Month: June 2020

Categories
Politics

The Factions of Ann Arbor City Politics and Why They’re A Problem

One might look at the makeup of Ann Arbor’s city council, or candidates running for a ward seat, and think that the partisan battle has been decided: they’re all Democrats.  But under the Democratic label, there are two dominant, warring factions in Ann Arbor politics.  Together they occupy a share of local power and attention similar to that held by Democrats & Republicans on the national scale.  That is to say, nearly all of it: votes, endorsements, donations, who runs for office, and which resolutions even come to the table.  The last non-factional candidate to hold office, Sabra Briere, stepped down in 2016.

This dynamic is the driving force in all aspects of city politics.  It’s invisible to those who aren’t active observers, yet it’s impossible to cast an informed vote without this knowledge. If you’re choosing which candidate to vote for, knowing which faction they align with tells you more about how they will caucus and vote than what’s on their website.

It’s trickier to explain than the well-understood labels of Democrats vs. Republicans, though.  Other articles have acknowledged the factions, but not in a way that is both comprehensive and seeks to be objective.  Here I attempt to describe this dynamic and its consequences.

The Main Takeaways:

  1. Ann Arbor politics are dominated by two camps, the Protectors and the Strivers.
  2. Factional alignment is the best indicator of how an elected official will caucus and vote, more so than what’s stated on their website.
  3. This dynamic is toxic and impedes good governance.
Continue reading “The Factions of Ann Arbor City Politics and Why They’re A Problem”
Categories
Gardening

Do curly and Red Russian kales cross-polinate?

Last year I grew curly kale (starts from the farmer’s market) and Red Russian kale (replanted annually in my own garden since about 2012). They overwintered, flowered, and are now falling over under the weight of their seed pods.

I plan to harvest the seeds and wondered, will the resulting plants be a cross between the varieties, given that the plants are flowering just a couple of feet apart from each other? It appears they won’t, because the two kales are actually different species. According to the Comox Valley Growers and Seed Savers (2015):

All the curly kales and the lacinato belong to the brassica oleracea species. They will cross with each other and with many other crucifers – cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and collard greens.

The Red Russian and Siberian kales belong to brassica napus species and will cross with each other but not with the other kales. They will also cross with rutabagas, rape and canola. It seems that the napus variety can self pollinate without suffering from inbreeding depression and also it does not have a self incompatibility mechanism which so many plants do.

So the two varieties of kale should stay true in their seeds. We’ll see next year!

Update in June 2022: indeed, I harvested about a cup of seeds from the Red Russian plants in 2020 and they have stayed true to the cultivar as I’ve grown them since.

Categories
How-to Repair

Sand the bottom of a door that sticks without taking it off its hinges

Problem: a wood bathroom door rubs slightly on the tile of a bathroom floor at the midpoint in its swing, sticking in place. I wanted to sand off the tiniest bit so that it swings free.  But it wasn’t worth removing the door from its hinges.

Solution: get some rough sandpaper (I used 60 grit) and an old magazine. Open a dozen pages of the magazine and lay the sandpaper on top, grit up. (Without the magazine padding I’d be nervous that I’d mar the tile floor). Put this stack at a point in the door’s arc where it swings freely.

Before you start sanding: you want to avoid pulling off any strips from a veneer that may be covering the door’s surface.  To avoid that, first sand the trailing edge of the door (that is, the side that hits last when you’re slamming it into the sandpaper), so it isn’t caught and pulled while you slam.  Also consider using a finer grit of sandpaper, which would add a few minutes to the sanding, and opening-and-closing on the sandpaper with less force.  Keep an eye on the veneer throughout the process.

Now, slam the door into the paper stack so that it sticks. In the process, it sands exactly the lowest point on the bottom of the door. Keep swinging it back and forth, slamming it into the sandpaper. As you make progress in shaving the door, you may need to add pages to the stack or move it closer to the point where the door sticks.

Test periodically. In a few minutes you’ve removed a millimeter or two from the bottom of the door and it should swing freely, without altering the look of the door or needing to remove it.

Besides the convenience of this solution, I enjoy its elegance: by replicating the act of making contact with the floor it shaves the door in precisely the right place.