Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Set a Spell...


15 comments:

  1. I had assembled a post of various things--some politics (well, more than some), some science, etc. but bungled posting and lost it. There was the story about black widow spider venom genes found in a bacterial virus (phage); and there was this editorial comment at talkingpointsmemo.com

    Welp!
    I spent most of the morning off line in meetings. I came back online about twenty minutes ago[2PM ET] to see that we've got a new Khan family. And it's the GOP!

    You built this, guys.
    - Josh Marshall

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    I just used the power company's new online rate tool and found that the "Electric Vehicle Plan" is significantly lower in cost than our present one--although we don't have an electric vehicle! It is based on our past year's usage. Will probably make the change tomorrow morning.
    ==============
    I got my state voter's guide [224 pages!] and sample ballot today--8 offices and 20 measures of various kinds. It was actually fairly easy to figure out. There were only a few minor local offices where I couldn't find enough information to make a decision. I went online and found three or four voting guides that were helpful, looked at who was funding some of the propositions, who was writing arguments for and against, then filled in with official summaries. Got 'em all figured out. I was pleasantly surprised by one thing in the MJ legalization proposition--they kept the long-standing and well tested definition of driving under the influence (of any drug) rather than establishing an arbitrary per se level for marijuana alone, like they did in Washington State. Very reasonable, very workable. Maybe this will straighten out the problems that arose from the bungled medical marijuana proposition/implementation--looks like it might.

    Alan

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  2. Facing the Abuser's Rage [Click] Perhaps Donald needs a nice quiet room in an asylum; and the GOP bigs will need PTSD counseling?

    Planned Attacks on Sanders Included in WikiLeaks' Third Batch of Podesta Emails [Click] "Emails include list of "hits" on Bernie Sanders and attempts to spin media coverage in Hillary Clinton's favor"

    Battered Voter Syndrome [Click] by Donna Smith

    --Alan

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  3. A Tribune columnist has urged Illinoisans to vote for Jill Stein in order to re-elect Republican Governor Bruce Raumer.

    The point is that, in Illinois, any party whose top-of-ticket candidate gets more than 5% of the vote becomes an "established party" for the next two years. Established parties are automatically entitled to have their entire ticket on the ballot. (Non-established parties get their candidates on the ballot by petition, which is only a modest challenge if the party has any support at all.) Since the Tribune has endorsed Gary Johnson, it is essentially a given that the Libertarians will be an established party in 2018. A substantial vote for Stein would also make the Greens an established party and re-balance the ballot. Which the columnist thinks would be a good thing because Illinois needs a true two-party system.

    Personally, I think Raumer is a disaster. It it his stubborn insistence of right-wing policies that has kept Illinois form having a budget for the past two year. And did I mention the credit rating?

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    1. From everything I've read to date he is horribly anti-worker.

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    2. Quite. As much as anything else the budget impasse reflects his insistence that union-busting legislation has to be part of the deal.

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  4. OHMYGOSH!

    "A third-party candidate could win Utah as Utahns settle on one," said Quin Monson, Y2 Analytics founding partner.

    McMullin may well have caught lightning in a bottle.

    The poll shows Clinton and Trump tied at 26 percent, McMullin with 22 percent and Libertarian Gary Johnson getting 14 percent if the election were held today. Y2 Analytics surveyed 500 likely Utah voters over landlines and cellphones Oct. 10-11 The poll has a plus or minus 4.4 percent margin of error.

    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865664606/Poll-Trump-falls-into-tie-with-Clinton-among-Utah-voters.html

    McMullin announced August 8, 2016.

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    1. I noticed that yesterday, I think. I assumed he was a favorite son candidate, but will investigate.

      Alan

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    2. Wikipedia entry for Evan McMullin [Click] Yep, looks like a favorite son candidate. I can see the appeal in Utah.

      --Alan

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  5. I can't understand why they keep pushing Gary Johnson's name and never mention Jill Stein! Gary Johnson is an extreme right-winger. He would be an absolute disaster for the country plus the fact that he's freaking STUPID!

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    1. I've noticed Jill Stein is missing too. Would surely have been the same if Bernie had joined forces with her. Still, I wish he had.

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  6. You know that thing about 6 degrees of separation?
    One of the seekers I sit with was one of the clergy called in to counsel the teens in the wake of the terrible crash this week. Her daughter is on the soccer team, and was close friends with Janie who died. :-( So hard.

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  7. Wikileaks “Clinton campaign” e-mails.

    Has WikiLeaks been used? It bears consideration. [Click]

    This sounds like disinformation—the sort of thing that might have been circulated in Central Europe in the 1930’s. Change the religion and it becomes obvious. Imagine it being used in Poland or the Baltic states in the late 1930’s with or without changing the religion. Imagine it being recycled by someone schooled in disinformation campaigns from his/her grandparents’ time. And aren’t there one or two spots where the syntax or reasoning seems odd for an American? That stuff about Catholics becoming Evangelicals sounds like it was written by someone who is ignorant of both, and ignorant of US social, political and religious cultures. It doesn’t pass the smell test. Which of course is of no concern to Trump and his followers.

    Alan

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    1. Come to think of it, those supposed Clinton campaign e-mails from WikiLeaks relative to Bernie sounded odd, too.

      --Alan

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  8. My vote for Gloria La Riva should balance someone else's vote for Gary Johnson quite nicely. So there!

    Alan

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