Wednesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Wednesday, June 4, 2025
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28 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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Former NFL football player Jim Marshall has passed away at age 87. He lived down a wrong way touchdown run by having a Hall of Fame career as a defensive lineman with the Minnesota Vikings. RIP Purple People Eater.
One of the essay questions that applicants for federal jobs must now answer:
How far are we from loyalty oaths to the person of the current occupant?
The headline of the day- Nudists march in Mexico City to celebrate body positivity
https://bsky.app/profile/joestieb.bsky.social/post/3lqkm257re22a
https://bsky.app/profile/joestieb.bsky.social/post/3lqklxaiia22i
A little bit of history.
President Chester A. Arthur’s Grandson Was a Vet Who Led the 1960s Countercultural Revolution
@Scott: Thanks, this was a subject I knew nothing about, so you helped me learn something this morning.
@Kingdaddy:
Based on that quote you have there, we’re already at loyalty oaths. How could you answer that question honestly if you don’t believe in the whole Trump agenda? If you can’t answer it honestly you’re setting yourself up to get fired/blacklisted.
@Beth: @Kingdaddy: One can only hope that the next Dem president cleans house of the sycophants and asshats Trump brings into the federal workforce. Tired of Dems playing by the rules when the R’s just do whatever they want to do.
@Charley in Cleveland: Maybe it will be a good thing if the administration follows through on this, from the article…
This year between work and my mom’s health issues, I haven’t had the time or inclination to make ice cream. I was about to just let it go, when I saw cherries in the store the other day. Also, the weather’s improving (ie cloudy most of the day and rain most days, so it’s cooler),
I wonder, can I make a batch or two of cherry ice cream, and freeze it for next spring? I figure it will keep.
About the bribe plane, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the US Constitution states:
Emphasis added.
El Taco could easily take possession of his bribe, if Congress were to consent to it. No need to present a ridiculous story of using it as AF1 or transferring it to a nonexistent library.
BTW, the idea that taking an existing plane and modifying it to AF1 standards would be faster and cheaper is wrong. Proof? easy: that’s what El Taco ordered the Air Force and Boeing to do in his first term.
Boeing planned to build two brand new 747-8s to AF1 standards. This is neither cheap nor fast, nothing involving AF1 is, but ti would have been faster seeing as the tons of wiring could be installed clean, rather than stripping wiring and replacing it. And that’s just the start.
But El Taco noticed Boeing had two undelivered 747-8s ordered by a defunct airline, and why not use those.
So what he’s proposing to do with the bribe plane, is exactly what’s already going on and has taken these many years.
@Kathy:
Keeping homemade ice cream for that long, it may be difficult to avoid ice crystal formation, depending on your freezer set up. I’ve had the best results by placing plastic wrap or parchment paper directly on the frozen ice so as to minimize contact with the air. Store it at the very back/bottom of your freezer to avoid temperature changes which can cause crystals to form.
Strawberry season is in full swing here, followed soon by blueberry season. For both of those fruits, I skip ice cream and make sorbet. The NYTimes’ sorbet recipe is the best I’ve encountered. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/9662-strawberry-sorbet
@Kingdaddy: Thus my call a few days ago for using ChatGPT to answer. (And how likely am I to get caught for lying on that essay question anyway? Just tell the committee what they want to hear, get the job, and let the chips fall where they may. Business as usual.)
@charontwo:
Depends on how one defines who the “bad guys” are. The difference between MAGAts and sociopaths is that sociopaths don’t want their children growing up in dystopia. I’ve heard Medellin was a pretty “model city” type place while the cartel ran it.
@Neil Hudelson:
Thanks for the tips. I’ll do all that.
as to sorbet, I found sugar-free sorbet rather impossible. The attempt using allulose was way too sweet.
I’m finding all sorts of contradictory recipes online, too. So I’ll do one with raw, blended cherries, and one with cooked, blended cherries. See which I like more.
On to other things, Powell is going to get the boot before the year is out. I see two scenarios:
1) He refuses to lower interest rates despite El Taco’s incessant whining, and ultimately gets fired.
2) He does lower interest rates and then the economy goes south. Not necessarily due to lowering rates, but because El Taco is doing all in his power to bring it down. El Taco will blame it on Powell for not lowering rates enough, or having done so too late, and fires him.
Forget the popcorn futures. Invest in canned foods, bottled water, solar panels, batteries, and maybe guns.
@Kathy:
Unless you have a deep freeze, I’d investigate that assumption more. It’s probably wiser to use (commercially) frozen cherries next spring to make cherry ice cream than to expect a home freezer to keep low-sugar ice cream fresh for 9 or 10 months.
@just nutha:
The one big obstacle between me and cherry ice cream, is the lack of commercially available frozen cherries. Fresh ones are no problem, from late May til they run out. Otherwise they are sold as pie filling (lots of sugar), or preserved in syrup (even more sugar).
On the other hand, what if I just froze the cherries myself? I’ve no idea how to do so, but I suppose I could look it up.
@Kathy:
To freeze cherries: Wash and pit them. Spread on parchment in a single layer. Put tray in freezer. After 2-3 hours, transfer cherries to a Ziploc bag, or some such, and return to freezer. Use within six months.
@CSK:
Thank you!
I’ll let you know later if they held up well after 8-9 months.
I don’t set the schedule. Climate change does.
@Kathy:
You’re welcome. In a deep freeze, cherries will last for a year. But yours should be fine for 8 months anyway.
A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon, “you’re taking about real money.”
Republicans: “Deficit, deficit, deficit, deficit —– ooh look! tax cuts! yay!”
Trickle down = piss on down.
Jobs report has the private sector adding just 37,000 jobs last month, so that’s fun.
Early numbers, of course, which will be adjusted. And I don’t know to what extent, if any, chaos has affected the gathering of the numbers. Genuinely hoping the numbers are undercounting due to chaos. More likely business is pulling back on hiring due to chaos.
I’m sure a massive tax cut for the most wealthy and tariffs for the little people will fix everything.
The Dept. of Education wants to revoke Columbia University’s accreditation for failing to protect Jewish students.
I’ve been seeing people on social media getting excited about the election results in Rockland County, NY, believing that it shows the massive Trump vote fraud in the 2024 general election.
On a related note, I don’t think the Associated Press should have paid content in the form of “news articles” written by LaRouchers. Just not good, ya know? Makes bullshit look like news.
https://apnews.com/press-release/access-newswire/diane-sare-kamala-harris-kamala-harris-es-kirsten-gillibrand-new-hampshire-225173eaaf66b420844508516b365caf
I guess the theory is that the Trump campaign cheated in NY State, a state they lost handily, and that they didn’t also cheat downballot, so Gillibrand had more votes for Senate than Harris had for President.
Also, a LaRouche candidate has sworn affidavits from 7 people who voted for them in one precincts, but the county board of elections reports only 5 votes. Because people who think voting for a LaRoucher are well known for being really bright and doing things carefully and correctly.
And in one precinct (Ramapo 35) there were 0 Harris votes, but Gillibrand got nearly 80% of the vote in the Senate. Sounds scandalously wrong! (It’s a Hasidic community where the Rabbis endorsed Trump and Gillibrand for Israel reasons)
The grift is on. And very stupid people are beginning to fall for it, because it tells them what they want to hear — that jet fuel doesn’t burn hot enough to melt steel girders, Elon Musk’s StarLink is more dangerous than Jewish Space Lasers, and chemtrails are real and not just a misheard use of the word “contrail” that people have latched onto.
I’m off to the cigar lounge, so this’ll have to be a hit and run trolling. Sorry.
Analysis/commentary anyone?
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
I think this explains it all:
I expect if the title “Housecat! A look at a broken White House Christmas Ornament” tested better, she would have announced that she was a furry.
@Gustopher: Depends on how you define “everything,” but for the GOP view, yeah, pretty much solve everything.
ETA: @Gustopher: Interesting theory. 😉
Trump signed a proclamation today barring travel from twelve countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Repub. of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.