Friday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Friday, July 24, 2020
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27 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a 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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Things you wish you could read again for the first time: Matt Taibbi describing Stephen Miller looking like an “escaped med school cadaver”.
Dr. Fauci has other priorities.
There is nothing unique or profound in this Foreign Policy article but it does bring a lot together in one place.
How to Ruin a Superpower
It begins after the fall of the Soviet union, where, for a time, the world was unipolar, and we were the hyperpower. Then describes three mistakes:
The article goes but basically it describe a world where we had opportunity but squandered it and then the pandemic hit and we are hosed.
Trump says he could send as many as 75,000 federal agents to US cities
Somehow, I think this is BS.
My question would be: Are these officers just lying around on the Federal payroll? Presumably they have regular jobs. What is not going to get accomplished while they are deployed?
That’s why this is BS.
In the New Yorker: Blitt’s Kvetchbook
Trump Aces the Cognitive Test
@Scott: Somebody told him he could have 750 but that just didn’t sound very impressive, so he added a couple of zeros.
From last open thread
I do like mid century modern, but it’s been very trendy lately and I’m not sure how it’s going to look in a few years. I spent about two hours yesterday just browsing Wayfair.
CDC, Community Spread and Schools
Southwest and American will not allow passengers to travel without masks, even if they have a legitimate medical condition which prevents them from wearing one.
This means they can deny travel to someone with a medical disability.
Which at once makes one ask: what of the Americans With Disabilities Act? I don’t have the link handy, but Federal rules allow airlines to bar even disabled people from flying, if they present a safety issue to the plane, crew, or passengers.
Also, the act in question requires people sue. I’d love to see those insensitive idiots try to prove their non-existent medical condition to a court.
On the downside, at least where Southwest is concerned, they’ll also exclude people who can wear a mask but cannot remove it on their own. Why? Because is case of cabin decompression, you need to take your mask off in order to fit the overhead emergency oxygen mask over nose and mouth.
@OzarkHillbilly:
With a rate that low, I wonder if 0 per 100,000 of population would be much different.
I also wonder whether that figure includes tests done by private labs. I’ve heard of long lines in some labs that offer the tests. And my mother had to take a test before she was admitted to the hospital for surgery.
D’ja ever notice that when some right-wing asshole gets called out, one of the first things, if not the first thing, they do is tell you how much they love their god?
@Teve: For furniture hard goods, if you’re going to invest in solid wood pieces, really simple designs with clean lines will work with a range of styles. (The McKendrie and Christopher dining tables from Ethan Allen, for example. Or if you’re looking for a round table, the Linden Round or Owen Round pedestal tables from Pottery Barn.) These tables are simple enough that changing styles can be accommodated by simply switching out the chairs.
Avoid anything that looks like it could be used in a period set of a TV show (barn, bar, “Tuscan Villa”), those will look dated quickly.
@Teve: You might want to try “campaign” as a term for searching. You may find that style has appeal. I’ve always preferred that and Mission. Also some Oriental is really good looking but really niche as styles go.
My current stuff is IKEA and below, but I only have about 200 sq.ft. to furnish and the bed takes up a lot of that, so furniture is not a priority.
@sam: And family–don’t forget family. You can do a lot of stuff if it was for the sake of your kids.
@Jen: but…but…Tuscan Villa…(reaches)
@Just nutha ignint cracker: campaign…oh that’s kinda nice. Where’s Melania with the pith helmet. 😀
Everything you guys are telling me about furniture I’m compiling into a text file to make notes on. Thanks for the help.
@Teve: I’m going to give the opposite advice of @Jen — if you really like Tuscan Villa, just go for it.
Most people’s homes are ugly and trendy from whatever year they formed opinions on furniture, but they’re happy with it. You could be one of those people.
My father married a very nice woman who completely renovated the house I grew up in with a style that can charitably be called “Old Lady meets Georgia O’Keefe in Santa Fe and balences it with ‘tribal’ statues of penises”. They’re happy with it (my father doesn’t care). It’s hideous.
One thing I do like that she did was painting the inside of cabinets a different color, so there’s a surprise when you open it. Alas, the surprise is that when you open the cabinets painted a rosy-sand color you see the insides painted a sandy-rose color, and it looks sort of like a sickly mouth…
BOURBON POST
Last night, I had to visit the home of a very wealthy man (net worth north of $600M), as part of the current gig I’m working. He has the most ridiculous Bourbon collection I’ve ever seen. We got to talking about Burbon and he gave me a shot of Weller 19 year, which I had never had, but always wanted to.
OMG….
Amazing!!!
Alas, when I got back to my hotel, I googled it and realized it was the first, and probably last time I’ll ever get a taste of that. It goes for $3700-$5800 per bottle, assuming you can find it.
But… Damn!!!! It was good.
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/w+l+weller+nineteen+old+straight+bourbon+whisky+kentucky+usa
@Gustopher:
Of course! Sure, if that’s @Teve’s thing, he should go for it–I was going off of this statement:
That made me think that you were looking for functional foundation pieces that wouldn’t be easily pegged to a trend. The nice thing about a straightforward table with very simple lines is that you can adorn the rest of the room in Tuscan Villa now, and then if/when tastes change, you swap out a few less expensive elements and have a whole new look.
But absolutely your home should be a reflection of what YOU like.
I tend to lean toward classic pieces in very muted tones so I can swap out curtains, rugs, and paint and have a completely different look every few years, a tendency I attribute to frequently moving around as a kid.
My home is decorated in late century yard sale.
@EddieInCA: I’m bad about whiskies, so bad I can’t have it around because every sip tastes like just one more. BUT… when I go to somebody else’s house? And they offer? I always pick the most expensive stuff they have. Why? Because if I didn’t I’d never get a taste of it.
Recently visited a bit with my son’s in laws. They offered. I looked. I saw. “That 18 yr old rye sure looks good.” It was.
@OzarkHillbilly:
The more I go down the rabbit hole of Bourbon, the more I’m finding that I just love – for many different reasons – alot of different burbons. I have a co-worker who is as big a bourbon snob that you can be while earning $100K per year. He’s introduced me to some AMAZING bourbons that run less than $100 per bottle. That’s about the limit of what I’ll pay, and I don’t do it often. But this kid’s collection is amazing. And he knows his stuff.
@EddieInCA: I’m that way with scotch. My first experience with scotch (the real stuff, not that swill Americans throw together) was about 3 decades ago. My parents had gone for a tour of the UK. When in Scotland they made a point to visit every distillery they came across. To say that most of them were obscure would be putting it lightly (according to them almost every village had it’s own). At any rate, they got sample bottles from each and every one, and when they returned they threw a family Scotch tasting party.
They ruined me, ruined me. I have never been the same.
Hot Damn! Giant exoplanets directly observed orbiting Sun-like star
@OzarkHillbilly: I hear ya.
Scotland didn’t ruin me, but it did ruin my budget. Every time we go, we try and pick up at least 2 bottles of single malts that are not available in the US. I think it’s good that there was no inkling that we wouldn’t be able to go back this year, because I might have considered risking more than the allowed limit…
new Lincoln Project Ad: Trump, women, Ghislane Maxwell
This is what structural racism looks like…and just because Larry Hogan isn’t a troglodyte like, say, Louie Gohmert, he’s still a Republican…
@Teve:
I hope he’s seen this.