Bill Jouris

by wj This is really more Dr Science's area.  But since she is having problems connecting, I figured someone else needed to put it out there.  Basically, on August 17 (but just formally announced today) astronomers detected both  electromagnetic radiations and gravitational radiations for an explosive merging of two neutron stars.  These sort of events are … Read more

by wj I really wanted to share this, but couldn’t find a reasonably recent thread to fit. (Besides, we seem to be overdue for a new Open Thread.) Senator Corker definitely turn a phrase here: It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning. … Read more

by wj Sometimes, I come across things that just totally blow my mind. This, from the Wall Street Journal: The federal flood insurance program has paid more than $1.8 million between 1979 and 2015 to rebuild a single house in Kingwood, Texas. The house has been flooded 22 times since 1979 H/T FiveThirtyEight The house … Read more

by wj I couldn’t find a place to put this, so . . . new open thread! I ran across this: President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) have agreed to pursue a deal that would permanently remove the requirement that Congress repeatedly raise the debt ceiling. Getting rid of the debt … Read more

by wj I had been under the impression that the President’s pardon power was pretty much absolute. But once again IANAL raises its interesting head. After his Presidential pardon, Joe Arpaio’s lawyers naturally filed a petition with the court to have his conviction vacated. But the Arizona Republic reports that, rather than just doing so, … Read more

by wj The Count said in the previous thread: Watch local Texas municipalities try to implement more rational land use and building code policies and then see how vermin libertarian republican right wing crypto christian fascists in the Governor’s Manse and in the State House deprive their local rights and thwart all improvement. And then, … Read more

by wj It can be all too easy, it the flood of stuff happening these days, to overlook something which would be stunning in other times. I wonder what all there might be…. For example, consider these tweets from last week: Events in Charlottesville unacceptable & musnt be tolerated @USNavy forever stands against intolerance & … Read more

by wj Friday, Nissan and Mazda announced that they would work together to develop electric vehicle technologies. work together to develop electric vehicle technologies. And to build a $1.6 billion assembly plant in the U.S., which will have a capacity to produce 300,000 cars a year and provide jobs for about 4,000 people. However, the … Read more

by wj We’re way overdue for another Open Thread, so this is it. On the nominal subject, this just cries out. From the LA Times: Nevada’s Department of Taxation declared a state of emergency over a diminishing supply of marijuana. The drug was decriminalized in Nevada just two weeks ago but retail dispensaries are already … Read more

by wj Fair warning: This is after being some musings on American exceptionalism. Not all the ways America and Americans are (or might be considered) exceptional; just a couple of ways in which we are . . . unusual. I was driving home, Saturday evening, after a little get-together with the in-laws – something we … Read more

by wj I’m going to spend most of the day helping set up, and shoot, one of the local (legal, with a licensed pyrotechnician and everything) fireworks shows. But here’s something to get the rest of you going. During the last 6 years of the Obama administration, the Republican-led Congress was extremely careful to never … 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 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

by wj An article in the Atlantic included an interesting observation: For many women, going it alone has meant poverty and loneliness, not empowerment. . . . Places like Ross County that have been hit by manufacturing declines are the leading edge of the future Rosin describes. Joblessness makes men less desirable partners, theorizes the … Read more

by wj Last week’s Science News included an article It’s time to redefine what qualifies as a planet. The proposal, by Will Grundy of Lowell Observatory and other planetary scientists: “It’s any round object in space that is smaller than a star.”** That returns Pluto to the fold. Also about a hundred other objects in … Read more

by wj A couple of days ago, Russell wrote a comment that got me thinking**: for about 50 years in the middle of the 20th C things were progressively (not capital-P progressively, just the normal usage of that word) better for “regular folks”, however you want to define that. Not so much for black regular … Read more

by wj Yesterday saw the first special Congressional election since the November general election.  First, let's look at the district. Kansas 04 is a very strongly Republican district.  It last elected a Democrat in 1992 — and that Democrat an exception to its historical pattern.  In November, Mike Pompeo (now CIA Director) won with 60% … Read more

by wj I had thought that there were two views about “soft power” — influencing foreigners (individually or collectively) with persuasion rather than force or the threat of force. First, that it was an important and useful part of our foreign policy arsenal. This view has governed US foreign policy since WW II, and is … Read more

by wj Among the interesting stories this past week, Kim Jong-nam, the (older) half brother of North Korea’s leader Kin Jong Un, was assassinated in Malaysia. Several North Koreans are in custody. But the interesting bit is the response from China, where he has been resident for some years. China is said to feel insulted … Read more

by wj Note Silver has been running a series of columns at 538 on the 2016 election and why so many predictions were so far off. The latest talks about Early Voting. This quote kicked off something in my mind: “On Oct. 23, for instance, The New York Times argued that because Clinton had banked … Read more

by wj I innocently assumed that someone else would put something up first thing this morning (i.e. before we woke up on the West Coast). But since they didn’t….

by wj President Obama has now commuted more sentences than any previous President. From what I can tell, a lot of there are non-violent drug offenders and others whose sentences are arguably out of proportion to the reality of their offense. So far, so good. But then there’s this: “Chelsea Elizabeth Manning – Oklahoma City, … Read more

by wj (Because, as hsh noted, it’s been way too long since we had an open thread started. Mea culpa!) Came across this in my local (California!) paper this morning: Are Cubs visiting White House early to avoid Donald Trump? Of course, the fact that Obama is from Chicago could have something to do with … Read more

by wj It occurs to me to wonder, how has this not yet generated a Trump tweet? It’s an Army regulation that “Effective immediately, brigade-level commanders will be able to grant accommodations to servicemen and women who wear beards, turbans, or hijabs for religious reasons.” It seems tailor made for him: It’s a tail end … Read more

by wj It's a goal worth pursuing.  So Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah,Happy Solstice,Happy Holidays (if that's how you roll) For something fun, and not specifically related to any of those holidays, there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP96n0gyNz0I'm particularly fond of the tag line: "The hardest job I ever done…." Sort of reminds me of how I (and, I … Read more

by wj California gets held up as an example of how Democrats can run amok without Republicans having some sort of veto. Certainly it is true that California Republicans have made ourselves mostly irrelevant when it comes to contests for state-wide offices (both state offices and Senate seats). Currently, Democrats have a 2/3 majority in … Read more

by wj Wonkie suggested “an open thread where we share stuff we do (besides obsess about politics), because I’m pretty sure this is an accomplished group of folks who do all kinds of interesting things.” So why not? (Well, I suppose there might be an argument for waiting until after the elections, so we will … Read more

by wj Because it’s important to keep track of what is really important in life. And the Cubs are going to the World Series for the first time since before I was born. Not only that, they did it with the first time a team has faced the minimum number of opposing hitters (27) in … Read more

by wj (Just because who knows where things will go tonight?) It has occurred to me. Baring divine intervention (or demonic intervention; take your pick) it’s pretty obvious by now how this election will turn out. Only two questions remain: – What will happen down-ballot? (AKA How big will it be?) – How does the … Read more

by wj Sometimes, I get serious cognative dissonance in real time. Right now, my local all news station (KCBS) is saying that “a new national poll shows a dead heat” in the Presidential race. Meanwhile, the Washington Post/Survey Monkey poll, just out today, shows . . . a toss-up in Texas. And in Mississippi! (In … Read more

by wj (I was tempted to use “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.” But it’s been used….) Here’s a headline from City Pages (a weekly news magazine in Minneapolis/St Paul): Republican Party of Minnesota forgot to put Donald Trump on Minnesota ballot. Yep, you read that right. The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office put the … Read more

by wj Earlier this week, my wife’s BFF passed away. (They’ve been friends for 3 decades plus. Since long before “BFF” appeared in the language.) He was only a few weeks older than she is, and it’s been traumatic. Giving rise to these musings. For most of us, the first time we lose someone we … Read more

by wj For those of you who are heartily sick of politics, here’s your chance to change the subject. (But you are going to have to do it yourselves.) We had lots of fun pointing fingers at the things that went wrong (from our point of view, at least) in last week’s convention. But here’s … Read more