Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Things we have learned since 1963

I have been reading the Feynman Lectures It is fascinating what we have learned since the lectures were done. For example, we didn't know about quarks, or plate tectonics, or how RNA was converted into proteins. 1963 wasn't that long ago, but we have learned a lot of new science since then, since we didn't know how DNA worked, or how mountains were formed or what neutrons and protons were made of back then.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Some stats from Idaho's last two midterms.

Number voting for Lieutenant Governor in 2014: 18705+271268+141917 = 431890
Number voting for Lieutenant Governeor in 2018: 240292+356082 = 596374

Number not voting for anyone for State Controller in 2014: 431890-342013 = 89877  (as percentage: 89877/431890 = 20.8%)
Number not voting for anyone for State Controller in 2018: 596374-464142 = 132232 (as percentage: 132232/596374 = 22.2 %)

So there has been a bit of increase in the number of people who would rather not vote than vote for a Republican in Idaho.

Sources:
2014: https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/results/2014/General/statewide_totals.html
2018: https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/results/2018/General/ENR/statewide_summary.html

What should the Democrat's do with their house majority?

From the economist:
"The main onus is now on the Democrats. For their own good, not to mention the country’s, they have to find ways to appeal in America’s heartland.

That starts with exercising restraint. Yes, they should use their majority in the House to scrutinise a president who shows contempt for the norms that have constrained past presidents. They should look carefully at what has been going on in federal agencies, and investigate possible presidential abuses of power or misuse of the office for personal aggrandisement. But Democrats should resist the urge to use their majority in the House to take revenge, hounding the president in the way that Newt Gingrich and his Republican colleagues once hounded Bill Clinton. Prosecution should be left to prosecutors."
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/11/08/the-mid-terms-produce-a-divided-government-for-a-divided-country

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