the soapboxers.  I'll file that away as a useful tool. 

Before the cat pics arrived the derailment had already occurred with people posting about politics, so I knew the topic was already doomed.  I let it run so that some of us could have fun with it.  I'm not minded to add to the comments about voting, since that was not the topic, and I have little interest in US politics anyway.  Now cats are a different matter.

You throw the insult at me about being self-centred but it's you who demonstrate that quality when you choose to ignore my actual comments and you throw in another insult with your assumption that those who choose not to talk in this topic about certain issues do not care about them.

Since I asked last night for this topic to be locked (right after I posted the Hallowe'en cat and before you posted that diatribe above) I'm going to post more cat pics.  You can go and seethe some more; I'll probably not respond to anything more you say here (and you will, you can't resist it).

 

[Luna Bliss]

[Janet Voxel]

Not sure which is worse, a political argument or derailing one with cat pictures.

[Rowan Amore]

19 minutes ago, Janet Voxel said:

Not sure which is worse, a political argument or derailing one with cat pictures.

You can post cute dog pics if you'd like. 🙂

[Janet Voxel]

1 minute ago, RowanMinx said:

You can post cute dog pics if you'd like. 🙂

Nah, I’m good. Just passing through.

[Chroma Starlight]

1 hour ago, Janet Voxel said:

Not sure which is worse, a political argument or derailing one with cat pictures.

I think the worst thing would be a liberal democratic society that has lost the ability to deliberate with or even listen to itself because of bad faith interference and the propagation of thought-stopping memes. At a certain point, you have to acknowledge that it's functionally the same as war. People are dying, cultural genocide is occurring, lives and potentials are being wasted, years are being lost. Being here inescapably saddled to this experience has been even worse than being a child whose development is impaired or torpedoed because they made the mistake of being born in a household with psychopathic parents because at least they weren't cannibals too.

It's the most egregious violation of our sacrosanct Universal Human Rights. You can't take our culture, our sovereignty, our free spirits, our stewardship of the cosmos' world around us and ourselves-- you cannot take these things away, not even with laws and order. You have no such right. You don't have a right to build an economy that elevates your loyal psychopaths and degrades us all in counterbalance. You don't have a right to unleash a criminal army of lawless ungovernable blue-uniformed paramilitary murderers upon our world. You don't have a right to walk into a library and burn books, you don't have a right to walk into a museum and vandalize statues and paintings, you don't have a right to walk into a school and shout down the teachers, you don't have a right to walk into a hospital and shout down the doctors, you don't have a right to force a peaceful world to war over crimes great or small and saddle an entire world with illegal war crime debts, you don't have a right to control womens' bodies and lives, you don't have a right to declare all the other gods as blasphemous lies, you don't have a right to pollute our air, soil, water, crops, and livestock, and you don't have a right to stand between us and the cosmos' will for our lives and this material world. You think and believe that because you have money you somehow have attained these rights over us all. You have not. You've made life hopeless and unlivable.  You have miscalculated fatally. Now what follows?

Edited October 11, 2020 by Chroma Starlight

[Garnet Psaltery]

2 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

criticize LL so vociferously and unfairly your overly-critical and ridiculous rant ....I'm imagining ..your country, Germany, ....German.. Germany...Germany? ..Germans ..  so offended self-centered, short-sighted, and petty.

When you can get my nationality right then I might more easily swallow your vitriol.  As it is I couldn't swallow for laughing.

[Rowan Amore]

15 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

When you can get my nationality right then I might more easily swallow your vitriol.  As it is I couldn't swallow for laughing.

Looks like they just ate a bug.  Something extremely distasteful, no doubt.

So let's see.  She's disparaged my intelligence and empathy and has moved on to your nationality.  That's about par for the course.  And she has the audacity to call me a bully in other threads?  Pathetic.  Luckily, I'm only seeing the vitriol when others post her rantings and I must say, it makes for a more relaxing Sunday not seeing her wall of blah blah blah.

My shocked and surprised face.

 

[Janet Voxel]

[Janet Voxel]

2 hours ago, Chroma Starlight said:

I think the worst thing would be a liberal democratic society that has lost the ability to deliberate with or even listen to itself because of bad faith interference and the propagation of thought-stopping memes. At a certain point, you have to acknowledge that it's functionally the same as war. People are dying, cultural genocide is occurring, lives and potentials are being wasted, years are being lost. Being here inescapably saddled to this experience has been even worse than being a child whose development is impaired or torpedoed because they made the mistake of being born in a household with psychopathic parents because at least they weren't cannibals too.

It's the most egregious violation of our sacrosanct Universal Human Rights. You can't take our culture, our sovereignty, our free spirits, our stewardship of the cosmos' world around us and ourselves-- you cannot take these things away, not even with laws and order. You have no such right. You don't have a right to build an economy that elevates your loyal psychopaths and degrades us all in counterbalance. You don't have a right to unleash a criminal army of lawless ungovernable blue-uniformed paramilitary murderers upon our world. You don't have a right to walk into a library and burn books, you don't have a right to walk into a museum and vandalize statues and paintings, you don't have a right to walk into a school and shout down the teachers, you don't have a right to walk into a hospital and shout down the doctors, you don't have a right to force a peaceful world to war over crimes great or small and saddle an entire world with illegal war crime debts, you don't have a right to control womens' bodies and lives, you don't have a right to declare all the other gods as blasphemous lies, you don't have a right to pollute our air, soil, water, crops, and livestock, and you don't have a right to stand between us and the cosmos' will for our lives and this material world. You think and believe that because you have money you somehow have attained these rights over us all. You have not. You've made life hopeless and unlivable.  You have miscalculated fatally. Now what follows?

I think we’re already there, which is why it’s even more disheartening to see any attempt discourse made light of.

No one knows what follows, but the whole world is watching.

[AdminGirl]

Uh I'm a bit late to this thread but adding my 2 cents before the lock 🙄

I don't find it offensive or anything but its relevance to sl is questionable. It's like having political messages in a fashion blog. Offensive? No. Relevant? Kinda no. Out of place? Kinda yes. Their audience is there for fashion stuff. Just like we go to the sl blogs for sl stuff. Sure, many have obviously benefited from the reminder. Still doesn't change the fact that it isn't exactly sl related. Unless sl is looking into diversifying into the news department.