Views (cont'd): Electing the UK Parliament

Considering that I am fairly progressive in some respects, I am perhaps unusually conservative when it comes to the Palace of Westminster. People often observe that a government may enjoy a significant majority with but a minority of the popular vote but ( that may not be so bad. )

I do consider it a significant problem that many people may consider that their vote counts for less. ( Some elections may not seem worth voting in. )

I am against encouraging absentee voting. People who actually turn up to vote are more likely to have also bothered to find out something about the candidates and parties. When people vote in person the secrecy of their ballots is more greatly assured and the incidence of voter fraud very low. Encouraging in-person voting does require ( making it easy. )

I wonder about reform of the House of Lords. I like the idea of it retaining some power to counterbalance immoderate populism from the House of Commons. From that point of view, inasmuch as the House of Lords is unrepresentative then I like the idea of its members tending to be educated and conservative: they tend to detect and retard extreme legislation while still supporting progress like the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act. I also like that they ( have much freedom to vote according to conscience. )

I am open to that the House of Lords may do its job at least as well through being selected very differently. For example, from aggregating the votes for members of the House of Commons we know how the nationwide popular vote stands and I wonder if it may be best to somehow select new members of the House of Lords so as to more proportionally balance the legislature in accordance with that vote.

Exercise accoutrements

I have continued to experiment with earphones: while working out I now wear a wholly wireless pair of X1Ts. I had never before used Bluetooth^® yet, with the help of instructions written in an approximation of English, I was able to pair them with each other and my cellphone far more easily than I had expected. They do still fall out ( but I can live with it. )

I had extended my workout time to a round hour. However, the front half of my left foot is beginning to numb after forty minutes. ( Wider shoes did not help so now I stop sooner. )

I am working out more gently though I believe it still to count as being adequately vigorous given that it significantly elevates my heart rate. I reach the above calorie goal within fifty minutes but around five minutes later than I used to and no longer needing a few minutes afterward to properly catch my breath. I still listen to upbeat popular music but I wonder what else I might listen to over that time, perhaps some sufficiently engaging spoken-word material.