Meuller's indictments showing Russian money flowing to the GOP thru the NRA brings up something I have been wondering about. Perhaps the problem is not that "Republicans need to grow a spine" [7/18/18 NYT editorial] but that many GOP congress folk took NRA money that may have come from Russia and also got Russian help … Continue reading Grow a spine or stay out of jail?

Here is an easy math explanation of why about 80-90% of the gerrymandering comes from the GOP. To enact an extreme gerrymander, one party needs to control both the legislature and the governorship. For the 2010 redistricting, the GOP (after the tea party wave) had complete control of 40% of House seats, while the Dems … Continue reading Please stop repeating the falsehood that both parties gerrymander about equally.

The GOP tax bill makes grad students pay thousands of dollars a year in taxes on "income" they never receive so that the rich can pay less. I guess this is consistent with their anti-science stance. Trump canceled the White House Science Fair, appointed a radio talk show host as the Dept of Agriculture’s chief … Continue reading GOP war on science?

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/2/16399418/us-gun-violence-statistics-maps-charts http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/pro-gun-myths-fact-check/ The graphics in the Vox article show what an outlier the US is regarding guns. I especially note the Gun Ownership vs Gun Death graphic. [despite the "gun death" label, clicking though to the source, this graph is of the gun homicide rate (i.e., does not count suicides).] On the plus side, this … Continue reading Some data for the gun debate

Chuck Berry's Promised Land has always been special to me. I left England in 1973 after finishing my MSc, then traveled across the US to Stanford, and still remember driving across the Bay Bridge for the first time into San Francisco, my promised land. Then I went to my first Grateful Dead show (of 200) … Continue reading The Promised Land

Long and thought provoking article on the New Optimists in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/jul/28/is-the-world-really-better-than-ever-the-new-optimists Saying we are doing considerably better than 200 years ago is a weak argument. That happens to be the 2 centuries during which we invented all this wonderful technology, electricity, computers, cars, better/cheaper clothing and shelter, etc. Yes, we managed to use … Continue reading Do the New Optimists have a point?

We need to view the White House's [Trump, Spicer, Sanders] attacks on truth and the free press as a war on our country and its basic principles, not as some entertaining standup routine in a Biggest Liar reality show that will someday evaporate and leave the US with the rule of law back in place. … Continue reading White House attacks on truth and the free press

Given how the Media, Congress, and various Government agencies have reacted to Trump falsely accusing Obama of tapping his wires, I have a new idea for funding our space program. We get Trump to tweet something like:"Obama turned the moon into green cheese. Will destroy tides and crops. Evil." This could happen because Trump can … Continue reading New way to fund space exploration

In only 3 days, the White House has made it clear they will conduct a disinformation and propaganda campaign and try to neuter the free press. They spent the first press briefing lying about crowd sizes, knowing their lies could be easily disproved by anyone looking at the aerial photos. In his second brief, Spicer … Continue reading Who do you believe, Spicer and Conway or your lying eyes?