LearnedHand
LearnedHand's JournalI'm struggling with the forum groupings
I can see how they make loose sense sometimes but a lot of the times I’m sort of scratching my head. Seems it would almost make more sense to group them alphabetically. Just sayin’…
Been thinking about the Overton Window
On the Political Compass, I test on the far, far left. Yet the policies I'm passionate about are well in line with social democratic policies, like in Roosevelt's New Deal or the political systems in the Scandinavian countries. So I got to wondering exactly what is far left? And this leads me to the Overton Window. Repukes are MASTERS at re-orienting the Overton Window ever rightward. I think I haven't moved so much as has what we used to call the center. I don't even know what "moderate" means anymore.
We can see this happening almost daily as they push ever more radically authoritarian policies. Why do we lose this battle. What would we have to do differently to push the Overton Window in a liberal direction?
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
I watched about 5 seasons until...
I just couldn't stomach the whole god thing anymore. It gets much, much worse as the show goes along, to the point that I started feeling as if I'd been suckered by bait-and-switch religious programming. I'm *still* dying to know what happened to that plane, though. That story line is great.
Good Omens 2?
I watched the first two episodes yesterday. It's laugh-out-loud funny and continues the wonderful relationship of the ineffable husbands Aziraphale and Crowley.
All this bullshit! It could have benefited everyone
Hear me out: Let me start by acknowledging the pettiness and venality of this brinksmanship. It turns my stomach. However, I think helping migrants to the interior of the country could have been a good partnership had it been handled with dignity and empathy. What if these asshole governors had instead partnered with other states to help take the load off border states? Everyone wins, including the migrants themselves. As it is though, with this well-scripted media circus, all the governors are doing is creating future Democratic voters. Hey, wait. Good plan!
These 1,572 US politicians have helped ban abortion since Roe fell. 225 are women
(The Guardian) It’s been one year since the US supreme court ended the constitutional right to abortion. The procedure is now prohibited in 14 states and restricted in six more, leaving large swaths of the midwest and south without access to basic reproductive care.
To mark the first anniversary of the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the case that overturned Roe v Wade, the Guardian has created a visual directory of state legislators who embraced the opportunity to restrict abortion access. These are the faces of lawmakers and governors whose votes helped pass bans on abortion at conception or after six weeks, before most women know they are pregnant.
Because of the sheer volume of anti-abortion laws that have taken effect over the past year, bans that predate Roe – like the 19th century statute that Republicans are trying to resurrect in Wisconsin – are not included here. Additional bans in Wyoming, Ohio, Utah and North Dakota are also excluded, because state courts have indefinitely blocked those laws from taking effect. The remaining 1,600 legislators in this graphic are responsible for the chaotic patchwork of abortion restrictions that has emerged in the year without Roe.
[No more text. Just photos of the bastards, which is the value of this article. EDIT: And 64 of them are DEMOCRATS. 
]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2023/jun/22/abortion-ban-politicians-who-voted-for-restrictions-who-are-they-men-women
South Carolina state senator says the quiet part out loud about abortion bans
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/23/south-carolina-six-week-abortion-ban-vote/No paywall: https://archive.ph/T2H31
Seems the South Carolina senate has passed a 6-week abortion ban, which the governor said he would sign, after one senator's vote ended debate. And I guess to polish the "we-care-about-children" turd a little, this bill requires the biological father to pay child support from conception. So far so stupid. But here's the kick in the gut for women, for all of us:
“At some point in time, the right of the state to see the unborn child born does take precedent over the woman’s right to her body,” Davis said.
More nausea-inducing rhetoric over at the WaPo article.
Libraries offering out-of-state cards
I do all my reading digitally and I rarely purchase books anymore. Instead I’m an avid user of my local public library for audiobooks and ebooks. Although I’m fairly patient with long hold times, I do get annoyed when the library doesn’t have and won’t purchase particular digital books. So I looked into membership at other libraries, and what do you know? A number of public libraries offer non-resident cards. Some are quite expensive but most are reasonable. I’ve already gotten books at one that weren’t available at my library.
Here are a couple of resources:
https://bookriot.com/out-of-state-library-cards/
https://www.9thstreetbooks.com/how-to-get-a-library-card-online/#3-libraries-offering-library-cards-online-for-non-residents
Pausing AI Developments Isn't Enough. We Need to Shut it All Down
Excellent, if somewhat hair-raising, article on what we are not thinking about in AI. As in: We could all die if we don't stop now and plan better.
https://time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-not-enough/
Actor Jeremy Renner critically injured in a snow plowing accident
Source: CNN
Actor Jeremy Renner is in “critical but stable condition” after being injured in a weather-related snow plowing incident in Nevada, CNN affiliate KABC reported, citing a spokesperson for Renner.
Officers responded to a “traumatic injury” in the area of Mount Rose Highway in Reno, according to a news release from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, which has previously said the Academy Award-nominated actor lived in the community.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/02/entertainment/jeremy-renner-snow-plow-hospital/index.html
