
Clash of ages/Trash in my cache
Now that Joe Biden had his first gaff of the yet to be announced 2020 Presidential run, rumors are flying all over. Was it an honest slip of the tongue, was it planned, why did news break he might have offered the V.P. spot to Stacie Abrams?
Now, once again, the question of age has come to the surface asking if Joe is too old and if so will he promise to serve only one term? This makes the V.P. choice even more important and opens up even more questions about the unprecedented timing of this not normal choice.
Probably by now you’ve lost interest in this topic because the media can’t stop obsessing over the Mueller report.
Returning to the topic of age, the New York Times has an editorial about the most famous freshmen members of Congress all who happen to be women. It’s a good read because it dispels some widely held beliefs about the relevance of the sex and age of the members of Congress and the presumed effectiveness of women getting things done men can’t seem to finish. It made me drop my personal opinion on the latter point but I still hope for the first woman President and more in Congress.
Since I quit Facebook I’ve been reading articles by folks who have also dropped it. NYT tech writer Brian Chen broke free last year and posted a new piece where he shares his experiences including the fact he didn’t lose any “friends” because he was still in contact with them and didn’t really miss the other “friends” who existed only on Facebook who only seemed to share links to quizzes, political news stories or their opinions on them (the last two I am terminally guilty of doing).
In the end the FOMO (fear of missing out) turned out to be nothing to worry about. His life is moving along nicely, he’s saving a lot of money and the extra time recaptured is being used to do things which are actually productive .
The biggest change he noticed, and most important to me, was being able to escape most of the targeted ads that followed him around the internet on every device he uses. What changed was a big decline in impulse buying.
You might say ads don’t bother you or you might even like them, but they drove me nuts the way they seemed to immediately show up everywhere after you had done a search or clicked a link. Over time the little annoyances do build up and become stressful no matter how much I tell myself they don’t. In his piece he posted a link to one he’d written on what can be done to stop the madness.
Speaking of madness, let’s get back to our Mueller obsessions.
Opinion

People Actually Like the Green New Deal
Mitch McConnell’s show vote in the Senate on Tuesday rejected the plan, but Republicans may come to regret their mockery.
Read more (pdf)
Permalink
Opinion

A Dummy’s Guide to Democratic Policy Proposals
Democrats are offering up a litany of exciting big ideas. Let’s take a look.
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Permalink
EU cannot betray ‘increasing majority’ who want UK to remain, says Tusk
EC president hails those who marched against Brexit and revoke article 50 petitioners
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Is Pete Buttigieg the Future of the Democratic Party?
Pete Buttigieg is having a moment.
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h/t Michele Happe
Michelle Goldberg

Opinion
No Criminal Collusion. Lots of Corruption.
Don’t let Trump pretend he has been vindicated.
Read more (pdf)
Permalink
Museums Cut Ties With Sacklers as Outrage Over Opioid Crisis Grows
aka Museums say “Goddamn to the Pusherman
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TRUMP GOES FULL AUTHORITARIAN, ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF “TREASON”
“They certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.”
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It’s cheaper to replace most coal plants with renewables than keep them open, per report
New research finds that replacing 74 percent of coal plants with renewables would immediately reduce costs.
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TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENDS LIST OF DEMOCRATS WHO MADE ‘FALSE CLAIMS’ ABOUT RUSSIAN COLLUSION TO NEWS NETWORKS, ENCOURAGES PROGRAMS NOT TO BOOK THEM
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Pete Buttigieg: 2020 Democratic candidate surges to third place in new poll
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I’m choosing to hold off posting Mueller Report articles and opinions, it’s just too soon. What does matter is the judicial system worked and this matter is still a work in progress. We will not learn why Mueller did what he did and all the reasons why until we see the report. So, until then there are only opinions and points of law.
We’re in a new learning phase now so feel free to post whatever you dig up.
Whole new level of respect for Savannah Guthrie. Did not know she is a Georgetown Law School grad. It really shows in this takedown of Sarah Sanders. Watch and learn how it is done the right way. This is some real news.
Hmmmm, Trump’s Twitter tactics to be tested in court

One million join march against Brexit as Tories plan to oust May
Organisers hail UK’s ‘biggest-ever demo’, while Tom Watson leads calls for fresh referendum
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