Politics

Am I a Conservative?

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Am I a Conservative?

The answer is probably no, although I respect the ideas and agree with conservatives on some issues. I am not a big believer of tradition for the sake of tradition nor do I salute government employees just for serving the people, whatever that really means.

You might say I’m a libertarian, skeptical of government power which I often see as driven by bigotry and a misunderstanding of others rather than an actual desire to do good.

That said, there is a role in government for protecting citizens from misdeeds of large corporations and for investing in the commons that can be enjoyed by all like our wild lands and libraries.

I do worry about the costs of an ever growing government that increasingly is unwilling to confront its own supporters for the sake of what’s right or fair, one that’s unwilling to take on the hard problems like climate change or even the growing debt on all levels of government. Problems don’t go away by ignoring them.

I’m not sure what all the answers are, but I am skeptical of all political power and just see more and more of government driven by biogtry rather than thoughtful debate and discussion.

February 2021 Active Enrollment by County

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February 2021 Active Enrollment by County

DEM REP CON WOR OTH BLANK
COUNTY
Albany 50.8 18.1 1.7 0.4 4.7 24.3
Allegany 21.5 50.7 1.7 0.5 5.3 20.3
Bronx 74.8 5.8 0.4 0.4 2.0 16.6
Broome 37.0 34.4 1.3 0.5 5.7 21.1
Cattaraugus 29.1 40.7 2.4 0.5 5.4 21.9
Cayuga 31.6 36.7 2.9 0.6 4.6 23.6
Chautauqua 31.2 34.9 2.5 0.6 5.9 24.9
Chemung 29.4 40.6 1.6 0.4 6.0 21.9
Chenango 24.2 44.5 1.7 0.5 5.8 23.2
Clinton 36.3 30.8 1.1 0.5 6.9 24.4
Columbia 39.2 26.9 2.3 0.5 5.7 25.4
Cortland 31.6 36.1 1.6 0.4 6.0 24.3
Delaware 28.5 42.3 1.7 0.4 5.7 21.4
Dutchess 37.0 27.7 1.9 0.4 5.7 27.2
Erie 47.2 25.1 2.4 0.5 4.1 20.6
Essex 29.8 42.1 1.0 0.2 6.9 20.1
Franklin 37.4 33.7 1.3 0.4 6.1 21.1
Fulton 22.6 48.9 1.9 0.5 5.5 20.5
Genesee 23.4 44.6 2.6 0.4 5.4 23.6
Greene 27.4 37.9 2.5 0.4 6.0 25.7
Hamilton 21.2 58.0 1.6 0.1 4.1 15.0
Herkimer 24.5 47.7 1.8 0.3 6.9 18.8
Jefferson 27.3 41.9 1.6 0.4 4.9 23.9
Kings 70.5 8.7 0.3 0.3 2.0 18.2
Lewis 22.5 52.1 1.8 0.2 5.0 18.4
Livingston 26.0 43.3 2.3 0.3 5.2 22.8
Madison 27.4 38.5 2.1 0.5 6.8 24.7
Monroe 42.3 26.2 1.7 0.4 4.6 24.9
Montgomery 31.2 35.6 2.4 0.4 5.8 24.6
Nassau 39.6 30.7 1.0 0.2 3.4 25.2
New York 70.7 7.8 0.2 0.2 2.5 18.7
Niagara 37.0 33.8 2.6 1.0 5.5 20.1
Oneida 33.0 37.8 1.6 0.4 6.4 20.8
Onondaga 38.5 27.4 1.6 0.4 5.2 26.9
Ontario 30.1 37.0 2.0 0.3 5.5 25.2
Orange 37.7 30.3 1.9 0.4 5.4 24.3
Orleans 21.9 47.8 2.4 0.5 4.7 22.7
Oswego 23.8 45.5 2.4 0.4 5.0 22.9
Otsego 31.6 38.1 1.5 0.4 6.2 22.3
Putnam 31.2 33.8 2.6 0.3 5.5 26.6
Queens 63.7 11.0 0.4 0.3 2.3 22.3
Rensselaer 31.6 24.7 4.3 1.9 7.2 30.3
Richmond 41.3 31.1 1.4 0.3 3.3 22.5
Rockland 46.4 23.2 2.3 0.4 3.8 24.0
Saratoga 29.4 37.0 1.6 0.3 5.7 25.9
Schenectady 40.3 23.9 3.3 0.8 5.1 26.7
Schoharie 25.4 39.9 2.8 0.5 6.9 24.6
Schuyler 27.6 41.0 1.9 0.5 6.3 22.7
Seneca 30.6 38.7 2.1 0.5 5.6 22.3
St.Lawrence 34.7 35.1 1.6 0.4 6.1 22.1
Steuben 23.9 49.4 1.7 0.4 4.7 19.9
Suffolk 34.5 30.9 2.0 0.4 4.5 27.7
Sullivan 36.2 30.9 2.3 0.5 4.7 25.4
Tioga 25.8 44.6 1.6 0.3 5.9 21.8
Tompkins 54.9 18.7 0.7 0.4 4.3 20.9
Ulster 41.4 23.1 2.0 0.5 4.9 28.2
Warren 27.4 42.3 1.6 0.3 6.1 22.2
Washington 25.1 41.7 1.9 0.4 6.2 24.6
Wayne 24.4 40.8 2.8 0.5 5.1 26.5
Westchester 50.2 20.0 1.2 0.2 3.7 24.7
Wyoming 20.8 48.4 2.5 0.4 4.3 23.7
Yates 24.2 47.0 1.8 0.4 5.5 21.2

Data Source: New York State Board of Elections, Percentage of Active enrolled voters. Darker colors represent counties with the highest percentage of voters enrolled in that particular party.

Ostrichs!

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Some humor from a guy that I find often quite funny.

I was able to get 45 counties out of the 62 counties in New York State’s election districts shapefiles for my use in future years from public online sources. 🐴 🐘

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I was able to get 45 counties out of the 62 counties in New York State’s election districts shapefiles for my use in future years from public online sources. 🐴 🐘

That’s not all of the counties but the only big one I couldn’t get was Nassau County and I’m less interested in that county for my personal interest compared to Upstate counties. But I have Suffolk County, Westchester County, Rockland County and New York City. The last three were official shapefiles on their website, while Suffolk was on their county REST/Server.

I also got all of the North Country, along with Chautauqua, Erie, Onondaga, Oneida, Broome, Schenectady, Albany and Rennselear County. Many but not all of the hick counties – but they are so Republican, they probably aren’t interesting to analyze. I could not get Columbia or Dutchess County as neither county posts them or has a public REST/Services.

Monroe County was a bitch as their REST/Server requires an API Token from their online mapper but once you present the token with the proper query of the sever it’s happy to give you the GeoJson of the election districts.

I took careful notes on where I got the files from so my hope is in early 2022 once state redistricting is done I can go back to the county websites and REST/Services and get the new election districts and use them to create super EDs and crosswalk tables and compare old results to current results.

It was a lot of tedious work but I think it will be very useful in the coming years…

‘Dark Money’ Is Threatening The Elections Of 2020, 2024 : NPR

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Jane Mayer: ‘Dark Money’ Is Threatening The Elections Of 2020, 2024 : NPR

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer says the Arizona audit is an unprecedented undertaking, with potentially explosive consequences for American democracy.

Mayer notes that although the audit appears to be the work of local extremists, it's actually being funded by sophisticated national organizations whose boards of directors include some of the country's wealthiest and highest-profile conservatives.

Garbage Recycling and Solar Gardens ♻

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Garbage Recycling and Solar Gardens ♻

The cidiot sticks a small recycling bin next three large garbage bags every week and is so proud of all they are doing for recycle their garbage. They ignore the dumpster full of debris buried in the landfill after their last attic purge, the discarded appliances, the roofing material and their junked car. But they recycled their cans and bottles, so virtuous.

Because the cidiot believes in global warming, they are so proud to have subscribed to a solar garden, hundreds of acres of farm field or forests paved over with solar panels and electrical equipment. They call it a garden, because they seeded some pollinator friendly plants around the solar panels and access roads. Ignoring the fact that electrons are completely fungible and it’s impossible to know if the trickle of electrons from the solar facilities is actually the ones you are burning or essentially just a marketing job by the big utilities.

Then I could go on and on about the endless marketing of other green products that fill my advertising feeds. The reusable makeup brushes, the bamboo tooth brushes. Buy more stuff, the green stuff, the landfill is waiting for it.

I just hate green marketing as it sells a delusion and a falsehood to the urban consumer. It legitimizes consumption, it makes it feel okay to buy, use and throw away at a fevered pitch. While I get why marketers want to make a profit, they way they play on the emotions of the urban consumer is terrible.