A primer on gerrymandering and race discrimination
Posted By: Big Bopper, 4/30/2026 1:26:58 PM
The 435 members of the House of Representatives represent the people of specific geographic areas. Those areas are drawn up to include equal populations. The population of a Congressional District is currently about 762,000 people. The intent is for each citizen and 762,000 of his close friends to have a voice in Congress. This necessarily means that Congressional Districts have vastly different geographic sizes and shapes reflecting different population concentrations. Alaska has only one Congressional District covering the entire sparsely populated state, while one of the 26 Congressional Districts in New York State is just a few square miles of densely populated Manhattan.
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The 435 members of the House of Representatives represent the people of specific geographic areas. Those areas are drawn up to include equal populations.
The population of a Congressional District is currently about 762,000 people. The intent is for each citizen and 762,000 of his close friends to have a voice in Congress.
This necessarily means that Congressional Districts have vastly different geographic sizes and shapes reflecting different population concentrations. Alaska has only one Congressional District covering the entire sparsely populated state, while one of the 26 Congressional Districts in New York State is just a few square miles of densely populated Manhattan.
It’s not easy being a Democrat. It began a century and a half ago when they got caught on the wrong side of history.
Democrats supported the enslavement of human beings. Many of them actually owned enslaved human beings. They fought the bloodiest war in U.S. history to retain their right to enslave human beings.
Suffice to say that this right to enslave human beings was not one of the God-given ones mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration does not speak solemnly of the right to “life, liberty, happiness and enslaving humans.”
When one of my daughters was 12, it was time to teach her the facts of life. I took her out on the front porch to teach her how to smoke a cigar.
I didn’t intend to teach the girl any other facts of life, of course. As a dad, that wasn’t my job.
Like all cigar smokers, and especially the occasional kind, I treasured this big ritual. You light the cigar in a certain way, which isn’t as hard as they pretend – the thing is designed to burn, you know. Then you keep it lit, which isn’t hard, either – it’s not like keeping smoked salmon lit.
In Colorado, the highest posted speed limit is 75 mph. I can live with that, even though I think 85 mph might be better and perhaps just as safe.
This speed limit of 75 means that it’s against the law to go faster than that. Trust me on this, I used to be a lawyer.
But now, Colorado has announced that if you go the 75-mph speed limit in the left lane, or even if you violate the speed limit by going 85 mph, and people stack up behind you who want to go 95, then you’re violating the law by impeding traffic. And you’ll be ticketed for it.
Mothers and fathers die. For the population to remain constant, the two of them need to produce about 2.1 children on average in order to replace themselves. (The extra 0.1 is necessary to offset the deaths of children who never reach reproductive age.) This figure is called the “fertility rate.”
Recent data shows that the fertility rate in the United States is nowhere near that 2.1 figure. It has instead dropped to an all-time low of about 1.6. American woman on average give birth to only 1.6 children.
Everyone loves a party. Especially when the party makes you money. Forget that the money you’re making now is the same money you lost last month. It’s still fun.
And so, the stock market is having fun today.
And why not? America and Iran are not exactly kissin’ cousins now, but at least nobody’s civilization will end. Not today, anyway.
The stocks of the boomers are booming, oil is crashing, monster pickup sales to monster drivers will certainly become monstrous again, the Pope (who is “God’s representative on Earth,” a reader informs me) will take credit for a few days, and we’ll probably get a docu-fiction war movie
Take out one Iranian power plant per day
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Power plants are legitimate targets in war. They’re “dual purpose” infrastructure in that they serve a civilian purpose but also a military one. (The same was true of the large bridge in Tehran that we took out last week.)
That’s one reason that terrorists like Hamas position their military commands in hospitals, not power plants. It is recognized that hospitals are not legitimate targets (unless a military use is made of them) while power plants are.
America is therefore justified in disabling Iran’s power plants, as President Trump has threatened to do. It will be much tougher for Iran to launch drones and missiles without electric power.
Bill Maher’s Magical Mystery Tour
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I once saw an unidentified flying object, or “UFO.” I was a passenger on a commercial airliner on an overnight flight. I awoke in the middle of the night, looked out the window, and saw a lighted object flying near the airplane. I couldn’t identify it.
The object kept perfect pace with the airplane, as if it was shadowing us. Once in a while, it blinked, as if it was signaling us. Maybe the blinks were an extraterrestrial form of Morse Code?
In my half-awake stupor, it thrilled me to realize that we are not alone.
This war with Iran is one that had to be fought, and so we were right to fight it on our terms at a time before it became harder to win. The way Iran has lashed out at civilians everywhere, including with indiscriminate killing machines it denied having, has confirmed that.
But I recognize that there are arguments and counterarguments. Some of those are just the lame “Orange Man Bad!” or “Orange Man Good!” type, but others are more principled.
Half a century ago, American children were taught in elementary school that “representative democracy” was the highest form of government.
Part of me wondered even then, why should everyone get an equal say in things? That wasn’t how it worked in my elementary school, I observed, even as they taught that creed. The students and the janitor didn’t get the same say as the principal and the teachers.
Given Iran’s half century of cruel barbarism in the Middle East, it’s hard to understand why the Democrats seem to be rooting for them in the current war. I have two theories.
One is the obvious one. The Dems are not so much rooting for Iran, as rooting against Iran’s enemy. Bad as Iran is, its enemy is even worse in the eyes of the Dems.
Iran’s enemy, you see – or at least the Dems see – has a history of its own cruel barbarism going back to at least 1619. Iran’s enemy has engaged in genocide against native people. Iran’s enemy has wrongly oppressed workers of the world
Electric vehicles are probably the vehicle of the future, but they are not the vehicle of the present. Let’s look at the numbers.
An EV uses about six cents of electricity to go a mile. That’s if you charge it at home with inexpensive residential electricity rates. It’s more if you use a charging station, and it’s more if it’s a large vehicle like a Rivian. And by the way, be prepared to leave it plugged in for several hours to get it charged.
Gasoline-powered cars use about thirteen cents of gasoline to go a mile, assuming gas is something over $3/gallon and you get something like 25 mpg.
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For a party that screams about 'No Kings,' the Democrats sure seem to have no problem with declaring themselves our de facto kings or — in the case of Jasmine Crockett — queens. Crockett went on the "Sherri" show yesterday, where she lamented the "disrespect" she's received as a black woman, before going on to tell voters she's our superior. (Snip) You know, for me ... I am one of the 535 most powerful people in this country and for some reason, you think we on the same level, but you gonna disrespect me? Like it's not gonna happen."
President Trump has signed an executive order to create retirement accounts for tens of millions of workers who don’t currently have access to a 401(k) or another workplace plan.
“I promised to make the same types of retirement accounts enjoyed by federal employees available to all Americans, and that’s what we’re doing. It only seemed fair,” he said during the signing ceremony in the Oval Office.
Low-income earners without an individual retirement account (IRA) through their employer will receive a yearly federal matching contribution of up to $1,000 each, the president noted.
As Dr. Anthony Fauci’s right-hand man, David Morens, was charged this week with conspiracy and destruction of federal records in the COVID-19 cover-up, another scandal over the vaccine was unfolding on Capitol Hill.
According to a new Senate report and congressional testimony on Wednesday, Biden administration health officials deliberately ignored warning signs of possible serious reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine, including heart attacks, strokes, Bell’s palsy and sudden cardiac death.
Within three months of the vaccines being rolled out, in March 2021, red flags were fluttering out of the weekly data dumps from doctors and patients reporting health problems after the shots, according to internal emails and meeting notes
Are you ready for your car to decide if you’re fit to drive? If not, you’d better buckle up.
A federal mandate declares new vehicles must have in-car surveillance for 2027 models onward that can decide if a person is fit to drive and can make the car inoperable via a so-called “kill switch.”
[snip]
Most new cars won’t make the determination via breathalyzer, but infrared cameras continually monitoring potential impairment cues.
They include pupil size, head movements, eye movements and various behaviors consistent with a driver being out of it.[snip]
“Originally, it was designed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving,
Cousin Marriage Ban Could Soon Hit the US
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Rep. Keith Self has introduced legislation that would effectively outlaw cousin marriages by denying federal recognition and benefits to such unions.
“Cousin marriage—which is permitted under Sharia—is fundamentally incompatible with American culture and values. It should not be allowed anywhere in our country,” the Texas Republican told The Daily Signal. “The vast majority of states have already banned this third‑world practice. It’s time for Congress to finish the job and enact a nationwide prohibition.”
Marriage between close family members is legal, with few or no restrictions, in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Self argues that blood‑related marriages are common in certain ethnic and cultural groups, with rates reaching
Oregon Forced to Clean Almost 20% of its
Voters Off the Rolls Because They Are Ineligible 14 replies
Voters Off the Rolls Because They Are Ineligible 14 replies
Do you ever wonder why so many Blue states refuse to hand over their voter rolls to the federal government?
After all, there is a federal law that requires certain measures to ensure ballot integrity, passed in the wake of the 2000 Florida debacle. It requires, among other things, that states clean their voter rolls of ineligible voters.
But these states refuse to do that, and they refuse to show that they aren't breaking federal law.
Of course, every sentient person knows exactly why they do both of those things: they cheat, and want to make it as hard as possible to detect the cheating, and almost impossible to audit elections
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday that if he had a one-on-one with King Charles III, he'd suggest the British monarch return a crown jewel to India.
"I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor," Mamdani said, referring to a 105.6-carat gem that the East India Company took from a deposed Indian leader in 1849 as a condition of a peace agreement.
The Koh-i-Noor, one of the world's most famous diamonds, is set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, in the Tower of London.
We’re in the eighth week of the Iran waropens in a new tab, and things are starting to heat up even though there’s not kinetic action. What do I mean by heating up? The Iranian government has ceased to exist. We don’t know, and the Iranians don’t know who holds power.
There is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. There is the theocracy, there is the elected people in Parliament, and there is a regular military. And those four groups operate in schizophrenic fashion. By the same token, sometimes they give off signals that they would like to negotiate because that is predicated on popular resistance.
New York is set to pass its most extreme sanctuary policies yet – as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats hone in on a deal that could impose sweeping bans on cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) confirmed “95%” of an anti-ICE immigration package has been agreed upon between Hochul and state legislators as part of ongoing state budget talks – including etching New York’s first statewide sanctuary law restricting how law enforcement can interact with immigration authorities.
The lawyer for White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen gave an absurd reason why the CalTech grad should be allowed to walk free pending trial, claiming he was “not a danger to anybody” — despite charges that he attempted to assassinate President Trump.
Defense attorneys claimed that Allen, 31, was not prepared to carry out a mass shooting in the room where Trump, first lady Melania, and most of the top members of the administration were in attendance, because he had a pump-action shotgun, his team wrote in papers Wednesday.
“Mr. Allen has no criminal history — not even prior arrests, which alone would rebut the presumption of detention,”
For decades, the mental health industry and its allies in media, government, and education have operated on a simple assumption: the more mental health awareness we spread, through campaigns, school programs, social media, and public service announcements, the better. Raise awareness, reduce stigma, encourage help-seeking, and mental health will surely improve.
New evidence shows the opposite is happening. Well-intentioned awareness efforts are actively backfiring, manufacturing distress, inflating diagnoses, and turning normal human emotions into chronic “disorders.” The shocking result is that these campaigns are turning mentally fit people into self-diagnosed mentally ill patients, with symptoms effectively “contracted” from the awareness messages themselves.
Washington — Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday that she is suspending her campaign for Senate, all but ensuring Graham Platner will get the Democratic nomination to take on incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in one of November's most important Senate races. (Snip) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had recruited Mills, the only Democrat to have won statewide in Maine in 25 years, to challenge Collins. But her age — she will be 79 when a new Congress convenes next year — had been a concern for Democrats in the state. Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and political newcomer, announced he