Politics

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.

No news, I guess is good news

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No news, I guess is good news. 📰

I listen to the news from time to time, but less and less, because it seems like there is absolutely no news anymore to listen to — it’s like NPR is just vamping for time. About the only thing newsworthy is climate change, as the northeast floods and gets smoked out, and the partisan extremists pontificate about how wonderful they are. I guess the grafters can’t be bothered to come up with decent news stories to distract the public’s attention with anymore.

Dully Noted

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Duly Noted

A safe-for-work way to tell a smart ass “Fuck You.” Usually said in a serious tone.