"In Mexico, celebrations for el Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, are already in full swing. The holiday, observed on Nov. 1 and 2, honors deceased ancestors. And food and drink are a big part of the festivities — they are ofrendas, or offerings, put on altars to entice deceased loved ones to come back for a visit." Food and ethnography, always fascinating.
"A federal judge has tentatively signed off on a $151 million settlement between residents of Charleston, W.Va., and two companies implicated in a 2014 chemical spill that poisoned drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people." Seems a bit on the low-ish side to me.
How the National Archives and Records Administration will handle President Obama's social media entries and how the transfer of those accounts will occur. (Grokked from Dan)
"Like battlefield survivors, marooned on what feels increasingly like enemy territory, (Britons in Belgium) are coming to terms with a new reality: As British influence recedes here, so, too, do their careers… They tell tales of colleagues going for coffee when they speak at meetings, or being cut out of email chains. One official said he was treated like a bereaved family member — people avoid you, he said, because they don’t know what to say." Don't worry, I hear there's going to be plenty of jobs in British plumbing once they get through Brexit.
A tweet storm on the myth of African slaves sold because their skin color would make them easy to spot and control. Or, yes, they had mad skills, not the least of which was farming knowledge (ie. they weren't just brut labor). (Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
The Hidden Brain podcast on the policy of Broken Windows and how it probably wasn't all it was cracked up to be. As stated by the people who wrote the initial paper that introduced the concept. Whelp, there goes another cherished idea.
"Over the last several months, as this horrifically horrendous horrifying election season has careened wildly out of control towards November like a burning prison bus slathered in raw sewage and filled beyond capacity with gleefully capering clowns frantically squirting their little seltzer bottles and honking their little horns with mad abandon unconcerned as they hurtle willy-nilly ever closer to the cliff edge, my inbox has grown increasingly frantic with panic and accusations and naked greased insanity dressed up like Napoleon decked out in a Hitler moustache and wearing giant pink bunny slippers and a propeller beanie." Just in case you ever wondered why I like Jim Wright, it's right there.
"A Donald Trump aide tweeted—then quickly deleted—a message Tuesday morning suggesting Pennsylvania voters could change their votes for Hillary Clinton into votes for Donald Trump by calling a number."
Why didn't I request an absentee ballot this year? "The last hope for a lawsuit brought by a coalition of Ohio voters experiencing homelessness died at the U.S. Supreme Court this week, leaving the state’s policy of throwing away provisional ballots with small errors in place for the 2016 election… Now, voters who forget to include their middle name or zip code, make a typo on their birth date, or sign their name in cursive in the “print name” box could have their ballot tossed." That was a big reason why. Plus, our Secretary of State, John Husted, is an asshole who has been doing his best to disenfranchise as many "democratic leaning" voters as possible. Also note where the rules are being applied loosely and strictly. (Grokked from Kelly Link)
Why the "jobs" won't come back. "Despite the Republican presidential nominee's charge that 'we don't make anything anymore,' manufacturing is still flourishing in America. Problem is, factories don't need as many people as they used to because machines now do so much of the work." And there's about to be another large wave of automation. While everyone was joking about welcoming our new robotic overlords, instead of taking the positions of power, they've been putting low-skill, low and middle-class workers out of a job. Also, note to my village's local government officials, Kennametal is specifically mentioned in the article (we have a production plant). "The Reshoring Initiative, a nonprofit that lobbies manufacturers to return jobs to the United States, says America was losing an average of 220,000 net jobs a year to other countries a decade ago. Now, the number being moved abroad is roughly offset by the number that are coming back or being created by foreign investment."
"'Okay, fine. Then take me literally. Why the hell would I advocate anybody to grab a musket? Nobody can find a musket anywhere,' (former Rep Joe) Walsh said. 'I challenge you to find a working musket. If you want to take me literally, that's idiotic. Nobody would charge Washington with a musket in the year 2016. It's a call to arms.'" Joe Walsh is a fucking moron, or he thinks the rest of us are. One, a "call to arms" when using a weapon is a call to violence. Secondly, I've fired 3 working muskets in my lifetime. I saw a re-enactor at Gettysburg who made me believe in the fact that a well trained rifleman could fire 3 to 6 rounds a minute using a muzzleloader (he was often done reloading before the second line could fire).
"Report: Ambush killings of two Iowa Police Officers linked to disagreement over Confederate Flag." I suspect this won't even make the evening news, then. After all, it's a white guy. Doesn't fit into the narrative. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Billionaire GOP donor Foster Friess said Christian voters who are 'really embracing their Christian values' aren't conflicted about voting for Trump, before explaining away Trump’s near-complete lack of remorse about otherwise offensive comments and actions." See, if you're "really embracing your Christian values" you don't give a shit if the asshole is a festering sore on humanity as long as they will appoint judges who will overturn Roe v Wade. It doesn't matter those same judges will treat corporations like real humans, ignore stare decisis, and basically trample your rights (except for guns), because that's what Jesus would do. I'm sure the fact that he's promoting someone who will give him major tax cuts has nothing to do with it.
"We're going to be bringing you more on this through the day. But I wanted to give you a heads up. There were a number of legal developments overnight (meaning court filings and judge's orders) about Republican poll watching and (purportedly) voter intimidation tactics in a few different parts of the country." Get ready, the only major way to refute these is to set the spin cycle to Earth orbit altering levels. (Grokked from Dan)
More about the Nevada RNC poll watchers. And then "A federal judge Tuesday ordered representatives from the Donald Trump campaign and the Nevada Republican Party to appear at a hearing in his courtroom Wednesday afternoon in a lawsuit filed by Nevada Democrats accusing them of the engaging in voter intimidation tactics."
Why do I say the Trumpster is a Nazi and a racist? "Neo-Nazi leader Andrew Anglin plans to muster thousands of poll-watchers across all 50 states. His partners at the alt-right website 'the Right Stuff' are touting plans to set up hidden cameras at polling places in Philadelphia and hand out liquor and marijuana in the city’s 'ghetto' on Election Day to induce residents to stay home. The National Socialist Movement, various factions of the Ku Klux Klan and the white nationalist American Freedom Party all are deploying members to watch polls, either 'informally' or, they say, through the Trump campaign." Because actual fucking Nazi's and avowed white supremacists say he is and are supporting him because his agenda is their agenda. Also, "The Oath Keepers, a group of former law enforcement and military members that often shows up in public heavily armed, is advising members to go undercover and conduct 'intelligence-gathering' at polling places, and Donald Trump ally Roger Stone is organizing his own exit polling, aiming to monitor thousands of precincts across the country." The company you keep, fellas. (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
When I say, "The Republican's not only have no idea how to govern, they have no interest in learning" this is what I mean. "Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the Senate majority whip, wouldn't say Tuesday if Republicans would permanently block Hillary Clinton's Supreme Court nominees if she were elected president, as some GOP senators have been promising on the campaign trail." The majority whip, the person responsible for counting the votes and wrangling people to vote certain ways on work before the Senate won't say he will do his Constitutionally mandated fucking job. "Election Day is still a week away, but Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) already has his eye on the possible impeachment of a president Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server." Because why do any real work when you can give your conservative lawyer friends lots of money to pursue a witch hunt, wastes our time and taxes, and stalls any actual work to help Americans from being done. And let's threaten it with 1) we're down in the polls to rally our base and 2) before people are actually elected and 3) go against all the lawyers in the DoJ who say, "there isn't a case here."
In a demonstration of those world renowned deal making skills, "The Donald Trump campaign on Tuesday said that they are not refusing to pay pollster Tony Fabrizio for his services, but that the campaign is questioning the size of payment owed to the pollster's firm." The time to negotiate is BEFORE work is done, not after. And I'm sure it has nothing to do with, "Several reports have suggested that Trump and members of his team were not entirely happy with Fabrizio and his warnings that Trump's campaign trail attacks hurt him in the polls." If you can't kill the messenger, you can at least stiff them the tip.
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