Program Note
There will be no new column today, sorry. For the next two days, this site will be undergoing a technical upgrade, which should (knock wood) be completely transparent to you. However, it is an extensive operation, so I can't make any promises.
Best case scenario is that you don't notice any changes and experience no interruptions in service. Worst case scenario is that the site somehow goes dark and you get an error message when trying to access it. In-between scenario is that there will be minor and very limited interruptions in service, hopefully not lasting more than a few minutes at the most. Also a possibility is that we may lose either whole columns (from this point forward, until roughly Friday) or individual comments as the database is moved around. So be prepared for gremlins on the site for the next few days, in other words.
Again, this is only a technical upgrade. The site will remain the same afterwards. I know the site needs its own upgrade in user interface and functionality, but that will have to wait for another day, sorry.
Since there will be no column today, here's what I would have written about today, if I had the time: the Democrats' H.R. 1 bill in the House is finally getting some notice, due to Mitch McConnell saying on the Senate floor that the provision for making Election Day a national federal holiday would somehow be a "power grab" for Democrats. Imagine that -- making voting easier for everyone is somehow a "power grab." This could be a very potent political issue going forward for the Democrats, as it very obviously puts them on the side of making voting easier while Republicans are left defending the proposition that voting should be as difficult as possible (for their own partisan benefit). You can just imagine what I'd have to say about that! Which, unfortunately, you'll have to, because with the upgrade, I won't be able to write it all out.
For the next few days, please let me know either in the comments or via email if you're having any problems with the site. Although my email may also be affected, just to warn everyone in advance. Let's hope for the best and hope that by Friday everything will be smoothly up and running once again without any interruptions. Thank you all for your patience in the meantime.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Are you updating to WP 5.3? As long as your plugins are updatable to be compatible you should be OK. Any abandoned plugins will give you grief.
Also (you may already know this) - you can add their Classic Editor plugin and activate it in order to not have to start using blocks...unless you want to use blocks.
"Power grab"?
Somebody simply needs to inform Mitch McTurtle that it's a "power to the people grab" versus the "power to the Putin's puppet" that the spineless GOP have been ceding to Comrade Trump for quite awhile now. :)
Good luck on the Upgrade!
As far as HR1 goes, while I applaud the dems for pushing to make it a national holiday, I really wish they had pushed to also move the voting day to a weekend, like a majority of the rest of the world.
The tradition of voting on a Tuesday is nothing more that a tradition that is a relic much like the EC. If the Dems had pushed also moving the vote to a weekend date and having that be a national holiday it would really have made the Republican resistance to making voting access better that much more apparent and would also have made for some great sound bites to use in the upcoming election season.
Mitch was in true imperialist republican form today. As the autocratic transition of the republican party continues afoot they have stuck true to form and condemned some legislation to address problems that need fixing yet not promoting their own ideas to fix it. Dems need to point that out at every turn.
The other thing Dems in the senate need to do is get on the floor and call out each and every time the repubs lie about what is in the legislation before them.
For those of you that want to play "count the Mitch fibs", here is the link to the legislation.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1/text#toc-HFCF939CAA6204AF6B40DEAFAC99FBBFA
Mitch's big tell when he is outright BS'ing is his smirk while giving a speech.
Good luck, we'll be patient. (Says the woman who was driven to a re-install her os and has spent too much of the past week updating drivers, resetting settings and retrieving lost fonts and passwords, including the one I need here, as a consequence.)
Funny, isn't it, how Republican voting laws are natural justice or are practically mandated by scripture, but HR1, which actually ought to benefit voters of all stripes, is a 'power grab.'
Paula -
It's more fundamental than that. I'm migrating servers, and updating PHP, although I'm not sure what version yet. The site is currently on 4.4.2, which is ancient...
goode trickle -
Yeah, I agree. Voting should be a two-day, weekend affair. But the best compromise (to me) seems to be moving it to the SECOND Tuesday in Nov, and combining it with Veterans' Day. That way, Mitch wouldn't have anything to bitch about, because it wouldn't add another holiday to the federal calendar. Although the vets might be against it.
Best comment I've yet read pointed out that Mitch was getting his panties in a bunch over one additional fed. holiday after giving fed. workers a whole freakin' MONTH of paid holiday...
Mezzomamma -
I feel your pain. Or, I will, soon, as this upgrade progresses. It may actually take two sessions, just to warn everyone...
If you need to update your CW.com password, let me know, I can help.
-CW
I have just noticed that the letter "T" in the New York Times masthead font is a very good caricature of Donald Trump in 3/4 profile. It captures his hair and jowels quite accurately. It would work better if the hair swoosh were yellow and the jowel part were orange, but it's still pretty good in Black and White.
This is what happens when there is no fresh CW.com column to read while I caffeine-ate.
[7] Chris: Yeah, I have some sites at 5.6 and others at 7.0. 5.6 is usually the "safe" version that works with most plugins. Good luck!
CW-
Hadn't quite thought of that idea. While to some extent it keeps the US in the minority and not all companies observe veterans day keeping it difficult for workers to vote...it would be a good compromise. I do not think that vets would object, in fact I could see some great GOTV ad campaigns.
Nothing could motivate much better than "if you really want to honor veterans and thank them for their service do it by voting on this Veterans day".
Warning
Upgrade is imminent. See new Program Note:
http://www.chrisweigant.com/2019/01/31/program-note-warning/
Should be over (for better or worse) in a few hours, but just wanted to warn everyone...
-CW
TS
10
I have just noticed that the letter "T" in the New York Times masthead font is a very good caricature of Donald Trump in 3/4 profile.
So which letter "T" captures Benedict Donald to a "T"? The "The" "T" or the time it appears in "Times"?
It captures his hair and jowels quite accurately.
*checks masthead*
OMG... TS is right! It's "T"-rump, and he's talking out of both sides of his mast. :)