Approval Voting: News Miner 92
Problems with ranked choice voting, the special session, Denver police try to catch criminals, Trump on the ballot, Israel in the legislature, and evolution.
Religion: Over at Self in Society I’ve posted several articles about Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s conversion to Christianity. In response to a note by Jason Salzman, I posted “Practical Ideas for Budding Atheists.” I also wrote chapter summaries for my new book, Getting Over Jesus: Finding Meaning and Morals without God.
Approval Voting: Complete Colorado published my article, “Why Colorado needs approval voting.” I explain why approval voting (vote for as many candidates as you want) is most likely to result in the election of the candidate with the broadest support. I also explain why ranked choice voting, although it solves the problem of minor-party “spoilers,” in some cases eliminates the candidate with the broadest support and elects a polarizing candidate who appeals only to a minority of the electorate. Read the entire piece. I already have a follow-up in the works about Kent Thiry’s ballot measure!
Special Session: We don’t officially have progressive income taxes in Colorado (not accounting for exempted income), but it looks like we’re getting a form of de facto net progressive income tax insofar as Democrats redirect TABOR refunds to the relative poor. Of course, the point of the special session was supposed to be to stop the scary increases in property taxes. But Democrats are going to Democrat. We did get some property-tax relief. Ed Sealover reports: “Colorado legislators wrapped up a surprisingly dramatic special session Monday by passing bills to offer limited property-tax relief to homeowners and study longer-term solutions to the state’s property-tax quandaries. . . . The moves leave commercial property owners without any short-term relief as property-tax valuations rise by an average of 40% statewide this year.” See also the Sun’s report. Again I say: We should work toward eliminating all property taxes.
Police: Apparently to some people it’s very surprising that police would actually try to solve crimes. Here’s the headline for a Marshall Project article: “One City’s Surprising Tactic to Reduce Gun Violence: Solving More Nonfatal Shootings. A Denver police unit started investigating all shootings like homicides. Now other cities are taking notice.” Police doing their jobs? Astonishing! It is nice to see someone going after criminals who misuse guns rather than treat all gun owners as though they were criminals.
Police II: In my view, having watched the video, the police killing of Christian Glass was straight-up murder, completely unwarranted and unjustified. Julia Cardi reports, “The district attorney for Colorado’s 5th Judicial District charged six more law enforcement officers with failing to intervene to prevent excessive force” in the case; one officer “also faces a count of third-degree assault”; another officer “has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment.”
Trump on the Ballot: Jena Griswold doesn’t like the court decision allowing Donald Trump to appear on the primary ballot in Colorado. Neither does Quentin Young. According to Chase Woodruff’s report, the judge in question found “that Trump incited an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021 and therefore ‘engaged’ in insurrection within the meaning of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment” but that Trump is not an “officer of the United States” in the relevant sense. That second bit seems odd to me, based on a straight-forward reading of the Fourteenth Amendment, but I’m not versed in all the legal wrangling. The lawyers trying to keep Trump off the ballot have promised to appeal the case to the Colorado Supreme Court. The fact that we’re even talking about voters wanting Trump on the ballot indicates deep cultural rot in our country.
Israel: Rep. Iman Jodeh called Israel’s war against Hamas “genocide.” Even if you think Israel’s response to Hamas’s atrocities is unjustified, that term is not remotely warranted. (Have you noticed how people who call for a “ceasefire” by Israel usually forget to mention that Hamas surrendering would achieve a ceasefire?) In related news. . . Self-proclaimed “democratic socialist” Elisabeth Epps went on an “anti-Israel tirade” during the special session, Sherrie Peif reports, calling Israel’s war on Hamas “ethnic cleansing.” See also my previous article, “Colorado Democrats face anti-Semitism in their ranks.”
Evolution: School board member Barbara Evanson wants creationism taught in public school science classes, but thankfully Colorado students still have ample opportunity to learn about evolution. Here are two scientists with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science explaining to students (online) the relationships between ancient land dinosaurs and modern avian dinosaurs (birds).