Interesting thread. Not sure what it adds to the discourse except maybe a bit of realism. I’m really looking forward to some article, years from now, examining how the GOP lost control of its populist branch.

Source: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/978254251582517248.html

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/978278671206289409

Elliott Morris is a bit more optimistic than Nate Silver, but here’s the bottom line: because Dems slept through the 2010 election, state Republicans got to draw electoral districts so as to pack some Dem districts to be solid blue, and crack the rest across a bunch of Republican districts so that Dems lose their voting power and are drowned by Republican votes. The result is that (a) it will take a huge swing in vote margins to flip the House (which might happen, if we all get out and vote), but also (b) just a few more points lets us pick up a lot more Republican seats.

State-level elections matter, a lot.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/978281292570775552

<<The conditions are pretty ripe for a landslide this year, so Democrats might do it (about a ~65% chance, per betting markets). But it takes a *lot* of things to go right when one side is spotted what amounts to a 7-point handicap.>>

As it scrambled to compete in the internet world, the once-dominant tech company cut tens of thousands of U.S. workers, hitting its most senior employees hardest and flouting rules against age bias.

Source: https://features.propublica.org/ibm/ibm-age-discrimination-american-workers/

Long read. I guess IBM isn’t/won’t be the only company doing this, just one of the more visible ones. Competition with the world; younger, cheaper labor; illusions and delusions of competency; proper valuing of experience; etc., etc. Nothing ever really changes?

(https://getpocket.com said “Here, read this”, so I did.)

Must say: the “Twitter Lite” progressive web app is amazing. No difference whatsoever between this and an app, except maybe long press doesn’t automatically copy text.

https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/

https://twitter.com/edennnnnn/status/976556192318173184?s=20

«if bullying caused school shootings, you would see trans shooters, queer shooters, female shooters, POC shooters.

bullying does not cause school shootings; entitlement does. and white boys are the most entitled demographic by far.»

https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/977607682436816898?s=20

«A girl who was shot w/ an AR15 5 weeks ago, Samantha Fuentes, stood up in front millions across the world, vomited on stage & then continued her incredible speech like nothing happened

This is why these kids will WIN
This is why these kids will CHANGE America

#MarchForOurLives»

Vote.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/iraq-war-anniversary/555983/

«

The only other person awake, meanwhile, was one of my Rangers, who was on the porch of our house with a cup of coffee in one hand and a Marlboro Red in the other. He looked me up and down. I was wearing my underwear and flip-flops and carrying my carbine in one hand and my body armor in the other.

He took a drag from his cigarette and looked at me again, bemused.

“Good morning, sir. What the fuck are you doing?”

It was a good question.

»

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/retropolis/wp/2018/02/20/children-have-changed-america-before-braving-fire-hoses-and-police-dogs-for-civil-rights/?utm_term=.09772205f5b5&__twitter_impression=true

«King had witnessed the youthful energy that propelled the 1961 Freedom Rides. As John Lewis, who at age 21 was beaten bloody during the rides, recalled: “We considered it natural and necessary to involve children — adolescents — in the movement. We weren’t far from being teenagers ourselves, and we shared many of the same basic feelings of adolescence: unbounded idealism, courage unclouded by ‘practical’ concerns, faith and optimism untrampled by the ‘realities’ of the adult world.”»

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/24/17159916/march-for-our-lives-emma-gonzalez-silence

Holy moly, this is how you do a moment of silence. Is this the new 4’33”?