Quo Vadis GOP?

[PDH]

I hope "double plus good" is still okay with them.

[Barrister]

Just for fun. here's a recent story from the CBC about 18 words you "may want to think twice about using".

A couple make sense to me, like "gypped".  But most are pretty stupid like "grandfathered in", "first world problems", "brainstorm", or "lame".

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/words-and-phrases-commonly-used-offensive-english-language-1.6252274

[Habbaku]

Using the term brainstorm could also be insensitive to those who have brain injuries or are neurodiverse, added Cashman.

"More important is the stigma that it will effectuate about ...  disorders [like] epilepsy for example," said Kalra.

[The Brain]

Can you still say barnstorming?

[Razgovory]

Using the term brainstorm could also be insensitive to those who have brain injuries or are neurodiverse, added Cashman.

"More important is the stigma that it will effectuate about ...  disorders [like] epilepsy for example," said Kalra.

I'm neuro diverse.  It's a disease not a badge of honor.  Yeah, sometimes it has a rare upside, but it's like being born with flippers instead of legs.  Sure, you can swim better but that's not much consolation if you aren't a fish.

[Zoupa]

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, we're only discussing the topic, we don't have to provide an alternative districting map.

Well, you kind of have to, if you're going to make a statement that 18% number is too low.  I'm sure Zoupa didn't realize the issue was far less obvious than he assumed, which is why I replied to him to begin with.

Oh you're sure are you? What an insufferable condescending asshole you are.

What I said is that 51% of the state should have more than 18% of representation. "AcsHuaLlY ThAt'S a FaLSE AsSumPtiOn!!111!!!".

[DGuller]

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, we're only discussing the topic, we don't have to provide an alternative districting map.

Well, you kind of have to, if you're going to make a statement that 18% number is too low.  I'm sure Zoupa didn't realize the issue was far less obvious than he assumed, which is why I replied to him to begin with.

Oh you're sure are you? What an insufferable condescending asshole you are.

What I said is that 51% of the state should have more than 18% of representation. "AcsHuaLlY ThAt'S a FaLSE AsSumPtiOn!!111!!!".

If you're going to combine Hispanics and blacks into a single category, then they together probably already have more than 18% representation in the proposed map.  We can't tell with 100% certainty, but there are 22% of the districts unaccounted for in the second column, and most of those are likely cases where there is a three-way split inside the district with none of the three individually being over 50%.  If you take two of those three categories and combine them, then the merged category may clear the 50% threshold.

This is why I said that the math in this one little table is far less obvious than it seems.

[The Minsky Moment]

Just for fun. here's a recent story from the CBC about 18 words you "may want to think twice about using".

A couple make sense to me, like "gypped".  But most are pretty stupid like "grandfathered in", "first world problems", "brainstorm", or "lame".

Seems like this is a first world problem.

[Eddie Teach]

The list is lame because it has no legs.

[Razgovory]

The list is lame because it has no legs.

I only used that as an example.  I have legs not flippers.

[Jacob]

There is, IMO, a significant difference between an article saying "here are some words you may want to think twice about using, for these reasons..." (even of some of those reasons seem a bit spurious) and "here's a list of words that we - in our capacity as officials - are banning in the school system."

And to be clear, I think the second one is significantly worse.

[alfred russel]

Numbers are not means to an end.  Numbers are powerful tools.

Numbers are not "tools" they are elements of human language, and human language is pragmatic, flexible and contextual.  If someone says "You look like a million bucks" - they are not presenting the results of a formal valuation report on your outfit.  If someone agrees to give 110% effort it doesn't mean they are Siamese twins each contributing 55.  Not every human conversational interaction that includes a numerical expression is a formal thesis.  In context, it wasn't reasonable to read Zoupa's comments as proposing a precise calculation - indeed the point of the comments was a disclaim mathematic precision but to make an emphatic expression that there is real impact here.  And he's right, there is.

Which isn't proven or even demonstrated by his point.

We have a first past the post system. If a state is 51% democratic voters and 49% republican, what percent of the house representatives should be democratic? If every district is drawn to have a equal partisan skew, the answer is obvious: 100% democratic.

32.5% of Massachusetts voters went for Trump. My understanding is that it would be difficult to draw a map where Trump voters were a majority in a Massachusetts house district. Indeed every house seat in Massachusetts is controlled by Democrats. That isn't nefarious; it is math.

[Razgovory]

There is, IMO, a significant difference between an article saying "here are some words you may want to think twice about using, for these reasons..." (even of some of those reasons seem a bit spurious) and "here's a list of words that we - in our capacity as officials - are banning in the school system."

And to be clear, I think the second one is significantly worse.

You could lose your job in both situations.

[viper37]

There is, IMO, a significant difference between an article saying "here are some words you may want to think twice about using, for these reasons..." (even of some of those reasons seem a bit spurious) and "here's a list of words that we - in our capacity as officials - are banning in the school system."

And to be clear, I think the second one is significantly worse.

it starts with the first, though.
US Republicans complained about insensitive words for years, now Texas has a list of words teachers can't use in class.

[The Minsky Moment]

32.5% of Massachusetts voters went for Trump. My understanding is that it would be difficult to draw a map where Trump voters were a majority in a Massachusetts house district.

What does that have to do with the price of bagels?