Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Perceived Electability and IRV – A Case Study
As a followup to last night’s special election to fill Dan Liljenquist’s term as State Senator, I noticed some interesting things based on my interactions with other delegates and my review of the actual results (round-by-round, not just the final tally). First let me provide some metrics that some people might be interested in –…
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Special Election – Senate District 23
Regardless of who is ends up finishing the state senate term that Dan Liljenquist was elected for there is one campaign promises that I would hold them to even if the eventual winner did not make this promise personally: to make representation a two way street by actively providing information to constituents during the session…
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Please Don’t Vote
Voting is no panacea. If we don’t do the work that needs to be the foundation of voting it can do more harm than good.
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Redistricting in Ut(opia)
I have been watching the redistricting process with interest although I have not been able to be as vocal in the discussions as I might have wished. This late in the process we can see the forces at work and the concerns being raised. On top of that, I have been asked how I think…
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Marginal Logic for Same-Sex Marriage
I’m a big fan of the CATO Institute and their perspective on constitutional government but no matter how much I may generally agree with them, that cannot give them a free pass to use use absolutely terrible logic to promote a position. You’ll have to take my word for it that I would dislike the…
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Happy Fireworks Day
photo credit: Camera Slayer Regardless of how much some people may talk about the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States during their celebrations on the fourth day of July each year, and despite reports suggesting that participation in such celebrations makes children more likely to identify politically as Republicans, it seems…
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Failure of the American Voter
I’ve been thinking about the massive disconnect between the abysmal ratings that Congress enjoys (8% approval I recently read) and the virtual invincibility of Congressional incumbents (incumbents consistently win 90% of the elections where they seek reelection). I realized that the apparent disconnect was not as stark as it first appeared (11 out of 12…
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GRAMA Answers – A First Pass
I really appreciated the 36 questions that came out of the first meeting of the GRAMA working group and wanted to offer one perspective on a first pass at answering those questions. I will say upfront that the answers provided here are subject to modification or revision based upon more detailed information. Consider this the…
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The Straw Man of Teacher Pay
photo credit: 2create I saw a post on Facebook, and later an email, with a title about how overpaid teachers are. The post went on to show mathematically that teachers are not overpaid by any reasonable measurement. Teachers and their unions would certainly appreciate the logic in their favor but the real value that I…
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Orrin Hatch’s Insurmountable Obstacle
photo credit: Gage Skidmore Two years into his bid for re-election (yes, he has already been in obvious campaign mode for two years), in a recent tweet Orrin Hatch invited people to let him know if he was on the right track. My tweet length response was that he could not get on the right…
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