The newspaper asserts that Ranked Choice Voting "cratered" voter engagement. That's bullshit. by Wm. Steven Humphrey

Starting in January 2025, Portland will have the most diverse, and politically balanced City Council in the history of our city. Full stop.

The reason why we’re able to celebrate this indisputable fact is thanks to charter reform and ranked choice voting, which allowed citizens from every demographic and Portland neighborhood the opportunity to serve their city (and the rest of us to vote for them). 

But despite those two objectively correct statements, local media continues to platform the dishonest cynics who have been fighting charter reform and ranked choice voting from the beginning. The Oregonian, who loves writing intellectually dishonest headlines like this, really outdid themselves with this recent post-election article: Portland’s ranked-choice debut causes voter engagement to crater; 1 in 5 who cast ballots chose no one for City Council. 

Let’s break it down, shall we? Using the word “crater” to describe Portland’s voter engagement, and attempting to lay the blame on the doorstep of ranked choice voting, is not only an unethical choice, it’s factually incorrect. While overall voter turnout wasn’t what it was in 2020 (79%), Portland engagement still reached 74.5%—that’s still three-quarters of our total population. Does that sound like overall engagement “cratered” to you?

 And perhaps it’s true that one-out-of-five voters chose not to rank any candidates for City Council and mayor—though, as a reasonable person, I might wait until that number got a little bit higher before labeling it as “cratering.” And yes, it is absolutely correct that a historically large group of candidates ran for City Council this year, which probably stunned some voters who aren’t used to doing a lot of research. BUT! And let me say this loud and proud so everyone in the back can hear it: Having a lot of candidates who love their community and want to serve it is A VERY GOOD THING. (And it’s even better for democracy.) And while we can definitely do more as a city to make sure minority and low-income communities have the information they need in future races, according to the Oregonian’s own numbers, four out of five Portlanders successfully filled out their ballots without their brains exploding. So actually, I’d call that a big win. 

And that’s my problem with this poorly headlined article: The main thesis seems to be that just because one-in-five Portland voters chose not to cast votes in two races, this is somehow the fault of ranked choice voting. That’s bullshit. And here’s why: Let’s imagine ranked choice voting never existed, and Portlanders were still choosing just a single candidate for every office. Thanks to the general ineptitude of the current City Council—which inspired so many people to run against them—a huge number of candidates would’ve still been on that ballot. And if that had occurred, voters would have been confronted with the exact same conundrum.

Oh, and if you do happen to dip into the O’s article, here’s a little media studies trick: While most news outlets claim objectivity as their guiding star, if you want to spot potential bias, head to the final paragraph of just about any article, and see who gets the last word. In the case of this Oregonian story, the last word was given to a failed conservative Council candidate, Bob Weinstein, who freely admits he was never in favor of charter reform in the first place, and issued this damning indictment of ranked choice voting: “It’s very anti-democratic, to me, to have a result like this.”

I’m curious: Which of the following results is the most “anti-democratic”? Was it three-quarters of the population voting? Was it the large number of candidates who, after 100 years of being shut out of elections, were finally given a chance to fairly compete? Was it the actual result, which was getting (as mentioned before) the most diverse and politically balanced City Council we’ve had in the history of our city? Or was it “anti-democratic” simply because he lost?

Unfortunately, we’ll probably be reading a lot more thoughtless headlines and hearing a lot more anti-Charter Reform language from Portland’s conservative business class. Frankly, the old system worked GREAT for them, giving the wealthy an outsized voice and control over policy in City Hall. And even though the new council will have conservative voices who will fight valiantly to ensure the rich continue getting richer, that’s not good enough for those who want absolute power. In short, if you like what conservatives did to Measure 110, keep an eye out on what they’re planning to do to Charter Reform.

For the rest of us, there’s an old saying: “Progress, not perfection.” We’re sorry to break the hearts of the Oregonian headline writers and the bad actors who have dominated Portland politics for over a century, but new, vital forms of government—like any new plan or system that regular folks like you put into action every single day—will NEVER be perfect from the start, and need time and grace in order to operate at top proficiency. That said, if one-in-five voters refusing to choose a candidate in two races is the worst thing to happen in an election where we make sweeping changes for the very first time? I’d say democracy continues to be in pretty good shape. 

But that’s just my opinion—from deep in the “crater.”

Discover Taurus and Aquarius compatibility in love, friendship, and more. Uncover their unique strengths, challenges, and potential for a balanced relationship

The nation of Mexico is home 130 million people across 31 states (Mexico City is a separate entity but not a state in itself, similar to Washington, D.C. in the United States). Unfortunately due to a variety of factors, Mexican cities are often host to a violent crimes including homicide. Here, we'll detail the most dangerous cities in Mexico and give some info about their history.

[Politics] :
The pilot project to restructure tertiary hospitals will continue, with the hospitals to focus on severe diseases, emergencies and rare diseases. Currently, 31 out of 47 tertiary hospitals are taking part in the project and nine more are set to join. The hospitals have reduced the number of ...

[more...]

Andrew J. West stars in Anna Mastro's "Walter"; Credit: "Walter"

It's always dicey to characterize a major film festival based on the movies you personally see there, because no matter how diligent you try to be, your impression will always be statistically anecdotal.

I'll see perhaps 10 percent of the films at this year's Palm Springs International Film Festival by the time they roll up the red carpets for the final time, added to the 25 or so I'd watched before I got here, owing to the festival's unique programming policies.

Not bad considering there are 190 movies being screened. So I think I've got the feel of things here. I wouldn't want my doctor to diagnose me based on a test with a 35 to 40 percent chance of accuracy, but I'm not a doctor. Instead of "Do no harm," I quote Spencer Tracy to myself. He said the secret to the creative process is to "just look 'em in the eye and tell 'em the truth."

And the truth is, with the exception of a couple of documentaries and a horror movie, virtually every film I've seen at Palm Springs so far shared some obvious characteristics: the Palm Springs International Film Festival loves it some poignancy and affirmation.

I've already commented on "Match," the Patrick Stewart acting showcase, and "Cowboys," a very funny Croatian comedy with cross-currents of seriousness. I may comment later about "Today," Iran's Oscar submission. (It's terrific by the way, a deeply affecting story about a burnt out cab driver who gets yanked into the world of a battered, unwed mother who steps into his cab.)

(Still from "Today” (Emrooz) by Iranian filmmaker Reza Mirkarimi)

I also saw an Anne Hathaway passion project called "Song One" here. I'm not going to write about it because I'm not in the mood to stomp on somebody else's butterfly. Plus the dramedy "1001 Grams" by the splendiferous-ly named Norwegian Bent Hamer, whose deadpan satire is routinely compared to Jacques Tati.

WATCH the official trailer for "1001 Grams," which includes some foreign languages

At their best, these are all movies that want to move the audience to tears before bouncing a ray of hope off the screen at them. At their worst, these movies are about pain in the same way Novocain is. They acknowledge its reality, in order to neutralize it.

Filmmaker Anna Mastro's debut film "Walter" (one of the Palm Springs premieres) fits what seems to be the festival's programming model, too, and is, I think, a really quite appealing little indie film, with the by now familiar mildly magical realist bent.

It's is a story about grief, though one with a screwball premise so that it doesn't quite present that way at first. Walter (portrayed with charisma and nuance by Andrew J. West) is a 20-something slacker, but a very uptight one, with a soldier's commitment to dress and routine.

He still lives with mom (Virginia Madsen, now shifting toward the character actress portion of her career with ease and grace) and has a job one rung above fast food worker on the ladder of success: He's a ticket taker at the local multiplex.

But what the world surely sees as failure, Walter knows to be his cover for a far more important vocation. Walter's father died when he was just 10 years old; ever since the funeral, Walter has realized something we don't: His real job in life is to decide where people go after they die.

His snap judgments secretly send people to heaven or hell ... until a dead guy from Walter's past shows up and demands that Walter determine his fate, and then all hell breaks loose.

It's an odd premise, bordering on the labored, but Mastro and her extremely appealing cast pull it off, in part by wearing their influences on their sleeves. The fingerprints of Wes Anderson are all over this picture, especially in terms of the way shots are framed and music is used, and I was able to identify the pivotal contribution of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" co-composer Dan Romer by ear, long before I noticed his screen credit.

I suppose that's supposed to be a damning criticism of a first-timer, but I don't see it that way. Tarantino aped Scorsese for years and virtually remade a minor Hong Kong gangster picture when he debuted with "Reservoir Dogs."

Spielberg acknowledges his debt to David Lean. Hitchcock's apprenticeship at Germany's UFA film studio resulted in a lifelong visual and thematic debt to the great Expressionist master Fritz Lang.

The question is, what do you do with your influences, how do you make them your own? And Mastro — who has a real gift for casting, pacing a scene and maneuvering her actors easily between farce and seriousness — has her own talents. She understands how Anderson's visual syntax has become a cinematic shorthand for quirk, and she deploys it to that effect, then tells the story at hand.

There are some issues with that story, though. There's a girl in concessions (Leven Rambin) Walter likes, and there's a bully at work. For all its surface oddity, the mechanical underpinnings of "Walter" frequently feel like they belong in an "American Pie" sequel.

And yet this movie won me over. I liked its faith in the movie palace as a place that still vibrates with the marvelous. I found a dream sequence, where Rambin undresses to camera while sprawled on a rich yellow bed of movie house popcorn hilarious and deeply expressive.

But I think my affection for this picture is mostly centered on Mastro and her cast, which includes a standout performance by Justin Kirk as a very grounded ghost and a broad but successful cameo from William H. Macy as Walter's psychiatrist. They're all groping toward something rather grim and real about loss, while doing their best to serve up some laughs and wonder along the way.

It touched me, because it feels kind of wise.

Off-Ramp contributor R.H. Greene, former editor of Boxoffice Magazine, is in Palm Spring this week to cover the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. Look for his missives here, and listen Saturday at noon to Off-Ramp, when he'll interview Chaz Ebert about her late husband Roger Ebert's contributions to the film festival circuit.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Kate Forbes-Pitt has 15 years experience of working with electronic document management systems. She started working with paper based systems, electronically generated, at London Borough of Lambeth in 1991. She joined the LSE in 1999 to procure and implement a new electronic document management system. In addition, during the last 15 years, she has completed two degrees at LSE, and now pursues document and content management as areas of academic research. She has spoken about document management at many conferences, has recently published on the structure of documents and content and is currently researching the effects of electronic documents on work ownership and identity. Kate gave a plenary talk on "Delivering Information: Document vs. Content". Kate can be contacted at K.Forbes-Pitt@lse.ac.uk

Melbourne has been recognised as the top Major City in Human Capital and Lifestyle, according to the fDi Intelligence Global Cities of The Future 14/15 study. Cities in the study were categorised according to population and, as a Major City, Melbourne was awarded the top position in cities with populations less than 10 million. As winner of the Human Capital and Lifestyle category, Melbourne scored high results in categories such as; literacy rate, education expenditure, health, quality of life, percentage of population as labour force, number of students and numerous other indicators.

Event Begins: Thursday, November 14, 2024 5:00pm
Location:
Organized By: University Career Center

Interested in pursuing a pathway to teaching with KIPP DC? Want to make an impact in Washington, D.C.? We are looking for residents who will have a Bachelor’s degree by June 2025, all majors and career changers are accepted! Sign up to attend a webinar to learn more about the hiring process for the Capital Teaching Residency (CTR) program on Thursday, November 14 from 5:00 - 5:45pm ET. RSVP and we will send you a calendar invite with instructions for how to access the information session.

Event Begins: Thursday, November 14, 2024 11:00am
Location:
Organized By: University Career Center

Join us to get to know our team and program! Talk with the Residency Program Directors and residents. Sign-up here! Please RSVP by November 5th. We will email you a link to join the virtual open house when the date gets closer. https://monument.health/careers/residencies/rapid-city-hospital-pharmacy-residency/recruiting-events/  Monument Health Rapid City Hospital (RCH) in Rapid City, South Dakota is recruiting three PGY1 pharmacy residents for the 2025-2026 residencyyear. The mission of the Monument Health Rapid City Hospital pharmacy residency program is to develop capable, confident, and independent pharmacists through impactful learning experiences led by preceptors that challenge, inspire, and support residents. For our PGY1 program, we offer experiences in both acute and ambulatory settings. Required rotations include orientation, ambulatory care, critical care, infectious disease, internal medicine, and pediatrics/neonatology and longitudinal drug information, HIV clinic, management, project, and staffing. Electives are available for ambulatory care cardiology, antimicrobial stewardship, cardiology (inpatient), emergency medicine, evening ICU, family medicine ambulatory care, home infusion/home care, internal medicine II, medication safety, nephrology, oncology, psychiatry, specialty pharmacy, and surgical ICU/OR. A teaching certificate as well as leadership certificate are offered. Our site offers PGY2 residency programs specializing in critical care and oncology. Our residency program offers:  Flexible & tailored program for each resident Solid foundation of corerotations & a wide variety of elective rotations Excellent preceptors Elective teaching certificate  Elective leadership certificate Four weeks of project time Opportunities for publication Competitive salary Multiple presentation opportunities Weekly residency meetings Resident-led penicillin skin testing service Private office space for residents Resident staffing every third weekend in both decentralized and centralized locations Financial support to attend the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, Midwest Pharmacy Residents Conference in Omaha, and SDSHP Annual Meeting as well as SDSHP Resident Conference. PGY2 residency programs in critical care and oncology For more information, please see our website at http://monument.health/pharmacyresidency orcontact Katie Hayes at khayes@monument.health.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra might have broken a local election law by telling people in Udon Thani to “vote for Thaksin” while campaigning for a provincial Pheu Thai Party candidate there, says a former election commissioner.

Even as Apple continues its Safari privacy push, iPhone and iPad users who use Google Chrome are about to see several new features added to their browser of choice. Chrome will be receiving an upgrade to Google Lens, integration with Drive and Photos, improved Shopping Insights, and a more seamless way of finding a way around with Maps. With

The Hurricanes' defense struggled in their loss to Georgia Tech, but linebacker Jaylin Alderman and cornerback O.J. Frederique Jr. were two bright spots.

Google Docs - The capitalization options in the ‘Format’ menu are demonstrated in the capitalization names.

/via Eyal Shahar

Esta edición ha contado con la creatividad de Hombres G, Chenoa y Susanna Griso, entre otras personalidades Leer

Los mercados han presionado al Gobierno para que empiece a salir de Bankia ante el exceso de capital que quieren invertir en España

The size of the deal is estimated at over Rs 1,300 crore. With the transaction, both Bharti and DMPL will receive shares of ATFL as consideration and will become public shareholders of ATFL post the transaction. Additionally, ATFL (through DMFPL) will acquire an exclusive, perpetual license for the Del Monte brand in India.

President-elect Donald Trump met with House Republicans on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning to start a busy day in D.C.

The post Donald Trump Meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill as President-Elect: ‘Isn’t It Nice to Win?’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Incantation will play Mortal Throne Of Nazarene, too.

John Van Deusen just released his new album, 'Anthem Sprinter' via Tooth & Nail Records and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about a song from the record and he selected 'My Regret Is A Pit'.

Will we ever understand how life got started on Earth? We’ve learned much about Earth’s long, multi-billion-year history, but a detailed understanding of how the planet’s atmospheric chemistry evolved still eludes us. At one time, Earth was atmospherically hostile, and its transition from that state to a planet teeming with life followed a complex path. …

Continue reading "Lessons From Ancient Earth’s Atmosphere: From Hostile to Hospitable"

The post Lessons From Ancient Earth’s Atmosphere: From Hostile to Hospitable appeared first on Universe Today.

Yves here. It appears there is a teeny bit of good news on the environment front, if you consider “less bad than promised” to be positive. Trump has promised that he would lower US energy prices via much more ambitious shale industry production. The shale industry has other ideas. By Irina Slav, a…

The value of the cryptocurrency market has topped $3 trillion and is in uncharted territory as the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president spurred bets that friendlier U.S. regulation could usher in a new boom for all corners of the asset class. The sum market value of cryptocurrencies touched…

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If the PCs are to hold or even grow their majority this election, Hants West is one of the seats they need to win again. The district is also emblematic of some key markings of the Houston government’s first term.

The foundation that benefits the Windsor Regional Hospital is making an urgent fundraising appeal to buy new patient equipment. 

In the district of Summerland in the southern Interior, local First Nations, environmental groups and hundreds of neighbours have all banded together to oppose a provincial permit to mine in a hillside within the picturesque Garnet Valley. But as Tom Popyk reports, they’re running out of appeals.

A new report claims that despite overall sales declining, Apple's iPad continues to sell steadily, and is second only to the iPhone.

Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset was launched by Qualcomm at its Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii last month as a successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The rumour mill now suggests that its successor, the purported Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 SoC, might offer an even bigger jump in single and multi-core performance, despite recent changes suggested in its development plans.

Jennifer Lopez is convinced that Ben Affleck is trying to mess with her head

Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead in Mumbai's Bandra on October 12 at 9:11 pm, the police said. He sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital, where he passed away.

Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead in Mumbai's Bandra on October 12 at 9:11 pm, the police said. He sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital, where he passed away.

Local government reform had been undertaken without preparation, Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou said on Wednesday. The two and a half years which had been granted while elections were postponed had not been used to do what was needed, resulting in playing catch up, he said. The relevant ministries “have not shown the necessary fervour” towards […]

[New Times] Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente has affirmed the government's commitment to advancing toward the nation's Vision 2050 goals, emphasizing resilience in the face of challenges.

Lupita Nyong’o makes major move into Christopher Nolan’s star-packed untitled mystery film Lupita Nyong’o is the latest actor to join the star-studded ensemble of Christopher Nolan’s next highly anticipated film.Following the casting announcements of Anne...

This week’s episode tidies up a lot of the season’s conflicts: Sean and his dad, Gaby and her sister, Alice and her guy-who-killed-my-mom.

The Brazilian Supreme Court was evacuated Wednesday following two explosions in its vicinity, stoking security concerns in the G20's leadup.

The best way to know a city is to walk it: Simone De Beauvoir

The Swanson School of Engineering will develop an improved HVDC converter with the Department of Energy's funds.

Federal government departments are still allowed to advertise on TikTok despite mounting security concerns about the social media app, CBC News has learned. 

Dusit International, one of Thailand’s leading hotel and property development companies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tourism Development Fund (TDF), the national enabler of the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia, to establish a preliminary framework for developing hospitality projects that will enhance the country’s tourism infrastructure.

Valor Hospitality Partners, a leading full-service global hospitality management company is launching a strategic partnership with Campbell Gray Hotels & Resorts. This collaboration marks a key milestone for both companies, focused on elevating Valor Hospitality’s management portfolio of luxury properties across the Middle East. The partnership aims to enhance operational efficiency, improve guest experiences and drive commercial success for Valor properties alongside Campbell Gray.

Lopesan Hotel Group, the leading hotel company from the Canary Islands, in partnership with the investment firm Stoneweg Hospitality, has acquired the Hotel Miguel Angel, previously owned by General Mediterranean Holding S.A SPF, an iconic luxury hotel in the heart of Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana.

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