Why don't people vote?

Why don't people vote was the question posed in class this week. I large reason I feel that people don't vote is because they still believe it will not make a difference, and in many cases, my case of living in South Dakota, I don't feel me voting makes a difference. Given the fact that our "progressive country" (bullllshit) still uses an ancient out-dated system known as the electoral college, which gives the great state of SD 3 electoral votes. The president is not elected by a direct vote!! How does this make sense!?! That is a downer to both republicans (the uneducated) and the democrats (educated) public.
I consider myslef a more moderate liberal so SD's wonderful history of voting for a republican president every year since 1964, really doesn't interest me in wasting my time to go to the ballot box. 3 electoral votes!! The presidential hopeful doesn't give a rats ass about winning SD, why would he!! 3 Votes will make no difference, you'll never hear Wolf Blitzer say: "It's a tight race here folks, it's neck and neck, coming down to that last state, the next US President will be decided by the people of South Dakota."
That though is only for South Dakota, which has a fair share of people turning out to vote for republicans, or I mean for elections. Other states I feel don't do enough to get people informed and registered, along with many polling offices being difficult to either get to or get to in a certain amount of time. I remember reading about former US representative Charlie Wilson winning elections by giving rides to the poor rural people who didn't have cars to get them registered then picking them up on election day and driving them to the polls. Thats genius, I'm not that familiar with his politics or what, if anything he did to help the poor that elected him but he got people to vote!!

Kosovoians, Kosovians, Kosovovos, Kosovars!?

The Serbian province of Kosovo is hoping for an independence day parade sometime in the next few weeks, and why would they do this?! I recall the autocities placed on the Albanian majority living in the province by former nutjob Slobadan Milosoviec, and how a deep resentment for being part of the country that is, but totally forming your own country? Over a decade after NATO bombed Kosovo and sent UN troops there they want to break away and struggle to become a country. Which in turn is strongly backed and supported by the EU and the US, I don't know if its beacuse of the USA's own history of revolting against a "tyrant" or just that it will piss off Russia but it seems like a second Kosovo War waiting to happen. The Serbs are going to be real pleased to give up a third of their country, yeah right! They have no economy, they have been governed by a UN administered mission since 1999 so they use the Euro already but I just don't know where they are planning to take their independence, it was the poorest province in the former Yugoslav republic. The best outcome I see of this is assimilation into Albania, which would also upset the Serbs, reducing their country to increase a unfriendly neighbors?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo Brief History.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-01-28-voa32.cfm EU, US support.

Lions and Tigers and Muslims. OH MY!

It seems everytime you turn on the news, any Western news that is, there is a story about the "terrible Iranians" trying to make nukes. Yet over, and over again the country of Iran has defended itself in it's pursuit for nuclear energy. Just last month a report was released by the "wonderful U.S." confirming that Iran halted their nuclear weapons program in 2003! I seem to be having a flashback:

U.S.: "Iraq has weapons of mass destruction for a fact."
Iraq: "Ummm, no, no we don't sorry."
US: "Yes, you do you liars...KABOOOOM!!!"
Iraq:"...."
US: "Whoops, our bad."

Yet even following the report the US and the five other permanent memebers of the UN (plus the Deutschlanders) are drafting new sanctions against Iran. Last month though Iran and Russia (one of those five permenant members) announced that the co-construction on a nuclear facility would begin.

I do not feel that Iran should be allowed to have nuclear weapons or that any other country should for that matter and until we start scaleing down our massive nuclear arsenal it won't prove to other countries that we are serious about riding the world of WMDs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7142117.stm Russia Iran Construction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7205285.stm New UN sanctions.