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.
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
The headline of the day- Fire in Hong Kong high-rise complex kills at least 55 people, hundreds reported missing; 3 arrested
The Florida headline of the day- Florida fire-and-rescue employees arrested after waterboarding co-worker in hazing incident, officials say
Dear Wife and I will be having a quiet Thanksgiving. She will go to morning mass. On arriving home, DW will pick me up and we’ll go to the cemetery where our son and my parents are buried. The cemetery is less than a mile and a half from where we live.
We are having Turkey for dinner of course. DW and I will be eating around 4. Tonight we’ll start preparations for our 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise that will be starting on Sunday.
My recently postponed book signing tour is going to take place in March now. I’ll have another book out that month too. My WWII novel that I co-wrote with another author. Since one of my stops will be taking me to Berkeley, DW wants us to see San Francisco since we are already in the bay area.
Travel travel travel. The only months between now and next October that DW and I have no travel plans for are April and July. I think July is safe but either a trip to Ireland or Portugal and Morocco* could be in store for us in April.
*- These are places my SIL Leonette wants to visit. DW wants to visit them too. I say Ireland but the ladies have me outvoted when decision time comes.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. It is good to remember what we all have and be thankful for that. Despite the day to day trials that are both individual and universal.
The annual indulgence is pretty much prepared. Sides made. Turkey dismembered and dry brined, ready to put in the oven. That will be about 1400.
Wife’s sister and boyfriend? (we have to have a more dignified term for couples who get together in their 60s) are flying in around noon from the East Coast. This relationship seems serious. Sister has visited a number of her family scattered around the country. Sure seems like a family approval tour to us.
Anyway, I wish you all the best day. And stretch it to Monday.
Do Pope Leo XIV’s travel planners have a sense of humor? The American pontiff is visiting Turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
@Scott:
Strawberry fieldsCranberry sauce forever?Scott,
Have a great holiday.
DW and I are only making a boneless turkey breast. It is good for two dinners plus maybe turkey soup on Saturday. If anything is left after that, we’ll be throwing it out because DW and I are going on our cruise.
As god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly
Trump vs. South Africa: POTUS invents a reason to be insulted; continues to push the invented white genocide in South Africa.
Ya know, for someone who has spent so much time portraying immigrants as criminals, it’s strange that he made a special pathway for white ‘refugees’ from South Africa.
Have not heard him utter a single word about Brian Steven Smith. I guess the victims and murderer have the wrong skin color.
Aside: for people who are offended by the term of white fragility, they seem enthusiastic about finding thin-skinned leaders whose overcompensation is so visceral that it suggests the truth of the concept.
Happy Thansksgiving, oh ye pilgrims!
The gods of my tribe have spoken. They have said do not trust the pilgrims!
Happy thanksgiving and hope everyone eats well. For those of you who saw this piece on our new leader at NIH where he claims we dont need to do anything about viral infections other than become more metabolically healthy I would like to assure everyone there is no basis to those claims and feel free to eat to your heart’s (or stomach or belt) content. Not only is there a lack of science to support the claim history disputes it. Back when everyone drank raw milk because that was all we had, when people ate a lot more vegetables, grain and less meat because they couldn’t afford meat, one of it not the most common causes of death was infection. So the rest of the year eat sensibly* and get some exercise. You will be healthier and feel better for it. It will reduce the risks of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease, but still get your vaccinations.
Steve
*Avoid all of those extreme nutty diets.
@Scott: I recommend “partner” to describe a romantically attached person. I think it works pretty well, and covers pretty much all cases.
So in this case, it would be ‘wife’s sister and her partner”. This doesn’t convey the gender of said partner, but do we really need to know that?
@Jay L. Gischer:
@Scott:
Years ago, when I was young and foolisher, a feminist friend described her partner and the partner of others, as the “main squeeze.” Not very dignified, but fun.
Remembering Susan Stamberg and the holiday recipe she shared with listeners
Susan Stamberg
1938-2025
RIP
@Sleeping Dog: That one’s always made me giggle, mostly because it hints that there might be a “side squeeze” somewhere. 😉
Happy Thanksgiving, OTB’ers!
@Jay L. Gischer:
How about “companion.”
@steve222: Given the MAHA natural childbirth thing, I’d add that childbirth killed a lot of women.
I guess tryptophan and football take a toll 😉
So does work. I’ve been jumping from one task to another, and I’m still missing a half ton of stuff I need to finish a proposal due tomorrow.
For next week I want to do chili with pasta mixed in. I’m thinking small shells. Contra my love affair with the instant pot, I’ll resort to canned beans just to save time. I will likely work some hours on Saturday, unless we need to work longer…
This is week 2 of Hell Week. No one can tell how many more we’ll endure.
Hope everyone had a decent Thanksgiving. All was good here except I way overdid the roasted Brussel sprouts. Never trust the WAPO cook about temp and time in an air fryer. Hope they made the dinner for Bezos, the mooks.
And a Very Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
My thanks to Steven and Dr j and all the commentariat here as OTB is a treasure in the waste field of internet/social media. I appreciate y’all even when there are times that I disagree.
I was all set to have a flu shot and a COVID booster this weekend, and then I caught a cold.
I checked, and you can get the shots anyway, so long as you’re not very sick or are running a fever. Still, the consensus seems to indicate to wait until the cold begin to recede (mine started Tuesday evening). So, weekend after next.
What I wonder is why masking isn’t helping much. I still wear a mask just about everywhere outside home. I figure the trump virus wasn’t circulating as much, because more people took it seriously. Also hand washing. While surfaces are not the main route for respiratory virus spread, they do spread it.
Oh, well…
@CSK: I don’t object to “companion”, but to me, that word could be used to describe someone who might well be paid, and has administrative and/or medical duties. That is, a “companion” might well be paid.