Short Takes – 10-26-24

Proportional Representation Could Reduce the Risk of Political Violence in the U.S. JustSecurity.org article. Interesting view point, but does not address the lack of governmental stability in many proportional-representation States. Pull quote: “Where winner-take-all systems tend to ossify political conflict into repeated contests between the same two dominant “camps,” multiparty coalitions shift over time. Critically, a group of scholars recently determined—based on data from 77 elections across 19 Western democracies between 1996 and 2017—that governing coalitions formed in proportional systems can help defuse partisan hostility in a way not possible with disproportional systems like the one in the United States.”

US Copyright Office “frees the McFlurry,” allowing repair of ice cream machines. ArsTechnica.com article. New DMCA 3-year exemption. Pull quote: “"The Register [of Copyrights] recommends adopting a new exemption covering diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of retail-level commercial food preparation equipment because proponents sufficiently showed, by a preponderance of the evidence, adverse effects on the proposed noninfringing uses of such equipment," the Register's findings said.”

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Astronaut Returns to Houston. Blogs.NASA.gov blog post. Returning astronaut released from hospital. Pull quote: “As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission, the astronaut was one of four crewmates who safely splashed down aboard their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft near Pensacola on Oct. 25. The crew members completed a 235-day mission, 232 days of which were spent aboard the International Space Station conducting scientific research.”

Space shots: A tangled web of speculation surrounds Boeing, Blue Origin and Bezos. GeekWire.com article. Pull quote: “Any of those strategies would be a big step for Bezos’ space venture, which already has its hands full with New Glenn, Orbital Reef, the New Shepard suborbital space program and the Blue Moon lunar lander that’s being built for NASA’s use. But as Boeing’s executives consider how it might pare down its unprofitable lines of business, it’s worth watching what Blue Origin is doing as well.”