Thursday, November 9, 2017

Takes Donald Trump only one year to tank America's worldwide stature


Note: U.S. is number 6
German magazine Der Spiegel said it best with the headline about Donald Trump's presidency, “The End of the World.” That hasn't come yet but considering recent events, it could happen any day. The vision of Trump among world leaders is, he "is a liability, not a leader." WOW! That's an evaluation of the man who is the most powerful in the world. Or, is he? Pew Research Center says Trump's leadership is questioned globally. To illustrate the problem, Pew has devised nine charts on how the world sees the Oval Office maniac. But U.S. News, in an opinion by Robert Schlesinger says the world "hates Donald Trump." And we're stuck with him for, well, we'll wait and see.





Has America finally caught on to Donald Trump's bullshit?


Ralph Northam Virginia win
The New York Times says, "Suburbs rebel against Trump," in the Virginia and New Jersey elections. Real Clear Politics shows Democrat Ralph Northam with a solid 8.9-point lead over Republican Ed Gillespie in the Virginia race for Governor. Former Trump supporters have finally turned their backs on Trump, with Northam winning big with women and younger voters in Virginia, and Democrat Phil Murphy winning over Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, by 14 points. This all happened because of grass roots efforts, something Bernie Sanders perfected in the 2016 Dem Primary and has continued recently in local races. With this new momentum, the left moves closer to taking back the House in 2018.

Suburbs shun Trump in Virginia, New Jersey elections...

Democrats' strength in Virginia...

Republican Lt. Gov. loses to Democrat in New Jersey. Governor's race...

Real Clear Politics charts Northam Virginia win...

Dems surge spells trouble for GOP in 2018...

Democrats finally get back to grass roots...



Wednesday, November 8, 2017

I know you don't even care about U.S. gun violence...but yesterday was appalling



I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but yesterday, November 7, 13 people were killed by gun violence, 38 injured.

Stephen Hawking: Could Artificial Intelligence destroy civilization?


Man connects with Artificial Intelligence
This concept goes back to the play, R.U.R. by Karel Čapek in 1921, about robots sickened by human behavior, deciding to kill all that are on earth. And then there was Demon Seed where too much power is ceded to AI and robots begin to impregnate human beings for half-breeds. I worked closely with AI when in the junk mail industry and found the potential scary. And now physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to destroy civilization, with other experts saying there is a 50 percent chance that AI will be able to perform all human tasks better than humans in 45 years. And Ray Kurzweil, chief engineer for Google and famous futurist, says, although risky, it could be very good for mankind. Think I am way too old to worry.

In R.U.R. Robots take over and kill all humans...

In Demon Seed, robots with new found power impregnate human beings...

Stephen Hawking says AT could doom mankind...

Other experts say AI will do all our work for us...

But wait, Google's Ray Kurzweil says it won't be so bad...





Republicans win by gerrymandering



Don't think so and Republican gerrymandering (manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or class) will do exactly that. The GOP is expert at this illegal tactic, snowing Dems for years. Now, a Michigan grassroots group, opposed by Republicans, is petitioning for an independent commission to redraw political maps. NBC News believes it is a disgraceful national tradition with major effects on communities of color. But, the Dems and the GOP both do it, with humans drawing the lines, which basically removes all subjectivity.

Gerrymandering is illegal...

Case making gerrymandering illegal...

Gerrymandering hurts needy most...

Both Parties gerrymander...

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Voters fancy Democrats over Republicans by 11% in 2018 midterms


The man who could change the Dems
These are the results of a recent ABC-Wash. Post poll, reporting Democratic candidates are favored at 51%, Republicans 40% in the House 2018 election. These figures compare with 2006, when the Dems won back both the House and Senate. However, FiveThirtyEight points out that even though Donald Trump lost the popular vote, he won the presidency. Here's a fact to consider...when the sitting President's rating is below 50% (Trump is 37.7 according to 538) the Party loses more than two-dozen seats in the House. Some think the Democrats have recovered from the 2016 disaster and, “There’s a storm that’s going to hit Republicans in 2018.” The question, who will lead the party?

Latest poll shows voters favor Dems 51% over Republicans 40% for House in 2018...

538 says don't forget Hillary lost in 2016, winning the popular vote substantially...

Donald Trump's low popularity rating could win the House for Democrats...

Dems are quietly fanning the grassroots to get out the 2018 vote...

Will your favorite department store close?


Remember the days when Montgomery Ward was one of the retail stores you depended on for cheap prices, along with Sears? MW retail operations went out of business long ago and their rival, Sears, appears to be having trouble. They are closing 63 Sears and Kmart stores, along with J.C. Penney 138 stores, Macy's shuttering 68 stores, Radio Shack 1,000 stores. The brick and mortar closings are a result of the American public's decision to shop online. First it was junk mail in your mailbox but all this quickly switched to online shopping with Amazon breaking out as the leader. It's only a matter of time before many of these retail locations are history...just like Montgomery Ward.

History of the fall of Macy's, JCPenney, and Sears...

These major retailers are all closing stores...

Nordstrom has also lost shoppers...

List of 2017, store closings with numbers...

Monday, November 6, 2017

Trump lies again over middle-class tax savings-Ryan has fuzzy figures


Donald Trump said "the average American family would get a $4,000 raise, which is an outright lie. Speaker Paul Ryan hedged by saying it would save his group $1,182, using median household income ($59,000) when, in fact, the more realistic figure is median family income at $73,000. And there are added caveats like the savings are only good for the first year. Ryan also says thinking of repealing Obamacare's individual mandate in the tax bill, but with the curbing of the GOP's Obamacare repeal, Dems are planning the same strategy to trash the tax bill. What is so scary is that the opaque Paul Ryan believes all the shit he spews, and Trump doesn't know any better. Pathetic!

Trump lies about tax bill, Ryan uses "trumped" up figures...

Let's stick in the repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate...

Dems planning same strategy against tax bill that killed Obamacare repeal...

Bernie Sanders would have trampled Trump in 2016


Donna Brazile would have replaced Hillary with Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders has his faults, like weak on gun control, soft on black issues, and light when it comes to women's rights. But his popularity soared in 2016, while Donald Trump struggled to maintain his position. Yet, Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the race for President. The Bern's campaign group says they now have proof that the DNC was favoring Clinton, and Donna Brazile said she seriously considered replacing Clinton with V.P. Joe Biden. Sanders says in Rolling Stone Dems should concentrate on bread and butter issues like healthcare and the economy, not Robert Mueller's investigation, but Bloomberg reports the Russia baggage will follow Republicans into 2018. In my earlier blog today, Half of America thinks Trump guilty of criminal acts, 53% convinced of broad wrongdoing in Trump Russia case, and 58% of public thinks Trump investigation is right on.

Bernie Sanders would have beat Trump in 2016...

Definitely proven the 2016 campaign was rigged against Bernie Sanders...

Donna Brazile almost replaced Hillary Clinton with Joe Biden...

Bernie Sanders not sure Robt. Mueller investigation Dems' focus for 2018...

Bloomberg says Russian baggage will follow Republicans into 2018...

Sunday, November 5, 2017

I know you don't care about gun violence... but 27 gun deaths in Texas?



I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but 27 people were gunned down in a Texas church and 30 were injured.

I know you don't care about gun violence...



I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but already today, Sunday, there have been two gun homicides with three injured.

American public thinks Trump lied about Russia, 40% for impeachment


?????
Almost half of an ABC News/Washington Post poll believe Donald Trump is guilty of criminal acts during his 2016 Primary and eventual election to the White House. Only 28% think the case is limited to Manafort, Gates and Papadopoulos, 53% convinced there is 'broader wrongdoing." 58% of the public hold that the Trump investigation is the right thing. Both AG Sessions and Trump denied knowing about Russian contacts when records suggest otherwise. Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page testifies he personally told Sessions about Russia trip.

40% of Americans support Trump impeachment...

Half of America thinks Trump guilty of criminal acts...

53% convinced of broad wrongdoing in Trump Russia case...

58% of public thinks Trump investigation is right on...

Trump/Sessions deny Russian contacts...

Carter Page testifies he personally told Sessions about Russia trip...

When conservatives turn against their own

 I have followed Wm. Kristol for years and it wasn’t very long ago that I considered him an ultra conservative that would never chastise the...