Thursday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Thursday, February 25, 2021
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72 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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Bang the Drum All Day
Man leaves church and reunites with family after years in sanctuary from deportation
But both parties are the same.
I am certain that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene willaccept this new normal with a loving and open Christian heart.
It may seem obvious but never call 911 for a mental health crisis. Make a plan, one that does not include 911. Even if you don’t have any loved ones with mental health issues.
Awwww… I could’ve made a killing if I’d only jumped on the bandwagon a month ago.
Than again, maybe I would’ve just been the fatted calf.
A couple of days ago there was a discussion by what was meant by “The Purity Police” and whether overreach by such people was actually a thing. Here is the perfect example.
And who’s gonna clean up that mess?
Bend over.
More at the link.
According to a members-only piece in The Daily Beast, in order for a Republican candidate to get Trump’s endorsement, she or he first has to agree that Joe Biden lost the 2020 election. It will be interesting to see how many of them are willing to abase themselves this way.
@CSK: D) All of them, Katie.
@OzarkHillbilly:
This is nothing new, is it? Groveling to Trump has always been a condition of earning his favor. I’ll never forget how he forced his cabinet members to say publicly what an honor it was to work for him. Shameful as it was for them to do so (with the exception of Mattis), it was even more shameful of Trump to ask. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live your whole life in such pathetically desperate need of affirmation.
@CSK: I can’t imagine willingly subjecting oneself to serving those needs, and yet Junior, dumbf*ck, and the gelatinous blond have been doing it all their lives.
Very nice.
@OzarkHillbilly:
They’re in it for the money, I imagine, although there probably won’t be much of that, ultimately.
Donald learned how to abuse his own sons from his father. I wonder if he also learned to lust after his own daughter from Fred.
A Texas party store is selling a Cruz piñata. And someone hired a mariachi band to play in front of his house.
@CSK: There ain’t enough money in the world for that. I think it’s more basic. I grew up with a father who largely ignored me because… Well, I don’t really know, maybe he just didn’t like me. (he doted on my other siblings, except my oldest Sis. she and I were the black sheep of the family) I well remember the feeling of just wanting to have some kind of positive relationship with him, trying hard and it just would never happen. So if pissing him off was the only way I could get his attention, so be it.
Not sure why he didn’t kill me. I certainly deserved it. Probably love of my mother.
@sam: Very nice indeed.
@MarkedMan:
That’s pretty inexcusable.
Ozark Hillbilly:
“There ain’t enough money in the world…” Well, it was enough for Melania.
In a way, I pity Donny Junior. When he was born, and his mother suggested naming him after his father, Trump replied: “What if he’s a loser?”
Great start in life.
Canadians are different from you and me.
@Kingdaddy: Every cause, no matter how just, can be manipulated by people who just want to exert power over others.
@sam:
I hope the seal didn’t want to do any shopping.
@MarkedMan:
You beat me too it. I planned to link this.
After reading this, I had a few thoughts; given the current climate, the young woman feeling she was being profiled was reasonable, Smith placed the cafeteria worker in a bind, expecting her to enforce certain rules, but then exposing her to unfounded accusations, the janitor was placed in the same dilemma and was punished for following the rules. The school did the right thing in seeking an outside review, but the school’s response to effectively blame the workers, even after their exoneration and force sensitivity training is cowardly. Lastly the young woman’s continued accusations that those workers are racists in FaceBook, despite the investigation, deserves a response and if it were me, I’d consult an attorney regarding a defamation lawsuit.
@sam:
Ah such a change from the days when they clubbed baby seals.
@CSK: When I said there wasn’t enough money in the world, I was talking about me, not that whore.
Rather prophetic if you ask me.
@MarkedMan: Same as it ever was.
Same as it ever was.
A Bristling Standoff Rattles Gun-Friendly Vermont
It’s hard to know where to start, except OMG what expansive 2nd Amendment claims and to note there should be a picture in the dictionary of this guy as part of the definition of entitled.
Where is the state in this matter, leaving it to the town of ~1500 residents to deal with this is governmental malpractice.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, you know. the apple doesn’t rot far from the tree.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Ah, okay. Not enough for me, either.
As for Trump, before he wed Melania, he was reported to have said that he only wanted to marry a woman who would drive other men insane with envy when he walked into a room with her. Since Melania has always struck me as one step up from an inflatable doll, I wonder how often that happened.
I’m doing a large batch of chicken stew, about half of which I’ll freeze for the week or two I won’t be able to cook after hernia surgery (if the insurance ever comes through). The problem is I like to add some diced potatoes, and boiled potatoes are ruined in the freezer. After thawing, it’s like chewing a bite-sized sponge.
I thought I could cook a couple of potatoes separately, then use the remaining potato water for the stew. This allows some of the flavor to be in the stew without any potatoes in it.
@Kathy:
In a pinch, you could add canned potatoes after thawing and reheating the stew. They’re not fabulous, but they’re not awful, either.
@CSK: Being in the same room with her might drive me insane, or at least to drinking, but it won’t be with envy
Breaking: Cyrus Vance has obtained Trump’s tax returns from January 2011 to August 2019.
@OzarkHillbilly: That is true.One should contact their local mental health agency that should have an 800 number and should be set up to deal with emergencies. Insurance holders should call the 800 number on their card. An operator should be available to transfer callers who cannot find the mental health number. I worked for a Behavioral Healthcare company for 5 years facilitating triage to a mental health professional for these type of callers.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’d think that squint-eyed, stone-faced glower would put off most men.
I have hit the wall.
Marathon runners know this: it is that moment when you realize at around mile 18 that 26.2 miles is really Really REALLY far. so So FAR.
My last day of “normal” life was March 13th. Without getting into the details, I am a tech consultant/sales type individual. I am a storyteller. I go places. Understand challenges. Create solutions. March 13th 2020 was my last travel day.
It was when we already knew about COVID, but not enough yet to understand the implications.
And yes, I was very sick for two weeks following that last trip, with a recovery time of another 4 weeks. Can’t say with absolute acknowledgement if it was COVID as that was early on in the whole experience, but it had most of the symptoms we now recognize.
I travel for business… and I do that because I love the whole idea of travel. And I do that because … well, lots of reasons. I just love to go places, meet people and see things that I have not yet experienced. Probably because I grew up poor, or that we moved a lot and was not integrated into a community, or… whatever. I look for ways to travel further, longer, more connections with the correct partnered promotions to maximize the accrued benefits. Because seeing the Pandas in Chengdu China, waking across the Chain Bridge in Budapest or living on the beach in Rio is cool. Even better when getting there and staying on the concierge lounge level at the hotel, for free.
“Up In The Air” with George Clooney was nearly autobiographical. I could wake up, prep pack for a three day trip and be on the plane in less than 3 hours. Clockwork. Which is truly odd because at the core of my being I am truly a slacker.
It is the end of February, and it hit me (hard) that I have not traveled (by air) for a year. Sure, obvious, but the dramatic impact of all of that fell on me like the proverbial ton of bricks.
I thought that I was handling this well… I have been through a lot, and I knew that I could (and will) get me and my wife through this unscathed. Hell, in many ways I would even say that that we, as a couple, are financially well better off than before all this… and that makes NO sense at all.
And I know that we are nowhere near the real end of this. I know that Fauci says summer… or fall… and I understand that… but it is a long Long LONG way away.
The Wall.
I went to the grocery store yesterday, wearing an N95 mask, and I was absolutely stunned by the explosion of colors in the soda pop isle. I was literally taken aback and overwhelmed by the experience.
I mean, I have seen the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, and that soda pop isle had more of an impressionistic impact on me than did Wheatfield with Crows… Not only the color, but the perfect symmetry of the stock on the shelf. The fully stocked shelves. Stretching down a very long isle, with no one in the aisle at all.
Momentarily post-apocalyptic. More Edvard Munch’s The Scream than Van Gogh.
It dawned on me that I may just be a bit depressed. It took a couple of days to get out of that. But The Wall is still there, even though I decide to continue to slog forward.
I have realized that I am far far better at real crisis than existential crisis.
Finally I want to state that I do not at all compare this at all to anyone that has lost loved ones, jobs, or other things truly valued to them. You have my true and sincere sympathy.
OK. Time to get up, have that coffee, and pretend that I even care at all about whatever stupid web conference that I will be on later today.
Honestly GOP, you can’t Karen your way to the head of the vax line. Turns out a local FOX station’s anchor started whining that “obese people” where getting priority over “essential workers”…. and included himself as one of them. Now he’s upset he’s getting crap for (a) being insensitive (b) being a hypocrite (apparently he didn’t stay home like he tweeted) and (c) not understating vaccine priority. Mr. McCoy sounds a lot like Megan McCain – what do you mean we’re prioritizing those with underlying conditions who are more likely to die from COVID?! That means I get pushed further back in the line!! Don’t you know who I am! I demand someone use SCIENCE to determine mediocre wealthy white people in jobs that can safely be done from home be vaxxed first so they can continue whining about how masks are ruining this nation!
Yes, it does suck that not every essential worker in this country has been vaxxed yet. No, being a media personality doesn’t make you essential so get to the back of the line, idiots. Every grocery store worker, janitorial staff and farm hand in the country is ahead of you by your logic so you got a LONG wait. The whole point was to alleviate stress on our healthcare system and if we vax the people likely to be hospitalized first (like, you know obese folks) our doctors and nurses can start getting some well-deserved rest. Stay home Mr McCoy and hey, eat some brownies to see if you can get your BMI up if it bothers you so much!
@Liberal Capitalist:
None of us unscathed.
@OzarkHillbilly: Our [extended] family already knows– DO NOT CALL THE POLICE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES FOR ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF CRIMINAL VIOLENCE IN PROGRESS.
That included domestic disputes. Its not worth it–someone could end up dying that day that didn’t need to die.
@Sleeping Dog: There’s a world of difference between seeking justice from all and seeking revenge by inverting the intolerance, and in this case it’s pretty easy to tell what is going on. Older, white low-paid workers are subjected to suspicion and threatened with job loss and, when it is proven that they just did their job as they were explicitly instructed to do, subjected to non-optional thought-training. No apologies given, despite the fact that the investigation dragged on for months and they were subjected to abuse and threats by those who assumed the worst of them. And on the other hand a pampered student at a finishing school for the privileged and elite continues to make accusations and slander these workers and the school will not so much as reprimand her.
If Smith’s primary concern is justice, the school would have reacted in a different way. On the other hand, if their primary concern is subjecting whites to the same discrimination as blacks have suffered for years, out of revenge rather than justice, the school would have behaved in exactly this way.
@sam: Indeed ‘very nice’! Fully rigged sailing ships must be the most gorgeous esthetically pleasing technology ever invented (along with–say, an RAF Spitfire or a P-51).
My personal favorite is the Pride of Baltimore. She is a replica of a type called a ‘Baltimore Clipper’. Schooner rig. https://pride2.org
@Liberal Capitalist: I don’t know if it can do any good to send positive thoughts your way, but know that I’m doing it.
@MarkedMan:
Living in the Woke world.
Everyone needs a scapegoat.
Kicked off Facebook for three days. Four years ago I posted images showing that Paul Ryan was using Nazi imagery with the swastika removed. Facebook has now decided that I was promoting Nazism.
@Liberal Capitalist:
I know how you feel. Then I remember the generation that went through the Depression, WWII, and the Korean war, and I figure I can get through this.
sam: Absolutely–in the US, that black seal would have gotten detained under suspicion of threatening an old lady and died while they knelt on his neck to check for any outstanding warrants. Thank Seal God he lives in Canada.
Thought provoking bit by Tom Nichols in the The Atlantic about how the modern Republican Party resembles the 70’s era Soviet Communist Party. Not in ideology but in the structure and various players.
@CSK:
A 14 year old boy’s concept of marriage.
@Teve:
Exactly.
Just heard a trigger warning on NPR: “To our vegetarian and vegan friends we are going to be talking about meat.”
We need a word to mean an update that doesn’t update anything. At least I do. “Nupdate,” maybe.
In any case, I’m still waiting to hear form the insurance agency. Once they approve the claim, I can schedule surgery. I could schedule it now, pay the surgeon’s fees and hospital, and then submit a claim for a refund. But I don’t have that kind of money. That’s the point of having insurance, isn’t it?
In a way, I feel like I did when I was five and realized street lamps work off the same electricity as the lights at home. That is, I’m saying something everyone already knows. I just had no experience with health insurance at all.
I’m wondering now, too, whether it makes sense to have insurance, or whether it would be a better idea to put the money one would pay for insurance into some kind of investment, month after month, for decades, then draw on those funds in case of illness.
I haven’t done the math, and won’t. but seeing as I’m resorting to health insurance for the first time in over four decades, it might have been a better strategy. But then, there were the massive devaluations and inflation in the 80s, the devaluation in 1994, and other crises. Long term investments can be wiped out when those things happen.
And there’0s the fact I can’t go back in time and change things. If I could go back in time, I’d arrange to win the lottery a few times, and buy insurance.
@Kathy:
First off: How long does it take them to approve a claim?
Second: What is the urgency of the surgery?
@CSK:
First, I’ve no idea. Some people have told me ti can take weeks, others claim days. An incidental snippet of email from the insurance agent suggests March 3rd, which would be like ten days or so.
Second, no particular urgency. I’ve noted some mild discomfort since the PET CT last month, but nothing terrible. The thing is there is no other option. it won’t get better on its own and can’t be treated with drugs or physical therapy. On the flip side, it can get worse. So I’d just as soon get it over with.
@Kathy:
Well, if your average monthly premium for 20 years were $1200/month, you’d have about $290,000 in the bank plus whatever the compound interest is. As point of reference, about 5 years ago I had double bypass surgery and my insurance company paid out approx $225,000. My case was pretty simple, it was determined that I need the surgery before I had an actual heart attack and I was out of the hospital with a minimum stay. It could have easily been $300K if there were complications. Under a health savings account, I probably could have paid the bill, but then I’d had nothing if another medical incident cropped up. Plus you could have started saving and had a catastrophic injury, six months into the savings plan.
Health insurance makes sense.
@Kathy:
Let’s hope for a claim approval by March 3. I wish I could think of something more helpful.
@Sleeping Dog:
As is, my policy has no upper limits on coverage, but it has a deductible and a copay. given the scare last month, I’m thinking it makes sense to upgrade to a policy with a lower deductible and copay.
I shouldn’t mention how much I pay for insurance. rates differ widely between countries, but it’s much less than $1,200 a month. Healthcare costs are likely lower, too. I know most medications are far cheaper here.
@CSK:
Do you want to try to send a threatening email demanding they speed things up? 🙂
Another fine specimen..
@Teve:
Those who want FB and Zuckerberg to be censoring content should be careful of what the wish for. I’m not sure what the solution is, but it’s not going to be easy.
@Kathy:
Would you like me to get shirty, as the Brits say?
@Bill:
Of what?
@al Ameda: it happened that I was wrong about it being Nazi imagery. But that’s not the problem, the problem is the algorithm didn’t understand the context and intent. I have no problem with kicking off people for promoting Nazism, but that requires a human to judge. Algorithms just aren’t smart enough to judge context and intent. But human judges are costly and everything Zuckerberg does is about the money. You can always guess which of two choices Zuckerberg will make if you just ask yourself which is more profitable.
@Kathy:
Breaking olds?
@DrDaveT:
Not deceptive enough.
@
a href=”#comment-2595425″>CSK:
The link didn’t copy, it was the felon who killed 3 people, took the heart out of the first one and tried to feed it to the next 2. I’m guessing he’s not getting bail!
Amazing.
No words…
@Mister Bluster: The evils committed against these young women has not been erased, expiated, nor eliminated by this death. We need the justice process in open court to ventilate these crimes. Geddert has cheated again, putting his personal needs above the rights of others. I’m opposed to the death penalty and think that many punishments that are imposed are too draconian. However, the victims deserve to tell their stories and a chance to point their fingers at the evil-doer.
@Sleeping Dog: Different type of seal. If this one had the same type of coat, he’d have been a goner.
@CSK: “…I wonder how often that happened.”
In Trump’s imagination? Every room he’s ever walked into. And no, I don’t think what happens in real life plays a role for this particular situation. He’s content with his self-deception; I say let him have it this time. All out of Trump sized GAFs.
@Kathy: The types of medical savings accounts you are talking about aren’t really for paying for medical expenses. They are, at least in the US, one of many scams the near plutocratic use to chip away at their tax bills. One day, a radio “consumer advisor” counseled his caller to not open a medical savings account unless he could pay for his medical expenses without using the money in the account. His advice was something to the effect of “you can’t build a big investment pool from that money if you’re going to need it to pay medical expense; in that case, it’s better to buy health insurance.”
Beyond that, if you pay in cash, you end up paying “rack rate.” On a recent explanation of expenses form that my insurance company sent me, I noted that they had disallowed almost 75% of the total charge for the procedure–$28,000. But it’s possible that insurance in Mexico works differently.
@CSK: My question to Bill was going to be “was that supposed to mean something?”
What happens during very busy days is I don’t engage my brain on obvious matters.
Say the insurance claim goes through on March 3rd. I know I need two days before surgery, as the surgeon explained the intestines need to be “as clear as possible.” So confirmation on Wednesday means surgery no sooner than Saturday. Chances are all the people involved in it would prefer not to schedule that day, nor Sunday*. Monday seems more likely.
Well, then, that works, too. But then I can make stew for the week of the surgery, and something more amenable to freezing this week. I’m thinking doing balsamic onions as a base, with a little bell pepper, and then add baked beans and turkey milanesas. That freezes perfectly well. Oh, and rice on the side.
See, a little thinking goes a long way.
*Not to mention why take time off work on the weekend??
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
I wasn’t talking about a particular account, though I’ve heard of health savings accounts.
I was thinking about how much I’ve paid in insurance over the years and at last I get to make use of the service. Then I recalled a conversation long ago, where someone claimed health insurance is a scam. Of course, it’s not. But one can argue it might not be a good investment. So I began to think about that.
I didn’t know that, but I’m not surprised.
What I do know is the surgeon quoted me a price, but then said “Of course, we’ll see what the insurer is willing to pay.” This doesn’t mean he’ll take what the insurance pays, but he’s willing to negotiate the price. So I do know his out of pocket price.