Erebus
Apr 5 2004, 07:03 AM
Born in th UCAS? Check.
Over 40? Check.
I guess I'm eligible to run for president?
Ello chummers,
Got a bit of a problem, I was wondering if someone could help me out... See I'm trying to get my wife into shadowrun, and I just can't seem to get her past the whole Dragon for President thing. Goblinization, Magic, Megacorps are all making sense to her, but she just can't seem to fathom people voting a dragon into office...
Now my book collection only goes back to about Shadows of the Underworld with a few other random books besides that, but not including Super Tuesday.
Could anyone fill me in on how Dunk was able to run for, and able to win the UCAS Presidency, and what sources I can find that info in?
Thx,
Erebus
RedmondLarry
Apr 5 2004, 07:15 AM
When the remnants of Canada merged with what was left of the USA, the rule that the president be born in the US was dropped.
Personally, I think a lot of people felt that Dunkelzahn would not be business as usual in the White House, and that the people running the major political parties were all beholding to special interests, so having a non-person might be good for a change.
There were enough political parties, which split the vote from a lot of normal voters between different candidates, such that the candidate that was really different stood out from the crowd, and beat out the next nearest candidate by a narrow margin.
Large Mike
Apr 5 2004, 07:20 AM
Basically, he did it the same way the governator became the governator. He was a celebrity beforehand and everybody loved him. I think your wife is probably just having trouble with the 'dragons aren't neccicerily evil' bit. Granted, they usually are, but everyone usually is in SR.
SomeGuy
Apr 5 2004, 07:20 AM
Hey, couldn't ol' Big-D shape change into a human (or metahuman i forget)? i was pretty sure it said some thing about that in the shadowrun main book under the Great Dragons.
yeah. i'd go with the Governator as an example.
Kagetenshi
Apr 5 2004, 07:23 AM
He can. It's a power all Dragons have, though most tend to keep that knowledge quiet.
~J
i'm pretty sure only GDs have it by default. non-greats must rely on spells.
RedmondLarry
Apr 5 2004, 07:41 AM
If I remember right, the Big-D had a TV or radio show for some time before running for president.
The Canterbury Tail
Apr 5 2004, 08:05 AM
That and there was a poll in one of the adventures (it may have been Super Tuesday) where the GM and players could vote back to FASA on who they thought should be president. Most people picked Dunklezahn (probably for a laugh) and he won because of that. Now explaining this in the game world is a bit more troublesome, but I'll leave that for others (as I'm not sure).
The Canterbury Tail
Apr 5 2004, 08:06 AM
QUOTE (The Canterbury Tail) |
That and there was a poll in one of the adventures (it may have been Super Tuesday) where the GM and players could vote back to FASA on who they thought should be president. Most people picked Dunklezahn (probably for a laugh) and he won because of that. Now explaining this in the game world is a bit more troublesome, but I'll leave that for others (as I'm not sure). |
I believe it was Wyrm Talk.
Large Mike
Apr 5 2004, 08:51 AM
It was Wyrm Talk. There's a new Wyrm talk, as well. I think it features Masaru, but don't quote me on that. Definatly one of the asian dragons.
tisoz
Apr 5 2004, 09:09 AM
Just look at some of the recent elections. I'd vote for Dunkie as the lesser evil.
Connor
Apr 5 2004, 09:12 AM
I thought Hestaby had started a show or taken one over... Whatever the case I think it's mentioned in DotSW.
Abstruse
Apr 5 2004, 12:14 PM
Masaru started the new show, but it wasn't called Wyrm Talk, and I think it may have been a one-off thing.
But Dunkelzahn was elected because the public were fed up. They saw corrupt corporations, corrupt politicians, corrupt police, corrupt everything. They saw that their economy sucked, the government wasn't doing anything to fix major problems (Bug City, etc), and things were just all-round bad. Then add in that the president had been elected by cheating, and they wanted someone new. Someone they could trust. Someone who had the power to fix things. Who else but that loveable dragon on the TV? Hell, your daughter has a plush toy of him she sleeps with every night!
Did you know that Mickey Mouse gets between 400 and 1000 votes every presidential election? Imagine if Mickey Mouse were real and actually decided to run...
The Abstruse One
Digital Heroin
Apr 5 2004, 12:21 PM
On a tangented note: something like 40,000 people in the UK answer that their religion is Jedi on each census...
Frag-o Delux
Apr 5 2004, 01:07 PM
Mickey Mouse was drafted during Veitnam. My uncle has the Stars and Strips that had a reprint of the draft notice and the letter from Disney telling the Army, sorry but Mickey Mouse is not real and being over 40 years old at the time was not eligible for the draft, but if he were he would gladly sign up as he has already served his country in WWII and Korea he would be happy to serve in Vietnam.
kevyn668
Apr 5 2004, 01:21 PM
QUOTE (Digital Heroin) |
On a tangented note: something like 40,000 people in the UK answer that their religion is Jedi on each census... |
Wasn't there a thing a while back in Australia where enough people answered "Jedi" on the cencus that it had reach a "critical mass" of sorts and had to considered an official religion?
Firewall
Apr 5 2004, 01:35 PM
The version I heard was that either Australia or New Zealand had a compulsory census and entering 'Jedi' would be considered defacing your census form, as it was not a recognised religion. Apparently, once enough people listed it, it became a valid answer and no longer a criminal act.
Foreigner
Apr 5 2004, 01:38 PM
kevyn668:
I'll go that one one better.

I can't be certain, because I've forgotten where I read it, but I *THINK* there is a small international religious organization whose members call themselves "Jedi Knights". Apparently, the whole thing started as a joke after several people in the United Kingdom listed "Jedi Knight" as their religion on their Census forms in 2000.
However, there appear to be branches in Canada and possibly in the U.S. as well.
Of course, they style themselves after the Jedi Knights from the
STAR WARS films and the novels they inspired. They stress harmony between body and mind, abstinence from sex (I believe there's an exemption in the membership agreement if members are already married when they join) and alcohol, and train their members to defend themselves or others, usually using hand-to-hand combat training (after all, light sabers don't exist yet--unless you count the rather elaborate (and EXPENSIVE!) replicas being built by some specialty shops), and a person carrying a sword would attract a great deal of attention in today's climate.
I believe they do practice a form of
kendo, but they use it primarily for exercise rather than as a means of defense.
--Foreigner
Firewall
Apr 5 2004, 03:03 PM
I was almost interested in joining the Jedi Knights there... right up to the word 'abstinence'. No way, no how... Then again, being married, I suppose it does not count...
Where do I sign up???
Erebus
Apr 5 2004, 06:12 PM
Thanks all, So Ka.
Contributing factors:
1. Dunk was a major celebrity/cultural icon since the Awakening interview.
2. He had his own TV show. (Wyrm Talk)
3. He had his own line of marketable cuddly dolls...
4. The UCAS was a multiparty system.
5. All of the parties were controlled by one mega-lobbyist or another.
6. The last election was rigged.
7. Leading to the last president being impeached
8. And an emergency election to be held. (Think California)
9. People were fed up with the recent corruption, and a Dragon seemed impervious to that sort of lobbyist corruption.
10. Culminating in the FASA Poll (from "Super Tuesday"?)
Well... that definetly puts things into perspective. I'm willing to bet the Humanis Policlub (and all their little friends) weren't too please about that....
Slot yer stick for some cred
Crimsondude 2.0
Apr 5 2004, 06:33 PM
Just tell her that it wasn't really their choice. FASA decided it was going to abide by the results from the "absentee ballots" sent in by SR players, and the SR players voted overwhelmingly (and by overwhelmingly, I mean about 95% of all the ballots cast) for Dunk for various reasons--amongst them being a joke, because they wanted the freebies (people won things for voting), or because they actually thought he'd make a good President compared to the other five candidates (well, 4 1/2 since I don't count Anne Penchyk as a full candidate since she was a VP nominee who became the nominee when the Republican Party nominee was assassinated).
I just think it's cool that it's been close to 8 years since the election, and there are still loose ends floating aroudn affecting the metaplot.
Shockwave_IIc
Apr 5 2004, 08:46 PM
QUOTE (Digital Heroin) |
On a tangented note: something like 40,000 people in the UK answer that their religion is Jedi on each census... |
I so laughed when i found that out for the first time.
I've also heard the rumour that if enough label it as their religion then it does indeed become one.
Amussing
gknoy
Apr 6 2004, 12:41 AM
QUOTE (Abstruse) |
Hell, your daughter has a plush toy of him she sleeps with every night! |
Image ... out ... >_< gah!
Kanada Ten
Apr 6 2004, 12:54 AM
Well, because I happen to have them in front of me, here are the election results:
Dunkelzahn - 47,827,746 - 37%
Brackhaven - 38,754,731 - 30%
Vogel - 23,200,993 - 18%
Yeats/Penchyk - 12,831,834 - 10%
Hernandez - 5,054,964 - 4%
Booth - 1,166,530 - 1%
Other - 777,687
I think another reason the Big D got elected has to do with his slogan which was basically, "Let's live the American dream."
QUOTE |
Erebus I'm willing to bet the Humanis Policlub (and all their little friends) weren't too please about that.... |
And you can guess the prime IC suspect his death, too.
[IMO] Brackhaven is the biggest <> <> <> racist <> <> scumbag and he got 30%! Penchyk got the Ork vote and a few Yeats sympathizers. [/IMO]
[edit] The estimated SIN population of the UCAS is 172,016,569 not including children under 18. Or I'm reading it wrong and the SIN population is 129,614,485 people 18 and over - meaning 172,016,569 including SIN-less but not children.
The Canterbury Tail
Apr 6 2004, 07:18 AM
QUOTE (Shockwave_IIc) |
QUOTE (Digital Heroin @ Apr 5 2004, 12:21 PM) | On a tangented note: something like 40,000 people in the UK answer that their religion is Jedi on each census... |
I so laughed when i found that out for the first time.
I've also heard the rumour that if enough label it as their religion then it does indeed become one.
Amussing
|
What actually has happened is not that it's been recognised as a religion, but enough idiots put it down that it has been given it's own code for bureaucratic purposes. This is not the same as it becoming a recognised religion, just that the census office recognises that when the revolution comes these people should be first up against the wall.
Adam
Apr 6 2004, 01:48 PM
Zazen
Apr 6 2004, 03:08 PM
That's funny stuff.
Here is a site from the Australian Bureau of Statistics about the jedi business, with one amusing little tidbit:
"
ABS recognises that people have a wide range of belief systemsIf your belief system is 'Jedi' then answer as such on the census form."
Abstruse
Apr 6 2004, 03:42 PM
Don't forget that's SINned citizens over 18 who actually bothered to vote. That doesn't count all the people who either couldn't vote because of being walled-in in Chicago or held up on a train or otherwise unavailable to get to the polls as well as those people who meant to get out to the polls but didn't want to miss the re-run of "The Odd Coven" on ABS.
The Abstruse One
Connor
Apr 6 2004, 06:41 PM
I would imagine in the Sixth World voter turn out would be quite low. Although I can see the '57 election having had higher then usual turn outs simply because of the nature of the election. The special circumstances will get people motivated to vote that wouldn't bother otherwise. But you can still figure those numbers weren't more than 50-55% of eligible voters and probably not be too far off the mark.
Kanada Ten
Apr 6 2004, 08:30 PM
According to Underworld it was either 75.34% of eligible votes or the same number of 18 and over population. It seems to imply everyone with a SIN voted.
I imagine that voting in 2058 is an online poll, and they give you a neat little "I am Dunkelzhan : Defender of the common man" or "I am Brackhaven : Vengeful justice and swift steel blade" banner to stick on your web page.
[edit]
"I am Vogel : Short in stature; big on environment"
CountZero
Apr 6 2004, 09:20 PM
QUOTE (Kanada Ten) |
According to Underworld it was either 75.34% of eligible votes or the same number of 18 and over population. It seems to imply everyone with a SIN voted. I imagine that voting in 2058 is an online poll, and they give you a neat little "I am Dunkelzhan : Defender of the common man" or "I am Brackhaven : Vengeful justice and swift steel blade" banner to stick on your web page. [edit] "I am Vogel : Short in stature; big on environment" |
Vote by Personality Selector Quiz!
Crimsondude 2.0
Apr 7 2004, 12:55 AM
QUOTE (Kanada Ten) |
Well, because I happen to have them in front of me, here are the election results: Dunkelzahn - 47,827,746 - 37% Brackhaven - 38,754,731 - 30% Vogel - 23,200,993 - 18% Yeats/Penchyk - 12,831,834 - 10% Hernandez - 5,054,964 - 4% Booth - 1,166,530 - 1% Other - 777,687 |
What was the absentee vote result?
Kanada Ten
Apr 7 2004, 01:11 AM
Dunkelzahn : 72%
Vogel : 11%
Yeats/Penchyk : 10% (10% voted for Mantis!)
Hernandez : 5%
Brackhaven : 2%
Booth : 0%
Press Badges
Talia Invierno
Apr 7 2004, 02:47 AM
Vote Now! Vote Often!
Dr Komuso
Apr 7 2004, 04:26 AM
I'm sure a fair amount of the UCAS population is close enough to their old US roots that plenty of them voted for Dunky because they wanted the biggest badass of any world leader sitting in the White House.
RedmondLarry
Apr 7 2004, 05:17 AM
I had 4 SINs. Two voted for Dunkie. One for Penchyk. One stayed home and watched TV.
/Edit: I wonder if that's why I am OurTeam?
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