Next Draft - Don't Count Your Chickens
Chances are that, like David Sedaris, you're perplexed by those unsure who to vote for in 2024. Here's how he describes the undecided voter: "To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of sh-t with bits of broken glass in it?' To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked." Maybe the method of chicken preparation is a determining factor for some, but political operatives from the two campaigns are a lot less focused on the dwindling (and yes, perplexing) number of those who are undecided between Trump and Harris and more focused on the bigger prize: Winning over those who are undecided about voting at all. Ron Brownstein explains in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Undecided Voters Are Not Who You Think They Are. "Persuadable voters get the most attention from the media, but campaigns recognize that irregular voters can loom much larger in the outcome—especially in presidential elections when more of them ultimately participate." These aren't the voters the media tends to focus on. They're not the ones we see interviewed in small town diners. They might not even have decided whether they want to go to the diner in the first place. (If they do, I'd recommend the chicken.) 2Manhattan TransferIf you know an FBI agent in NYC, try to be as supportive as possible. Chances are they've been extremely overworked lately. Well, specifically the FBI units focused on NYC Mayor Eric Adams and his administration. (Probably known around the office as The Adams Crime Family.) Those investigations have gone to the top as "New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on five federal charges related to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals." Adams insists he did nothing wrong and won't resign. I imagine pressure might alter that stance, and in New York, the governor can remove a mayor from office when criminal charges are brought. Gothamist: What happens if Mayor Adams resigns – or refuses to leave City Hall? 3Ready, Willing, and Enabled"Like many of the women who say they were assaulted while working for the luxury department store, she recalls the doctors who carried out intimate medical examinations on staff. Others describe the personal assistants who summoned them to Fayed and the security guards who protected the apartment where he carried out many of the attacks. 'There was a whole system to facilitate this,' says Dean Armstrong KC, one of the barristers representing some of the alleged victims." Harrods' Mohamed Al Fayed is accused of being serial sexual predator. Like other high profile monsters, he couldn't have done it alone. BBC: How Fayed built a corrupt system of enablers to carry out his sexual abuse. 4The Ring of Firefights"The immediate trigger and goal of the war was a Hamas-Iranian interest to scuttle the Biden team’s diplomatic initiative to forge Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia into a ring of peace. The Iranian-Hamas counterstrategy was to ignite a ring of fire around Israel, using Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq and West Bank militants armed by Iran with weapons smuggled through Jordan. The Iranian strategy is exquisite from Tehran’s point of view: Destroy Israel by sacrificing as many Palestinians and Lebanese as necessary but never risk a single Iranian life. The Iranians are ready to die to the last Lebanese, the last Palestinian, the last Syrian and the last Yemeni to eliminate Israel (and distract the world from the Iranian regime’s abuses of its own people and imperialist control over Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria)." The question is not really whether Iran (and its backers) are responsible for the chaos in the Middle East. The question is how Israel should respond. "The problem for Israelis and the Jewish people is that while the Netanyahu government was right in its diagnosis that this was a war of annihilation, it refused to conduct it in the only way that could hope to bring success." Tom Friedman in the NYT (Gift Article): Why Everything Is Suddenly Spiraling for Israel. One could argue that things are spiraling for Hamas and Hezbollah (and even Iran) as well. They're certainly spiraling for Hezbollah's leadership. But they're also spiraling for innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. Here's the latest from BBC. 5Extra, ExtraHelene: The eye of Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall Thursday night. The storm is both strong an extremely large. Here's the latest from CNN. 6Bottom of the NewsEverything is political. Even dessert. A Pennsylvania bakery known for its election cookie poll is swamped with orders. (If I lived in a swing state and had to put up with the nonstop ads, I'd probably need to eat about hundred of these a day to cope...) Read my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store. |
Older messages
Catching Some Rays
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Solar Farms, Remembering Compuserve ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Beautiful Loser
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Even the losers get lucky sometimes... ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Well, Isn't That Spatial
Monday, September 23, 2024
Searching for Life, A Losing Bet ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
American Basket Case
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
The Gullibles, Israel Strikes Again ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
A Bird of Passage
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
When Vultures Don't Circle, Exploding Pagers ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
You Might Also Like
Good Egghead
Monday, November 25, 2024
More great reading is a mouse click away Good Egghead By Caroline Crampton • 25 Nov 2024 View in browser View in browser How To Give A Good Speech Tim Harford | 21st November 2024 | U There is no one
👾 Meet the Queen of PlayStation
Monday, November 25, 2024
Plus: The best spy thriller of the year might be too good for us. Inverse Daily Shawne Benson is responsible for finding all your favorite indies — and more. Ariela Basson/Inverse; Courtesy of Shawne
How Friendsgiving became America's favorite made-up holiday
Monday, November 25, 2024
Plus: The real story behind FX's "Say Nothing," the horrifying effects of air pollution in South Asia, and more. November 25, 2024 View in browser Some of you may have received
Opioid-free surgery requires rethinking pain
Monday, November 25, 2024
+ Pilgrims, Puritans and the first Thanksgiving
Open Thread 357
Monday, November 25, 2024
... ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Trump Completes Cabinet, Holiday Scam Alert, and Foxes Frolic
Monday, November 25, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump completed his cabinet selections on Saturday, nominating former White House aide Brooke Rollins as agriculture secretary. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
☕ Testing, testing
Monday, November 25, 2024
ChatGPT's new search vs. Google. November 25, 2024 Tech Brew Presented By JobsOhio It's Monday. We're sure you're busy prepping for Thanksgiving, whether it's packing or cooking or
My DOGE Job Application For Elon Musk
Monday, November 25, 2024
David Sirota has a plan for Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy's government efficiency department. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy are looking for people to help with their
Florida: A Swing State No Longer
Monday, November 25, 2024
Donald Trump won Florida by a historic 13-point margin, due to both his success at connecting with Latine voters and Democrats' failure to turnout their base. Florida: A Swing State No Longer By
Numlock News: November 25, 2024 • Teff, Tulips, TSA
Monday, November 25, 2024
By Walt Hickey ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏