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All posts by Harry Underwood
Progressive Federalism: Bifurcate All the Things
The 10-5 en banc decision by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which blocks laws in Mississippi and Texas allowing for ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day, will likely be appealed by SCOTUS, which may very well allow for the ruling to stand nationwide for federal elections. This, alongside congressional action supporting the SAVE Act which would double-block noncitizens from voting in all federal elections, shows where things are headed under Trump-Musk.
Under the shadow of this regime, perhaps the most expensive part of progressive federalism will be the bifurcation between state and federal functions, even if for progressive ends.
But in terms of vital elections, postal mail and the census, blue states will need to separate as much of their operations from those of the federal government in order to legally and functionally protect themselves and their citizens from federal overreach, reject federal funding, and maintain their sovereignty.
Bifurcation is a major, inevitable part of progressive federalism, no matter how high the price tag. It will allow blue states to innovate in favor of their residents, even in times such as these.
Bifurcated voter rolls and state elections
Separate voter rolls for state-local and federal elections would protect blue state elections from federal overreach:
- In addition, it would protect permanent residents who wish to vote in select local elections.
- Protect LGBTQ voters
- Allow for holding (preferably consolidated) state and local elections on a separate date from the federal election
Like Obamacare, this is a Heritage Foundation idea which can be repurposed for progressive ends. Arizona, since 2014, has been the pioneer in pursuing this idea, as voters who are unable to provide hard documentary evidence of citizenship are only able to register as “federal-only” voters under Arizona law until they are able to provide such evidence.
The progressive response would be to switch it somewhat: “federal-only” ballot (general or special) for those who can provide such evidence of citizenship, “state-only” ballot (on another date) for those who can’t.
To reiterate, this will also help blue states who want to hold general elections on a date separate from the federal election, possibly in an odd year. I would like to see state, local and lower elections held together on Sundays or Saturdays.
And any worry that this would overburden election works should be eased by making the state legislature (1) unicameral (2) termed to four years and (possibly 3) staggered.
Separate state census
The United State Census Bureau cannot be the only survey agency in town anymore. As it is coming close to adding a citizenship question and has repeatedly failed to institute requested reforms such as identifying incarcerated prisoners to help end prison gerrymandering, it is perhaps time to bring back state censuses. This would also be beneficial for LGBTQ residents who have not been correctly identified in past censuses.
Separate state postal service
- An example of “local post”
- Complete with separate postage stamps, letter boxes and mail trucks
- Protection from the Comstock Act and other federal censorships (i.e., on obscenity)
- Postal banking (which was previously a feature of the USPS from 1911 to 1966)
- Vital for carrying state-level mail ballots
- Potential state census assistance
State communications commission
The FCC has been beset by conservative opposition for decades when it comes to regulatory capacity, especially when it comes to issues such as net neutrality. Now that conservatives have control over the FCC, blue states (like California) have the opportunity to stake out more regulatory power over communications within their borders, even within constitutional boundaries. The time for state communications commissions is upon us.
Interstate election security compacts
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) is a good example of a nonprofit foundation acting as a de facto interstate compact commission in its assistance to state governments, namely in maintaining voter rolls.
Now Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is making such a move regarding protection of elections from foreign interference:
After the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) cut funding to its election security programs, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) is taking matters into his own hands and forming an alternative program to fill CISA’s void for state and local election offices.
According to a memo obtained by Democracy Docket, Fontes’ office wants to form a new organization called VOTE-ISAC, “an independent organization committed to safeguarding elections and restoring international confidence in the integrity of our democratic processes.” The idea for the program is to fill the void left by CISA’s crucial Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC).
A spokesperson for Fontes’ office told Democracy Docket that he started work on this plan well before CISA cut its EI-ISAC program and has already been in touch with different states and stakeholders to get on board with the proposal.
We need more of this, in the absence of federal support. In addition:
- Interstate replacements for the FEC regarding campaign finance
- Interstate Replacement for the EAC for election standards,
- Interstate redistricting clearinghouse which eases disputes between states regarding redistricting at all levels.
Protect voters’ rights to free and fair elections
And of course, it is a good time to pass legislation like:
- State Voting Rights Act
- Independent Redistricting amendment
- Universal vote-by-mail
- Right to free and fair elections amendment
- Multi-winner proportional representation for state and local elections
- Campaign financing regulations for ballot initiatives
State DARPA and defense intelligence
The firings of professionals, including TGNC individuals, from military and civilian service in the federal government have opened a door for expanding state defense force capabilities.
A research and development (R&D) office under a state defense force can help to hire some of these trained professionals back into the realm of military science, research, development and innovation without federal interference.
This proposal would establish a minimal operation which, if allowed, can expand further based upon the wishes of the legislature and the needs of the SDF command structure.
In addition, it would allow for the hiring of those who wish to continue pursuing trained, intelligence-related work, particularly in the field of geospatial intelligence.
Finally, it would fit into the larger purpose of redirecting all feasible resources in the larger state military department (which usually runs both the National and State Guards under a state adjutant general) to within and under the state defense force specifically, as the state can no longer expect the Department of Defense of the United States to abide by shared values.
And more
interstate equivalents to CDC, Department of Education, HHS, NPS, HUD, etc.
Rep Zephyr’s speech flips 13 Republicans, trans bills die in Montana
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The ANTI Cybertruck has Arrived, and People are Angry
A defense contractor quietly built one of the weirdest vehicles ever: A duck shaped truck for the US Postal Service.
🧡 Support me on Patreon: https://ift.tt/gHj7XRO🎵 Use the Songs I used in this video in your own YouTube Videos (Free Trial): https://ift.tt/xQRZhB1
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💜 Contact me on Discord: @mindthemap
📬 You can find my email address on my channel page – business & sponsorship inquiries welcome!Chapters with time-stamps:
0:00 If a Duck ducked a Platypus
0:23 People are Angry & Confused
0:48 Function over Form
1:07 The old Trucks were a Nightmare
1:23 Endless Improvements
1:59 A Win for Everyone on the Road
2:32 Increasing Pedestrian Survival Rate
2:55 A Defense Company built this?
3:10 Sued into Electricity
3:39 My Car of the Year
3:55 Thank you Patreon Supporters!Number of subscribers at the time of uploading this video: 34.532
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Elections for Most Statewide Executives Should Be Nonpartisan
In Georgia (for example), if we insist on holding elections for most statewide executive offices, these offices should be made nonpartisan:
- Secretary of State
- Attorney General
- State Superintendent of Schools
- Labor Commissioner
- Agriculture Commissioner
- Insurance and Fire Commissioner
- Public Service Commissioner
I would like to see the above change appended to SB 14, which would make district attorney and solicitor general elections nonpartisan. Hell, add it to sheriff elections as well.
None of these should be subject to the partisan primary filter or party labels.
Deleting Facebook and Twitter at 38
I turned 38 on February 5.
I have had a Facebook account since November 2005, which I created while I was a freshman at Oglethorpe University, when college classmates were encouraging each other to create a Facebook profile to converse with each other, back when smartphones weren’t a thing yet, back when most computers on campus were connected using DSL.
In 2016-2017, I deactivated that account, in which so many of the “friends” from earlier in my life, from Warner Robins and Macon State and Oglethorpe were not too keen on my increasingly “political” posts, and created this account.
What has transpired over the last month should not have been the impetus for me to do this, and I know that I should have done this years ago.
I am now about to delete this account, that previous account, and maybe two other accounts. Not merely deactivate, but delete them entirely. No more of me on here.
This month, I’ve marked three Twitter accounts, two Instagram, two Threads, and four Facebook profiles for deletion, which should finish by the beginning of March.
This will be a new experience for me. Taking greater charge of the data I write about myself, of downloading and backing up what I can take, even of deleting what Facebook won’t let me download (i.e., group posts). I’ve spent some of this week deleting groups and pages I’ve created over the years, and there were several of them, at least until Facebook ran into “problems” with deleting groups of which I am admin.
The last year has shown me a bit about what and who I will have to cut myself off from, with what and whom I have to burn bridges and live without. And now, so are many of you. Funny how that works.
And Facebook has long shown its age, and its demographic is aging hard. So has Twitter.
So I will no longer age with them, and vice versa. Separately, but not together.
None of you have to age with a centralized silo like this, one which keeps so much of your data and connections hostage.
This is an act of one taking more control over their life, one with potential ramifications for one’s future as a human being but which can also slowly free oneself from what someone once called “poaster’s madness” (yes, they spelled it “poaster’s” with an “a”).
This is not a heroic thing to do. This is the least I should do at this moment. This is basic mental health in a time when madness is rewarded with misguided catharsis, a time which I am sure will get worse before a (dis)proportionate reaction comes around.
I apologize to the 1.4k Facebook friends I had from my recent profile, to the many more friends I made along the way, as well as to the many political individuals whom I first met over Facebook since 2005.
I also apologize to many of my college friends, of whom I made far more through Middle Georgia State (formerly Macon State) and the Warner Robins campus of Central Georgia Tech (formerly Middle Georgia Tech). I also apologize to those who I’ve made through the odd jobs I’ve done for them: candidate and issue campaigns, website design, and more.
Erasing Oneself from the Narrative
I feel that healing the rot caused by the roots of the housing supply crisis, which social media silos like Facebook and Twitter have only inflamed, is a mass, interpersonal struggle, not merely a personal trifle.
Wresting control over one’s attention and self-awareness away from car-brain and (for-profit) social media brain is crucial for where we end up next in our politics.
I see both of these mentalities emanating from the same alienating, atomizing root, in which one can live in the “wealthiest, most powerful nation-state in the history of the human species”(™) and find oneself increasingly isolated in exurbs and isolated alongside 3 billion others on Facebook.
And we wonder why radicalization toward misanthropic, illiberal politics has increased in purchase.
But if the single-family, car-centric zoning of housing is a crisis facilitated by its design toward consumption of land, can that be linked to the design of not only the social media algorithms feeding posts and ads to users’ eyeballs, but also the functional design of continuous scrolling?
It is time to allow ourselves to densify our housing and build inward, build more apartments closer to public transit, build more public transit, build away from the Sunbelt, and build away from wildland-urban interfaces.
Similarly, it is time to choose media which respects our autonomy and right to self-moderate, respects our attention and does not continually feed us more content without our deliberation, allows us to retain and relocate our data and identity, allows us more control in how we wish to present ourselves, allows us to seek more consensus rather than contention in the projection of reality, allows us to refuse a platform to the misanthropic.
The status quo that we have right now does none of those things.
Therefore, as I have fed into this status quo for nearly 20 years of my life, as part of the West Coast burns, as the federal administrative state is set on fire from inside the White House, I erase myself from this narrative. I deny this beast any more of what I’ve fed it, and reclaim my time. I begin the healing process which I’ve denied myself all of these years. And I will try to actually blog long-form more often.
Dear reader, I hope you do, too.
I am now thinking frequently about these lyrics from Philippa Soo’s performance as Eliza in Hamilton:
“I’m erasing myself from the narrative
Let future historians wonder
How Eliza reacted when you broke her heart
You have torn it all apart
I’m watching it
Burn
Watching it burn
The world has no right to my heart
The world has no place in our bed
They don’t get to know what I said
I’m burning the memories
Burning the letters that might have redeemed you
You forfeit all rights to my heart
You forfeit the place in our bed
You sleep in your office instead
With only the memories
Of when you were mine
I hope that you burn”
Per The Fediverse Report:
Tumblr has reconfirmed that it is working on connecting to the fediverse. In late 2022, Automatic CEO Matt Mullenweg said that the site was going to add ActivityPub support ‘soon’. Plans changed for Tumblr, including staff layoffs, and for a long time it was unclear if this plan was actually going to happen. In summer 2024, Tumblr announced that they would be working on moving the backend of Tumblr to WordPress. In an AMA this week, the company said that this migration of Tumblr to WordPress means that Tumblr can also use the plugins of WordPress, including the ActivityPub plugin. This means that people will be able to add ActivityPub to their Tumblr blogs. Not much is known about how this would work in practice.
Let’s see. Not holding my breath.
How sponge cities can fix urban flooding (and save millions in costs)
✅ Making cities resilient to floods
About 44% of all disaster events around the world are flood-related.
In our new explainer episode, we show how ‘sponging’ cities can help them overcome the challenge of flooding while strengthening the local ecology, and boosting the economic and social well-being of residents.
In this episode, you will learn:
🟡 What a sponge city is (and how it works)
🟡 The benefits of ‘sponging’ cities (beyond flood-resilience)
🟡 Projects that demonstrate the principles and benefits of a sponge city at various scales (and what we can learn from them)
🟡 Why developers should be in favour of sponge city initiatives (they can save millions in costs)
And much more!
💚 If you gain value from this conversation, we hope you will subscribe to the channel 💚
Thank you to Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction for supporting season 5 of Ecogradia.
———————————————————————-
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:43 What is a sponge city?
02:08 Features of a sponge city
04:16 Is ‘sponging’ expensive?
04:44 Benefits of a sponge city
08:19 The man who pioneered sponge cities
09:01 Yanweizhou Park | Jinhua, China
09:46 Why Bangkok and Jakarta are sinking
10:39 Tebet Eco Park | Jakarta, Indonesia
11:36 Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park | Bangkok, Thailand
12:13 Copenhagen’s Cloudburst Management Plan
13:14 Sankt Kjelds Plads | Copenhagen, Denmark
14:06 How sponge cities can profit: Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park | Singapore
15:46 How sponge cities can profit: Portland | USA
16:21 Outro———————————————————————-
This episode features the following projects:
Yanweizhou Park | Jinhua, China (2014)
Designed by TurenscapeTebet Eco Park | Jakarta, Indonesia (2022)
Designed by SIURA StudioChulalongkorn University Centenary Park | Bangkok, Thailand (2017)
Designed by LANDPROCESSSankt Kjeld’s Square & Bryggervangen | Copenhagen, Denmark (2019)
Designed by SLABishan-Ang Mo Kio Park | Singapore (2012)
Designed by Henning LarsenAlso featuring:
Fish Tail Park | Nanchang, China (2022)
Designed by TurenscapeBenjakitti Park | Bangkok, Thailand (2022)
Designed by Turenscape + Arsomsilp Community and Environmental ArchitectHunter’s Point South Waterfront Park | New York City, USA (2018)
Designed by SWA/Balsley + Weiss/Manfredi in collaboration with ArupHoutan Park | Shanghai, China (2010)
Designed by TurenscapeHigh Plains Environmental Center | Loveland, USA
Designed by Hauser ArchitectsThammasat Urban Rooftop Farm | Bangkok, Thailand (2019)
Designed by LANDPROCESSKhoo Teck Puat Hospital | Singapore (2010)
Designed by CPG Consultants in collaboration with RMJM ArchitectureShangrao Xinjiang Ecological Park | Shangrao, China
Designed by TurenscapeTelok Blangah Hill Park | Singapore
Interlace Apartments | Singapore (2013)
Designed by OMA in collaboration with RSPJiangsu—Victoria Sponge City Innovation Park | Kunshan, China
Designed by CRC for Water Sensitive CitiesQuzhou Luming Park | Quzhou, China (2015)
Designed by TurenscapeOCT OH BAY Retail Park | Shenzhen, China (2021)
Designed by Laguarda.Low ArchitectsTanghe ‘Red Ribbon’ Park | Qinhuangdao, China (2007)
Designed by TurenscapeSanya Mangrove Park | Sanya, China (2019)
Designed by Turenscape———————————————————————-
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[sustainability, architecture, sponge city, green spaces, floodproof city, resilient city]
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Could Elephants be the Next Intelligent Species?
This is a special video essay on the speculative evolution of sapient elephants and how they might replace us in the future. I switch between the words “intelligent”, “sentient”, and “sapient” a lot because it’s easy to understand what I’m talking about in the context of the video.
Patreon: https://ift.tt/4yICazV
Insta: https://ift.tt/x0KIWApBelow are some of the articles I read on elephants, they are incredible beings, and we should try to save them. But more importantly here’s a link to my favorite foundation you can donate to help elephant conservation:
Elephant fact sources:
Rizzolo, J. B., & Bradshaw, G. A. Prevalence and Patterns of Complex PTSD in Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus). Asian Elephants in Culture and Nature, 291–297. 2016.Bradshaw, G. A., Schore, A. N., Brown, J. L., Poole, J. H., & Moss, C. J. Elephant breakdown. Nature, 433(7028), 807-807. 2005.
African elephants address one another with individually specific calls Michael A. Pardo, Kurt Fristrup, David S. Lolchuragi, Joyce Poole, Petter Granli, Cynthia Moss, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, George Wittemyer
The elephant brain in numbers. Suzana Herculano-Houzel,Kamilla Avelino-de-Souza,Kleber Neves,Jairo Porfírio,Débora Messeder,Larissa Mattos Feijó, José Maldonado, and Paul R. Manger
Lee, P.C., Fishlock, V., Webber, C.E. and Moss, C.J. The Reproductive Advantages of a Long Life: Longevity and Senescence in Wild Female African Elephants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70, 337-345. 2016.
Hunninck, L., Ringstad, I.H., Jackson, C.R., May, R., Fossøy, F., Uiseb, K., Killian, W., Palme, R. and Røskaft, E. (2017) Being Stressed Outside the Park—Conservation of African Elephants.
Remmers, W., Gameiro, J., Schaberl, I. and Clausnitzer, V. (2017) Elephant ( Loxodonta africana) Footprints as Habitat for Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities in Kibale National Park, South-West Uganda. African Journal of Ecology, 55, 342-351.
Asner, G.P., Vaughn, N., Smit, I.P. and Levick, S. Ecosystem-Scale Effects of Megafauna in African Savannas.Ecography 39, 240-252. 2016.
Where sociality and relatedness diverge: the genetic basis for hierarchical social organization in African elephants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. July 2009.
Acknowledging the Relevance of Elephant Sensory Perception to Human–Elephant Conflict Mitigation. Robbie Ball, Sarah L. Jacobson Matthew S. Rudolph Miranda Trapani, and Joshua M. Plotnik. 2022.
Plotnik J.M., Lair R., Suphachoksahakun W., De Waal F.B. Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2011.
Li L.-L., Plotnik J.M., Xia S.-W., Meaux E., Quan R.-C. Cooperating Elephants Mitigate Competition until the Stakes Get Too High. PLoS Biol. 2021.
Jacobson S.L., Plotnik J.M. The Importance of Sensory Perception in an Elephant’s Cognitive World. Comp. Cogn. Behav. Rev. 2020.
Campos-Arceiz A., Blake S. Megagardeners of the Forest–the Role of Elephants in Seed Dispersal. Acta Oecol. 2011.
Mortimer B., Walker J.A., Lolchuragi D.S., Reinwald M., Daballen D. Noise Matters: Elephants Show Risk-Avoidance Behaviour in Response to Human-Generated Seismic Cues. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 2021.
Nevo O., Schmitt M.H., Ayasse M., Valenta K. Sweet Tooth: Elephants Detect Fruit Sugar Levels Based on Scent Alone. Ecol. Evol. 2020.
Large brains and cognition: where do elephants fit in? Benjamin L Hart et al. Neurosci Biobehav Rev.2008.
Wittemyer G., Douglas-Hamilton I., Getz W.M. The Socioecology of Elephants: Analysis of the Processes Creating Multitiered Social Structures. Anim. Behav. 2005.
Hedwig D., DeBellis M., Wrege P.H. Not so Far: Attenuation of Low-Frequency Vocalizations in a Rainforest Environment Suggests Limited Acoustic Mediation of Social Interaction in African Forest Elephants. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 2018.
Asner, G.P., Vaughn, N., Smit, I.P. and Levick, S. Ecosystem-Scale Effects of Megafauna in African Savannas. Ecography. 2016.
Tsalyuk, M., Kilian, W., Reineking, B. and Getz, W.M. Temporal Variation in Resource Selection of African Elephants Follows Long-Term Variability in Re-source Availability. Ecological Monographs. 2019.
Stommel, C., Hofer, H., Grobbel, M. and East, M.L. Large Mammals in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, Dig for Water When Water Stops Flowing and Water Bacterial Load Increases. Mammalian Biology. 2016.
Kalumanga, E., Mpanduji, D.G. and Cousins, S.A. Geophagic Termite Mounds as One of the Resources for African Elephants in Ugalla Game Reserve, Western Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology. 2017.
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