Labor Day Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Monday, September 1, 2025
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29 comments
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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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Happy Labor Day!
16 Tons
While out for on our crack of dawn trek, I notice a white speck slowly floating down from an open sky. Barely a breeze, so it was easy to keep an eye on. I stopped and watched it come down and it was a downy feather, pure white. A single tiny downy feather, literally out of the blue landed with a slight bounce at my feet.
Surprisingly pleasant moment.
@becca:
That feather is all that’s left of Plucky the eagle who was soaring happily on the thermal updrafts before a corporate jet sucked Plucky into an engine and spit him out, shredded and barbecued. A single feather survived intact, floated slowly down to earth, the last of Plucky.
And you think that’s a pleasant moment? You monster!
Climate denialists and fossil fuel apologists claimed even if the climate was growing warmer, that deaths by cold were worse than those by excess heat.
@becca:
There’s this anecdote of a commercial plane that was hit by a hedgehog, presumably after a bird of prey dropped it while avoiding the plane.
I’ve never been able to confirm it
@becca: Sounds like the opening to Forrest Gump
@Michael Reynolds: @Kathy: Of course, after the moment passed, all sorts of gruesome scenarios flitted through my brain. But for just one moment everything went zen.
One day I came across the foreleg of a young deer. Not at all zen.
Nice day today. Gonna take the boat out and try and forget this news…
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-xi-pushes-new-global-order-flanked-by-leaders-russia-india-2025-09-01/
@Kathy:
We learned about the greenhouse effect and carbon dioxide’s role in school in the 1970’s. I recall hearing right-wing commentary that “global warming would be good” because of crop yields, etc. in the 1980’s. Some things haven’t changed much four decades later, in the information age.
@becca:
Putin and Modi holding hands, no less—giving the appearance of mutual commitment.
@becca:
Trump has actually managed to unite India and China. India, which is our great hope for covering the Indian Ocean by air and sea. India which is meant to be our low-cost replacement labor force for China. India, the nuclear power on China’s border whose presence requires China to position men and materiel where it can’t be used against Taiwan, or the US.
You know who would think this is great news? Anyone serving Vladimir Putin’s interests rather than the interests of the US.
@Eusebio:
There are problems with the crop yield argument, too. For one thing, crops require more nutrients than CO2 and water, namely trace elements in the soil, and nitrogen compounds as well. So maybe you get larger crops or more of them, but deficient in carbs and proteins they can’t make because there aren’t enough of the other nutrients. Or they may require more fertilizer.
Real life is not a cartoon where you can throw the system out of whack, and expect it to work better.
120 shots fired, 3 firearms.
We have a choice, and it’s the same ongoing choice: resignedly accept these frequent outbursts of horrific violence as part of living in this pseudo laissez-faire society —or—we can make a concerted, openly honest effort to uncover the bio-psycho-social elements that drive these events and seek redress. But, I gotta say, despite the positives, our cultural “womb” is a bit of a dysfunctional sewer.
@Gregory Lawrence Brown:
Hadn’t heard that one in awhile!
In that spirit:
Peter Seeger – What Side Are You On
@Gregory Lawrence Brown: Or on a lighter note:
a little BTO
@Kathy:
Also, CO2 increases yields all other things being equal. But climate change due to increased CO2 means all other things aren’t equal. The Mississippi and Ohio River valleys are going to experience hotter and more humid stretches in the summer. Corn, for example, will go into shock when one of those week-long heat domes happen, and never fully recover. Yields drop significantly.
@Eusebio:
I had a summer job at an agricultural microclimatology lab in the 1970s. One of the projects was trying to answer the question, “Given the emission history, why hasn’t the CO2 level in the atmosphere gone up even more?” The answer turned out to be the oceans were absorbing large amounts of it. Which, of course, causes all sorts of other Bad Things.
Get to the workin’ overtime part!
@Michael Reynolds: I read over at LGM that the Indian press is saying Modi ghosted Trump, wouldn’t take several phone calls from the WH. T has apparently made himself toxic to the Indian population and thirty years of diplomacy go poof! How much of that is true, who knows?
T’s truth social response didn’t sound like him. It ended with “just something to ponder.” It was unusually tame. Weird.
According to T none of this matters because we import nothing from India so those 50% tariffs on those none existent goods will …( insert pretzel logic here ).
Since we’re sharing Labor Day songs, how about Joan Baez at Woodstock, singing the ballad of Joe Hill?
https://youtu.be/l-JW4DKxwQM?si=KDwLifZLWyzjdTD5
What better for Labor Day than the great Jimmy Reed. https://youtu.be/RqHKiIDbHNY?si=f7MELeBvFkpvtTjl
@Michael Reynolds: @becca:
Added to which Trump is urgently engaged in making the US thoroughly toxic in Brazil and South Africa as well.
And, more quietly, also annoying Vietnam, Thailand etc.
Even Australia, for that matter.
Midas in reverse, indeed.
@JohnSF: Even the Adelsons are displeased, apparently:
Trump’s immigration policies trigger unprecedented US tourism decline (Israel Hayom – 1 Sept 2025)
When you’ve lost Miriam…
Sam Cooke.
The question whether El Taco is a dictator is like asking whether a bear trumps in the woods, or is the Ayatollah Muslim. Not, do androids dream of electric sheep.
Latest recipe: black beans with tomato sauce and turkey hot dogs.
This is kind of my take on a nostalgia dish we often had at home when I was ten or so. Modified a bit.
First, caramelize one whole onion, thinly sliced*. Next cut up some hot dogs in bite sized pieces and crisp them in the air fryer**. Last, cook some black beans to taste with the minimum amount of water in an instant pot.
When the beans are done, mix in some tomato sauce, season to taste (I used a little oregano, black pepper, and paprika; the beans were cooked in chicken broth), then mix in the onion and hot dog bits.
I’d like to say it’s quick and easy, but caramelizing the onion took its time, even using the unpatented steam to brown method.
*I may need to get a mandolin.
** My air fryer and instant pot are the same appliance.
@DK:
Since Sheldon died I allowed myself to go back to the Venetian for time-killing and dining. For sheer, grandiose falseness it’s hard to beat the Venetian. Wouldn’t be my choice for a stay, but the almost sci fi weirdness of the scale model St. Marks Square and the swimming pool blue, two foot-deep canals, resonates with my jaded cynicism.
I’m avoiding over-touristed places, so real Venice is off the list, but I’ve been several times in the past and it is a genuinely amazing and unpleasantly fragrant place. Over-tourism is people killing the thing they love, so I’m staying away from Barcelona, Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, even Lisbon, though I’m renting a place in Estoril*. Come to the fake Venice and the fake Paris – Las Vegas needs the tourists.
*Evidently pronounced ‘shtooreel,’ and tap the ‘r.’ Just next to Cascais or ‘cushcaish.’ They’re fond of the ‘sh’ sound and the ‘oo’ sound and the ‘m’ which is not an ‘m’ at all, but a nasal ‘n.’ All Portuguese words must contain at least one of those three sounds. It’s in their Constitution.
Nadler is retiring.
A mensch.
@Michael Reynolds:
I’d go to the Venetian or Palazzo late in the morning to play Pai Gow Poker when I wanted a decent glass of wine. It’s a slow game, and that early the tables were $10 rather than $25. The “free” drinks at the high end places were of better quality than my usual mid-brow hangouts.