Split

Okay, so what does make politicians take the 20 side on 20-80 social issues? You can't completely rule out conscience in all cases, but in most it's not a very good explanation. 

This article by Lisa Selin Davis addresses some things I was curious about. Notably, Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey recently defeated challenger Seth Moulton by taking a maximal position on trans rights, and especially by supporting trans athletes in student sports. Now is this a majority position among Bay State residents? I actually wasn't able to find the raw numbers. I suspect that the majority are more moderate, but when you're talking about primary voters it's a different story. Talk about blue state Democratic doners and it's a very different story.

Davis highlights Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton as a counterexample. Acton has vocally opposed boys in girls' sports, and still won the nomination. Ohio being more of a conservative state has probably changed the math on that, as Davis clarifies at the end.

This may be the pattern in elections to come. Red-state Democrats will find it easier to articulate a majority position; blue-state Democrats will still have to appease primary voters at the ideological extremes. Expect more Markey-style lean-ins in liberal states, and lean-out moderates where conservatives hold sway.

Again, the politics of the issue are pretty conservative nationwide. But in a state like Massachusetts, Democratic candidates get the benefit of the doubt even from a lot of voters who disagree with them on specific issues. That opens the door for activists who want to push them to the extremes. This doesn't happen as much in states where they have to fight for a chance.

Legs that wouldn't quit

...because they had to tell time. 

I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with the idea of a nudist resort in Indiana, even though that Midwestern state isn't the first place I'd guess one would be. It was started by a German immigrant, which feels right for the Hoosier state. Eventually it passed into the stewardship of Dick Drost, an especially unfortunate name when you learn why he had to leave Indiana.

But it's the leg that really interests me. A giant female leg, crooked just so, casting shadows on the numbers of a sundial is a brilliant idea. It's not necessarily one that needs to be limited to clothing optional settings, either. Imagine if something like this was erected in any of the country's remaining town squares. Certainly seems like something that would make you sit up and take notice.

DP

When I was a kid, Dolly Parton jokes were―like a couple of other things―pretty big. But I learned early on that she was a great singer and songwriter first of all. Learned it with my own ears. Much respect.

There are those who still hold against her some things she said and did during the COVID year. Well, what can I say? Big propaganda campaigns can pull a lot of people in, and that one certainly did.

Andean stimulant

Had a good laugh today on this page of miscellany, and particularly on the explanatory note for the 23-Down clue:

The coca plant is native to South America, and is similar in appearance to a blackthorn bush. Coca leaves have been chewed by humans for centuries, perhaps even as far back as 3,000 years ago. Chewing the leaves apparently produces a pleasurable numb sensation in the mouth and a pleasant taste. The most famous alkaloid in the leaf is cocaine, but this wasn’t extracted in its pure form until the mid-1800s. The extracted cocaine was used in a medicines and tonics and other beverages, including the original version of Coca-Cola! Before 1903, a glass of Coke would contain about 9mg of cocaine. Coca-Cola still uses coca leaves, as the flavor is prized, but the cocaine is extracted before it arrives at the bottling plant.

Now I've always thought that the flavoring in your basic bottle or can of coke was strictly derived from sugar, kola nuts, and carbonation. But apparently they're still using coca leaves for flavoring as well. Ah, but "the cocaine is extracted before it arrives at the bottling plant."

Now all that cocaine they're extracting has to go somewhere, doesn't it? Of course those whose job it is to extract it just pour it all down the drain. Riiiiiiiiiight.

Meanwhile Coca-Cola is having afterparties that sometimes last until sunrise.

ἔντομον

Okay, this is the strategy I have for bugs. For summer and probably into early autumn, you gotta have one.

If it's in my apartment, I'll do my best to kill it. I have to live here. I've relocated some moths to the outside in the past, but there's not always time.

If it's already outside, I'll let it be. As an illustration, if there's an ant where my foot is about to come down, I'll do my best to miss it. The ecosystem does need them.

Obviously, those that try to sting or bite me are an exception. And I've grimly accepted that I have to put the kibosh on lanternflies whenever I see them and am able to get to them. Although I'm still hoping our birds acquire a taste for them.

Foxy

Sly Stone hit some lofty heights in the early days of his career. For a while it seemed he could do no wrong. It didn't really last beyond the early 70s. In 2011 he put out an album called I'm Back!, but it didn't really prove he was. That's true in a lot of cases. The downside of achievement is the struggle to equal it. But at least you've achieved.

As to the title of this song, it's still summer, not as hot. Bit better for sleeping.

Up & down

Let me describe a sliver of a dream I had recently, and the effect it had on me. 

There's a balcony or a deck. It's impossibly high up, A sci-fi skyscraper, like out of Metropolis. A cat is out there. It either climbs the guardrail or someone lifts it, that detail is unclear.

And there I shake myself awake. I don't have an irrational fear of heights. I have a very rational belief that you don't mess with heights past a certain point. And while cats are graceful, there are limits.