(no subject)

Public Service Announcement: If you're one of the unfortunates driving this long weekend along the Northeast Corridor of North America between Boston and Washington, be aware that the Connecticut State Police appear to have gotten approval for their officers to work some serious overtime.

There was as usual a "Welcome to Pennsylvania" cruiser trap sitting in the center divider of I-83 at the border with Maryland, but for sheer number and activity, the Connecticut State Police were unmatched today.

I saw many speed traps, a number of motorists pulled over and interacting with officers, and at least one police cruiser in hot pursuit, nearly all of them on I-84. And I was in Connecticut for less than two hours.

In other exciting news, I saw a rollover in the median on I-78 in Western New Jersey as well as a tractor-trailer that apparently hit the car that had rolled over. Fortunately for me they were in the other direction, so I also got to see the miles-long tailback that resulted from the emergency response.

Stay safe out there.

(no subject)

Shocked, shocked I am that there could be violations of the Fair Housing Act by Airbnb hosts.

Renting while black. It's a thing.

(Obviously, be careful of the comments.)

The Sanders-Trump debate, which is never going to happen.

Charles Pierce wasn't too optimistic, but it turns out the first paragraph of his piece yesterday on the proposed Sanders-Trump debate turned out to be right on the money:

I am going to be a cockeyed optimist and believe, for the moment anyway, that Bernie Sanders "accepted" He, Trump's invitation to a debate prior to the California presidential primaries on June 7 purely as a shrewd political maneuver. I will believe, for the moment anyway, that Sanders "accepted" knowing full well that He, Trump has the roar of a lion and the heart of a chicken, and that He, Trump will find some convoluted reason to back out of the confrontation. Perhaps it might even be right before the debate goes on the air, thereby making He, Trump look evermore the fool, and giving Sanders a couple of hours of free airtime to state his case. Great move there, Spassky!

Today, Trump backed out:

Donald Trump will not participate in a debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said Friday.

In a statement, Trump slammed Sanders, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and the Democratic nominating process, and said that debating the Vermont senator would be "inappropriate." Sanders' camp, in turn, accused Trump of flip-flopping on a "clash of ideas."

To me it looks like a success for Sanders. Trump's bluff called. People should do that more often.

David Graham of the Atlantic was broadly disapproving of Sanders (which I disagree with), but ended with this (which I think is spot on):

Both Trump and Sanders are unpredictable, inconsistent debaters. It could have been a snooze, or it could have been a fracas. It would have been loud, and the Queens-Brooklyn accent showdown would have been tremendous.

What it would have sounded like is a debate in an old-time New York City mayoral race. Like the one they had when this song came out:

"Native New Yorker - Odyssey (1977)" (Watch on YouTube)