Wednesday, October 12, 2016

The Bern


I found this tree on Hampstead Heath on Sunday. I can't believe the tentacles of the American presidential election have reached into my forest sanctuary, but here's the evidence. I'm not sure whether it was painted when Bernie was still a viable candidate, or more recently as a protest against Hillary.


In any case, it's probably not the best use of a tree. Even Bernie would agree to that, I feel certain.

And meanwhile, the blue in the bar graph on the home page of The New York Times just keeps going higher and higher:


A thing of beauty, isn't it? You can click here to see some of the calculations that go into that prediction.

Other than that, I don't have much for you today. Yesterday was busy, and I got out of the office briefly when I went to the bank for change and dropped off a local library book that got put in our returns box by mistake. I also walked to work listening to the ninth episode of the first season of the "Serial" podcast. I'm hooked!

9 comments:

  1. So... you are one of these fellows who walks about with earphones in - oblivious to what's around you - footsteps from behind, low-flying pigeons, pavement cyclists etcetera? Believe me - you'll be sorry one day, then "Serial" won't seem so good after all. You need to be alert at all times on the mean streets of west London.

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  2. I woke up to a doctor's office calling and then opened the paper to find the report of a Trump rally a few counties over and at this point in my day, having been awake for all of forty-three minutes, I want to slap someone.
    Mostly the woman who called me and Donald Trump. And all of his deplorables.
    A quote from a supporter, "Well, he's probably a new Christian. We all make mistakes."

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  3. I saw one prediction map that colored Texas blue! I don't expect it for a minute but sure was nice to see.

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  4. That blue bar did lift my spirits for a bit. Thanks for that. Last night I had to turn the news off because I just couldn't stand to listen to anymore about this election. I've come to the conclusion that Trump supporters are living in some sort of alternate reality. One that I can't wrap my brain around. I have not heard one articulate or logical explanation as to why they support him. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. I love this quote by a Florida GOP lobbyist, "Trump supporters have lost all touch with reality, they are face down in the Kool-Aid".

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  5. Maybe it's just that I've been seeing Hallowe'en decorations everywhere I go, but at first I thought someone had painted "blood" coming from that poor tree to try to draw attention to environmental issues or something :) Feel the Bern is a very different kettle of fish!

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  6. I woke up this morning with a distinct feeling of relief that I don't have to go back to the hospital, so I'm feeling mighty grateful today. It only gets better to see that blue graph!

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  7. Regardless of politics, that's a terrible thing to do to a tree. And I enjoy Hillary's steadily soaring poll numbers, too.

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  8. Thank you for that lovely blue graph! It gives me hope.

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