"Filibustering" or "marathon speech" in the USA's senate.

The Guardian

"Filibuster" is a word that comes from Spanish and means "robber, pirate", but in the USA it has come to define a process that some politicians use to stop some Acts or Bills being passed or the naming of an important person in the country. This process or strategy consists of speaking for a really long time so that the decision has to be postponed for another session. They usually talk about nonsense or read books or even the Declaration of Independence!
President Obama is trying to set a health insurance system in the USA which reaches the majority of people, that is, more similar to the one we have here in Spain, and there is a part of the country, especially the Republicans, who think the system is not and is not going to work. This is the reason why Ted Cruz has been speaking for 21 hours. But there was a senator that talked for more than 24 hours, of course, other senators who think the same way help them asking long questions so that they can rest and breath.
Did you know about this?
Do you think this also happens in your own country?

A joke to laugh a little during the holidays...

Uldis Liepkalns

I don't mean to get into politics now, not at all, but it made me fun how Obama looks back to the child.

I am taking a little rest these days because the end of the course was exhausting for me and I have been ill for a while; now I am feeling better but I still need some days to rest myself.

I will probably get back to tell you all about my trip in a few weeks. Do you know where I will be going this year? In a few days I will tell you.

Have a nice holidays meanwhile!!

Obama won again!!!: Voting for president in the USA.

"4 more years", Barack Obama on Twitter

Every four years, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, citizens of the USA vote to elect their president for the next four years. It is a different system from that of Spain. To start with, it is a two-party system, that is, there are only two possible options, the Republican or the Democrat candidate who have been chosen on prior elections within their own parties (primaries). Another important difference is the fact that there is not a list of people who can vote, so they have to register to be able to vote.

In the USA, there is an indirect election, that is, people vote to a candidate in a state and the candidate who wins there gets all the votes for the Electoral College for that state.  It is important to win in those states that are most populated because you get a higher number of electors. The Electoral College has 538 electors of which the new president must obtain 270.

At the moment of writing, Barack Obama, the first Afro-American president of the USA, has been reelected with 303, but he may win some more. (You can see the actual data in real time in the widget on top of the side bar for the next few days).

What do you think of this voting system?

Leave your comments!!