Tag: elections

Tuesday Top of Mind 10/21/25- No Kings is over, now what?

Yay, over 8 million people showed up to march. Well, 7-8 million, depending on who you believe.

Either way that is a LOT of people.

And there were even more who were unable to make it to an organized march.

It was a grand gesture.

Now what?

You may be feeling a bit down. From the adrenaline high, from the knowledge that the no kings protest was a show of no kings force but it was only that. A show.

The government is still shut down. Because the Democrats are holding firm on the ACA subsidy fight. So that everyday Americans, not illegals despite the lie they are trying to force down our throats, won’t see health care costs on the exchange skyrocket out of reach. I am proud of them.

The East Wing of the White House has been scarred. For one man’s ego and because no one ever told him no.

The House of Representatives is out for recess. Again. There have been 3 full weeks of work by them since July 1st. This is shameful and not what we voted for. Not only that, the deciding signature on the Resolution to release the Epstein files was elected in Arizona. Adelita Grijalva has yet to be sworn in by that coward, Mike Johnson. She was elected September 23 a full month ago. But Johnson would rather play ostrich with his head in the sand.

AI slop is being used for everything. I’ve seen many, many, many badly written headlines in the news with all sorts of errors- punctuation, spelling, word choice, and tense. I’ve seen badly shaped and colored memes that some people want use as a gotcha. Dream on.

It’s okay to feel a bit blue.

However, the pressure must be sustained. If there is anything I’ve learned as a nurse it is not to decrease pressure when the bleeding has slowed, that way leads to a hemorrhage.

Maintain that pressure.

Keep making the phone calls, even if you are talking to a machine.

Keep sending those emails.

Participate in Operation Mail Drop where scolding cards or postcards are sent to those in power. Yes, all of them. The object that you mail is up to you and your wallet. I’m not saying mail them something that might rot by the time it gets there, but I’m not not saying it either.

But, most importantly, VOTE.

There is a General Election this coming first Tuesday in November. Many states already have the early voting sites open.

It is your right to vote. Exercise it.

Send the next message to Washington that we see their depravity and their illegal acts.

And we won’t stand for it.

And we don’t care for it.

Keep the pressure on.

Keep the eyes on them.

School Me Saturday- Poll me once?

In today’s special edition of school me Saturday I want to talk about polls.

Not poll numbers.

But poll questions.

Last semester one of my classes was about measurement. How to take it, and, more importantly, how to make sure the tools and questions were of quality.

Because there are such things as validity and reliability.

For this school me Saturday we are going to take validity: does the question really ask what you think it is asking.

The loose definition of validity is how well the question reflects a true finding among those asked. They use this to correlate with those outside of the poll.

The loose definition of reliability is how well the poll question reflects what can be replicated with another person taking the poll.

What prompted this topic was the ONE time I participated in a poll about this 2024 general election and how poorly written the questions were.

They asked me general questions about who I anticipated voting for and my general feeling about the election.

And then, after they found out I was not playing about voting straight party Democrat ticket, they threw some BS information out about the Democratic candidate and asked if I was still going to vote for them. When I said that I would rather vote for the Democrat, they pushed me, hard. I stated that bodily autonomy was so important to me that I didn’t care what crap they bought up about the candidate.

And they hung up on me.

Frankly, the entire encounter left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I’ve declined all calls since.

It has been a LONG time since I was in journalism class but even I can spot when they are leading the interviewee the answer in the way that they wanted me to answer.

Obviously, they don’t know me.

The takeaway is that if you do answer the phone and talk to a pollster be honest. But also pay attention to their questions and how they are given.

And make sure that you get the name of the company taking the poll. A lot can be figured out by a quick Google.

If you do the quick Google, consider if you even want to talk to the pollster.

If you do talk to them pay very close attention to the questions and how they make you feel.

Before you ask, I do believe in polling.

Just not in answering my phone.