Category: Politics
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USA Election in 2 weeks
The UK general election was on July 4 this year, and the US election is on Nov 5. That’s two weeks away. If you’re in the US, you may have already voted, if your state allows early voting. Maybe not. If you haven’t voted, now is a good time to check to make sure you […]
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USA: Useful podcasts
The “How to Win” podcast did a special 4-part series on the Project 2025 Republican plan for a second Trump presidency. I just listened to the episode on climate, but there are also episodes on abortion, education, and LGBT+ rights. Each has a rough transcript along with audio. Overall I don’t want what Trump and […]
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As a US citizen…
I called both my US Senators to urge them to support censoring Senator Vance for trying to incite violence on his own constituents in Springfield, Ohio.
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19 Be a patriot
Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it. Something tells me that some of the people at the US Democratic National Convention has read this book. (I’m imagining “Be the patriotism you want to see in the world!” signs.) The chapter proper starts with what isn’t […]
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17 Listen for dangerous words
Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary. – From On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder When politicians use terms like vermin or illegals to refer to people they don’t like, it shows who […]
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13 Practice corporeal politics
For resistance to succeed, two boundaries must be crossed. First, ideas about change must engage people of various backgrounds who do not agree about everything. Second, people must find themselves in places that are not their homes, and among groups who were not previously their friends. Protest can be organized through social media, but nothing […]
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11 Investigate
I’m quite aware that not everyone can figure out everything. Lack of resources, information and time are real limits. But it’s smart to check a link or watch the video before passing it on. If you can support journalism via subscription or donation, do so. We know many media outlets are biased. A local TV […]
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Writing postcards
I’m writing postcards today (and tomorrow, and tomorrow) using a tested “make a plan to vote” message. The organization I signed up with provided a list of addresses, postcards, and instructions; I’m providing stamps and labor. Other people volunteer by knocking on doors or calling or what-have-you. This is what I’m doing.
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On Biden and Harris
John Scalzi wrote nonfiction before he switched to fiction. I especially like his wording here: It’s 2024, I’m done pretending that sexism and racism, implicit or explicit, aren’t huge fucking motivators for the white people vote here in the US. You can rationalize it however you like; I understand it’s important for one’s self-image to […]
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Zero Fail by Carol Leonnig
Amazon link: Zero Fail I found this a compelling book that details serious mistakes in Secret Service management and culture. In many ways the failures of described are human failures of the “I haven’t had a day off in weeks, why not go out to the bar? Why not bring a person I’m attracted to back […]
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I confess – I laughed
I live in Seattle, which means The Stranger is a local institution. From The Stranger‘s “regrets” of the previous year — a mishmash of errors they made and regret, errors and non-errors they don’t regret, and various other sarcastic local commentary — comes this sarcastic and possibly blasphemous gem: Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, […]
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Buy Nothing Day
I am not a huge fan of Buy Nothing Day. Not because I feel it’s important to shop today. But because the campaign presupposes that everyone in the US who doesn’t subscribe to the “Buy Nothing Day” ideal WILL be buying things on Friday. Um…no. Some of us don’t have Friday off work. Some of […]
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Music Monday
I first heard this song in the spring of 2000, shortly after the police who shot Amadou Diallo were acquitted. I heard an audience recording and read a transcript of the lyrics (Springsteen fandom tends to share such things) and then I heard it live in New York. Fans called it “41 Shots” or “the […]
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Food for Thought
From the St Louis Post-Dispatch on the policing in Ferguson, Missouri: A “best practices” study published in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin two years ago says it’s generally accepted that “crowd violence escalates if people think police offers treat them unfairly.” Furthermore, the study says, when a crowd perceives that “officers act with justice and […]
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QOTD
This isn’t a Christian blog per se, but I loved this so much I want to share it. From a comment by Ursula L on Rachel Held Evans’ blog: When I see Christian churches treat women as second class, and QUILTBAG people as second class, the inevitable and obvious conclusion is that Christianity is a discriminatory […]
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On Criticism
Criticism of someone’s work is totally fair game, in public or private. Examples: I criticize weight loss methods. (Not news to many of you.) I enjoy the (many-years-running) deconstruction of the World’s Worst Books. It is also probably obvious that I have no problem with publishing and promoting one’s criticism, if you wish. Academics are […]
Living ~400lbs 