Reading

Think outside the box A friend in high state office told a large crowd at a party event over the weekend that this is the most important election of our lifetime. Yes, the last election was too. But really, we mean it this time. (I’m riffing here.) What’s infuriating about that hoary admonition is that it provokes Democrats into adopting a defensive posture when offense is required. Time and again, Democrats play defense. Their idea of finding a new gear is doing the same thing they’ve always done, the way they’ve always done it, just more of it. When it’s the most important election of your lifetime you don’t take chances, don’t experiment. Also, you don’t change, don’t grow. Worried about taking risks? That’s a huge one. “Most important election of our lifetime” makes me grind my teeth almost as much as “voting against their best interests” and the jokey “vote early, vote often.” For Democrats of a certain age, they are unfortunate verbal tics. Democrats may be the party of the left, but thinking outside the box is often in short supply.

When I went vegan, the single hardest delicacy to give up was my daily sausage wrapped in a pancake and eaten on a popsicle stick. Breakfasts were a challenge for years—what did people eat, I wondered, if not this? Imagine my delight when the fine folks at Morningstar Farms ended my years of sorrow with their latest meat-adjacent product.

But like any holy grail, this food wasn’t an easy conquest.

The first trial was making sense of “Incogmeato.” Its logo looked like a mustachioed man with wings for hind legs and a Santa hat perched atop his rear end. Or maybe a bumblebee/angel hybrid facing backward and sleeping. What either of these visuals had to do with vegan meat, I knew not. But I wasn’t about to let that deter me.

Republican voters come to the light To no one’s surprise, Donald “91 Counts” Trump handily defeated Gov. Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday. The surprise was results were closer than a late poll showing Trump polling ahead of Haley by 18 points among likely voters. The final spread was 11 points. But the Washington Post-Monmouth University poll was taken before Florida Gov, Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race. Haley may have picked up votes there. “Undeclared” voters are allowed to vote in the Republican primary. Exit polls suggest tepid support for Haley. Aaron Blake notes, “Nearly 3 in 10 expressed some reservations about her, and 4 in 10 said their vote was mostly about dislike for the other candidates — or, more aptly, candidate.” Trump. It is significant “that so many voters who felt so meh about Haley turned out to register what amounted to protest votes.” Watch that space this November. Trump has been a net plus in elections for Democrats ever since he took office. Even in 2022 when he had left office after fomenting a violent insurrection.

A children’s home funded by billionaire West Ham United Chairman David Sullivan, and run by his glamour model partner Ampika Pickston, is operating again after Ofsted inspectors heavily criticised its care – leading to a fierce attack on the watchdog by the reality TV star

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: WWE/Netflix, Dwayne Johnson, Squid Game, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Trek: Discovery, Doctor Who & more!

For most mainstream economists a model is just a model and there are many models. Norms only enter into the picture in terms of clearly stated and testable components of models and models provide a means to explore the scope of theory. In principle, policy advocacy is supported by model findings and as such mainstream […]

After failing to secure a single council seat for any of its candidates looking to take over control of the National Trust Board, Byline Times reports on recent changes at the Restore Trust - and a swell in company finances.

At age 38, Janikka Perry died of a heart attack at work, on her bakery shift at Walmart in North Little Rock, Arkansas, but you will not find her … A Death at Walmart

The post A Death at Walmart appeared first on Zeldman on Web and Interaction Design.

On this week’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota speaks with Michigan senate candidate Hill Harper about how the state could swing the presidential election.

A year in the making, the elaborate, wearable artworks of the Black Masking Indians are a unique New Orleans tradition

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

U.S. airstrikes hit Sana’a and other cities in Yemen as the Biden administration seeks to suppress backlash to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

The post Biden’s War Expands From Gaza to Yemen appeared first on The Intercept.

You might understandably feel trapped and powerless, but there is a range of steps you can take to improve your situation

- by Pat Ferris

Read at Psyche

While tech bosses and the PM concentrate on what could happen decades from now, artificial intelligence is already shaping our politics.

Keeping consumption stable across time and buying 'indivisible' goods like houses are two common rationales economic theory offers for household borrowing.

After the planes resumed flying in 2020, documents show operators reported hundreds of safety problems to federal regulators.

Nathan O'Hagan explores the notable shift away from a culture of excess drinking among today's younger generations

Farmers’ protests are being embraced by the far right. The precedents are chilling. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 19th January 2024 When environmental activists calling for less pollution sit in the streets, across Europe they are now abused and attacked, arrested and handed extreme and draconian sentences. When farmers contesting pollution rules block […]