Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Apple Blossoms


26 comments:

  1. 'Jesus never charged a leper a co-pay': the rise of the religious left[Click] Sounds more like the resurrection of conservative Christianity to me. If they're not careful they will win people's admiration.

    —Alan

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    1. Alan, have you checked out their web site? Whoever runs it writes very well. Can't think why I never came across them before now. Thanks for the pointer.

      Poor People's Campaign - Click

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    2. I will have to look at it again, Cat. I read enough about the campaign and Rev. Barber that I knew I wanted to send them a little love on a regular basis, and I do. I really like Rev. Barber--indeed, I truly admire him. We will see how things go; I might redistribute my regular donations a bit in time.

      Alan

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    3. Yes indeed. So many worthy causes, so little money!

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  2. Alan, thanks for the many links!

    listener, loved the pic of the bleeding hearts. Close to my fav flower!

    Still exhaustified from last week, and trying to fix the deficits. Including, an LED camper's light, epi-pen, benadryl. . . .

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    1. {♥Puddle♥}

      Hope you can rest so you feel better and stronger soon!

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    2. What Cat says. Glad you like the links I post, puddle. I try for a bit of variety.

      Alan

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  3. Alan, I only know a bit about ORMA, being on their e-mail lists. They have a Women's caucus and a disability caucus, both of which I nominally belong to. But the thing is, they are still literally getting themselves organized. A couple days ago I got an e-mail wanting me to vote on something or other, a constitution or some such. And they laid out very carefully the rules about how if such a percentage of members voted for it, it would be adopted, otherwise it would go back to committee... It all seemed terribly involved. As it turned out, I couldn't read the thing let alone vote on it, because it was a google doc, and google docs do not play well with my screen reader. If I really cared I would have brought the problem to their attention; but, I don't. They are largely irrelevant. For that matter, Brand New Congress seems to be pretty much a bush leaguer too, though they do occasionally get results. Bold Progressives (which I'm pretty sure is the same thing as the PCCC) and End Citizens United do the heavy lifting. DFA's still in there swinging, and there are other groups. I gather even some Our Revolution chapters are affective. But the article about the Our Revolution national organization came as no surprise whatsoever.

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    1. This inspired me to go back and read the article referred. It seems to mostly focus on how Our Revolution's performance will affect Bernie's chances as a 2020 presidential candidate. Since I don't really expect Bernie to run in 2020, I don't think it's such a big deal that Our Revolution hasn't gained a lot of traction.

      You also mention Brand New Congress. You'll recall that they ran a candidate in my district. A good candidate who is now well positioned for 2020 when I expect Rep. Davis to retire. Turned out better than I expected when I first saw the endorsement.

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    2. I took the article with a grain of salt because of the source--Politico. But all in all I wasn't surprised either, Cat. But such organizations will at least serve to keep the issues in the public forum. And speaking of the public forum, I see quite a few Andrew Jantz signs.

      Alan

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  4. Maybe due to a busy day yesterday I never noticed that I was still looking at Sunday's post. Just a comment about yesterday's post on political polarization in the news media, which mentioned the intense polarization in the years before the Civil War. Newspaper reporting was still politically polarized in the 1950s. Chicago had four newspapers. The Tribune (Col Robert R. McCormick) was staunchly conservative. The Herald American (William Randolph Hearst) was also conservative, but with a more stridently nationalist tone that also appealed to the immigrant community. The Daily News was middle-of-the-road and the Sun-Times was mildly liberal. And yes, those political leanings influenced their news coverage as well as their editorials.

    The meme of objective reporting and nonpartianship arose with newspaper consolidation in the 1960s and 70s that left most cities with only one major newspaper. TV, with 3 channels most places, tended to follow the same rule. But starting a quarter-century ago the number of TV news sources -- not to mention on-line sources -- expanded to well over a dozen. And with that, you once again started to see people choosing their news source according to their political preferences.

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    1. Point well taken, Bill. Technology, economics and more interact, and we often don't stop to think about the whole complex. When movable type brought about widespread availability of books, the upper crust of the day bemoaned how uppity it was sure to make those who should simply listen to their betters. The advent of the Internet must be comparable to that of newspapers. I wonder how long cable television will remain influential.

      Alan

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  5. One of the things I was busy with yesterday was a meeting featuring Sean Casten, Democratic candidate in the adjacent IL-6 district. West Cook Democracy for America has been trying to hook up with his campaign to offer our support, and I was able to connect with one of his staffers. But one thing from his talk that struck me, although I had previously seen it on his web site is that he is trained as a biochemist -- as am I. If we flip this seat Illinois will be possibly the only state in the nation to have two scientists in Congress.

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    1. Wow! That sounds impressive! Are his chances good?

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    2. Pretty good. The district normally leans Republican, but these are the sort of Republicans who detest Trump -- Hilary carried the district. And the incumbent hasn't really distanced himself from Trump.

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    1. First time candidate, woman, knocked out the candidate supported by the DCCC. All good IMO.

      Alan

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    2. Yeah. Don't think I'd wanna mess with an ex lady Marine helicopter pilot!

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    3. Make that fighter pilot. And I expect she might be rather more assertive than her opponent is accustomed to.

      Alan

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  7. Susan--I just read the President Slinky column; good 'un; thanks.

    Alan

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  8. Planet Nine, Show Thyself[Click] “Astronomers have found tantalizing new evidence that strengthens the case for a ninth planet beyond Neptune—but some still doubt its existence.”

    Stacey Abrams Makes History In Georgia Dem Gubernatorial Primary Win[Click] WOO HOO!!

    Anti-Establishment Dem Laura Moser Goes Down In Flames In Texas[Click] Well, at least she gave the DCCC a good poke in the snoot.

    This Is Real Jailhouse Rock[Click]

    —Alan

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    1. Awh, damn. I'm sorry about Laura Moser.

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    2. Tuesday’s results let national Democrats breathe a sigh of relief; groups like the DCCC had made clear that they saw Moser as a fatally flawed candidate who would have taken a winnable race against Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) off the map. Culberson’s district is historically very Republican but Hillary Clinton narrowly won it last election cycle, and Democrats are hopeful they can beat him with the more moderate Fletcher as their nominee.

      We'll see how that works out for them. Not that I wish Fletcher ill you understand, but "national Democrats" haven't done too well in recent election cycles with their more moderate nominees.

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    3. In the immortal words of Jim Hightower, "There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos."

      Alan

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