Politics

What Are You Reading While You Wait in Line to Vote?

If you believe in the power of voting, chances are you’re going to head to a polling place sometime between now and the end of the day to cast your ballot. You’ll probably be waiting a few minutes as well. With that in mind, we tossed together 10 election day pieces for you to save…

Have You Had Any Problems With Electronic Voting?

It’s election day. Some of you have the fortune of being able to vote electronically, thus removing any confusion over whether or not that chad was hanging. Well it’s supposed to remove confusion in theory. Have you voted yet? Was it some form of an electronic ballot? Did you notice anything sketchy? Let’s talk about…

What fictional character should run the United States for the next four years?

A smaller than ideal number of people are going out to vote in the United States today. They’re poking buttons on easily-hacked voting machines and making holes in poorly-formatted paper cards to pick our next supreme commander — and to take a stand on whether octopuses should wear school uniforms. Our prophesy machines have already…

What If There’s a Tied Vote In Every Battleground State?

The US political system being what it is, there are plenty of possibilities for a tie vote this evening. Fortunately, Randall Munroe of XKCD fame has taken a look at what will go down if the worst happens. It’s worth pointing out that he’s not concerning himself with an electoral college tie. As he explains:…

NYC Residents Can Vote at any New York State Polling Place Tomorrow

If you’re a resident of NYC or Westchester, Long Island and Rockland counties, you can submit an affadavit ballot for the presidential and US Senatorial elections at any polling place in the state of New York you like tomorrow. You can’t vote in local elections, but it’s still useful for those who’s living and transportations…

Starting tomorrow at 6p EST, stories on the NYT and WSJ sites will be free until Wednesday night. Election! [Mashable]

How To Vote (Updated)

The right to elect one’s public representatives is the foundation upon which our democracy is built. So if you think Hurricane Sandy is going to stop Americans from choosing the next leader of the free world, demand a recount. Here’s a look at the technology everyone over 18 can expect to find in a voting…

Yep, Your Political Tweets and Facebook Posts Are at Least This Bad

Click to viewThe first argument you hear against posting political views on social media is that you’ll only end up alienating your [OTHER PARTY] friends, or crowding the echo chamber your [SAME PARTY] friends have been smugly simmering in for months. But there’s something else you should seriously consider: you don’t have any idea what…

Science Fiction’s Presidents Of The 21st Century

Looking to get a jump on the history books? Science fiction already has a complete list of the men, women, and murderous aliens who occupy the White House in this bright new 21st century. The late twentieth century had a bit of a rough time when it came to fictional presidents, what with Richard Nixon’s…

Did Cloud Atlas‘ “Yellowface” problem help to sink it at the box office?

It’s official: Cloud Atlas is a flop. At least in the United States. Made for a reported $100 million, the book adaptation barely scratched $10 million in its opening weekend — but some observers say the film could make a tidy profit overseas, where most of its funding came from. Still, it’s hard not to…

12 Facepalm Moments When U.S. Politicians Talked About Science and Technology

I’m sure there are politicians who say stupid things about science and technology everywhere in the world, but you have to admit that in the United States, “the moronic science soliloquy” is practically a political art form. Over the past ten years it’s gotten particularly bad, as more and more legislation deals with science —…

How big is Iron Man 3‘s “Fu Manchu” problem?

Now that the first trailer for Iron Man 3 is out, we’ve all seen our first glimpse of the Mandarin, Tony Stark’s biggest adversary in the comics. The Mandarin is sort of a Fu Manchu knock-off, who was described as a “racist caricature” by none other than Shane Black, the director of Iron Man 3.…

Could DNA Hacking Be Used to Wipe Out World Leaders?

In this month’s issue of the Atlantic, there’s an interesting theory put forth in a story about biowarfare. Drawing on advances in genome decoding, the previous revelations that any stray materials containing the president’s DNA are frequently destroyed, and that Hilary Clinton has ordered the collection of DNA from other foreign leaders, the Atlantic posits…

Here’s a Chrome Extension That Kicks Politics Out of Your Feeds

Good news—there are only 13 days left until the election! Bad news—there are 13 days left until the election. If you’re on political overload, you can use a handy Chrome extension called Unpolitic.me to remove all the politics talk from your Facebook and Twitter feeds. Like infant-eraser Unbaby.me (created by the same folks), it blocks…

9 Reasons to Elect a Supervillain President

When many American citizens cast their vote this November, they’ll be choosing between the lesser of two evils. But why choose the lesser evil when you can choose a supervillain as your president? After all, supervillains can be effective leaders, provided you can get past the lying, unilateral decision-making, rampant murder, and dismantling of your…

The Most Pro-Science Presidents In American History

One of the more frustrating aspects of this current election season is the disturbing willingness of both presidential candidates to conveniently set aside meaningful and timely discussions of science. And it’s not as if there isn’t a lot to talk about: there’s climate change, a public health crisis, a withering economy that could use a…

White House: Huawei Wasn’t Spying for China

Reuters has inside Government sources telling them that Huawei hasn’t been spying on China’s behalf, but it’s still wary of the rapidly growing Chinese telecom. Last week a U.S. House Intelligence Committee report declared Huawei and ZTE national security risks after an 18-month probe. The White House is standing by that conclusion, but at the…

Did China’s ban on time travel make Looper a bigger hit there?

One of the reasons Looper has turned out to be such a profitable film: It’s one of the year’s most successful films in China, where some scenes were shot and a longer version opened in theaters. Now, one observer suggests there could be a surprising reason for Looper’s success. Chinese audiences, writes Zhang Zihan in…

If you really want to read the end of David Gerrold’s Chtorr series, vote for Obama

Could this be the deciding factor that swings the Presidential election to Barack Obama? Over on Facebook, David Gerrold announced: All right, let’s do it this way. I hereby promise to finish the Chtorr series before the end of President Obama’s second term. Fans have been waiting for the fifth Chtorr book since 1993’s A…

Everything You Need To Jumpstart Your Own Presidential Campaign

When you head to the polls this November you’re supposed to vote for who you think will best lead the country for the next four years. But that’s not really what happens. Deep down everyone who steps into that voting booth knows that they could do a far better job as President of the United…