Years ago, Austin was the only blue spot in the state. It was a different era, when the Republican Party of Texas, if they weren’t necessarily less radical than they are today, at least let places like Austin do their own Blue thing. Today Texas has four of the biggest cities in the country. Some say it resembles California in that respect. But the deep Red rural parts still hold sway. From Axios.
There may be something to this.
Now I know why the right wingers hate George Soros. Good thing this young fellow Bankman-Fried is around. Oops, he’s broke. From Stastia.
There is lots of this in Phoenix. Seems like a good idea, to distribute these panels around, in places where they can also give some shade. I’m not sure how “requiring” this works, but it is France.
A good read on the reaction on the ground in Arizona to the Red Wave that wasn’t. Why is this an opinion piece?
Tomorrow is the big midterm election. I try to follow it, but not too closely. I’m going to go against the grain a bit here and first say I don’t see actual data for big gains by the Republican party. I even consider Texas a close call. Abbott is the incumbent and seems to be having trouble breaking 50%, even though he is ahead. Lots of undecideds out there. Same in lots of other places. And then there is the problem of “low quality” polls. Of course, I’m not too optimistic. But I’m still thinking of the 14 point (or was it 18 point?) surprise swing to the Dems in deep Red Kansas. That was quite a surprise, and only in August, though it seems like a long time ago. I cant recall anything even close to this as a polling failure. I don’t think this energy had dissipated. We will find out more tomorrow.
Best US president of my lifetime. Still doing good stuff after all these years.
Austin aint what it used to be. I suppose just about every place could say this. But Austin seems to be having a particularly brutal era of change, at least for the people who have been here a while. From New York magazine.
There seems to have been a rise in violence in America in recent years and the numbers support this. I was a bit shocked at the data for violent outbursts on airlines. American has always been a violent place but this seems to be a new phase. I have to add one of my favorite quotes, which happens to be about violence.
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
Isaac Asimov, Foundation
Steven A. Guccione 