onfocus

The historic second impeachment of a President trial begins tomorrow. Dan Sinker will follow the details so you don't have to. Impeachment.fyi was a great daily summary last time around and I'm already looking forward to not following every twist and turn myself again.

"All of this is a choice. Every Senate rule can be changed by a simple majority vote. A simple majority could end or reform the filibuster — as we saw when Democrats ended it for most executive branch nominations and most judicial nominations in 2013, and when Republicans ended it for Supreme Court nominees in 2017."

This is a good summary of the problems with using budget reconciliation to pass legislation. Democrats should kill the filibuster. Kilibuster.

"But the Trump campaign spent only a tiny fraction of its haul on lawyers and other legal bills related to those claims. Instead, Mr. Trump and the G.O.P. stored away much of the money — $175 million or so — even as they continued to issue breathless, aggressive and often misleading appeals for cash that promised it would help with recounts, the rooting out of election fraud and even the Republican candidates’ chances in the two Senate runoff races in Georgia."

Following the Big Lie money.

To Rowe, the doctor at Connecticut Children’s, it’s frustrating to see so much innovation in making vaccines, and so little in actually getting them to people. “How much money was put into the science of making the vaccine? How much money is being put into the distribution?” she asks. “It doesn’t matter that you made it if you can’t distribute it.”

Just over here screaming internally after every paragraph of this article.

"Are you developing public services? Or a system that people might access when they’re in desperate need of help? Plain HTML works."

Good reminder that web design can fail without accessibility.

"Companies issue stock to fund projects, stocks go up because investors think companies have good projects to fund, companies use their stock price to recruit employees and pay for mergers and make decisions about what projects to pursue in the real world. I don’t know, I feel like a moron typing all of this. But I just have to type it! Think of how GameStop’s board must feel! The market is telling them something, but it is hard to hear what it’s saying through its maniacal laughter."

Fascinated by this story of market manipulation not by the usual suspects.

Update: Now small investors can’t buy GameStop stock. Free market?

Useful! Here’s a brief summary of each executive order day by day.

"But none of these bills will pass a Senate in which the filibuster forces 60-vote supermajorities on routine legislation. And that clarifies the real question Democrats face. They have plenty of ideas that could improve people’s lives and strengthen democracy. But they have, repeatedly, proven themselves more committed to preserving the status quo of the political system than fulfilling their promises to voters. They have preferred the false peace of decorum to the true progress of democracy."

I agree this is the test for Democrats. They need to be able to endure a few bad media cycles to get important work done. Majority rule is how the system is supposed to work.

See also: The Senate Filibuster Is Another Monument to White Supremacy (Aaron Burr really was the worst.)

"The United States, in other words, pays an enormous price for its long lame-duck period. There’s no good reason the US cannot join Canada, Britain, France, India, Japan, and other nations in transitioning swiftly to a new administration after a presidential election."

100 emoji.

"Google agreed to help Facebook have a better understanding of who would be shown the ads by helping the company identify 80 percent of mobile users and 60 percent of web users, the documents said. But several other partners said they had little such help understanding who was being shown ads."

What’s a little shared personal user data between monopoly pals?

"Journalists, if they take their core mission seriously, should think hard about how they’re going to confront this Big Lie, as it’s become known."

I hope journalists start using these but I’m not holding my breath. The idea that the two political parties are both operating in good faith and should have equal time to promote their "views" is a hell of a drug.

"Scientists also point to data from the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics, which conducts a weekly random survey of the population. Just before the Christmas break, when schools were still open, the positivity rate among children was higher than in most adult groups, especially in those older than 11."

Children don’t present as many symptoms but they spread the virus. Open schools may be safe for kids but they aren’t safe for their communities.