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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

OP was clear that inflation remains high; but it's still nothing like it was in the 70s. Anyway, here is diesel adjusted for inflation, from www.macrotrends.net/4394/us-dies... Certainly it's approaching a relative high, but this is not the first time nor will it be the last.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Yes, I care about reducing harm. And my point here is narrower - you are lying about what she said and the position she took. You're now predictably shifting your position; but it's obvious you're happy with Trump's victory; I guess you got what you wanted. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/20...

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Yes, but also when you start talking about fixing that there's an unfortunately large percentage of white voters who are willing to vote against their own interests based on the fear that some Other will benefit.

an image using the Peter Griffin skin color chart race terrorist meme, with the lighter skin tones as "hard working american" and the darker skin tones as "free-loader"

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Our cats will totally lie about whether or not they ate already or if they broke something or if they made a mess. ;-) We appreciate them anyway. I had a fashion question, but then I read the invite more carefully and it answered my questions. I've appreciated your threads -- thank you!

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Biden's polling didn't change much after October 7th; I know folks here want to believe that most Americans' votes are driven by principles & foreign policy, but I don't think our elections results support that belief. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/d... His leftist policies had no effect.

A graph showing that Biden's approval rate fell from 55% in Jun 2021 to Aug 2021 and was roughly stable after that, at around 40%.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Before Trump, the Conservative Party (i.e. Poilievre) was leading in the polls there. :-/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion...

A graph showing opinion polls in Canada about party support, showing Conservatives' share gradually rising from 2022 through January 2025, and falling precipitously between January and March of 2025 (the Liberal party rose, also gaining from the New Democratic Party).

Trump took office in the US on January 20th, and the suggestion is that actions taken by Trump after becoming POTUS affected polling in Canada -- including his unhinged threats against Canada's sovereignty.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Rhetoric includes logos, ethos, and pathos. Medhi used logos to support Biden and Harris (intellectually, here's why you should vote for them). He used ethos to attack them (here's why they're actually bad). Some voters will ignore the former entirely if they're told to distrust the candidates.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Leaving aside everything else (you discount the concerns for Black folks in a way that's at best myopic) -- the Democratic party had a massive majority during FDR's term, without which it would have looked entirely different. history.house.gov/Institution/...

Balance of power in the US House of Representatives, 1931-1945, showing that the Democratic party had a massive advantage 1933 - 1939 and a significant advantage 1939-1943.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Even putting aside gerrymandered districts, I don't think this is allowed in Texas. (Disclaimer: I'm not a Texan, this is just from a brief search.) codes.findlaw.com/tx/election-...

Texas Election Code - ELEC § 141.033. Filing Applications for More Than One Office Prohibited
Current as of January 01, 2024 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

(a) A candidate may not file applications for a place on the ballot for two or more offices that:

(1) are not permitted by law to be held by the same person; and

(2) are to be voted on at one or more elections held on the same day.

(b) If a person files more than one application for a place on a ballot in violation of this section, each application filed subsequent to the first one filed is invalid.

(c) This section does not apply to candidacy for the office of president or vice-president of the United States and another office.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

The first paragraph is fully devoted to giving Trump's perspective. The second paragraph is weak sauce as denouncement of lies & propaganda. Intellectuals who enjoy veiled insults can read between the lines; but we can also read between the lines in headlines and layouts. The NYT is dead to me.

For a decade, President Trump has talked about a country where elections are broken, plagued by corrupted people, widespread fraud and faulty voting machines. According to Mr. Trump, this country is the only place in the world that allows for mail-in voting and the only country that allows one political party to cheat in every election.

Despite Mr. Trump’s claims to the contrary, the country he is describing is not the United States of America. To say it yet again: There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, including by noncitizens, as Mr. Trump claims.

Still, he persists.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

You appear to have no respect for the person in question, despite your claims. Quotes from the link above -- TL;DR is that Davidson says he attended expecting the people broadcasting to edit for appropriateness. (Would've been the same in person, but broadcasting does also change the interaction.)

John Davidson, the Scottish Tourette’s syndrome activist and real-life inspiration for “I Swear,” was thrust into the spotlight at the 79th BAFTA Awards when his involuntary vocal tics disrupted the ceremony, including an outburst of racial slurs that occurred as “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award. In an exclusive email interview with Variety, Davidson [selected text starts] offers his perspective on what happened, including what precautions and guardrails he had expected the BBC and BAFTA to take [selected text ends] before he attended the ceremony.

StudioCanal were working closely with BAFTA, and BAFTA [ selected text starts] had made us all aware that any swearing would be edited out of the broadcast [selected text ends]. I have made four documentaries with the BBC in the past, and feel that they should have been aware of what to expect from Tourette’s and worked harder to prevent anything that I said — which, after all, was some 40 rows back from the stage — from being included in the broadcast.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

That is, unfortunately, still the majority position. (The majority disapprove of ICE, but some still think it's salvageable with reforms.) Democratic voters support abolition -- but to change the balance of power, Democrats candidates need to win other groups. navigatorresearch.org/wp-content/u...

A 2026-02-04 analysis of polling data on ICE, indicating high negatives and disapproval of leadership, but a lack of support for abolishing it. The highlighted text reads:

'Americans are divided on abolishing ICE – and when given the option, they prefer significant reforms over abolition or continuing as is. “Fixing” ICE is preferred over “replacement with something else” or abolition on its own.'

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

That review concludes diphenhydramine (benadryl) is a reasonable option for acute insomnia, but that next-day side effects are a frequent adverse reaction. (Disclaimer: not my field, just an area of interest.)

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

66 > 60, and when your threshold is 60 and you have 60 Senators, you have no margin and no leverage. LBJ had a significantly larger majority. (And the Republicans still sabotaged Great Society programs as soon as they got in.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/89th_Un...

A diagram showing the composition of the Senate & House for the 89th Congress (1965-1966); the Senate was 68-66 Democratic Senators and the House was 295-288 Democratic Representatives (66-68% in both).

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

M4A has support because it trades on the Medicare name and promises everything to everyone; most people haven't thought through the trade-offs. Some people think they would keep their current health insurance (!?), or did as of the last survey I found. ( www.kff.org/affordable-c... )

Diagrams showing that most medicare-for-all supporters think they would be able to keep their current health insurance (this is not true).

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

One of our cat's version of this (no excuse around weather, he just likes sleeping in sunlight)

an orange and white cat sleeping on a wooden floor in a patch of sunlight

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

The ToS page suggests you can send email to feedback@academia.edu

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Full context:

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Signing and promoting legislation protecting LGBTQ folks are good actions which are within the scope of the governor's job. What else where you expecting?

“California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community, and we’re committed to the ongoing work to create safer, more inclusive spaces for all Californians,” said Newsom on Saturday. “These measures will help protect vulnerable youth, promote acceptance, and create more supportive environments in our schools and communities."

The move was applauded by LGBTQ activists.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

You conveniently left out the next section, which contradicts your claim. (As I noted elsewhere, if we're debating ethnic cleansing vs genocide this is an argument about colors of black and rather ghoulish -- but you're misrepresenting the text you're using.)

Highlighted text: "To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an intention to simply disperse a group. It is this special intent, or dolus specialis, that makes the crime of genocide so unique. In addition, case law has associated intent with the existence of a State or organizational plan or policy, ..."

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Ethnic cleansing isn't the same as genocide, though it also includes war crimes. Of course, having this argument means we're arguing about shades of black (and it seems a ghoulish argument...). www.un.org/en/genocide-...

Highlighted: "nor does an intention to simply disperse a group"

Full text: The intent is the most difficult element to determine. To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an intention to simply disperse a group. It is this special intent, or dolus specialis, that makes the crime of genocide so unique. In addition, case law has associated intent with the existence of a State or organizational plan or policy, even if the definition of genocide in international law does not include that element.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

I looked earlier and saw an message indicating they were missing -- but didn't get a screen show. Now art 1 section 9 & 10 show up in the text (though not in the navigation on the right): constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...

a screenshot showing the end of section and the start of section 9 -- powers denied congress -- including habeas corpus -- correctly included in the text (though not shown in the navigation on the right).

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Your claim is false; you've made it up from whole cloth. The Democratic party is not right wing when compared with parties throughout the world. It's broadly center left. See e.g. v-dem.net/documents/8/... or www.globalpartysurvey.org/initial-find... or www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A diagram from the global party survey link showing the Democratic party slightly left of center on economic issues (4) and somewhat more liberal than conservative on social values (3). [Scales are 0 - 10.]

A graphic from the NYT opinion piece showing the Democratic party as slightly left of center when compared with European parties and the Republican party as an outlier on the right.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

And here you claimed voters weren't responsible for their own votes -- it was the fault of politicians for not doing enough. Nah to that. Voters are responsible for their own votes. You can blame politicians AS WELL -- but voters are always responsible for their actions.

NO!

It is not progressive's "fault" for not voting for Kamala.

It is the fault of the Democratic Party for not earning their votes.

Get it the right way around.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Israel has the right to exist, but not to do what it's doing in the WB and Gaza. Again, you want genocide -- you just want a different target. At least be honest. www.cde.state.co.us/cosocialstud...

Genocide
As defined in HB20-1336 (PDF) - "Genocide" means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group:
Killing members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group;
Deliberately inflicting on a national, ethnic, racial or religious group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group; or
Forcibly transferring children of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group to another group.
As defined by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM): Genocide is an internationally recognized crime where acts are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. These acts fall into five categories:
Killing members of the group
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
There are a number of other serious, violent crimes that do not fall under the specific definition of genocide. They include crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and mass killing.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Doesn't really look like it. If you accept that one can claim to be left-wing and also be authoritarian, this insult makes no sense.

quote showing: "you're inbread if you think authoritarianism can be left wing"

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

This is how to frame reporting on DOGE. The press should be willing to call a spade a spade; folks are going to accuse them of bias regardless (and it may even be fair -- humans do have biases and opinions), and at least this is accurate. www.theverge.com/news/641311/...

A screenshot of part of the article, with part highlighted:

Tesla’s problems are partly because of Musk’s position with the Department of Government Efficiency, or {highlight}DOGE, a specious effort to cut “waste and fraud” in the government that appears mostly aimed at eliminating humanitarian aid programs and terrorizing federal workers.{/highlight} He has also amplified racist theories on social media and made a fascist salute during Trump’s inauguration.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

What could have happened in 2008 to change things? </s>

This double-digit lead for the GOP among White voters has held for more than a decade. The last time White voters were about equally split between the two parties was in 2008.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

A program which promises everything with no additional cost and no trade-offs will see higher polling favorability then when you're given more realistic options. But while Americans do want the gov to ensure healthcare, a major does not support single payer. www.pewresearch.org/politics/202...

When asked how the government should provide health coverage, 36% of Americans say it should be provided through a single national program, while 28% say it should be through a mix of government and private programs. These views have changed little in recent years.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Japan has UHC without a single payer system. (There are a lot of other differences & trade-offs.) They do have a national plan which works as a backstop, though. Surveys indicate many(!) people don't understand that Single Payer means they couldn't keep their insurance. www.kff.org/slideshow/pu...

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

She did not. She would have continued parts (supporting Israel's right to self defense) while pushing harder to change other parts (Israel must respect international law).

A quote from: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kamala-harris-middle-east-foreign-policy

"The vice president has largely stayed close to Biden's approach to Israel. But in March, she gave a speech which criticised Israel's disruption of humanitarian aid flow into Gaza.

“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire," Harris said, pausing for a brief moment to collect huge applause before tempering expectations and adding: "at least for the next six weeks"."

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

(IMO, that article misrepresents what Harris said, assuming it's www.nbcnews.com/politics/202... ... she said it would be good to do, but didn't promise a position to anyone. Recent administrations have included one or a few cabinet members from across the aisle.)

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

What she actually said was a bit different -- not a promise that she would, but a promise that she'd consider including a Republican in the interests of diverse viewpoints. And yes, JD Vance said something similar. Vance went so far as to name names, unlike Harris. thehill.com/homenews/cam...

Screenshot from an article, which reads:

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) said Friday that former President Trump would have a role for a Democrat in his Cabinet if he wins in November, following a similar pledge by Vice President Harris to appoint a Republican if she were to win.

“We actually got a lot of great Democratic support, we just got RFK [Jr.], of course, Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed the president in just the last couple of days,” Vance said Friday during an interview on “Fox and Friends,” referring to recent endorsements of Trump from Kennedy and Gabbard, the former House member from Hawaii who left the Democratic Party in 2022.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

I'm saying that the percentage of Americans who voted based on this is in the single digits. www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

At an onsen in Gifu. It'd have been nice to have some sun rather than just snow while we were there, but snow is beautiful in its own way.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

From my early 20s; I had more hair at the time, and it was blue. This was in Oregon...

This is from camping with friends in a forest in Oregon, at a camping event with music. This shows me and a friend in drag or ambiguously gendered ... we were dressed up for "Schwank". I had blue hair and an outfit partially from a store with women's clothes in San Francisco -- Ambiance.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Zooming out illustrates why statistics anchored at the start of Biden's term are misleading (though not actually dishonest) -- pandemic related measures substantially distorted the labor market for the last 10 months of Trump's term and the first months of Biden's term.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

The graph is deliberately misleading because it leaves out 2 years (half Biden's term!) during which wage growth outpaced inflation. fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES12... These real numbers, so the net increase means an net increase in real wages.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Re: your first graph -- even the most basic search illustrates that the statistics are distorted by covid relief fund disbursed in Jan 2021. Overall Trump saw slightly better growth-- by rashly engaging in wild deficit spending during a period of economic growth. www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

You didn't even notice that the end of Trump's term (months 38-48) were during covid, with vast monetary stimulus and obvious distortion of the labor market? And your decision to cut off the chart for Biden's term (ending in August 2022 is) dishonest and misleading. From ycharts.com/indicators/u...

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

The CFRB site has additional information. Inflation (both of prices and of income) has been significant (CPI was ~20%) over this timeframe, which explains about half the increase. There's more information about spending at fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-fin... ; this graph illustrates well.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

The trade deficit and budgetary deficits are unrelated. While "and" could connect completely unrelated clauses, the addition of "now" indicates that there's a relationship between them. Also, the US has been doing quite well economically. (I've certainly been better off pretty much every year.)

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Would you accept cat pictures?

Two cats are curled up together sleeping in a basket in a cat tower next to a window on a sunny day.

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Amusingly when I went to check this -- Google's AI apparently thinks that 3.9 is larger than 4.2. :-)

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Ed K @edk.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Post a pic you took (no description) to bring some zen

Two black cats who live upstairs stare at us and our cats from the window in the lightwell, with their heads together.

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