Days until Election Day!

Today’s news and information gleanings from here and there.

Today’s quote … “When we jump into wars without having a real plan, things like Vietnam and things like Iraq and Afghanistan happen. This is 16 years. This is longer than Vietnam.” –  William Hansen, a former Marine who served two National Guard tours in Iraq, in this New York Times article: “Veterans, Feeling Abandoned, Stand by Donald Trump.”

Another quote … “Gerrymandering is past being a joke. It’s affecting our democracy.” – From this 2015 Pennlive editorial: “Fix Pennsylvania’s redistricting ‘goofiness’ now, before it’s too late for change.”

• “How the Internet Is Loosening Our Grip on the Truth” – The New York Times

• Pennsylvania has a Website listing “Child Care and Other Early Learning Programs – You have options when it comes to the care for your child. Whether you need child care or another early learning program, you can find it here.” FIND CHILD CARE FACILITIES IN COLUMBIA.

• Tonight’s the night | Columbia and Kennard-Dale play for the first win of the season.

• As Tuesday slithers closer and closer, we’re reminded that Dysfunctionia, er, ah, Pennsylvania, is one of just seven states that does not allow some measure of “early voting.” – Ballotpedia

• But then … ” … early voting opportunities make the voting process more convenient for citizens, thereby increasing turnout and diversifying the electorate.” – Ballotpedia

• This 2015 York Daily Record article – “Pennsylvania without gerrymandering” shows the tip of the iceberg. [NOTE: When this article appeared, Pennsylvania was in the throes of a budget stalemate – remember this when you go to vote.]

• Dysfunctionia’s political structure is really good about re-drawing the lines too. We keep reelecting the same folks; as this editorial points our: “Gerrymandering to Blame for Political Sleepwalking” – FairDistrictsPA

Pitts’ gerrymandered district – because we, in Lancaster County have so much in common with those folks in parts of Chester  and Berks County.

• This New Yorker book review (“Drawing the Line: How redistricting turned America from blue to red.”) speaks to the further national and state divisiveness. “Two of the most common gerrymandering techniques are ‘packing’ and ‘cracking.’ In the first, the party in charge of redistricting tries to ‘pack’ voters from the rival party into as few districts as possible, to minimize the number of seats the opposition is likely to win. In the second, blocs of opposition voters are parcelled out among several districts, to achieve the same goal. Both techniques were brought to bear in Pennsylvania. The new Republican majority ‘packed’ blue-leaning voters into a handful of districts around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Then it ‘cracked’ the rest into districts that tilted red.

• Step forward | Really good seeing Columbia represented in the daily POLICE LOG in LNP – Always Lancaster.