In these here United States, it’s Independence Day! Because October 19th is a ways off and it’s not as socially acceptable to shoot off fireworks then.
So before you go re-watch President Whitmore give the aliens what for, why not enjoy this staging by the National Archives?
I’m currently reading Brian Jay Jones’ biography of Jim Henson, so it I came across this video about current Sesame Street muppeteers at just the right time. Enjoy!
Because I posted a number of videos by CGP Grey last week and because you want to know more about Skanda-hoovians (You know you do) Enjoy!
My local primaries were not particularly interesting, but I found Maine’s primary elections very interesting to watch because they were using ranked-choice voting.
What is ranked-choice voting, you ask? Why not explain it with dinosaurs?
Or, you could look at this longer piece by CGP Grey:
I like this because it also explains how ranked choice voting (here called “alternative vote/instant runoff voting”) is not the end-all, be-all panacea, yet has advantages over “first past the post” elections.
And if you’re wondering why we’d want to move away from “first past the post” voting (i.e., what happens with most elections you’re used to), here’s another piece by CGP Grey:
Many a politician is not overfond of ranked choice voting because “voting for the lesser of two evils” is a pretty good strategy with just about every constituency outside of Cthulhu fans. Indeed, Maine’s legislature really did not like the idea of ranked choice voting and worked to have it removed, but those pesky voters has other ideas.
Here’s hoping the idea spreads, especially for local and primary elections that can benefit from more voter engagement.
Look, I don’t make the rules, I just know it’s Unicorn Wednesday.
You may be indifferent to Wednesdays, but who doesn’t like unicorns? They’re the national animal of Scotland for crying out loud! And for that matter, who doesn’t like magic?
Misty Lee has you covered:
I would be remiss in my duty to the Prime Directive of the Internet –that being to forward all time-sucking memes, videos, and articles t0 everyone I can– if I were not to make sure you knew about Bill Wurtz‘ latest project: a 20-minute entertainingly off-the-wall history of the entire world.
Be warned: the narrator is irreverent to all peoples, religions, and himself. He also tends to swear.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve always wondered how the non-sequitur typeface Wing Dings came to exist.
The answer proves to be as charming as Wing Dings itself, as this Vox video shows.
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant decided to look into what makes creative thinker creative in this TED Talk. (about 16 minutes)
I’m going to have to check out more of this sort of work.