Let m =!= 1.

Single-seat districts congressional districts are the cause of most, if not all, of the distortion of our elected bodies (relative to the ideological makeup of the population).

"But amidst the partisan fingerpointing and bickering, one core aspect of the way our government works gets a free pass. We hear a lot about campaign finance and gerrymandering, but single-member district elections –that is, having each House member represent one congressional district –are without doubt the single greatest cause of what is broken about Congress. They are the key reason why Republicans easily kept control of the House despite losing the popular vote to Democrats,and why the political center has lost out to partisans on both sides of the aisle. They turn four out of five voters effectively into spectators who have absolutely no chance of affecting their representation in Congress. They help keep women’s representation in the House stalled at less than 18 percent, and grossly distort fair representation by party and race."

The House GOP can’t be beat: It’s worse than gerrymandering - Salon.com

Zero Dark Thirty and rape culture

I let Zero Dark Thirty (hereinafter 0D30) simmer through yesterday. Partially this was because I spent the afternoon with the brew club (side note: Turtle Anarchy, gracious hosts of the meeting, have an experimental Curry Porter on tap. Run, do not walk, run there and get yourself a pint), and spent the evening relaxing in front of a DVD with Ms Heel-filcher; partially also, because it's good to let a film you didn't like have some time to make its case.

The post after the fold contains spoilers. Oh, and Harry bin Laden dies at the end.

Shorter Zero Dark Thirty

0D30, Act 1: You, the torturee, are responsible for any harm which befalls you.

0D30, Act 2: None of this conjecture can be confirmed because we aren't allowed to torture any more.

0D30, Act 3: What convinced you that Bin Laden is there? Her unshakeable faith, that's what.

Now this is what you do with a couple Christmas presents

4:40 pm: The Victory Malt is almost done steeping.


5:20 pm: The boil is about to start. The hop particles on the surface look like some crazy green moonscape.



6:23 pm: the copper chiller springs to life!



6:34 pm: we are below 80d Fahrenheit. That's ten, eleven minutes. What a piece of technology!

First stop digging

From EPI: Michelle Rhee gets a failing grade on her report card
Money quote:

Curiously, despite Rhee’s love of high stakes testing, student performance as measured by the gold-standard test of student achievement, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), plays no role in her ranking of the states. These “rankings” put Louisiana and Florida (both bottom 10 on the NAEP), for example, far ahead of high-achieving states like Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Jersey, all of which ranked in the top three on the NAEP.

If your "reforms" are just making things worse, please reconsider whom they are benefiting.

Boil test

How long will it take to boil four gallons of water in my new kettle?
Initial conditions: 50d Fahrenheit at 9:08 am.

UPDATE: Final conditions: 212d at 10:05.

Whistling past the water board

The Times has the story: the first ex-CIA officer is facing prison for blowing a whistle.

Meanwhile, nobody from the CIA or any other agency has faced sanctions for torture.