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Celerity
Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
September 21, 2023
A low-slung roof with deep eaves shelters Merricks Farmhouse, a concrete-block home in Australia designed by South African studio Michael Lumby Architecture with Brisbane practice Nielsen Jenkins. Overlooking vineyards and the sea on the Mornington Peninsula in southeast Melbourne, the dwelling references local farmhouses and is designed by Michael Lumby Architecture and Nielsen Jenkins as a "refuge" in its exposed coastal setting.
"As an outsider, I found myself being intrigued by the typical Australian farmhouse and perhaps in a naive way began to romanticise it with its low-slung roof, wrap-around porch and deep eaves," explained architect Michael Lumby. "With its siting on a prominent hilltop with no other buildings around, we were interested in how we could abstract this characteristic, distilling the notion of the Australian farmhouse into one idea – a line of shadow in the landscape," he added.
Merricks Farmhouse comprises a large open-plan living room and six bedrooms, which centre around a courtyard. The home is formed of exposed concrete blockwork, chosen by the studios to help reduce cost and retain focus on the landscape. "We used standard concrete construction blockwork to reduce cost and negate the need for extra finishing trades – materials generally were chosen to reduce maintenance and recede from the view both internally and externally," said Nielsen Jenkins co-founder Lachlan Nielsen. "As in a typical Australian farmhouse, the roof is visible and appears to float over the shadows below, but the walls it sits on will recede further and further as the landscape takes over."
Tucked behind a walled entry court, a gravel path leads to the lush green courtyard at the centre of Merricks Farmhouse, which the team conceived as the most important "room". Rather than wrapping this courtyard with a single volume, the architects split the home into a series of blocks separated by small gardens, allowing glimpses through to the surroundings while maintaining a sense of privacy.
snip
Low-slung roof shelters blockwork home on Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne, Australia
https://www.dezeen.com/2023/09/13/merricks-farmhouse-michael-lumby-nielsen-jenkins/A low-slung roof with deep eaves shelters Merricks Farmhouse, a concrete-block home in Australia designed by South African studio Michael Lumby Architecture with Brisbane practice Nielsen Jenkins. Overlooking vineyards and the sea on the Mornington Peninsula in southeast Melbourne, the dwelling references local farmhouses and is designed by Michael Lumby Architecture and Nielsen Jenkins as a "refuge" in its exposed coastal setting.
"As an outsider, I found myself being intrigued by the typical Australian farmhouse and perhaps in a naive way began to romanticise it with its low-slung roof, wrap-around porch and deep eaves," explained architect Michael Lumby. "With its siting on a prominent hilltop with no other buildings around, we were interested in how we could abstract this characteristic, distilling the notion of the Australian farmhouse into one idea – a line of shadow in the landscape," he added.
Merricks Farmhouse comprises a large open-plan living room and six bedrooms, which centre around a courtyard. The home is formed of exposed concrete blockwork, chosen by the studios to help reduce cost and retain focus on the landscape. "We used standard concrete construction blockwork to reduce cost and negate the need for extra finishing trades – materials generally were chosen to reduce maintenance and recede from the view both internally and externally," said Nielsen Jenkins co-founder Lachlan Nielsen. "As in a typical Australian farmhouse, the roof is visible and appears to float over the shadows below, but the walls it sits on will recede further and further as the landscape takes over."
Tucked behind a walled entry court, a gravel path leads to the lush green courtyard at the centre of Merricks Farmhouse, which the team conceived as the most important "room". Rather than wrapping this courtyard with a single volume, the architects split the home into a series of blocks separated by small gardens, allowing glimpses through to the surroundings while maintaining a sense of privacy.
snip
September 21, 2023
Mork-Ulnes Architects has completed the Silver Lining House, a crisp, gabled home clad in black-stained cedar that was designed for an architectural photographer and interior designer. Located on a sloped site in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighbourhood, the house sits among Victorian and Edwardian homes that line the area's hilly streets.
The project was designed for architectural photographer Bruce Damonte and interior designer Alison Damonte, who have long been friends with architect Casper Mork-Ulnes, founder of Mork-Ulnes Architects. The couple, who are avid collectors, desired a home that showcased their treasured belongings and supported their creative work.
"We knew from the outset that this project would be an interesting collaboration, balancing our reductive tendencies with the more exuberant and maximalist impulses of our client/friends, whose style we had always admired and wanted to celebrate," said Casper Mork-Ulnes. The architect and his team at Mork-Ulnes Architects – which has offices in San Francisco and Oslo – conceived a home for the Damontes that "conceptually functions as a container for their furniture and art collections and a laboratory for their work".
Rectangular in plan, the home rises three levels and features a crisp, gabled form. Facades are clad in strips of black-stained cedar and are punctured with openings of varying sizes. The architects took cues from the surrounding context when deciding on key design elements such as scale, massing and cladding – but they also strayed from the norm.
snip
Mork-Ulnes creates black San Francisco house to be "laboratory" for creative work
https://www.dezeen.com/2023/09/19/mork-ulnes-black-house-san-francisco/Mork-Ulnes Architects has completed the Silver Lining House, a crisp, gabled home clad in black-stained cedar that was designed for an architectural photographer and interior designer. Located on a sloped site in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighbourhood, the house sits among Victorian and Edwardian homes that line the area's hilly streets.
The project was designed for architectural photographer Bruce Damonte and interior designer Alison Damonte, who have long been friends with architect Casper Mork-Ulnes, founder of Mork-Ulnes Architects. The couple, who are avid collectors, desired a home that showcased their treasured belongings and supported their creative work.
"We knew from the outset that this project would be an interesting collaboration, balancing our reductive tendencies with the more exuberant and maximalist impulses of our client/friends, whose style we had always admired and wanted to celebrate," said Casper Mork-Ulnes. The architect and his team at Mork-Ulnes Architects – which has offices in San Francisco and Oslo – conceived a home for the Damontes that "conceptually functions as a container for their furniture and art collections and a laboratory for their work".
Rectangular in plan, the home rises three levels and features a crisp, gabled form. Facades are clad in strips of black-stained cedar and are punctured with openings of varying sizes. The architects took cues from the surrounding context when deciding on key design elements such as scale, massing and cladding – but they also strayed from the norm.
snip
September 20, 2023
Label: Wichita – WEBB151T
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Single, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 17 Sept 2007
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Breakbeat, Lo-Fi, Electro
Label: Wichita – WEBB107T, Cooperative Music – WEBB107T
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: Aug 2006
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Electro, Tech House, Indie Rock, Disco
Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks 12-inch remixes (2006 and 2007)
Young Folks (Phones Problem Child Mix)
https://soundcloud.com/peterbjornjohn/young-folks-phones-problem
https://soundcloud.com/peterbjornjohn/young-folks-phones-problem
Label: Wichita – WEBB151T
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Single, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 17 Sept 2007
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Breakbeat, Lo-Fi, Electro
Label: Wichita – WEBB107T, Cooperative Music – WEBB107T
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: Aug 2006
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Electro, Tech House, Indie Rock, Disco
September 20, 2023
Pandemic unemployment programs are significantly underreported, giving a misimpression about their effectiveness.
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-09-20-what-census-poverty-estimates-may-miss/
Last week, the Census Bureau released new data showing that poverty spiked in 2022 following the expiration of prominent pandemic programs. The supplemental poverty rate—a measure that integrates taxes paid, cash and in-kind benefits received, and basic costs like medical expenses—rose from a record low of 7.8 percent in the prior year up to 12.4 percent. All the progress made in reducing poverty over the previous several years was officially confirmed undone.
In particular, the increase in child poverty due to the expired 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion drove media reports, leading to strong responses from lawmakers. Members of Congress and the Biden administration correctly identified the need to make the CTC fully refundable again (i.e., guarantee the full credit amount to children regardless of their household income level). But missing from the conversation, notably, was just how effective the pandemic unemployment benefit programs were at preventing poverty.
For much of 2021, unemployment insurance (UI) benefit eligibility was expanded to more adequately cover gig workers, self-employed individuals, and those refusing hazardous work conditions. Claimants also saw their weekly benefit sizes topped up by an additional $300, down from a $600 boost in 2020 at the height of the pandemic but still significant (and much more than the expanded CTC). Well over ten million claimants received these benefits in 2021. One might expect the expanded UI in 2021 to have a greater impact on poverty than the expanded CTC, given that several hundred billion dollars in UI benefits were distributed to workers who would have otherwise seen dramatic drops in their income.
But the Census numbers show that the pandemic unemployment insurance benefits produced a smaller reduction in poverty. The Census Bureau found that stimulus payments and the expanded CTC prevented 8.9 million and 5.3 million people, respectively, from falling into poverty in 2021. Unemployment insurance, in contrast, kept only 2.3 million people out of poverty, under half of the CTC’s determined impact. These Census estimates may understate the full effect of unemployment insurance. The reason is technical: The Census Bureau may be undercounting the pandemic benefits sent to Americans.
snip
What Census Poverty Estimates May Miss
Pandemic unemployment programs are significantly underreported, giving a misimpression about their effectiveness.
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-09-20-what-census-poverty-estimates-may-miss/
Last week, the Census Bureau released new data showing that poverty spiked in 2022 following the expiration of prominent pandemic programs. The supplemental poverty rate—a measure that integrates taxes paid, cash and in-kind benefits received, and basic costs like medical expenses—rose from a record low of 7.8 percent in the prior year up to 12.4 percent. All the progress made in reducing poverty over the previous several years was officially confirmed undone.
In particular, the increase in child poverty due to the expired 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion drove media reports, leading to strong responses from lawmakers. Members of Congress and the Biden administration correctly identified the need to make the CTC fully refundable again (i.e., guarantee the full credit amount to children regardless of their household income level). But missing from the conversation, notably, was just how effective the pandemic unemployment benefit programs were at preventing poverty.
For much of 2021, unemployment insurance (UI) benefit eligibility was expanded to more adequately cover gig workers, self-employed individuals, and those refusing hazardous work conditions. Claimants also saw their weekly benefit sizes topped up by an additional $300, down from a $600 boost in 2020 at the height of the pandemic but still significant (and much more than the expanded CTC). Well over ten million claimants received these benefits in 2021. One might expect the expanded UI in 2021 to have a greater impact on poverty than the expanded CTC, given that several hundred billion dollars in UI benefits were distributed to workers who would have otherwise seen dramatic drops in their income.
But the Census numbers show that the pandemic unemployment insurance benefits produced a smaller reduction in poverty. The Census Bureau found that stimulus payments and the expanded CTC prevented 8.9 million and 5.3 million people, respectively, from falling into poverty in 2021. Unemployment insurance, in contrast, kept only 2.3 million people out of poverty, under half of the CTC’s determined impact. These Census estimates may understate the full effect of unemployment insurance. The reason is technical: The Census Bureau may be undercounting the pandemic benefits sent to Americans.
snip
September 20, 2023
The only way the UAW’s strategy of rejecting voluntary overtime can work is if Ford, GM, and Stellantis lack enough workers to make cars.
https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-20-big-threes-labor-shortages-uaw/
We’re five days into the United Auto Workers strike of Ford, GM, and Stellantis, and two days from a second round. UAW president Shawn Fain has announced that workers at more plants will “stand up” and walk out if substantial progress is not made in negotiations by noon on Friday. But workers who are still on the job have found their own way to put pressure on the Big Three, by exploiting their long-standing worker shortages. Labor Notes reports on autoworkers’ strategy of “Eight and Skate,” which means working their shifts and then refusing voluntary overtime, which is routinely offered by the Big Three. Working your shift and then leaving work (in other words, doing exactly what it is you were hired to do) shouldn’t really be debilitating to the employer. In this case, it is.
The reason is understaffing: There are simply not enough workers at many auto plants to meet production goals. As a result, the companies turn to existing workers, paying them time and a half, or even double and triple time, to stay on the job. Management at some facilities consistently asks workers to work through their breaks or even lunch. By only working eight hours a day, then, autoworkers can reduce output at the plants. It comes at a cost to these employees, but it’s their way to contribute to the labor effort. And it’s been successful in shutting down some plants over the past weekend, when they would normally be open.
The auto companies could counter by making overtime mandatory, though workers would have to be notified well in advance. But the other thing the companies could do—what they could have done for years, more precisely—is simply hire more autoworkers. If your company is relying on overtime work, the problem is a lack of staff. This is not a new issue bound up with the labor shortages post-pandemic; it’s been this way for many years. As UAW leadership has explained, these companies have enjoyed record profits in recent years and ramped up pay packages to top executives. For which reason, they should have no problem increasing staff levels, or increasing pay to their workers. The companies have cried poverty, but if they are paying double-time rates for extra hours because demand is so high, it’s hard to square that claim. It would be far cheaper to pay a new employee at the base hourly rate than to pay an established worker for an hour of overtime.
So why don’t the companies want to hire more staff? Simply put, the benefits workers get on health care and retirement and paid time off add costs to the business. This is partially a function of the United States being the only major industrialized nation to not provide health care for workers. When employers bear that burden, they want to minimize the expense. But at some point, so much overtime is being paid out that the company isn’t avoiding costs at all. The heavy use of overtime work also calls into question the idea that the switch to electric vehicles will wipe out the automotive labor market. Under this theory, because EVs have fewer parts, fewer workers will be needed to produce and assemble them—about 30 percent fewer by one account. And if having fewer car parts leads to less wearing out of those parts, auto mechanics could go out of business; and if people mostly charge at home, gas stations could gradually close up shop.
snip
The Big Three's Labor Shortages
The only way the UAW’s strategy of rejecting voluntary overtime can work is if Ford, GM, and Stellantis lack enough workers to make cars.
https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-20-big-threes-labor-shortages-uaw/
We’re five days into the United Auto Workers strike of Ford, GM, and Stellantis, and two days from a second round. UAW president Shawn Fain has announced that workers at more plants will “stand up” and walk out if substantial progress is not made in negotiations by noon on Friday. But workers who are still on the job have found their own way to put pressure on the Big Three, by exploiting their long-standing worker shortages. Labor Notes reports on autoworkers’ strategy of “Eight and Skate,” which means working their shifts and then refusing voluntary overtime, which is routinely offered by the Big Three. Working your shift and then leaving work (in other words, doing exactly what it is you were hired to do) shouldn’t really be debilitating to the employer. In this case, it is.
The reason is understaffing: There are simply not enough workers at many auto plants to meet production goals. As a result, the companies turn to existing workers, paying them time and a half, or even double and triple time, to stay on the job. Management at some facilities consistently asks workers to work through their breaks or even lunch. By only working eight hours a day, then, autoworkers can reduce output at the plants. It comes at a cost to these employees, but it’s their way to contribute to the labor effort. And it’s been successful in shutting down some plants over the past weekend, when they would normally be open.
The auto companies could counter by making overtime mandatory, though workers would have to be notified well in advance. But the other thing the companies could do—what they could have done for years, more precisely—is simply hire more autoworkers. If your company is relying on overtime work, the problem is a lack of staff. This is not a new issue bound up with the labor shortages post-pandemic; it’s been this way for many years. As UAW leadership has explained, these companies have enjoyed record profits in recent years and ramped up pay packages to top executives. For which reason, they should have no problem increasing staff levels, or increasing pay to their workers. The companies have cried poverty, but if they are paying double-time rates for extra hours because demand is so high, it’s hard to square that claim. It would be far cheaper to pay a new employee at the base hourly rate than to pay an established worker for an hour of overtime.
So why don’t the companies want to hire more staff? Simply put, the benefits workers get on health care and retirement and paid time off add costs to the business. This is partially a function of the United States being the only major industrialized nation to not provide health care for workers. When employers bear that burden, they want to minimize the expense. But at some point, so much overtime is being paid out that the company isn’t avoiding costs at all. The heavy use of overtime work also calls into question the idea that the switch to electric vehicles will wipe out the automotive labor market. Under this theory, because EVs have fewer parts, fewer workers will be needed to produce and assemble them—about 30 percent fewer by one account. And if having fewer car parts leads to less wearing out of those parts, auto mechanics could go out of business; and if people mostly charge at home, gas stations could gradually close up shop.
snip
September 20, 2023
How better commercial, non-profit, and public media operations can combat tribalism and help Americans solve problems—together.
https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/media-for-the-common-good
The Pew Research Center, one of the nation’s best non-profit organizations, just released a sobering new report on the dismal state of American politics. Put simply—Americans really dislike the political system, most institutions, and the two major parties. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they always or often feel “exhausted” thinking about politics these days, and another 55 percent say politics makes them feel “angry”. A mere one tenth of Americans feel “hopeful” when thinking about politics and less than five percent say they get “excited” thinking about politics.
Only four percent of Americans believe the political system is working extremely or very well and more than 60 percent express little confidence in the future of the political system. Pew also reports that majorities of Americans view both parties unfavorably, and nearly three in ten Americans now hold unfavorable views of both political parties—the largest percentage in three decades of tracking on this measure. Consequently, nearly seven in ten Americans say they “often wish there were more political parties to choose from” in our system. The emotional see-saw on politics is tilted entirely towards the negative. Clearly the U.S. political system and the two major parties are not delivering for those who aren’t diehard partisans. And as last week’s column highlighted, the overwhelming sentiment among opposing partisans is one of extreme hatred of the other side.
Deep disaffection from politics coupled with high partisan animosity is not a recipe for long-term success for the American project. So what can be done to improve the situation? For starters, we need better media operations—of all kinds. We know people can be tribal about politics and other identity-based traits. We also know that Americans weren’t less tribal in the early nineties than they are today. Someone or something had to exploit these human weaknesses and stoke “us versus them” divisions. That something is the media—along with political institutions (to be examined next week). The media business of politics—radio, cable, podcasts, social media, online video, newsletters, email solicitations, paid advertising—is little more than 24-7 pumping of partisan vitriol, anger-inducing stories, and often biased coverage of arguments based on the interests of specific leaders and movements aligned with the respective parties.
Not surprisingly given the context, many committed Republicans and Democrats have a hard time seeing fellow human beings on the other side of the partisan divide and are unwilling to give the opposition any hearing whatsoever. Other less partisan Americans have responded by tuning out from politics altogether to avoid the madness. Despite some excellent journalism from many mainstream and ideologically-aligned news outlets, Americans themselves have mostly concluded that little of substance or use to the country gets regularly featured by the media and politics writ large. For example, in the new Pew research study, nearly eight in ten Americans say there is too little attention paid to important issues facing the country these days, and roughly two-thirds of Americans feel that way about policies that local elected or national officials are working on. In contrast, nearly six in ten say there is too much attention paid to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.
snip
Media for the Common Good
How better commercial, non-profit, and public media operations can combat tribalism and help Americans solve problems—together.
https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/media-for-the-common-good
The Pew Research Center, one of the nation’s best non-profit organizations, just released a sobering new report on the dismal state of American politics. Put simply—Americans really dislike the political system, most institutions, and the two major parties. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they always or often feel “exhausted” thinking about politics these days, and another 55 percent say politics makes them feel “angry”. A mere one tenth of Americans feel “hopeful” when thinking about politics and less than five percent say they get “excited” thinking about politics.
Only four percent of Americans believe the political system is working extremely or very well and more than 60 percent express little confidence in the future of the political system. Pew also reports that majorities of Americans view both parties unfavorably, and nearly three in ten Americans now hold unfavorable views of both political parties—the largest percentage in three decades of tracking on this measure. Consequently, nearly seven in ten Americans say they “often wish there were more political parties to choose from” in our system. The emotional see-saw on politics is tilted entirely towards the negative. Clearly the U.S. political system and the two major parties are not delivering for those who aren’t diehard partisans. And as last week’s column highlighted, the overwhelming sentiment among opposing partisans is one of extreme hatred of the other side.
Deep disaffection from politics coupled with high partisan animosity is not a recipe for long-term success for the American project. So what can be done to improve the situation? For starters, we need better media operations—of all kinds. We know people can be tribal about politics and other identity-based traits. We also know that Americans weren’t less tribal in the early nineties than they are today. Someone or something had to exploit these human weaknesses and stoke “us versus them” divisions. That something is the media—along with political institutions (to be examined next week). The media business of politics—radio, cable, podcasts, social media, online video, newsletters, email solicitations, paid advertising—is little more than 24-7 pumping of partisan vitriol, anger-inducing stories, and often biased coverage of arguments based on the interests of specific leaders and movements aligned with the respective parties.
Not surprisingly given the context, many committed Republicans and Democrats have a hard time seeing fellow human beings on the other side of the partisan divide and are unwilling to give the opposition any hearing whatsoever. Other less partisan Americans have responded by tuning out from politics altogether to avoid the madness. Despite some excellent journalism from many mainstream and ideologically-aligned news outlets, Americans themselves have mostly concluded that little of substance or use to the country gets regularly featured by the media and politics writ large. For example, in the new Pew research study, nearly eight in ten Americans say there is too little attention paid to important issues facing the country these days, and roughly two-thirds of Americans feel that way about policies that local elected or national officials are working on. In contrast, nearly six in ten say there is too much attention paid to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.
snip
September 20, 2023
The California Democrat, famous for her viral confrontations, is admired by fans and resented by some ex-employees. Now she’s running for Senate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2023/09/20/katie-porter-senate/
https://archive.ph/G1ebd
I had been granted an hour with the congresswoman, which felt generous, but she was about 15 minutes late, which was understandable. The House is an insane place to work, running for Senate is an insane thing to do, and having three underage kids, and about 755,000 constituent bosses, and 19 hours of commuting every week between Washington and Orange County, Calif. — well, time is scarce for Rep. Katie Porter. When the California Democrat arrived earlier this year for our meeting at a coffee shop near her basement apartment on Capitol Hill, she enthused about the shamrock hue of her outfit, which jibed with the unusually green lapel pin of the 118th Congress.
She herself hasn’t been a great match for the House of Representatives, which she describes in her book, published in the spring, with startling honesty. “Being a single mom of young kids in Congress was not possible,” she writes of her first year in office. The job was “just too hard.” The day before the 2019 in-person deadline to file for her first reelection campaign, Porter was here in Washington, far from the Orange County Registrar of Voters, and “so tired I couldn’t see straight.” She was resigned to failure, to being a one-term congresswoman, because she couldn’t get her act together to run again. She was “seething” that the Founding Fathers had wives and servants “to do their bidding while they endlessly debated in Washington, without worry about their children getting to bed on time.”
But 3½ years later — near the beginning of her third term, a campaign for Senate and a book tour — Porter was a vision of energy and focus. The growing pains had been tough, but now she was ready to reach higher, for the upper chamber. “With Senator Feinstein ending her service, with Nancy [Pelosi] not being speaker” and “with Gavin [Newsom] on a different path, shall we say, there are big shoes to fill in California, politically,” said Porter, 49, shaking a Splenda into her coffee. “And if we don’t have a scrappy, strategic, strong messenger in that role, we will not be able to win in every part and pocket of California.”
Power is what Porter wanted when she ran for office — the power to confront cheating corporations, to make the government responsive to the people. A “durable majority” of Democrats in Congress is what Porter wants now. She’s fed up with the party’s struggle to keep its head above water. “We’re going backwards in terms of the number of Democratic women” in the Senate, she told me. “To me, equality is not electing Joni Ernst‚” the Republican senator from Iowa. “Like, that’s not helping.”
snip
Katie Porter and the politics of real life
The California Democrat, famous for her viral confrontations, is admired by fans and resented by some ex-employees. Now she’s running for Senate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2023/09/20/katie-porter-senate/
https://archive.ph/G1ebd
I had been granted an hour with the congresswoman, which felt generous, but she was about 15 minutes late, which was understandable. The House is an insane place to work, running for Senate is an insane thing to do, and having three underage kids, and about 755,000 constituent bosses, and 19 hours of commuting every week between Washington and Orange County, Calif. — well, time is scarce for Rep. Katie Porter. When the California Democrat arrived earlier this year for our meeting at a coffee shop near her basement apartment on Capitol Hill, she enthused about the shamrock hue of her outfit, which jibed with the unusually green lapel pin of the 118th Congress.
She herself hasn’t been a great match for the House of Representatives, which she describes in her book, published in the spring, with startling honesty. “Being a single mom of young kids in Congress was not possible,” she writes of her first year in office. The job was “just too hard.” The day before the 2019 in-person deadline to file for her first reelection campaign, Porter was here in Washington, far from the Orange County Registrar of Voters, and “so tired I couldn’t see straight.” She was resigned to failure, to being a one-term congresswoman, because she couldn’t get her act together to run again. She was “seething” that the Founding Fathers had wives and servants “to do their bidding while they endlessly debated in Washington, without worry about their children getting to bed on time.”
But 3½ years later — near the beginning of her third term, a campaign for Senate and a book tour — Porter was a vision of energy and focus. The growing pains had been tough, but now she was ready to reach higher, for the upper chamber. “With Senator Feinstein ending her service, with Nancy [Pelosi] not being speaker” and “with Gavin [Newsom] on a different path, shall we say, there are big shoes to fill in California, politically,” said Porter, 49, shaking a Splenda into her coffee. “And if we don’t have a scrappy, strategic, strong messenger in that role, we will not be able to win in every part and pocket of California.”
Power is what Porter wanted when she ran for office — the power to confront cheating corporations, to make the government responsive to the people. A “durable majority” of Democrats in Congress is what Porter wants now. She’s fed up with the party’s struggle to keep its head above water. “We’re going backwards in terms of the number of Democratic women” in the Senate, she told me. “To me, equality is not electing Joni Ernst‚” the Republican senator from Iowa. “Like, that’s not helping.”
snip
September 20, 2023
This show picks up where Dan’s Thor’s Angels show left off. In the early Middle Ages Pagan Germanic-language speakers like the Vikings are a dying breed. Many of their contemporaries wish they’d die faster.
Thor's Angels Link
https://archive.org/details/41ThorsAngels
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History 69 - Twilight of the Aesir
This show picks up where Dan’s Thor’s Angels show left off. In the early Middle Ages Pagan Germanic-language speakers like the Vikings are a dying breed. Many of their contemporaries wish they’d die faster.
Thor's Angels Link
https://archive.org/details/41ThorsAngels
September 20, 2023
Just when I thought the false equivalencies couldn't get dumber
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1704292865063408069https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erick_Erickson
During a CNN interview after a Republican Party debate hosted by Fox News on August 6, 2015, Donald Trump had said that Fox News anchor and debate co-moderator Megyn Kelly had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" while questioning him during the debate. The next day, Erickson disinvited Trump from a RedState gathering held in Atlanta, calling Trump's remark "a bridge too far" and that even "blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross" certain lines, including decency. The following day, Trump released a statement stating that Erickson had a history of making controversial statements for which he has had to apologize, and that he, Trump, was an outsider who did not fit into Erickson's agenda.
Erickson described Trump as "a racist" and "a fascist", and insisted, "I will not vote for Donald Trump. Ever."
In February 2019, Erickson endorsed Trump for re-election in the 2020 presidential election.
During a CNN interview after a Republican Party debate hosted by Fox News on August 6, 2015, Donald Trump had said that Fox News anchor and debate co-moderator Megyn Kelly had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" while questioning him during the debate. The next day, Erickson disinvited Trump from a RedState gathering held in Atlanta, calling Trump's remark "a bridge too far" and that even "blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross" certain lines, including decency. The following day, Trump released a statement stating that Erickson had a history of making controversial statements for which he has had to apologize, and that he, Trump, was an outsider who did not fit into Erickson's agenda.
Erickson described Trump as "a racist" and "a fascist", and insisted, "I will not vote for Donald Trump. Ever."
In February 2019, Erickson endorsed Trump for re-election in the 2020 presidential election.
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