More on Ranked Choice Voting: Results from Maine 2018 and an educational video series

Ranked Choice Voting update:

Sore Loser Loses Again': Federal Judge Rejects GOP Lawsuit, Defends Mainers' Right to Ranked Choice Voting

The Republican got a few more votes than the Democrat, but not a majority. So ranked-choice voting kicked in and the two minor parties' voters second choices were overwhelmingly for the Democrat and he won.

The Republican then sued, to no avail. Full story if you want it ...

On to the best educational series I've seen: Politics in the Animal Kingdom by C. G. P. Grey ... Enjoy!

David Cameron's memoir is coming out, and his "fans" can't wait

Here he is, the man, the legend:

He has a book coming out: his memoir. The comments when this was announced:

• "The audiobook version should just have the sound of sobbing."
• "I presume the hardback version should be released without a spine."

... and more. Original from the New York Times ...

USPS receives UPS and FedEx packages, but NO HURRY!

The US Postal Service has been accepting UPS and FedEx packages for a while now, but my wife and I had never tried anything time-critical. We did on Friday, asking for a title company to send a UPS overnight package for Saturday delivery.

I first checked in at 9:30 or so; the envelope wasn't in my box. They said normal delivery was around 1pm, so I got back 1:30 ...

The person on that trip said they get so many envelopes and UPS packages on Saturday that they can't get them all sorted  and placed in boxes ... until Monday a.m.

I'm going back then, but let this be a warning ... don't expect timeliness on any UPS or FedEx envelope or package going to your PO Box!

Radiolab missing "Bliss" segment available here now!

Radiolab recently reran a 2012 segment entitled "Bliss" ... but without the final segment on psilocybin included!

I emailed Radiolab about this a couple of months ago and they finally responded with a link to the missing segment, and here it is:


My only remaining question: why cut this segment? I'm waiting on Radiolab's response to this question ... in the meantime, enjoy!

Why John Scalzi got $3.4 million for his next 13 books (in 2015)

The short answer: Tor, his publisher noticed that many people who bought one of his books went right back and bought all of them!

Sounds rational to me ... I've just finished his latest:

I found this one extremely satisfying ... even better than its predecessor:

These two (and a proposed third book) are set in an alternate universe where there are physical "flowstreams" that allow quick interstellar travel.   But what happens when a physicist predicts that these flowstreams, which are the basis of many civilizations including several space habitats that can't support human life without regular trade? Two very good novels, that's what ...

Try any of Scalzi's books; you can't go wrong!

An interesting interview with Scalzi is here ...

Pulitzer prize winner and another good one from Matt Richtel

I saw a review of this one recently and added it to my library list:

It tracks four patients through cancer and autoimmune disorders and give a history of the understanding of the immune system. Well done!

I enjoyed this one so much (four stars) that I looked for other work by Richtel and found his Pulitzer Prize winner:

I could hardly put this one down! This is the story of the first prosecution of a person suspected of texting while driving who caused a fatal accident.

I thought the way the author put together the stories of all the main characters (the perpetrator, the state trooper, the prosecutor and more ..) was just masterful.

Five stars for this one; money back if not completely satisfied ... and old enough (published 2014) that you can get it from the library!

I ordered a copy for my 86.8 year old bridge partner who called me from his car the other night ... my goal is to keep him alive until he can get a self-driving car!

Finally cold-less string broken; starting a new one!

I finally came down with a minor respiratory crud the last week in March:

This for the first time in around 3 years! And timing really stunk: I was playing in a national bridge final!

I coped with two over-the-counter aids:

and ...

This worked! The first day I had this crud was the day I did well in the national tournament I was playing in ..  But one side effect of the Ricola:

I couldn't understand why I was having this effect until I realized that a bunch of Ricola lozenges was an extra load of sugar! So I just added some more potassium to my regimen for a couple of days, and that handled it.

Here's to three more years (or more!) with robust health!