Ranked Choice Voting is a Threat to Democracy

 Alaskans are experiencing pro-ranked choice voting commercials on the internet that has little kids choosing ice creme flavors by ranked choices. One little guy even says he is bored. The voice over gy says 'it turns out ranked choice voting is simple'. And that's all a load of bull; voters may find ranking choices easy, what they don't know is how the rankings affect the final winner. The winner is chosen by combing the rankings. Someone with more second place votes can win. It is uncertainty if more second and third place votes can defeat a clear first place rank winner, etc.

There can be no ranked choice without the possibility that the non-first plays vote-getter is a potential choice of the voter. As if peppermint ice creme is a ranked substitute for vanilla. Political candidates aren't like that. One candidate may be anti-abortion and the vioter likes that, so the voter's second choice could possibly be the pro-abortion guy if they can't get the first? Republicans probably ranked the two well known registered Republicans in the race first and second while Democrats probably ranked the neo-Republican Independent Lisa Murkowski first and the second place Republican Nick Begitch second and Sarah Palin (the first place Republican) not even third. Democrats probably voted for their own party candidate second. In Alaska one doesn't need to vote for candidates of their own party.

Ranked choice voting in Alaska appears to be especially designed to let third party candidates beat party candidates. Senator Murkowski in particular benefited from the recent ranked choice voting. She was able to get some more Republican votes and independent votes than she might have. Democrat women voters and Alaska native voters supported Murkowski over the Democrat candidate because Murkowski's position on social issues are more Democrat than Republican, she has deep pockets from her inherited incumbancy from her father then Gov. Murkowski who appointed her to her first term as a Senator, and the international insider team that supports the deep state supports the Murkowski brand of politics. This post isn't about Senator Murkowski it is simply a criticism of ranked choice voting that allows odd copilations and structures of political races to be decided by commission and ommision of choices for candidates one doesn't want to be elected.

The gaming of voting in Alaska really should be studied by an independent think tank that can evaluate the varieties of ways that winners can be selected from various combinations of parties and candidates in races with multiple parties. Murkowski led by 2000 votes after the votes were counted, yet a candidate needed to have 50% of the votes to win without going to the ranked choices apparently. If Democrats voted for Murkowski as their candidate and 25% of Republicans did since she is a registered Republican the party wouldn't run as their own candidate, and Democrats voted for the second place Republican Nick Begitch as their second choice, Begitch would place ahead of Kelly Tshibaka the Republican winner on the second choice rankings and Murkowski would have won of the ranked choices mean anything. If the contest is close second choices would be added to the first choices to see who the winner is. The system is implicitly crooked and allows the crooked an solid advantage.

Ranked choice voting seems like a direct attack on the integrity of U.S. elections.

Reflection on a new scifi novel

 I am not of course a great writer. My science fiction novels are an outlet for expressing new-to-me philosophical ideas that have germinated after a few years of reading cosmology, reflecting on philosophy and theological matters. Ideas of ancient philosophers may usefully be insinuated into new synthetic constructions with modern cosmology. Insights from the Biblical book of Genesis may be contrasted with ideas from Darwinian evolution and contemporary literary criticism. Hermeneutics- interpreting the Bible, may be considered in light of Wittgenstein’s principle of the indeterminacy of translation and God’s eternal nature; how and what should be communicate to temporal, contingents beings anyway?

An idea for a new novel could be biologically based since we are generally in the post-COVID 19 mass epidemic era. COVID and other viruses and bacteria that affect or clog human lungs show the wild growth possibility of living organisms inside a human body. Would it be possible to exploit wild bacterial growth subjected to redesign in artificial intelligence to infuse human physiology with new and healthy, regenerative growth of human cells pervasively including that of the brain?

If enough was known about the construction of human physiology inclusive of D.N,A. and R.N.A. wouldn’t it become possible to reconstruct aging bodies continuously and directly with programmed viruses and bacteria? Artificial intelligence would know the molecular structure of human cells, viruses, bacteria and program the strucutures to infuse resynthesized material scaffolded to rebuild cells or duplicate new ones. 

 Plainly I haven’t enough education in molecular biology to write that kind of a novel yet it is an interesting criterion to develop or at least mention in a work on my ordinary interests of Multiverse construction, philosophy, theology, scientific cosmology and Biblical parameters examined with Wittgenstein's ideas about the uncertainty of translation. I may find some sort of opening premise to write a minimalist novel this year or next.

Heroes of the Revolution- Happy New Year!

 New Year’s day is the start of another week kicking off the revolution. Evidently the Earth circles around the sun counting as a year. January 6, 2021 was appropriately timed to start a revolution that was stillborn; deemed an aborted insurrection by Democrats.

I am not sure how the revolution was stopped in its tracks- the docu-movie Nancy Rambo- First Blood will show how close quarters combat in the capital saved post-modernism from hillbilly thugs trying to lynch mob moral and budgetary subjectivism. The Resident Evil Republican Party movie has several nominations for Best Picture and the lead actor Hyronymous Trump was awarded the Best Villain award by the January 6 Committee even before the show in February started.

Each year following the conclusion of revolution week and insurrection month there is a Heroes Film festival presenting awards to all the heroes in movies that save the nation annually from space aliens, illegal undocumented aliens from space and Mexico or Central America, nuclear attacks on San Francisco from Russia, Volcanoes that will flood the Earth with molten lava, sea level rises above Mt. Everest and so forth. It is certain that Nancy Rambo will figure high in the voting for best Hero Actor of 2023 for movies made in 2022.

A Broken Political Economy Can Leave One Broke

A broke revolt? Apparently it isn't proper to say "it's broke" in reply to a question like "Does you're economic policy work?" How can Americans accept that broke means having no money and can't be used to directly say that something is shattered, in pieces, fractured or busted up? The year two thousand and twenty two had an economy somewhat broken by a foreign war whole-heartedly supported by Democrats. Oil rose in price with sanctions on Russia and inflation hit Americans that aren't rich rather solidly. One hopes the distinction of being broke is not lost on those in government that might misunderstand the correct way to avoid being broke. Breaking a political economy can leave a nation broke.

https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/19/broke/

With wrong economic macro-management the government could break the economy and leave itself broke simulatenously. Broke and broken would be a fullfillment of the logical extrapolation of the David Stockman conundrum regarding deficit spend perhaps including the recently signed-in-to-law 1.7 trillion dollar extra federal budget bill. Once upon a time nearly a couple of trillion dollars was considered real money.

It is o.k. to say that one broke something- like writing a budget leaving government broke as a past participle of break. In other words if one is an economist broken upon the wheel the poor soul would be broken and if not awash with cash, perhaps broke too. I hope that make it perfectly clear. Broke means without money more or less and broken is the right word for poorly designed political economies that don't work.

Drill sergeants used to refer to injured personnel as 'broke dicks'.  Maybe that use is some sort of pronoun. Bob Dylan wrote a song about things broken. His english was correct.

Ukraine on Russian Peace Negotiations; 'Not without Russian Surrender First'

 Ukraine's Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that Ukraine will 'demilitarize the Russian Federation to the end'. The Ukrainian foreign minister said that a summit should be held excluding Russia to discuss peace. He also said that a War Crimes tribunal must be held before Ukraine talks with Russia about peace. With unlimited conventional weapons supremacy and with Washington being the free weapons supplier to Ukraine to war on Russia the prospects for peace, besides unilateral surrender of Russia to the will of Joe Biden and President Zelinsky have died.

https://www.adn.com/opinions/national-opinions/2022/12/25/dave-barrys-2022-year-in-review-maybe-armageddon-wouldnt-have-been-so-bad/

The west has concluded that what is in fact the worst way is the best way for the New Europe to enter the New World Order. They are like hillbilly bull riders that super-glue themselves onto the saddle and won't be getting off until the exhausted animal collapses and perishes in the belief they will have a year of good eats for nothin. Maybe they are right, maybe not.

https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/ukraine/2022/12/27/ukraine-must-demilitarize-russian-foreign-minister-says/

Questions such as 'Does God Create Evil?'

Philosophers of the 20th century developed the idea that categorical errors are the basis of numerous philosophical disputations. Questions are based in language and language has meaning lexicons or as Quine called them 'ontologies' with their own vocabulary that is not translatable into other lexicons since the meaning is embedded within a particular lexicon. Assumptions about God as the ‘author’ of this or that tend to have several implicit categories regarding meaning, what can be known of God directly, indirectly and so forth that would fall into the criterion of categorical errors or inter-lexical disconformities of meaning.

If evil refers to natural events like volcanic eruptions and the burial of Vesuvius I think it reasonable to assume that the physical mechanics of this Universe; the boundary conditions, were foreknown by God. It is likely that he set them too. The Universe has thermodynamics and evil and that is just the way it is. It seems to be a containment facility for mankind after the fall in order to prevent wicked disobedience from automatically obtaining everlasting, uncorrected life. Some pots the pot-maker breaks and others he destinies to salvation; who can argue with the Maker-of-Pots of what purpose he has for them? Perhaps mainly those pots that are broken or unredeemed or reprobate.

Can anyone understand the limits if any of omnipotence and omnipotence? I believe the answer is probably not. Can God create anything beyond his control in any possible Universe? Would all things God wills into existence exit in some way from eternity with God? There are innumerable wonderful questions to consider in regard to God’s power. Certainly though the questions tend to be reductionist and use implicit and nearly tautological premises since God is infinite in power and knowledge and people are not. Temporal questions concerning eternal issues tend to fall short of being competent and hence categorical errors or misclassifications arrive. People must ask some questions on a temporal foundation and assume there parameters are correct or somewhat comprehensive of eternal parameters when in fact they might not be and it is even unlikely that they are.

Shoes that unfasten themselves

 Would it be useful to have shoes that untie themselves. With the profusion of chips that understand human language it would be simple to make voice activated shoe unfastening devices powered with a rechargeable battery built into the sole of the shoe. Fasteners would receive an on off command- perhaps programmable to release a lock.

Simple fasteners would be best- perhaps (i.e.) a velcro strap etc. with a metal servo-latch.

I thought of the idea not becausse I enter many homes in Japan, rather because ice grippers that attach on the bottom of shoes for maneuvering city streets in Alaska when glare ice with surface water is routine in winter, require taking off the shoes to put on a different pair goping indoors where scuffing up floors is frowned upon. They don't make many sawdust floors in Alaska anymore that aren't harmed by cleats.

Maybe some retrofit device could be made as well as properly equiped new shoes. Maybe the shoes could have wireless rechargers like Apple phones so one could just leave them on a floor recharger stand over night.