The Silver Screen Oasis

CineMaven wrote:Poster posted on a subway entrance:



Hurricane Sandy...some warm-up!

This is good CineMaven! ...

In case anyone is interested and able to donate anything, from blankets to diapers to money and everything in between for all the people affected by this recent hurricane, the charity oversight group Charity Navigator has compiled a verified list of various organizations who are on the ground and helping there:

Charity Navigator for Hurricane Sandy Help

I am so relieved to know that everyone is all right except for the lack of electricity and inconveniences. Dealing with the extreme cold without electricity is difficult. Please take care!

Thanks Moira for those links to real donation sites. It's amazing that there have to be watchdog groups during disaster times.

I hope you are all back to normal. Is this going to effect anyone's ability to vote? I very much admire the spirit with which you've all faced the problems caused by the hurricane and the spirit of all the people I've been watching on the news coverage. A hurricane can devastate but can't beat the American spirit.

I hope everyone can get out today to vote.

I'll get to later but in MD it won't make any difference.

It all makes a difference! for sure!

charliechaplinfan wrote:Is this going to effect anyone's ability to vote?

Yes indeed, there are polling places closed due to storm damage, voters unsure of alternate polling places (which in some cases are in tents), and people voting from other than their home district due to displacement and so are voting locally by affidavit and only for the statewide elections, not for the whole ballot. Besides all that, NYC is using paper ballots for a presidential election for the first time, and there has been a lot of confusion and scanner malfunction. It's kind of a messy election day here. In New Jersey, some people are voting by email, for the first time.

Since I don't vote it doesn't affect me.

I forgot my "Who Not to Vote For" list. State and local candidates who have said incredibly stupid things. Guess I'll have to work from memory!

Good heavens, it sounds complicated. Is it not just the President and party you are voting for, are there other things on the ballot paper? Do some states never change in allegiance? Like here many towns just have too many of one type in that they always return for the same party. My town is a swing town, this is the first time it hasn't gone with the presiding party but then for the first time we have an unusual situation. I hope all Americans who want to vote get the chance, it would be awful if there were rows afterwards because people couldn't cast their vote.

Some regions are party loyal. Some are less predictable. Many local offices are independent, at least on paper. So you can't just support the party. Well, you can. But you'll bypass certain categories. You're right, Chaplin Fan. It's complicated! Like you, my great hope is that everybody gets to vote. The storm will make that hard for some people. Even more than my personal preference, I want the American people to have their say.

I suspect there may be a challenge no matter who wins today, depending on how close the race really is.

Our news reports are predicting it as really close, which surprises me because for the longest time it was assumed that Obama would walk it, then there was he debates and things changed. It's probably not that simple but that's how it seems here.