Tuesday, October 02, 2018

35: Mums the Word


25 comments:

  1. Gee—too many interesting stories at politicalwire.com[Click] this morning. Here are headlines.—Alan

    Democrats Trusted More On Three Key Issues: election security, tax reform & budget deficit.

    Forecast: Democrats Have Almost Locked Down House. Prognosticator sticking to her prediction of Democratic gain of 45 seats. The interpretations of Senate and gubernatorial outcomes is also very intersting.

    GOP Midterm Prospects Hinge on Kavanaugh (from the Washington Examiner, so consider the source.)

    NRA Campaign Spending Way Down. 90%? Yes, 90%!

    Democrats Rebuild Midwestern Blue Wall

    Some Republicans Stuck in the Mushy Middle—not close enough to Trump to please his supporters, not far enough from him to please other potential supporters.

    U.S. Global Image Hits New Lows

    U.S. to Deny Visas to Same-Sex Partners of Diplomats

    ===================
    A few items from talkingpointsmemo.com: Title[Click]


    The 5 Wildest Moments From Trump’s Press Conference Meant For Trade Deal.
    Trump Gets Particularly Testy With Female Reporters During Presser.
    WH appears to scrub Trump insult of female reported from official transcript.
    Trump Passes Buck To Senate For Restrictions On Kavanaugh Probe.
    After Budget Cuts, The IRS’ Work Against Tax Cheats Is Facing ‘Collapse’ [Click] A long term GOP campaign nears total success.
    260 Dems Get Obama’s Support In 2nd Wave Of Midterms Endorsements. But not Andrew Janz. Translation: I still don’t think the Democrats of Devin Nunes’ district count for anything. Vote Devin Nunes!

    —Alan

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  2. Trump Has Tried, But Failed, to Get Rich from Presidency
    October 2, 2018 at 11:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard

    President Trump’s net worth has declined by more than $1 billion since the year he launched his presidential campaign, Forbes reports.

    “Much as he’s trying—and he’s definitely trying—Donald Trump is not getting richer off the presidency. Just the opposite. His net worth, by our calculation, has dropped from $4.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion the last two years, knocking the president 138 spots lower on the latest The Forbes 400 (which will be published in full tomorrow).”

    --Alan

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  3. And we had a rain shower this morning! May get more! [Or may not.]

    Alan

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    1. We've had a deluge all day. We needed it.
      Unfortunately, where Wil works some workmen did something that set off the fire alarm and the whole company had to stand out in the deluge until the building could be checked.

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  4. The Growing Case for an Elusive Ninth [Tenth!] Planet [Click] Astronomers have found another quirky object that suggests a giant body lurks at the fringes of the solar system.

    Related columns in the sidebar:
    Planet Nine, Show Thyself
    A New Planet or a Red Herring?
    How Does Pluto Feel About This?
    The Meaning of Planet Nine

    —Alan

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    1. A re one of the sidebars: How does Ceres feel about efforts to promote Pluto but not it?

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  5. Replies
    1. What do you mean, "almost as if?"

      Alan

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    2. What is more scary to me is that is a man says he did not he is believed, if a woman says he did she is *not* believed.

      And it's pretty clear that Cheetolini has only one use for women anyway. Otherwise they are nothing to him.

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  6. ‘I question their competency’: Devin Nunes challenger rips DCCC [Click] “Despite minting money online, Democrat Andrew Janz says party officials won’t return his calls.” Absolutely typical; the “Democratic” bigwigs have long essentially told the Democrats of this area to vote Republican—we couldn’t care less about you. Oh, and by the way—send us money to spend on deserving folk—elsewhere.

    —Alan

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    1. That is why I *never* donate to the DCCC, but always directly to the candidate. I have been donating small amounts to Andrew all along - wish I could vote for him too.

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    2. I'd be glad to help you out with that, Susan, but the County Clerk here seems to kinda finicky about such things! I am reminded of the joke that the number of dead people voting in Cook County was balanced by the number of cows voting downstate.

      Alan

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    3. I figure the DCCC isn't all bad, so I give them a small amount each month. But not as a substitute for donations directly to the candidates I actively support, including Janz.

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  7. https://politicalwire.com/2018/10/02/trump-engaged-in-suspect-tax-schemes/ [Click] From the failing New York Times, “…based on a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records…” Vast trove; I like it!

    Alan

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  8. I received my sample ballot today, and have it all figured out. The voter information booklet ought to arrive tomorrow or the next day, but is available online, together with newspaper (and other) recommendations for the propositions and candidates I needed a bit more studying for. My real vote-by-mail ballot will probably arrive next Wednesday.

    Alan

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  9. Back to the evacuation of Wil's workplace because of the fire alarm. At the hospital lab where I used to work (separate building, next to the hospital) a birthday cake was served for the honoree, candles all blazing. HOWEVER, one of the candles was the kind that can't be blown out. And while it was relighting, it produced quite a bit of smoke. And it happened to be on a counter right beneath a smoke detector. So the smoke detector sets off the building alarms, automatically calls the fire department and notifies security in the hospital, and there was no way of stopping the process (including evacuation) until the fire department arrived and inspected the premises. That was the last time an unextinguishable candle was uses on a birthday cake there!

    Alan

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    1. Ohhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyy!

      This turned out to be a bad sensor.

      And it set the alarm off a second time before anybody figured that out. Heh.

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  10. How low can one go? This low:

    Trump mocks Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault testimony at Mississippi rally
    https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-rally-mississippi-10-02-18/index.html

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    1. The other day George Will opined that there is no such thing as rock bottom in politics. But this ought to be worth a lot of votes. Maybe a million? Maybe more?

      BTW, there are two or three first time Democratic female candidates on the ballot for whom I will be voting for. One, for State Assembly, is running against a Republican incumbent who, being in the minority, has been providing very good constituent services. I have to give him credit for that. But it's time he went back to a regular job. IMO.

      Alan

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  11. From the pass the popcorn chronicles:

    New York state tax officials are investigating allegations detailed in an exhaustive New York Times investigation into Donald Trump and his family’s business dealings, CNBC reports.

    Meanwhile, the state tax department already is investigating the president’s charity, the Trump Foundation.
    ===================
    Wall Street Journal: “GOP aides on the Hill and another person familiar with the process said they were expecting the bureau to conclude its report as soon as late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Agents had interviewed at least four key people as of Tuesday in its background investigation of Judge Kavanaugh. The White House had given the bureau until Friday to wrap up the probe. “Senators would then be shown the FBI’s findings, but it wasn’t clear if the public would get a look as well.”

    “Some Senate Republicans fear their Democratic counterparts will selectively leak parts of the FBI’s final report about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in order to make him look bad just as the Senate prepares to vote on him,” the Washington Examiner reports.

    --Alan

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    1. "selectively leak parts of the FBI’s final report about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in order to make him look bad"

      What? The Dems might interfere with their coverup? They might actually let We the People know if something IS bad about their nominee? Horrors.

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  12. Are you gonna vote?
    #Me Too!

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  13. Certain irony about the leaks, since that was one of BK's jobs in the Big Dawg investigation. He was Ken Starr's reliable little leaker.

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