The Books of Bokonon

This is a thought-provoking article in the Arkansas Times . The article's somewhat paywalled, but you should be able to read a limited number of articles for free. The basic thesis, with some data analyses to back it up, is that Democrats (progressive/moderate/etc) who want to have the most impact at winning voter over simply refuse to play by the GOP's rules. Instead of countering all the charges of "grooming" and GOP obsessiveness with bathrooms, focus on the sort of basic kitchen table issues that voters care about. So, let the culture warriors scream about their latest weird obsession. Tell voters how you plan to help them directly, whether at the local, state, or federal level. People want roads that work, affordable healthcare, electrical grids that function, etc.

Steven Beschloss has a much-needed post titled How Has Fox News Infected Your World? It's worth your time. I most likely saw part of a segment of Fox News for the first time as a grad student in the late 1990s. I tended to flip through the cable channels to see what was on, and there it was. I recall the channel's primary slogans of the time: "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report. You Decide." The thing was that what I experienced seemed no different from what I'd hear when I'd go through radio channels and catch various talk shows. There was a lot of yelling, a lot of vitriol about whatever the current outrage was, but nothing particularly constructive.  I say this as someone who has historically tried to understand events from different media outlets, including ones with editorial slants that might differ from my own perspective. The Sunday morning talk shows on the legacy media channels were quite useful for bringing in guests with relevant expertis...

 Ever since Russia attempted a full-scale invasion of Ukraine beginning on February 24, 2022, I've searched for and found numerous resources I consider to be reliable. Obviously, I have my own perspective on the current phase of a war that started almost a decade ago, and the sources I seek out are ones that likely share my perspective. There's a difference between having an editorial slant and being a propaganda outlet. I have no room in my life for the latter. The sources I rely upon are ones willing to report the good, bad, and ugly as well as can be expected under obviously difficult circumstances. So let's get to it. First, I rely a lot on the Institute for the Study of War . ISW currently covers both the war between Russia and Ukraine and the current unrest in Iran that has been ongoing since last summer. For now let's stick with Ukraine. The coverage is based on any information that is open-source and publicly available, with relevant links provided. ISW is a US ...