Wednesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
·
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
·
47 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).
Follow Steven on
Twitter
The headline of the day- Man steals forklift from a Maryland store and rams a car, killing a woman, authorities say
The Florida headline of the day- Police officer fatally shoots unarmed man in downtown Orlando, chief says
Birds may ‘divorce’ due to promiscuity or long spells apart
Hmmmm… Interesting. It would appear that in the avian world males are more forgiving than females.
After the bizarre and incoherent gag rule on the Biden administration, will the media stop pretending that the Federalist Society is somehow a legitimate enterprise? At its best it was just a way for billionaire hobbyists to buy the ear of every Republican judge in the country, but in the Trump era they were given absolute free reign to pick whatever judges they wanted, and we see the type of Trump Trash they put on the benches. We’ll be dealing with their clowns for decades.
That short term cost would be nothing compared to the long term cost to Monsanto’s bottom line. They and their fellow agricultural industry travelers will do everything they can to maintain the status quo.
What happens when DEMs are in control:
What happens when republicans are:
Yeah, we all know this, but it’s good to see the results of DEM majorities.
Whoa, this could be big, really big:
Taliban order closure of beauty salons in Afghanistan
Yes, because women with stylish hair and well manicured nails are the real threat to manhood in Afghanistan.
This is a question for all the film and video production people: is anything at all happening with the Writer’s strike negotiations. I haven’t heard a single thing other than when a celebrity visits a picket line.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, those she-devils have to be controlled somehow.
Thar’s gold in them thar whales!
I have heard/seen the word Ambergris more than a few times, but until now I don’t think I ever knew what it was or what it was used for. I guess should have read Moby Dick.
Oh geez, I just clicked on the original article and it leads by quoting Meghan McArdle positively, as she blathers on about Hunter Biden’s laptop. I only lasted a couple of sentences. Fer chrissake, this is the state of conservative thought?
@OzarkHillbilly:
Huge if true.
On the one hand, the rain early yesterday evening caused so much traffic, it took me over 90 minutes to get home (usually it’s 25-35 minutes). On the other hand, things cooled down enough I was able to sleep through the night, not waking up too early, for the first time in weeks.
@Daryl: Always the qualifier “if”, but coming from Toyota, I am hopeful that it will pan out.
I hope you’ve all eaten and digested breakfast, because the picture accompanying this article should have a warning label attached. It’s indescribably repulsive.
http://www.rawstory.com/trump-elvis-obsession/?traffic_source=Connatix
@CSK: His ego dwarfs the sun.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I don’t know why more people don’t just laugh at him. In addition to being an oaf and a boob, he’s a comic spectacle.
US Secret Service investigating as cocaine reportedly found in White House
Prepare for a tsunami of Hunter Biden jokes
@CSK: I can’t stop laughing at him.
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, almost too easy. That was my response when my husband mentioned this story last night.
It looks like it was found in an area that public tours pass through. Not really much of a story, IMHO.
@OzarkHillbilly:
What I meant to say was that everyone should laugh at him. All the time. Anywhere. Point their fingers at him and laugh uproariously till they fall down on the ground.
Y’all may remember a couple weeks back when I posted about having gallstones, and thought I would need gallbladder removal. Well, I went in for the surgical consult and the surgeon pressed a few places on my abdomen and when I said “ow” he said “that’s nowhere near your gallbladder, best to talk to a gastro doc.” So I did and they said “you need a colonoscopy ASAP” so I sat on pins and needles for a week (thank goodness I could get in that soon). Did it this morning and thankfully no indication of colon cancer. They took a sample to biopsy for microscopic colitis (which, if one is to get colitis, is the “best” one to get).
But seriously…the relief I felt when the doc said “no cancer” brought tears to my eyes. I was, to put it bluntly, scared shitless.
Now we still have to figure out what’s causing the discomfort, but at least it’s not deadly.
@Mikey:
I’m really happy to hear that result. It’s great that you were able to get in that soon. Hoping your insurance covers this one fully.
As people here know, I’ve been there, done that, got the hat, t-shirt, and souvenir beer cozy. While chemo/surgery combo is a great weight loss plan, overall, I give cancer a one-star review.
@Mikey:
That’s wonderful.
Much as I love the cast iron pot, hours in the oven do use up a lot of gas. So I’m giving it a rest for a month or so. I was all set to try a new take on the onion sauce and beef from the partial timballo Genovese recipe. Oh well.
Instead, I’m going with meatballs in chipotle sauce with kasha and potatoes. On the side I thought up fettuccine with soybean sprouts, bell pepper, onions, and snow peas, tossed in a sauce (of sorts) made with toasted sesame oil and garlic plus some pasta water if needed. Kind of an oriental take on pasta primavera and aglio et olio.
@Jen: No, it isn’t, but even I could not pass up the Hunter Biden reference.
@CSK: What is scary are the thousands that worship the ground he walks on. WTF do they see????
@Mikey: Good news indeed.
@Bill Jempty: That headline (and even that article) fails to capture the story.
Maryland man allegedly steals forklift from Lowe’s, fatally runs woman over at Home Depot
I’m calling it now — this was part of a plan to get the rivalry of our great home improvement chains to descend into violence. A freakish, post-modern Boogaloo movement, except not about triggering a race war.
Who stands to benefit from violence between Home Depot and Lowe’s? Ace Hardware.
@Mikey:
The shitless was the colonoscopy prep.
This is great news, and hopefully they can find the cause soon.
(My gastroenterologist would suggest you eat more fiber, because everyone should eat more fiber. And add a fiber supplement too. And then eat a bit more fiber, as a treat. Dessert fiber.)
@OzarkHillbilly: Do we really think Hunter Biden spends time in a library?
(He might now start checking there for lost cocaine…)
@Flat Earth Luddite: Thanks! Hopefully you are doing well after having to deal with all that.
I have great insurance (it should be for what I pay, ugh) so the procedure was covered 100%. The best part was the propofol nap…I wish I could sleep that well every night.
@Gustopher: Definitely need more fiber. I’ve recently added a fiber supplement but it’s always good to get it from a variety of foods.
While we wait for a diagnosis, the doc put me on Bentyl (dicyclomine) which has been an absolute godsend. No more diarrhea and I don’t have to worry that eating the wrong thing will put me down for a day.
Looks like Twitter has removed the prohibition from viewing tweets unless you are logged in, at least for now. But I find that I’m done. I’m not going to click on links to tweets any more. I realize it means I will miss out on some things you guys post and that’s a bummer, but all this teenage boy temper tantrums just result in constant problems with the site, and I have enough technical agita without deliberately clicking my way over to more unnecessary crap.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/05/tony-evers-extends-increases-for-public-schools-in-perpetuity/70381898007/
He vetoed individual digits in the budget to change the “2024-2025 school year” to the “2425 school year”.
Brilliant. Obviously they need to change the veto power to prevent this from ever happening again because it’s such an egregious abuse and thwarts the legislature, but brilliant.
@MarkedMan: I’m still on Twitter, if I find a tweet of interest I’ll just copy/paste the entire thing, and/or whatever item it may link to.
Mikie, Churchill is supposed to have said ‘nothing is more exhilarating than being fired upon to no effect.’
Wonderful to hear yr good news.
@OzarkHillbilly:
They see Trump as the greatest president we’ve ever had, a devout Christian, a loving and faithful husband, and an exemplary father who’s being relentlessly persecuted by the minions of the Deep State.
And Melania is the most beautiful, gracious, elegant, and intelligent First Lady we’ve ever had.
Check out Lucianne.com some time. Be warned: It’ll turn your stomach.
@Gustopher:
Wait, are you saying we can get free cocaine if we hang out in libraries? I don’t particularly want cocaine itself, but I could use it to trade for something I do want. A sort of cocaine arbitrage.
According to NPR, Lin Wood, Trump’s ardent supporter, surrendered his law license today rather than have it revoked.
@CSK: Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Repulsive, but not in that “repulsive” way that makes one heave or anything. More hilarious.
I wonder if people and politicians can ever be rational about radioactivity.
Japan intends to dump a lot of water used to cool down the Fukushima reactors.
This sounds bad, but 1) it’s been reviewed by the IAEA, 2) Japanese officials say the water will be treated before being dumped, 3) it will be done over 3 or 4 decades.
Depending on how well they can filter out radioactive materials, it seems like no big deal.
To be sure, there’s a matter of tritium. This is a hydrogen isotope that can react with oxygen, including oxygen dissolved in water, to form water molecules. It has the exact same chemical properties as hydrogen. Mind, a water molecule can wind up with one tritium and one hydrogen, or with two tritiums.
While radiation from tritium is so weak you can stop it with a sheet of paper (I swear), it’s a different matter when ingested or inhaled. More so since all cells in the human body are mostly water. It can cause problems short and long term. Treatment consists of speeding up water cycling through the body. that is: drink a lot of water and eliminate a lot of water quickly, for several days.
On the other plus side, tritium has a half life of 12.5 years. that means after this time, half of the tritium has decayed. Over 4 decades, you’d go through 3.2 such cycles, meaning that you’d get half of half of half of the original amount, minus a little less, by the end of that time, or under 12.5% of what there was to begin with.
Tritium is very rare and very expensive, and has several uses. If there was a way to sift it out, I’m sure it would get sifted out and sold, unless there was too little of it to bother. how little depends on 1) the price on the market, and 2) the cost of sifting it out.
@Mikey: Yes. Good news. Congratulations!
@Kathy:
Saw that and figured that if that was the plan it was probably thought through. What I don’t get, from a simple cave woman lawyer perspective, is why don’t they just find a deep spot in the ocean, run a long hose down to it and pump it out down there. By the time the currents it I would imagine it would be quite disbursed.
@Beth:
Now that’s a hit TV series!
@Beth:
I don’t know where and how the release is planned. Likely a distance from shore, but not a great distance. A pipeline to a deeps spot would be very long, and that would cost a lot to build and maintain. for 40 years.
I wondered whether they could simply let it evaporate. Yes, it would take years, and would need to be protected from rain or you wind up with more water. The tritium forming water would evaporate as well, so there’s no helping that. Other contaminants, though, would remain behind.
That last might prove dangerous. An amount of radioactive element X diluted in a large amount of water might not pose much of a problem other than it inherent radiation. But if it’s concentrated as it precipitates off the evaporating water, it might form a critical mass and make things worse.
Or maybe evaporating all that water would take much longer than 4 decades.
@MarkedMan: “This is a question for all the film and video production people: is anything at all happening with the Writer’s strike negotiations. ”
Literally nothing at all. The producers are currently negotiating with SAG-AFTRA, which delayed their July 1 strike deadline to July 12, and insist they can only negotiate with one union at a time. (Before the SAG talks, they were busy talking to the DGA, who as always caved immediately.)