Uncertainty in the wake of the Oregon arrests

The members of the militia arrested by the FBI could face ten years or more in prison for their actions. It is not clear what will happen if and when they post bail and get out of jail. After all this tough talk about fighting government tyranny, will they meekly show up for trial or will they again defy the government to come and get them, this time from a more fortified position? Recall that Cliven Bundy still roams free on the family ranch. If Ammon and Ryan Bundy go back to their father’s ranch and refuse to attend their trial, what then?
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The Oregon standoff turns deadly

Late last night reports emerged that federal agents had been involved in a shootout with the militants that had taken over the Malheur Wildlife Refuge near the town of Burns, Oregon. Reports said that one person had been killed and that Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who had been seen as the leaders of the takeover, and four others had been arrested. The arrests happened on a highway, apparently as the militants were on their way to a community meeting in the town of John Day.
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Yesterday’s Democratic town hall

Yesterday, there was a town hall event involving the three Democratic candidates for the party’s nomination. Because there was no free online access and I do not subscribe to cable news, I could not watch the event on CNN. The format consisted of something like a series of three successive press conferences with each candidate, with questions asked by members of the public that had been pre-selected by the moderator CNN’s Chris Cuomo but not given to the candidates in advance.
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Removing the stigma around abortion

Yesterday saw the event in Cleveland, as part of a nationwide program Breaking Our Silence, where people from the community read the stories of women who have had abortions in order to dispel the stigma surrounding that act. There were sixteen stories told and within that relatively small group the organizers had managed quite a feat of diversity. There were women and men, blacks, whites, and Asians, young, middle-aged, and old.
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Palin then and now

Sarah Palin is a media magnet like Donald trump. However much you know that they crave attention, that it is the very oxygen of their existence and they would wither away if they were ignored, it seems almost impossible to avoid reading about them and talking about them. I am as guilty as the next political observer of this behavior. I am not sure why that is but I suspect it is for the same reason that people are fascinated by sociopaths in general. Most of us cannot imagine behaving in such ways and try to understand what could be driving such peculiar behavior.
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The mocking of the Academy Awards nominations continues

The Academy Awards continues to get its lumps for the fact that its membership is skewed heavily white and male and old and this year’s nominees were conspicuous by the lack of actors of color, and that even in films that dealt explicitly with black themes and featured black actors in major roles, it was the white people involved who got nominated.
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How snowfalls are measured

People on the eastern seaboard of the US are digging themselves out after last week’s major snowstorm. One of the things that I have long been curious about is how people actually measure the amount of snow that falls. Unlike rainfall that is relatively easy to measure, snow is very variable in its water content and winds can cause it to swirl and create drifts and uneven amounts even within a small region.
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Trump’s problems will really begin if and when he becomes president

It is clear that Donald Trump is having a blast right now. For someone with a massive ego who loves to be in the limelight, has a gut instinct for what a sizable fraction of the country finds appealing, and does not mind whom he offends, running for president without having to beg people for money is an ideal occupation, especially since he can say whatever he wants and the media will cover him.
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