HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: axd7104@acfcluster.nyu.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Rampant paranoia (was Voting slips: what happens to them,DANGER!)
Date: 10 Apr 92 02:38:30 GMT
Organization: New York University

> Got new for you: They do that here in the USA too. The good old 
> City of Detroit Election Commission has such books as do almost
> all other places that I know of.

Yes, they have books with the lists of registered voters, but if they give
you a ballot with that number on it in Detroit, that that's definitely
the exception, not the rule.  I just voted in the presidential primary
two days ago here in New York.  You go in, they look up your registration
card in the book, you sign on the line (they need to compare signatures,
because it's the only way to prove you're really you, you don't have to
show ID here), and then you go into the booth and pull the levers. That's
it.  There's no way to link you to your vote.

-- 
Aaron Dickey                      Bitnet: axd7104@nyuacf
New York University             Internet: axd7104@ACFcluster.nyu.edu

Al Roker Is God.
From: czl30@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Chris Lee)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Ambridge Trivia (was Re: News from Ambridge)
Date: 16 Apr 92 17:03:16 GMT
Reply-To: czl30@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (PUT YOUR NAME HERE)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

So, what is/was the connection between Mary Pound and Phil Archer's first
wife Grace?

Chris Lee
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: MAJOR WINS MAJORITY!!!
Date: 10 Apr 92 14:47:25 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <1992Apr10.052826.28630@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca> jswilson@mta.ca writes:
>I never doubted for a second that John Major would not win.  He (or rather) and
>the Conservatives are the best bet to pull Britain out of the recession.

I don't understand why people believe this.  It was this government
(and particularly the Lawson budget of a few years ago) that put us
into it.  In the past 13 years, Britain has been falling further and
further behind in the EEC 'league tables' of economic performance.  (I
think only Portugal and Greece are worse, at this point -- that's
nearly right anyway, may have missed someone.)

Look at their election platforms.  1979 -- 1 million unemployed under
Labour, that's horrible; now, we've got 2.6 million unemployed, and
they say it may get worse before it gets better.  1979 -- '7 million
mandays lost due to strikes last year'.  True.  As Simon Hoggart
pointed out, that works out to about 3 hours per worker per year, or
about 50 seconds per person per day.  Hardly significant, and anyhow
with 2.6 million out of work, we're losing about 13 million 'man'days
per WEEK right now.

Inflation isn't noticeably better.  Businesses are going bankrupt at a
record rate.  Home repossessions are at a record rate.  Interest rates
are high and 'may have to go up again'.  Taxes are well higher than
before they took office, though because of shuffles from income tax to
VAT and things, the top 10% of wage-earners are indeed paying very much
lower taxes.  (Income tax HAS gone down, but VAT has more than
doubled.)

Ah, but the Tories are good on crime, they say.  Well, 'for', rather
than 'on', maybe.  Crime rates are not only at a record high, but the
rate of INCREASE of the crime rate is at a record high.  

Homelessness and begging are way up.  (When I came over 12 years ago,
my normal travels around the city involved passing ONE homeless beggar.
Now, you can't walk half a block in Bristol without seeing one.)

Well, you say, the Tories are 'strong on defense'.  Except they even
pissed off the military last year, with some strong cuts.  (Mind, I don't
object to the cuts -- might be the only thing they've done that I agree
with -- but to then present military cuts as something nasty that only
the other guys would do is a bit much.)

>Good luck for the next 5 years!

Thanks, we'll need it.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:6532 rec.arts.books:8053
From: jjh00@outs.ccc.amdahl.com (Joel J. Hanes)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE
Summary: But what do they say in Dubuque?
Keywords: Iowa pop soda
Date: 15 Apr 92 19:07:00 GMT
Reply-To: jjh00@OUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Joel J. Hanes)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

aristea@sco.COM (Aristea Rizakos) writes:
>
>I don't know about that.  When I was 13 I stayed in Iowa for a year
>(and survived!), and was resoundingly ridiculed for using the term
>"pop" (as many of us do in Toronto) rather than "soda" (which Iowans
>considered to be the proper term).  Then again, Iowans are like no
>other Americans I've ever encountered.  Definitely a culture unto
>themselves!

Must be more local than by-state.
Were you by some chance in Iowa City?

I grew up in Mason City, in northern Iowa, and studied
at Ames in central Iowa, and in my experience,
"pop", "pop machine", and "pop bottle" were the
dominant expressions.  "Soda" was *never* used.

Of course, this was a decade or more ago -- maybe things are changing?
In Iowa?  Naaaaaahhhhh.


>   ...   Then again, Iowans are like no
>other Americans I've ever encountered.  Definitely a culture unto
>themselves!

  "There's an Iowa kind
   A special chip-on-the-shoulder attitude
   We've never been without that we recall

   We can be cold as our falling thermometers in December
   When you ask about our weather in July
   And we're so by-God stubborn
   We can stand touching noses
   For a week at a time, and never see eye to eye --

   But we'll give you our shirt
   And a back to go with it
   If your crops should happen to die.

   But what the heck, you're welcome
   Glad to have you with us
   Even if we may not ever mention it again."  [1]


Iowa has the highest literacy rate in the nation, and for
a while, the state adopted the slogan:

   "A State of Minds"


ObBooks:  to understand how "an Iowa kind" culture arose,
          I recommend  A.E. Rolvaag's _Giants_In_The_Earth_
          and all of Laura Ingalls Wilder's _Little_House_
          books, especially the last (_The_First_Four_Years_),
          More recently, Gass's _In_The_Heart_of_The_Heart_
          _of_The_Country_ gets it right, as does William
          Least Heat Moon's _Blue_Highways_.
          The early chapters of Curt Meine's recent
          biography of Aldo Leopold (title forgotten) are
          also germane.
---
Joel Hanes        (Iowa born, Iowa raised, in exile in Silicon Valley)


[1]  from the musical, "The Music Man", by Meridith Wilson
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,alt.society.civil-liberty
From: johnf@apollo.hp.com (John Francis)
Subject: Re: British Bill: of Rights? of Goods?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 21:42:21 GMT

In article <RJC.92Apr15200632@brodie.cstr.ed.ac.uk> rjc@cstr.ed.ac.uk (Richard Caley) writes:
>
>My understanding is that if the current loaded US supreme court
>decides that the right of free speech doesn't apply to atheists or
>something equally weird [ . . . . . . ]
          
If you mean this to be a 'reductio ad absurdum' example, you will have
to try again!  President Bush has left no doubts as to where he stands
on the issue - this is "One Nation Under God"*,  and thus should have
no rights for atheists.  Little details like the separation of church
and state are mere legal quibbles which should not be allowed to stand
in the way of the principles of natural justice.

* The God in question is, of course, the God of George Bush's religion.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:6707 rec.arts.books:8137
From: 00rdharringt@bsu-ucs.uucp (Rob Harrington)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE
Date: 17 Apr 92 15:40:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: bsu-ucs.1992Apr17.104030.6643

In article <kujhdnINNtd@early-bird.think.com>, wark@think.com (Mark Warkentin) writes:
> Here in beanytown lots of the locals use the word "tonic".  Anyone heard of
> the usage elswhere?
> -- 

For pop????

never... heard it used in terms like "gin and tonic" or "vodka and tonic"
but never as a word for pop...

-- 
/---------------------------------------v-------------------------------------\
|  Rob Harrington                       |              Ball State University  |
|  Department of History                |               Muncie, Indiana, USA  |
|  Vax--00RDHARRINGT@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu  |       Unix--herring@bsu-cs.bsu.edu  |
>---------------------------------------^-------------------------------------<
|  "It is good fortunes for politicians that people don't think."- A. Hitler  |
|                       Aoibheann beatha an scol/aire!                        |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
From: livesey@solntze.esd.sgi.com (Jon Livesey)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: dweeb?
Date: 12 Apr 92 09:14:41 GMT
Organization: sgi

In article <1992Apr12.084902.27493@cs.yale.edu>, horne-scott@CS.YALE.EDU (Scott Horne) writes:
|> 
|> Anglophilic?  You're barking up the wrong tree.  My hatred of Britannia
|> is surpassed only by my hatred of the United $tates of Amerika.

I don't get it.   You believe you are not an anglophile because
you hate Britannia?   Please explain.


|> ZANG4 HAN4 YI4 JIA1 / GONG4 JIAN4 ZHONG1HUA2!

Looks like vanity plates are longer this Spring.

jon.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:5906 soc.culture.celtic:3440
From: wjmc@unix.brighton.ac.uk (-*_Spikey_Tribble_*-)
Newsgroups: uk.politics,soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic
Subject: Re: A Comte society
Date: 8 Apr 92 16:01:14 GMT
Organization: Brighton Polytechnic, UK

dj@ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones) writes:
> Dave Yadallee writes:
> [...]
> wondrous nonsense?  My hat is off to you, Dave, for manufacturing an
> expression of terminal thickness that defies ridicule.  Try writing
> an election manifesto next.

 I doubt anyone could produce such a work of sublimely ridiculous fiction
as the Conservative Party Manifesto ...

.
-- 
###########################################################################
#  Bill Crawford  aka  *Cuddly_Cactus*     |     wjmc@uk.ac.bton.unix     #
#  BSc (Hons) Computer Science Year One    |     wjmc@uk.ac.bton.vms      #
#  Have you read your Book In Basic Life Education today ? You should !!  #
#  Any views I express are not necessarily those of Brighton Polytechnic  #
###########################################################################
From: matthew@ntl02.decnet.nokia.fi (Matthew Faupel)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Election stats (3/5) Votes by sex, age & class
Date: 17 Apr 92 11:01:45 GMT
	<1992Apr14.181514.5448@vax.oxford.ac.uk>
Organization: Nokia Telecommunications, Cambridge, UK

>>>>> On 14 Apr 92 17:15:14 GMT, wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk said:

> In article <MATTHEW.92Apr13230031@matthew.ntl02.decnet.nokia.fi>, [I write]:
>> Breakdown of voting proportions by sex, age and class.
>> Source: Independent on Sunday, 12 Apr 92
>> 
>>               Con      Lab   LibDem   Other
>> Men            42       37       17       5
>> Women          43       34       19       5
>> Age 18-24      36       37       21       6
>> Age 25-34      40       38       17       5
>> Age 35-54      44       34       18       4
>> Age 55+        45       35       17       2
>> AB             59       20       19       2
>> C1             52       24       20       5
>> C2             41       38       17       5
>> DE             29       50       17       4

> Just a moment. Surely these are poll results, not actual results. Or have all
> our votes been suddenly registered by class, age and sex. I think a retraction
> is in order here?

That's true... I've probably chucked the paper out by now, but I'd guess that
these are the results of a post-election poll (given that the figures reflect
the proportions of votes cast in the election, it couldn't be a pre-election
poll, could it? :-)


Matthew
--
---* Amnesiac the Wizard *------------------* matthew@uk.tele.nokia.fi *---
 Opinions expressed here are not those of my company.    | NB. ntl02 is EN
 They're not even my own; I plagiarised the lot of them! | TEE EL ZERO TWO
---* matthew@ntl02.decnet.nokia.fi *------------------* Matthew Faupel *---
From: jackson@soldev.tti.com (Dick Jackson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Marmite & The Miller's Tale
Date: 15 Apr 92 15:22:09 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Transaction Technology Inc.

In article <1992Apr14.051859.6851@morrow.stanford.edu> francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir) writes:
>There are two kinds of
>Marmite. Marmite from Canada and Marmite from Great Britain. The first
>come in rather small bottles with flat sides, whereas the latter comes
>in giant quantities of 500g, is 100% Vegetarian (Approved by the Vegetarian
>Society), and comes in a bottle with three beautifully convex surfaces.
>Best of all, it comes from Burton-on-Trent, whose waters are a byword for
>the beers from them derived. This is the Marmite sans pareil.

Oh come now, surely the water source point is overdrawn.  It is the
Pembroke yeast, left to grow for three years on a mash of hand picked
Cavernet Sovereign grapes which makes the BRITISH product the apotheosis
of all marmites.  Plus, of course, the salt, dug painstakingly grain by
grain out of good old Scottish hillsides by virginal Highland maidens.

Dick Jackson
From: pac9897@zeus.tamu.edu (SO MUCH FOR DEMOCRACY IN BRITAIN)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Thoughts on Election Results
Date: 11 Apr 92 04:47:00 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Apr10.152026.29501@morrow.stanford.edu>, 
francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir) writes...
>Nigel and his pals (Shrill, whiny voice is heard offstage "I am no longer 
>British.") are living in some Aristophanian Cloud Cuckoo Land. Once Foot 
>and Thatcher were no longer at their respective helms, the Cons and Labs 
>might just as well have been renamed Tweedledum & Tweedledee. As the 
>Observer put it "the Election is about who will get to be motored around 
>in chauffeured limosines." 
> 
>						Francis Muir
> 
>francis@sep.stanford.edu

Well, except Labour were going to invest more in education and healthcare
and the Tories are seriously proposing to privatise the Post Office's
letter delivery service and British Rail!


Philip A. Carney		On Exchange from Lancaster University,
Texas A&M University, TX	England.

**********ALL VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN, NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF**************
******TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY OR THEIR ASSOCIATES**********

"The lust for power is rooted not in strength, but in weakness..." - Erich Fromm
From: Trevor.Kirby@newcastle.ac.uk (Trevor Kirby)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Election Fraud by the Conservatives
Date: 13 Apr 92 10:49:49 GMT
Organization: Computing Laboratory, U of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK NE1 7RU.


In article <PLUMMER.92Apr10085146@tulum.cs.swarthmore.edu>, plummer@cs.swarthmore.edu (David Barker-Plummer) writes:
>
>Do you get to be on the roll if you don't pay the Poll Tax?
>
>-- Dave

The poll tax register and the electoral register are theoretically independant.
However as one of the first checking points for the poll tax officers is the
electoral register a lot of people didn't register to vote to avoid paying
poll tax. But defaulting on your poll tax does not get you removed from the 
register, unless you end up in jail of course.

 Trev
From: hugh@sci.kun.nl (Hugh Osborne)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Comparitive Tax Rates [was Re: MAJOR WINS MAJORITY!!!]
Date: 14 Apr 92 10:40:38 GMT
Organization: University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

In <1992Apr14.071913.11184@osf.org> david@guadet.gr.osf.org (David George) writes:

>In article <1992Apr13.142640.15659@newcastle.ac.uk> J.M.Spencer@newcastle.ac.uk  
>(Jonathan Spencer) writes:
>> smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee) writes:
>> 
>> >In article <1992Apr13.073340.16687@osf.org> sp@mirabeau.osf.fr (Simon  
>Patience) writes:
>> >>This is the thing that pisses me off most about the Tories. For someone
>> >>on twice average earnings (and above) Britain has the highest income tax
>> >>rate in Europe. So much for incentives for entrepreneurs.
>> 
>> What are the figures for each country, have you got them?
>> 
>> --Jonathan

>'In Britain a married person starts paying the current top tax-rate on roughly
>1.5 times average male earnings;

This might say more about income distribution than about tax threshholds. 
What are the figures if you use the median, rather than the average?

>the top-rate (31%) threshhold in America is

What's the top rate in Britain?

>four times average earnings and in France (57%) and Germany (53%) more than
>six times.

Are these all simple two tier systems, or are there other threshholds at
which you start paying more-than-basic-rate-but-less-than-top-rate?

>Already, British executives pay more of their income in tax than
>their foreign counterparts'  - Economist p54 21-27/March/1992

In percentages, or in pounds?

>[ my comment ]

>Average Salaries in Germany and France are higher than in England,

Is this due to higher executive salaries, or to higher incomes at the 
bottom of the scale?
Newsgroups: uk.politics,soc.culture.british
From: potter@movies.enet.dec.com (Alan T Potter)
Subject: Re: Why wait 5 years?
Organisation: VMS Engineering, DEC, Scotland
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 12:38:13 GMT


(Soren Harder) writes...
> I wrote:
>>stevew@cs.man.ac.uk (Steve Wallis) wrote...
> 
>>>has the power to force the Tories to give in, if they
>>>decide to use it.  If nobody (or perhaps only the 25% who voted Tory) works,
>>>then the country would be brought to a standstill.
> 
>>Oh, brilliant.  No hospitals, no public services, no electricity.  Yes, I'm
>>sure the country would be brought to a standstill if enough people were stupid
>>enough to strike for it.  And you'd be comfortable enough in Manchester.  Pity
>>you don't give a shit for the people of Scotland who would suffer.  Did I
>>mention the word hypocrisy?
> 
>As a non-scot (non-celtic, non-english, non-british etc.) inhabitant
>of Scotland, I guess I am the kind of person who will suffer most
>unnecessarily under a standstill. But still I support Steve Wallis on
>this point; please do whatever you can to give Scotland the freedom it
>lost in 1707 back. (Short of violent revolution, of course)

Well, your suffering may be least necessary, but I don't know if you'd suffer
the most.  It depends on your circumstances.  Are you entirely dependent on
public services for your food?  Will you need to go into hospital?  Will you
die if the electricity supply to your home is cut off for a significant period
of time?  Do you depend on State Benefits?  If the answer to any of these
questions is `yes', Steve Wallis wants to hurt you, in order that he may gain
his Socialist workers' paradise.  The end justifies the means, eh?

>>>So why wait until 1997 to ditch the
>>>Tories when they shouldn't be in power now?
>>Because that's the difference between democracy and anarchy.
>And please tell me: what is so wrong with anarchy?

See my previous reply.  But summarised, it tends to involve too many dead
people.

/atp

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| potter@movies.enet.dec.com | My opinions are my own, not DEC's. 0506 423307 |
|   Alan T Potter - GM7GLJ   |   VMS Engineering, Livingston, UK, EH54 6AG    |
+----Hand me the wine and the dice, while I have thirst and lust for living---+
From: alan@ssd.ukpoit.co.uk (Alan Barclay)
Newsgroups: uk.politics,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Simple message
Date: 13 Apr 92 07:41:14 GMT
Organization: iT - The Information Technology Business Of The Post Office

In article <1992Apr10.074341.21951@rtf.bt.co.uk> traub@rtf.bt.co.uk (Michael Traub) writes:
>>a no more than 30K mortgage, which must apply to *most* people on reasonable
>>incomes outside London who haven't moved in the last few years.  It applies
>>to me, and I am on well above the UK median salary and have a perfectly
>>satisfactory house.
>
>What do you mean buy a few years? I would guess you would need a property
>at least 10 years old to be under 30k.
>

I presume by the above statement you mean 'you would have needed to buy
at least 10 years ago to be under 30k', as older houses aren't necessarily
a lot cheaper than a newer house?

My house, 2 bedroom terraced house, cost me 34k last December. I've got
a 100% morgage, but I could easily have payed 4k of my own money.

-- 
Alan Barclay, iT, Barker Lane, CHESTERFIELD, S40 1DY, Derbys, England 
alan@ukpoit.uucp, ..!uknet!ukpoit!alan, FAX:+44 246214353, VOICE:+44 246214241
iT - The Information Technology Business     | My disclaimer is next to my
Of The Post Office : In Tune With Technology | record collection.
From: Trevor.Kirby@newcastle.ac.uk (Trevor Kirby)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: American view of the Election
Date: 8 Apr 92 13:05:49 GMT
Organization: Computing Laboratory, U of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK NE1 7RU.


In article <11097@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, skywalker@DINO.QCI.BIOCH.BCM.TMC.EDU (Timothy B. Reynolds) writes:
>>>
>
>Very true, much more is at stake like the future of your country. Also
>true, its your country but some in the US would hate to see the UK go
>down the drain. Can you say capital flight ?
>
Ahh I see now, so the argument has come round to vote tory because the USA will
lose out if you don't.  Well it's probably about par with most of the reasons
the politicians have given out over the last few weeks, and will be ignored for
exactly that reason.

 Trev
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: david@guadet.gr.osf.org (David George)
Subject: Election Fraud by the Conservatives
Keywords: Poll Tax
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 10:22:09 GMT


A dissapointed Labour voting friend of mine claims that "Labour was robbed" by  
the poll tax.  He says Labour would have one but for the 'million Labour voters  
who couldn't afford to register to vote".  In view of the 77.5% turn out is  
there any truth in this ?

David
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,alt.politics.british
From: livesey@solntze.esd.sgi.com (Jon Livesey)
Subject: Re: The Decline of Britain (was Re: Great Britain as a malfunctioning democracy)
Organization: sgi
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 02:50:59 GMT

In article <RJC.92Apr16211458@brodie.cstr.ed.ac.uk>, rjc@cstr.ed.ac.uk (Richard Caley) writes:
|> In article <1992Apr15.212054.18977@leland.Stanford.EDU>, Robert Ashcroft (ra) writes:
|> 
|> ra> The idea behind the poll tax was to make local councils
|> ra> responsible for the (sometimes) enormous amounts of money they
|> ra> were spending.  
|> 
|> Who told you this? It _is_ the line which the Tories tried to drown
|> out oposition with as they backpedaled, it bears all the relationship
|> to the truth one would expect under such circumstances. 

That's funny.   It looks like a perfectly reasonable motive to me.
It's even cynical.    Make people pay, in cash, something towards
local government, and they'll think twice before they'll vote in
candidates who want to spend more.

They can still vote them in, but at least they know what they are 
personally going to pay for it, instead of having the Tax hidden
away in some indirect way in rent and so on.

jon.