The Vote's the Thing

The vote in Iraq on whether or not to accept the Constitution might very well have a result that the Constitution in its present form is rejected. That will not mean the vote failed. The vote only fails if it doesn't happen, or the result is somehow made meaningless.

If the Constitution is accepted, then the Iraqi people will have spoken and said, "Yes, that is acceptable." The government will have gotten permission from the people.

If the vote is to reject, then the Iraqi people will have spoken and told their government, "No, that is not good enough. We demand better." That's the very core of representative democracy, that the people can demand that their representatives actually be representative.

Which will it be? We shall see. But no matter which way the vote goes, the important thing is that Iraqis will be voting and having a real influence on how their government will operate.

RCFM Pi Is Now Complete

A while ago I mentioned that I had not yet received the RCFM 3.14 T-shirt. The shirt arrived in the mail recently and today I am wearing it.

Twilight, Twice

Last night jmaynard and I went to a restaurant in Sherburn, MN for supper. This was partly to enjoy the good food there, and partly to satisfy our curiosity about what will become of the place. We did enjoy the food, but not the news. The place has been sold and will remain officially open until 15 November, which is a Tuesday. It'll likely still be open after that, but on a "What do you have left?" basis until the end of the week. Eventually a Kum & Go will be there instead of the restaurant. It's a good spot for such a thing, but we'll miss the restaurant. I expect we'll be visiting the restaurant a bit more than usual as its days dwindle.

After supper we looked for a place to go walking, as we both need the exercise. Unfortunately the park in Sherburn is as tiny, like the town. That delayed our walk until we got back to Fairmont, around sunset. By the time we'd finished it was a nice twilight and beginning to get dark. I think I enjoyed that walk, even if it was in town, more than many others. There's just something about being out after sunset that feels good to me. I'd prefer more starlight and less streetlight, but it was still pretty good.

Just Being Countercultural Again

Should you choose to leave your name or such:

1. I won't respond with something random about you. Heck, I might not even know you.

2. I won't tell you what song or movie reminds me of you, because chances are there are no songs or movies that really do that.

3. I won't pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in, as that would probably disgust both of us, besides making a big mess neither of us would really want to have to clean up.

4. I might say something that only makes sense to you and me, but I won't make any guarantees about that. I find I often cause bewilderment without really trying and doing so on purpose would merely add to the confusion.

5. I won't mention my first or clearest memory of you as it might not exist (see #1) or maybe I've just plain forgotten. It happens.

6. I won't tell you what animal you remind me of, because there might not be one. And those for which there are animals that remind me of them, already know what they are anyway.

7. I won't ask you something that I've always wondered about you. Chances are I've already asked you, or know better than to ask, and I'm not going to make something up just for this.

8. As I am doing this, you are under no obligation whatsoever to post this on your journal. Isn't that refreshing?