I am feeling creative these days; therefore, I just created a new graphic for “Vietnamese Americans Against The New Agent Orange.” I also created a Vietnamese version: “Người Mỹ gốc Việt chống đối chất độc da cam.” Feel free to use it or share it.

I find this Twitter thread from Teri Kanefield insightful; therefore, I reposted here to make the reading experience easier. Kanefield writes:

I didn’t want to respond to the Atlantic piece about how Trump can steal the election by flipping electors in states with GOP held legislatures, but I will.

Here’s my take.

A few weeks ago, a theory that Trump could steal the election in this manner made the rounds. For this to happen, a string of very unlikely and highly improbable things would have to happen. The story died down.

The press right now is very bad for Trump.

Next thing we know, a legal advisor to the Trump campaign tells a reporter that this extremely unlikely event WILL happen because the states will line up and do what Trump wants (overturn the will of the people).

The Trump campaign wants this in the headlines.

“The state legislatures will say, ‘All right, we’ve been given this constitutional power. We don’t think the results of our own state are accurate, so here’s our slate of electors that we think properly reflect the results of our state.’”

I’m pretty sure everyone knows Trump would cheat, lie, steal, and even let 200K people die if he thought it would help him win.

There are several ways to respond to this story, but we have to begin by wondering why the “legal advisor” wants us to have this information.

First, remember that each state has rules that govern the certifying of their elections.

Yes, laws still matter. The Trump legal advisor wants you to think they don’t. Why? Because when enough people lose confidence in democracy, democracy will fail.

That’s why, as Clint Watts reminds us, a goal of active measures is to get you to lose confidence in democratic processes. Trump is trying his best to get you to lose confidence in democratic processes. He is trying to make you think he can pull this off.

New polls came out today showing that Trump is ten points behind nationally. The Strongman needs you to think he’s strong. He doesn’t want you talking about the polls. If he was winning, he’d want you talking about the polls. He’s losing so he needs to present a situation that makes him look strong. He wants you to think state legislatures will do whatever he tells them to do, including overturning the will of their own constituents because Trump ordered it.

This is not to say that very real things can’t go wrong. Polls showing a close race in Florida worry me. The fact that more than 45% of voters willingly choose Trump, despite everything we know worries me. The fact that so many people don’t vote worries me.

Here’s the thing about democracy: If a majority of voters no longer want it, it will cease to exist. If a majority of voters don’t put in the work, it will cease to exist.

Another thing to remember: These states with GOP-held legislatures that the Trump advisor wants you to think will do whatever Trump wants are getting hit very hard right now from COVID. People like Stuart Stevens tell us most GOP officials know Trump is unfit.

For about a dozen reasons, the scenario is highly unlikely. If Biden’s win across multiple swing states, getting hit by a meteor is more likely. But Trump wants the headline to be: Trump can steal the election! Being rather perverse, my response is, “Trump wants this headline, so let’s not give it to him.”Trump’s talent is controlling the national conversation. He manipulates everyone. Look how easy it is. His ‘legal advisor’ puts something like this forward…

Then most of Twitter takes the bait. Twitter peeps instantly (and obediently) begin discussing whether he can. People begin arguing for why it might be possible. Then everyone starts wondering how to prepare for this worst-case scenario. And Trump succeeds. Trump manipulated everyone. He transformed himself from a loser (in the polls) to a scary strongman. He’s a genius at manipulating the media and controlling the conversation.

I only recently discovered the HTML Details element and I am loving it. I immediately applied it on the footer of this blog to hide and show additional information such as about, contact, feeds, privacy, and so on.

In the previous version of my blog, I had everything listed on the footer, which got tedious to scroll, especially on mobile devices. Then I moved everything to an info page. That worked out OK, but I was not too crazy about the extra click. In addition, I don’t want to make an extra page for this blog. I wanted to keep only posts and no pages. Because I redesign this blog so often, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible so I can quickly go and give it a redesign without having to worry about a page format.

As a result, I brought all the additional information back to the footer, but put everything into a disclosure widget using the details and summary elements. To my amazement, they worked as expected without using any CSS or JavaScript. Take a look.

My absentee ballot arrived in the mail this afternoon and I wasted no time filling it out. From Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to Senator Mark Warner to Representative Gerry Connolly, I voted straight Democrats from top to bottom. Gotta keep Virginia blue.

I dropped off my ballot at the post office and felt great doing my part as a citizen of the United States. Now it is up to the country to decide on the life and death of our democracy. I hope people will choose wisely. I have tremendous respect for voters who put their country before their party, particularly the Republican voters who choose to vote for Biden. My hat off to Cindy McCain.

If you can vote early, go to the poll as soon as you can. If you choose to vote by mail, request your ballot now. Please don’t wait. Get your vote in. Make this a landslide victory so the orange loser will have to accept the results.

Gần đến ngày bầu cử tổng thống Mỹ, tôi đứng ngồi không yên và không thể tập trung để viết blog. Công việc làm ở nhà khá bận rộn. Vừa làm việc vừa phải để ý hai thằng con học qua mạng. Nhất là thằng Đán, tôi phải luôn nhắc nhở nó tập trung chứ không thì nó có chịu ngồi yên đâu. Chẳng những thế, còn phải giúp nó làm bài tập. Nó học tiếng Spanish nên phải vào Google Translate mới hiểu bài. Đỡ cái, có mình giúp nó cũng chịu khó làm. Tối đến nó qua ngủ chung với tôi để bàn về bài tập. Đêm nào cũng thế, chưa nói được một câu nó đã ngủ mất tiêu.

Gần đây tôi thích đi chèo thuyền trên sông. Dĩ nhiên là tôi không chèo mà chỉ để nước trôi đi để tôi đọc sách. Chiều chiều trời mát nằm trên chiếc thuyền bơm hơi đọc sách còn gì lý tưởng cho bằng? Không đụng đến điện thoại chỉ thả hồn theo thiên nhiên mà không cần phải lo lắng gì cả. Thật là một cách để giảm stress rất tốt. Có lúc chăm chỉ đọc quên cả thời gian và quên cả mình đang trôi đi đâu.

Chỉ còn 40 ngày nữa nước Mỹ sẽ có sự thay đổi. Hy vọng ông Biden sẽ thắng. Sau lần bầu cử này tôi quyết định sẽ không theo dõi chính trị nữa. Càng theo càng phiền muộn mà cũng không làm được gì. Với chính trị, thà không biết còn khỏe hơn là biết. Mỗi lần bầu cử chỉ làm nhiệm vụ đi bỏ phiếu là xong. Còn những chuyện khác không cần phải biết đến. Quyết định là vậy nhưng có thực hiện được không thì mới là thử thách.

Sofie Beier’s Type Tricks is a pocket guide that examines the ins-and-outs details of the letterforms. With over 200 tips, including some (but not all) Vietnamese diacritics, Beier covers the basic rules any new type designer must master. Concise explanations and clear illustrations make this book not only an essential guide for type designers, but also a useful reference for typographers who want to make better typographic choices.

Dear independent voters,

We are 42 days from one of the most critical elections in U.S. history and I hope that you have made up your mind already. If you are still undecided, however, I urge you to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I vote for Biden and Harris because I vote for Democrats. You vote for Biden and Harris not for Democrats but for democracy.

Let’s face it. The Republican Party is under captive. Republican leaders who were elected to work for the American people are now taking orders from Trump instead. They are looking out for their own interests rather than for our country. In the past four years, Trumpism has replaced the Republican Party. If Trump gets re-elected, our democracy will be replaced with a totalitarian regime. The more Trump gets away with abusing his power, the closer he reaches authoritarian. Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. Your vote can stop this danger.

If you feel that you can vote for neither candidate and are planning on sitting out to protest, particularly Bernie’s supporters, I hope you would reconsider your vote. This might be the last election you get to vote if Trump gets re-elected. Unlike Trump who brings chaos and corruption, Biden will bring unity and fairness. Biden will be a President for all, not just his base. You don’t have to take my words for it. You can give him a chance by voting for him. If he proves to be incompetent (such as mishandling the pandemic that cost 200,000 lives) or tries to destroy our democracy, we can elect a new Republican candidate to replace him in 2024. On the other hand, if Trump gets re-elected, you can kiss democracy goodbye.

Part research, part memoir, Patrik Svensson’s The Book of Eels is a wondrous, poignant read. Svensson delves into the laborious study of one of the most mysterious creatures on the planet. One of its standout characteristics is patience—something we could learn from them. Svensson’s personal connection with eels started when his father took him to eel fishing when he was a kid. They bonded over eels and his father loved to eat eels, which were mostly deep fried or steamed.

Speaking of eel dishes, Svensson needs to pay Vietnam a visit. We have over 20 eel dishes that will change his perspective on eels. My personal favorites include eel hotpot (lẩu lươn), stir-fried eel (lươn xào lăn), braised eel with lemongrass (lươn kho sả ớt), and sweet and sour eel soup (canh lươn nấu bạc hà). Then again, the extinction of eels is worrisome. Maybe we shouldn’t be eating eels anymore. The book has more details on this issue.

If you are into natural history and curious about eels, this is the book to read.

The passing of our beloved Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is devastating. She was a fighter for equality. She fought to save democracy until she took her last breath. Justice Ginsburg dictated, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

I was hoping we have the decency to honor her last wish, but Mitch McConnell and the Republicans already make the move to replace her on the day she died. They can’t even wait until the next day. How do we get to this? Has America lost its soul and humanity?

If they don’t respect her wish, we must fight to honor her wish. She has fought all her life for us. It is on us to carry on her legacy.

Rest in peace, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Since I had created a graphic for the Biden campaign, it is only fair that I create one for the Trump campaign as well. The graphic is based on a cognitive test I took, in which I had to remember and repeat five words: “Fascist. Unhinged. Coward. Knave. Trump.” It was quite a challenge. Like Trump, however, I aced the test.

I am making the graphic available for anyone, including Trump supporters, to use for free. You can download an SVG or PNG version. As for designers, I challenge you to create your own and post on social media using this tag #FascistUnhingedCowardKnaveTrump.