An endorsement for fusion voting

...from Bruce Bartlett in Forbes:

One option I have long favored for giving third parties more influence without the necessity of changing the Constitution or abandoning the two-party system would be fusion voting. Under such a system, third parties could cross-endorse major party candidates and have their votes aggregated. Such a system has long operated in New York, which has a Conservative Party, Liberal Party and many others. Oregon has recently adopted this system as well.

The main benefit of fusion voting is that it would force major party candidates to seek the additional nomination of third parties and work to accommodate their interests. In New York, for example, the failure of a Republican candidate to also secure the Conservative Party nomination virtually guarantees defeat.

Fusion voting also allows for interesting alliances and provides useful information to voters. A Republican with cross endorsement from the Liberal Party might be viable in a heavily Democratic area. Those who would never vote for a Republican might be willing to do so by pulling the Liberal lever.

Fusion voting thus makes third parties an important part of the political system. Without it, people mostly feel that their votes are wasted on a third party candidate because the odds are so heavily stacked against them. Fusion voting also encourages fringe voters to participate in the political system, rather than being alienated from it.

I made the case here; some history here.

I write like horror

A few moments ago I idly succumbed to the "I Write Like" meme going around on Facebook. I plugged the text of this old blog post into their analyzer and got this result:

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Horrors! I have never read Dan Brown. Because Geoffrey K. Pullum's hilarious review at Language Log has convinced me that he is a contemporary Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

I write like Dan Brown? This aggression will not stand, man! So I try again with the text of this blog post. The result?

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

An improvement, I suppose. Although it seems my writing remains likely to irritate the guys at LanguageLog, even if I don't share DFW's absurd prescriptivism.

Cycling ban in Colorado

Black Hawk is a tiny town in Colorado, just west of Denver and north of Idaho Springs. They have banned bicycles in town. Of course, it's an illegal bike ban that violates cyclists right to travel and contradicts state law. Repeal doesn't seem likely because the town is so tiny and city government is all for it, but litigation is scheduled for August. The mayor of Black Hawk seems to have some ethical problems as well.

Today in stupid driving tricks

This morning I was cycling up 4th St., and as I approached a stop light, a driver tried to zoom around me with a lazy pass. He didn't have enough distance to complete the pass before the stop light, so as we waited at the red light, his car was stopped taking up most of the oncoming lane. His only comment, of course, was "GTF out of the road."

A few weeks ago, I came up to a red light on 4th St. in Old Louisville. I stopped and signaled a left turn, and a car came up and stopped behind me. I signaled again and started into the left turn when the light turned green. But as soon as the light turned green, the driver started forward and tried to pass me in the oncoming traffic lane in the middle of the intersection, right through my path of travel. Fortunately, the dude stopped this boneheaded maneuver before he hit me. He waited in the oncoming traffic lane in the middle of the intersection for me to complete my turn before continuing on his way.

It's been a long time since stuff like this has happened. People on 4th St. are usually pretty good about sharing the road.

RPGs—Were-eel

The following post is released under the OGL.

Were-eels are lycanthropes with the ability to turn from humanoids into marine eels and eel-humanoid hybrid shapes. Natural lycanthropes are born with this ability and have perfect control over their shapechanging. Afflicted lycanthropes contract this ability like a curse or disease from another lycanthrope; they sometimes change form involuntarily.

CREATING A WERE-EEL
Were-eels follow the normal rules for lycanthropes, but gain the amphibious special quality when in hybrid form.

LYCANTHROPE, WERE-EEL
This elongated creature looks like a humanoid with the wide-mouthed head of an eel, flippery hands, and mottled, slime-slicked skin.
Were-Eel (Human Form) CR 3
XP 600
Human fighter 2
CE Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger)
Init +6; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14; (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 17 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee longsword +4 (1d8+2/19-20)
Ranged dagger +4 (1d4+2/19-20)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Cleave, Combat Reflexes
Skills Climb +7, Swim +7, Perception +3
Languages Common
SQ change shape (human, hybrid, and marine eel; polymorph), lycanthropic empathy (marine eels and giant moray eels)
ECOLOGY
Environment warm oceans and coasts
Organization solitary, pair, or nest (3-6)
Treasure NPC gear (chain shirt, longsword, 3 daggers, other treasure)

Were-Eel (Hybrid Form) CR 3
CE Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger, aquatic)
Init +6; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 12, flat-footed 21; (+4 armor, +7 natural armor, +2 Dex)
hp 19 (2d10+4)
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +1
Defensive Abilities bravery +1; DR 10/silver
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee longsword +5 (1d8+3/19-20), bite +5 (1d8+3 plus grab and curse of lycanthropy)
Ranged dagger +4 (1d4+3/19-20)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks gnaw
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 17
Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Cleave, Combat Reflexes
Skills Climb +8, Swim +16, Perception +3
Languages Common
SQ change shape (human, hybrid, and marine eel; polymorph), lycanthropic empathy (marine eels and giant moray eels), amphibious
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Gnaw (Ex) If a were-eel in hybrid or animal form begins a round with a grabbed foe, it inflicts automatic bite damage (2d4+3 points of damage). A were-eel possesses a second set of jaws in its throat that aid in swallowing—it can make a second bite attack (+5 attack, 1d4+3) against a foe it has already grabbed.

Natural were-eels tend to be stolid and secretive, with oily, pale skin and unnaturally wide and grim smiles.

Were-eels prefer isolated coasts, harbor towns, and busy ports, where they can blend in with a transient population and have access to both humanoid victims and salt water.

RPGs—Marine eel

The following post is released under the OGL.

This seven-foot-long carnivorous eel undulates through the water, leering with its broad jaw.

Marine Eel CR 2
XP 600
N Medium animal (aquatic)
Init +7; Senses low-light vision, Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15; (+3 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 13 (2d8+4)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +1
OFFENSE
Spd swim 30 ft.
Melee bite +3 (2d4+2 plus grab)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks gnaw
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 16
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Stealth +7, Perception +5, Swim +10; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in rocky, aquatic areas
ECOLOGY
Environment warm oceans
Organization solitary, pair, or nest (3–6)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Gnaw (Ex) If a marine eel begins a round with a grabbed foe, it inflicts automatic bite damage (2d4+2 points of damage). A marine eel possesses a second set of jaws in its throat that aid in swallowing—it can make a second bite attack (+11 attack, 1d4+2) against a foe it has already grabbed.

The marine eel is a ferocious predator, capable of holding prey in its primary jaws while a smaller set of jaws inside its throat chews away bite-sized portions.

Continental Drift and "The Future is Wild"

"The Future is Wild" is a great series. It starts off 50 million years in the future, when it speculates that mammals are still dominant. But the mammals are different, of course: arctic capybaras wander the tundra, hunted by saber-toothed badgers. My favorite of these critters is the spinx, a burrowing chicken with the lifestyle and social behavior of today's naked mole rat.

The future of 100 million years gets progressively stranger. The continents has shifted significantly. North America has drifted north while South America has rotated west; Australia has shot across the Pacific Ocean to begin colliding into Alaska; and Antarctica has moved north into the middle of Pacific, where Hawaii is today. Much current landmass is flooded.

This is the world in which the cephalapods take their first steps—or slitherings onto land, in a massive tropical swamp. The first terrestrial cephalapods highlighted are the swampus: here are some of their young.

By 200 million years in the future, the continents have drifted to form a supercontinent.

The cephalapods have developed to dominate the land, with enormous herbivores such as the five-meter, eight-ton megasquid.

My favorite creature of them all is the squibbon, an agile cephalapod swinging from branch to branch among the treetops.

Some of these speculations might be a little dubious: wouldn't a 120-ton tortoise have problems with heat regulation? But it's a really fun project and an entertaining series.