tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post3613406148353714245..comments2024-03-27T23:12:08.917-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: How the government shut-down will likely endDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35198811841773711572013-10-13T11:50:34.392-07:002013-10-13T11:50:34.392-07:00CP: While open primaries, at least in the form tha...CP: While open primaries, at least in the form that California recently passed (btw, they currently apply only to state level offices, not Congress or the President), do tend push the two main political parties towards their center, they actually decrease the power of third parties, and give grassroots citizens less influence over who represents them.<br /><br />The way CA's open primary is defined is that top two vote getters from the primary, regardless of party, move on to the general election. Each party's greatest fear is that one of the other parties gets BOTH of the slots in the general. This is most likely to happen if their own party's voters are more split during the primary. A party that doesn't split its vote up much is far more likely to make it onto the general election ballot. Consequently, while this sort of open primary does create pressure for moderation, it also creates a great deal of pressure to cut deals before the primary so that virtually all of the challengers drop out, and only the "most likely to win" candidate from each party even RUNS in the primary.<br /><br />If a political party is disciplined, what they do is <i>before</i> the actual primary, pressure nearly every candidate affiliated with their party from running in the primary at all, so as not to split the vote. It decreases the power of fringe elements, but it also increases the power of party machines. Third party candidates don't even make it to the general ballot, so rather than increasing their chances, it just makes their "voice in the wilderness" get drowned out earlier.<br /><br />Replacing "winner takes all" with form of preferential voting and/or semi-parliamentary represention is a better way of keeping the fringes from dominating a major party, while reducing the power of party machines at the same time.<br /><br />Instead of increasing the number of legislative districts, <i>reduce</i> them, by combining districts, so that each district is represented by, say, 5 representatives. Require the boundaries to be approximately rectangular, as much as population size allows. Allow each voter to rank the candidates, or distribute multiple votes in some way. People would essentially not only "vote up" the candidates they liked the most, they would also "vote down" the candidates they liked the least. Then let each district be represented by the top 5 vote getters in that district.Teri Pettithttp://tpettit.best.vwh.net/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38856197103968446492013-10-09T22:29:41.711-07:002013-10-09T22:29:41.711-07:00...and upward ! ;-)...and upward ! ;-)Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65388818481197188792013-10-09T19:39:30.914-07:002013-10-09T19:39:30.914-07:00onward
onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80458852805402299662013-10-09T16:06:00.904-07:002013-10-09T16:06:00.904-07:00Feh upon the troll's change of heart. SOunds ...Feh upon the troll's change of heart. SOunds like an entirely different "anonymous" and probably was.<br /><br />Sociotard are you really going to compare social factors? How about teen sex, pregnancy and abortion rates? STDs? DOmestic violence? Sure there's middle class white flight to a super low tax state. Tx participates in the divide-and-conquer strategy of big business to a horrible degree, when the states should make a compact not to cut each others' throats with giveaways.<br /><br />Bah.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67482120313969798932013-10-09T15:26:27.067-07:002013-10-09T15:26:27.067-07:00Fair enough Brin, I was sort of trolling for a rea...Fair enough Brin, I was sort of trolling for a reaction. You're a stand up guy. Respect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29113122270337782772013-10-09T13:55:12.331-07:002013-10-09T13:55:12.331-07:00oops, fouled the links
http://www.forbes.com/site...oops, fouled the links<br /><br /><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2013/02/12/jobs-arent-leaving-california-for-texas-but-people-are/" rel="nofollow">http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2013/02/12/jobs-arent-leaving-california-for-texas-but-people-are/</a>sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1241291634630878172013-10-09T13:54:04.422-07:002013-10-09T13:54:04.422-07:00There, is that avoidance enough?
Yes, that was a ...<i>There, is that avoidance enough?</i><br /><br />Yes, that was a whole lot of avoidance. Specifically, addressing a bunch of points that were irrelevant. A bunch of poor people go to California . . . and . . . so what?<br /><br />In your entire post, you did not address the middle class. That is avoidance.<br /><br /><i>http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2013/02/12/jobs-arent-leaving-california-for-texas-but-people-are/</i><br /><i>In 2011, 562,000 people left California, and 468,000 came.<br /><br /> From 2005 to 2011, California lost 158 people with household incomes under $20,000 for every 100 who arrived, and 165 for every 100 people with household incomes between $20,000 and $40,000. In contrast, just slightly more people with household incomes in the $100,000-$200,000 range left than came to California (103 out per 100 in), and California actually gained a hair more people in the $200,000+ range than it lost (99 out per 100 in). The rich aren’t leaving California, but the poor and the middle class are.<br /><br />183 Californians moved to Texas for every 100 Texans moving to California.</i><br /><br />That's a lot of voting with feet, even with the poor bus "ballot stuffing". And a google search tells me those people were sent more for mental health issues than poverty issues, though the two are related.<br /><br />California still has the country’s third-highest unemployment rate, at 10.7 percent, compared with Texas’s 7.2 percent. That isn't because poor people come to California. I've just given hard numbers to show that the opposite is true. So why?sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51702281833321854532013-10-09T13:45:14.169-07:002013-10-09T13:45:14.169-07:00An anon who attacks both Zionists AND Muslims may ...An anon who attacks both Zionists AND Muslims may well be a Poe.<br /><br />Ordinarily I'd guess he (and it's certainly male) might be very, very much an equal-opportunity hater, but the inclusion of Masonists suggests someone is having us all on.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32618139835833146562013-10-09T13:24:18.572-07:002013-10-09T13:24:18.572-07:00Anonymous, you might has a sliver of cred if you c...Anonymous, you might has a sliver of cred if you came here with a name, instead of with a drive-by shooting. In fact, I have gone onto scores of others' sites decrying and despising their use of "tea-baggers" as nasty and counterproductive. I don't think "redders" is anywhere near as derogatory… buit if it wounded, I apologize. It was down in comments and not official. People hurry when typing comments.<br /><br />In fact, I expressed sympathy for the Red Counties' biggest hurt… watching the best and brightest graduates if the local High School (the center of life in small towns… hurry off to Blue America every single year. Have you seen anyone else, - blue or red - sympathize with that pain? That implied rebuke?<br /><br />I'd offer you a bet… your home vs mine… that I could come up with more savage attacks on "liberals" by Hannity and Fox and Limbaugh in any one DAY than you'd find against conservatives in an entire year on CBS, NBC, PBS and ABC COMBINED. But I won't bother with a troll.<br /><br /> This culture war (a term coined by the right) was entirely started by the mad FACTION of the right that has hijacked conservatism.<br /><br />Your final screeech of hysterical-panicked rudeness torched the credibility of a troll.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4666537604152167592013-10-09T13:05:05.430-07:002013-10-09T13:05:05.430-07:00Sociotard-liar... I never avoided it. Name one tim...Sociotard-liar... I never avoided it. Name one time I did. Have you read about Red States shoving their poor onto goddam BUSSES with one way tickets to blue states? <br /><br />Do you have a clue why poor Mexicans emigrate to the US? Um, duh? because there are services and jobs and opportunities. If California had a border patrol with Texas and Nevada, we might have fewer poor. <br /><br />Fact is Texans can only dream (and urban Texans do) of being as well run as CA. There, is that avoidance enough? fen.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41191744619129628462013-10-09T11:48:30.147-07:002013-10-09T11:48:30.147-07:00Whew! Nice trolling! That's pro-level stuff th...Whew! Nice trolling! That's pro-level stuff there anon.<br />Actually, it is pretty weak sauce. Come back with a little more next time.matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48550066429697071522013-10-09T11:45:16.405-07:002013-10-09T11:45:16.405-07:00This one is worthy too Salon on the Right Wing Co...This one is worthy too <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/09/right_wing_coup_deluded_secessionists_have_already_won/" rel="nofollow"> Salon on the Right Wing Coup </a><br /><br />And this ought to rile some folks up. <a href="http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11201273.htm" rel="nofollow"> Ancient Confession Found: 'We Invented Jesus Christ' </a> Researcher claims to have found 1st century first person account of a Roman psy-ops program to manufacture a false Messiah to pacify Palastine. matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23736209635973860972013-10-09T11:25:17.093-07:002013-10-09T11:25:17.093-07:00The incredible arrogance demonstrated by blue stat...The incredible arrogance demonstrated by blue state intellectuals like Mr. Brin toward "redders" and "teabaggers" is a major reason why this civil war exists. Your kind need to feel visceral fear, to understand that you cannot attack a people's pride, power and way of life forever and not face retaliation.<br /><br />The bigger picture is that Southerners are beginning to realize that their biggest enemy is not muslims in distant lands, but the arrogant partisans of the Religion of Progress right here in the USA – a fanatical cult that would consign entire cultures, religions and ways of life to the dustbin of history (e.g. the South). As more Americans begin to realize that they have a common enemy with the Islamic world and stop fighting wars for the Zionist-Masonic New World Order (as we saw with the rejection of the attempt to manufacture a Syrian war), America will become increasingly hostile to your agenda and machinations.<br /><br />I see through you Brin; you’re a nasty propagandist with little talent but a huge ego, who specializes in cultural engineering and the manipulation of minds. Fuck you, and everyone like you, forever! God is great!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76839636250305252792013-10-09T07:46:06.731-07:002013-10-09T07:46:06.731-07:00Salon adopts David's Civil War language. Tea ...Salon adopts David's Civil War language. <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/09/tea_partys_shutdown_lunacy_avenging_the_surrender_of_the_south/" rel="nofollow"> Tea Party’s shutdown lunacy: Avenging the surrender of the South </a>matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61366512988234838692013-10-09T06:57:55.459-07:002013-10-09T06:57:55.459-07:00More on the TOR / Silk Road takedown. This author ...More on the TOR / Silk Road takedown. This author seems to believe that the arrest of Dread Pirate Roberts has to do with a vulnerability on the servers hosting a high visibility Dark Net website. I tend to agree. <a href="http://gawker.com/silk-roads-downfall-killed-the-dream-of-the-dark-net-1441310875" rel="nofollow">Silk Road's Downfall Killed the Dream of the Dark Net. </a><br /><br />I think that the recent arrests of Silk Road dealers / customers can be seen as a major validation of David's stance in The Transparent Society, and here, that strong crypto and anonymity do not define freedom from governmental / elite snooping. The cypherphreaks are dead.<br /><br />We will hear lots of hand-wringing over this in the years to come, lots of smart people claiming that they have found a better way to protect anonymity on the internet, but remember this moment: This is when that particular dream ended.<br /><br />Anyone with enough computing power, and access to the right malware can find your ISP. Period.matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-835100551472402422013-10-09T06:25:16.826-07:002013-10-09T06:25:16.826-07:00Every June David must avoid talking about why Texa...Every June David must avoid talking about why Texas has a growing middle class and California a shrinking one. Gotta sympathize.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57796547399602853742013-10-08T16:47:37.296-07:002013-10-08T16:47:37.296-07:00The trauma is deeper. Every June Redders must wat...The trauma is deeper. Every June Redders must watch the top High School kids cry and hug then run as fast as they can to Blue Cities. Gotta sympathize.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32989014736632442752013-10-08T08:07:58.820-07:002013-10-08T08:07:58.820-07:00This isn't directly on-topic for this post, bu...This isn't directly on-topic for this post, but addresses themes that you often discuss. In addition to the Murdoch/Saudi oligarchic conspiracy, are even some of the "good" billionaires <i>unintentionally</i> fostering a slide into feudalism?<br />http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/05/california-s-new-feudalism-benefits-a-few-at-the-expense-of-the-multitude.html<br /><br />Bob PfeifferRoberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05763643308644698795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89930015654442961852013-10-08T08:00:22.035-07:002013-10-08T08:00:22.035-07:00The egregious Frum:
"It’s a tempting shortcut...The egregious Frum:<br />"It’s a tempting shortcut to throw up one’s hands and say, “I’ve seen the best of it. The future holds only darkness.” It’s especially tempting for a party that disproportionately draws its support from older voters. The fact is that for those of us over 50, the future offers us as individuals only decline leading to extinction. It’s natural to believe that what happens to us must happen to the world around us. Who wants to hear that things will become much, much better for humanity shortly after we ourselves shuffle off the scene? Yet of all mental errors, despair is the most dangerous to a democracy. The “politics of cultural despair” lead to authoritarianism and worse, as the German historian Fritz Stern warned..." Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22079082991748080232013-10-08T05:49:44.458-07:002013-10-08T05:49:44.458-07:00The "Faithfully Executed" option remains...The "Faithfully Executed" option remains if the GOP takes the debt ceiling hostage.<br /><br />When Congress issues contradictory orders - both to spend money (through the appropriations process) and not to spend money (through the debt ceiling) - the President's Duty is to see that that laws are "Faithfully Executed". Since it is logically impossible to follow both commands, he may choose one or the other.<br /><br />The Tea Party would rail but so what? If they sue the Supreme Court will either beg off on this as a "political question", or its corporatists may join with its liberals to rule 7-2 that the debt ceiling is unconstitutional. If the Tea Party votes to impeach, Gingrich will scream that everyone steals his ideals (first Obamacare, then the shutdown, and finally irrelevance) but nobody loves him.<br /><br />---<br /><br /><i>"...Billion-pound brain..."</i><br />I thought it was a monster movie, but it was only software ;-)rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1592224921089785152013-10-08T04:45:42.101-07:002013-10-08T04:45:42.101-07:00The Los Angeles Times had a much more accurate art...The Los Angeles Times had a much more accurate article about the secessionist movement in Colorado than the article in the NY Times. See:<br /><br />http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/22/nation/la-na-adv-colorado-rural-secession-20130923<br /><br />The secessionist new-state movement has more to do with authoritarian vs. anti-authoritarian attitudes than traditional left-right politics.<br /><br />The reason that two prominent Colorado state senators (who were not from any of the secessionist counties) were recently recalled and thrown out of office had more to do with their arrogant authoritarianism than with any particular political position.<br /><br />John Morse, the former president of the state senate, was especially arrogant and authoritarian. If he had been an arrogant right-wing authoritarian, he would have been thrown out of office even faster. <br /><br />A major problem with so many politicians is that seek the job because they enjoy telling other people how to run their lives.<br /><br />Jerry Emanuelson<br /> Jerry Emanuelsonhttp://www.futurescience.com/je.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65929471932512446962013-10-08T01:28:29.990-07:002013-10-08T01:28:29.990-07:00locumranch:
This type of fracture is inevitable i...locumranch:<br /><i><br />This type of fracture is inevitable in any diverse political union. It is also long overdue as the populous, progressive, technically savvy & economically prosperous coast-hugging 'blue' states ignore the needs of the centrally-located, provincial, sparsely populated, resource-based & economically retarded 'red' states become increasingly resentful of the politically & numerically correct tyranny of the blue masses.<br /></i><br /><br />The tyoanny of the who-now?<br /><br />In what other conceivable governing system could the red states weield such power OVER the agenda of the country, despite numerical inferiority?<br /><br />Any red state that wants to seceede shoult be told "Don't let the door hit you on the butt on thw way out." My guess is the secesssionist movement wouuld go the way of the Quebec separatists, from whom we hardly hear any more since they recoiled in horror from almost getting their way.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31475209974524255632013-10-08T00:14:55.110-07:002013-10-08T00:14:55.110-07:00David is spot on to compare the current US governm...David is spot on to compare the current US government shutdown to the American Civil War because what he describes -- what is occurring -- with the abandonment of civility, the failure of governance & the unceasing talk of secession, represents nothing less than the death throes of US Federalism in a manner that imitates the 'Balkanization' & dissolution of the old USSR.<br /><br /><br />Like the pre-1980 USSR, the United States & the historical unification thereof, has relied upon the unifying effect of the external threat, a fact which has been frequently exploited by our political leaders who have solidified public sentiment by giving us an ever growing array of either real or imagined enemies: <br /><br />King George, the Shores of Tripoli pirates, Native Americans, the Irish diasporia, the Spanish presence in Cuba, the Yellow Peril, minority invaders from the Halls of Montezuma and the War on TERROR, including a fearfully diverse collection of alienists, anarchists, communists, unionists, drug runners, Masons, Papists, Jews, Mormons & Islamists.<br /><br />But, like the citizenry of old USSR, the public eventually tires of the constant litany of external threats, allowing any number of internal discomforts (like economic disparity, tribalism, racism, classism & religious intolerance) gain the limelight, shattering or fracturing an uneasy peace based upon either a common enemy or a common goal.<br /><br />This type of fracture is inevitable in any diverse political union. It is also long overdue as the populous, progressive, technically savvy & economically prosperous coast-hugging 'blue' states ignore the needs of the centrally-located, provincial, sparsely populated, resource-based & economically retarded 'red' states become increasingly resentful of the politically & numerically correct tyranny of the blue masses.<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/us/fed-up-on-the-prairie-and-voting-on-seceding-from-colorado.html?_r=0<br /><br /><br />Best.locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5058106913773817252013-10-07T20:20:13.487-07:002013-10-07T20:20:13.487-07:00Going off on a tangent (as is my wont) I thought I...Going off on a tangent (as is my wont) I thought <a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-realizations-that-will-ruin-science-fiction-you/" rel="nofollow">I'd share this older Cracked article on elements of Science Fiction that I thought Dr. Brin might enjoy</a>. And you know something? It's dead on. Even I used it with my science fiction (the use of the straight man, for example).<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11342248031659032842013-10-07T20:03:57.831-07:002013-10-07T20:03:57.831-07:00Larry Hart
real hidden powers made sure that all ...Larry Hart<br /><br />real hidden powers made sure that all reasonable leadership was assassinated or blackmailed to insure that the insane were in charge, for the EXPRESS PURPOSE of igniting a conflagration.<br /><br />I noted that as soon as Obama was confirmed elected in 2008, media immediately started whipping up fears of such a situation. Today bloggers and journalists are under attack as 'terrorists', SOP for the state that cannot show modern COIN in the USA has in fact accomplished any useful purpose with NSA wholesale spying.<br /><br />Meanwhile I am reminded of the Existentialist Cowboy articles by Len Hart and notes when corporations became persons - something paradoxical because they are formed to evade personal accountability. Such nonsense forms the basis for a corporate agenda dictating legislative packages to lawmakers. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a pale shade of today's open sewer of corruption.opithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01621946866211400380noreply@blogger.com