Month: June 2017

by JanieM I’ve been too busy to pay much attention, but my son just pointed me to a controversy arising from the Chicago pride parade. What, a controversy surrounding LGBT issues? Surely not. *** Rainbow flag with Star of David booted from Chicago gay pride parade triggers [pun intended] thoughts of googling the ongoing history … Read more

by russell this is by way of a non-political post.  consider it an open thread, chime in with whatever. it's actually a really nice day today, here in chilly old new england.  probably 80F, nice and dry.  sun is mostly out, with an occasional cloud to break up the monotony and provide a moment of … Read more

by Ugh The GOP Senate done released it's ACA repeal bill earlier today.  You can read the bill here if you want.  My brief, fair, & balanced summary: cruelty now, cruelty tomorrow, cruelty forever (even fits in a tweet). Essentially, the same as the GOP House Bill.  Was in Vegas on Mon/Tues and it was 117 … Read more

by wj A couple of stories floated by this week, possibly to little notice outside their local areas. They aren’t related to each other, but may be apropos things happening elsewhere in the country. Here, our County DA has resigned, after pleading guilty to 1 count of perjury. That was a plea deal, as he … Read more

by wj I remember, way back when I was in high school, watching the Republican National Convention on TV. As they did the Roll Call of the States, to nominate their Presidential candidate, they came eventually to Puerto Rico. Like every other delegation, the island’s spokesman included a local color catch phrase when announcing their … Read more

by liberal japonicus The title comes from Harold McMillan's line about the British being the Greeks to the US Romans. He said it several times, probably to make sure that we understood it, here is a longer version from a letter to Richard Crossman (whose diaries inspired the Yes Minister series) We, my dear Crossman, … Read more

by wj We are way overdue for an open thread, and this is it. No doubt it will go off onto the testimony from ex-FBI Director Comey, once that gets going. But perhaps it will give those of you in earlier time zones (which is pretty much everybody else) something to talk about before that … Read more

by wj California has a reputation, especially from far away, as a liberal bastion. But while it definitely is a solid blue state today, how accurate is that liberal image really? Yes, there are highly visible liberal areas: Los Angeles (city, not metro area), San Francisco, Berkeley, West Hollywood. But overall? First, a bit of … Read more