I remember coat hangers

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Bill McKibben is the founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and democracy. In the latest issue (subscription required) of Rolling Stone he wonders “Will a Silver Wave Help Elect Kamala Harris?”

“Eighty-six percent of older Americans think abortion should be legal at least under certain circumstances — in part because we’re old enough to remember coat hangers.”

I immediately got the reference but started wondering if younger folks do not remember the wire coat hanger. Are they all plastic these days? (Yes, I stopped going to the dry cleaners when I retired) ChatGPT provides some history: Continue reading →

Dave Winer’s blogroll

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I recently discovered I was on Dave Winer’s blogroll. If you don’t know who Dave Winer is and why he is/was important to blogging, you can wait in the car and I’ll be out in a minute. Today I noticed what I believe is a new feature of that blogroll. The blogs are ordered by most recent updates. 

PS: Those fortunate enough to be included are too smart to try and game this by throwing up junk.

Books as props

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Using a bookshelf as a background for your home video setup is almost de rigueur these days. Most of them look… staged? … to me. Every book facing the same way. Titles that demonstrate erudition. Always makes me wonder if the person read these books or are they simply props. I think political commentator Bill Kristol has read the books in his shelf.

If you read a lot, you invariably run out of shelf space and you wind up jamming books and journals wherever they’ll fit.

Can I vote?

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Dr. Werner Klopek posted the following: 

“I’m a registered Democrat in Texas. After seeing several other posts, I checked my registration. I’m “suspended.” It says I can still vote if I update my information (it’s already correct) but this has never happened in my 20 years of voting in Texas. Check your registration.”

Authentic. Real. Not weird.

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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his daughter Hope at the Minnesota State Fair.

Don’t know who produced this. Don’t know if it was the Harris-Walz campaign (doesn’t look like it to me). What I do know is it didn’t come across as a slick political ad. Whoever is doing the social media stuff for the campaign knows what they’re doing. But this really works because these are two, real, normal people…not mouthing talking points (and looking creepy). NO talking points. Just father and daughter at the state fair.

Now, let’s take a look at how legacy media (WRAL TV in Raleigh, North Carolina) covered Governor Walz and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper when they stopped by Cook Out for milkshakes.

Compare that with the same “event” as it appeared on Tim Walz’ YouTube channel. See how WRAL sucked all the life, all the humanity out of the moment. Why would you ever talk to a local reporter when someone with an iPhone can do this so much better.

Let’s step outside

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I’m old enough to remember a time when political discourse at least pretended to be civil.

“The gentleman from West Virginia apparently believes his constituents prefer not having clean water or affordable health care.”

Those days are long gone and it’s common to hear a member of congress insult —often using vile language— another member or that person’s family. Nothing is off-limits. Since we’ve come this far (down), let’s go one step further. Fistfights.

If you insult me or my wife or my children, I can invite you to join me in the parking lot and we settle or differences like adults. Okay, not adults. Like, high school kids. I seem to recall a long, proud tradition of duels in American politics. Are they really any less dignified than what we’re seeing today? And if the loud-mouth declines to “step outside,” we wait for him/her in the parking lot.

Nobody is a racist

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In my 76 years I have never met anyone who admitted to being racist/bigoted. Not once. Are these concepts totally “in the eye of the beholder” I wondered. I asked ChatGPT if she (I don’t like *it*) has the ability to recognize bigotry or racism? In a video or written essay, for example? Her response was TLDR by today’s standards. About 5 pages of double-space. Once again, it was a conversation I can’t imagine having with a human.

“Perhaps he’ll run as a Republican…”

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During my 30 years working in broadcasting (a term that seems quaint these days) I worked with some really good journalists. Bob Priddy, Kay Henderson, and Clyde Lear…just to name a few.

For most of that time the Iowa Caucuses kicked off the presidential election cycle and Kay Henderson was at ground zero, including covering the Iowa delegations at the national conventions. In 2000 she filed these audio reports. (As emails to friend and fellow journalist, if I remember correctly.) I found an interesting nugget from her July 29th report:

“Donald Trump is sending a bus to the hotel on Tuesday at 11 a.m. to take the Iowans to the boardwalk in Atlantic City. Does he know these people are Republicans — and they can get their fix in our own casinos? Perhaps he’ll run as a Republican in 2004 and is laying the groundwork.”

The Onion: Tips for Starting A Book Club

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With the loneliness epidemic impacting millions of Americans, book clubs offer a simple and structured way for readers of all ages to socialize. The Onion shares tips for starting your own book club.

  • Seek out fellow readers by blackmailing a librarian into giving up names.
  • Choose the day of the month that works best for everyone to cancel on.
  • Make sure you have a good mix of people who will keep the book discussion going and people you actually like.
  • Select one of three books not banned by your state.
  • Establish a rotation order for club members to take turns shooting down each other’s book suggestions.
  • Bookmark the Dictionary.com page for “glib” for easy future reference.
  • Challenge your club with a book written in an ancient, untranslatable language.
  • Establish independent election monitors to maintain legitimacy of the book selection process.
  • Spend five to six years seeking your doctorate in comparative literature so you can absolutely smoke your friends with your opinion on A Court Of Thorns And Roses.
  • Keep your meetings on topic by dressing in an intimidating leather outfit and occasionally cracking your knuckles.
  • Make sure that everyone is hitting their page goals by administering regular pop quizzes, a midterm, and a final.
  • Spread the hosting duties around so that, a few months from now, you can easily shed yourself of this albatross of a social commitment once and for all.

Drag queen helping conservatives with makeup

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Landon Reid describes himself as “Artist, Oddball, Dork, Decorator, Costume designer, reaching across the aisle to help conservatives re-create their favorite makeup looks.” (Can you say “niche”?)

As far as I know I am not personally acquainted with any drag queens. But based on what I’ve seen in films, TV and on YouTube, nobody does bitchy-snarky satire better.

While it’s unlikely Marjorie Taylor Green will ever see the video above, it was viewed 192,000 times in three weeks. Mr. Reid has also re-created the makeup look of Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Rudy Giuliani and many others. (Side note: he seems to be really good at doing makeup).