Slow Vote Counting is a Problem

Not knowing the results of an election a week later is unacceptable.

TGIF Tabs

[Text Message App on Iphone] [Text Message App on Iphone]

The Blurry Line Between Legitimate PACs And Scams

Spoiler: the same people often work at both

Biden’s Supreme Court Plan

Some interesting, if unworkable, ideas.

The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

SCOTUS Upholds Penalties for Homelessness

Cruel punishment is not unusual.

East Coast v. West Coast Liberalism

Does Nicholas Kristof make his case?

Treating COVID Like the Flu

New CDC guidelines acknowledge the political realities.

California’s Weird Election Laws

The Top Two system has created perverse incentives.

Thursday Tabs

The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Is It Cruel to Ban Public Camping?

The 9th Circuit says it is, at least under some circumstances.

Where The Gays Are

A breakdown of new survey data.

College Football Playoff Chaos

The four-team Playoff will go out making a lot of folks mad.

Dozens Quitting Congress

Take this job and shove it. I ain’t workin’ here no more.

The End of the Power 5 Era

The rapidly changing face of college sports.

Lisa Franchetti to be First Woman Military Service Chief

President Biden has again made history.

The 4th Amendment in a Zero Privacy World

Should the government need a warrant to get information it can buy on the open market?

Transphobic Cruelty

When prejudice overrides simple humanity.

Making Cheap Booze More Expensive

A study has found significant health benefits.

A “No Labels” Candidate?

A hypothetical spoiler for 2024? (Stress on “hypothetical”).

Dilbert Canceled

Newspapers across the country are dropping the popular strip over a racist rant.

The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Homeless Sweeps are Costly, Ineffective, and Immoral

Cities across the United States are taking the wrong approach to a crisis.

[Death penalty - image of a stretcher with shackles] [Death penalty - image of a stretcher with shackles]

Oregon Governor Commutes All Death Row Sentences

Kate Brown has left a parting gift for the state’s worst criminals.

Forecasting 2024 Way Too Early

There are at most eight toss-up states for the 2024 Presidential election.

Everybody Needs Some Elbow Room!

A memory of pop culture and its linkage to broader myths about America.

Democrats Outperform Expectations

The Needle is Broken

Democracy and ZIP Codes

The rules for voting in America vary widely.

Loretta Lynn, 1932-2022

A country music icon is gone at 90.

Anti-Zionism Isn’t Anti-Semitism

Many young, progressive Jews are feeling unwelcome in young, progressive circles.

Racial Equity and America’s Roads

A new initiative aims to right decades-old wrongs.

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Why America Can’t Build

Are we too regulated for our own good?

Mass Shootings, Ideology, and Mental Illness

We know a lot less about the motives of spree killers than the public discourse suggests.

11 Million Displaced

The horrific tallies of Putin’s war of choice continue to mount.

The free high-resolution photo of technology, car, wheel, vehicle, metal, auto, steering wheel, automotive, sports car, supercar, gears, rim, audi, dare, pkw, circuit, passengers cars, gear shift, land vehicle, gear lever, gearshift, automobile make, automotive design, luxury vehicle, family car , taken with an ILCE-6000 02/08 2017 The picture taken with 50.0mm, f/5.6s, 1/200s, ISO 200 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of technology, car, wheel, vehicle, metal, auto, steering wheel, automotive, sports car, supercar, gears, rim, audi, dare, pkw, circuit, passengers cars, gear shift, land vehicle, gear lever, gearshift, automobile make, automotive design, luxury vehicle, family car , taken with an ILCE-6000 02/08 2017 The picture taken with 50.0mm, f/5.6s, 1/200s, ISO 200 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Shifting Gears on COVID

Blue and red states alike are ending mask mandates and other restrictions.

Nick Kristof Ineligible to Run for Oregon Governor

Apparently, New York and Oregon are not the same place.

If It Was an Insurrection, Why Hasn’t Anyone Been Charged with ‘Insurrection’?

It doesn’t matter what I believe. It only matters what I can prove.

Public Health vs ‘The Science’

The CDC is weighing changing the definition of “fully vaccinated.”

Unilateral Disarmament on Gerrymandering

Democrats and Republicans are playing by different rules.

Everyone’s a Virologist Now

Is media coverage of experts’ struggles to understand COVID helpful?

Oh, Look, Vaccinations Rates Matter

The evidence is pretty clear: vaccinations are key, not weather (but that won’t stop people from trying to say otherwise).

COVID Overwhelming ICU Beds

It’s happening again. This time, it was easily preventable.

Alabama, Disney, and the Quest to Be a National University

The cost of raising a university’s profile.

Nicholas Kristof Is Exploring a Run for Oregon Governor

The two-time Pulitzer winner is considering a career change.

The Master’s Degree Scam

Most aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

Conservatives and Children’s Rights

COVID vaccine hesitancy is just the tip of the iceberg.

Biden Fires ‘Independent’ Social Security Administrator

President Trump’s destruction of longstanding norms continues under his successor.

Census Results Likely a Boost for GOP

The long shift of population from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt continues—with the unusual exception of California.

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The ‘Right to Inspect’ in the Internet Era

The law is out of sync with modern realities.

The Rhetorical Framing of HR1

A truly silly characterization from Senator Mike Lee.