“On Tuesday (3 March 2015), voters in Los Angeles, America’s second-largest and 17th-best city, went to the polls to vote in city council elections. Some voters, anyway; about nine percent of those who were registered actually bothered to cast a ballot.
Why? For a few reasons.
First, because turnout in municipal primary elections is always fairly low. Paul Mitchell of the data firm Political Data, shared turnout rates in primary and run-off elections over the past several municipal cycles. Turnout on Tuesday, currently estimated at 8.6 percent, was the lowest since at least 2003.” Turnout in Los Angeles’ city elections was terrible. That’s, sadly, nothing new. By Philip Bump March 4, 2015 at 2:39 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/04/turnout-in-los-angeles-city-elections-was-terrible-thats-sadly-nothing-new/
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Gaddafi and Philippines (Bienvenido Macario, USA, Thu. 02/19/15 6:20 am) https://waisworld.org/go.jsp?id=02a&objectType=post&o=91548&objectTypeId=76989&topicId=4960
Randy Black wrote on 16 February: “As [Gaddafi] promised, along with the motto ‘freedom, socialism and unity,’ he also supported the PLO, the IRA, the Polisario Front and implemented ‘increased political repression’ among his subjects.
“https://waisworld.org/go.jsp?id=02a&objectType=post&o=91462&objectTypeId=76954&topicId=4960
Under Muammar Gaddafi, Libya supported both the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim secessionist movement, and the communist rebels in the Philippines. The Mindanao war between the Marcos administration and the MNLF started on March 29, 1969.
In 1976, Imelda Marcos asked Gaddafi to broker a ceasefire. This led to the Tripoli Agreement that includes the creation of the Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), composed of thirteen provinces of Mindanao. Gaddafi made his book “The Green Book: Part One: The Solution to the Problem of Democracy (The Authority of the People)” required reading. When I was in the Philippines my friend gave me a copy and asked me to do a book report.
JE comments: Bienvenido Macario and Eugenio Battaglia both have copies of the Green Book. I’d like to know more. Who in WAISworld can walk us through the tenets of the Gaddafi political worldview? I made this point a few years back, but no name in world history has more competing spellings. This book cover has “Qhadafi.” ABC News published a list of 112 variants: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/09/how-many-different-ways-can-you-spell-gaddafi/
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Gaddafi’s Green Book; A Meeting in Mindanao, 1982 (Bienvenido Macario, USA, 02/21/15 7:48 am)
https://waisworld.org/go.jsp?id=02a&objectType=post&o=91600&objectTypeId=77017&topicId=4960
What stands out in reading Gaddafi’s The Green Book is his criticism of the democratic elections. He cited as an example a presidential election where you have three candidates getting 40%, 30%, and 30% of the votes. While the candidate who garnered 40% of the total votes is the winner, the genuine majority is in fact represented by votes of the two losing candidates.
Another aspect of the poll he questioned was the plebiscite, referendum or propositions. He wrote that it is not enough for the voters to simply vote “yes” or “no,” but they must explain why they are voting for or against an initiative. This should demonstrate how familiar the voters at large are with the very important issues of the day.
From here I thought in the list of candidates and propositions, why not have an option that says: “None of the above”?
Of course during one of the book gatherings where MNLF [Moro National Liberation Front] commanders were present, I dared not criticize Gaddafi’s Green Book for fear of starting a new war in Mindanao. That was back in 1982, and I remember meeting a certain Commander “Jimmy” of the MNLF who was around 38 to 40 years old. His real name was Hashim. He was wearing a printed two-tone polo shirt like a Hawaiian shirt.
While it was not in the book, I did mention to Commander “Jimmy” that Gaddafi’s favorite US presidents were George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Gaddafi admired Washington for leading the American Revolution. And Abraham Lincoln for declaring martial law and resorting to force to save the union.
JE comments: One can find many holes in democratic elections, but it’s bizarre to use that as a justification to do away with them. Interestingly, unrepentant Confederate types in the US tend to cite Lincoln’s use of martial law (suspension of habeas corpus) as a reason for disliking him. I hope Bienvenido Macario will tell us more of his encounters with the MNLF in the early 1980s.
