Friday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Friday, July 12, 2024
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44 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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BlueSky.
I’m feeling smug the AM and feel like releasing my inner a-hole. We’ve been in Nova Scotia all week and the temps have been in the balmy 70’s. We’re glad we’re not at home.
Apparently Trump let loose on Clooney, asking “what does Clooney know about anything?” He also claimed the actor/writer/director/producer should go back to TV, because “he never made a great movie.”
Odd, considering Clooney has made more than several great films. He has made three of my favorite movies, including his directorial debut.
He’s worked with the Coen Brothers and Soderbergh multiple times. He’s won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and produced a Best Picture winner. He’s been nominated three times for lead roles, once as a director, and twice as a screenwriter.
Damn solid career. I mean, I know it ain’t a reality show, which takes legendary talent to make. But damn solid.
Took a quick look at Rotten Tomatoes. Both critic and audience score each yielded more than 30 with 60%+ approval.
Of course, Trump should never ask what anyone else knows about anything, rhetorically or otherwise. Dude is the ultimate Know Nothing.
@Kurtz:
Wait… you are saying Trump’s criticisms aren’t based in facts?! Say it ain’t so!
On the other hand, perhaps we take this as another data point that Trump is concerned that Biden dripping out could help Dems beat him.
@mattbernius:
Most viscerally disgusting thing I’ve read for at least a week.
ETA: but it least it isn’t Trump?
@Kurtz: Trump probably hates O Brother Where Art Thou because it shows Klansmen as the villains.
Careful, there is a blizzard of butthurt on the right:
‘Sorry, we don’t want lesbians’: Bridgerton’s problem with racism, homophobia and body-shaming
Ummmmmm…
@Kylopod: My money is on he thinks they are the heroes.
For the last few years we’ve seen schools and libraries become, unfortunately, central political battlegrounds–book bans, laws empowering community censorship of curricula, attorney generals encouraging spying on teachers, etc. School Boards can be bulwark against this or they can empower it.
My school district is widely considered the best public school system in the state. Its school board has adeptly handled rapid growth (nearly 100% growth in 10 years) and a rapidly diversifying community, but of course there are still troglodytes who think any change is a threat. I recently attended a school board meeting in which a crowd of hecklers tried to shout down a simple anodyne statement about how the school welcomes all students. The school board member from my district pointed to the hecklers in the crowd as a reason to vote against the anodyne statement–a classic empowering of the hecklers veto. This is on top of quite a few votes he’s taken in the past that were suspect at best.
It didn’t sit well with me that night, and it has continued to eat away at me.
So two weeks ago I did something about it, and threw my hat in the ring.
https://www.hudelsonforbrownsburg.com/
Site went live yesterday. I still need to flesh out a better biography and platform, but I’m excited to get started knocking on doors and calling voters.
@Neil Hudelson: I am heartened that good, decent young people are still willing to sacrifice for their communities as you are here.
Well done sir.
@Neil Hudelson: Good for you. Threw a tenner your way.
@Tony W: Very kind words, thank you.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Thank you sir, that is very much appreciated.
I’ve been keeping an eye on this: Elizabeth Struhs’ father seemed ‘calm and collected’ after allegedly withholding diabetes drugs, murder trial told
Child sacrifice is making a comeback, can’t wait for the GOP to take up the cause. Q will probably tell his fans that insulin is a mind control drug.
@Sleeping Dog: ENJOY!!! I’ve been home the past two weeks. It was mediocre.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’m not sure if you intended that as snark or not, but there’s a serious possibility it’s literally true. I wasn’t able to find it now, but I remember reading an article years ago in which Trump in an interview expressed open admiration for the character of Auric Goldfinger.
I know it’s Texas but building houses ON the beach is insane. I have to wonder if it was even insured. If so, that agent needs to be fired.
@Kylopod: It was snark, leavened with the knowledge that it could well be true.
@Neil Hudelson: Good luck, every way you can get it! You’ll need it. Especially if you win.
@OzarkHillbilly: If they don’t want to fight the charge, they should plead guilty. I get wanting to depend on God, but insulin is really simple.
@Kylopod: @OzarkHillbilly:
Fred Trump, TFG’s father, participated in Klan activity. He was in fact arrested for it.
@Neil Hudelson:
My very best to you!
@OzarkHillbilly:
If you know of a better way to make massive healthcare bills vanish than to make healthcare illegal, I’m sure we’d all like to hear it.
More about turbulence.
The author provides good advice.
I think the way we fly needs to change. It won’t be easy.
Right now, as soon as the seatbelt sign turns off, most passengers unfasten theirs. The seem to be like masks: people hate them and resent the need for them. This results in more injuries due to turbulence.
What we need is a separate sign for keeping the seatbelts on, and to indicate one can move around the cabin. The safety video should also instruct passengers to keep their seatbelts on at all times when seated.
It won’t be easy. See above for the comparison to masks. But also many passengers don’t buckle up until a flight attendant tells them to. I’ve seen many times with light turbulence the seatbelt sign goes on, and the crew informs passengers to return to their seat and buckle up due to turbulence, and many don’t fasten their seatbelt.
You gotta start somewhere.
@Kathy: Meh… I’m ambivalent about your cause. Mostly because
1) I don’t fly very often
2) When I do fly, I usually don’t unfasten my seat belt unless I’m leaving my seat
and 3) Because I’m pretty callous about rules for protecting people from their own stupidity.
ETA: Oz has National Health. The cost of insulin shouldn’t be an issue for them.
The cult/church I grew up in took people off of meds and had prayer groups to pray away the illness. They did it with my schizophrenic mother and a week later she tried to kill us kids with a kitchen knife. You dont really expect to have to disarm your parent when you are 16. Have to confess I never really forgave my father for that.
Steve
@steve:
I don’t blame you for not forgiving him. How indescribably awful for you and your siblings.
Today a Xalcon 9 suffered a failure of its upper stage, rendering a bunch of internet satellites useless and a navigation hazard.
I’m not providing a link, because the reporting is frustratingly incomplete and vague in important points.
The gist is the second burn of the upper stage failed, and the satellites got into an orbit that’s too low. Meantime they may get in the way of other satellites, if any are in the orbit they reached.
Video on the first upper stage burn shows buildup of ice. There’s no air or moisture in quantity at that altitude to form ice on the cryogenic fuel lines, meaning the rocket was leaking fuel or liquid oxygen.
It’s unclear whether then the engine blew up, broke apart, or simply didn’t fire.
This is nowhere near as bad as it sounds. I’d explain why, but I don’t owe Xlon any favors. If you want to think badly of XpaceX, Xlon, and the Xalcon, go right ahead.
@steve: Good gawd.
So as not to clutter the various Biden must go/won’t go anywhere trhead, I’ll ask my stupid question here.
Is there a limit on how much money a person or organization can loan to a political campaign?
@Kathy:
(Assuming this question is just about federal limitations; state laws varies state-by-state).
The candidate can loan unlimited funds to his or her campaign. They are considered contributions, but are not subject to federal limits.
Any loan from a person who isn’t the candidate is considered a campaign donation and is subject to federal limits, which is around $3,300.
@Neil Hudelson:
Thanks. That might help work around the need for Unbeatable Democrat 1.0 to finance their campaign.
But it’s mostly idle curiosity. In practice, things are always more complicated and difficult.
Various odds and ends to close the week:
Rudy can’t even go broke. The presiding judge dismissed the bankruptcy proceedings, as it became clear Rudy was using it as a delay tactic. I hope his various creditors, especially Moss and Freeman, get just about everything he owns.
In Good News/Bad News, a date’s been set for the release of season 2 of Severance. It’s until mid-January 2025. That’s still six months away.
Seriously, if streaming companies don’t want to wind up as network TV on demand, they need to produce more of the original content in shorter time frames. I know, they only care how much they make and how this affects their share value…
Meantime, I think I’ll resubcribe to Amazon video once I’m done with season 2 of Prodigy. Seeing season 2 of Invincible is done, and Season 4 of The Boys is out already.
Just got off the phone with my Dad (who is deep into the Fox alternate reality). We rarely talk politics, but he made a comment about how old Biden looks blah blah blah, so I told him I agreed with him that Biden is old and that I was really pissed that the Republicans were forcing me to vote for Biden because they nominated someone who couldn’t be trusted with national security. The call ended shortly thereafter, but I’m considering my first attempt to reverse the “only Democrats have agency” rule a success. I will be continuing to test this tactic
@steve: I once watched a HS buddy get chased around the dining room table by his mother with a butcher knife, him laughing maniacally the whole time because he knew she could never catch him. This in an upper middle class neighborhood (one my parents could have moved into but they liked where they were and even more they liked their $100/mo house payments)(fuck the Joneses, the Smiths too for that matter).
I’ve always kind of wondered if she was put in a “safe place” and what kind of counseling he needed in later years.
@Neil Hudelson: Another $10 here, congrats on putting yourself out there!
@Neil Hudelson: But PAC donations are unlimited
@Erik: You are my hero today. Don’t let it go to your head, my definition of heroes has been way downgraded these past 8 years or so.
I won’t cancel my Fakebook account, but I may delete everything in it, if there’s an easy way to do it, as I did with Xitter and for the same reason: they let Wannabehitler back in
Joe Rogan tells Jimmy Dore about back in 1988 at the comedy club, Stitches, they had “Joe Biden Night”. The comedians would do each other’s acts to celebrate Biden’s plagiarism.
@Mister Bluster:
Actually, severe prosecutorial misconduct. They had evidence potentially exonerating Mr. Baldwin and knowingly hiding it.
In 30+ years of herding lawyers, I’ve only seen one judge that angry. That prosecutor is likely toast in any future case before her
@Kathy: What makes you think that streaming companies wouldn’t be perfectly happy being network TV on demand as long as subscription rates and fees from them are high enough?
Today’s History Lesson
July 12, 1979
Nothing but white faces in this Chicago riot!
@steve:..schizophrenic mother…
I was born in January 1948, my brother was born in August 1953 and my sister was born in February of 1955. Not long after my sister was born my mom changed from a very normal 1950s suburban housewife into a raging monster seemingly overnight. One time when my father was not home I watched as my then 3 year old brother begged her not to crush his head in with the toaster she was holding with both hands above her head ready to hit him with it. I don’t know what stopped her. My dad was a religious man however he consulted with our minister and the doctor as these outbursts were becoming more common. This was all before there were drugs available to manage this vile disease. My dad told me he was worried that she might kill us all. “You read about it in the paper.”
He had to go to court to get her committed to the State Hospital. She was in the hospital for months and even years at a time. This all started when I was 8 years old. I was out of High School (class of 1966) when she was able to live at home on medication. She even had a part time job bagging groceries at the Jewel store where I worked. My dad stuck with her and made sure that she took her medication. He watched after her till he died at home at in 2001 at 85.
My mom lived alone for another 7 years after that. My brother and I visited when we could but it was my sister who lived not far from mom and watched after her. She was at home till the day before she died in the hospital at 88.
I like to think of her trauma as a schizophrenia success story if there is such a thing.
@Flat Earth Luddite:..Actually, severe prosecutorial misconduct. They had evidence potentially exonerating Mr. Baldwin and knowingly hiding it.
Thank you for the proper terminology.
Why do I think that prosecutors should be smarter than this?…
Wait a minute…what am I thinking?
@Mister Bluster:
This is the part that pisses me off. Prosecutor overreach, and then hiding shit to ensure the conviction. Does anyone here believe that a poor person with a public defender would have the same result as Mr. Baldwin? If you do, please check your naivety at the door.
As Nero Wolfe famously said, “Pfui!”