Can it still be No Politics Friday if I give you two links about gerrymandering?
online pharmacy clomid best drugstore for you
It can if they're both links to puzzles.
buy prednisone online buy prednisone no prescription
Slate just put up a map/puzzle game challenging readers to put six states' "ridiculously gerrymandered congressional districts" back together against a timer. The average for all users is 10:30.
buy cytotec online buy cytotec no prescription
My best was 9:32. I bet someone with very little desire to do work on a Friday afternoon can beat that.
Slate's game reminded me of an old favorite that I still use in Intro classes: The Redistricting Game. Players are given different tasks – i.e., create districts in which the incumbent candidates will all have at least 55% support while maintaining equal population – that will pass the state legislature, governor's mansion, and courts. It's actually pretty difficult at first (on the "advanced" settings) but dammit if you can't get it done in a half hour or less. As I tell the kids, "If it takes you 30 minutes, it probably takes your legislators an hour because they're not as bright.
online pharmacy bactroban best drugstore for you
But an hour isn't much time."
Hey, no one is going to force you to think about gerrymandering, redistricting, or state legislatures on a Friday. However, you're two clicks closer to filling the dreaded 3:00-4:00 hour on Friday afternoon. And if all else fails, there's always minesweeper.
wetcasements says:
Doesn't anybody just look at porn any more or is that just me?
LK says:
I'm sure I will be beaten by a wide margin, but 7:32 on my first try (without even being a US resident) sounds pretty good to me.
(cf. the "bragging on FB" post).
Taylor S says:
North Carolina District 12 is epic. The whole state is nearly 50/50 except for that one, 80% democrat.
middle seaman says:
So now we have a game of gaming the system. Can we game the game that games the system? I am sure that congress will outlaw games gaming the game that games the system. Gaming the system is still fare game.
The game is over. What is porn?
Arslan says:
Damn. Everyone here just lost the game.
c u n d gulag says:
"Congress-jack" wasn't at all what I expected in a video game.
No hookers or blow, no guns or ammo, no drug dealers, no crooked pols or cops, and no car chases.
Maybe those are at a more advanced level.
Hobbes says:
Jesus, Ed, I got 5:17 on my first try and I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet.
AND I'm a lady, and we're bad at spatial reasoning and stuff, or so I've been told.
deep says:
Nonono Ed! Not mine sweeper! That's soooo 90s.
Everyone 'round here plays Cookie Clicker when they're bored:
http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker
Shane says:
6 minutes, 7 seconds first try. Perhaps I'm more of a Republican than I thought.
JohnR says:
10:39, but only because I blew MD away, thanks to living in the most grotesquely gerrymandered district in the state. Looks like the weirdest and most incredible shapes are reserved for the big cities in those states. Odd; I wonder if there's some sort of political pattern there.
As for porn, I was strangely aroused looking at some of the shapes; is that just a male thing?
wnsrfr says:
Lost patience with the puzzle, but when I walk my dog by the Gerry Mansion in Marblehead today, I will remember to thumb my nose…
Tim H. says:
This shape amused me:
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://gawker.com/christian-science-church-looks-like-a-giant-dick-from-s-1454084292&sa=U&ei=e7pzUtrSEe6E2gXe9oCABQ&ved=0CBsQqQIwAA&usg=AFQjCNEhdFKvp6j3f5M2_RIE4sjsw0G4qA
Just had to listen to FZ's "Heavenly Bank Account" again when I saw this
BTW, Wetcasement, close enough to porn for you?
StoneFoxx says:
6:22
My research continually supports my hypothesis that Ohio is one of the most suckingest states. Boooo Ohio boooooo.
mothra says:
I couldn't keep going on the puzzles with a clear conscience, but I was averaging 2 mins per (except easypeasy Iowa) when I got up to puzzle 4. North Carolina is beyond ridiculous. And it got past the courts. Amazing.
anotherbozo says:
"The Redistricting Game?" In INTRO classes?? Best politics-teaching tool I could have imagined. You are doing God's holy work, Ed, truly.
Stephanie says:
7:21, European with a trackpad. Obviously I've spent too much time doing puzzles/gerrymandering.
Mackeyser says:
9:16…
And that was while helping my daughter send some art to a friend. I also thought it would lock in if it got close like other puzzle games.
Still… what a joke. FANTASTIC teaching tool, though… it fascinates me when folks enter into political discourse ignoring or ignorant of the gerrymander or its effects.
vegymper says:
Ed, friends, I know well this is NPF, but I would like to hear you discuss
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/01/why_is_always_a_white_guy_the_roots_of_modern_violent_rage/
please do!
JaktheYak says:
"Minesweeper"? What is this, 1990? It's cardhunter now.
Tom says:
And you wonder why you're still in Peoria…