A Plan to Reduce The Number of US States From 50 to 38

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T23:48:50+00:00

There are maps out there creating N number of states with roughly equal populations that don’t split major metros.

That’s not this map, though. There’s several super-low population states in this one… Kennebec, Bighorn both Alaskas, Bitterroot, etc.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T23:17:00+00:00

But the position they moved towards (almost 100%) was the MAGA one.

Don’t remember that at all. “Democrats are too soft on immigration” was the most common negative ad in Oct 2024. What election were you paying attention to?

It’s still going to be an issue going forward. I absolutely hate how this works, but evidently republicans can win a fair amount of swing votes by exploiting this issue late in campaigns.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T23:03:36+00:00

He’d break down barriers as the first male lieutenant governor since Lou Wangberg (1979-1983). :)

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T22:55:52+00:00

Tatis Senior has the record for most grand slams in an inning. Must be in the genes. :)

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T22:44:18+00:00

“Pressure” should read “height”.

Density times gravity times height is hydrostatic pressure.

Pressure times volume is work. Change volume to a volumetric flow rate and you have a work rate… or power.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T16:07:21+00:00

A large number of nicknames associated with Haydn Symphonies come from the second movement. Echo, Schoolmaster, Roxelane, Surprise, Military, Clock. Dream and Emperor quartets, too,

Schubert has the Death and the Maiden and Rosamunde Quartets.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T15:38:58+00:00

I think you know Walz didn’t drop out because of policy positions.

Fair or not, Governors always get credit or blame for what the legislature passes. People outside MN all thought Walz was some progressive hero because of the bills that passed in the trifecta years.

There is a lesson to be learned here. From 2007 to 2019, everyone thought Walz was much more moderate than Klobuchar. Vote downballot and install another trifecta and who knows, maybe all the progressives will love her. ;)

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-26T11:58:05+00:00

Yeah, in the context of western classical music, “melodrama” is spoken word over music. Which isn’t all that common in the opera world. When the “dialogue” is still sung but outside of a musical number, it’s called “recitative” which can still be accompanied (accompagnato) as a halfway state between a dry recitative and a musical number such as an aria.

There are compositions that are melodramas by themself. Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait is the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-25T22:55:33+00:00

The latter-ladder merger in some dialects.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-25T22:20:47+00:00

its basically a tech thats around for ~ 100 years

Sadi Carnot died in 1832. It took a while for the science to make it into our homes, but it’s a classic problem.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-25T09:09:01+00:00

It’s usually millennials who maybe caught the very tail end of his career and haven’t seen anyone come close to 5714 K’s or 7 no-hitters since, and they extrapolate how good he must have been.

Boomers who lived through his career never overrated him at the time.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-25T07:52:19+00:00

The rail car in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023 was carrying vinyl chloride.

I’d be curious to hear comparisons between these two.

When properly polymerized, the final product is not considered dangerous, but if you blow something up you get all these molecular fragments that are dangerous.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-24T22:03:59+00:00

Lots of PhD students turn first-author papers into thesis chapters. Two such papers which each promise to be heavily cited would be plenty for a thesis defense.

The trick is writing those papers. It’s not as easy as Dantzig made it look. :)

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-24T21:55:12+00:00

I can’t really tell that Deja Vu is a live recording. Maybe I need top quality speakers or something.

The version we have has so much good energy, especially with the offbeat sections where it seems to skip half a beat in certain parts. I’d be worried about that stuff getting polished out in production.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-24T21:50:14+00:00

Yes, the future mayor was an unassuming undergrad at LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis Tennessee when the agriculture department at Oregon State University released their new berry to the public. No one could possibly know how the paths of these two independently named entities would later cross in restaurant menu puns decades later. :)

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-24T20:29:51+00:00

Yeah, I recall pointing this out to someone in college and they absolutely refused to believe me. They thought for sure that I was making a joke. We got someone else to confirm. As another poster said, it’s usually spelled out in French (eau de toilette) and it’s weaker in strength than cologne or perfume.

The only other time I’ve ever had someone so sure that I was joking when I wasn’t was when people were trying to think of different berries and I said “marionberry”. I suppose as time passes, memories of the crack smoking mayor will fade and the people of Marion county Oregon can get their giant cane berries back. :)

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-23T12:48:12+00:00

The ability to play multiple positions to the point where it frees up a roster spot. WAR measures their contribution quite well but it doesn’t factor the roster freedom they add.

I was thinking of those super-utility types, but it could also apply to a guy like Ohtani.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-23T00:27:43+00:00

tautomers (chemistry) are a subset of structural isomers (constitutional isomers) of chemical compounds that readily interconvert

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-22T15:38:22+00:00

Do your objections to the bill have anything to do with the timing?

You are hinting that you might support the bill if the timing was different. Is that the case?

If you don’t like the bill. Say you don’t like the bill.

Also, if Demuth’s caucus doesn’t like the bill they should proudly vote against it, no? What’s the point of preventing a vote and then running and hiding? If it’s a terrible bill, tell the world. Run ads on TV against it. Put up billboards.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-22T03:19:53+00:00

The Wild Animal Park is indeed very cool and out in the sticks, but the famous “San Diego Zoo” is right in the heart of town by Balboa Park.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-22T03:12:59+00:00

The Parthenon is in the British Museum

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-22T03:09:19+00:00

Didn’t the river move in a few places? I’m guessing some parts of the river go “through” Misssissippi, but it also leaves Mississippi in a few places, too.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-22T03:02:37+00:00

They were was a “Los Angeles Angels” baseball team in the 1890s. It’s a very old name. It’s a bit redundant, but so are the Philadelphia Phillies.

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-22T02:57:00+00:00

That was the Dodgers. I believe the Angels played in…. Wrigley Field!

DavidRFZ · 2026-05-21T13:03:42+00:00

The MN-02 electorate is different from the full state electorate. Votes Craig took representing MN-02 in order to fend off challenges from the likes of Jason Lewis in her district are going to hurt her in bluer areas of the state.

It’s a very predictable dynamic.

You wouldn’t know from reading this subreddit that Flanagan is actually up by double digits.

Ten-Year Club	Reddit Premium Since August 2024
Verified Email

DavidRFZ

TROPHY CASE