Some rambling...and photos...!
Howdy! So, I hear that there will be a Qld state election on Sept 9. I'm very excited about getting to vote overseas (although that probably means that my vote actually won't be counted - oh well, it is the gesture that counts). Interestingly, the Americans can't believe that we have compulsory voting in Australia. Those with whom I have spoken tend to have issues with that - most typically the concern is that participation in a democratic process should be voluntary. Not a ridiculous argument. At a practical level, you kind of hope that those who choose to vote here in the US are the more interested, informed individuals.
Of course that sadly isn't always the case (think evangelicals in the middle of America who mobilized over same-sex marriage in the 2004 Presidential election). But of course in Australia, with compulsory voting, we do get plenty of ignorant people casting ballots, simply based on what they are told to think by political operatives, biased newspapers (thanks Mr. Murdoch), and the likes. I don't have a problem if people don't get interested in an election (although I certainly do), but I do have a problem when those people are swayed to make their votes based on false information, hyped mis-information, or both (think the last few federal elections).
This leads me to an interesting question: what really is a "swinging voter"? Or rather, who are these people? Based on what I know best - consumer theory, decision-making processes, choice processes - I find it a tough concept to comprehend. When thinking about choice, consumers (voters) have a fixed set of alternatives and information (usually incomplete, imperfect) on those alternatives' attributes (features). What happens in election campaigns is that the perceptions of those attributes, and hence their weightings in peoples' utility functions, are manipulated. So are the "swingers" (a purposely unfortunate term) simply people who are more vulnerable to external (advertising) messages? Or are they people with "unstable" preferences - meaning that they have more dynamic utility functions? The latter is probably a more interesting notion...
Anyway, enough of the rambling. Bottom line is that I hope you all enjoy voting and don't get caught up in the crafted messages aimed at persuading even the most ardent "true believer." :-)
Okay, now on to the photos... (most readers probably just scrolled to this point!)
Last weekend the weather was spectacularly beautiful - so we went out and about on both days and soaked it up. Saturday we went furniture shopping in the furniture stores of Chelsea and the area around Union Square. All we ended up buying, however, was a pair of lovely throw cushions for the sofa from West Elm . We bought two of the large jade/green ones. Very nice. But our aim was to find a new bookcase or perhaps a wall unit with bookcase space and a console to put the TV on. No luck, unfortunately. But we continue to look. We're trying to avoid Ikea... Questionable quality, but worse, they charge HUGE delivery fees (which is an issue - we don't have a car, and the nearest Ikea is an hour away in New Jersey).
Oh yes, the photos...! So on Sunday we slept in and then headed out. Spent many hours lying on the lawn in Central Park (at the Sheep Station Meadow). It was packed, mostly with like-minded people (i.e., attractive, youthful types). Tried to read a book, then the current Vanity Fair but it was difficult - plenty of people-watching distractions. We were both amused by various individuals out there on the lawn. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon, and the weather was simply stunning.
So photos... Do you get the feeling that I'm stringing you along? Never :-)
We also went up to Columbia to take some photos of me (I hate that; will explain another time). We used a super-duper high megapixel camera from Fiona's work instead of our aging digital camera (or worse, my cell phone camera!). Thanks Mr. T! So here is a gallery of Columbia photos: Enjoy!
Okay - enough for now! Photo overload (keeps people happy). Have Central Park pics to post too, but will do another time soon.
A.
Of course that sadly isn't always the case (think evangelicals in the middle of America who mobilized over same-sex marriage in the 2004 Presidential election). But of course in Australia, with compulsory voting, we do get plenty of ignorant people casting ballots, simply based on what they are told to think by political operatives, biased newspapers (thanks Mr. Murdoch), and the likes. I don't have a problem if people don't get interested in an election (although I certainly do), but I do have a problem when those people are swayed to make their votes based on false information, hyped mis-information, or both (think the last few federal elections).
This leads me to an interesting question: what really is a "swinging voter"? Or rather, who are these people? Based on what I know best - consumer theory, decision-making processes, choice processes - I find it a tough concept to comprehend. When thinking about choice, consumers (voters) have a fixed set of alternatives and information (usually incomplete, imperfect) on those alternatives' attributes (features). What happens in election campaigns is that the perceptions of those attributes, and hence their weightings in peoples' utility functions, are manipulated. So are the "swingers" (a purposely unfortunate term) simply people who are more vulnerable to external (advertising) messages? Or are they people with "unstable" preferences - meaning that they have more dynamic utility functions? The latter is probably a more interesting notion...
Anyway, enough of the rambling. Bottom line is that I hope you all enjoy voting and don't get caught up in the crafted messages aimed at persuading even the most ardent "true believer." :-)
Okay, now on to the photos... (most readers probably just scrolled to this point!)
Last weekend the weather was spectacularly beautiful - so we went out and about on both days and soaked it up. Saturday we went furniture shopping in the furniture stores of Chelsea and the area around Union Square. All we ended up buying, however, was a pair of lovely throw cushions for the sofa from West Elm . We bought two of the large jade/green ones. Very nice. But our aim was to find a new bookcase or perhaps a wall unit with bookcase space and a console to put the TV on. No luck, unfortunately. But we continue to look. We're trying to avoid Ikea... Questionable quality, but worse, they charge HUGE delivery fees (which is an issue - we don't have a car, and the nearest Ikea is an hour away in New Jersey).
Oh yes, the photos...! So on Sunday we slept in and then headed out. Spent many hours lying on the lawn in Central Park (at the Sheep Station Meadow). It was packed, mostly with like-minded people (i.e., attractive, youthful types). Tried to read a book, then the current Vanity Fair but it was difficult - plenty of people-watching distractions. We were both amused by various individuals out there on the lawn. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon, and the weather was simply stunning.
So photos... Do you get the feeling that I'm stringing you along? Never :-)
We also went up to Columbia to take some photos of me (I hate that; will explain another time). We used a super-duper high megapixel camera from Fiona's work instead of our aging digital camera (or worse, my cell phone camera!). Thanks Mr. T! So here is a gallery of Columbia photos: Enjoy!
Okay - enough for now! Photo overload (keeps people happy). Have Central Park pics to post too, but will do another time soon.
A.
posted by andrewstephen at 9:25 AM
2 Comments:
hehe columns. No one does columns like the Americans... well except the greeks that is.
They are very nice columns, very grand. It is a grand campus, despite it being a very small campus. Unfortunately, the business school building is not so architecturally impressive - it happens to be on several lists of "architectural eyesores" for NYC, the USA, and perhaps the world! But not to worry, they've almost finished re-doing the building's lobby, so that the MBA students have nicer plasma screens running financial news all day!
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