Good Friday Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Friday, March 29, 2024
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26 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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The headline of the day- GOP lawmaker slams ‘illegal invaders’ at Detroit airport. It was the Sweet 16 teams
How many hours did it take to convict Ken Paxton? Oh yeah, they dropped the charges after how many years in exchange for a slap on his wrist (no way do I believe the $300K are coming out of his pocket)
Meanwhile, in Georgia: Georgia Republican official fined $5,000 for voting illegally nine times
Whadya wanna bet the GOP doesn’t even ask him to resign?
@Bill Jempty: I am not surprised.
Yesterday we drove up to Baltimore to visit Lexington Market. We’d seen it featured in several food shows and figured it’s not that far, so why not check it out?
Unbeknownst to us, however, because all the food shows were old, is the market was renovated and reopened in late 2022, being less a central market and more a big food hall. Which is great, too, we love food halls, but it’s not exactly what we expected.
Also unbeknownst to us was yesterday was the Orioles’ opening day, which meant the place was rather crowded with fans and the line at Faidley’s Seafood was out the door. I know the crab cakes are $25, we still wanted to try them.
Instead we ended up at Connie’s Chicken and Waffles, which I must say was very good–the waffle was fantastic and the chicken well-seasoned and cooked just right.
So, lunch achieved successfully, but we still would have liked the more traditional central market.
@Mikey: Haven’t been to the Market since it reopened, despite being within walking distance, but my wife has. She was a bit disappointed in the ambience and lack of actual market goods (produce, butcher, etc).
We have a much closer market, Cross Street Market, which is also mostly a food hall, with just one real market type location, a very good butcher. There was a green grocer for a brief time but the owners were not very good business people and opening during COVID didn’t help.
Baltimore has a bunch of farmers markets during the season, with the largest being under Route 83 just before it ends. The main and original section still has plenty of fresh produce, meats and fish, but the surrounding sections have turned into a giant weekly festival. Music, art, street food, lots of good stuff.
A different way of looking at public policy, soil-tending versus seed-planting:
https://open.substack.com/pub/hypertextjournal/p/the-limits-of-death-star-thinking?r=7taq7&utm_medium=ios
Louis Gossett Jr. 87
RIP
J.D.’s Revenge
@Mister Bluster:
I just read this on ABC. Gossett was a terrific actor.
IIRC there was some discussion of the force involved in the Baltimore bridge collision. NYT (gift link) found someone to do the math. They estimate over 100 million Newtons [>22 million lb-f]. As they note at some length, they don’t have accurate data on how quickly the ship stopped, so the best they can do is estimate a range of force.
Their experts differ, but one feels a bridge built to current standards could have survived, probably requiring protective structures , not just a stronger bridge.
I noted the first two comments. The most popular is a vet saying a Navy carrier would be accompanied by tugs. The second compliments NYT for printing a piece with facts and math and excellent explanations. Indeed a breath of fresh air.
OK, I’ll be the No Labels presidential candidate.
My platform is: ‘Vote for Joe Biden.’
@Mister Bluster: No Labels, that made my day, thanks.
When I read or hear “good Friday,” I feel like I’ve read or heard things like: wet water, cold ice, hot fire, dry desert…
@Kathy:
The only thing that would make this a better friday would be a nice wet heat. Not too wet, not raining wet, just a nice solid wet heat that makes you feel like you’re breathing in water while you walk around mostly naked. Like, New Orleans in August. Ohh, that would be a good Friday indeed.
@Mister Bluster:
took the words right out of my mouth.
@Beth: Yuuuuckkk.
So… Guess who just shot to the top of the Suspect list? Yep, the guy who predicted it. Even if he didn’t actually do it he could have stopped it. Right? Right???
This is happening today:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4J2_JRLjoo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Elise was an integral support early in my transition. She was just quietly amazing. This is gonna be hard.
Moment of levity:
I just tied myself up in my own bra. One arm stuck over my head, one arm pinned to my side. How’d I do that? No clue.
@Beth: I immediately thought of this.
–Carrie Fisher
“Time to go, Genocide Joe”.
That’s that the idiot protestors were chanting at Biden last night. I hope the audio comes out of Obama slapping them down. I had a few friends in the cheap seats last night and they said that Obama’s response led to a standing ovation.
Fvcking idiots. Every single one of them. Get rid of the guy actually trying to manage this responsibly while boosting the guy that would give permission for an actual genocide.
Did I mention idiots?
Been listening to Cowboy Carter and it’s fine… but can anyone explain what makes it “country music”? I mean, sure, she’s wearing a cowboy hat on the cover, but aside from that it doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard that would have been described as country music. Country station programmers were being blasted as racist for not wanting to play this, but I’m finding it kind of hard no to sympathize with them…
@Mr. Prosser:
@OzarkHillbilly:
All credit due to Rex Huppke.
@wr: The only cut I found on YouTube was Texas Hold ’em. That particular song has qualities that make it sound like contemporary country music–specifically the close harmonies with a descant harmonizing vocal over the top of the lead vocal that sounds to my growing-deafer-by-the-minute ears to parallel the movement of the melody. So yeah, I’d say that song has a country feel to it. Crossover, but country (in the blandest manner possible) just the same.
For what it’s worth, Queen Bey agrees with you that “it ain’t no country album,” but I cleared the page without linking to the article beyond the headline.
@wr: Before you can say any of that, you have to define what country music is. Let me assure you, nobody has.
Ftr, I am a long time listener of country music (including) (george jones, willie, waylon, dwight, Loretta, allison, roger, david allen coe, crystal, Bonnie, Johnnie, Dolly, Hank, Merle, Reba, Mel, etc etc etc….) who has not yet listened to this contribution to the genre.
And let me add, Bill Monroe is not country. Neither is Buck Owens, Flatt & Scruggs, Elvis, Emmylou, Roy Clark….
Which is just to say that “country” has become a great big envelope that includes artists that play music acceptable to certain folks, whether it’s folk, bluegrass, pop, or whatever the fuck.
In other words, “country” is meaningless. As is rock & roll I suppose.
As I was driving to the memorial, I saw a sign on the massive Northside El rebuild. It said “Project funded by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”. I thought that was very subtle and classy. I’m guessing that was the intended effect.
Everyone should watch as many clips as you can of Olay interviewing Eric Adams on The Breakfast Club. She’s a smart, experienced trial lawyer — and I bet Adams did no research before walking in.
This should be shown in schools as how interviews should be done.
Sure, the reason that it’s NOT done is because “they want to maintain access” — but if every interview was the same level of focus on objective reality rather than the lies and spin, politicians would have no choice if the politician wants to get a word out.
An objective person can’t recognize that NYC is in reality a very safe place… and at the same time support adding hundreds of cops to places that don’t need it. Adams can’t pick just one side because he’s cheaply using Crime!! as a way to pump his personal status.
It’s so refreshing and jaw-dropping because it’s so rare.
@wr: It’s just a song. A good song, but not really country and definitely not Western. There are basic rules for that.
David Allen Coe had something to say about writing country/Western songs in singing a song written by Steve Goodman called You Never Even Call Me By My Name.
David narrates with the band in the background:
Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song
And he told me it was the perfect country & western song
I wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country & western song
Because he hadn’t said anything at all about mama
Or trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting’ drunk
Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me
And after reading it I realized that my friend had written the perfect country & western song
And I felt obliged to include it on this album
The last verse goes like this here
(now singing)
Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got run over by a damned old train
And I’ll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standing’ in the rain, no
But you don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’
You never even called me
Well, I wonder why you don’t call me
Why don’t you ever call me by my name