LF1: Voters are increasingly partisan, and unlikely to be swayed by who is nominated. As I've said for years, eventually this ends with geographic division, if an issue on which division is by regions rather than urban/suburban arises. Response to climate change seems most likely.
LF3: Consider why so many trade shows and professional conferences are scheduled for the southern tier of states, in January and February. August in Washington, DC is miserable outdoors. Attendance is driven by letting people escape to high altitude.
LF4: I assert that the distribution of US voters on a number of large issues is becoming bimodal. People looking for any sort of popular positions in the "middle" are increasingly doomed to disappointment.
LF9: No group has ever been as enthusiastic about wiping out their own jobs as the applied mathematicians and computer engineers.
LF10: Granddaughter #3 -- now 2.5 years -- is long past standing for the first time. On Tuesday, though, she declared that she would climb to the top of the biggest piece of gear at the playground so she could come down the big slide. The apparatus is about 25-feet tall, structured so it's pretty much impossible to fall more than five feet. Two-thirds of the way up she declared that she was stuck and that I should retrieve her. She refused any sort of useful instructions from the ground. I'm 5'10" in shoes, 70 years old, and 30 pounds heavier than I would like. I went up and got her, made it down the six-foot climbing wall to the ground, and caught her when she decided it was easier to just jump rather than climbing down the wall. I'm thinking that during the coming school year I should break my walk when I go by the park, climb to the top, and come down the big slide. Also remember the Kaiser nurse who listened to my complaints about limits when I was 60 and said, "Honey, I see a whole lotta people every day who are younger than you and can't do any of the things that you're complaining about being harder. Count your blessings."
The two political geography stories in the US over the last 30 years (and a bit, now) are (a) the Midwest's swing from Democratic to Republican and (b) the West's swing from Republican to Democratic.
I've lived through Colorado's swing from solid red to solid blue. Our change was initiated by four local billionaires and their hired experts, almost entirely ignoring the state and (especially) national parties in the process. The whole thing took about 12 years, pretty close to your gut.
Oh, I know that. I just want the BLM, USFS, and EPA to sit down and reach some sort of agreement that says the EPA won't punish the Front Range for compliance failures that can't be fixed.
I have to admit that occasionally I have some sympathy. The northern Front Range -- between the Palmer Divide on the south and the Cheyenne Ridge on the north -- has been declared in serious ongoing violation of EPA's clean air standards for both ozone and PM2.5. We'll never be in compliance; smoke from fires burning on BLM and USFS land now put us over the limits for too many days each year.
Utah has requested permission from the Supreme Court to file suit against the federal government over control of the Bureau of Land Management's holdings in Utah. There are a ton of precedents against what Utah is attempting. OTOH, this SCOTUS has overturned enough precedents that some Constitutional law professors are complaining that they no longer understand what to teach their students.
Compared to when I was a lad, kids get a lot more days off during the school year. I got the Monday after Easter; now they get a whole week of spring vacation. I got Thanksgiving and the Friday after; now they get that whole week. Depending on where Christmas and New Years fell, I got five or six days off; now they get two weeks, maybe three. There are a couple of holidays that didn't exist during my time. My perception is that teachers get more "in service" days than they used to. The number of days in the school year hasn't been reduced, so something has to give.
I was always surprised at how different my daughter's attitude towards wait staff was after she had spent a semester working as one. Not just in tips, but she never forgets their name and she always has something they did worth praising.
At 70, I am inclined more towards Jenny Joseph's "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple" attitude. I don't care if they edge away. I have earned the right to sit and admire Disney's new animation w/o explaining it to anyone.
Drive by the school bus stops where there are high school guys pretty much anywhere along the Colorado Front Range. Cargo shorts have never not been cool. Cargo shorts and parkas in a blizzard are almost iconic.
Good to mention counties and acres. Reminds me that I need to make sure my cartogram software is all working, and that I have current data for county and congressional districts sizes and populations.
Colorado has eight Congressional districts. Seven of the eight representatives live in the urban corridor strip that runs 120 miles from Fort Collins on the north to Colorado Springs on the south and 25 miles on each side of I-25. As I read the map, the same will be true after the election.
I'm waiting for Koz to show and explain to me why Trump and the Republicans are going to make massive gains in the Mountain West states. That's always entertaining.
From memory, so suspect, but two Democratic Senators from states where the private health insurance companies are a disproportionately large part of the state economy. From time to time, Senators still favor their states' perspectives.
Almost all fencers start with foil. After that initial time, I fenced epee and never considered foil or saber. (I once swore a mighty oath to never fence saber again, and have stuck by it for a half-century now.) Foil has right-of-way rules, which are subject to the referee's interpretation. Trying to outwit your opponent is hard enough, I don't need to complicate it by adding a referee's interpretation of the rules.
At least you can ask politely for explanations. More than one referee got tired of my "Ma'am, could you please explain why you called that sequence parry-reposte for my opponent, rather than a beat attack and continuation for me?"
Let us provide some more context. The DUI happened in the vicinity of Alliance, NE. Ever been to Alliance? I have. Nobody drives the speed limit. DUIs are routinely waived unless someone is hurt. Hell, DUIs are often nearly waived even if someone is killed. Box Butte County's population density is 10.1 people per square mile, just a bit below the overall average for the half-million square miles of the rural Great Plains. The most notable thing about Alliance is that the long coal trains headed east out of the Powder River basin in Wyoming (on the order of 40% of all coal used to generate electricity in the country) have to get up the hill. Extra locomotive engines push trains up the hill, then coast back down to push the next train. From Alliance east, it's basically downhill for the next 400 miles.
I was playing once and the hole was a relatively short par 3 with a full carry over a pond. Three of us had hit reasonable shots to the green. The last member of the group, whom none of us knew, chunked a shot into the pond and then threw his club in after it. Got another ball and another club from his bag. Skulled that one into the pond, threw that club in after it. Then a third ball and club. Then a fourth ball and club. He hit the fifth ball beautifully, but with a completely wrong club, and put it 80 yards out into the cow pasture behind the green.
Probably saved myself from injury when I bit my tongue rather than say, "Perhaps you lack the proper temperament for golf."
From fall 1972 through spring 1978 the albums I owned could be divided into two categories. One was the "math albums" that got played in their entirety. I would stack them on the turntable, put on the headphones, and dive into math problems for a few hours. Flip the whole stack when they ran out. The other category included everything that didn't work as math albums.
The math group were an eclectic lot. Several Yes albums. Some Jethro Tull. A number of Laurel Canyon artists. The Who. Steely Dan. Perhaps surprisingly, or not, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones never had an album that made the cut. Eventually I had a reel-to-reel deck and a "math tape" with albums and a bunch of singles from albums that didn't make the cut.
The last year my housemate was managing my social life. I heard that he would tell people, "No, Mike can't come to the phone. He's got the math tape on, is covering page after page with that cramped little handwriting of his, and air drumming from time to time. Can I help you?" I had to learn to check the pad of paper by the phone, as that might be the first time I knew that I had a date for Mexican food with one of the Sharons.
Ian Anderson was reportedly incensed by critics who kept saying that Aqualung was a concept album with a unifying theme. So he gave them Thick As a Brick as a "No, this is a concept album" FU.
LG&M is running a should pick/will pick poll for the commentariate there. Walz is leading the should pick by a large amount, with 72% of the choices. Shapiro is leading the will pick numbers, but that's much closer.
There's two different games. One of them is golf, where there are written rules that are basically "play the ball as it lies" plus exceptions where that's not physically possible. The other is the golf-like game where you make up the rules as you go. The latter is fine, as long as everyone knows that's what you're playing.
And at this particular time, SpaceX has made orbital launch services so routine that the MSM doesn't bother with covering them. Quick, who's aware that SpaceX had a Falcon 9 second stage problem recently*, that they've publicly described the root cause and fix, and returned to launching early this morning? Later this year, SpaceX will put up a Dragon capsule with a private crew that will execute a space walk. This is far more exciting than being an astronaut.
* After 300 consecutive second stage successes.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Kamala Harris DNC Speech: Watch It For Yourself”
Behold!
On “Linky Friday: Vibes, Real and Imagined Edition”
LF1: Voters are increasingly partisan, and unlikely to be swayed by who is nominated. As I've said for years, eventually this ends with geographic division, if an issue on which division is by regions rather than urban/suburban arises. Response to climate change seems most likely.
LF3: Consider why so many trade shows and professional conferences are scheduled for the southern tier of states, in January and February. August in Washington, DC is miserable outdoors. Attendance is driven by letting people escape to high altitude.
LF4: I assert that the distribution of US voters on a number of large issues is becoming bimodal. People looking for any sort of popular positions in the "middle" are increasingly doomed to disappointment.
LF9: No group has ever been as enthusiastic about wiping out their own jobs as the applied mathematicians and computer engineers.
LF10: Granddaughter #3 -- now 2.5 years -- is long past standing for the first time. On Tuesday, though, she declared that she would climb to the top of the biggest piece of gear at the playground so she could come down the big slide. The apparatus is about 25-feet tall, structured so it's pretty much impossible to fall more than five feet. Two-thirds of the way up she declared that she was stuck and that I should retrieve her. She refused any sort of useful instructions from the ground. I'm 5'10" in shoes, 70 years old, and 30 pounds heavier than I would like. I went up and got her, made it down the six-foot climbing wall to the ground, and caught her when she decided it was easier to just jump rather than climbing down the wall. I'm thinking that during the coming school year I should break my walk when I go by the park, climb to the top, and come down the big slide. Also remember the Kaiser nurse who listened to my complaints about limits when I was 60 and said, "Honey, I see a whole lotta people every day who are younger than you and can't do any of the things that you're complaining about being harder. Count your blessings."
On “Why on Earth Would Trump Plan This Speech At This Location At This Time”
The two political geography stories in the US over the last 30 years (and a bit, now) are (a) the Midwest's swing from Democratic to Republican and (b) the West's swing from Republican to Democratic.
I've lived through Colorado's swing from solid red to solid blue. Our change was initiated by four local billionaires and their hired experts, almost entirely ignoring the state and (especially) national parties in the process. The whole thing took about 12 years, pretty close to your gut.
On “Open Mic for the week of 8/19/2024”
Oh, I know that. I just want the BLM, USFS, and EPA to sit down and reach some sort of agreement that says the EPA won't punish the Front Range for compliance failures that can't be fixed.
"
I have to admit that occasionally I have some sympathy. The northern Front Range -- between the Palmer Divide on the south and the Cheyenne Ridge on the north -- has been declared in serious ongoing violation of EPA's clean air standards for both ozone and PM2.5. We'll never be in compliance; smoke from fires burning on BLM and USFS land now put us over the limits for too many days each year.
"
Utah has requested permission from the Supreme Court to file suit against the federal government over control of the Bureau of Land Management's holdings in Utah. There are a ton of precedents against what Utah is attempting. OTOH, this SCOTUS has overturned enough precedents that some Constitutional law professors are complaining that they no longer understand what to teach their students.
https://apnews.com/article/utah-public-lands-state-control-lawsuit-6459622b4534dcdd150731c84ed2a7b9
"
Compared to when I was a lad, kids get a lot more days off during the school year. I got the Monday after Easter; now they get a whole week of spring vacation. I got Thanksgiving and the Friday after; now they get that whole week. Depending on where Christmas and New Years fell, I got five or six days off; now they get two weeks, maybe three. There are a couple of holidays that didn't exist during my time. My perception is that teachers get more "in service" days than they used to. The number of days in the school year hasn't been reduced, so something has to give.
On “Trump And Harris Agree on No Tax On Tips”
I was always surprised at how different my daughter's attitude towards wait staff was after she had spent a semester working as one. Not just in tips, but she never forgets their name and she always has something they did worth praising.
On “Open Mic for the week of 8/12/2024”
At 70, I am inclined more towards Jenny Joseph's "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple" attitude. I don't care if they edge away. I have earned the right to sit and admire Disney's new animation w/o explaining it to anyone.
On “Group Discussion: The Return of the Jorts”
Drive by the school bus stops where there are high school guys pretty much anywhere along the Colorado Front Range. Cargo shorts have never not been cool. Cargo shorts and parkas in a blizzard are almost iconic.
On “Signs of the Times?”
Random thoughts...
Good to mention counties and acres. Reminds me that I need to make sure my cartogram software is all working, and that I have current data for county and congressional districts sizes and populations.
Colorado has eight Congressional districts. Seven of the eight representatives live in the urban corridor strip that runs 120 miles from Fort Collins on the north to Colorado Springs on the south and 25 miles on each side of I-25. As I read the map, the same will be true after the election.
I'm waiting for Koz to show and explain to me why Trump and the Republicans are going to make massive gains in the Mountain West states. That's always entertaining.
On “Trump And Harris Agree on No Tax On Tips”
Question from ignorance... How do payroll taxes (eg, Social Security) work for tips?
"
From memory, so suspect, but two Democratic Senators from states where the private health insurance companies are a disproportionately large part of the state economy. From time to time, Senators still favor their states' perspectives.
On “What’s The Matter With The Umpire?”
Almost all fencers start with foil. After that initial time, I fenced epee and never considered foil or saber. (I once swore a mighty oath to never fence saber again, and have stuck by it for a half-century now.) Foil has right-of-way rules, which are subject to the referee's interpretation. Trying to outwit your opponent is hard enough, I don't need to complicate it by adding a referee's interpretation of the rules.
At least you can ask politely for explanations. More than one referee got tired of my "Ma'am, could you please explain why you called that sequence parry-reposte for my opponent, rather than a beat attack and continuation for me?"
On “Tim Walz Tapped to be VP Kamala Harris Running Mate”
Let us provide some more context. The DUI happened in the vicinity of Alliance, NE. Ever been to Alliance? I have. Nobody drives the speed limit. DUIs are routinely waived unless someone is hurt. Hell, DUIs are often nearly waived even if someone is killed. Box Butte County's population density is 10.1 people per square mile, just a bit below the overall average for the half-million square miles of the rural Great Plains. The most notable thing about Alliance is that the long coal trains headed east out of the Powder River basin in Wyoming (on the order of 40% of all coal used to generate electricity in the country) have to get up the hill. Extra locomotive engines push trains up the hill, then coast back down to push the next train. From Alliance east, it's basically downhill for the next 400 miles.
"
He’s a formidable pick but not an inspired one.
Opportunities for inspired picks are rather few and far between. Name, say, three political picks that turned out to be inspired.
On “Tim Walz announced as Kamala Harris’s running mate”
My interests are narrow. Walz is much better on climate change and the environment than Shapiro.
On “Why Some Men Hurl Their Golf Clubs Into The River”
I was playing once and the hole was a relatively short par 3 with a full carry over a pond. Three of us had hit reasonable shots to the green. The last member of the group, whom none of us knew, chunked a shot into the pond and then threw his club in after it. Got another ball and another club from his bag. Skulled that one into the pond, threw that club in after it. Then a third ball and club. Then a fourth ball and club. He hit the fifth ball beautifully, but with a completely wrong club, and put it 80 yards out into the cow pasture behind the green.
Probably saved myself from injury when I bit my tongue rather than say, "Perhaps you lack the proper temperament for golf."
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Best Album Titles and How Kids These Days Don’t Know About Them”
From fall 1972 through spring 1978 the albums I owned could be divided into two categories. One was the "math albums" that got played in their entirety. I would stack them on the turntable, put on the headphones, and dive into math problems for a few hours. Flip the whole stack when they ran out. The other category included everything that didn't work as math albums.
The math group were an eclectic lot. Several Yes albums. Some Jethro Tull. A number of Laurel Canyon artists. The Who. Steely Dan. Perhaps surprisingly, or not, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones never had an album that made the cut. Eventually I had a reel-to-reel deck and a "math tape" with albums and a bunch of singles from albums that didn't make the cut.
The last year my housemate was managing my social life. I heard that he would tell people, "No, Mike can't come to the phone. He's got the math tape on, is covering page after page with that cramped little handwriting of his, and air drumming from time to time. Can I help you?" I had to learn to check the pad of paper by the phone, as that might be the first time I knew that I had a date for Mexican food with one of the Sharons.
"
Ian Anderson was reportedly incensed by critics who kept saying that Aqualung was a concept album with a unifying theme. So he gave them Thick As a Brick as a "No, this is a concept album" FU.
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/29/2024”
LG&M is running a should pick/will pick poll for the commentariate there. Walz is leading the should pick by a large amount, with 72% of the choices. Shapiro is leading the will pick numbers, but that's much closer.
On “Donald Trump and The National Association of Black Journalists: Watch For Yourself”
There's two different games. One of them is golf, where there are written rules that are basically "play the ball as it lies" plus exceptions where that's not physically possible. The other is the golf-like game where you make up the rules as you go. The latter is fine, as long as everyone knows that's what you're playing.
On “None Dare Call It A Conspiracy, Because It Wasn’t”
To be honest, I was kind of surprised primaries were even held. Why bother with an incumbent?
Many/most state Democratic parties include an "uncommitted" choice even when there's an incumbent.
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/22/2024”
I rest my case :^)
On “Kamala’s Veepstakes”
Jimmy Carter was a nuclear engineer.
And at this particular time, SpaceX has made orbital launch services so routine that the MSM doesn't bother with covering them. Quick, who's aware that SpaceX had a Falcon 9 second stage problem recently*, that they've publicly described the root cause and fix, and returned to launching early this morning? Later this year, SpaceX will put up a Dragon capsule with a private crew that will execute a space walk. This is far more exciting than being an astronaut.
* After 300 consecutive second stage successes.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.