Friday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Friday, September 15, 2023
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30 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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Hope you have a great day, everyone! Time for an early AM drink & seegar to wait for sunrise.
This op-ed by Boris Johnson is pretty spectacular.
Why aren’t we giving Ukraine what it needs?
A quibble here and there, but oh my. This is the Ukraine speech I want Biden to give. I guess Johnson has fully transitioned back to a one-nation Tory?
8:30 Friday evening in Seoul and LG is ahead of Daejeon’s Hanwha Eagles 4-3 in the top half of inning 6. Soar Eagles!
Yesterday was Ig Nobel day.
Among the winners were,
and
Many more at the link.
There you have it. The one thing I never thought I’d hear as a form of identification. 😛 😛
This is fun:
@Jax: I wonder what the system would make of my hemorrhoids.
@Jax:
Well, it’s not like one needs high tech gizmos to recognize an asshole.
No, Benito, you cannot sue your attorneys for malpractice if you refuse to take their advice.
Ten to one he doesn’t take the stand at all.
@DK:
To be fair to Johnson (and if only you knew the pain those words cause me 😉 ) he has always be pretty sound on Ukraine. Johnson always has a bit of compartmentalised brain: he can regard some things quite analytically, and based upon decent principles.
But as soon as personal profit, pleasure, or political advantage, come into the picture, all that is swiftly abandoned.
The most important question for him is always: “What’s best for Boris?”
And his lack of self-discipline is ultimately self-destructive.
A pity in a way; if he had the self-aware self-control of say, Macmillan or Churchill, Disraeli or Palmerston, he could have been a much more significant and successful figure than he ended up being.
@Kathy: 20 to 1 you are right.
After two very long years, Mexico has regained category 1 certification from the FAA.
It really shouldn’t have been that hard, or taken this long. All that’s needed is adherence to the minimum oversight standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency.
So, things begin to return to normal. Mexican airlines can now set up new routes to the US (existing routes were kept in operation during the Cat 2 downgrade), and set up or resume code shares and other agreements with US-based airlines. Meaning Volaris can begin the code shares with Frontier.
Given how his majesty Manuel Andres really, really wants his white elephant airport to take off (ha ha), one thinks he would have tried harder to solve this issue, rather than let it fester for two years. Next he may get the brilliant idea to transfer all international flights to his pet airport. Hell, he doesn’t even have to order it. Just close all passport and customs services to MEX, and international flights can no longer arrive to or leave from that airport.
I don’t think he’s that stupid. The white elephant lacks many amenities, like premium lounges, which would cost airlines and others a fortune to provide. Not to mention that faced with long haul flights, or long medium haul flights (4-6 hours*), one really wants to depart from an airport far far away that adds 1 to 2 hours to the journey.
*This includes many flights to the US and Canada. MEX-JFK is about 5:30 hours long.
@DK: You know, I read this, and tried to pronounce “ATACM” and came up with “attack ’em”, amusingly enough.
From Gossip Central, the Daily Mail: Kristi Noem is having a red-hot affair with Corey Lewandowski.
What do some women see in that repulsive little weasel?
@CSK: In Noem’s case a role model?
@CSK: I’m not a woman but my initial reaction was “yuck”
@Jay L Gischer:
Amusingly, that’s how the Brit military guys I’ve chatted with always pronounce it, in private.
American military perhaps a bit less prone to that sort of humour?
@gVOR10:
Perhaps it’s that extra long penis Corey bragged about to the unfortunately named Trashelle Odom, wife of a major Republican donor. (She called the cops on him.)
@Scott:
“Yuck” by a magnitude of ten.
@JohnSF:
I usually hear it pronounced “A Tackems” (where A rhymes with “hay”), but the double entendre in the acronym was deliberate. Acronymy is an art form in the military; the guys who came up with a name for the Army’s vehicular electronics architecture that would acronize to VICTORY probably got bonuses and promotions.
A couple of days ago, I made the prediction that AZ, GA, NC, and a few other states will go to Biden in 2024 and it won’t be as close as 2020. To that end, here’s an interesting story about the AZ GOP.
AZ GOP is nearly broke.
A few tidbits:
https://www.deseret.com/2023/8/20/23836474/arizona-democrats-outraising-republicans
I’ve felt that Eric Adams should get the “Mayor Most Likely to be Indicted” award since day 1 of his time in office. I wonder if we are about to see the start of the unraveling. One of his top aids just got arrested for taking bribes. Some quotes from the linked article:
@EddieInCA: Arizona is the latest state to witness the implosion of what should be a very viable Republican Party, given the makeup of the state. The tea party hounded the “normies” out of office and ushered in extremists in their place. This drove some moderates out of the party, which gave the extremists more power, which ushered in even loonier extremists, which drove more moderates out, wash, rinse, repeat. This cycle had reached the self destructive feedback zone since at least the tea party, if not earlier.
@CSK: I feel like this is old news. Wasn’t that the rumor a few years ago?
Edit: apparently, this is a “years-long” affair, so I must have read some scuttlebutt about it back at its origins.
@Jax: A photocopy of a butt is a key clue in the (generally regarded as awful) movie The Spirit, with out hero asking every doorman in the city if they recognize it.
An automated system just makes sense for situations like that.
@Jen:
L’affaire Corey-Kristi seems to have been going on for several years now. I wonder how Alison Lewandowski can stand it, knowing not just that her husband’s a serial philanderer but that his behavior is public knowledge. Unlike Melania, she’s not getting money out of the deal.
@CSK: Given who their spouses are, maybe they ‘re counting their blessings.
@OzarkHillbilly:
If I were Alison Lewandowski, I’d just as soon keep a thousand or so miles between me and Corey.
@MarkedMan:
Wisconsin Republicans to Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and California Republicans:
“Hold my cheesehead.”
Trump hasn’t ceased “threatening” and “harassing” witnesses with “inflammatory statements.”
http://www.rawstory.com/trump-chutkan-smith/
@DK: Don’t forget Colorado. Our reThugs are so far out there they can see their own backs.