Halloween in Beijing

This comment by E.M. Cuneo reminds me of christmas in Nanning:

(...) My husband and I, along with our 2 toddlers, have been spending the fall in Beijing. I was overjoyed when I realized that we’d miss Halloween in New York — as it is, by far, the most overblown, overcommercialized and ridiculous event of the year, imho. We get here and guess what? We get invited to 4 halloween parties by people who don’t know what halloween is, yet want to impress the ex-pat community. "Ohh, darn," I said. "I think the kids are coming down with Typhoid, maybe next year." (...)

The Re-Engagement of the American People

Happy or suicidal with tonight's results, something colossal and profoundly important has happened in the United States beginning in 2000 — the re-engagement of the American people with politics. We have had four enormously consequential elections in a row now in which voters have cast their ballots in numbers that we were told we'd never see in our lifetimes. (...)

writes John Podhoretz. Glenn Reynolds calls that a good observation.

So true. Greetings from politically more and more dis-engaging Germany.

I put together some quotes concerning electronic voting machines over at B.L.O.G. The post is almost completely in English, including the following quote and youtube link:

Now that Election Day is over and done, and you're celebrating or bemoaning the win or loss of your favorite corrupt official, kick back with a drink or your morning coffee and watch this video. (...)

In the following video you can watch Prof. Edward W. Felten and "the two kids from Princeton who actually did this work" on (FOX News) air:



Update

Joerg of Atlantic Review has a first reaction from a German official and praises the direct democracy in the US: US Election Results, German Prejudices and Direct Democracy