Yesterday’s Democratic town hall

Yesterday, there was a town hall event involving the three Democratic candidates for the party’s nomination. Because there was no free online access and I do not subscribe to cable news, I could not watch the event on CNN. The format consisted of something like a series of three successive press conferences with each candidate, with questions asked by members of the public that had been pre-selected by the moderator CNN’s Chris Cuomo but not given to the candidates in advance.
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Removing the stigma around abortion

Yesterday saw the event in Cleveland, as part of a nationwide program Breaking Our Silence, where people from the community read the stories of women who have had abortions in order to dispel the stigma surrounding that act. There were sixteen stories told and within that relatively small group the organizers had managed quite a feat of diversity. There were women and men, blacks, whites, and Asians, young, middle-aged, and old.
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Palin then and now

Sarah Palin is a media magnet like Donald trump. However much you know that they crave attention, that it is the very oxygen of their existence and they would wither away if they were ignored, it seems almost impossible to avoid reading about them and talking about them. I am as guilty as the next political observer of this behavior. I am not sure why that is but I suspect it is for the same reason that people are fascinated by sociopaths in general. Most of us cannot imagine behaving in such ways and try to understand what could be driving such peculiar behavior.
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The mocking of the Academy Awards nominations continues

The Academy Awards continues to get its lumps for the fact that its membership is skewed heavily white and male and old and this year’s nominees were conspicuous by the lack of actors of color, and that even in films that dealt explicitly with black themes and featured black actors in major roles, it was the white people involved who got nominated.
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How snowfalls are measured

People on the eastern seaboard of the US are digging themselves out after last week’s major snowstorm. One of the things that I have long been curious about is how people actually measure the amount of snow that falls. Unlike rainfall that is relatively easy to measure, snow is very variable in its water content and winds can cause it to swirl and create drifts and uneven amounts even within a small region.
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Trump’s problems will really begin if and when he becomes president

It is clear that Donald Trump is having a blast right now. For someone with a massive ego who loves to be in the limelight, has a gut instinct for what a sizable fraction of the country finds appealing, and does not mind whom he offends, running for president without having to beg people for money is an ideal occupation, especially since he can say whatever he wants and the media will cover him.
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Removing the stigma around abortion

As I wrote a few days ago, as part of a nationwide effort called Breaking Our Silence, I will be reading a story by a woman who had an abortion and neither regrets it nor feel ashamed about it. More details of the event to be held tomorrow at Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, OH 44110 from 6:00-8:00 pm. and is free and open to the public can be found at the above link.
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