Get out the vote.

With all the Thanksgiving, my birthday, and Sinterklaas excitement, I never got the opportunity to talk about our elections in the Netherlands, which took place on November 22.

There are 150 seats in the parliament, all of which had to be chosen. When you vote, you vote first for a party (there are dozens, 100s?) and then within that party you choose your candidate. The most important part of that vote is the party part.

The funniest part of it all is that there is a Party for the Animals. Their main concern for the country this year is the castration of pigs without any numbing agent. What about taxes, immigration, health care? "We have opinions on those, too, but they aren't our most pressing issues."

The Party for the Animals holds two seats in parliament.