He held the Companion of the Order of Canada, the equivalent of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor his nation could give him.
The tribute concert that ought to happen would be tremendous. Imagine Diana Krall, the Tragically Hip, Sarah McLaughlin, Feist reuniting with Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Bryan Adams, the Band (3/4 are Canadian!), Neil Young, and k.d. lang all gathering on a stage to honor Canada's greatest ever singer-songwriter. I hope someone makes that happen.
ETA damnit they'll probably invite Bieber too. Whatever.
Enjoy watching him play. With that little-regarded kid from Michigan retired now, there is no one in the NFL who reads defenses better or faster. And he can drop the rock in an apple bucket from 70 yards out if you give him two seconds and three steps. You'll forgive him the ayahuasca and the CalBro 'tude the first time he does it on the field. You'll believe. It'll feel good.
Good luck out there, Jets, you've got the Bills twice and the Chiefs at home. We'll be watching. As for us? Nature has pointed our eyes forward. It's all about the Love.
Firefly/Serenity is a great object lesson (IMO) that character drives plot. Mike makes the point that the series hit the ground running with well-realized characters and character development throughout, which made viewers fall in love with the series quickly. After seven episodes and one movie, we still react to Wash. I posit that can happen regardless of the setting and maybe regardless of the realism: Star Wars has FTL travel, inconsistent use of gravity, units of measurement used as time, and frickin' space wizards. Dearly, dearly beloved because we identify with the characters.
The best we can hope for from the Never Trump contingent is they sit it out and not vote. They will find reasons to not vote for Biden. (You will note the lack of adjective before the word "reasons" in the previous sentence. A good reason to vote for Joe Biden is "He's not Donald Trump," but for some reason most Republicans seem to blind themselves to that obvious truth.)
Montana Republicans barred transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from the House floor for the rest of the 2023 session on Wednesday in retaliation for her rebuking colleagues – and then participating in protests – after they voted to ban gender-affirming medical care for children.
Rep. Zephyr will be able to cast votes for matters on the floor of the State House, however, but must do so by remote means.
Tucker looks dumb, but he ain't. Smart guy, world-class education, and that $420M didn't appear out of Fox's desire to attract Birdseye Frozen Food commercials. He's also obviously charismatic; you don't attract the largest audience on cable news without charisma.
We haven't heard the last of him. Oh, no. I wish it were so, but we must live in reality. He lands on his feet in some other conservative-friendly, veracity-deficient medium. Sooner than later, I'd expect.
Freeman picked names that made sense to him. The residents of Portland/Salem/Eugene and probably a good hunk of what is today southern Oregon would much prefer to be called "Cascadians" than "Shastans," because "Shasta" is a thing found in California. We might be willing to accept "Klamath" since we're aware we're not the only claimants to the name "Cascadia." (Suck it, Seattle.)
I also suspect that people who live in the city of San Diego do not want to be part of a state of "Orange," unless they're Aggressively Dutch.
I too am serious about offering respect for Quayle because of this moment. We will never know if Quayle was actually ready for the top job had something happened to Bush The Elder; gratefully for all involved we never had to find out. But I'll allow that there is a very substantial possibility that Quayle would have done just fine had it ever come to that.
I can think of lots of states that have a big, high-population Democratic cluster (mostly urban and urban-adjacent areas) mushed in with Republican outlying regions (mostly rural and rural-adjacent). Wisconsin is a fine example of this. So is Oregon. So is California. So is New York. So is Texas. So is Washington. So is Pennsylvania. So is Illinois. So is Michigan. So is Virginia. So is Georgia.
And this is why we can't have a national divorce like was attempted in 1865. The principal differences are even more cultural than they are economic, and they break down along rural-versus-urban lines, subdividing nearly every region between what would be the two emergent groups.
Here in Oregon we have the Greater Idaho movement, which is the morphed successor of the State of Jefferson movement. "National Divorce" could look something like that. Although I think it is exceedingly unlikely that Salem would let the eastern counties go, even if the eastern counties said they wanted to go (many of them have). And it's an open question whether Idaho would want to take them. (Something to do with the balance of tax receipts.)
Devolution could happen, though, and could even be relatively peaceful and is certainly more plausible than formal political division. Again, in Oregon we have adopted rules that sometimes vary between the more urban counties and the more rural ones, most prominently and directly important to my work being the geographically varying minimum wages.
For the record, I am not a fan of the idea of geographically varying minimum wages within the state, because I think in the long run it will put the eastern and southern counties further behind the northwestern counties economically and, as a secondary effect of that, increase the cultural gap between urban Oregon and rural Oregon. But it's the result of a political compromise made many years ago that, despite its flaws, has been mostly good for the state. And I can't do much about it anyway. Point is, this is something that an antecedent to, or if you prefer stopgap against, a national divorce might look like.
Concur. If getting advice from Quayle helped Pence find the fortitude within himself to stand up to pressure from Trump and his machinery, then let us honor that act of service.
This is a really good perspective for evaluating Harris. The VP's first job is "don't eff anything up," and the VP's second job is "help politically, somehow; appeal to a group the President doesn't appeal to so much."
Also, please be on time and nicely-dressed for all those overseas funerals and know how we want you to vote if the Senate splits right down the middle.
She's done all of those things.
She ain't Dick Cheney or even Al Gore, but she ain't Dan Quayle or Spiro Agnew, either. She's doing the job of VP'ing just fine. N.b. this does not necessarily mean she's demonstrated she's ready to run for the top spot.
Is this fundamentally different than the sorts of things that keep us together? We already have a federal government that possesses the ability to craft (or help craft) different solutions to problems that are regional in nature. There really isn't much need for a Bureau of Reclamation in New England, but there certainly is a need to subsidize the Acela.
I'd partially agree. You don't have to be a white Christian nationalist to find something appealing in Trumpian nationalism, but I'd agree it sure doesn't hurt. I don't often drop by LGM myself, but I wish them well.
I think of it this way: Where the Republican agenda converges, the Democratic agenda accretes.
There's a harmony of result between the Bible Belt Conservative ("I want to be able to send my child to a private Christian school, away from all those woke secular humanist teachers, where they'll learn the Bible alongside all the other facts of the world!"), a Big Sky Republican ("It isn't appropriately the role of the government to be educating kids in the first place, that's a function principally for the family and if the government gets involved at all, it should be at the most local level possible,") and a Country Club Republican ("Who's going to pay for that expensive public school anyway? Taxes are already too high. Yes, there is a Santa Claus, Virginia, and his name is fiscal responsbility!"). They can all agree on "cut spending to public schools" even if there are different pathways to get to the same destination.
Meanwhile put a BLM Democrat, an AFSCME Democrat, and a Greenpeace Democrat in the same room, and what you'll get isn't multiple pathways to the same result, you'll get multiple results that are not inconsistent with one another. A robust racial equity curriculum in the public schools and police reform are perfectly compatible with an increase in prevailing wages and more funding for OSHA and all of those are compatible with a carbon tax and an electric vehicle mandate. And (if you're basically liberal) all of those things are good! What they wind up bickering about is prioritizing all of the items on the laundry list.
On “The Goddamn New York Jets”
Too soon.
On “VIDEOS: Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023)”
Oh, this makes me sad. The Band is now The Duo.
On “The Cleveland Texas Mass Murders”
Well, at least we can offer our thoughts and prayers, since we will never be able to enact meaningful changes to the law.
On “VIDEOS: Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023)”
He held the Companion of the Order of Canada, the equivalent of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor his nation could give him.
The tribute concert that ought to happen would be tremendous. Imagine Diana Krall, the Tragically Hip, Sarah McLaughlin, Feist reuniting with Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Bryan Adams, the Band (3/4 are Canadian!), Neil Young, and k.d. lang all gathering on a stage to honor Canada's greatest ever singer-songwriter. I hope someone makes that happen.
ETA damnit they'll probably invite Bieber too. Whatever.
On “The Goddamn New York Jets”
Enjoy watching him play. With that little-regarded kid from Michigan retired now, there is no one in the NFL who reads defenses better or faster. And he can drop the rock in an apple bucket from 70 yards out if you give him two seconds and three steps. You'll forgive him the ayahuasca and the CalBro 'tude the first time he does it on the field. You'll believe. It'll feel good.
Good luck out there, Jets, you've got the Bills twice and the Chiefs at home. We'll be watching. As for us? Nature has pointed our eyes forward. It's all about the Love.
Love,
A Green Bay Packers fan
On “Video Throughput: Serenity and Firefly”
Firefly/Serenity is a great object lesson (IMO) that character drives plot. Mike makes the point that the series hit the ground running with well-realized characters and character development throughout, which made viewers fall in love with the series quickly. After seven episodes and one movie, we still react to Wash. I posit that can happen regardless of the setting and maybe regardless of the realism: Star Wars has FTL travel, inconsistent use of gravity, units of measurement used as time, and frickin' space wizards. Dearly, dearly beloved because we identify with the characters.
On “It’s Going to Be Biden v Trump Again”
The best we can hope for from the Never Trump contingent is they sit it out and not vote. They will find reasons to not vote for Biden. (You will note the lack of adjective before the word "reasons" in the previous sentence. A good reason to vote for Joe Biden is "He's not Donald Trump," but for some reason most Republicans seem to blind themselves to that obvious truth.)
"
DeSantis needs to get Melisandre the Red Witch on his staff so she can do to Trump what she did to Renly Baratheon.
"
It may be that even if convicted of a crime Republicans would still nominate Trump. Which is insanity but we've become used to insanity orbiting around TFG like a cloud of biting gnats.
On “TSN Open Mic for the week of 4/24/2023”
Just because I feel like throwing some fuel on the fire above: in Montana we have a Tennessee-Three-Meets-Transphobia Tempest!
https://www.wbtv.com/2023/04/26/montana-transgender-lawmaker-faces-crucial-vote-by-legislature/
Rep. Zephyr will be able to cast votes for matters on the floor of the State House, however, but must do so by remote means.
On “Disney Sues DeSantis Et al: Read It For Yourself”
Burt Likko wrote on March 30, 2023 at 5:54 pm: There’s another rule they don’t teach in law school, but which a surprisingly high percentage of lawyers come across at one point or another in their practice. The rule is “Don’t Eff With The Mouse.”
On “TSN Open Mic for the week of 4/24/2023”
So can we call this the "Don't Say Gay" law?
On “VIDEO (3m): Closing Scene to A Face in the Crowd”
I have never seen this movie and took a moment to read a synopsis before watching the scene.
Holy crap this is chilling. Like, it's the first really nice spring day here and I'm kind of shivering.
Massive props to both Matthau and Griffith. I hope Patricia Neal was this good throughout; she doesn't get to do much here but look distressed.
On “Good Riddance To Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon”
Tucker looks dumb, but he ain't. Smart guy, world-class education, and that $420M didn't appear out of Fox's desire to attract Birdseye Frozen Food commercials. He's also obviously charismatic; you don't attract the largest audience on cable news without charisma.
We haven't heard the last of him. Oh, no. I wish it were so, but we must live in reality. He lands on his feet in some other conservative-friendly, veracity-deficient medium. Sooner than later, I'd expect.
Don Lemon? What'd he do? ...Oh. Eff him.
On “Why People Hate Politicians”
Obama served in the Senate. Not long, but he was there.
On “What is a National Divorce?”
Sweet, sweet music you're singing to Will Truman's ears. Others have already linked to the sorta-famous Freeman Equal Population Map but I will too.
Freeman picked names that made sense to him. The residents of Portland/Salem/Eugene and probably a good hunk of what is today southern Oregon would much prefer to be called "Cascadians" than "Shastans," because "Shasta" is a thing found in California. We might be willing to accept "Klamath" since we're aware we're not the only claimants to the name "Cascadia." (Suck it, Seattle.)
I also suspect that people who live in the city of San Diego do not want to be part of a state of "Orange," unless they're Aggressively Dutch.
On “President Biden Announces 2024 Reelection Run, Pundits Hardest Hit”
But the fly survived!
"
I too am serious about offering respect for Quayle because of this moment. We will never know if Quayle was actually ready for the top job had something happened to Bush The Elder; gratefully for all involved we never had to find out. But I'll allow that there is a very substantial possibility that Quayle would have done just fine had it ever come to that.
On “What is a National Divorce?”
I can think of lots of states that have a big, high-population Democratic cluster (mostly urban and urban-adjacent areas) mushed in with Republican outlying regions (mostly rural and rural-adjacent). Wisconsin is a fine example of this. So is Oregon. So is California. So is New York. So is Texas. So is Washington. So is Pennsylvania. So is Illinois. So is Michigan. So is Virginia. So is Georgia.
And this is why we can't have a national divorce like was attempted in 1865. The principal differences are even more cultural than they are economic, and they break down along rural-versus-urban lines, subdividing nearly every region between what would be the two emergent groups.
Here in Oregon we have the Greater Idaho movement, which is the morphed successor of the State of Jefferson movement. "National Divorce" could look something like that. Although I think it is exceedingly unlikely that Salem would let the eastern counties go, even if the eastern counties said they wanted to go (many of them have). And it's an open question whether Idaho would want to take them. (Something to do with the balance of tax receipts.)
Devolution could happen, though, and could even be relatively peaceful and is certainly more plausible than formal political division. Again, in Oregon we have adopted rules that sometimes vary between the more urban counties and the more rural ones, most prominently and directly important to my work being the geographically varying minimum wages.
For the record, I am not a fan of the idea of geographically varying minimum wages within the state, because I think in the long run it will put the eastern and southern counties further behind the northwestern counties economically and, as a secondary effect of that, increase the cultural gap between urban Oregon and rural Oregon. But it's the result of a political compromise made many years ago that, despite its flaws, has been mostly good for the state. And I can't do much about it anyway. Point is, this is something that an antecedent to, or if you prefer stopgap against, a national divorce might look like.
On “President Biden Announces 2024 Reelection Run, Pundits Hardest Hit”
Concur. If getting advice from Quayle helped Pence find the fortitude within himself to stand up to pressure from Trump and his machinery, then let us honor that act of service.
"
This is a really good perspective for evaluating Harris. The VP's first job is "don't eff anything up," and the VP's second job is "help politically, somehow; appeal to a group the President doesn't appeal to so much."
Also, please be on time and nicely-dressed for all those overseas funerals and know how we want you to vote if the Senate splits right down the middle.
She's done all of those things.
She ain't Dick Cheney or even Al Gore, but she ain't Dan Quayle or Spiro Agnew, either. She's doing the job of VP'ing just fine. N.b. this does not necessarily mean she's demonstrated she's ready to run for the top spot.
On “What is a National Divorce?”
Is this fundamentally different than the sorts of things that keep us together? We already have a federal government that possesses the ability to craft (or help craft) different solutions to problems that are regional in nature. There really isn't much need for a Bureau of Reclamation in New England, but there certainly is a need to subsidize the Acela.
"
I'd partially agree. You don't have to be a white Christian nationalist to find something appealing in Trumpian nationalism, but I'd agree it sure doesn't hurt. I don't often drop by LGM myself, but I wish them well.
"
Those are the Trump Republicans. They don't stand for anything, and they are tearing their party apart. (The country, too.)
"
I think of it this way: Where the Republican agenda converges, the Democratic agenda accretes.
There's a harmony of result between the Bible Belt Conservative ("I want to be able to send my child to a private Christian school, away from all those woke secular humanist teachers, where they'll learn the Bible alongside all the other facts of the world!"), a Big Sky Republican ("It isn't appropriately the role of the government to be educating kids in the first place, that's a function principally for the family and if the government gets involved at all, it should be at the most local level possible,") and a Country Club Republican ("Who's going to pay for that expensive public school anyway? Taxes are already too high. Yes, there is a Santa Claus, Virginia, and his name is fiscal responsbility!"). They can all agree on "cut spending to public schools" even if there are different pathways to get to the same destination.
Meanwhile put a BLM Democrat, an AFSCME Democrat, and a Greenpeace Democrat in the same room, and what you'll get isn't multiple pathways to the same result, you'll get multiple results that are not inconsistent with one another. A robust racial equity curriculum in the public schools and police reform are perfectly compatible with an increase in prevailing wages and more funding for OSHA and all of those are compatible with a carbon tax and an electric vehicle mandate. And (if you're basically liberal) all of those things are good! What they wind up bickering about is prioritizing all of the items on the laundry list.