Wednesday Open Thread

9 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. It's nice to see that Ohio voters had more sense than Colorado voters regarding the process of amending their constitution. Washington Post:

   Ohio voters rejected a measure Tuesday that would have made it more difficult to amend the state constitution ahead of a November vote to ensure access to abortion.

   For more than a century, Ohioans have been able to amend the state constitution with a simple majority. The failed measure would have changed that threshold to 60 percent.

   With about 88 percent of votes counted Tuesday night, 56.5 percent voted against the proposal, while 43.5 percent supported it. The Associated Press projected the measure would fail.

   Flash back to 2016, and Colorado Amendment 71, backed by the Oily Boyz and supported by complicit leaders and former leaders such as Hick, Ritter, and Romer, passed by a similar but opposite margin of 56 to 44. Props to Polis, he was on the right side of 71.

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   1. Haven't been that pleased with the voters of my former state since long ago when they overwhelmingly shot down a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have allowed private insurance companies to participate in the workers' compensation system.

      Now, you Ohioans, get on out there and vote yes on that reproductive freedom amendment come Nov. 7!

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   2. Yes, Polis opposed Amendment 71 but so did John Andrews, Kevin Lundborg, and the Independence Institute.

      The threshold for passing constitutional amendments – as opposed to statutory amendments – should be higher. 

      The nice thing about Amendment 71 was that it had a grandfather provision to allow stuff that had passed in the past by a simple majority to be repealed by a simple majority. 

       

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2. Just a reminder: Dano’s send-off is this evening. Everyone is welcome. 

   Here are the details. No funeral; he didn’t want one. Just a gathering of friends. We’ll eat, drink and tell stories about him. If you knew him, if only from here, please come.

   Wednesday

   9 August

   6:30-8:30 pm.

   Grant Avenue Community Center

   216 S Grant Ave

   Denver. CO, 80209

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   1. A small day-brightener for you –

      As consolation for Alabama losing the space force, Biden has named an infectious disease expert from Univ Alabama Birmingham to replace Dr. Fauci as head of Nat Inst |Allery-Infectious Disease.  Her specialty is STD research including HIV-AIDS.  It will be a real pleasure to watch AL politicians fulminate against one of their own (a qualified woman!) about prevention and treatment of STDs.

      Per AP:

      WASHINGTON (AP) — A research scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was named Wednesday to succeed Dr. Anthony Fauci as the nation’s top infectious disease expert. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo will become director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the fall. She will oversee the agency’s $6.3 billion budget, its research and its response to infectious disease outbreaks.

      Fauci, 82, retired from a five-decade career in December. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he became a household name as he gave updates at daily White House press conferences and in frequent media interviews.

      Since Fauci’s retirement, Dr. Hugh Auchincloss Jr. has been serving as acting director.

      Marrazzo’s research has focused on sexually transmitted diseases and the prevention of HIV infection. At the university, she is director of the medical school’s division of infectious diseases.

      Her appointment was made by Lawrence Tabak, acting director for the National Institutes of Health.

       

       

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      1. Dr. Marrazzo is an out LGBTQ person, so it will be interesting to see how the Alabama culture warriors try to figure an angle to attack her.

          

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         1. I know it's a bit perverse but I'm looking forward to how far up their own asses they'll crawl to attack this woman. Tubes is going to lose his shit completely. 

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            1. I'm old enough to remember when Roberta Achtenberg was appointed by Bill Clinton to be deputy secretary of HUD.

               The late Jesse Helms – may he rot in hell – trashed her as a "mean lesbian" and attempted a filibuster of her appointment. She was confirmed by a vote of 58 to 31 after three days of debate.

               The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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      2. That did make me happy, RavenDog. And it will chap the right-wingers’ hides. That’s a two-fer.                                                                                                       
         I hope some folks from here will drop in on Dano’s Celebration of Life tonight. Hope to see you there. 

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