How Congress can stop gerrymandering

This actually sounds as if it could work.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/gerrymandering-redistricting-census-congress/2020/07/17/d1002146-c6f5-11ea-8ffe-372be8d82298_story.html  

John Lewis obituary

Wonderful obit this morning in the Post.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-r-lewis-front-line-civil-rights-leader-and-eminence-of-capitol-hill-dies-at-80/2020/07/17/54a67e1a-c3ad-11ea-b4f6-cb39cd8940fb_story.html

Notable Quote #11

“Talc is cheap.” 

Maggie Simpson:  Season 31, Episode 15 (“Screenless”)

We can’t wait for schools to reopen safely!

“Everyone knows how important it is that we have a plan to reopen schools safely. That is why the Trump administration has devised a plan: to reopen schools. They sure hope your governor has plans for the safety part! In the meantime, your kids and their teachers get to be heroes and pioneers, instead of just reading about them in musty textbooks!”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/08/we-cant-wait-schools-reopen-safely/

LP #35 Mary Chapin Carpenter – Come On Come On (1992)

Back in the days when country music radio welcomed everyone from Rhodes Scholars to Brown University graduates, Mary Chapin Carpenter had an amazing run of commercial success, hitting the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart 17 times between 1989 and 1995. Seven of those hits were from this album, and the album itself was her most commercially successful, selling over 4 million copies in the U.S. Most of the non-single tracks are great as well (especially “I Am A Town” and “Rhythm Of The Blues”), to the extent that I (regretfully) had to leave her cover of Mark Knopfler’s “The Bug” off of my list below.

 

Favorite tracks:

 

Passionate Kisses 

He Thinks He'll Keep Her

I Feel Lucky

The Hard Way

I Am A Town

I Take My Chances

Rhythm Of The Blues

Lyric Of The Day #19 (July 9, 2020)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSxwqBJLU8A

 

Starting with:

 

Close the door, light the light

We're stayin' home tonight

 

And a chorus that begins:

 

We'll build a world of our own that no one else can share

 

My all-time favorite Australian act was obviously 55 years ahead of its time.

The impossible dream

https://foxtrot.com/2020/07/05/impossible-dream/

Early prediction

The recently-released Reunions, by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, will wind up getting a GRAMMY nomination for Album Of The Year. You (probably) heard it here first.

America can’t act like a team, and it might cost us the return of sports

From Tom Boswell:

 

“Our clubhouse is so full of feuding, selfishness, team-last egos and backstabbing that we can’t even agree to wear a face mask during a plague. Our fury is so close to the surface that a few words lead to screams. If the world were a sports league, we would be a franchise falling apart fast.”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/06/24/america-cant-act-like-team-it-might-cost-us-return-sports/

LP #34 Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong (2011)

This, the second studio album from Dawes, offers both consistency and a number of true high points. Their fourth album, All Your Favorite Bands, and their sixth effort, Passwords, also stand out, although only the title track from the former reaches the level of the best 3 or 4 tracks from Nothing Is Wrong. I still haven’t figured out why their even-numbered releases significantly outshine the others.

 

Favorite tracks:

 

A Little Bit Of Everything  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr51EmoKQnA

Time Spent In Los Angeles

If I Wanted Someone

Fire Away

Million Dollar Bill

How Far We’ve Come