Random Thoughts

[DodosAreDead]

Spare change found under couch cushions could just be spiders or other creepy crawlies leaving rent.

[Silver]

You ever wake up so tired you want to cry, but you can't go back to sleep?

[Angrboda]

Republican voters, outraged by the treatment of their nominee in Congress, are more fired up than they’ve been since the midterms began. They flock to the polls, eager to defend their majority.

Democratic voters are out in droves, too. But the toughest Senate races are being fought in states that President Trump won in 2016. So things are looking bleak for incumbents like Heidi Heitkamp, Claire McCaskill and even Jon Tester.

That’s the image many Republicans were painting of the midterms this morning.

But here’s the thing (and it’s a biggie): Today is not Election Day.

You probably didn’t need The New York Times to tell you that.

But hear me out — the timing of this whole confirmation battle matters for the midterms.

A lot.

Pollsters often measure intensity — or how excited people are to vote — by asking them to rate their eagerness on a scale of 1 to 10. Before Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation became so contentious, Republicans told me they were seeing a 12- to 15-point gap between Democrats and Republicans who said they were a 10 on the scale.

Yikes.

Republicans kept waiting for that gap to tighten, as is expected as Election Day nears. But it wasn’t happening, and that was freaking them out.

Now, finally, the gap has closed. A poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist released yesterday found almost no difference in the percentage of Republicans and Democrats who say voting in the November elections is “very important.”

The party has unified. Republicans are thrilled. So is President Trump.

But you know who else is fired up by the confirmation battle? Democrats — particularly the independents and women who are considered crucial voters in battleground suburban counties.
The question is not who is angrier today. The question is whose anger lasts until Election Day.

Here’s another principle in politics: Losers are easier to motivate than winners.

“Every last Democrat in the country is going to come out if he gets confirmed,” said Whit Ayres, a prominent Republican pollster, of Judge Kavanaugh.

Even with that energy, a Democratic sweep is by no means guaranteed. Typically, independents are less likely to vote than people affiliated with parties. Republicans generally turn out in higher numbers for midterms than Democrats. And in a handful of states with early voting, some people are casting ballots right now.

But for most Americans, there are 33 days to get through before they enter a voting booth.

“Election Day is several lifetimes away in the world we’re living in now,” Mr. Ayres said. “It’s entirely possible that the Kavanaugh nomination and confirmation could be a distant memory by then.”

(The New York Times, On Politics with Lisa Lerer)

As Republican tempers moderate, Democrat fires will continue to be stoked by Republican and Trumpian batshittery. Particularly as Republicans put off all big decisions until after midterms.

[outtathereligioncloset]

[onlinebiker]

I wasn't wondering. But now I am, why I hadn't thought to think of it.

Shit.

I' ll never get back to sleep now.

Thanks...

[brewer]

Why don't we eat more goats in the US?

[Angrboda]

You mean three million goats is not enough?

[Angrboda]

According to a recent report by the World Health Organization, unsafe abortions lead to the death of 47,000 women every year, with almost all of these deaths occurring in developing countries. A further five million women are injured each year, sometimes permanently.

Almost all of these deaths and injuries could be prevented, the WHO says, by meeting the need for sex education and information about family planning and contraception, and by providing safe, legal induced abortion, as well as follow-up care to prevent or treat medical complications. An estimated 220 million women in the developing world say that they want to prevent pregnancy, but lack either knowledge of, or access to, effective contraception.

That is a huge tragedy for individuals and for the future of our already very heavily populated planet. Last month, the London Summit on Family Planning, hosted by the British government’s Department for International Development and the Gates Foundation, announced commitments to reach 120 million of these women by 2020.

The Vatican newspaper responded by criticizing Melinda Gates, whose efforts in organizing and partly funding this initiative will, it is estimated, lead to nearly three million fewer babies dying in their first year of life, and to 50 million fewer abortions. One would have thought that Roman Catholics would see these outcomes as desirable. (Gates is herself a practicing Catholic who has seen what happens when women cannot feed their children, or are maimed by unsafe abortions.)

~ Peter Singer. Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter.

[Fireball]

According to a recent report by the World Health Organization, unsafe abortions lead to the death of 47,000 women every year, with almost all of these deaths occurring in developing countries. A further five million women are injured each year, sometimes permanently.

Almost all of these deaths and injuries could be prevented, the WHO says, by meeting the need for sex education and information about family planning and contraception, and by providing safe, legal induced abortion, as well as follow-up care to prevent or treat medical complications. An estimated 220 million women in the developing world say that they want to prevent pregnancy, but lack either knowledge of, or access to, effective contraception.

That is a huge tragedy for individuals and for the future of our already very heavily populated planet. Last month, the London Summit on Family Planning, hosted by the British government’s Department for International Development and the Gates Foundation, announced commitments to reach 120 million of these women by 2020.

The Vatican newspaper responded by criticizing Melinda Gates, whose efforts in organizing and partly funding this initiative will, it is estimated, lead to nearly three million fewer babies dying in their first year of life, and to 50 million fewer abortions. One would have thought that Roman Catholics would see these outcomes as desirable. (Gates is herself a practicing Catholic who has seen what happens when women cannot feed their children, or are maimed by unsafe abortions.)

~ Peter Singer. Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter.

I'm sure you realize it, but the RCC doesn't give a shit about those people, or their conditions. Any claim to the contrary is so glaringly against the facts that it is just sickening. As long as the nose count is high enough for generating more income, they'll keep at it.

[Angrboda]

In the “Summary for Policymakers” of its 2014 Fifth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that, globally, economic and population growth continue to be “the most important drivers” of increases in CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 222 million women in developing countries do not want to have children now, but lack the means to ensure that they do not conceive. Providing them with access to contraception would help them plan their lives as they wish, weaken demand for abortion, reduce maternal deaths, give children a better start in life, and contribute to slowing population growth and greenhouse gas emissions, thus benefiting us all.

Who could oppose such an obvious win-win proposition? The only naysayers, we may suspect, are those in the grip of a religious ideology that they seek to impose on others, no matter what the consequences for women, children, and the rest of the world, now and for centuries to come.

~ Peter Singer. Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter.

---

A study of 28 European countries found that depression cost them €118 billion in 2004, or 1 percent of their combined GDP. The cost of treating depression accounted for only 9 percent of this huge sum. A much larger share was lost productivity.

~ Peter Singer. Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter.