If the world could vote

The magazine The Economist is currently conducting a poll simulating a Global Electoral College.
As in, if the entire world could cast ballots for the President, what would the results be?
Now, the natural reaction many would have to a poll like this would be, "Well, the results wouldn't be accurate because the readership of that particular magazine would be biased". However, The Economist is known for, and even celebrated for, its unbiased, logical viewpoints and intellegent, diverse readers around the world. I'm not trying to say the results are perfectly accurate, but I would say that it is a good sampling of educated and politically conscious people.

As of the time I'm writing this, the tally is this:
McCain: 228 Electoral Votes
Obama: 8,969 Electoral Votes
That's right. Obama has more than THIRTY NINE times the votes that McCain does.

See for yourself:
http://www. economist. com/vote2008/?a=true&cid=169&v=true

What conclusions do I draw from this? Well, the world will respect us a hell of a lot less if we elect McCain.

One may say, "The world can't vote so why does this matter? Only Americans can vote in this election.
"
And I would say, "Of course it matters, you idiot!"
This election may only be open to Americans, but it by no means only affects Americans. And a poll with as ridiculous an unbalanced outcome such as this one should be taken into consideration by undecideds.

If you read through this, you get a gold star.

Love Vanessa

A Fairy Tale, once again

I went to Fairytaleland recently. I climbed the hill I always climb, which was less difficult than I remember. Though standing at its base the steepness is quite daunting. I will always climb that hill. If I'm 100 years old and in a wheelchair, I don't know how, but I'll still climb it.
There were a few purple flowers, but not the vast amount that takes over the hillsides at times and makes me want to skip with glee every single second. I guess it's not quite that time yet. We stayed on the isolated hilltop, our own private little top of the world, for hours. Getting caught tresspassing isn't much of an issue, as nobody wants to climb up that high, an ATV couldn't make it, and it's impossible to see from anywhere. We made the mistake of not bringing a picnic. Always bring a picnic or wish you had! Anywhere!
I climbed a tree, sort of.
We came down the mountain, past the terrifyingly dark groves of trees and the abandoned mercury mine into Guerneville, where we feasted on the most delicious Mexican food in existence. And that's all.
View the photo album here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shizukanaomoi/sets/72157603939582797/