Monday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Monday, May 9, 2022
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26 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor 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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My takeoff on an iconic scene.
“To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! I’ve known sheep that could outwit you. I’ve worn dresses with higher IQs, but you think you’re a ‘stable genius,’ don’t you, ape?”
“Apes don’t become president.”
“Yes they do, Donald, they just don’t accept when they lose! Now let me correct you on a couple of things, okay? Windmills don’t cause cancer. Airports didn’t exist in the 1700s. And the Montreal Cognitive Assessment is not an IQ test. Those are all mistakes, Donald. I looked them up.”
reposted from the tab clearing thread, this time where it belongs:
How restrictions on syringe programs led to a severe HIV outbreak in West Virginia
Stupid is as stupid does.
Pro-Life my ass.
Also reposted from the tab clearing thread, this time where it belongs:
Consider my gob to be thoroughly smacked:
To quote the immortal Jesse Pinkman, “Science bitches!”
Also reposted from the tab clearing thread, this time where it belongs:
Chef Mario Batali is going on trial in Boston today on sexual assault charges. Didn’t Donald Trump say celebrities could do whatever they liked, including grabbing women by the pussy?
Speaking of which, I hear Trump is apparently “weirded out” by Madison Cawthorn’s antics.
Putin claims his not-war on Ukraine is going exactly as planned.
He reminds me of the joke about the expert marksman cowboy. All over town there were circles slightly wider than a bullet, with a bullet hole neatly centered on each. The cowboy achieved this by making a random bullet hole, and then drawing a circle around it.
In “The Third Chimpanzee,” Diamond remarks there’s no day to commemorate the arrival of people in the western hemisphere, only the one to mark the arrival of Europeans.
When I heard that, I imagined a right wing moron saying “Why would we commemorate the arrival of the first illegal immigrants to our country?”
I would reply, “Indeed, why? Let’s just get rid of Columbus day.”
@OzarkHillbilly:..Someone said “But think of his neighbors”
One can only hope that “Someone” is as concerned for the neighbors of the many school board members across the fruited plain who have been harassed and threatened with death by cowardly American citizens.
School boards get death threats amid rage over race, gender, mask policies
‘It was happy and sad’: sisters reunited after 20 years by war in Ukraine
The philosopher who warned us about loneliness and totalitarianism
Revisiting Hannah Arendt’s ideas about social isolation and mass resentment.
Good read.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Whenever I think of Columbus Day, I think of the Sopranos scene wherein the mob guys go to the indigenous people protesting the Columbus Day parade and one of the protestors yells, “Mussolini was Hitler’s bitch!”
Cracks me up.
Standing around waiting for the excavator to show up so I can shoot it (with a Canon). 4000 SQ ft house in inner NE pdx that’s undergoing a complete gut/asbestos abatement. In ground pool that’s coming out. General and subs from horizon to horizon. $1.4M for land and shell. Le sigh.
It will be interesting to see what happens to STI rates on account of the impending Supreme Court decision.
Here are the latest data wrt STIs and COVID.
Disbelieving Christine Blasey Ford —> KAVANAUGH
Lincoln College Closing its Doors
It occurs to me that abortion is another example of the effects of primaries. Preserving Roe polls about 2:1 in favor. Even Republicans, by a sliver, favor retaining Roe. But among GOP primary voters I’d guess it’s higher than 2:1 against.
@Mister Bluster: Every time I see a story about GOP pols unwilling to distance from TFG because they get death threats from MAGAts I wonder if they get any more threats than the D pols who also get death threats from MAGAts but get on with their jobs.
For those wondering why Cracker and I have been largely AWOL for the last couple of weeks:
It appears that the bioweapons lab known as Cracker’s local school district has succeeded in catching him. I haven’t seen him this sick in 40+ years. Good thing he was vaxed, faxed, and boosted.
As for me, I’ve been trying to finish up the paver project in the back yard, and then there’s these pesky photo shoot projects. My days are packed.
@Flat Earth Luddite: Thanks for letting us know! Cracker, you better get well soon, ya grouchy sumbitch. 😛 We’ve had quite enough of losing members of the commentariat around here.
Is it too late to introduce ballot initiatives for reproductive rights in such states that allow them?
The syringe story reminds me of Desert Storm where we were handing out free condoms. The Army general in charge in the area said that would promote immoral behavior so he put a stop to that. After that the only pregnant women we saw, including some ectopics, were all Army women. Was kind of scary as the Saudis would not run HCGs for us since they thought we were all gay witches having orgies or something. (Obscure Simpson reference FTW.) We had to diagnose ectopic pregnancies based upon clinical exam and presentation then guess if it was safe to put them on a plane or operate there. I had not done a pelvic exam in 5 years and diagnosed the first one. But at least we weren’t promoting immoral sex.
Steve
For anyone interested, there will be a Lunar eclipse on May 15 to 16, starting at 10:30 pm eastern time, with totality around 11:30.
I plan to sleep through it. I could stay up, given I begin my vacation Monday 16th, but I expect a solid overcast. It’s hard to stay awake that late for nothing.
Then, too, the downside of a spectacular total solar eclipse, is that it ruins all lesser eclipses for you. I think the only way I’d be excited about a Lunar eclipse would be if I could watch it on the Moon.
@Flat Earth Luddite: Sorry to hear, hopefully a quick and thorough recovery for Cracker.
Also my wife has COVID. 2.5 years in, she is pissed off and we are 100% sure she got it at a work meeting. Why the hell did they get 50+ people in one room? Idiocy.
So far it’s a bad cold for her and her symptoms are already improving on day 2. Thank goodness for vaccines and boosters.
I have no symptoms so far and tested negative this morning. We’ll see how I am tomorrow. The worst part is sleeping separately.
@Kathy: True. We were in the right place (path of totality) to watch the solar eclipse in August, 2017. It was an incredible sight.