The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Church of Covidians Opens Bars, Restaurants

    The Supreme Court decision recognizing the exemption of religious organizations from attendance limits has led to a filing today for tax exemption under IRS Code 501 (c) for the Holy Church of Branch Covidians.

    Plus the Rest of the World (home)

    Turkish-Russian hegemony scored a majore Victory - but we're still counting votes and waiting for a loser to cry "Uncle", so we may not have noticed.

    If a territory falls in the woods, and we're too busy playing post-mortem blame games and who caused the success, did it really fall?

    W/o further adieu, the late great Karabakh entity - conflicted, but with some historical claims to existence (certainly more recent than some recreated nation-state). Like Crimea, might makes right quicker than detente.

    The Distorting Prism of Social Media 

    How Self-Selection and Exposure to Incivility Fuel Online Comment Toxicity

    By Jin Woo Kim (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania); Andrew Guess (Dept. of Politics, Princeton University); Brendan Nyhan (Dept. of Government, Dartmouth College); Jason Reifler, (Dept. of Politics, University of Exeter)

    Abstract: Though prior studies have analyzed the textual characteristics of online comments about politics, less is known about how selection into commenting behavior and exposure to other people’s comments changes the tone and content of political discourse. This article makes three contributions. First, we show that frequent commenters on Facebook are more likely to be interested in politics, to have more polarized opinions, and to use toxic language in comments in an elicitation task. Second, we find that people who comment on articles in the real world use more toxic language on average than the public as a whole; levels of toxicity in comments scraped from media outlet Facebook pages greatly exceed what is observed in comments we elicit on the same articles from a nationally representative sample. Finally, we demonstrate experimentally that exposure to toxic language in comments increases the toxicity of subsequent comments.

    Independent Senators?

    Nate Silver ponders, continued after the jump:

    Perhaps a bit far-fetched, but Romney actually has a decent amount of leverage, if he and one of Collins, Murkowski, etc. threatened to become "Independent Republicans" or what have you who caucused with the Democrats.

    — Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 20, 2020

    Orion's picture

    Considering The Unthinkable: A Trump Coup

    If you look up "presidential results 2020" on Google, you will find a pretty clear cut case: Democratic nominee Joe Biden has 306 electoral votes to Donald Trump's 232. Under any normal circumstance, this would be as clear a case as any, but these are not normal circumstances.

     

    Why We Hurt Each Other: Tolstoy’s Letters to Gandhi on Love, Violence, and the Truth of the Human Spirit

    Right to Life will cost us the 2022 election

    Didn't publish so I'll repeat.

    We can't "win" in a combat with Right to Life. Try to assist them instead.

    Why not?

    (I was 2 when I was finally adopted.) 

    "Anarchist Meme Collective" wants you to get Woke about Kamala Harris

    Thread continues with 44 tweets total so far, their points gleaned from news stories

    GET TO KNOW KAMALA HARRIS MEGATHREAD
    -credit of politijohn on tumblr

    1: Pushed a law that forces schools to turn undocumented students over to ICE, separating them from their parents and violating human rightshttps://t.co/JdHlxqXEbL

    GOP/DoJ/Trump Corruption Clearance Sale

    Going quick, need everything out by Jan 20

    LEARNING ABOUT EXTREMISTS: news & analysis, Part II

    My first thread on topic is here and in the 75 comments posted from Sept. 3 to Nov. 9, 2020, has plenty of content that is still quite useful

    [LEARNING ABOUT EXTREMISTS] DOH! EXCUSE ME, MR. NANCE

    I'll start the new thread in comments.

    Lincoln Project has new projects: The Georgia Senate race; Trump's Lawyers; Transition Support

    We’ve got important work to do in Georgia, but rest up today. We need you fully energized.

    In the meantime:

    Follow @ossoff &
    Follow @ReverendWarnock

    — The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) November 8, 2020

    more after the jump

    On Murdoch family orders

    It is really good to see Fox not building up false hope in a Trump litigation strategy. Can't stress this enough. https://t.co/DrS1yBKQb5

    — Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) November 7, 2020

    see followup after the jump

    Election: BIDEN/HARRIS VICTORY GIN (we love you big biden)

    Good place to add your Biden/Harris victory comments, donations, advice, complaints, and merchandise orders.

    Just do it.

    I think this is an excellent idea. Red v. blue maps should basically be outlawed. Our lives are not a football game (one based on the Electoral College, yet.) Not to mention the problem of both parties having lost their traditional meanings and the large number of people who register as Independents.

    Election: 665 in GA & Counting

    One less than the Antichrist?

    Midnight Train to Georgia?

    New day, new page?

    Updated 25m ago

    >98% REPORTED

    Candidate Party Votes Pct.
    Donald J. Trump* Rep.     2,448,183  49.4%
    Joseph R. Biden Jr. Dem. 2,447,518  49.4%

    Difference: 565     Time: 3:09 EDT

    Total reported: 4,957,885

    Those waiting for Nevada results should remember, "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" - we might never know. But some on Twitter are hunting Kanye won and they're scared to tell us.

    Election Contiunuum: and the BeatDown Goes On

    Stuff: Back by Popular Demand

    Stuff is just flying off of shelves - and that's before the late night protesters.
    Meanwhile, Shell stepped in deep doodoo asking the public what it could change - seems "a lot" is the unsurprising answer. Just goes to show, the Marketing Dept may not be the brains of the company.

    Election Day Clean Sheet

    Alright, you worms, taps playing 6:30a.m. reveille - get out there and blog, mix it up, do some damage. "Taxi's waiting, blowing it's horn, dawn is breaking it's early morn, already I'm so antsy I could die..." Stir it up, little darling, stir it up, right now... Ok, enough soundtrack - let's do what needs doing. Make the GOP cry.

    Trump/GOP/DOJ Corruption XII

    More FOIA dumps courtesy Jason Leopold, tireless (& amazingly successful) fighter for sunlight

    Biden v. Trump on Twitter

    Halloween policing. (All sides do it now!)

    Texas homeowners association demands removal of one neighbor’s Halloween decoration: pole-dancing skeletons that were “offensively positioned.”https://t.co/6nCEZGjB0s pic.twitter.com/yQSi6tApxK

    — Jim Roberts (@nycjim) October 31, 2020

    Which tribes have what privileges?

    To start

    Pages