Conceptual Cooking

“Yogurt is just like really runny cheese.”

Things You Hear on NPR: Democrats ‘Suffered’ under Reign of Republican Minority

The whole tone of this NPR piece is in this vein, but this line takes the cake:

. . . Democrats who suffered under McConnell’s tactics over the past six years might be a little suspicious of Mitch McConnell . . . .

The Democrats have been the majority in the Senate for the last six years.  Mitch McConnell was the minority leader.

Bizarre.

Web Comic Biblenauts Explores Bible with Humor, Compassion

A friend of a friend of a friend started drawing a Web comic a couple of months ago.  Biblenauts follows two time-traveling visitors through the stories of the Bible, starting with the first chapter.

The author isn’t exactly an orthodox believer—as his “About” page jokes, “The views and opinions expressed in this comic strip do not necessarily reflect the opinions of God or his affiliates”—but Biblenauts is occasionally both thoughtful and moving.  Here, it contemplates the creation and destruction of the world and the meaning of free will, suffering, and mercy.

Election Day vs. Election Month

As discussed here recently, more early voting means more expensive campaigns, more money in politics, more entrenched incumbents, and more uninformed voting.  In Jonah Goldberg’s column last week, he agrees: “Vote Early and Ignorant”

Both political parties were determined to boost turnout among “low-propensity voters,” a euphemism for people who don’t care very much about politics. Naturally, this often means they also don’t know very much about politics. . . .

Half Empty, Half Full, Runneth Over

One Christian tells his personal story: Zack Locklear, “My Biggest Struggle With Christianity”

One of the beautiful challenges of attending a secular university has been being forced to look at Christianity through a different lens from what I had been used to in the past. . . . Incredulous and skeptical, I eventually wondered into the thick fog of nihilism. When God became unapproachable, life became meaningless; and a person can only live so long like that. . . .

Capturing the Coveted Anti-reality Vote

NPR this week, trying to explain why Republicans beat Democrats so badly in Tuesday’s elections:

People who came out to register their distress with Obama or congressional Democrats — or with any aspect of current reality — were more likely to vote Republican for governor, as well.

Buckeye Institute: Cuts to Ohio’s Local Government Fund Good Policy

I’ve talked to a number of local-government officials in Ohio who are very critical of the state government’s cuts to the state Local Government Fund since Governor Kasich was elected in 2010.  Some of the criticisms are covered in this Columbus Dispatch article, for example.

Three Takeaways from Yesterday’s Election Results

(Update, November 11th, 2014:  Commemorative T-shirts now available!)

How badly did Democrats lose last night?  So badly that NPR led one story this morning with the line “There is very little upside for Democrats in yesterday’s election results.”  So badly that NPR headlined another story “Republican Candidates Swept; Democrats Wept”.  So badly that NPR jokes that we need a new word to express how bad it was.

A few thoughts:

1: No Blue State Safe

Four Reasons to Vote Today

See below

1: Obamacare

While we work toward electing a better chief executive in 2016, now is a great time to start building a Republican majority in the Senate, both to take such steps as they can in 2015 and to pass a full repeal and replacement of Obamacare in 2017.

National Review has a timely editorial on the subject: “Obamacare: Unpopular as Ever”

2014 Cincinnati Issue 11: Probably Fine

If you live in the city of Cincinnati, one issue you will be able to vote on today is an amendment to the city charter, Issue 11.  Current city councilman Kevin Flynn encourages us to vote for it.

The amendment makes these changes in the charter:

• Adds a general severability clause that says if one provision of the charter is found to be illegal or unenforceable, it does not adversely affect the remainder of the charter. It will replace the many redundant individual clauses currently scattered through the document.

Investigation Indicates Thousands Voted Illegally, ‘up to 7 percent of Maryland’s registered voters could be non-citizens’

Continuing on the recent topic of voter fraud, more news about how illegal voters may actually be changing outcomes and helping Democrats win elections:

PJ Media reports,

An election integrity watchdog group is suing the state of Maryland, alleging that it has discovered massive and ongoing fraudulent voting by non-U.S. citizens in one county. But because of the way that the non-citizens are able to cast votes in elections, the fraud is likely happening in every single county and subdivision across the state. The group believes that the illegal voting has been happening for years.