"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by Doctor Science If you’re going to do horse race journalism, at least do it right. I’m writing as a long-time member of the Democratic Party base, a rank-and-file voter and regular volunteer. There are certain factors that come up when I and other Democrats talk about 2020, talk that began months ago. Now we’re … Read more
by wj We are all familiar with the phenomena of a figure in public life who seemed to promise one thing but then failed to live up to expectations. But there are also those for whom we have expectations, who go on to fulfill them (in whole or in part). Today, we have one of … Read more
by liberal japonicus [Title should be sung to the tune of Rawhide] This weekend is the weekend of the Daigaku Nyūshi Sentā Shiken (大学入試センター試験). A page giving a brief explanation is here. As tenured faculty at a university that is a test site for the senta shiken, I have to proctor the test roughly 3 … Read more
by wj Article II, Section 3 of the US Constitution requires the President to annually “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union”. President Washington did so with an address to Congress. But President Jefferson changed the practice to a written report. And so it remained until President Wilson re-established the practice … Read more
by liberal japonicus I’ve got a bunch of stuff to put in the previous thread, but I wanted to open up another thread about this interview with Rick Perlstein about AOC. A pull quote Well, I don’t think they’re afraid so much for the Democratic Party as they’re afraid for themselves. This is obviously a … Read more
by liberal japonicus A discussion about learning languages briefly broke out after the subject of immigrants learning English came up. While I’m not going to be the thread police here, I’m starting this thread to talk about how you and others learned/are learning/used to learn languages rather than societal issues that are involved. Pointless rambles … Read more
by russell I read this piece in the Washington Post with a mix of pride and affection. Affection for the people portrayed here, who remind me of my own mother's people, immigrants and plain old American poor people clawing their way into the middle class in 20th C Brooklyn and Queens and New Jersey. Affection … Read more
by liberal japonicus Not sure if this is something that is being followed or is even interesting to people here, but the foreign community here in Japan has been watching the Carlos Ghosn saga closely. A quick summary. Carlos Ghosn, who was able to revive the fortunes of Renault, came in when Renault bought a … Read more
by liberal japonicus Well, getting back to it, this article seemed interesting and a bit strange. Why Trump has spared Pelosi from his personal vitriol–so far His decision so far not to go after Pelosi personally, even as his top aides have blamed her for the shutdown, hasn’t gone unnoticed in the Capitol. Pelosi’s allies … Read more