By the Numbers

The winner take all electoral process in the United States is increasingly out of balance.

Let's say that all of the population of people over 18 are eligible to vote and do so an election over what color to paint the sky, pink or puple.

Let's say that 51% of voters in Wyoming vote to paint the sky purple, and 51% of adults in Texas do, too. 

Electoral rules mean that all of Wyoming's 3 electoral votes are dropped into the purple bucket, along with all 40 of Texas' votes. This seems to be simple majority rule, right?

But wait.

49% of Texans voted for pink.

This means that the 221,638 purple votes of Wyoming effectively canceled the 8,586,712 pink votes in Texas.

Sure, we could divvy it up by proportion: 21 purple votes and 19 pink votes for Texas, plus 2 purple votes and 1 pink vote for Wyoming. But the representational math still doesn't work, because Wyoming's 221,638 purple votes are 2.5% of Texas' 8,937,191 purple votes, but the 2 votes that would be allocated are 10%, so their votes count 4 times as much as Texans.

This is wrong.

This is not representational government.

It's time to rethink the electoral college.

In the meantime, move to Wyoming, and vote!

A Writer

"A writer is a world trapped in a person." - Victor Hugo

Communes and apples and bears, o my!

Just got back from the commune. Great stuff started coming out and I'm looking forward to going again.

There was a bear under the apple tree just past the wood shed.

Challenge 36: Wow, August

Wow. The end of the last challenge went through my life like a meat grinder. Mediation Workshops, threats of nuclear war, Personal Relationship Crumbling, Charlottesville. Thank goodness I have the NF community and the habits I've built with you guys over the past few years. One of the things that I know is that we will do it together, and we will go farther than we ever could have imagined. 

#Writing: After attending the Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop, I applied for and got accepted into the Queens University MFA in Creative writing. This means that I have to read and write every day. I started a scheduled structure, and stick to it mostly. I need to continue it so that it is a solid habit. First submission due: September 1. I also need to submit a piece to a contest or so, since it would be a wonderful thing to get a cash award, and the validation wouldn't be awful. But the writing is the thing. Feel free to check out my progress in my tracking spreadsheet (two tabs).  Also, I have a paper on American Exceptionalism to write that I got an extension on, and that needs to be swept up. #Writers Life

#Mediation certification: I took all the required training seminars last challenge, and will spend this challenge getting the required practicums -- observations and co-mediation -- taken care of. Hopefully the court certification will be finalized by the end of this challenge. #FingersCrossed. 

#Communication with Vivian. My daily calls with my daughter were suspended when we went to court on July 6. This hurts, and she was in tears over it. The appeal hearing was moved to the end of October (two challenges from now, I think, but maybe three -- this is how I measure things). I'm now limited to calling on Monday and Wednesday. I wrote her a Garden Report and included a garden word search along with the pictures I took and mailed it to her, and thus began a habit of mailing her something most days. Harvey mails some days too. It's our way to stay in touch now. I send a puzzle or coloring page or whathaveyou. And then I'm going to write my pen pal, who is in prison. #SnailMailRules

#Employment I interview for a position to teach GED classes at the regional jail. This resonates with me in ways that don't really make any sense, but in a very positive, contributory way. Part time. I'm thinking of it as a work-study component to the writing classes. #WishMeLuck

#Self-care 

• Nightly sleep I need to take care of myself by making certain I'm getting enough rest. If I'm worn out and exhausted, I can't be a good student / parent / friend. I need to be in bed no later than 9 p.m. 
• Daily Sauna or hot bath
• Meetings A few meetings a week, especially on Wednesday, then therapy on Thursday and then the Friends Meeting every Sunday.
• Water reestablish the habit.
• Walking. My steps fell to hell as the office job progressed. I went from a ten mile a day habit to barely a mile, and lost the habit of walking thirty minutes every day as well. I'm hoping to put it back. 
   

#FinancialPlanning with the attorney: Financial worry is soul-crushing. Bankruptcy filing in Monday, August 14. #Acceptance leads to #balance. #Balance leads to #harmony. #Harmony leads to #peace.