Wow. As critical as I've been of the execution of this season (while liking the ideas of the plot lines), that was a flat out great way to bring all the stories together. Including the classic ending "brutal showdown in which many redshirts are killed, but then news of a common enemy arrives in time to unite the…

Dan Savage—who was to put it mildly in favor of same sex marriage—was practically tearing his hair out with people who in 2008 muttered "Well if one of them is paying lip service to a social position that needs a few more years to become the will of the majority, and one of them is willing to pass corrosive…

Still people don't always vote in terms of a purely economic self-interest basis.

Temperament was the huge problem people had with Trump (in poll after poll). It's not like the man had consistent policy positions—even the wall wobbled around on the day Coulter's book saying he wouldn't wobble on the wall came out.

I like Top Chef, but have to hope certain forces post them to YouTube. So whether or not I read in a timely manner is up in the air.

Striking point made on 538, I think by Claire Malone, is that if you look at Gallup polls faith in institutions cratered after two events—no wmds in Iraq, and the banking/housing collapse. Trump is what happens when people have no faith in any institutions.

I remember in 2008 and '12 Dan Savage practically tearing his hair out that, yes, Obama had to make mouth sounds about marriage because otherwise he would not get elected, even if he could feel really pure about how right he was while not in office.

This could be a fascinating development, with people trying to hack Trump's twitter and set policy because he won't want to admit the breach.

As someone who was neutral in the D primary, but still on the side of acknowledging objective reality, the various spins on how Bernie was secretly winning and would still triumph (in a real world, totally going to happen sense, not as a technically possible hypothetical) was maddening.

It was a close election, ergo any number of hypothetical shifts might lead to a different outcome. But I don't think people can ignore that as insane as it seemed a year ago, polls or not, by February it was clear that people were not joking when they said they would vote for Trump.

"Republicans fall in line, Democrats need to fall in love." It is dismaying how thoroughly this has been illustrated in the last few elections. The Republican candidate routinely gets a tad over 60 million votes; the Dems a hair less, or a hair more (but potentially losing the EC if the distribution is bad), or way…

In 2008, the early Dem field was quite diverse. In 2016, it was striking how we quickly brushed away a few minor contenders for two very old white people, one not a Democrat, while people made wistful sounds about wishing they could have two other old white people (Biden and Warren, both of whom I like a great deal).

I think Dems really need to think many times about how that diverse coalition holds if they fight to adopt the message "Older white working class males in fading rust belts are the REAL America, and the only voters who count."

I figured the little ones were away visiting grandparents. I took my kids on some trips when my husband couldn't get off, and anyone in emergency services likely can't get several days' off over any major holidays.

Canals?

I was distracted because I think you usually want to kill the turkey the day before, so it can get through rigor mortis and back to tender. And Boyle would know that.

I expected the turkey to plummet to its death out the window.

I'm reading The Attention Merchants by Tim Wu, which is basically about offering free content that grabs eyeballs and selling those eyeballs. And how the competition for eyeballs drives toward the lowest lows, and rewards eyeball-grabbing over any truth. (In the 19th century, this was the furry red four-foot-tall bat…

I've anecdotally noticed a definite herd of snotty people who believe that if weed doesn't make them anxious and paranoid, then everyone who experiences or observes that (very common and well-documented) effect is lying. e.g., No abusive lover gets paranoid and starts accusing you of cheating whenever they get high.

The last shares the same problem of "uh, Dan, it is illegal in most states and so maybe the whole criminal record thing is not a reasonable cost of admission for solving whatever the minor problem is."