Saturday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Saturday, May 29, 2021
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80 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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BlueSky.
Have you ever noticed that public transport in poor neighborhoods is crappier, is served by lesser infrastructure, and seems designed to thwart interconnectivity?
It is this by design.
Well off people do not want people from those neighborhoods easy access to their “core” area.
It is built in so much as to be a feature.
Mentally review your city’s transit functionality.
Is it to move people regardless of destination, or is it biased towards moving certain people easily from x to y easily and harder to move other people from y to x?
Regard and contrast the infrastructure. Is it equivalent? Is it maintained as well? Is the trash collected as often, and is cleanliness enforced equally?
Chances are super likely that your town is racist and classist in how it allocates resources towards public transportation. Most are.
Look around. Notice things.
Any idiot could get primo tickets to big shows at 1st St. or 7th Ave. Be a decent person and tip appropriately to well.
Seriously, be a good person and show up and you get endless tickets. A virtuous circle.
Usually best show in town was yours for free by showing up and tipping like a normal person a couple of days in advance.
Well, you had to show up, but I lived six blocks away so it was not that hard. And it was the best show in town. Not guaranteed, but damned close. Especially then.
Start your Saturday with a smile: The Leg at the Bottom of the Sea
MATT GAETZ ENCOURAGES SUPPORTERS TO SHOOT SILICON VALLEY EXECS OVER ALLEGED SUPPRESSION OF CONSERVATIVE VOICES
Are Democrats sleepwalking toward democratic collapse?
Stupid human tricks.
A well spent 15 seconds.
@OzarkHillbilly:
That is…beyond astonishing.
@de stijl:
Hey, what video and board games you play?
Anti-VAX A-holes are now making and selling yellow Star of David patches that say “not vaccinated”. In case you forgot that they are dumb A-holes.
@Teve:
Is Gaetz out of his mind? Seriously. This guy is being investigated for sexual misconduct, taking bribes. and illegal drug use, and now he’s running around the country advocating not just armed rebellion but outright murder.
He’s either seriously disturbed, or he thinks his position in Congress is unassailable.
@de stijl: “Have you ever noticed that public transport in poor neighborhoods is crappier, is served by lesser infrastructure, and seems designed to thwart interconnectivity?”
Yes, but the people in charge balance that out by running freeways right through those poor neighborhoods…
@CSK: perhaps he’s just correctly calculated that Trumper Republicans won’t hold Trumper Republicans accountable for anything.
@de stijl:
Forgive me; I’m really out of the loop here. But I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. What shows? Where? How does tipping well earn you a ticket to a show?
From the desk of Donald J. Trump:
“Breaking news! Massive numbers of dead people ‘voted’ in the 2020 Presidential Election, far greater than anyone has seen or known before.”
Where did this happen? How many dead people?
The USA, 74,216,154
Heh:
The Fascism is already here, we just can’t see it through the lens of exceptionalism
Anti-Democratic Conservatism Isn’t New
Conservatives’ theoretical arguments against democracy have long provided ammunition for opponents of reform.
And an item of interest from William Kristol. Sleeping Dog pinches self to see if he is really recommending a Kristol opinion piece.
As pro-democracy conservatives abandon the R party and some (most?) seek political shelter with the Dems, progressives should be aware that this is a marriage of convenience based on Dems commitment to democracy and will have the effect of moderating Dem policy proposals. The center-left is predominate among Dem politicians, so adding this cohort of Red Dog R’s to the party will only strengthen the hold of the moderates. Depending on your perspective, this maybe good or bad. While Biden is governing further to the left that would be expected, his administration is a far cry from what a Warren or Sanders admin would have been.
If this results in retaining political advantage in PA, Wis, MI, while consolidating gains in GA and AZ, it will be worth it. It may also move NC bluish and improve the Dem position in TX.
@CSK:
Well, there’s the guy who murdered his wife and cast a ballot in her name…for Trump. (Colorado)
And the guy whose mother and mother-in-law passed away and then he cast ballots in their names…for Trump. (Colorado)
And the other guy whose mother died and then he cast a ballot in her name…for Trump. (Pennsylvania)
So maybe Trump isn’t so far off this time. It’s just that all the dead people voted for him.
@Teve:
I asked this in another thread, but it was late in the day and no one responded. Why do they need a commission when the crimes are all public record — tweets by Trump, and more than sufficient social media and video content of other partakers in Jan 6th. Given that the Justice Department is under Biden’s control, why not just go out and arrest people for what seems to be obvious crimes? No bipartisan cooperation required for that, and actual convictions would send a much stronger message than some commission report that most people would never read.
@George:
Minus an investigation, how the hell do you reach the conclusion that all the crimes are known and on the public record?
Was there collusion in the Capitol Police? Was there planning engaged in by members of Congress? We don’t know.
@Mikey:
Yes, I was thinking of those folks: Dead People for Trump. But my question is purely rhetorical. Or, actually, sardonic. Maybe both.
This is characteristic Trump. Claim that “many people are saying” something. Or doing something. But never, ever specify how many, or where.
@Michael Reynolds:
The Gateway Pundit is claiming that the Capitol Police fired rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades at the crowd and then allowed them to enter the building.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Oh, this is rich. According to the Associated Press, “rioters blame their actions on 2020 election misinformation.”
You really have to read the whole thing at http://www.apnews.com .
Jaysus.
US Soldiers Expose Nuclear Weapons Secrets Via Flashcard Apps
@de stijl:
Our own nation’s capital is the poster child for this. The residents of swank Georgetown, the pre-existing burg that the city of Washington was built around, successfully blocked all attempts to put a metro station in their mini-city when DC built its subway. They were terrified that Those People from the eastern half of the city (or even Anacostia) might, you know, ride over and walk their streets, or even physically enter their shops.
So…
A priest, a rabbit, and a minister walk into a bar.
The bartender asks the rabbit: “What’ll ya have?”
The rabbit says: “I dunno, I’m only here because of autocorrect. “
@DrDaveT:
I’ve noticed that the richer a community is, the less it offers in the way of public transportation (outside of major cities).
It’s not just to keep out the poor. It’s because they have their own cars–and very often drivers for them. Public transportation is for the peasants.
One does wonder, though, how the servants commute to their maid, cook, yard person, laundry, and childcare jobs. Maybe they all live in.
@Michael Reynolds:
Shouldn’t the investigation be done by the Justice Department, the way all other crimes are? Congress doesn’t have to play a role in that, any more than it needs to do a commission every time someone murders someone.
@CSK:
No, they walk from the nearest bus/tram stop.
@George:
You mean aside from the ~400 people who’ve been arrested?
@George:
Congress has a legitimate investigatory responsibility. Kinda think that investigating a politically motivated attempted coup is something they should look into because we, the People, have a right to know.
@Teve:
Doublethink.
H/T: George Orwell.
@Teve:
That was fascinating. And I agree with most of.
The business about the Capitol riots is, though, a mixture of cowardice and self-preservation. Before the arrests started, the insurrectionists were all selfless patriots bravely resisting an evil and corrupt system. As soon as they started getting busted, the patriots were magically transformed into Antifa and BLM.
They did the crime. They’re too chickenshit to do the time.
@Teve:
@Michael Reynolds:
Remarkably similar to the reporting of some Arab’s cognitive dissonance after 9/11: attacks regarded simultaneously as both justified and falsified.
Incidentally, recalling yesterdays convo. about food and prices.
Today I bought some filet steak from a local butcher.
Not “extra special organic” or anything; though it is good, grass fed aged beef from the butchers own farm, and it is filet steak…
So at a rough guess a third again the price of ordinary supermarket filet steak (but wayyy less than “super-premium” beef)
Price converts to roughly $25 per pound.
@Michael Reynolds:
Sure, but doesn’t the Justice Department have even greater investigative powers (plus the ability to charge)? A congressional investigation seems like a much weaker effort than one by the JD. Plus, the Republicans can’t stop a JD investigation. Going for a congressional investigation sounds like politics, putting Trump and many of his followers in jail via the court system much less so (conservative partisans are going to say its political anyway, but independents are much more likely to take a court verdict seriously than a congressional verdict).
I don’t see why the D’s are concentrating on the congressional commission which both requires R support and gives weaker penalties than going through the JD.
@JohnSF:
Sounds great. Enjoy.
@Teve:
If they’ve already arrested everyone then the congressional commission isn’t needed. If they haven’t got everyone (Trump for instance doesn’t seem to have been arrested) then the congressional commission is less important than the Justice Department investigating and charging those they haven’t yet arrested. They tried to take over the country. That strikes me as something for serious charges by the JD, not for some political inquiry.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
Must be quite a hike.
@George:
During the last attempted Republican subversion of democracy we had the Watergate hearings in the Senate and a DoJ investigation. A hearing, crucially, is public. A DoJ investigation is secretive. American citizens have a right to know.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I can’t decide if Boebert thinks she’s being cute or if she believes that “patriot” actually is a pronoun.
Noun, pronoun; what’s the diff? Only pointy-headed elitists make those distinctions. Right, Ozark?
@CSK: I think she believes it pisses off lieberals.
Pretty much.
@OzarkHillbilly:
The poor thing doesn’t realizes it only makes liberals laugh at her.
@CSK:
Well, that never seemed to matter to the people my friends’ mothers worked for. All they cared about was that they showed up for work every morning, and left every night. Servants should be neither heard nor seen, doncha know?
FYI, that was in Seattle in the 60s. Maybe it’s changed (eye-roll emoji)
@Kurtz:
Right now, Crusader Kings 3 role-playing pushing out in all directions as non Euro proto-Mongol. It’s proving to be wicked hard because my dynasty keeps birthing heirs relatively unsuited to naked aggression. CK3 is optimally played by acting into your traits, not against, and keeping your vassals in line with your vision – I keep getting diplomacy and learning focused Khans, and a dodgy set of councillors. It’s proving to be a challenge, but an interesting one.
I hadn’t played Stellaris in a while and am wrapping my head around the new content before coming up with a new concept for a small and tall run. Perhaps as a forceful peacekeeper – not sure yet.
The Fallout: New Vegas Randomizer mod. I am usually not a huge fan of gameplay changing mods, but this is truly fascinating, because it forces you to embrace the madness. Any critter can be any critter and any human can be armed and armored with any gear so every push into a new area is fraught and crazy. Looting corpses is a hoot. I picked up a dev-mode only weapon that did 10k damage per shot and it was savage!
Civ 6.
Oddly enough Civ Revolution. I like the faster runs sometimes. You play a campaign in three hours. I like testing out ways to get to space the fastest, or can I win a cultural victory with three cities on Deity difficulty (yes, if you get lucky). Civ Revolution is paused now as I am typing this.
This is embarrassing, but Saints Row 4 with most of the cheats enabled so I can squish everybody in 4 seconds with my ricochet gun and spamming grenades. It’s great fun sometimes to be invincible and bad-ass, plus Laura Bailey line-readings’ are effing priceless.
Board games have been rough this last year. RPGs too. I am out of that for now, but need to re-engage. I glommed onto a Skype group due to my friend, but the DM is not to my style: she likes killing characters with difficulty. I opted out as it was not fun.
@CSK:
First Avenue bar in Minneapolis back in the day.
You could get comp tickets to shows just by being decent to servers and tipping appropriately.
Especially to 7th St. shows which were my bag.
Seventh Street Entry was the like the side bar to First Avenue and hosted the less mainstream acts, or up-and-comers.
If you did not want, or could not use, you could pass off the tix to someone who did.
It was a virtuous circle.
It promoted bands. It allowed the curious to see them. It was a practice I got used to when I was a pup and miss now.
I discovered Superchunk by accident because of this and Superchunk was a life-changing discovery. I can do tautology.
@de stijl:
Ah, okay. It wasn’t clear to me from your post what and where you were describing. There are many 1st Streets and Seventh Avenues. Thank you for clarifying.
@CSK:
Laughing at her while her lackeys are planning on exterminating you.
When did politics become asymmetrical warfare?
Boebert has better staff or better self-control than Greene. She steps on her foot less often than Greene. MTG is just a magnet of stupidity. A Karen congresscritter. Check her “Mexican accent” in a recent speech.
Stupidity that aims to kill you if you don’t fall in line.
We rid ourselves of Trump and now this shit. A Party out of control.
@Michael Reynolds:
The DoJ investigation is secret, but the trial would be public. And likely would be watched by far more people (going by things like OJ Simpson trial) than a congressional commission. Trump being prosecuted sounds like a major TV event.
@Teve:
The Gaetz and Greene roadshow of rallies is where the core base of Republican voters are in as a mindset right now.
The Big Lie beliefs and actions are performative bullshit. They know they are being lied to, and they know they are spreading lies.
But it is okay to bullshit because of the greater good. Propaganda towards a purpose and goal.
These people are frigging terrified of BLM and rational policing reforms. They are facing core changes to a nation they no longer de facto own and control.
They do not like lessers getting uppity.
Pick a random R voter. Chances are super high they view hispanic neighbors as MS13 members. Black neighbors as bangers.
And blatantly transphobic legislation used as crude wedge cudgel. Why the activism against the 1619 content and “critical race theory”? They are terrified.
We need to pay attention to what state legislatures are doing. It reflects those folks goals and aims. It is very illustrative and really scary.
@CSK: She sees the tears of laughter running down our cheeks and thinks, “Ha! That put the hurt on them.”
@Teve: As long as they sew them on to masks and wear them on their faces…
@wr: You have to run freeways through poor neighborhoods. Land in wealthy neighborhoods is to expensive to buy for road building use. Balance in everything.
@CSK: Hey, if you need the job…
And besides in earlier times, the poor walked almost everywhere they went. Being poor is not for the weak of heart, you know.
@flat earth luddite: It probably has, in fact. A lot of that kind of work now is done by suburban gig workers who need to have cars so they can navigate the twice a day public transportation place they live and need the gig work to pay for the cars.
Perfect circle. (And now, the employers don’t have all those tatty urban poor milling around their houses, having replaced them with more stylish suburban poor.)
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Infrastructure projects that benefit the wealthy and harm the poor?
And intentionally so?
We are too civilized and worthy to countenance such skullduggery! Hurrumph!
Unfortunately we are not. We use such projects to foster shitty racist and classist aims almost always.
Not every time, but more often than not there is a secondary goal that “improvement” means seeing undesirables packing off to the next town and out of ours because our shit just got too real.
The 1950’s and 60’s build-in to cities with interstates almost universally plowed through the poor and black neighborhoods.
Public works projects always have intended secondary effects. Some are stated. Some are not.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
I know. I dislike seeing them treated like disposable commodities.
@de stijl:
de stijl, today I was ripping some old audio tapes to digital and a couple of them were old Minneapolis bands, the Tetes Noires and a singer-songwriter Lisa Wooster. The Tetes I know get together occasionally, but do you have a recollection as what happened to Wooster? I know she left the TC for her hometown, Omaha or maybe KC in the mid 90’s. She could turn a phrase and put out a couple of good albums.
@flat earth luddite:
Oh, it has. Now the servants walk past a “Black live matter / Love is Love / Trans Rights Are Human Rights / …” sign before they enter the door. Sometimes the servants have cars that the neighbors complain about.
Lots of changes.
——
God, the virtue signaling signs annoy me. I agree with them, I think virtue signaling is way better than vice signaling, but they still annoy me.
I’ve wanted to get a bunch of those signs, paint over one of the random things, and then put them all over Queen Anne. As if someone agrees with 6 of 7, and wants that known. Put them in the roundabouts and by the schools.
@OzarkHillbilly:
She may be sufficiently deluded to think that.
I remember Tetes Noires vaguely.
Give me a sec and I’ll listen.
As to Lisa Wooster, I do not know. I believe, but I’d have to check, she may have been one of the folks who did the re-do of the Lake Street bowling joint into a restaurant and bar. Maybe?
Omaha was a really good scene. Even before Brighteyes, Connor Oberst, and all of that.
One of my favorite stories of exiting and building a new life was Greg Norten from Husker Du who set up in Redwing and opened a restaurant. Not a buddy, but I met him once or twice. Closer ties to Bob.
I have eaten there. It was damn good. That man does meat perfect. This was a while back.
Way cooler story than getting into IT at a shitty bank, FFS.
@Sleeping Dog:
Above about Tetes Noire, etc. was meant to be directed at you but I did not click on reply.
Apologies. I am often an idiot.
@de stijl:
I was beavering away at some stupid task in my second maybe third day at my new job at some stupid mortgage bank that became my main employer for the next few decades.
A very nice lady came by to see how it was going. She was my boss’s second.
“Very well. No problems.”
I had been wearing headphones listening to a cassette. She asked “What are you listening to?”
I felt obligated to answer truthfully as they were paying me. “The Sex Pistols, ma’am.” I am pretty sure I used “ma’am” because I was trying to be polite and courteous.
She looked as if she just swallowed a fly and was trying hard to hide that fact.
Later, we got along famously. She was a solid mensch.
Our first encounter, not so much.
Norwest bought out Wells Fargo and assumed the name.
@Sleeping Dog:
With Lisa Wooster search I am just getting College of Wooster chorus vids. I clicked on one-Vartrall (spring tune) and it was pretty good and interesting but a long build.
@Gustopher:
Personally, I’ve always preferred vice signaling to virtue signaling. My friends say it’s because I’m a fan of truth in advertising. I blame my misspent youth learning how to count cards and stack a deck, along with milking cows and bilking teachers at 5 card draw.
@Sleeping Dog:
Found her.
She now goes by Lisa Michelle Anderson in southeast Kansas.
She seems to be still performing sometimes as Lisa Wooster or as above name.
My notion about the Bryant Lake Bowl & Theater was untrue as far as I can tell. Still, it’s a good place. Good tuna and punk rock and old-school bowling.
Can it be any better than that?
Half-Time Rec had bocce courts in the basement. That was pretty bad-ass. And Celt bands up top.
I love bocce.
The Selby Avenue Curling Club was super bad-ass and did not know it just needed a band stage. Still, you could drink and watch nearly Canada-level curling. (Actually, some future Olympics folks have come out of that club.)
St. Paul kinda rocks.
Check the Selby Tigers for a band you oughta know btw.
Selby Tigers have of of my fave song titles of all time: Cheerleading Is Big Business.
A damn good song too.
A tale of today.
One of my favorite songs that I queue up daily is Autoclave by The Mountain Goats. Since I have searched for it with Google, YouTube has decided to every now and again offer up me ads for wholesalers selling autoclaves. The actual equipment. No fooling. Seriously.
At low, low prices. I assume anyway; I have not priced out autoclaves. Maybe I’m getting a raw deal?
I kinda love it, actually, because it is so precisely correct and yet so very wrong.
AI is fascinating.
I love watching it fuck up.
@de stijl: But sometimes the algorithm fails awesomely!
@de stijl:
Lisa was pre Bryant-Lake Bowl. Late 80’s early 90’s. First saw her opening for someone at 1st Ave
or maybe the Entry, then saw her again at the Entry. Good to hear she is still performing.
@de stijl:
Interesting, she now lives in western Mass, and makes jewelry beside music
@de stijl:
CK3 is great. I’m going to start a campaign tonight. I kind of like Empire of Sin as well.
I never played KOTOR, so I’ve been playing that. I wanted to go dark side, but I have a soft spot for Jawas and Wookiees, so I picked up light points in those instances. The old Jedi on Kashyyyk has a way of ridicule that speaks to me, so I have to fight that too.
FO:NV…there’s a rumor the sequel is coming. I’d love that. My buddy and I used to sing:
She’s picked out a king size bed!
Draw quick
Watch out for those rad scorpiuuhhnnnnnnsssss
You want my other Victoria 2 key?
At the risk of sullying the reputation of our serious forum and its denizens:R.I.P Gavin MacLeod, 1931-2021.
@Sleeping Dog:
Bitd almost everyone had a day job or side gig. Unless you are very good and extremely lucky you really can’t live on what bars pay.
You are beyond blessed if you can afford to give up your day job.
I worked grocery stores, convenience stores, pizza joints, sold blood plasma, retail at Dayton’s, janitorial, waited tables for three days until the manager told me it was a bad fit – it was, he was not lying to soften the blow, it was a bad fit.
My life stabilized after taking an office job. That was the arena I needed to be in.
The scrambling chaos of retail or retail adjacent was not good for me or them although I very truly tried my best. Mostly.
Office job and soon I’m getting promotions and raises.
Only a very lucky few make a living off performing. Almost everyone has a story about how they got a *real* job. It is astonishing, some of the stories. Real estate broker dude / dudette is kinda a go-to and IT too. I hang out with nerdy people.
@Kurtz:
I just played KOTOR this last winter for the very first time. I kinda do not like the universe of Star Wars.
But I had good feelings towards the developers so I gave it a solid shot.
I did like the BIG REVEAL. I can see why people like it, especially D&D types because every action is basically a dice throw. I got kinda bored but plowed on. It ended up being okay, but mostly as as a tick on the life list more than anything. I played as super Light goody two-shoes.
It’s very hard for me to play as bad. Role-playing sometimes or monkeying with consequences.
I am so down for The Mass Effect remasters. Totally doing that. Everyone hates 3, but I kinda dug it. All of the good-byes were very touching and the end choice was interesting and very much on pont to a paragon Sheperd. She/ he was destined to sacrifice. She was the sheep herd by name.
I tried playing Dragon Age: Origins a few weeks ago and it was a really frustrating experience. You basically want to min max experience / relationship with your crew and it is basically unplayable unless you milk a guide telling you what to say when. And the combat gameplay was truly uninteresting.
I remember liking the next one. Mostly because of the tragic bloodmage woman. I always romanced her and it was hard. She is very sad and conflicted. Her voice acting is fantastically great.
I’ve already paid for V2, but thank you much for the really generous offer. That is really a mensch thing to do. Thank you. I truly appreciate the offer.
Pay it forward to another friend, but thanks. The offer was super awesome.
CK3 is thwarting me. I want to Ghengis Khan+ and put all of Asia, Eurasia, and Europe proper under my boot heel but my council and treaties and big allies of potential foes keep stopping me. Greater Mongolia is my goal! I might leave Britain be. I’m not sure my people do boats above river boats.
Sometimes I like going to the grocery store with a list. Sometimes I just wing it.
Tomorrow I have a super concise list. Onions, curry powder, pork or beef roast, batteries, beer, tequila. The rest is fair game.
I like fair game trips because I always buy something new and different that I have not tried before. Sometimes it becomes a staple. Sometimes it is a disappointment. But it is always interesting.
Oh, rice too. Don’t forget the rice.
Here is a sample of the lyrics that Google is juxtaposing with sellers of actual autoclaves:
I dreamt that I was perched atop a throne of human skulls
That isn’t even the bleakest bit. It is a song about extreme alienation.
Googleadservices sez would you like to buy this literal, actual autoclave for $17187 US dollars? The sellers would be appalled.
That is not a retail friendly song. Not even wholesale friendly.
It makes me laugh everytime. Hard.
My heart’s an autoclave
@de stijl: I heard this song in a TV commercial the other day and I feel officially….old. My entire early 20’s is reduced to a TV jingle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPOy17dYeOA