BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Meetup Inc//RemoteApi//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-ORIGINAL-URL:http://bookclub.meetup.com/1251/calendar/9064837/ical/Thai+f
 ood:+sexual+habits+of+groups\,+reform+in+voting\,+reform+in+finance/
X-WR-CALNAME:Events - Thai food: sexual habits of groups\, reform in voting
 \, reform in finance
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Thai food: sexual habits of groups\, reform in voting\, reform in f
 inance
DESCRIPTION:Wikipedia and International Cuisine in NYC\n\nThe next meeting 
 will be at Chanpen Thai\, an affordable Thai restaurant a few blocks from T
 imes square.  http://www.chanpenthai.com/\n\nThis is a long but fascinating
  article about the fact that social conservatives are experiencing a higher
  rate of teen pregnancy\, divorce\, and STD's than liberals: http://www.new
 yorker.com/reporting/2008/11/03/081103fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=1\n\nThe n
 ext two topics are related\, and revolve around the subject of "Reform":\n\
 nI remember reading a survey that touchscreen voting was opposed by 80% of 
 computer professionals because it is far too easily tampered with.  The mov
 e to touchscreen voting was motivated by the bitterness of the Democrats ov
 er the 2000 Florida election\, and a misunderstanding of what the problem a
 ctually was.  It is turning out to be an expensive boondoggle\, and many st
 ates are abandoning their electronic voting machines.  http://arstechnica.c
 om/news.ars/post/20080820-states-rush-to-dump-touchscreen-voting-systems.ht
 ml and another report shows that electronic voting machines are alleged to 
 be easily hacked: http://blogs.spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/2008/10/want_to
 _hack_an_evoting_machin.html  The old\, cheap punched-card systems would ha
 ve been adequate\, had Florida state law been more specific about EXACTLY h
 ow votes were to be counted\, rather than vaguely specifying that ballots s
 hould be interpreted according to "voter intent"\, all but guaranteeing a c
 ourt battle if an election were close.  It will be interesting on November 
 4th\, to see if we have dramatic differences between exit polls and officia
 l vote tallies in hotly-contested states that use electronic voting.\n\nWe'
 re experiencing a catastrophic collapse of our financial system.  Hardly an
 yone understands what the hell happened\, let alone what to do about it.  P
 oliticians\, especially Democrats\, blame it on "excessive deregulation dur
 ing the Bush administration" which sounds good\, but they never mention a s
 pecific regulation that has been relaxed since the Clinton administration t
 hat would have prevented the subprime debacle.  Furthermore\, in the wake o
 f the Enron and Worldcom scandals\, we've actually experienced a lot of new
  business regulation during the Bush administration.  Wall Street Journal: 
 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122428201410246019.html  We are headed for 
 a recession\, people are mad as hell and demanding "change".  Are we going 
 to get new\, draconian financial regulations that are as wrongheaded and co
 unterproductive as the Sequoia Voting Machines?\n\nNew York\, NY  10019 - U
 SA\n\nSaturday\, November 15 at 6:00 PM\n\nPhoto: http://photos4.meetupstat
 ic.com/photos/event/7/9/1/b/event_6811003.jpeg\n\nAttending: 21\n\nDetails:
  http://bookclub.meetup.com/1251/calendar/9064837/
LAST-MODIFIED:20090117T230736Z
UID:event_9064837@meetup.com
CLASS:PUBLIC
CREATED:20081031T015537Z
DTSTAMP:20091215T145146Z
DTSTART:20081115T230000Z
DTEND:20081116T010000Z
GEO:40.76;-73.97
LOCATION:Chanpen - 761 9th Ave\, (at the corner of 51st St) - New York\, NY
   10019 - USA
URL:http://bookclub.meetup.com/1251/calendar/9064837/
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END:VCALENDAR