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Open Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re: Electoral Reform

Dear Mr Prime Minister,

Last week’s US presidential election results came as a shock to most Canadians. We expected cooler heads to prevail given the options on ballot. They didn't, and for the next four years we'll see our largest trading partner under the helm of an authoritarian right wing demagogue reality TV star. Except the story of Trump's win is troubling when you look past the immediate election results. First, the popular vote is out of step with the electoral collage. More people voted for the "loser" of the election than the "winner". Second, the voter turnout was an appalling 50%. Which, if you do the math, means the president's mandate is from just shy of 25% of the population.

Why am I describing things you probably already know about an election in another country? Because we are vulnerable to the same thing here in Canada. In 2011, Stephen Harper's conservatives obtained a majority parliament with 40% of the popular vote. The other 62% of votes were cast for more progressive governance (Liberal, NDP, Bloc, Green). But it gets worse: only 61% of the population voted. Harper's "majority" mandate was from only 24% of the voting population.

Just like our American friends, we are also vulnerable to an impassioned minority taking full control of the government by taking an apathetic and disinterested population by surprise. I'm sure many Canadians think Trump couldn't happen here, but it could. It's now happened to our two closest spiritual neighbours, in England with the Brexit vote and now in the United States. You, Mr. Prime Minister are in a unique position. Part of your campaign platform was electoral reform. A Trump-like right wing demagogue will arise in Canada, and you can act now to protect our future.

End First-Past-The-Post in favour of some variety of alternative voting. I’m sure you and your associates can come up with a better system. It doesn’t need to be perfect but it does need to be better.

Make vote-by-mail the standard. This would have the side benefit of a helping hand to a struggling Canada Post. In Oregon this election, the voter turnout was 75% (well above the national average) due in large part to the simplicity and convenience of voting in that state.

Make voting day a national holiday. Having to work on voting day disenfranchises the working poor. Employers are "required" to give voters time off on voting day, but employers are required to do a lot of things they regularly don’t do.

This will go a long way to protect voting, and require the reigning government to have a mandate from the majority of the people. If you believe in democracy, which I'm sure you do, I know you wouldn't want any party to hold power without the will of the people. I’m sure you and your team can think of many other ways to protect our democracy. Limiting the PMOs power, for example. Banning omnibus bills also springs to mind. I’m not a lawmaker, so I leave this to your better judgement, but please please please please act now.

Thanks for your time, Cory

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"moDernisT" was created using the techniques described below on material from the song "Tom's Diner", famously used as one of the main songs in the listening tests used to develop the MP3 encoding algorithm. Here we find the form of the song intact, but the details are just remnants of the original, scrambled artifacts hinting at what once was.

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If you watch this video as a Tim and Eric sketch, it's fucking hilarious.

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A tribute to Nirvana's "In Utero" by a selection of bands from Toronto. Curated by Hand Drawn Dracula, Greys and The Wooden Sky. Mastered by Gavin Gardiner. www.handdrawndracula.com

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I'd love to know what you think! It's free!

Get Tropix on the App Store. See screenshots and ratings, and read customer reviews.

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Ryan North's TEDx talk on TIME TRAVEL is great.

Why not start your morning by learning all about… time travel?  This is my TEDxUofT talk that just went online TODAY, and it features JOKES and MESSING WITH THE TIMELINE.  It is called “A Time Traveller’s Primer”.

I hope you like it!

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Faraday Cage: TV vs Reality.

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Amazing Gaga cover by @follyandthehunter

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“In one recent study, more than 100 university psychologists were asked to rate the CVs of Dr. Karen Miller or Dr. Brian Miller, fictitious applicants for an academic tenure-track job. The CVs were identical, apart from the name. Yet strangely, the male Dr. Miller was perceived (by both male and female reviewers) to have better research, teaching, and service experience than the luckless female Dr. Miller. Overall, about three-quarters of the psychologists thought that Dr. Brian was hirable, while only just under half had the same confidence in Dr. Karen. The same researchers also sent out applications for the position of tenured professor, again identical but for the male and female name at the top. This time, the application was so strong that most of the raters thought that tenure was deserved, regardless of sex. However, the endorsement of Karen’s application was four times more likely to be accompanied by cautionary caveats scrawled in the margins of the questionnaire: such as, ‘I would need to see evidence that she had gotten these grants and publications on her own’ and ‘We would have to see her job talk.’”

Cordelia Fine, Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference (via cockchomp)

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Lead singer, looking for backing band. I play post-ironic soul music inspired by Thom Yorke, Janelle Monae, and Daft Punk. Looking for reliable musicians with similar influences.

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∞ suplex ∞

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We’re pleased to announce the release of PhotoDog for iOS. While some might say “oh, that’s CatPaint, but with dogs” we like to think it’s a different breed. PhotoDog marks a new pinnacle in animal-enhanced photography, and an end to laying down newspaper and filling your pockets with dog treats whenever you want to have dogs in your photos.

App Store

Website

Twitter

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"But in your position, that is a risk."

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I made a blog about how swarms of things are both horrifying and fascinating. Even the cutest thing starts to become grotesque when there are too many of them. Grotesque but fascinating.