text:
Mayor facing furious backlash for urging a Nike boycott -- but her response made people even angrier
La Plata Mayor Jeannine James. (Screenshot/Fox5)
A mayor in Maryland is facing a backlash after calling for a boycott of the shoe company Nike because of its new advertising campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. But, according to Fox 5 DC, her response to the controversy has made people even more upset.
La Plata Mayor Jeannine James wrote on her personal Facebook page: "Nike selected Colin Kaepernick as the new face of the company's 'Just Do It' campaign. How disappointing. #BoycottNike."
The post quickly generated a flurry of responses. James then deleted the post and put up a statement claiming that she really wasn't calling for a boycott, and thanking people for participating in her "lively social experiment."
But her explanation didn't sit well with many people.
"The damage is already done. You divided La Plata and had your community attacking each other for a 'social experiment.' You don't manipulate people in that way," one person responded.
James told Fox 5 DC that she has no regrets about the Facebook posts. She said it was a valuable lesson for her students at the College of Southern Maryland, where she teaches.
"One of the things that I always teach my students is 'Say it, forget it, write it, regret it,'" said James. "When it's in print or in the media, it can always be found."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
// Type definitions for non-npm package Yandex.Metrika Tag API 2.0
// Project: https://yandex.ru/support/metrica/code/counter-initialize.html
// Definitions by: hikiko4ern <https://github.com/hikiko4ern>
// Definitions: https://github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped

declare var ym: ym.Event;

declare namespace ym {
    interface Event {
        (counterId: number, eventName: 'init', parameters: InitParameters): void;
        (counterId: number, eventName: 'addFileExtension', extensions: string | string[]): void;
        // tslint:disable-next-line no-unnecessary-generics
        <CTX>(counterId: number, eventName: 'extLink', url: string, options?: ExtLinkOptions<CTX>): void;
        // tslint:disable-next-line no-unnecessary-generics
        <CTX>(counterId: number, eventName: 'file', url: string, options?: FileOptions<CTX>): void;
        (counterId: number, eventName: 'getClientID', cb: (clientID: string) => void): void;
        // tslint:disable-next-line no-unnecessary-generics
        <CTX>(counterId: number, eventName: 'hit', url: string, options?: HitOptions<CTX>): void;
        /** @deprecated */
        (
            counterId: number,
            eventName: 'hit',
            url: string,
            title?: string,
            referer?: string,
            params?: VisitParameters,
        ): void;
        // tslint:disable-next-line no-unnecessary-generics
        <CTX>(counterId: number, eventName: 'notBounce', options?: NotBounceOptions<CTX>): void;
        (counterId: number, eventName: 'params', parameters: VisitParameters | VisitParameters[]): void;
        <CTX>(
            counterId: number,
            eventName: 'reachGoal',
            target: string,
            params?: VisitParameters,
            callback?: (this: CTX) => void,
            ctx?: CTX,
        ): void;
        (counterId: number, eventName: 'replacePhones'): void;
        (counterId: number, eventName: 'setUserID', userID: string): void;
        (counterId: number, eventName: 'userParams', parameters: UserParameters): void;
    }

    interface VisitParameters {
        order_price?: number;
        currency?: string;
        [key: string]: any;
    }

    interface UserParameters {
        UserID?: number;
        [key: string]: any;
    }

    interface InitParameters {
        accurateTrackBounce?: boolean | number;
        childIframe?: boolean;
        clickmap?: boolean;
        defer?: boolean;
        ecommerce?: boolean | string | any[];
        params?: VisitParameters | VisitParameters[];
        userParams?: UserParameters;
        trackHash?: boolean;
        trackLinks?: boolean;
        trustedDomains?: string[];
        type?: number;
        ut?: 'noindex';
        webvisor?: boolean;
        triggerEvent?: boolean;
    }

    interface ExtLinkOptions<CTX> {
        callback?(this: CTX): void;
        ctx?: CTX;
        params?: VisitParameters;
        title?: string;
    }

    interface FileOptions<CTX> {
        callback?(this: CTX): void;
        ctx?: CTX;
        params?: VisitParameters;
        referer?: string;
        title?: string;
    }

    interface HitOptions<CTX> {
        callback?(this: CTX): void;
        ctx?: CTX;
        params?: VisitParameters;
        referer?: string;
        title?: string;
    }

    interface NotBounceOptions<CTX> {
        callback?(this: CTX): void;
        ctx?: CTX;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Lazy summer days are a time to dream. What if dreams and reading merged and it was possible to transport yourself to any fictional place? If I had a chance to literally dive into a fictional locale and spend a few days I'd pick Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels. The settings are fictional London and – more importantly – classic novels including Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. Fforde does a fantastic job of making the well-known fictional settings come to life and at the same time allowing the reader to experience them as an outsider. The characters are trapped in the role but the reader isn't! What fun to be there and participate in the novels from the sidelines. What fictional setting would you join? SUSAN: This is probably not a huge surprise, but I'd go with Agatha Christie's St. Mary Meade. I love living in a small village, and of course, I'd love to know Miss Marple. I feel like you have more room to be yourself, oddly enough, in a place where everyone knows you. People know who you are, so you don't have to pretend to be someone else, if that makes. I drew on that in writing the village Maggie Dove lives in. ALEXIA: Tough question. So many places to choose from. I agree with Susan; St. Mary Meade sounds cool. Midsomer County to meet DCI Barnaby is on the list, despite the body count. I'd like to visit Nero Wolfe's brownstone to see his orchid collection. Wonderland and the Looking Glass world make the itinerary. Alice was my first literary hero. I still love her adventuresome spirit. I'd love to meet the Cheshire Cat and go to a mad tea party. But, if I have to pick only one fictional place to visit, I choose the Mos Eisley space cantina so I can hang out with Han Solo and Chewbacca and score a ride on the Millennium Falcon. PAULA: I'd go to Castello Brown, the real-life 15th century castle in Portofino, where Elizabeth von Arnim set her 1922 novel The Enchanted April.It's been my dream to rent a villa on the Italian Riviera for a month and invite all my friends and thereby set the stage for my own enchanted April. Someday…. CATE: I'd visit Macondo in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude. It's warm (a must), all the locals have interesting family gossip, and there are magical yellow butterflies. "At that time, Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs." ROBIN: Derry, ME. An awful lot of sinister events occur in Stephen King's bucolic creation. Runner up would be Santa Theresa, CA, Sue Grafton's coastal community. I would love to have coffee with Kinsey Milhone and regale her with technical investigation techniques developed after the '80's. MICHELE: I am also a fan of books set in English and Irish villages. I often try to visit the locations of books I have read when traveling. I made my husband look for Barberry Lane in San Francisco after our entire family devoured Armisted Maupin's six book series "Tales of the City." But right now, I would love to be transported to Louise Penny's Three Pines village just over the Vermont border in Canada, even though it is nowhere near an ocean, my usual requirement. Three Pines is a fictional village that embraces the imperfections in people where friendships become like family bonds. Of course, it is not without conflict and bodies fall as routinely as the snow. You know what it means to "belong" if you're lucky to live in Three Pines. TRACEE: I think you should ALL reconsider Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels….. once you are in them the rules allow transport to anything that has ever been written, including the not so glamorous text of a washing machine label. Here's to fictional travel!


text:
Major Republican Losses Are No Match for Fox News' Devotion to Its Mission
The midterms and Jeff Sessions' forced resignation did not faze the network's ignorance peddlers. Nothing will.
By Justin Peters
Nov 07, 20188:43 PM
Steve Doocy, serving a higher purpose than talking to diners. Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Fox News.
More on Watching Fox
There Was No Way Fox News Would Let the Midterms Be Anything but a Resounding Victory for Donald Trump
This Kid Reporter in a Fedora on Fox News Has Some Strong Opinions About Why Beto O'Rourke Sucks
Fox News Staffers Think Hannity Crossed a Line by Stumping for Trump. He Crosses It Every Night.
Who Did a Better Job Scaremongering on Fox News: Eric or Lara Trump?
This article is part of Watching Fox, a Slate series about Fox News.
When the sun rose on Wednesday morning, Steve Doocy was pouring coffee at a diner in Branson, Missouri. The Fox & Friends co-host had been in Springfield the night before, reporting on Missourians' reactions to the midterm elections results, and he had gone out for some breakfast. Like all morning shows ever, everywhere, Fox & Friends privileges the homespun wisdom of people who hang out in diners, and Doocy was polling patrons on Tuesday night's events. "You need a little coffee," Doocy told one woman, Cheryl, as he filled up her cup. "What did you think of the fact that the Republicans lost control of the Congress?"
Cheryl's eyes widened. "The Republicans lost control of the Cong—"
"The U.S. House," Doocy clarified, and Cheryl went momentarily silent. "What … what do I think about it?" she said.
"Is this, uh, breaking news for you?" Doocy asked. It clearly was, and after clarifying that this outcome was not a good thing, and verifying that she did not care for Nancy Pelosi, Doocy asked Cheryl if "maybe this is a chance for Republicans and Democrats to work together."
"Really?" Cheryl replied, sounding incredulous. "Is this Fox News? Are you new here?" And the whole restaurant, Doocy included, fell into gales of laughter. I give you Fox & Friends, where jocular ignorance is always on the menu, and sometimes bad coffee, too.
I have been thinking of this exchange all day, ever since I first watched it. It crystallizes so much about the role Fox News plays and will continue to play in propping up the Trump administration while subverting fact-based discourse. You've got a woman who knew enough about Fox News to know that the network would never really support bipartisan congressional cooperation, but who was nevertheless unaware that Republicans had lost the House. Maybe she was just tired and really did need some coffee, but it felt to me like Doocy's subject had internalized the tone of modern politics while remaining blissfully ignorant of civics and policy. This makes her an avatar for millions of Fox News viewers all across America. Fox is a network for low-information, high-dudgeon viewers, people who don't know what they don't know and have little interest in filling that knowledge gap.
The network empowers people like Diner Cheryl to presume that the Democrats are persecuting Trump for no reason.
Though Fox News did not create modern dogmatic sound-bite conservatism, the network has been its primary exponent since taking the air back in 1996. Far from seeking to educate its audience, or even to apprise it of the state of things as they are, Fox News is committed to presenting a picture of the world as the Republican Party would like it to be. Today's Republican Party is controlled by Donald Trump, and thus Fox News is wholly on board with the president's divisive and retributive agenda. For the past two years, the network has advanced this agenda by withholding relevant information on the president's flaws and failures from viewers, twisting the words and actions of the president's political opponents, and distracting its audience with endless reporting on irrelevancies like the Uranium One story, the migrant caravan, and NFL players' purported lack of patriotism.
We can expect much more of these tactics in the coming weeks and months, as the newly Democratic House is sworn in and Trump inevitably responds by acting badly. Fox will give its viewers nothing relevant about the inevitable Democratic House investigations of Trumpworld, instead framing them as obstructionist persecutions from lying liberals out to destroy a successful and popular president. The network will increase its alarmist coverage of liberal boogeymen such as Maxine Waters, Adam Schiff, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Hillary Clinton, distorting their words and actions as a means of distracting from the president's personality defects. It will continue to tout the horrors of illegal immigration as the biggest problem facing America and will find a new "caravan" to misrepresent as soon as the current one dissipates. Most critically, the network will do its utmost to aid the president's efforts to question the credibility of the Mueller investigation. The present of Fox is also the future of Fox.
A major caveat: Though Fox News is, on balance, a de facto appendage of the Republican Party, it's important to realize that the network is not a monolithic entity. There are plenty of people at Fox who are basically fine. Neil Cavuto is fine. Bret Baier is fine. Shep Smith is better than fine; he's actually very good. Chris Wallace, Melissa Francis, Bill Hemmer, Sandra Smith, many of the network's reporters and correspondents—all basically fine. Though they might hold conservative opinions, none is actively working to undermine American democracy. They are fine. They are also largely irrelevant to the network's aims. Even though they are fine, they can still be used as tools of the Trump agenda.
Fox News is comprised of many parts, each of which plays a different, propagandistic role. The Fox & Friends dimwits get America off on the wrong foot each morning with a chipper dose of lightweight fascism. Fox's marquee opinion hosts—Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham—work to corrode their viewers' trust in liberal democracy and inflame their resentment of the so-called elite through a glib embrace of conspiracy, sophistry, and contempt.
Others on the network—even some of the personalities who are fine—mislead by omission, and it is very hard, when you're in the middle of watching Fox News, to recognize all the things that you are not being told. This happened to me Tuesday night, while I was watching the network's coverage of the midterm elections returns. The prognostications of certain idiot panelists notwithstanding, I thought that Fox News did a pretty good and straightforward job of reporting the election. It wasn't until this morning that I realized how, though the network made clear that a Democratic House would likely open numerous investigations into the Trump administration, it said little about the substance of those investigations, or why they were important, or what the president is said to have done wrong. By simply leaving it at "the Democrats will investigate the president," the network empowers people like Diner Cheryl to presume that the Democrats are persecuting him for no reason.
Fox News is committed to presenting a picture of the world as the Republican Party would like it to be.
This strategy will continue into the immediate future—and probably become even more pronounced with time. The network's coverage of Wednesday's midday, forced resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the subsequent announcement that Justice Department staffer Matt Whitaker would serve as Sessions' interim replacement, is a good example of the game plan.
As luck would have it, the Sessions-Whitaker announcement landed right as Shepard Smith was about to begin his daily, best-in-class Fox News program. For an hour, Smith and his guests did a conscientious job with the story. Former Judge Andrew Napolitano, who was on all hour with Smith, made very clear his opinion that the dismissal of Sessions and appointment of Whitaker—going by previous statements Whitaker had made—was likely an attempt by Trump to subvert the Mueller investigation and thus was grounds for potential obstruction-of-justice charges against Trump.
Then Smith's show ended, and Fox began its daily long, slow slide back toward partisan idiocy. "Stop and think," historian and former GOP operative Doug Wead told Neil Cavuto during Your World With Neil Cavuto. "You're president of the United States, and you don't have a Justice Department. How you gonna run the country without a Justice Department? They're accountable to CNN. That's not in the Constitution." (Cavuto did not push back on this stupid point. He did, however, end the segment soon thereafter.) Later on the show, Cavuto welcomed outgoing Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who noted that "incoming Chairman [of the House Judiciary Committee] Jerry Nadler has a long-standing grudge with the president. He's made it clear that impeachment is a goal. And that makes his investigations very suspect." As for the Mueller investigation, Issa argued, "the reality is that if Mueller cannot come up with a single indictable event that went on in this administration during the campaign by any of its high-ranking people in the next few months, then his campaign to look for it should end. Two years is a long time to look for a crime you can't prove."
I am finishing this column around 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday night, long before Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham will go on air, but I can already predict roughly what they are going to say. It is the same thing they've been saying for a while and will continue to say long after Donald Trump leaves office. They'll call the Sessions resignation a nonstory and argue that Trump was well within his rights to ask for it. They'll say that the president acted decisively and note the historical precedent for presidents firing Cabinet members after midterm losses. They'll pick up Darrell Issa's line of argument about how long the Mueller investigation has lasted, how fruitless it has been, and how it should end very soon for the good of the country. They'll blame Democrats for persecuting the president. They'll argue that liberal hypocrisy is the real crime. They will say whatever is most expedient to the goals of the Republican Party at the time. They will work to keep their viewers angry and uninformed. They'll cloud the issue until the cloud becomes the issue. And then tomorrow they'll do it all over again.
2018 Midterms Department of Justice Fox News TV Jeff Sessions Watching Fox
Justin Peters is a Slate correspondent and the author of The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet.


text:
News Feature | May 12, 2017
Teens Face Water Supply Tampering Charges In Indiana
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
From contamination risks to water main breaks, water utility pros ward off countless threats to clean water delivery on any given day. Yet for one utility, all that hard work was foiled this month by an unlikely foe: pesky teens.
Perry County, IN, recently had a run-in with the community's youth.
"County Sheriff Alan Malone says three minors are in custody after a breach in Troy's water storage tank. Troy Utilities discovered the doors to the water reservoir had been broken into, and the nearby community building was vandalized," Tristate Homepage reported.
"Authorities in Perry County think they know who. Three juveniles were detained in connection to the break-ins. They face charges of tampering with the water supply, impairment of utilities, criminal mischief, burglary and theft," the report said.
The utility shut down the reservoir and sent out a "do not consume" order to ratepayers. Issued on May 1, the order was lifted on May 3, according to The Evansville Courier & Press. Resolving the issue cost local government about $15,000, which paid to clean the reservoir, test samples, and buy bottled water for ratepayers, Tristate Homepage reported.
Troy Utilities Operations Manager Bernard Linn speculated on why it happened.
"I don't know, you know, I guess they were just out doing some damage. The way it looks to me, I think it was some teenagers doing some damage. That's what I'd like to know. It don't make a bit of sense. I mean come on. You got three thousand people here you'd be affecting. Why would you want to do something like that?" he said, per the report.
The town purchased 330 cases of water to hand out to ratepayers.
The American Water Works Association journal noted in an article on vandalism that "risk assessment, security measures, and established emergency plans are vital components of system protection."


text:
Alanis Morissette's Manager Pleads Guilty to Stealing $4.8 Million
Alanis Morissette Manager Pleads Guilty to Stealing $4.8 Mil
Turns out Alanis Morissette wasn't the only one with a hand in her pocket -- her former business manager admits to ripping her off for millions, and has now copped a plea with federal prosecutors.
Jonathan Schwartz pled guilty to 2 felonies connected to an embezzlement scheme that fleeced Alanis of $4.8 million. According to the feds ... Schwartz, who has also managed Beyonce and Mariah, admits to jacking the cash from the singer over 4 years. He says he also took about $1.7 mil from other clients.
However, he's not pleading to the embezzlement -- instead the feds got him on wire fraud and filing a false tax return ... for the money he stole. He had been facing up to 23 years in federal lockup, but is now hoping the judge will provide leniency.
TMZ broke the story -- Alanis sued Schwartz last year for the theft. According to court records, she reached a settlement with him in June 2016.
Alanis Morissette -- Sues Business Managers ... They Had One Hand In My Pocket
Alanis Morissette -- Screwed by the Law Over Stolen Dog
Alanis Morissette Money CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™ Breaking News Crime Music


There's nothing worse than settling down to watch your favourite film, TV finale, or big match only to have your screen freeze, block, or pixelate. Whether you have an issue with your cabling or you're suffering from poor signal, there are many different issues that can lead to a broken TV picture. Luckily, there are also lots of different fixes! Read on to find out what might be causing your problem and how you can resolve it.
If your picture tends to freeze or break, you could be having an issue with some of the hardware in your setup. Check that none of your cable connections or aerial plugs are loose or damaged, as this can cause your picture to drop out.
Look for any damaged connections or bent cables. Once you've identified where the problem is, the solution is as easy as replacing the broken part. If the problem is inside your TV, a qualified repair service should be able to diagnose and fix the issue. Using too many aerial amplifiers or splitters can also lead to too much or too little signal reaching your TV so removing these could solve your problem.
If your digital TV picture breaks up every time your lights come on or your washing machine starts up, it sounds like you might be having trouble with electrical interference. This sort of interference is most often caused by placing aerial connectors too close to electrical mains leads or by using poor quality aerials or cabling.
You can avoid any electrical interference problems by making sure you use high quality aerial flylead cables to connect your aerial and receiver. If possible, keep connectors away from mains leads and keep the number of joins, connectors, and adapters in your system to a minimum, as these can weaken your signal and allow interference.
Most of us have experienced problems with our TV picture during bad weather conditions. Wind, rain, and snow can all disturb aerials and interrupt signal, while the high pressure associated with hot weather can also affect reception.
Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about the weather! If you're having repeated problems however, a local engineer should be able to give you some aerial placement recommendations that can lessen the impact of different weather conditions.
If you've checked that all your hardware is working fine and you're not experiencing any interference from other electrical equipment, the main culprit for a broken picture is usually low signal or poor reception. Most often indicated by your picture breaking up into squares (also known as 'pixelating'), poor signal can be caused by a coverage issue or a problem with your aerial. Most TV sets or systems will have a signal strength meter that you can check to see if this is your problem.
You should be able to check coverage for your area online. If your coverage is fine but you're still having consistent issues with signal, your best bet is to contact a professional aerial installer. A professional installer will be able to safely check that your aerial hasn't become dislodged or damaged, replace it if it has, or suggest the best options for improving signal based on your specific geographical location and circumstances.
There are 0 comment. on "The Causes of a Flickering, Freezing, and Broken TV Picture"


The crucial point, I think, is how soon you want the volume to be ready. If you could give me an ample margin of time, I should be delighted to do the job. But of course this may not suit you.
I believe that Bourdillon has asked you to address the economic group of the Institute of International Affairs on the topic of International Cartels, on Feb. 17.  If this comes off I might discuss the question of the book with you after the meeting?
1. Refers to Harrod's participation as secretary in an Economic Group of the Royal Institute of International Affairs researching into the economic aspects of international cartels, which was invited by Lionel Curtis; Hubert Henderson was a member of the group: see note 1 to letter 89 R. For a similar but more detailed characterization of Lionel Curtis as "the éminence grise behind so much of the public life of his time" see J. A. Salter, Memoirs of a Public Servant, London: Faber and Faber, 1961, pp. 238-39.
2. F. B. Bourdillon, the secretary of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, had asked Keynes to express his views on general aspects of the subject of international cartels and industrial combination for one in a series of meeting of the Economic Group of the RIIA (copy of this letter was sent to Harrod: HP IV-114). Keynes eventually declined the invitation: see letter 136 R and note 1 to letter 130 R.
a. ALS, two sides on a folded sheet, in JMK CEB/1/8. Photocopy in HP II-200.


text:
Q: Why my Bash script won't even run if it is deployed in a web app? I created this simple script that does a backup, I wrote and tested it in Linux, then I copied it in my WebApp WEB-INF/scripts directory so that I could be run via Java Runtime.exec().
#!/bin/bash

JACCISE_FOLDER="/var/jaccise"

rm $JACCISE_FOLDER/jaccisebackup.zip

zip -r jaccisefolder.zip $JACCISE_FOLDER

mysqldump -ujacc -pxxx jacciseweb > jaccisewebdump.sql

zip jaccisebackup.zip   jaccisewebdump.sql
zip jaccisebackup.zip   jaccisefolder.zip

rm jaccisewebdump.sql
rm jaccisefolder.zip

cp  jaccisebackup.zip $JACCISE_FOLDER

But it doesn't. So I tried to copy it from WEB-INF/scripts to my user dir and run it to roubleshoot it. The result is that it comes out with: ": File o directory non esistente" (Means "Unknown file or directory" notice the colon at the beginning). I created another file from scratch, copied and pasted the whole script and it works. I may think that this is related to:

*

*Text encoding

*\n\r differences between windows (I use Eclipse on windows to edit everything) and Linux.

How do I solve this deploy problem?

A: You should check if the file is executable (chmod +x). Then you should check, if your web server allows the execution of external programs. This might be a security problem and it is likely that the web server prevents the execution. Check the logs of the web server. The encoding of the file can be changed with the dos2unix command. In order to debug your script you can add an "set -x" at the beginning, but I think the script does not start at all.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Establishing financial priorities and goals is a key component to practicing financial self-care. Today, take some time to think about your financial goals and write down at least 3 goals. Try to be as detailed as possible, and be sure to set an end date. For example, instead of setting a goal to "save more money" try setting a goal to "save $1,000 in 90 days". Consider including both short and long-term goals.
If you've already set financial goals, take another look at those goals. Are you on track to accomplish them? Do you need to revise any? The process of setting, monitoring and revamping your financial goals will help you to establish, clarify and remain accountable to your financial goals.


text:
Q: Set the font only for one letter in the entire document While writing the paper, the letter \xi appear strangely as in the first figure.

What I wanted is
Can anyone help how can I declare as I want globally ?
Thanks in advance

A: Although it doesn't feel good to answer my own question, I solved it by declaring a new font as
\DeclareSymbolFont{CMletters}{OML}{cmm}{m}{it}
\DeclareMathSymbol{\xi}{\mathord}{CMletters}{"18}

Thanks


text:
What is the proper (non-"Gerrymandering") purpose of political districting?
I read some other posts here that discuss gerrymandering.
It seems to me that I still have a question that these posts don't answer, but I'm not at all sure that I can make it clear.
But here we go.
There's some analogy between political districts and the Electoral College. Both of them are political devices that are designed to affect the outcome of the election. It's no objection to either one of them to say that they might cause an outcome that is different from the popular vote. If we just wanted the popular majority to carry the election, we would need neither districts nor the Electoral College.
My question is not about the Electoral College. I mentioned it there only for the sake of analogy.
My question is, assuming that gerrymandering is improper, what is the proper purpose that is supposed to guide districting? Is it supposed to be "politically neutral"? What would that mean? When can there be any basis at all for complaints – by courts, or journalists, or pundits – to the fairness of political districts? What would districts be like if they were fair? We can (apparently) always say that current political districts will produce Result A, and if we redistrict in a certain way it will produce Result B. But what is there to recommend Result B over Result A, other than a political preference for one result?
civil-rights voting-districts redistricting
ChaimChaim
This question is very complicated; if you're interested in a brief history of gerrymandering, what redistricting rules are considered "fair" and "unfair", and so on, you might want to listen to the 538 politics podcast series on this topic: fivethirtyeight.com/tag/the-gerrymandering-project
– Eric Lippert
@hszmv: Not so. The number of Representatives (and thus Electoral College votes) a state has is simply determined by its population, which is in turn determined by the census. AFAIK there is no Constitutional requirement for Representatives to be elected by district: conceivably a state might choose elect all from the whole state.
Are you asking why have political districts in the first place (as the title of the question seems to ask), or are you asking about what principles should be used to determine where the districts placed (as the body of your question seems to ask). Those are very different questions with distinct answers, and it would help to edit your question to clarify which you want.
– R.M.
@hszmv: Not the same thing at all. A state can decide to re-draw its Congressional districts pretty much any time it wants, and any way it wants that will survive court challenges. That redistricting has no effect on the number of Electoral College votes unless the census changes the number of Representatives it gets.
The short answer: because it's mandatory: "A congressional act passed in 1967, 2 U.S.C. § 2c, dictates that representatives must be elected from geographical districts and that these must be single-member districts, except when the state has a single representative, in which case one at-large representative is elected from the entire state."
– zibadawa timmy
The purpose of political districting is to ensure local representation - something that is valued as itself in the US. This decision to have districts immediately leads to a debate on what is the right way to divide an area into smaller bits, as you stated. There is no objective guide or rule to do this fairly or in a right way.
Representative democracy aims to proportional representation; 30% voted for party A and 30% of the representatives are party A. In my opinion large deviations from this would be unfair in a democratic system. So arguably the districts should be carved to fulfill this ideal of proportionality in the area. But since it is impossible to know how people will vote, it is impossible to create districts beforehand that lead to proportionality. And even if the result is proportional in the state level, the results in individual districts would probably not be.
It is very hard, or in some cases impossible, to create districts that satisfy the ideals of both local and proportional representation. In practice districting leads to compromising proportionality.
CommunistyCommunisty
If 30% voted for party A and 30% of the representatives are party A, the result is the same as if there were no districts. Is that your intention: that fair districts produce the result that would result if the entire state were one district?
– Chaim
In an ideal democracy the result should be the will of the people. So if 30% vote for A then 30% of the representation should be A. The result would not be the same in my example of 'fair' districting because the second ideal would also be fulfilled: representatives would be from all around the state each district having a local person(s). My point rather is that it is hard or impossible to create a system where these two ideals are fulfilled.
– Communisty
@SJuan76 - "local" is a relevant term, but so is "district" given that it applies at multiple levels. For example, many cities have multiple districts, each of which elects a representative to the city council for municipal level decisions, but that entire city may reside within one or many state-level districts. Districts are created for different purposes at the city, county, state, and federal level (and I'm not 100% that my list is exhaustive), and these districts are not required to relate to each other, though they are often used as guidance for each other when redrawing districts.
– LazyGadfly
@Chaim: There are many issues which are non-partisan. Take for instance states (New York, California, Nevada...) which have a large imbalance between urban & rural populations. On local issues, the Representatives from the rural districts tend to agree more with rural Representatives of the other party than with urban ones of their party.
Your "fair result" is incompatible with the ideal of local representation. Suppose 10% of the population votes for the Murder Innocent Babies And Kittens party (MIBAK), but these MIBAK supporters are spread evenly across the nation, not concentrated anywhere. In fact, every street in the country has exactly 10% MIBAK supporters. Should 10% of voting districts be forced to have a MIBAK member as their representative, despite 90% of their population being anti-MIBAK? If yes, you've abandoned local representation. If no, you've abandoned proportional representation. You can't have both.
Single member districts are pretty unrepresentative
You are right to question the value of holding several single-member, First-past-the-post elections. FPTP essentially throws away all votes that are not for the winner. Additionally, it throws away excess votes received by the winner. Throwing away all these votes can result in a set of representatives, which does not reflect the desires of the electorate. The Gerrymanderer exploits this mechanic to achieve their political goals.
In this way, gerrymandering is not a distortion of a well designed system. It is an intentional exacerbation of the problems inherent in a deeply flawed voting system.
Why use districts at all?
There is value in having local representatives who are aware of local concerns, and are accessible to their constituents.
Due to the math of population distribution, at-large elections favor candidates in population centers. This can lead to under-representation of rural voters. Using districts helps address this concern.
Districts also reduce voter choices, which can be a positive. California has 53 representatives. Holding one large election to fill all these seats could easily result in 100+ candidates. Expecting voters to research all of these options before heading to the polls places a tremendous burden on them. Limiting voters' choices to just those running in their area simplifies their job.
Is there a better way?
A means of balancing some of these issues is to use fewer, larger, multi-member districts. These ensure better local representation, while reducing the number of wasted votes that results from single-member districts. There are a number of ways to perform a multi-member election. One that is fairly popular is Single-Transferable-Vote.
eclipz905eclipz905
This excellent interactive guide explores various voting systems, and demonstrates their pros and cons. Although it doesn't mention STV, I think IRV might be the same thing. There have been some mathematical proofs about how a perfect voting system is impossible. "Would you like tea or coffee?" "We'll take tea, please." "Oh, and we also have orange juice." "Oh, in that case we'll take coffee."
– joeytwiddle
@joeytwiddle I am familiar with that guide and think it is well done. It focuses on single-winner elections, so I'm not surprised it does not cover STV. Functionally STV is very similar to IRV, and unfortunately inherits some of its flaws. Both favor polarizing candidates to the detriment of moderate consensus candidates. Arrow's Impossibility Theorem is interesting, but as formulated, it specifically applies to singe winner elections. I'm not aware of a multi-winner version. Also, it's important to note that it only applies to ranked choice systems, not cardinal systems like Score voting.
– eclipz905
What is the purpose of districts?
The purpose of districts is so that different areas have their own representation. This allows their local concerns to have a voice and gives residents in the district a point-of-contact to whom they may directly voice their concerns. A given member of the U.S. House of Representatives or of the legislature of a state represents (in theory) only the people of their own district, giving the people of that district influence in federal or state-level decision making.
Assuming that gerrymandering is improper, what is the proper purpose that is supposed to guide districting?
Honestly, this is more of a matter of opinion than anything else.
Personally, my opinion is that district lines should strive to lump together areas with similar political and economic interests. For example, city centers, suburbs, and rural areas often have very different interests, so I would argue that, to meet the purpose of districting in the first place, it makes more sense to put the city center, suburbs, and rural areas in their own districts to the maximum extent reasonably possible. This is not about giving one party or another more power, but rather about making sure the often very different concerns of people in these areas have a voice representing them.
Aside from the urban/suburban/rural split, there are also many other different regional interests that can - and probably should, IMO - influence districting. For example, a given region may be dominated by a particular industry or have a particular cultural makeup. Rather than dividing that area between multiple districts of which they make up only a part, it makes more sense (to me, anyway) to have that region have its own district(s) whose representatives can represent its interests.
reirabreirab
Whilst different people may have different beliefs as to what is the 'proper purpose', it might be informative to have a look at the opinion of the Australian Electoral Committee (AEC). This is the organisation that draws electoral boundaries in Australia. There are few to no accusations of politicisation of the AEC.
What criteria are used to draw the electoral boundaries?
A Redistribution Committee must develop a set of proposals for dividing each state or territory into a number of electoral divisions equal to its entitlement in the House of Representatives. In developing its proposals, the Redistribution Committee must remain within the numerical quotas for the current and projected enrolment. The Redistribution Committee shall also give due consideration to:
community interests within the proposed electoral division, including
economic, social and regional interests
means of communication and travel within the proposed electoral division
physical features and area of the proposed electoral division, and
existing boundaries of divisions in the state or territory.
Not stated here is that an electorate may not cross state boundaries, and that no founding State may drop below 5 electorates. These provisions were put in to get all the states to agree to become a country.
Note that the numerical quotas are designed to deliver one vote, one value wherever possible. Projected population comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (another body with few to no accusations of politicisation).
When redistributions happen is determined by:
When the number of MPs which a state or territory is entitled to changes. This figure is calculated by the Electoral Commissioner a year after every election, taking into account the latest population statistics
When the number of voters in a third of seats in a particular state or territory deviates significantly from the average (over 10 per cent for a period of more than two months). But ABC Election Analyst Antony Green said this rarely, if ever, happens
And the so-called "seven year rule", when seven years or more has lapsed since the last redistribution
You may also be interested in hearing about the Electoral Commission of South Australia (The independent, non politicised body from a State in Australia), which has a rule stating that if a party wins more than 50% of the two party preferred vote (Australia has preferential voting, so the two party preferred vote is what happens after you force the Libertarians, Greens and Independents to pick between Democrat or Republican), but loses the election, the next redistribution must be calculated such that that party would win the next election if everyone voted the same way. This is a form of Gerrymandering, but one designed to make the system 'more fair' in the eyes of the ECSA.
The EDBC (part of ECSA) defines their criteria for redistributions as
When making a redistribution, the EDBC must ensure that the number of electors in each electoral district does not vary from the electoral quota by more than the permissible tolerance of 10 per cent (Constitution Act 1934 (SA), section 77). The electoral quota is determined by dividing the total number of electors as at the relevant date by the number of electoral districts into which the State is divided. Since 1969 this number has been 47.
The EDBC must also ensure, as far as practicable, that the redistribution is fair to prospective candidates and groups of candidates, so that if candidates of a particular group attract more than 50 per cent of the popular vote, including preferences, they will be elected in sufficient numbers to enable a government to be formed (Constitution Act 1934 (SA) section 83(1)). This "fairness" criterion is unique to South Australia. Only in South Australia is consideration to be given to the political outcome of redistributions.
The EDBC must also have regard to matters which are outlined in section 83(2) of the Constitution Act 1934 (SA), being:
The desirability of making the electoral redistribution so as to reflect communities of interest of an economic, social, regional or other kind
The population of each proposed electoral district
The topography of areas within which new electoral boundaries will be drawn
The feasibility of communication between electors affected by the redistribution and their parliamentary representative in the House of Assembly
The nature of substantial demographic changes that the EDBC considers likely to take place in proposed electoral districts between the conclusion of its present proceedings and the next State election
Any other matter the EDBC thinks relevant.
My explanation for the reasoning behind these criteria is that, in single member electorates, a member of parliament is supposed to represent their constituents. This mostly springs from the British Westminster system, and is an attempt to ensure that parliament does not ignore low population regions. It is easier to represent an electorate if the electorate shares cultural or other characteristics.
I think it's worth mentioning that the point of the 50%+ rule is to ensure that a party that wins the popular vote should not lose the next election due to gerrymandering. This is inherently fair, apolitical and democratic.
– CJ Dennis
Gerrymandering does not conflict with the popular vote
It's no objection to either one of them to say that they might cause an outcome that is different from the popular vote.
I don't know that that is true of gerrymandering. It would be more accurate to say that gerrymandering controls the circumstances of the popular vote. There is still a popular vote election in gerrymandered districts and the result determines the winner. There could be different results with different districting plans, but all of them would still be controlled by the popular votes in the districts.
By contrast, the electoral college can produce a different result than the national popular vote. The electoral college thus can differ from the popular vote.
The normal complaint of gerrymandering is that it causes the effect of the vote across all the districts to be different than the sum of the votes. But that's a consequence of how districts work. Iowa, a purportedly "fair" districting, currently has three Republicans and one Democrat in the House. Why? Because the Republicans did better in 2016 than the Democrats in three out of four districts.
It would not have been that hard to divide Iowa into four districts where two were Republican and two were Democrat such that only a huge wave election could have resulted in three Republicans winning. Or three Democrats winning. The northern rural areas and the southern rural areas would get their own districts. The central and eastern urban areas would have gotten their own districts.
Polk county would move from district 3 to district 1, and Story county would move from district 4 to district 1. District 1 would retain Black Hawk county as well as Marshall and Tama. This is enough for a 40,000 vote advantage for the Democrat (using the two party vote between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as a proxy). The population is about 75,000 low, so it might add Buchanan and part of Linn.
District 2 would get Democratic Linn county and give up Republican counties to district 3 to help replace Polk. So already Democratic district 2 would become more Democratic (and more compact, as it would replace a number of central rural counties with urban Linn towards the east). District 1 would become Democratic. District 3 would replace Polk with more Republican counties. District 4 would give up its only Democratic county (Story), so it would be Republican still (perhaps less Republican as it would have to give some of its counties to 3 and pick up more moderate counties from 1).
The net effect though would be to create two Republican and two Democratic districts. This would be a gerrymander to create proportionality. It would pack the most Democratic counties into two districts and the most Republican counties into two other districts. The effect would be to make Iowa perform more like its nature. Roughly half the voters usually vote Republican and about half usually vote Democrat. In 2016, more than half voted Republican while in 2008 and 2012 more than half voted Democrat for president.
The normal criticism of gerrymandering is that it doesn't usually do this. Instead of trying to match the districts to the proportional vote in the state, gerrymandering tends to try to maximize the number of districts for one party or the other. For example, in Illinois, gerrymandering in 2011 led to the House delegation changing from eleven Republicans and eight Democrats to twelve Democrats and six Republicans. Illinois lost one House seat in apportionment. So a swing of 4.5 seats from Republicans to Democrats.
Illinois is considered one of the worst gerrymanders in the country for producing 67% of one party. Iowa's districting produced a 75% majority for one party and is held up as an exemplar of how districting commissions work. Yet Illinois is more Democratic than Iowa is Republican. Barack Obama won a majority in Iowa, but Republicans still won 75% in 2014.
Claims about gerrymandering are political in nature. What is encouraged in one place is criticized in another. The Iowa districting plan embeds Democratic Polk and Story counties in otherwise Republican districts, preventing those counties from electing the kind of representation that they want. There are six counties in Iowa that voted Democratic for president, but they are spread over the four congressional districts. This is called cracking.
The commission effectively cracked the Democratic urban center to form three districts that voted Republican. If a legislature had done that, we'd be talking about how partisan that was. A commission did it and everyone pretends that it's somehow different.
Why redistrict?
All of the previous was just background about gerrymandering. As I understand your question, you want to know why we redistrict. There are two main reasons:
Apportionment changes. Every ten years the national government takes a census and uses the results to allocate or apportion House seats to each state. Sometimes a state will gain or lose one or more seats. When that happens, the state has to redo their districting plan to include or remove the seats.
Population shifts. Sometimes people shift within the state. This can lead to some districts having more population than others. To counter this, they redistrict people so as to leave districts that are close in size.
So the primary answer to what redistricting is supposed to accomplish is to balance out population. Note that gerrymandering generally includes this as part of its goals, as unbalanced population is a reason to invalidate districts.
There may be secondary goals. Such goals could include
Support incumbents, so that most people can still vote for their current representative.
Put minority voters together, so they have a better chance of getting a representative from the same ethnic or racial background.
Put like-minded people together, so more people can be happy with their representation.
Make districts follow existing boundaries as much as possible. So if a city or county is smaller than a congressional district, try to put the whole thing in one district.
Of course, some of those things can be considered gerrymanders. For example, protecting incumbents or putting minority areas or like-minded areas in the same district.
Alternatives to redistricting
If all the districts in a state were lumped into one group and the best performers were selected, then there would be no need for redistricting. Instead of state politicians determining the districts, the voters themselves would choose. One name for this system is Single Transferable Vote or STV. There are different variants of STV, including one that works like Instant-runoff Voting and several Condorcet-compliant ones.
Other systems compensate for the effects of districting. In Germany, they add representatives from the underrepresented parties until they are close to proportionality.
Your first point maybe could be worded clearer. The point of gerrymandering is to achieve a massed result different from the massed popular vote, which is the same criticism leveled at the electoral collage. I might write it as: gerrymandering keeps one person one vote, while the EC violates that through historical weighting and unequal state populations.
Here there be dragons.
Philosophy of politics is politically crafted or conversely political positions are philosophically crafted, either way it is impossible to separate the politics from the philosophy. "Fair" is an objectively undefinable word.
If you accept any certain version of "fair" districting ought to be done a certain way. But when a measure becomes a target it ceases to be a good measure. A clever person can devise a new theory of fairness that "just happens" to lead to result A or B.
It is not an unsolvable problem; but there being multiple stable solutions is practically similar:
Accepting a new definition of fairness is not trivial but impossible to judge from outside. Meta-fairness might be how "fair" it is to adopt the new definition, which is also poorly defined... and when you get tired of putting another turtle under the current one you are left with the original problem.
There was a great article during the UK AV referendum about changing the voting system. In the article they manage to come up with a distribution of voters such that each system of voting would win a referendum if it was conducted under its own voting system.
– Jontia
I think that your point is that (1) as a psychological matter politicians create districts in order to produce certain outcomes, because they respond to incentives, and (2) as another sort of matter this makes the districts fail to work as they ought, although you're not sure how they ought to work. I buy that. But all the public talk about redistricting as cheating is all just nonsense?
my point is mostly a version of (1). (2) is pretty far from my thinking and certainly I wouldn't call it nonsense; just because a theory was crafted doesn't make it wrong or even disingenuous. I suggest that knowing how they ought to work is not objective; I know how I'd like things to work and I have an ethical model to support that, but it isn't a unique solution. My notion of fairness being better than anyone else's is a tautology we use judges to work around, but we choose judges fairly...
All border lines are political. Generally, proper districting improves viability, while poor districting vitiates it. Proper districting avoids bad things like:
Representatives, Governors, Executives, et al who can't even speak the language of those they represent.
Representatives who are too geographically distant to be made aware of various emergencies in their district, so that an emergency passes ungoverned before the representative ever learns of it. Electronic communications lessen this problem, but a natural disaster could disable the region's power grid, etc..
Representatives who have too little in common with those they represent to understand them.
Regions with shapes that are needlessly difficult to govern. Imagine a 100 mile straight highway contained in two cash-strapped regions that had a sine wave border with a one-mile wavelength, with the highway as the X axis, so that both regions' police would be in constant dispute over who collects speeding tickets.
Regions made unfeasible by geography, as with a town split in half by an unbridged canyon which can only be crossed by driving three towns away on either side.
...and so on. Suppose all the towns in the continental USA were arbitrarily redistricted like lines on a TV screen, into about 35,000 separate 239 ft. (from south to north) horizontal strips, (some of which would be 2600 miles long), so that nearly every town had two beaches on its east and west coasts.
Now suppose, in addition to the above, that all the USA's political districts were divided in vertical strips, (some of which would be 1500 miles long, south to north), thus maximizing chaos.
agcagc
Since the last two paragraphs describe a system objectively worse than the present system, Communisty's answer cannot be wholly correct.
– agc
I don't understand your point 2. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the context of the question, but isn't it talking at least in part about the districts which elect the US House of Representatives, who are necessarily going to spend a lot of their time in Washington DC, which in most cases is further away from their district than the distance from one side of their state to the other?
@PeterTaylor, Thanks, the word "representatives" here is perhaps too narrow, revised to "Representatives, Governors, Executives, et al" -- I had meant all elected political offices as being representatives of the people, rather than just US House Reps alone. As you note, the time lag between public emergency and response is seemingly less immediate for legislative seats, (though some civic emergencies can happen in slow motion that's nonetheless still faster than our collective response/precaution/alleviation reaction time).
Here are two good articles on the current state of play w.r.t. gerrymandering in the USA:
As these articles explain, given first-past-the-post and the districting system, a standard of 'overall efficiency gap' has been proposed as the measure to determine whether a given districting is fair or not. It seems like a good test for partisan gerrymanders that are unfair, but there would be a lot of other factors or dimensions (as discussed in the other answers - things like common economic interests) that might also make a district's representation unfair even within the efficiency threshold.
[Every time I look at the US "system" I am more thankful for what we have in Australia. This is what I would say is the real answer:
Preferential voting: so I can vote my favourite crackpot but if they aren't a contender my vote flows to whoever I nominated second, then third etc.
a non-political electoral commission that manages districting, polling-places, ballot counting etc,
weakly compulsory voting so everyone who pays taxes has to at least turn up when the government for the next four years is being chosen. You can vote informal if you want - no one will know, or you can pay a small fine for not turning up. Elections are on Saturdays. Postal ballots and early polling places are freely available.]
AtcrankAtcrank
First of all, let me restate your assumptions: "districts are useful" and "Gerrymandering is improper". I agree with both, but several people could argue (specially with the first one). So let us take them as axioms for this answer.
The reason why Gerrymandering is possible has to do with two facts:
Votes correlate very well with neighborhoods. So it is not hard to draw districts that give you a prescribed percentage of votes: for example, getting 51%, 51% and 0% would be a very good outcome for a party holding 34% of the total votes in a three-districts area.
The amount of freedom in drawing district lines is almost unlimited now. Parties have to draw something connected and respect a few other criteria, but that's it.
Since one cannot change the first item above, one could focus on the second. If each district had to be constructed following a limited set of rules, the problem could be solved. An example attempt would be the following:
Each district has to be delimited by either its own natural barriers or by (no more than six) straight lines
This would greatly limit how much leverage the party in power has to distort results and should solve the problem.
This proposal is very much related to the statistical concept of VC-dimension
Augusto T.Augusto T.
This doesn't so much answer the present question as it answers Are there any solid representative district planning strategies that can avoid gerrymandering?
Just so it's said, the concept of 'districts' — like many features of US politics — is founded in an 18th century context where social and geographical mobility was low, and the population was naturally (generationally) segregated into cultural or community-oriented enclaves. If you look at old cities around the US (Boston, Baltimore, New York City, etc.), you'll find them composed of villages, boroughs, towns, or other small settlements that were eventually mashed together into a city by growing populations, but which still retain distinct flavors or personalities. Compare that with a younger city, like Los Angeles: mainly an undifferentiated (sub)urban sprawl, where segregation occurred as a consequence of economic disparities or racial animus, not community cohesion.
In the 18th century it was meaningful to look at a map and think that the people of any given township or city-section were a long-term coherent and cohesive community that could effectively make group decisions for itself. After all, up until the late 19th or early 20th century most people died within 20 miles of where they were born. The Founders did not anticipate a world in which technology would erase almost all limitations on physical mobility, and thus assumed that political districts would be constructed out of stable, 'natural' communities with their own well-defined political interests.
While there are obviously still some 'natural' communities left in the cultural landscape, districting today almost totally ignores them. Districts have become abstract divisions: artificial communities which have no natural cohesion and thus no natural mechanisms for opinion-formation or decision-making. This has opened the system of districting to all of the political gamesmanship (e.g., gerrymandering and voter suppression) that we currently see. The only effective solution I see to this problem is to give up on geographic districting — which no longer has much meaning in the modern world — and allow voters to create intentionally abstract districts along interest lines. Thus a given state might allow (say) political non-profit groups to create districts based on interests, which would compete to get citizens to join, and then each of these groups which gathers sufficient voters would be considered a legal district for the purposes of elections. That would (at least) eliminate gerrymandering as an effective strategy, and would bring us back to something akin to the 'unified community' model the Founders relied on.
Ted WrigleyTed Wrigley
I don't really follow you. It seems to me that there are new communities, such as in Silicon Valley, where (I can imagine) people feel some commonality of interests. Would it be proper to draw the lines to include all of these people in one district? I would think that sometimes it's disadvantageous to a group to be concentrated into one district. This page (history.com/news/gerrymandering-origins-voting) suggests that creating one majority-black district and many majority-white districts has sometimes motivated gerrymandering.
@Chaim: That's part of the issue. A district in the 18th century view is organic. People have similar worldviews because they grow up in the same region, shop at the same groceries, attend the same churches, theaters, and parties... They have history together, and that shared history translates into a sense of community. The only thing people in (say) Cupertino have in common is an interest in tech. They grew up in different regions, have very different life experiences, and may not even share a common language. There's no sense of group permanence in Cupertino.
– Ted Wrigley
@Chaim. The creation of racial-majority districts is gerrymandering when it's used against the citizens: effectively lumping a lot of people of one race into a single district (so that almost half their votes are redundant) then dispersing any remaining individuals of that race into other districts so they have no possibility of achieving a majority. That wouldn't happen in the system I outlined, where people self-select their district.
First, gerrymandering is in part a response to the Feds (illegally in my opinion, "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand") limiting the number of representatives that can be seated in the House of Repesentatives. Districts are a way to divvy up the population, and should be done based upon local populations centers. With each representaive having somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand constituents.
With represnetation based upon population, the "right" way to do it would be a bit flexible, and mainly based upon a rural/urban split. In urban areas it would mainly be simple matter making sure a given area didn't have a larger population than it should.
Because the size of the House has been limited, gerrymandering offers an easy way to effectively disenfranchise a large minority of the population. And whichever side is in control tends to do so whenever they can.
Absent suddenly obeying the law, the next best thing is to have districts based on having the districts be as small as possible and evenly divided in population. Which has about the same chance as congress suddenly deciding they should obey the law....
jmorenojmoreno
Where is the answer to the question?
– Cort Ammon
@cortammon: The purpose is to divvy up the people and their representation. What should be taken as the guide is to have the repesentaion be as "local" as possible, i.e as small as possible keeping as close to the same number if people as possible.
– jmoreno
"The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand": having, say, one representative per 100,000 people is entirely consistent with this (it's about 1/3 of a rep per 30,000 people). What do you feel is being done illegally?
– Steve Melnikoff
I may be missing the point, but I think gerrymandering works on districts of all sizes; teaching examples normally use districts with less than 20 voters.
@notstoreboughtdirt: teaching examples can use whatever numbers make the math work, there are no federal representatives that represent less than 100,000 people.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged civil-rights voting-districts redistricting .
Are there any solid representative district planning strategies that can avoid gerrymandering?
What reforms have successfully avoided the issues of Gerrymandering?
Why is redistricting not an automated process?
How does gerrymandering work in the US?
What effect would the Wyoming Rule, if in place, have had on the elections since the year 2000?
Does gerrymandering risk tidal wave reversal?
What do small cities with a large portion of university and college students do with redistricting?
How could I build a political system immune to gerrymandering yet still giving local representation?
How could a US state, party or rep. go about the process of contesting the loss of a seat in the House of Representatives? (slim census margin)
How could US Congress' H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021 actually cost Black representation in the South by prohibition of partisan gerrymandering?


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You are here: Home1 / Gluten-Free News2 / Manufacturers Admit 18% of Medications Contain Gluten
Manufacturers Admit 18% of Medications Contain Gluten
March 15, 2019 /in Gluten-Free News /by Ellen Bayens
A new report says pills often contain so-called "inactive" ingredients capable of causing allergic or gastrointestinal reactions in small numbers of people sensitive to specific compounds.
Report: Ingredients in drugs can cause allergic reactions 15 Mar 2019 Times Colonist LAURAN NEERGAARD The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A man with celiac disease felt sicker after starting a new drug, but it wasn't a typical side-effect. It turns out the pills were mixed with gluten the patient knew to avoid in food — but was surprised to find hiding in medicine.
And it's hard for those patients, or even their doctors, to tell if a pill contains an extra ingredient they should avoid, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital said Wednesday. When the doctor sends a prescription, the pharmacist issues whatever the person's insurance covers — without discussion of inactive ingredients that are buried in the drug's labeling.
"There's a tremendous under-appreciation of the potential impact that inactive ingredients may have," said Dr. Giovanni Traverso, a Brigham gastroenterologist who spurred the research after his celiac patient's trouble.
Drugs contain an "active ingredient," what you hope will help your health. Patients may not realize that inactive ingredients make up the rest of the pill, substances that aren't supposed to directly affect your health. They're used to make it easier to absorb the drug, or to improve the taste or extend the shelf life.
Most people don't need to worry about inactive ingredients but the Boston researchers pointed to rare published reports of reactions in patients with allergies or intolerances to certain compounds — and called for more information about who might be at risk.
The study analyzed data on inactive ingredients from a database of more than 42,000 prescription and over-the-counter medicines. An average pill contains eight inactive ingredients, but some contain 20 or more.
Consider that 39 per cent of seniors take at least five prescription medicines daily, and even a small amount can add up, the researchers reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
About 45 per cent of the analyzed medications contained lactose. The amounts may be too small for some lactose-intolerant people to notice, but someone taking common drugs for high blood pressure and cholesterol could get about a gram a day.
A third of medications contained a food dye associated with allergic reactions.
More than half contained at least one type of sugar that people with irritable bowel syndrome are supposed to avoid.
In a recent survey, 18 per cent of manufacturers said their medications contain gluten, which can cause severe reactions if patients with celiac disease consume as little as 1.5 milligrams a day. But labels may list only innocuous "starch."
That's what happened when a patient of Traverso's experienced worsening celiac symptoms after using a common stomach acid-blocking drug, omeprazole. Traverso had to call the manufacturer to learn that particular formulation contained starch made from wheat.
Because refills can bring a different company's formulation, patients should check the label each time, he added.
ORIGINAL STUDY: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/11/483/eaau6753 (access is limited)
Tags: gluten, medication, prescription
https://theceliacscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/gluten-in-medication.png 357 323 Ellen Bayens /wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TheCeliacSceneLogo-575X156.jpg Ellen Bayens2019-03-15 13:55:232019-03-17 12:39:40Manufacturers Admit 18% of Medications Contain Gluten
Don't Trust Your Gut to Tell if You've Been Glutened
Gluten Free Drugs – Information Resource for Pharmacists and Patients
Food Recall Warning (Allergen) | Biscuits | Undeclared Egg, Milk, WHEAT
CCA Succeeds in Lobbying for Changes to Beer Labeling Requirements
Banana Diet Prescribed to Celiacs Came at a Cost Later in Life
Provide Feedback to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency about Gluten-Removed Beer
Victoria! Gluten-Free 'Stroopwafels' Have Landed! GF Keto Girl's Easter Bagel Recipe


text:
Recipe: Salted Oranges
Very salty oranges that smell lovely and fragrant but are too salty to eat alone. Combine with other dishes, raw or cooked. Recipe by Alexis Goertz, Edible Alchemy
Sustainability numbers for 2019
We take a holistic approach and measure what we achieve. Our 2019 report comes with new graphics and more details than ever before.
08/17/2020 Ecology
A closer look at ships
How environmentally damaging are container ships? It's not a simple question. With the help of professionals in Schaffhausen, we've found a clear answer: they cause less damage than the cultivation of food that is transported by ship.
"gebana money nana"
How does a Swiss company share its turnover with 2,500 family farmers in Burkina Faso? It takes a plan, modern technology, a fair share of patience and lots of enthusiasm. Text & Photos: Eleonora Gallo, gebana Berlin
07/16/2020 Bananas Fair Trade
Ripening Bananas Is Easy – Trading and Selling Them Isn't
35 years ago, the Banana Women brought bananas to Switzerland for the first time. At the time, Beat Curau would have liked to sell green bananas to bypass the need for ripening facilities. But things weren't so simple back then.
07/01/2020 Production Ecology
Good Avocado, Bad Avocado
The avocado has gone through many phases, from world-saving fruit to mass-produced food to a terrible evil that should never be bought again. But is it really so? Let's take a look at the facts.
06/17/2020 Insights Company
Life of uncertainty
Two million people depend on humanitarian aid; over half a million are refugees. Attacks and assaults, people injured and dead, a third of the country is not under state control. Life in Burkina Faso has become more dangerous. Yet we're staying put.
04/30/2020 Production
The Macadamia Way
Nearly 5000 farming families, around 450 employees and one vision that unites them all: creating value in Kenya. Sounds like gebana? Not quite.
01/30/2020 Bananas Ecology Recipes & more Fair Trade
Ripening Bananas at Home
Bananas are always the same shade of yellow. That's a shame, because we're missing out on a lot of flavour. But with a bit of know-how, we'll never have to be bored by yellow again.
Pleasant developments in Togo
For gebana Togo a successful year is slowly coming to an end. During this year, gebana Togo worked with more female farmers than ever before and acquired some new exciting customers. A new EU regulation might have had something to do with the latter.


In 1964, during his extended practice, he developed and perfected the Gonstead system of chiropractic, which is still taught today at most Chiropractic Colleges. Many doctors then and now attend the Gonstead Seminars, which were started by Dr. Gonstead to teach his system of specific adjusting to other chiropractors.
His mother then took Clarence to his aunt's chiropractor.
After several adjustments, Clarence was back on his feet.
but would change the face of chiropractic forever.
Dr. Clarence Gonstead graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1923 and opened his first office above the bank building in downtown Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. In the early years of practice, Dr. Gonstead became very interested in the vertebral disc and the mechanics of the spine. His ever expanding knowledge of caring for patients with specific chiropractic adjustments is what made Dr. Gonstead so successful at helping people regain their health. With only a small reception area, patients often overflowed into the street outside. His success grew and word spread to other Doctors of Chiropractic. They wanted to know what it was Dr. Gonstead was doing to make people travel from Iowa, South Dakota, Illinois, Michigan and eventually world-wide to be adjusted by him.
Drs. Brian and Denise have attended numerous Gonstead seminars and been mentored by doctors who practiced directly with Dr. Gonstead.


THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU for supporting the 2009 Mission Trip! We are thankful for our volunteers, our prayer partners and the people who donated items or money to make this trip possible. We leave on March 28th and return on April 3rd. Please keep us in your prayers.


text:
namespace KingSurvival.Game.GameObjects.Pieces
{
    using KingSurvival.Game.Common;
    using KingSurvival.Game.Enums;
    using KingSurvival.Game.Interfaces;

    /// <summary>
    /// Game object controlled by the players and moved on the IGameBoard via IController.
    /// </summary>
    public abstract class Piece : IPiece, IObservableGamePiece, IMovableGamePiece
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The ID by which the IPiece is recognized among others.
        /// </summary>
        private char id;

        /// <summary>
        /// The X-Y pair representing a point of the 2D space occupied by the IPiece.
        /// </summary>
        private ICoordinates coordinates;

        /// <summary>
        /// Event notifying all observers each time the IPiece moves.
        /// </summary>
        public event PieceMovedDelegate Moved;

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the ID by which the IPiece is recognized among others.
        /// </summary>
        public char ID
        {
            get
            {
                return this.id;
            }

            set
            {
                GameValidator.CheckCharIsNotLetter(value, "Piece ID");
                this.id = value;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the X-Y pair representing a point of the 2D space occupied by the IPiece.
        /// </summary>
        public ICoordinates Coordinates
        {
            get
            {
                return this.coordinates;
            }

            set
            {
                GameValidator.CheckValueIsNull(value, "Piece coordinates");
                this.coordinates = value;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Receives a Move to show if it is among the current allowed ones for the IPiece.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="move">Current Move that is going to be checked.</param>
        /// <returns>Answer whether the passed move is among the possible ones.</returns>
        public abstract bool IsValidMove(Moves move);

        /// <summary>
        /// Returns the future coordinates of the IPiece if it was to execute a current move.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="move">Current Move via which the future position of the IPiece is going to be calculated.</param>
        /// <returns>X-Y pair representing a point of the 2D space to be occupied by the IPiece.</returns>
        public abstract ICoordinates GetNewCoordinates(Moves move);

        /// <summary>
        /// Executes a move command by changing the current coordinates of the IPiece to the passed ones.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="coordinates">The new coordinates that the IPiece is going to occupy.</param>
        public void Move(ICoordinates coordinates)
        {
            if (this.Moved != null)
            {
                this.Moved(this, coordinates);
            }

            this.Coordinates = coordinates;
        }
    }
}


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text:
Robert Kozluk (ur. 5 sierpnia 1977 w Mansfield) – angielski piłkarz pochodzenia polskiego, grający w League Championship w barwach Sheffield United.

Kariera
Kozluk rozpoczął karierę w Derby County, gdzie zagrał 22 mecze. W marcu 1999 przeniósł się do Sheffield United. Był wypożyczany do Huddersfield Town, Wigan Athletic i Preston North End.

W lipcu 2007 przeszedł na zasadzie wolnego transferu do Barnsley. 12 lipca 2010 powrócił do Sheffield United.

Przypisy

Linki zewnętrzne
 Profil na barnsleyfc.co.uk

Angielscy piłkarze polskiego pochodzenia
Piłkarze Sheffield United F.C.
Piłkarze Preston North End F.C.
Piłkarze Wigan Athletic F.C.
Piłkarze Huddersfield Town F.C.
Piłkarze Derby County F.C.
Piłkarze Barnsley F.C.
Urodzeni w 1977

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


1987: As a native Dutchman, my first attempts to fly are in Sauerland (Germany). This is the beginning of a passion for flying throughout my life.
1990: I make paragliding my profession and to this day with the same pleasure and enthusiasm as back then.
1990-2000: As flight instructor I work for the biggest flight training school in the Netherlands and mostly give lessons in the South of France, Austria and Turkey and of course in the Netherlands. To this day I was able to pass along this passion for paragliding to thousands of pilots.
2000: I move to Carinthia/Austria. Here I live, where else, almost on top of a take-off site, 1000m above the valley. My wife Isolde and I start our own business. We offer commercial tandem-flights and organize flight safaris to various countries in Europe which are all accompanied by myself. Furthermore we provide rental apartments to skiers, mountain hikers and paragliders.
Currently: After thousands of flights I'll await you with the same passion and enthusiasm that I have had since 1987! Perhaps we'll see each other soon on a tandem-flight high above the Koralpe or on one of my flight safaris? I'm looking forward to seeing you!
A dream, that the tandem-flight company Touch The Sky, can make come true through a paraglide tandem flight. Merely carried by the wind, an experienced, professional pilot will take you silently along the hillsides of the Koralpe or high above right up to the clouds. It's entirely up to you; weather permitting.
Tandem-flight gift certificate, the ultimate gift idea for an unforgettable memory!
Our paraglide safaris are a safe and comfortable solution for xc-cracks as well as less experienced pilots. Everything is taken care off, so nothing can get in the way of a week of worry free flying.
XC-cracks gladly utilize our local knowledge and our return service from long distance flights.
Novice pilots, who just recently got their license and still need some assistance with strong wind takeoffs or thermal flying, appreciate our experience and our tips.
An epicurean pilot appreciates that everything is taken care off! No tedious searching for the ideal starting or landing site. Where is the best takeoff site with the current weather condition? Where do I stay overnight? How do I return?
Hammertage auf der Koralpe in Kärnten. Es gibt nog einige freie Plätze auf die flugsafaris nach die Karawanken/Slovenien in Mai und nach Friaul und Kärnten in Juli. Wer Interesse hat bitte bald melden per Mail.
Hammertag auf der Koralpe, die Frühlings Thermik ist schon längst wieder da.
Another day in paradise. Fliegen von der Koralpe, was das Zeug hält.
Erste Thermik Tage auf der Koralpe!


text:
← 'The Mirror and the Light' by Hilary Mantel
'Oil Under Troubled Water' by Bernard Collaery →
I hear with my little ear: Podcasts 25-30 June
Heather Cox Richardson. I really am enjoying her 'chats' (which are an hour long- she has a lot to say!) In her History of the Republican Party Part II she talks about the relationship between Lincoln's view of equality and the economics of the Civil War. In order to provide what the people wanted (as distinct from what the oligarchs deemed to give them), income tax was introduced to provide a source of income when many of the eastern seaboard ports were confederate controlled. In a way, this was a bit of a repetition of her history of income tax in last week's History and Politics Chat.
In the History and Politics Chat of June 23rd she talks about the history of policing. She points out that in the north, policing had its roots in maintaining public order while in the south it was based on slave patrols. Police forces became corrupted by their ownership by the city municipal bodies; eventually they broke through to become professionalized, then went to the other extreme by taking on 'scientific techniques' which saw a lot of people jailed incorrectly. Then she went on to talk about newspapers. At first newspapers, in their four pages, provided 'what an educated man needed to know'; but from the 1840s onwards became increasingly partisan. The Fairness Doctrine of the 1920s, which insisted on the presentation of both sides of an argument, was repealed under Reagan in the 1980s, leading us to our current phenomenon of Fox 'news' (which is entertainment, not news). She finishes with a question about women in the political sphere, pointing out that under 2nd wave feminism in the 1970s there were women in politics and as journalists. Her most recent book How the South won the Civil War ends with the hope that women, by voting differently to men, will rescue America from Trump.
The Music Show. Does the world really need a three volume opus on the Beatles? Mark Lewisohn's 'The Beatles: All These Years – Volume 1 – Tune In' is a 1000 page book, with two others yet to go. I think that this program The Beatles- the early years was recorded a few years back, but it's well worth a listen. Lewisohn is a historian as well as a fan, and so he has written a fascinating social history of 1950s Liverpool, which includes a consideration of the 1944 Education Act (which made a grammar school education available to bright children) and the abolition of national service (which freed the Beatles to go to Germany as 18 year olds) as influences on the Beatles. They play some really unusual tracks during the program too.
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