seats in House of Representatives & will likely retain control of Senate. So Biden may choose to use Executive Orders to roll back reimplement some of the 2nd Term Obama EOs which Trump reversed. But Biden won't be able, even if he wanted to do much to challenge oligarchy or
facing a Trump 2.0, possibly one without the baggage of being an open racist, demonstrated confidence artist & sexual predator. What if @GOP finds somebody with the ability to connect to its base like Trump, the malice of Stephen Miller, the pathological lack of morals like
Pence & the apparently rational demeanor of Mitt Romney? Such a candidate would crush the next Bill Clinton/Obama/Hillary Clinton/Biden-like candidate the Democratic National Committee foists up on us.
And I forgot to mention the pandemic. Does anybody believe Trump would have
lost had their not been #COVID19 & resulting recession?
The #Elections are not a repudiation of #fascism or #Trumpism. They are a rejection of incompetent, grossly corrupt, buffoonish fascism. #USA voters are very likely to vote for a more polished version.
Herbert Hoover's promise to keep #USA out of #WW1 likely won him 1916 presidential election. 1 year later, he broke that promise. Activists for women's suffrage opposed him & his Democratic Party because of their failure to support women's suffrage. Will Trump's disingenuous
references to being a peace president, especially due to the complete silence Biden & today's @TheDemocrats practice on the issue of #endlesswar, also enable a Trump victory? Why are Biden & Dems silent on war? Is it because Biden voted for #Iraq War &, as VP, witnessed the
expansion of the global assassination program via drones & special forces? Is it because the DNC supported HRC in 2016, who voted for #Iraq war & pushed military intervention in #Libya? Is it because Obama, the most popular of these centrist democrats, increased the deployment of
After watching "Planet of the Humans" @PlanetHumansDoc, I got "Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism" (2012) by @OzzieZehner. I've finished the first 2 chapters, which claim that both solar cells & wind turbines are inadequate
replacements to fossil fuels. Having been around Sierra Club types most of my adult life, I had always assumed that these technologies could replace fossil fuels & we could more or less maintain our current level of consumption. Zehner's book & the movie are critical of this view
I haven't gotten far enough into the book, but I think a key concept Zehner is attacking is "productivism." Our consumption is a function of energy we produce. Because we're so committed to consumption, we view our energy policy as a production issue.
Every 4 years we scour the land
to find the most sure, safest guiding hand
No expense is spared, the wise sit in council
All views are entertained, if they find a sponsor
Two factions emerged, each with a champion
Other parties were told to shut up & listen
The criers and heralds on every corner
regaled the people with tales of their man's valor
"He killed those savages in a foreign war,
he made Christians ashamed of Christmas no more"
"He politely served and loyally did support
his boss, the first Black leader we did appoint."
The @rolandgarros#FrenchOpen2020#tennis on the men's side is as open as it has been in many years. So many variables have changed. Will this be the year that the King of Clay, @RafaelNadal, is dethroned?
The changes: 1) Change in season from late May to late September. Average temperatures for May & Sep are comparable, but this is the first time that the weather should become colder as the tournament progresses (final is Oct 4) rather than warmer. Cooler temps = less ball bounce
2) Playing at night
Many courts now have artificial lighting. Will Rafa be scheduled for high profile night matches when temperatures will be cooler? Imagine him playing @StefTsitsipas or @ThiemDomi where his ball isn't jumping up on them.
People who claim that #RankedChoiceVoting is too confusing to implement don't seem to care that in many complicated transactions of everyday life, individuals are pitted against corporations & the governments they own.
The elderly have to navigate "Medicare Advantage" plans.
Renters have to navigate contracts with landlords.
Pension fund managers of unions & municipalities are hearing pitches from hedge fund managers.
You are shopping in the grocery store & the only info, for the most part, you have on the products is companies advertising.
You buy a house & it turns out that environmental changes elsewhere are going 2 eventually cause your property to be in a flood plain.
You are supposed to figure out which health insurance plan best meets the medicines you need.
Noteworthy in @cdcrabtree@JohnHolbein1 study of public school principals' reluctance to respond to atheist & Muslim parents' inquiries is that, at the identification only level of the e-mail the researchers sent, the principals used names which weren't identifiably Muslim.
Would the discrimination have been more intense if the parents' & children's names were more identifiably Muslim, such as Mustafa, Khadija, Muhammad and Aisha?
BTW, I've never known Muslim parents to name a daughter Rebekeh (or a variant thereof.) Isaac & Jonah are possible as
Arabic names, but the languages most Muslims speak render these names differently, although many parents anglicize the names when dealing with people they assume are from the majority Anglo community.