Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Postman Pat visits

The Finnish government has managed to track me down again. This time upon my return to South Africa what was waiting for me in the communal mailbox (I will get to that rant at some point) was a letter inviting me to vote.

The letter tells me that I can vote either in Pretoria - though unfortunately that takes place while I'm in Denmark - or Finland. And oh joy. I'm in the vicinity of the swimming hall official voting place in my hometown at the time I (and everyone else) have been given to go cast my vote. Hurrah for democracy!

I have been looking forward to such a serendipitous moment for a while. When I last had the opportunity to vote was a while (quite a long one) back, in the parliament elections I believe. Unfortunately the candidate I voted for only amassed 150 votes which even in Finnish terms is quite a measly amount. That's what you get for favoring the communist workers party. I guess those days have passed. Other times I have either been unaware of an election going on until it was much too late (in Finland that is. I would kill for the opportunity to vote here, or in the States [well, more here since the result of the election that just took place is a little daunting with Jacob Zuma, once on trial for rape and not quite seeing what really is so bad with HIV, becoming the Prez]), and the papers never made it to our address, or the election has been a church one, in which case I don't think I should be allowed to have any effect on what goes on there. However, this time I lucked out. Yippee, Now I can go vote in the....

Hey, wait a minute. WTF...

I can vote in the European parliament elections?

Why would I want to do that? What do they do anyways?

google, google, google some more, google, google.

Oh, they might talk about legalizing marijuana. I'm back on board! If they do it, then America might just follow. Maybe. In the future. And finally stop the drug wars in Mexico.

Yes, I'm voting for a Finnish woman for the European parliament in order to stop drug wars in Mexico.

At least I'm voting.

12 comments:

Suecae Sounds said...

The drug wars don't really help any one. So I'm with you on this one!

Unknown said...

I think that's as good a reason as any other to vote in European Parliament elections.
The Spanish Government hasn't tracked me down here in England, we're clearly not so well organized!

Jelica said...

At least you canvote. I've been living in the EU for almost ten years but I have no say. And I like voting.

Optimistic Pessimist said...

I just had to write a reaction paper for a business law class on the whole state/federal issue of legalized marijuana in certain states.

I'm on board...make love not war!

Innerspace Yoga said...

we should be so lucky to have mary jane or any thing else that's actually helpful decriminalized in the states! it's like no one wants to do the sensible thing because that would force the government to admit they were wrong....and fascist!

julochka said...

see, i think it's so cool that you're voting for a finnish woman to stop the drug wars in mexico. it's all connected man (and we would feel that more acutely if they would just legalize marijuana).

citizen of the planet, man.

so cool.

i voted for obama.

but i voted for hillary in the primary. i think the outcome w/her as Sec of State is the best outcome.

and isn't it postman Per?

julochka said...

why did i say "man" twice? i think i meant herman. :-)

Extranjera said...

Suecae Sounds - Go google who you can vote for to help bring this about.

B - I think the Spanish government might need some tracking polar bears of their own?

Jelica - I hear you. I'm never allowed to vote in the elections I would actually like to vote in, except for maybe Eurovision Song contest ;o)

Marathoner - Right on!

Kel - The only positive sign we have is that prohibition was done away with... There's hope for mj yet?

julochka - Man, Herman-man. What have you been smoking?
Had to make the obvious joke, and feel that acutely feeling could be productive, even though am personally allergic to the stuff. Poor me.

My name is Erin. said...

I'm a proud voter myself. I volunteered for Barack Obama during the primaries, though I do like Hillary as well. I got my wish, because all along I said my dream-ticket would be... President Obama, Vice-Pres John Edwards (pre-Extramarital Affair... glad that wish didn't come true) and Hillary as Sec of State! So happy with the outcome.

One of my favorite mantra's is "Think Globally, Act Locally." I pay attention to world news and wish I could have voted in the S.A. elections, too.

As for legalizing M.J. a girl can dream. My dad told me about N.O.R.M.L. when I was just a teenager (National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Law). I think the first step is the medical community, which has already been taken in quite a few states and the next is ending the War on Drugs and the talk about doing so has been on the forefront as of recently... so fingers crossed.

Once again, blogging on your blog. Maybe I need to start blog #4 so I have a place to rant. :)

Cyndy said...

I totally missed voting in our primaries yesterday. The first time I missed the opportunity to cast my ballot in 27 years. Somehow the day just got away. Bummer. My redemption? Voting for Julochka today on Discounderworld. If you saw the list of our potential local candidates, you would surely agree that my vote went to a greater good.

Extranjera said...

Erin - First: you have 3? I though it was only 2. Must go look again.

And I have great faith in Obama and that he might just be awesome enough to do the right thing - Same goes for Cuba. If I was voting in the States, I'm sure I would feel differently about voting. In Finland I just tend to go for the underdog and try to make someone's day. Im agine how happy the woman from the communist workers party felt when she got 150 votes instead of the 2 she thought she would get.

Thanks for miniblogging on my blog (yours might actually be longer than the original post ;o)

Cyndy - Go julochka. I voted way back, but am now contemplating scheming up a way to vote again...

My name is Erin. said...

I do have a 3rd, but I keep it all private and shit to keep the fans at bay. Actually it's where I post (if I remember) a bunch of pics of my kids for my family members who live all over the country. We're spread out over 6 different States, so they rarely see my kids... it's called 4 out of 2,463,323. Our last name is Johnson and there are over 2 million Johnson's in the U.S. alone.

Mini-blogging is rad!