Reading

Created
Thu, 10/08/2023 - 03:30
Tim Miller hit the road in Iowa and has some interesting observations: Convention Madness As I was crisscrossing Iowa following the third indictment of Donald Trump, I caught wind of a fresh perspective regarding the right time to winnow the field. The conventional wisdom has always been that Trump’s opponents need to consolidate around the strongest challenger as quickly as possible to avoid dividing the opposition votes. Mitt Romney argued that the drop-dead date should be February 26, in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. (My view: Even that might be too late.) But now at least one of Trump’s opponents is wondering if the frontrunner’s legal troubles could change the calculus and require candidates to stay in for the long haul in order to try and amass delegates in case there is a convention battle because the former president is . . . otherwise indisposed.
Created
Thu, 10/08/2023 - 03:00

Find a time to sit down and plan out the week ahead. Start by copying all your Google Calendar meetings into your notebook. Cross them out as meetings get rescheduled or canceled, so that by Friday your agenda looks like Picasso’s Guernica. Having a constantly outdated physical copy of your schedule will give you visual clarity on how you’re spending your time, so you can get your life organized and under control.

A good planner motivates you with a few words of wisdom. But what if your planner doesn’t come with pre-printed inspirational sayings? In that case, you’ll want to spend a few hours browsing Etsy until you find a shop selling handmade vellum planner inserts embossed with quotes from famous dead people. Order a variety of sayings taken out of context from celebrities with different outlooks on life, like Karl Marx and Ayn Rand. You never know which dystopian vision of the existential conflict between billionaires and the working class will inspire you on any given day.

Created
Thu, 10/08/2023 - 00:30
It’s a doozy The December 6 “Fraudulent Elector Memo” written by attorney Kenneth Chesebro (Co-Conspirator 5) first appears in Para. 54 of the Jan. 6 indictment of Donald Trump. But the outline for the fraudulent electors scheme was not available for reading until The New York Times obtained and released it Tuesday evening. It’s a doozy, and one the Jan. 6 Committee did not uncover: “I recognize that what I suggest is a bold, controversial strategy, and that there are many reasons why it might not end up being executed on Jan. 6,” Mr. Chesebro wrote. “But as long as it is one possible option, to preserve it as a possibility it is important that the Trump-Pence electors cast their electoral votes on Dec. 14.” Three days later, Mr. Chesebro drew up specific instructions to create fraudulent electors in multiple states — in another memo whose existence, along with the one in November, was first reported by The Times last year. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot also cited them in its December report, but it apparently did not learn of the Dec. 6 memo. “I believe that what can be achieved on Jan.
Created
Thu, 10/08/2023 - 00:18
Om den värld jag tillhör har jag inte något hopp. Undergången är inbyggd i systemet, ty vart varningsrop blir strax förlöjligat och därmed oskadliggjort. Trots det lever jag utan förtvivlan. Det tillhör den enskildes villkor att leva vid katastrofens rand. Vägen fram till döden ter sig lika lång, var man än befinner sig i livet. […]
Created
Wed, 09/08/2023 - 23:08

Hi Steve.

Hope the air where you are is somewhat breathable today! Just wanted to circle back around on that report.

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Dear Judy,

I hope this finds you without a collapsed power grid. :(

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Jim,

What a toxic spill, huh? Bigger than the last three! Anyway, wondering if you’re free for dinner Tuesday?

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Trish!

Hope you had a great vacay and that all of that neo-Nazi hoopla didn’t put too much of a damper on things at the waterpark.

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Hi there, Tom.

I know the floodwaters are getting higher, and you’re preparing to evacuate, but wondering if you had a chance to look over my résumé?

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To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing for an update regarding my coffee table delivery, assuming you were able to source wood from somewhere on the planet. Please respond when you have a moment.

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Greetings!

Created
Wed, 09/08/2023 - 23:00
“GOP’s scam referendum” defeated The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and Courts, not to overthrow, the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. — Abraham Lincoln One might infer from recent events that the erstwhile Party of Lincoln has not only undertaken to pervert the Constitution but Lincoln himself. Actions in GOP-controlled state legislatures as well as election conspiracies that spawned state and federal investigations and indictments suggest Republicans believe what Lincoln really meant to preserve was government of CERTAIN people, by CERTAIN people, and for CERTAIN people. Ohio’s rightful masters on Tuesday demonstrated they are not content with being fleeced of their voice and their agency (Washington Post): Ohio voters rejected a measure Tuesday that would have made it more difficult to amend the state constitution ahead of a November vote to ensure access to abortion. For more than a century, Ohioans have been able to amend the state constitution with a simple majority. The failed measure would have changed that threshold to 60 percent.
Created
Wed, 09/08/2023 - 19:48

In Life on Air: A History of Radio 4, the former BBC reporter and producer David Hendy describes the attempts of ex-BBC reporter and producer Geoffrey Bridson to pitch a set of documentaries to the Home Service (the forerunner to Radio 4). Hendy says Bridson offered his bosses a ‘series of trenchant documentaries’ to do […]

Created
Wed, 09/08/2023 - 18:06
Late July, The Wall Street Journal published five short pieces under the title, “Have We Ruined Sex?” Among the five pieces was one by Mary Harrington. In her contribution she argues that the sexual revolution has mainly benefitted the “entrepreneurial class.” Since this appeared not in The Nation but WSJ, I was amused, so I decided to read her (2023) Feminism […]