Tuesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Tuesday, October 14, 2025
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20 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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BlueSky.
News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before deadline for signing
Newsmax and Washington Times also refused!
Father wearing ‘Proud dad of a U.S. Marine’ shirt arrested by ICE agents while visiting pregnant daughter (The Independent)
Are the competing budget bills in the Senate in committee? Because the news reports seem to make it seem as if the bill is on the floor. I was under then impression that the filibuster is only a thing to get the bill out of committee and on to the floor.
Is there anyone that can sort it all out for us?
@Rick DeMent:..Is there anyone that can sort it all out for us?
Here is the Commonly Searched for Legislation (119th Congress) page at Senate(dot)gov.
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/active_leg_page.htm
I have consulted the information presented and can not provide an answer to your question. It could be that I am missing something.
Apparently this page publishes actions going back to January 2025. Scroll down to see:
S.Con.Res.3 – A concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for the lying in state of the remains of the late James Earl Carter, Jr., 39th President of the United States.
Introduced in Senate 01/03/2025.
Happy Windows 10 apocalypse.
You can extend support and updates for one more year, free of charge, with a Microsoft account. This video explains how. There may be some exceptions.
BTW, it seems a lot of people dislike the idea of an MS account for some reason. I know you can run Wn10, and 11 at that, with a local account. Still, at work we use MS Office and One Drive, so not having an MS account is stupid. At home I also make use of these, though maybe not for long.
Anyway, practice good internet safety. Get an antivirus or activate Windows Defender. And get a malware protection software. I use Malwarebytes, the free version, which has the added bonus of blocking ads in all websites. It even keeps the ads on Youtube from playing. They still take up time trying to load and run, but you’re spared hearing for the millionth time the awful Clickup ads.
@Rick DeMent: From memory, so somewhat suspect… The filibuster only applies to debate conducted by the Senate as a whole. I believe some Senator moved the Senate concur with the House continuing resolution to authorize spending for a couple of months. A motion to concur — agree without changes — brings the bill directly to the floor. When the presiding officer asked, “Is there any debate?” some Senator said yes. At that point the filibuster came into play — now it requires 60 votes to close the debate on the resolution. The Senate currently runs a two-track system. On one track, the resolution is being “debated” and nothing else can happen on that track until that debate is closed. The other track is available for the Senate to conduct other business.
I spent a few years on the budget staff for my state’s legislature, and had to learn all their rules for conducting business. My state’s rules are simple and straightforward compared to the way Congress operates.
Taking up the matter of pulp in SF, how about a Captain Proton vs Dr. Chaotica animated series?
I imagine it as computer animation in black and white, with color used only for things like beam weapons, explosions, and now and the odd alien now and then.
Welp, Frances Fukuyama has weighed in on the causes of global populism/authoritarianism:
It’s the Internet, Stupid
Last weekend I made chilaquiles with shredded chicken, refried beans with turkey “chorizo” on the side.
I tried something different. I put the chicken breast with a little broth in the instant pot (best/fastest way to get good shredded chicken), but I added a rosemary sprig and some dill in the pot. the result certainly smelled different from the usual way I cook the chicken. I could taste the herbs in the broth, too.
I then put bottled salsa, caramelized onions, pressed garlic, and tomato pure in a pot on the stove, seasoned with paprika and black pepper, added some broth, and brought to a boil. I then added a little peanut butter, and some more broth as I felt necessary to get a thick but watery consistency (it sounds like a lot more work than it was).
There were two minor problems. One was a need to scrape the herbs from the cooked chicken’s surface. The other was straining the broth to make sure no herb bits remained. I suppose I should use a sachet d’épices. Not that scraping and straining was a big deal.
The finished salsa tasted different than what I usually make, so adding herbs to the broth does something, even if I couldn’t taste the herbs directly. this happens with a lot of ingredients.
Next week meatballs with kasha, possibly nothing on the side (ie I can’t think of anything). I want to try some apple filled puff pastries in the air fryer for dessert.
I keep saying these are very mean people.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146
Good news is that Politico, of all sites, put this out so more of the people who need to see this will.
@Kathy: tie your herbs in a bouquet garni.
And Kathy, I have nothing but the utmost respect for you. Your ability to wrap your brain around so many complex ideas and even venture beyond what is known in such a rational, inquisitive manner humbles me.
But I will never understand you and your relationship with peanut butter.
@Jay L. Gischer:
First let me get this out of the way:
“Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.” History.
Ok, that said, there are some puzzling items in Fukuyama’s piece. For instance, of economic and social conditions he says “Indeed, it would be hard to argue that they have been this good at many other points in human history.”
My reaction was “What planet is he living on?” Really. I know less about the situation in Europe, but in the US the middle class has been squeezed a lot for the past 45 years, arguably the past 50, and things are getting serious now. See the costs of housing (both to buy and to rent), and healthcare, and higher education. Add the rise in the price of groceries lately, too.
Fukuyama also mentions several times such things were worst in the past. This is true, but not very relevant. People compare their current situation to what it was before. At most, to what they hear about conditions from their parents, and maybe grandparents*. Not with the worst moments in human history. Sure, the Bush the younger Great Recession of 2008-9 was far, far, far milder than the Great Depression in the 1930s. But we lived through the former and experienced it. that’s the one that matters to us.
I’m sure social media, not the internet itself, has been driving extremism and radicalization. It’s what it’s best at, when one allows the algorithm to guide one’s choices and when moderation ranges from highly inadequate to nonexistent. To that extent, he is right. But the other issues need to be fixed, too.
*I certainly have heard a lot from my parents and grandparents. One that should be rather common all over is “In my day, we didn’t need to lock the front door, or even close it.”
@Kathy: This isn’t a either/or situation. You are both right. Humans have more material wealth than they have ever had right now. AND they have been being squeezed since about 1980. Which has created the massive inequality we see.
But your timeline suggests why he considers this less of a cause. Because it’s been happening for 50 plus years, it can’t be the thing that changed in the 20-teens.
@becca:
In this case in particular, the peanut butter was to decrease the heat from the salsa. In things like tangerine chicken, peanut flavor goes well with the citrus and soy sauce flavors. Sometimes, I just see the jar in the pantry and think “why not?”
And there’s Kathy’s First Law: everything is better with peanut butter; except that which is not.
We commit ourselves to a future of enduring peace.
Donald Trump
@Jay L. Gischer:
You know the parable of the frog in the slowly boiling pot? The thinking is it gets used to the rising heat and doesn’t notice when it’s being cooked alive.
No one has ever tried this experiment, as far as I know (though maybe that will be advanced biology in the new NIH), but it’s clear to see its patently false. At some point the frog’s flesh will burn, or the heat will otherwise become painful, and it will try its damnedest to get out.
The real point of the parable is that the frog will not grow alarmed as the heat rises until it gets hurt, not necessarily until it’s dead.
I think we’re at this point as regards the middle class. Had the US, or any other country, gone from the middle class standards where one income earner was usually enough to support a family, to the present condition where two incomes are barely enough and well-being feels precarious, in a short time, there’d have been a revolution almost at once.
The one big difference is no one keeps telling the frog the heat is good, and that lowering the temperature would be socialism.
@Kathy: gotcha. My first law would be everything’s better with bacon. And there’s no such thing as too much garlic.
@becca:
I’m too lazy to make bacon often. To do it right, one has to put it on a baking sheet in the oven. And it has to be consumed right away. It might be possible to reheat it later in the day, or maybe the next day, but that’s the absolute limit. The other problem is washing the baking sheet…
As to garlic, I go through a lot each month. Fresh, in dehydrated flakes (great for infusing garlic in oil), and garlic powder.
@Kathy:
I line a pan with foil and lay parchment atop it. The foil underneath usually doesn’t get messed up, the grease gets contained in the parchment, so that usually lasts for several bakings.
Life without bacon? Unimaginable.
@dazedandconfused:
I’ve tried foil, but not foil and parchment paper. With foil alone, the grease leaked. I may try adding parchment next time.