Go Vote!

Just because you can’t stand the two major party candidates doesn’t mean your vote doesn’t count.  If you’re disgusted, this would be the best time to express that disgust.  If you don’t speak up now, they’re going to get the impression that you approve of their performance.

And don’t forget, there are a lot of downticket candidates who need your support.  Plus, there are third party candidates who you might feel more comfortable with.  Just because you think they can’t win doesn’t mean your vote isn’t important to them.  In some cases, states won’t recognize emergent parties unless their candidates get votes or write in support.  So, if you ever want to have true choice, and not the standard Pete and RePete choices every four years, support your local third party candidates.  Don’t worry about who ultimately wins or loses.  Failures should be assigned to the politician who did not address your concerns and issues.  Now is the time to let your elected officials know what you *do* support.

And this morning, I can confirm at least one vote for Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts from the voter to the left, Number #1 child in Framingham.  (She says she wrote in Steven Colbert for president but I don’t believe her.  There are some things your kids do that you just don’t want to know.)

You have only one vote.  Make it count!

Filler post: Countdown to 10,000,000!

While we’re waiting for the news…

We’re about 11,000 hits away from 10,000,000, Conflucians!  We should have a party.  Got any ideas?  Post them below.  Mine include: a radio show, cocktail party, fundraiser thingy.

I heard a very interesting podcast from the BBC History magazine for the month of November.  The first part had to do with Lincoln and the issue of slavery that lead to the Civil War.  It will give you a new perspective on Republicans, Democrats, Whigs, and a couple of other parties that were viable at the time, as well as a different take on which party was the one supporting entrepreneurial expansion in the west.  The second part is about the origins of Mischief Night, which, by the way, roughly corresponds to The Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear that Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are throwing on the National Mall on October 30, 2010.  Coincidence?  Hmmm, I wonder.  Are they planning to soap the windows at the White House and festoon the cherry trees on the mall?  Sounds like fun!  I want to be there.

In case you hadn’t heard, Benoit Mandelbrot, mathematician estraordinaire discoverer of Chaos theory, the Mandelbrot Set and Fractal fame, died yesterday of pancreatic cancer.  Think of him the next time you see a butterfly, a feather or pick up a cauliflower in your produce department.

Here’s a musical tribute to Mandelbrot courtesy of Jonathan Coulton.  Yep, that was one badass f^&(ing fractal.

And here’s a piece on Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, and Benoit Mandelbrot on the financial crisis of 2008.  Short take: They were scared $@!^less.