Theo in Arlington

old mattress

garden hose

takeout coffee cup, lid, collar

2025 Washington Nationals schedule and cup

Know where it goes for proper disposal. Check the Arlington Solid Waste Bureau's online database for things like mattresses, garden hoses, takeout coffee cups and seasonal detritus. www.arlingtonva.us/Government/P...

I liked listening to indie house beats between an mc with an accent, pretending I was visiting an exotic foreign land.

Ok I'm buying a plane ticket now. I have a passport. Is "complaining to the King about the BBC" a valid reason for a tourist visa?

China has The Great Firewall so the British version must be Hadrian’s Firewall then?

Screenshot of the BBC Sounds app stating the BBC sounds app is closed for anyone living outside the UK.

Ok who do I complain to about this?

I'll just say give a quick follow to @walterolson.bsky.social if you have not already. Great writer on election law and all-around great guy, even if he is a Marylander.

39) And with that the #CatoEvents panel hosted by @walterolson.bsky.social on #RCV, the NYC mayoral race, & other election reforms comes to an end. This was a fun panel from @cato.org & gave me lots to chew over as I get ready to launch some election reform projects of my own (stay tuned, folks).

Open list - Wikipedia

38) Ketcham believes proportional representation holds "unique promise" in our cities, but favors "open list" proportional representation system rather than single transferrable vote (STV) of RCV b/c history. All but 1 city that had STV in mid-20th century has dropped it b/c "vote leakage".

Uniform Congressional District Act - Wikipedia

37) @davedaley.bsky.social notes proportional representation probably wouldn't be as difficult as a constitutional amendment. We first need to overturn the 1967 law mandating single-member districts.

Beyer proposes overhaul of congressional maps to combat gerrymandering | ARLnow.com A new bill with the backing of U.S. Rep. Don Beyer is seeking to redraw congressional lines to combat gerrymandering and improve representation. The measure, called the Fair Representation Act, was in...

36) quick aside to @walterolson.bsky.social. Note that our own @beyer.house.gov is on a similar quixotic quest for (pseudo) proportional representation w/ RCV, given new life with the gerrymandered nuclear winter we are about to enter. A unified NoVA district, anyone?

35) McArdle throws some cold water on Olsen's hope for proportional representation, saying it was driven by educated progressives who saw it as a solution to Republicans gerrymandering their way into a majority, but that's not true anymore, and therefore constituency for it has gone away.

34) @walterolson.bsky.social shares mixed feelings about proportional representation, sharing McArdle's general skepticism on this particular issue. But loves our federalism, and even "giddy" seeing reforms introduced in states.

33) Ketcham states the importance of giving voters more information, such as party indicators, on ballots b/c voters often don't research, and they want that info in a more complex system such as RCV. Needed in this "fractured media landscape".

32) @davedaley.bsky.social actually answers the question. ME & AK have "deep traditions" of independent and "non-traditional" politics w/ "3rd, 4th, and 5th" parties, so wild results happen and voters there are often fine with it. Sticks with good governance and need to "stay on the job" and adjust.

31) oh yeah, McArdle goes on to say "virtually every good governance reform" such as term limits, anti-earmarks, campaign finance reform, primary reforms, etc. "have instead made it MUCH worse". Also blames national media. Does... does she know where she works? 👀

TL;DR of responses from Megan McArdle at this #CatoEvents is basically "Things are broken. So we must solve it with even more partisanship. #RankedChoiceVoting is bad because it weakens political parties, who are the only groups able to get things done." 🤨🤨

30) next Q: why the strange RCV results in AK elections? McArdle cites rural low population and then meanders on to say even local elections are national elections now, especially in NYC. Says federal budget & debt ceiling are only passed b/c party discipline, so weakening parties is bad 🥴🥴🥴

29) taking Q's from the audience, asking why RCV results take so long in this age of computers? @davedaley.bsky.social points out the problems in 2021 was RCV, instead NYC election office errors w/ tabulation. Ketcham also adds far-flung jurisdictions in AK & ME as culprits.

28) RCV reforms have failed in state-wide referendums, but done well in big cities, which continue to adopt RCV. It may be b/c voters in big cities, which are often Dem dominated, are so tired of everything decided in the primary w/ expensive run-offs, according to @walterolson.bsky.social.

27) @davedaley.bsky.social believes primaries are the best place to start testing RCV b/c they involve smaller numbers of voters. This doesn't preclude RCV later being adopted in general elections. "Timing is everything" when it comes to change.

26) Ketcham believes @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social would have won anyway b/c of innovative campaigning with video, walking the streets, and simple messaging. Worries people use RCV as an excuse to not do anything more, such as non-partisan primary reforms.

25) McArdle gives reasons for her skepticism: past support of reforms which she now believes produced bad outcomes. Term limits, for example. Now "naturally suspicious" to change anything.

24) @walterolson.bsky.social politely pushes back on McArdle by saying RCV isn't what is taking power away from political parties, but rather campaign finance is. Also national parties are not affected much by what goes on in local election reforms & won't change strength of those parties locally.

23) moving on from Arlington, the beacon of light in the darkness, the center of the universe, the community that binds all of creation together, @walterolson.bsky.social lists ways political parties feel they have lost control over who gets nominated. "Can't get worse" as he nervously chuckles.

22) @walterolson.bsky.social continues using our excellent community as an example w/ 2023 electing a pro-development candidate @maureencoffeyva.bsky.social and a #MissingMiddle skeptic @susanforarlington.bsky.social. I should note the full-on NIMBY didn't make it, despite being #2 in the 1st round.

Civic Federation Mulls Possible Reforms to Arlington Government, Elections | ARLnow.com A civic group is discussing a major departure from elections that, if adopted by the County, could change how voting works here.

21) and FYI @walterolson.bsky.social: more election reforms may be coming to Arlington as our CivFed and other advocates push hard for it.

...now back to the regular programming...

DEVELOPING: JD Spain, Sr. elected to County Board, Dem endorsees to School Board | ARLnow.com Arlington and Falls Church residents went to the polls today to vote for president, local offices and everything in between. As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, the results show -- unsurprisingly -- strong supp...

20) #ArlingtonVA mentioned 🎉. @walterolson.bsky.social refers to us when RCV was first implemented in primaries but not general election out of fear a Republican may slip in. Point of correction, Walter: Arlington now uses RCV in the general too, as of last year, although it wasn't needed.

19) @walterolson.bsky.social jumps in to explain how RCV tends to behave differently in primaries vs general elections, with effects of 3rd parties not in primaries, for example.

18) Continuing to pushback on McArdle & Ketcham's skepticism, @davedaley.bsky.social reiterates that RCV still likely helped @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social by helping his campaign get off the ground. Points out Mamdani started w/ 1% polling as a "bottom" candidate but surged up w/ smart use of RCV.