Old Man

Lol no. Proposition 11 in 2008 transferred redistricting power from the state legislature to an independent commission made up of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 unaffiliated members, most of whom were chosen by lot. I should add that it was Schwarzenegger's idea to begin with.

They could not care less. This is the party that invented the Shock Doctrine. They will attempt to undo so much progress in the next two years that it will take decades to get back to where we are today. They'll cover with their propaganda channel, and lock it in with Supreme Court picks, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and general obstruction.

Dude, you don't have to shout.

Isn't that what we're hoping to avoid?

Funny you should ask.

Because Australia still elects right wing lunatics?

Th'rom rules from the Ivory Throne of the Full Moon, from which he can summon forth mighty winds, rending thunderclaps, and sudden storms. Paradoxically, after unleashing these furies, anyone seated upon this mighty edifice experiences an unusual inner peace and mental clarity. Also within Th'rom's chamber are the Eternal Pool of the Cleansing Depths, which can wash away even the vilest curses and diseases; and the Scroll of Contempt, an endless roll of paper that curses the people whose names are written upon it to lives of ridicule and afterlives of damnation. Next: Gothormr God-Snake, Eater of Cities, a fearsome dragon with an unfortunate allergy to precious metals.

Innocent? Naive? User friendly? I see two interpretations of this feature. One is specific to magical effects--the subject could be resistant to certain magics, and conversely her blood or life could be very valuable to certain magical or magic-using entities. Depending on how this is balanced out it could be a clear disadvantage. The other is more everyday and would be kind of extreme version of innocence that brings out the best or worst in people depending on their true nature. Inherently good people would fall all over themselves trying to help, and inherently bad people would be drawn to victimizing her. At best this would be a distraction as she would be noticeable either way. At worst it would inspire a lot of hindrances in her adventures.

That is an impressive technological achievement, at a time when my interest in space travel has never been higher.

I live on a little island. We have the worst traffic in the U.S. FWIW.

Every time I hear someone say Trump "has to" this or "he has to" that I just laugh. Have you learned nothing? He is absolutely uninterested in anyone "coming together" with his supporters. He's loading up the White House with alt-righters and lobbyists and he does not care what anyone thinks about that. Nor does he care what "major republican figures" think either. Trump is gonna Trump.

Only about six months too late.

Trump is not able to shut his mouth or think without speaking. At all. It's been conclusively proven over the past two years. Sixty million Americans think that's a feature, not a bug.

Yet another giant earthquake in New Zealand; some fatalities reported

There's a quote from someone from last year to the effect that none of the GOP presidential candidates would have made it out of the Willy Wonka factory alive.

290-228, actually.

Yes, I am just piling on. ID requirements are one of my (many) pet peeves.

Could you point me to an example of voter suppression by Democrats? Thanks!

Literally all you have to do is ink the voter's thumb so you know they only voted once. That's how it's done in poor countries and it's plenty. There was like one case of actual voter fraud this election. One vote. As opposed to basically icing out all poor people with suspiciously difficult ID requirements. Don't even get me started on all the other voter suppression that went on this cycle. It's disgusting.

Well, the system is stacked against this. The job sucks. It doesn't pay anything and it involves making difficult value decisions in the face of vague information, fickle constituents, and almost violent opposition. There are long meetings and speeches, there are long dry pieces of legislation to read. You have to reapply every four years at best. You can't accept gifts from anyone, not even food. You have to live in a reclaimed swamp full of arrogant people in suits, and only visit home occasionally, whereupon you have more meetings to attend and speeches to give.

The second to last season was pretty good. Avoid the last last season.

Best case scenario is that Trump governs center-right and stops the worst of the GOP establishment's efforts because he hates them and owes them nothing. Worst case scenario is he rolls over or gets bought out by the establishment and rubber stamps everything that crosses his desk, while paralyzing the military and NATO in the face of Russian and Chinese expansionism, and crashing the economy in the way that many of his trade and immigration policies are certain to do.

It doesn't, of course. But explaining to third party voters not to waste their vote isn't blaming them, it's trying to up their game. Third party voters are the guy at the blackjack table who routinely hits on 20 and then wonders why he and the rest of the players are losing to the house. They're the guy who takes three-point shots whenever he gets the ball and wonders why his accuracy is low. I get that people don't like either candidate--none of us do, really. But you're still better off picking the least bad candidate, policywise. We're not even a week in and there is serious talk of repealing Medicare, and do not for a second think that GOP voters are going to penalize the GOP if they do, because that is what the GOP voters want. Oh but Hillary is too uninspiring, I just can't bring myself to save Medicare, I'll vote for Giant Meteor instead. Or something.

Australians have their own brand of homegrown ugly, near as I can tell. Canada is like the last best hope for peace. (The last last best hope for peace, of course, couldn't prevent the Shadow War, the virtual extermination of the Narns, or a Terran civil war.)