From: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
Subject: New alt.politics groups?
Followup-To: alt.config
Reply-To: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 17:55:07 GMT

Followups directed to alt.config.

So:

"The vote for the new talk.politics.* groups is over.  ALL the votes on
new groups FAILED because there was no 100 yes-vote margin over
no-votes on any of the groups."

and so on.  I am now calling for opinions on possible creation of some
of the groups as alt.politics.*.  In my opinion (differing somewhat
from the vote result), some of the primary candidates would be:

alt.politics.usa.misc		(probably this wouldn't work and instead
                       		there should be a.p.non-usa.misc.  or both?)
alt.politics.libertarian   	(or does alt.politics.marrou fit the bill?)
alt.politics.sex
alt.politics.org.ec		(just a.p.ec?)
alt.politics.org.misc
alt.politics.europe.misc	(jus a.p.europe?)
alt.politics.reform
alt.politics.usa.constitution
alt.politics.europe.east	(a.p.east-europe?)
alt.politics.europe.baltic	(a.p.baltic?)


Actually, the shorter names (a.p.baltic etc.) seem better to me.

Here's the rest of the summary from the t.p.* vote:

"According to the guidelines creation of the new groups should not
again be brought up for discussion for creation on Usenet until at
least six months have passed from the close of the vote.

A total of 289 valid ballots were received and counted.  The results on
each of the groups ordered by the yes/no margin are:


talk.politics.usa.misc		Yes: 130, no: 57, total: 187, margin: 73
talk.politics.libertarian	Yes: 134, no: 70, total: 204, margin: 64
talk.politics.civil-liberty 	Yes: 116, no: 53, total: 169, margin: 63
talk.politics.sex		Yes: 108, no: 59, total: 167, margin: 49
talk.politics.elections		Yes: 108, no: 60, total: 168, margin: 48
talk.politics.org.un		Yes: 101, no: 53, total: 154, margin: 48
talk.politics.org.ec		Yes: 101, no: 54, total: 155, margin: 47
talk.politics.europe.misc	Yes: 100, no: 56, total: 156, margin: 44
talk.politics.usa.constitution	Yes: 111, no: 69, total: 180, margin: 42
talk.politics.media		Yes:  95, no: 60, total: 155, margin: 35
talk.politics.economics		Yes:  98, no: 64, total: 162, margin: 34
talk.politics.africa.misc	Yes:  87, no: 54, total: 141, margin: 33
talk.politics.asia.misc		Yes:  89, no: 57, total: 146, margin: 32
talk.politics.science		Yes:  92, no: 60, total: 152, margin: 32
talk.politics.org.misc		Yes:  90, no: 63, total: 153, margin: 27
talk.politics.latin-america	Yes:  88, no: 62, total: 150, margin: 26
talk.politics.equality		Yes:  91, no: 65, total: 156, margin: 26
talk.politics.health		Yes:  84, no: 59, total: 143, margin: 25
talk.politics.canada		Yes:  85, no: 61, total: 146, margin: 24
talk.politics.usenet		Yes:  89, no: 73, total: 162, margin: 16
talk.politics.ethics		Yes:  81, no: 65, total: 146, margin: 16
talk.politics.asia.japan	Yes:  81, no: 65, total: 146, margin: 16
talk.politics.australasia	Yes:  80, no: 65, total: 145, margin: 15
talk.politics.europe.britain	Yes:  81, no: 71, total: 152, margin: 10
talk.politics.constitution	Yes:  85, no: 79, total: 164, margin:  6
talk.politics.work		Yes:  74, no: 70, total: 144, margin:  4
talk.politics.reform		Yes:  77, no: 74, total: 151, margin:  3
talk.politics.europe.east	Yes:  76, no: 73, total: 149, margin:  3
talk.politics.europe.balkan	Yes:  72, no: 71, total: 143, margin:  1
talk.politics.asia.taiwan	Yes:  79, no: 79, total: 158, margin:  0
talk.politics.org.spook		Yes:  74, no: 80, total: 154, margin: -6
talk.politics.asia.south	Yes:  73, no: 80, total: 153, margin: -7
talk.politics.europe.baltic	Yes:  65, no: 77, total: 142, margin:-12
talk.politics.asia.southeast	Yes:  63, no: 77, total: 140, margin:-14
talk.politics.europe.nordic	Yes:  62, no: 80, total: 142, margin:-18
talk.politics.north-america	Yes:  67, no: 87, total: 154, margin:-20
talk.politics.asia.southwest 	Yes:  61, no: 83, total: 144, margin:-22
talk.politics.americas		Yes:  67, no: 89, total: 156, margin:-22
talk.politics.antarctica	Yes:  66, no: 90, total: 156, margin:-24"


The charters were:

Groups for countries (6):

==========

talk.politics.usa.misc		Misc. USA politics.

A group for discussions on politics specific to USA - federal domestic
issues, foreign politics, politics in areas / states, general
development and political atmosphere.


talk.politics.usa.constitution	U.S. Constitutional politics

Discussion on the role of the U.S. Constitution as a major document
shaping the happenings in the country.  Theoretical discussions on
that role as well as practical reports on the role and interpretations
belong into the group, as well as methods of supporting USA as a
country based on the principles of the constitution.


talk.politics.canada		Politics of and in Canada

A group to discuss Canadian politics.


talk.politics.asia.japan	Politics of and in Japan

A group to discuss Japanese politics.


talk.politics.asia.taiwan	Politics of and in Taiwan

A group to discuss Taiwanese politics.


talk.politics.europe.britain	Politics of and in Great Britain

A group to discuss British politics.


==========

Groups for politics of organizations (4):


talk.politics.org.ec		European Community politics

Discussions on the European Community and the politics of possible
European integration into an European Union.


talk.politics.org.un		Politics of United Nations

What is the role of United Nations in world politics?  Who holds the
power on various organs of UN?  Does UN have any real influence?  


talk.politics.org.spook		"Spook" organizations around the world

The topic of the group is various organizations around the world
engaging in paramilitary action, intelligence, spying, covert
operations, ie. the "dark side" of governmental action or action
supported by governments but secret to nearly all citizens.  What kind
of political power do these organizations hold?  How do they use it?
Are they a threat to governments by the people or a threat to freedom
and democracy?  Are they "a necessary evil" in an unperfect world?


talk.politics.org.misc		Political organizations

Generic group for discussions on political organizations of economic,
military or other kind - examples include NATO, GATT, European
Council, OECD etc.

==========

Groups for geographical areas (16):

talk.politics.europe.misc	Misc. discussion on European politics

A misc. group for discussion on European politics.
Talk.politics.europe.* and talk.politics.org.ec cover many of the
topics in European politics, so you might want to check there first.

talk.politics.europe.nordic	Politics of Norden

The Nordic countries are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
This groups if for dicussing politics of that area.

talk.politics.europe.baltic	Politics of Baltic countries

Politics in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

talk.politics.europe.east	East European politics

Politics in Eastern Europe.  There are many definitions for Eastern
Europe, but probable areas of discussion are the former Soviet Union
areas (but see also t.p.europe.baltic) and Warsaw pact countries (but see
also t.p.europe.balkan).


talk.politics.europe.balkan	Balkanese politics

A group to discuss politics within and between the Balkan states themselves.
For purposes of the this group, The Balkans shall be taken to mean
Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro,
Serbia and Slovenia.
Also includes would be international, but not domestic politics of the
bordering states, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Rumania, and Turkey, as they have
a direct impact upon the balkan states.


talk.politics.latin-america	Latin American politics

A group to discuss politics of the Latin American countries and the
geographic area.

talk.politics.north-america	Politics of Northern America

Politics of the geographical area of Nothern America, cooperation and
relations of USA, Canada and Mexico.

talk.politics.americas		Geopolitics on the American continents

Misc. discussions on the politics on American continents, ie. North
and South America combined.

talk.politics.africa.misc	Politics in Africa

Politics of the African continent.

talk.politics.asia.misc

Misc. Asian politics.

talk.politics.asia.southwest	Politics in South-West Asia

Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia etc.
For politics involving Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria see t.p.europe.balkan

talk.politics.asia.southeast	Politics in South-East Asia

Vietnam et al.

talk.politics.asia.south	Politics in South Asia

India,Pakistan,Nepal,Afganistan,Sri Lanka, Maledives,Bangladesh


talk.politics.australasia	Politics in Australasia

Australia, New Zealand, and Polynesia.


talk.politics.antarctica	Politics of the Antarctic

==========

Groups for topics (14):


talk.politics.elections		Elections discussions and reports

Discussions on elections around the world - ongoing, future and past.
For topic on periods with several elections going on, it is
recommended to put a keyword in the Subject field describing what
election is being talked about.


talk.politics.sex		"Blue laws", decency laws, sexual behaviour

Sexuality laws (blue laws, criminalizing sex acts,"indecent" behaviour
etc.), censorship on sexuality ("obscenity" laws), etc.  Generic
discrimination or equality quostions based on gender or sexual
preference don't belong here but rather in talk.politics.equality.


talk.politics.equality		Equality and discrimination

Equality and discrimination with regards to skin color, gender,
nationality, sexual preference, ethnicity, language, etc.


talk.politics.civil-liberty 	Civil liberties

The relation of governments and citizens, the rights of members of
organizations.  The U.S. Bill of Rights gives one picture of the
possible topics, but the topic are of the groups is broader that that.


talk.politics.libertarian	The libertarian ideology

The libertarian ideology aims for limited government and individual
and economic freedom.  	With more than 80 libertarian organizations
there is a growing interest in the ideology around the world.

The existence of this group is not a reason to try to silence certain
political views on other groups - topics which are otherwise
appropriate in other groups remain appropriate there.


talk.politics.constitution	A constitution as a basis for a society

What should there be in a constitution?  How do various constitutions
work in practice?  Does a constitution need to be written?  What
should be the aims of constitutions?  How various constitutions around
the world have lasted the challenges of time?


talk.politics.economics		Political economics: taxes, gov. budgets

Economical politics - what governments should invest in, what should
be taxed and what subsidized, how do economics shape politics.


talk.politics.media		Media and politics

Political reporting in media, media as political tools, political
propaganda.  


talk.politics.usenet		Politics of Usenet

Politics of Usenet and the rest of the world (what groups to carry on
what basis, how does Usenet influence organizational politics etc.)
Also a suitable subject for discussion is the "domestic politics" of
Usenet, ie. how to govern creation of new groups, how to solve
problems in Usenet etc. but these are perhaps more suitable to be
discussed in the news.* groups.


talk.politics.science		Politics in science.

How is science money allocated?  How do carrier possibilities form?
Should science be funded privately or by governments?


talk.politics.health		Health care, politics in medicine, etc.

Should health care be governmental or private?  Are the medicine
markets and national acceptance bodies controlled by the drug
companies?  How do intellectual property and other laws shape health
issues?


talk.politics.ethics		Ethics in politics.

What is ethical in politics?  Do politicians need to tell the truth?
Are smear capaigns ethical?


talk.politics.work		Workplace and employment politics

A group for discussions on the power relations coming up in
workplaces, employment politics, worker organization politics, worker
movements, government policies affecting employment, worker
requirements / rights.


talk.politics.reform		Political reform

Discussions on how to achieve political reforms, what tools to use,
when reforms are desirable as well as political reforms currently
going on around the world (like in the x-USSR).

//Jyrki
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