The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXII

[Farm Boy]

Are USA governments and presidents allowed to step down if they "feel like it"?

Nixon resigned. Governors resign to pursue higher office at the federal level.

 

[Antilogic]

Farm Boy is right. Plus, any sitting US Senator or Governor that has been elected President or Vice-President, or nominated to a Cabinet position, officially resigns their prior position. Most recently, John Kerry resigned as Senator so that he could become the Secretary of State. Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden resigned as Senators when they won the presidential election in 2008.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Richard Nixon resigned voluntary (so as to avoid the embarrassment of impeachment proceedings and the risk of being forced out of office). There have been plenty of other officials who has resigned too.

Edit: I just have reloaded the page before posting to see that Farm Boy beat me to it.

 

[Lohrenswald]

So is an election held if the president resigns?

 

[Farm Boy]

So is an election held if the president resigns?

Newp, the Vice President takes the office of President and the new President appoints and new Vice President. Fun fact. Ford was appointed to the office of Vice President after the Vice President(Agnew) resigned. Later he assumed the office of President after Nixon resigned. He achieved the presidency without being elected to either office.

Here's all the boring nitty gritty if you are superbored.

 

[Dachs]

So is an election held if the president resigns?

No. When Nixon resigned, Vice President Ford - who hadn't, technically, even been elected to the office of VP, but appointed by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew - was sworn in as President instead.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

If both president and vice-president resigned (or died) at the same time, then the Speaker of the House would become president. Next in line is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, then the Secretary of State, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession

 

[hobbsyoyo]

So is an election held if the president resigns?

No, this can lead to interesting situations. Nixon's VP resigned due to ethics problems and was replaced when Nixon appointed Ford. Then Nixon resigned, which made Ford the first and only unelected President of the US.

A recent notable resignation was Sarah Palin, the ex-Governor of Alaska. She resigned after her failed VP run (IIRC). She gave some reasons but it's widely assumed she resigned to get a lucrative Fox News contract. In any case, it was pathetic.

 

[Farm Boy]

If both president and vice-president resigned (or died) at the same time, then the Speaker of the House would become president. Next in line is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, then the Secretary of State, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession

Yesss. Secretary of Agriculture, 9th in line!

 

[Antilogic]

Oddly enough, there was no provision to replace the vice-president in the original constitution, nor would there be until Amendment XXV was passed. That left several occasions when the vice-presidency was vacant, sometimes for nearly an entire term (Tyler, Fillmore, Johnson, Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, and Truman served without VPs during their first terms, as did others for varying lengths of time).

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/name-origin?surname=comstock

It's likely Old English. But beyond com being a form for "come" (unhelpfully), there's no clue I've found for what comstock might mean.

Thanks for the answer. Still begs the question of where that place is, why would anyone name it Comstock, and what in blue blazes is a Comstock.

 

[Antilogic]

It's a place that had a massive printing press that stockpiled extra commas because old English had bad grammar.

 

[Borachio]

Thanks for the answer. Still begs the question of where that place is, why would anyone name it Comstock, and what in blue blazes is a Comstock.

Maybe there was a guy called Com and he had a tock? Both of which might have been corruptions of other words or names.

So, Com's tock. Dunno. Anything I think of is just idle speculation. Com's Stock isn't any more likely than anything else, either.

The usual A common pattern for place names though is so-and-so's place, or town, or farm, etc.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Are there any non-wallpaper alternatives to painting a room without actually getting paint on the walls? I want to paint my new place but we've been forbidden and I assume wall paper is out as well. I was thinking of using large sheets of paper that are taped (not glued - therefore it's not really wallpaper as it can be removed easily) to the wall and painting those. But that would look ghetto as hell but I can't think of anything else. :\

 

[Farm Boy]

Are there any non-wallpaper alternatives to painting a room without actually getting paint on the walls? I want to paint my new place but we've been forbidden and I assume wall paper is out as well. I was thinking of using large sheets of paper that are taped (not glued - therefore it's not really wallpaper as it can be removed easily) to the wall and painting those. But that would look ghetto as hell but I can't think of anything else. :\

Tastefully draped blankets/shades across the whole thing?

 

[Quackers]

Embrace the Ghetto Dave.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Tastefully draped blankets/shades across the whole thing?

Oh man I don't know if I could pull that off.......I will look into it though.

Embrace the Ghetto Dave.

Hmm. I may have to. Or live with white walls. :\

I might could project color onto the white walls but that would get expensive.

 

[Quackers]

Why bother? Aren't you moving soon anyway? Live with it and save the effort and dollah and put it into something more worthwhile, Dave.

 

[shadowplay]

Are there any non-wallpaper alternatives to painting a room without actually getting paint on the walls? I want to paint my new place but we've been forbidden and I assume wall paper is out as well. I was thinking of using large sheets of paper that are taped (not glued - therefore it's not really wallpaper as it can be removed easily) to the wall and painting those. But that would look ghetto as hell but I can't think of anything else. :\

Plaster the wall with posters.

Buy large canvases to paint all colourful and cover the walls with. If you or your wife isn't artistic get an artistic friend to do it.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Why bother? Aren't you moving soon anyway? Live with it and save the effort and dollah and put it into something more worthwhile, Dave.

It's the new apartment I want to paint. Making the place look nice is worthwhile for me personally Quackers.

There is also a strong possibility I may have a whole lot of free time this summer, lots of money or both.

Plaster the wall with posters.

Buy large canvases to paint all colourful and cover the walls with. If you or your wife isn't artistic get an artistic friend to do it.

I don't care for posters but the canvases idea is a really good one. We could do patterns and stuff....hmm that might be fun.