I am so thankful that I am salaried, and if push comes to shove, my family could probably get by on one salary, but as stated above, the real kicker is debt, mortgage, rent, etc. I'm not going to scoff at $1000 (we'd probably put it in the bank just in case until this blows over), but if this lasts into the fall or even farther, $1000/person is not going to do much.

Either a regular living wage for all Americans until this blows over and/or moratoriums on rent, mortgage, loans, etc., seem to be the best routes. For hourly or gig workers, I just have no idea what they're going to do. It's honestly scary. I'm currently listening to some Woody Guthrie to get me in the mood for a good ole fashioned economic disaster coupled with environmental disaster. Who has a "This Machine Kills Fascists" sticker??

Well this is terrifying. 18 months to a viable, widely available vaccine, and current social distancing only increases potential future cases, but at a slower rate to result in less overwhelmed health care and fewer overall deaths.

Eighteen. Months.

Biden is far from my first choice and carries some baggage with him, too, but by God if he's the nominee and you're a "progressive" who continues to bad mouth him, you can get """.

Only tangentially related....

I signed up to run my first marathon this October in Chicago. I was thrilled to be selected in their lottery system. I'm really concerned about what this all will mean. I'm also traveling to Chicago for a school competition in late May - also worrisome. To me, this has felt different from the buzz around bird flu, swine flu, and the other pandemic panics of recent years. Time will tell I guess.

My dad is a pastor and I have several family members who are pastors. I know that frequently, while "God" doesn't need money, institutions on Earth do. There are bills to pay, salaries, insurance, mortgages for church buildings, etc. All that being said, what this woman is doing is fraudulent, corrupt, and un-Christian. This type of prosperity Gospel BS really grinds my gears.

He was a long shot anyway, but I'm still sad to see him go. The challenges of automation are going to have to be addressed sooner or later, as will the impact those challenges will have on our standard of living, average wage, etc.

I do occasionally teach some Thomas Paine in my American Lit classes to tenth graders. It's a tough sell, but I think it can be an interesting look at persuasion and Enlightenment thought. The opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is great for that, too.

Anyway. I'm currently reading The Odyssey (been slogging through it for years and finally got to the last book), Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, and a marathon training book to get ready for my first (and probably only) full marathon in Chicago this October. Assuming there is still a Chicago and that interstate travel hasn't been banned.

"Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?"

I don't know if this is addressed in the article (didn't read, maybe will read later as time allows), but sometimes these comparative studies are off track because we test all students in the US whereas other countries test those students who are university-bound because they start students on vocational tracks earlier in life. I'm not saying that's what's happening here, but it is at least worth considering who makes up the sample sizes.

For example, in Wisconsin, Rotary International Exchange students are required to take the ACT (along with all other juniors in the state) because the state decided to use the ACT to measure school's progress. Since the Rotary students are enrolled, they get no extra accommodations for language proficiency or fluency yet are included in all the scores that a district would have to report out on.

Seems like a number of these are open to interpretation. "Supported the Patriot Act." Frankly I wish he had opposed it or given up some executive power, but the Patriot Act is the current law of the land. So this article is arguing that Obama broke the law by upholding the law and using the powers granted to the Executive by Congress through the Patriot Act?

I aM sURe tHaT He jUST wAnTeD tO PlAY YaHtZeE WiTh HeR

Jeff, "I was trolling" after the fact is a pretty low response. You made a BS statement and got called on it. You should really own up.

The argument about discounting California's votes has got to be one of the DUMBEST argument ever pushed by the right. How about this: if we discount California's vote total entirely, why shouldn't we also discount an equivalent number of votes FOR Trump? What would that do to the EC and popular vote totals? Regardless, Californians are just as much a part of the Republic as Texans, Alabamans, Michiganders, etc. you want to not count their vote strictly because there are more of them and they voted differently than you. That's about the most undemocratic a person can make.

How do you define authentic? What a riot. I mean honestly I'm impressed you included a leftist and a left-centrist in your list of "authentic" people, but what a bizarre metric.