voting
gregladen | November 4, 2016You would have only one option to stop the insanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YibDgSd02Xk
mikethemadbiologist | July 21, 2011Or more accurately, it's the revolt of the liberals. Personally, it's none of my business whom Republicans nominate for president, but, to me, Romney seems to be a strong electoral candidate (albeit one disliked by the Tea Party/theopolitical base). Why?
Liberals.
Hunh? Let me explain.
I've been talking to liberals who have non-overlapping circles of friends in Virginia, one of the closely contested swing states (thanks to Google+, the ability to use the phrase "circle of friends" is rapidly drawing to a close. But I digress). As I far as I can tell, there are enough liberals who would…
mikethemadbiologist | June 8, 2011Conservative commentator Dennis Prager has a nice little bigot eruption, brought to us by Thers at Whiskey Fire:
It is hard to imagine a more demeaning statement about black America than labeling demands that all voters show a photo ID anti-black.
This is easily demonstrated. Imagine if some Democratic politician had announced that demanding a photo ID at the voting booth was an attempt to keep Jewish Americans from voting. No one would understand what the person was talking about. But why not? Jews vote almost as lopsidedly Democrat as do blacks. So why weren't Jews included in liberal…
stoat | May 4, 2011 For UK folks only, on the off chance that anyone reading this is swayable. Do you need any more than my recommendation (which is, FWIW, that AV is marginally better than what we have now, and voting no-I-want-PR is silly)? Then how about JEB? Or the cats-n-dogs version?
And just to pad out the post, a Q-and-A I had with a doubter:
> I'd heard the gist of the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem and was aware
> tactical voting could happen in AV, I just wanted to know how and
> whether it was significant.
As I read that page, tactical voting is possible in theory (but possibly only under…
cagapakis | April 25, 2011Two videos that Patrick Boyle and I made were selected for the Bio:Fiction Film Festival! One of the prizes is an online audience award, and you can watch and rate all of the films! It's such an honor to be part of this festival and to be showing our work next to that of so many amazing artists, scientists, and filmmakers, and we would be super thrilled if you voted for us!
Here are our videos! First, the world premiere of Compound 74, a fictional documentary about a possible future of synthetic drug design through synthetic biology:
And second, the commercial we made for Ginkgo BioWorks--…
mikethemadbiologist | February 20, 2011By now, you might have heard about how the Wisconsin Senate Democrats have fled the state in order to prevent a bill from passing, supported by Republican Governor Scott Walker, that would cripple public sector unions (if it's about redressing the budget, then why does the bill deal with union dues, which have nothing to do with the budget?). Before I address the title of the post, I want to comment on the Democratic tactics. Despite conservative/Republican bleating, including one commentor on this post, the Democrats have done nothing illegal. They are playing by the rules, just as…
mikethemadbiologist | February 17, 2011I wish national Democrats and their hangers-on had half the guts the Wisconsin Senate Democrats do. If you haven't heard, Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker is attempting to strip public sector unions of their collective bargaining rights. This comes on top of other recent stupidities by Walker, including turning down $810 million in risk-fee construction funds for high-speed rail.
The Wisconsin Senate Democrats have decided to stop the legislation by not showing up to the vote:
...State Senate Democrats are refusing to show up at the state capitol to prevent the measure to strip…
mikethemadbiologist | February 15, 2011A study showing that many people who receive assistance from government programs don't believe they have done so has been making the rounds once again (you heard it here first! Months ago!). My favorite idiocy is how 43% of Pell Grant recipients--federal aid for college--don't realize it's a government program (one does wonder how that 43% successfully graduated from grade school). I argued that this delusion was willful:
This seems a case of willful ignorance by definition. Government aid is for lazy slackers, for 'welfare queens', and, in some people's minds, for those people. Decent,…
mikethemadbiologist | January 15, 2011There have been a lot of proposals floating around about protecting congressmen. One suggestion is to use local police as security:
According to a federal official who is preparing the advice, the Capitol Police will recommend that when members hold well-publicized outside events with uncontrolled access, they should request the presence of a police officer from the local jurisdiction. In most cases, the police will know about the event anyway, because congressional staffers would have obtained permits. In a conference call with members yesterday, Capitol Police officials emphasized that…
mikethemadbiologist | November 2, 2010Even if you're disgusted, there's probably something on the ballot that's worth voting for or against: a bond issue, or a referendum. So please find the time to vote. If you care what I think, and you live in Massachusetts, my endorsements are here.
mikethemadbiologist | November 1, 2010Yes, I'm travelling today, but that doesn't mean I can't harangue you (and, yes, I sent in my absentee ballot).
If you're a member of the Coalition of the Sane, tomorrow's election, at the national level, is unappealing. The Congressional Democrats' unofficial motto of "Vote for us because we won't be as dreadful as the Republicans" is hardly inspiring. I'm definitely sympathetic towards those who don't want to vote for the Democrat--all I would ask is that you consider how worse your local Republican alternative is before you abstain or write in a third party. But it really is disgusting…
mikethemadbiologist | September 26, 2010For those who don't know, Texas is very important in determining what is found in U.S. textbooks due to its large purchasing power. While keeping anti-science wackaloons off of school boards is a good thing anywhere, it goes double in Texas. Sheril Kirshenbaum explains:
There are two, local races, where every penny goes to work, that have big implications for science education all over the country. The outcome of either contest could tip the balance away from anti-science extremists who seized control of the schoolboard to professional educators with the students' best interests in mind.…
mikethemadbiologist | April 4, 2010...get drunk and hit you. Digby thinks that's the meaning of this poll by Gallup:
A new USA Today/Gallup poll out this morning shows that more Americans blame the Democrats more than any other group when it comes to the inciting the violence and vandalism that have spread across the country in the week since health care reform became law. Fifty percent said passing the bill was a "bad thing," while 47% said it was a good thing.*
When asked about the violence, 49% of the 1,009 adults surveyed over the weekend said the "Democratic tactics" are a "major reason" for the violent incidents. Forty-…
edyong | March 12, 2010This article is reposted from the old Wordpress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science.
For all the millions that are poured into electoral campaigns, a voter's choice can be influenced by the subtlest of signals. Israeli scientists have found that even subliminal exposure to national flags can shift a person's political views and even who they vote for. They managed to affect the attitudes of volunteers to the Israeli-Palestine conflict by showing them the Israeli flag for just 16 thousandths of a second, barely long enough for the image to consciously register.
These results are…
mikethemadbiologist | January 24, 2010I made this point Wednesday, but Steve Singiser breaks down the numbers:
But the "tack back to the center" crowd ignores a critical stat from yesterday evening: 44% of the people who cast a ballot for Barack Obama in 2008 in the state of Massachusetts either (a) cast a vote for Scott Brown, (b) cast a vote for Joe Kennedy, or (c) withheld their vote. The math tells us that option (c) was the most likely of the three.
Indeed, a good deal of Martha Coakley's problem last night was that communities that were absolute strongholds for President Obama in 2008 failed to turn out in the numbers that…
mikethemadbiologist | January 19, 2010Just to remind all my MA readers--there's a Senate election today. Go vote for Martha Coakley.
mikethemadbiologist | January 18, 2010Go teabaggers, go! Of course, in all fairness, maybe he was smiling and nodding at the previous outburst suggesting Coakley commit suicide. I suppose that's what passes for moderation these days. He could have disavowed the comment, but he didn't (it even sounds like he says, "We could do that.")
I wish I had my own army of Uruk-hai. Video (from Hotline):
mikethemadbiologist | January 18, 2010If you're in Massachusetts, there's a special election for U.S. Senate tomorrow, and it's much closer than it should be--the Republican Scott Brown (who is horrid--who votes to eliminate tax breaks and aid for 9/11 emergency responders?) might actually win. There are several reasons why I'm voting for Coakley*:
1) Republicans hate science. Massachusetts received $2.25 billion in NIH funding alone in 2008 and another $400 million from NSF. That's equivalent to ten percent of the MA state budget. As someone who works for USDA once told me, "Republicans cut my budget, Democrats increase it…
mikethemadbiologist | December 16, 2009Matthew Yglesias fires off a screed against Democrats who have told pollsters that they are unlikely to vote for Democratic congressional candidates in 2010 (I think Amanda's response sums up my thoughts rather well: people have to like this stuff, or surprisingly, they might not take the time to vote--or want to make the emotional investment in supporting you). Yglesias and others primarily pin the blame on the Blue Douchebags in the Senate. Yes, the Senate is dysfunctional. But to pin this all on Nelson, Bayh, Lieberman and the rest of the Asshole Caucus is overstating the case.
Ezra…