Books for mike to read

moon is a harsh mistress
marooned in real time

dresden? denise or mike ?

Prachett

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

Terry Pratchett

dresden

dresden Changes ... The took our daughter. Dresden being trained by Mab to survive ... Dresden having it pointed out, that he spent the last 20 years making Molly fall MADLY, DEEPLY in love with him. Molly and .. MOLLY ... the prison on the island .... DAMN The Wall The moment that he realizes that the scree on the other side of the wall ... is unending mountains of bones ... so many of the most awesome amazing scenes ... when the Gatekeeper explains to Dresden ... that he is THE HELP Starborn?! FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Almost Human

2048
stupid anachronisms

1) cars and trucks ... vehicles, esp government will all be electric.
diesel trucks? LOL

2) therefore,  cars will be silent on the roads ...

3) radio reception - LOL car radio reception will not be an issue ... digital, satellite, etc etc etc

4) magic explosive shields, that arent used as body armor or everything else? LOL

5) drugs are bad - lol

6) energy shortages - LOL

7) THE WALL - LOL
where the losers live
ayn rand would love this silliness

Hannibal TV series - real horror

I figured out what I have liked so much about Hannibal (tv series).
It was obvious, but took a few days.

It is horror. OLD SCHOOL HORROR.
It is mostly in your mind HORROR.
None of that JUMP OUT AND SCARE you pretend "horror".

Is there blood? yes, but not enough to really.
Are there ... sliced this and thats? of course, but ... not gratuitous.
(If you were able to watch Silence of the Lambs, you can watch this.)

BUT ... what the part that was/is terrifying is all in my mind.
Hannibal is slicing a kidney for kidney pie (which is super yummy!).  And you freak out. Why??? It is NOT a human kidney. Duh!  But your mind has told you that it is.  And the terror is fully realized.  You dont need to see him spurting blood while cutting it out, etc etc etc. That isnt scary, that is banal.

But when so and so, sits down to eat at Hannibal's house, you KNOW that the person is about to unknowingly become a cannibal. That alone makes your gorge rise. And it is all in your mind.

shudder

hillary iraq

In her 2014 memoir, "Hard Choices," Clinton changed tack, fessing up and saying that she had relied heavily on prewar intelligence about Saddam's programs to build weapons of mass destruction. "I should have stated my regret sooner and in the plainest, most direct language possible," she wrote. She went on, "I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn't alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple."

winning in 2016 ... 2015 05 19

Yup. Here's to hoping that Hillary understands now, how Obama beat her, and replicates/copies pretty much everything that was done on the data/internet/tech side of the campaign.  It is clear that the GOP in 2012 read what Obama did, but completely failed to understand how he did it.  And completely failed to execute.

TL;DR - after a quick look, I am much less worried. There is too much risk and too little gain. Only Michigan is a threat right now.

As to the Nebraska model, are there even bills being put forth in states these days?
It could only happen in states with a GOP governor and controlled state house, that is blue ...
This would really only work in swing states.
And you have to wonder ... how much of a risk is this?

Pick Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada. Do you concede that you cant win it all, so try to get part? And then only get part of the votes when you win the state?  It would be a giant risk.
Split house - so no chance of a change
Iowa
Virgina

gop control of all - so maybe, but is it really worth the risk??
Floriduh
Nevada
Wisconsin
Ohio


My guess ... is that in the end, there is serious risk in making these changes.
Michigan!
Michigan would be your best bet.
The GOP controls the state, but lost by 10%.  So they have much to gain and little to lose.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/02/vote-electoral-c ol lege-change/19788725/
They were pushing a bill, but tabled it. 
Shudder.

Nevada
http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/
Nevada is already part of the NPV!!
I wonder how much work it would take to repeal that law and replace it with a proportional electoral vote law