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Cake day: December 19th, 2023

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  • That’s not true in TX cities. I’ve lived in DFW, Houston metroplex, and Austin and have never had less than 15 polling places. They might not be next door to your work, but they are within a few monute drive.

    TX was also the first state to allow early voting and mandates that polls are open at least 9 hours the first week and at least 12 hours the second week and final day of voting. That’s the minimum, not maximum. There were also polling places open on the weekends.

    That said, I have heard (although haven’t researched it) that some very rural areas are more difficult to vote in with only a couple polling places in the county. So that could be the case if you live in the middle of nowhere, but you’ll pass polling places on your way to/from work. Just think of it like you would a doctor appointment and put it on your schedule.

    TX is pretty purple and is turning more blue each cycle.

    2004: Kerry lost by ~1.9 million votes 2008: Obama lost by ~990,000 votes 2012: Obama lost by ~1.2 million votes 2016: Clinton lost by ~800,000 votes 2020: Biden lost by ~640,000 votes

    In 2020, had just 3.5% more of the registered voters cast a ballot for Biden, he would have won. That’s about how many people voted each day of early voting in this election.


  • This guy probably just received a few months in jail, if even that. Even standing there with a flag identifying himself as a Confederate soldier, AKA enemy combatant. That is the Battle Flag of the Confederate Army and Navy, they should not be given any more leniency than we would give soldiers of other countries threatening our officials and taking over the Capitol building.



  • "If the Republican candidate dies or is incapacitated after the convention and before Election Day, the Republican National Committee (RNC) will meet to select a presidential candidate and/or vice-presidential candidate under Rule 9 of party rules.

    The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is also authorized to select the party’s nominee in the event that the winner of the convention cannot run. This is spelled out in the charter of the Democrat Party. However, since DNC members are awarded to states according to the size of the states, there would be no adjustments.

    If the candidate dies or is incapacitated after Election Day, the Constitution kicks in. The first milestone will be the December 17, 2023, meetings of the electoral college. It may surprise many to know that the electoral college is composed of real flesh and blood electors who meet in their state capitols and sign documents (attestations) that are forwarded on to the president of the Senate (the vice president) for the purposes of counting only! We only hear about electors when someone decides to make a point and vote for someone whose slate they were not on. (During segregation some of these so-called “faithless electors” voted for segregationist candidates.1) Some states have laws binding electors to vote for the winner of the election, others do not. If the winner of the convention dies or is incapacitated it is likely that the legislature would quickly meet to amend the law so that their votes would count.

    Finally, what if the president-elect dies or is incapacitated after the electoral college meets and before the inauguration? The authors of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the one adopted to provide for a way to pick a new vice president, thought of this. If the president-elect dies or is incapacitated the vice president is inaugurated. Section 3 of the 20th Amendment reads:

    “If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President.”"

    https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-happens-if-a-presidential-candidate-cannot-take-office-due-to-death-or-incapacitation-before-january-2025/



  • No caffeine after 2

    Take magnesium glycinate and threonate and hour or so before bed (threonate helps me sleep but it can cause vivid dreams)

    Make sure you’re comfortable in the bed both in terms of bed firmness/softness and temperature

    Use a fan to regulate temperature and create white noise

    Create a regular bedtime ritual (brush, floss, skincare, etc) and stick to it

    Chamomile tea can help relax

    I’ve also found drinking some cool/cold water right before attempting to sleep can help, because your body temperature drops as you go to sleep. I’m also a hot sleeper, so that also helps to cool down my core.

    Make a regular sleep schedule and stick to it as much as possible

    Write down any persistent thoughts, journal emotions, or create a to-do list from whatever might be running through your mind. Getting that out of my head and onto paper helps to alleviate any anxiety and can help stop my brain from planning and running amok while I’m lying there.

    I turn off all the lights and only use some color-changing LED lights an hour or so before bed. White lights are too bright and can keep me from sleeping. Red is darker, yet still bright enough to see where I’m walking. Red lights are also best for night vision, if you go stargazing, make sure you have red flashlights, because white light will destroy your night vision for 20 minutes or so.

    I also use a screen dimming app on my phone to bring the brightness down lower than the brightness setting will allow. On Apple devices, this is a regular setting in accessibility called “Reduce White Point”. Android still hasn’t figured out how to mimic that well and the best app I’ve found is Screen Dimmer Plus. It basically puts a Grey layer over whatever images show up on your phone and will mess with screenshots taken and it doesn’t change anything with the top 1/4" of the screen. The Reduce White Point setting on ios doesn’t mess with screenshots and changes the brightness for the whole screen. It’s one of the big disappointments I’ve had with android.

    Get Blackout curtains to block light from the windows

    Don’t exercise too close to bed. I also can’t take showers or baths too close to bed because they will disrupt my sleep.

    Slow breathing and closing your eyes will lying in bed can help if you’re restless. I’ve also found that if I’m having a particularly hard time falling asleep that getting out of bed and reading a book or fiction story before returning to bed can help.

    Choose something light and calming to watch as the last thing before you turn off your TV. Nature documentaries like Planet Earth or a light comedy can help you unwind and be a little more calm than watching an action, horror, or drama movie/TV show.

    Another thing I’ve read about if you’re restless is to work your way uo your body squeezing your muscles for a few seconds. So start with your feet and flex them a couple times for a couple seconds, then go uo to your calves, all the way up to your eyes. The flex and release is supposed to help release any muscles that are still clenching from the day.

    Spending time in nature during the day is supposed to help calm the mind and body, so finding 20-30 minutes to walk around a park could be helpful.

    Don’t stress out about not falling asleep. Lying there with your eyes closed with relaxing breaths is supposed to be restful for the body

    Potassium might help you relax and I think it’s also supposed to help with blood pressure if you’ve been consuming too much sodium. Not 100% sure on that, but I figure getting blood pressure under control can help you get better quality sleep.










  • You can’t gerrymander a statewide election like US Senator or President. Those are total number of votes across all voters in the state. The state senators and representatives are definitely gerrymandering.

    It’s also possible for Texas to go blue this election. Hillary needed 800,000 votes (5% of the registered voters) and Biden needed 630,000 votes (3.5% of the registered voters). It’s been really close the last couple presidential elections and Beto was really close to ousting Cruz in 2018.

    Don’t forget, Biden won more votes in TX than he did in NY and Trump received less votes in TX than CA in 2020. We can definitely flip this year, we just need a large turnout. Historically speaking, Dems win with large voter turnout out and we are breaking records this year.


  • It’s also a school day, so they may have been in class. At least that’s what I’m hoping. Most, of not all, of my polling places are open 7AM-7PM this Saturday and 11AM-5PM this Sunday. I imagine the younger voters will be more able to vote then between college classes and jobs.

    The first week of voting also has shorter hours (at least 9 hours required by law) versus the second week with polls open at least 12 hours a day. Those longer hours are going to be more compatible with those holding multiple jobs or school/job.