Friday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to Friday, April 25, 2025, the last Friday in April, and National DNA Day, for it was this day in 1953, that the papers on the structure of the molecule were published in Nature.  Here’s the most famous one:

Here’s an image of the DNA double helix taken with an electron microscope. Amazing stuff goes on there.

It’s also ANZAC Day, National Crayola Day (remember “burnt umber”?), National Plumber’s Day (which plumber is being celebrated?), Holocaust Remembrance Day, National Hairball Awareness Day, National Steak Day (in the UK), National Zucchini Bread Day (gag), and, best of all, World Penguin Day.  Here’s a photo of a colony I took in 2019:

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the April 25 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz: Once again the nooz may be truncated, this time due to duck issues (stay tuned; they are okay, I think).

*Well, Trump’s peacemaking efforts in the Ukraine (“The war will be over on Day One when I take office”, Trump said) isn’t coming to much. Russia launched a big-time attack on Kyiv, and Trump rebuked Putin. That, of course, won’t stop Putin, who badly wants Ukraine. (Article archived here.)

Lord knows what Trump is doing here, nor do I quite get why

*From the WSJ: “Tipping is everywhere and consumers are fed up. Here’s how some are coping.” (Article archived here.)

The issue:

Tipping quandaries are causing discomfort at checkout counters, sparking fights between spouses and sullying the enjoyment of eating out.

Some solutions:

During a recent fishing and hunting trip to South Texas, David Savage surveyed his friends on tipping. Their consensus: Service has declined—and so has their generosity.

Savage, a 64-year-old retired energy executive, too frequently finds his restaurant orders arrive with errors, or take forever. His server forgets to fill his iced tea glass, while his wife’s salad drowns in dressing.

“These servers seem to resent being there or are clearly overworked with too many tables,” said Savage, who eats out multiple times a week. Poor service knocks Savage’s tip to 10% from his standard 18% to 20%, and he won’t return.

Industry data shows that consumer views of full-service restaurants have improved since the pandemic, but Journal readers aired plenty of gripes. Many respondents said they are less patient with bad service or irked about ordering via QR codes, and aren’t afraid to tip less in response.

I haven’t noticed an increase in bad service, and my lowest tip is 15%, but my usual tip at restaruants is 20%.  I do resent being asked by a machine to tip when I am, say, buying a $2.00 baguette in a bakery.  If people think that servers deserve more, no matter how bad they are or how little they do, I think we should go to the European system of raising prices and giving servers a living wage. Some places already do that, but how do you know?  I’d be glad to pay more for food than have to deal with figuring out tips.

Janet Fannin tips restaurant servers, maids and the hairdresser. But the 60-year-old retired occupational therapist draws the line at other businesses, like minimarts or her local soap store.

“I pay the bill and that’s where it ends,” said Fannin, of Cathlamet, Wash. She still tips generously when eating out, recalling when she earned $2 an hour as a waitress in the 1980s.

Many say they’re wearied by digital tipping prompts spun around on screens at coffee shops and concession-stand counters. A survey of around 1,500 adults by market-research firm Intouch Insight found that 46% of consumers dislike the specific tip percentages suggested by digital screens. Only 13% found them helpful.

I hate those digital tipping prompts, so I join the majority about that.  Fortunately, I tip mostly when I get a haircut (20%) or when eating out (usually 20%), but neither of those involve those %^&&%)(^?,%-^@+> screens!

*I have to say that although I think RFK Jr. was Trump’s worst appointment, I am in favor of getting rid of petroleum-based food dyes, many of which, I hear, are banned in Europe. There are plenty of plant-based dyes that have been tested and can add color to food. The science on the dyes we use now, says the WaPo, seems equivocal in some cases:

The Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it plans to phase out petroleum-based food dyes from the nation’s food supply. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has called the dyes “poison” and long blamed artificial additives for chronic disease and illness in the United States.

Companies add dyes to food, such as candy, cereals, drinks and snacks, for brighter, attractive colors. The dyes are either natural, such as red beet juice, or synthetic.

“The ingredients used in America’s food supply have been rigorously studied following an objective science and risk-based evaluation process and have been demonstrated to be safe,” Melissa Hockstad, the chief executive of Consumer Brands Association, a food industry trade group, said in a statement. “Removing these safe ingredients does not change the consumer packaged goods industry’s commitment to providing safe, affordable and convenient product choices to consumers.”

But consumer advocacy groups said there is sufficient evidence that the dyes may cause some harm to some children. They argue that artificial dyes are not worth the potential risk given their lack of nutritional value.

“From the vantage point of consumers, it boils down to why do we want to take a chance on these things when it comes to the health of our children?” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports. “Even if it doesn’t technically point to causing cancer, there is risk involved in terms of how it impacts neurobehavior in children.”\

Note that the speaker here is with Consumer Reports, a reputable organization.

The Washington Post spoke with food scientists and nutrition experts to answer questions about the synthetic dyes in food.

Here’s one case:

*Trump’s orders have been overturned in court again, but it’s a lower federal court.

 A judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from immediately enacting certain changes to how federal elections are run, including adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form.

President Donald Trump had called for that and other sweeping changes to U.S. elections in an executive order signed in March, arguing the U.S. “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections” that exist in other countries.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington sided with voting rights groups and Democrats to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the citizenship requirement from moving forward while the lawsuit plays out.

She also blocked part of the Republican president’s executive order requiring public assistance enrollees to have their citizenship assessed before getting access to the federal voter registration form.

But she denied other requests from a group of Democratic plaintiffs, including refusing to block Trump’s order to tighten mail ballot deadlines. Also denied in the order was the Democrats’ request to stop Trump from directing the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Government Efficiency to review state voter lists alongside immigration databases.

The judge’s order halts the Trump administration’s efforts to push through a proof-of-citizenship mandate that Republicans have said is needed to restore public confidence in elections. Voting in federal elections by noncitizens is already illegal and can result in felony charges and deportation.

Almost all of this is going to go up to the Supremes, and I have to say that I have some confidence in Roberts, at least, even though he’s a conservative. He’s made statements about the judiciary having to maintain its power and reputation, and they’re not going to do that by ruling against the Constitution. About the Constitutionality of these election laws, I don’t know.

*At the WaPo, columnist Perry Bacon has a clickbaity piece called, “Democrats need to win moderates. This is how”  (article archived here). I can’t resist a piece like that because I want the Democrats to win and not blow it.  He lists five different kinds of “moderation”, and I’ll give just two examples, which come with suggested candidates for each strategy:

A lot of political commentary implies there is a moderate or centrist playbook that aspiring Democrats can easily follow and win.

The reality is more complicated. Democratic candidates are winning in red and purple areas across the country. Not all is lost. But they are using a variety of tactics and strategies. The real question for Democratic candidates and the party overall isn’t whether to appeal to moderate voters (of course they should) but how.

There are at least five kinds of Democratic moderation.’

Bipartisanship/not being too anti-Republican

Examples: former president Joe Biden, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, Slotkin

Potential 2028 candidate: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Upside: appeals to anti-Trump Republicans

Downside: may annoy progressive base; minimizes threat of the right

These politicians are stalwart Democrats but take pride in maintaining relationships with some Republican politicians and being able to reach agreements with them. This approach sometimes helps them attract independents and swing voters, including some Trump-skeptical Republicans.

But not always. Biden’s poll numbers dropped dramatically in his first two years in office, even though he repeatedly signed bipartisan bills into law. The endorsements of former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney and other prominent anti-Trump conservatives didn’t help Harris much last year.

This strategy comes with a substantive cost. To court Republican voters and lawmakers, these Democrats at times downplay the extremism of today’s GOP.

. . . . .Centrism on cultural-social issues

Examples: Clinton, Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, New York Rep. Tom Suozzi

Potential 2028 candidates: former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Upside: could appeal to culturally conservative swing voters

Downside: bad on policy; may depress progressive vote

In his 1992 campaign, Clinton defended the use of the death penalty, distanced himself from Jesse Jackson and took other steps to address the perception that the Democratic Party was too liberal on values issues. Many centrist Democrats believe the party needs a similar repositioning now, to connect with voters who are more conservative on immigration, policing and transgender rights in particular.

In his Senate campaign last year, Gallego criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to stop illegal immigration. His approach seemed to pay off, with Gallego winning in Arizona while Harris lost there by six percentage points.

The potential upside of this strategy is obvious. There are more White Americans than people of color; more native-born than naturalized citizens; more who are heterosexual and cisgender than LGBTQ+. Being the party that defends minorities almost certainly turns off majority groups.

There are three more forms of appealing to moderates, each with candidates and upsides and downsides. This is a column worth reading and thinking about.  One of them is my erstwhile favorite Democrat, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, who falls in the “bipartisanship/not being too anti-Republican” class.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is curious:

Hili: What secrets are hidden in this box?

A: Old papers which somebody may ask about sometime.

Hili: Jakie tajemnice ukrywa ta skrzynia?

Ja: Stare papiery, o które ktoś kiedyś może zapytać.

And a photo of Baby Kulka about to pounce:

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From The Dodo Pet:

From Cats and Coffee, cartoon by Scott Metzger:

From Jesus of the Day, a new ice cream flavor:

Masih is still quiet, so we get JKR, always good for some amusement as well as defense of women’s rights. Here she takes up the quesiton of whether sex is “bimodal” (answer: not really). Do watch the video:

You all can watch the video here Read More