Joe Biden has support of young Hispanic voters

 

The ex-Vice President has the Latino age group 18-34 solidly behind him, but trails Donald Trump in older Hispanics. The younger ones number 14,588,994 and Biden's supporters of 60% total 8,753,396. But he still needs that almost 20 million Latinos who are 35+. And US Today reports he isn't doing as well with this profile as Hillary Clinton did in 2016. Here's the scenario...

"This year, a record 32 million Latinos across the country will be eligible to vote, making them the largest minority electorate for the 2020 election. According to the survey, nearly two-thirds (64%) of young Latinos say they definitely will vote in November, and another 22% say they probably will."

Still: " When asked who they expected to win the election, 53% of the young Latinos surveyed said Biden would while 52% said Trump would be re-elected," which is troubling because it shows a somewhat lack of confidence in Joe Biden. There are a lot of first-time-voters and the fear of being deported if outed appears to be lessening. I've said it before; it's time to bring in Kamala Harris and use her advocacy to win over the Hispanic vote.

Read more...

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Donald Trump demeans U.S. troops, including former senator John McCain

 

James Mattis, Donald Trump's former Sec. of Defense denounced Trump saying

 

that he was "a threat to the Constitution." John Kelly, a retired four-star general and former White House chief of staff, was not on speaking terms with Donald Trump when he left the White House and is purported to be able to confirm the disparities against American troops. And Trump's obsession with John McCain produced comments like this re. his funeral...

“We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,” and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. “What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser,” the president told aides.

Not exactly the kind of comment one might expect from the person sitting in the Oval Office. Knowing sources within the White House said...

"he seems to genuinely not understand why Americans treat former prisoners of war with respect. Nor does he understand why pilots who are shot down in combat are honored by the military."

That could be because he was a draft dodger who connived through his doctor an exemption from the draft over a bogus health problem. Once at Arlington Natl' Cemetery to celebrate the death of Kelly's son in Afghanistan, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” One of Kelly's friends added...

“He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself,” one of Kelly’s friends, a retired four-star general, told me. “He just thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation.” Kelly’s friend went on to say, “Trump can’t imagine anyone else’s pain. That’s why he would say this to the father of a fallen marine on Memorial Day in the cemetery where he’s buried.”

Yes, this is, tragically, Donald Trump. And there is much more in the Atlantic article I recommend reading.

Read even more here.

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Are police cozy with far right?

Mark of the White Supremacist

A former FBI agent speaks, "Too many local police don’t take the far right seriously – or actively sympathize." The Brennan Center for Justice says there is, "Racism, White Supremacy, and Far-Right Militancy in Law Enforcement." A couple of observations from Brennan...

"many have concluded that a structural or institutional bias against people of color, shaped by long-standing racial, economic, and social inequities, infects the criminal justice system."

"These systemic inequities can also instill implicit biases — unconscious prejudices that favor in-groups and stigmatize out-groups — among individual law enforcement officials, influencing their day-to-day actions while interacting with the public."

Mike German, the former FBI agent has been warning of this enigma for years, but the problems have escalated in the last couple of years as Donald Trump spews racism and white supremacy from the Oval office. In an undercover assignment in California against neo-Nazi groups in Los Angeles, California, in 1992, there were routine warnings...

"A redacted version of a 2006 FBI intelligence assessment, White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement, alerted agents to 'both strategic infiltration by organized groups and self-initiated infiltration by law enforcement personnel sympathetic to white supremacist causes,'"

There's more from German...

"A leaked 2015 counter-terrorism policy guide made the case more directly, warning agents that FBI 'domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers.'"

The former agent says that "white supremacists have engaged in deadly rampages in Charleston, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and El Paso, Texas." It gets worse...

"More ominously, neo-Nazis obtained radiological materials to manufacture 'dirty' bombs in separate cases in Maine in 2009 and Florida in 2017, which were only avoided through chance."

The point is we have been lucky when it comes to the discovery of nuclear threats before they occur. What we don't need is law enforcement standing in the way or even aiding and abetting in these events. Police are basically honest and dedicated to their jobs to protect the public. The problem is identifying those who aren't. Mike German's article here.

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CNN's Daniel Dale highlights Trump RNC convention lies

Anderson Cooper-Daniel Dale

Of course we expected a parade of deceit from Donald Trump at his RNC speech on the last night of the Republican convention. It was a big show for the morons packed close together, most without masks, on the south lawn of the White House, a group of around 2,000 with the potential of turning into another super spreader of COVID-19. Why not...everyone else is doing it. But it gave the Oval Office lunatic another shot at adding to his collection of over 20,000 lies.

Right after the convention ended, Daniel Dale, an expert fact checker with CNN talked to CNN's Anderson Cooper about Trump's ongoing clash with the truth. Here's what he said to Cooper...

“Anderson, this president is a serial liar, and he serially lied tonight,” Dale told anchor Anderson Cooper, and then—over the course of three dizzying minutes—ticked off 21 instances of Trump assaulting the truth, everything from his erroneous claims that Joe Biden wants to take down the border wall and confiscate guns to his bogus boast that no president has done more for the African-American community.

Dale finished and Anderson Cooper jokingly asked: "That’s it?” Dale replied: “There’s more. How much time do you have?” But it really wasn't funny, as both men must have agreed, the leader of the greatest nation in the free world feels it is okay to lie about most everything that comes out of his mouth. It is a character trait most would agree not appropriate for the position. That is, of course, except for Trump's double-digit supporters.

There's lots more to the Daily Beast article you can read here. And Daniel Dale's rattling off of Donald Trump mistruths is a must-watch!

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Trump shuts down briefings on election security

The noose tightens around the neck of the November election with Donald Trump eliminating a source of critical information from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It seems they are afraid to do live briefings to "avoid the risk of saying something that might incur the wrath of the President," according to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Here's the scenario...

"With a written release or a written report, you avoid the back-and-forth of questions, some of which could be quite probing. And I think, I think the DNI would like to avoid that and avoid the risk of saying something that might incur the wrath of the President," former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on Saturday.

There's more...

"I think this is a terrible thing with respect to the need to inform the electorate about what foreign nations are doing to interfere in our political process, most notably the Russians," added Clapper, a CNN contributor.

Apparently, the committee hasn't replied to CNN requests for qualification. There is back and forth within the Trump administration that China wants Biden to win but Russia wants Trump to win. My assumption is the White House is afraid the intelligence will lean too heavily with China's desires than with Putin's Russia. The irony is that so far I have seen no indication Biden wants help from China, but plenty that Trump will take anything he can get from Russia.

READ MORE...

Controlling the use of your name and personal data

Back in 2005, when I was still a part of the junk mail business, I began seriously questioning whose property an individual's name, address and other personal data was. I came to the conclusion, and it also seemed common sense to me, that the individual should own this data and be paid for its use. I created a formula for how the American public should be compensated and publicized it nationally. It was met by resistance by the entire industry, even privacy organizations.

My proposal, which was introduced on July 4, 2006, "Independence is Control Over your Name and Personal Data," was met with hostility from junk mailers, the Direct marketing Assn., and many privacy groups whose purported purpose was to protect your name and personal data. Here's an excerpt...

"There is only one answer to protecting our names and personal data, and holding Big Brother at bay when it comes to business and government usurping individual privacy. Orwell’s 1984 predicted it, and we are very close to fulfilling his prophesy, but Americans are beginning to see the light and the need to protect their inner sanctum."

That led to...

"(2 In the case of compensation in the sale of consumer names and personal data, this same system would calculate revenue by individual, and maintain an accounting of what is due. Based on the junk mail industry’s annual take of $4 billion for the selling of names and private information, I feel the name-holder should receive one-half. Ideally, it could be placed in an account bearing simple interest of 3 percent, and the person could eventually draw around $607 a month to supplement their retirement, or take the proceeds in cash."

And then I did a follow-up piece some two weeks later, "Junk Mail Industry Continues to Rob Customers," which reassessed my earlier post of July 4, remarking how junk mailers seemed to ignore the individual's privacy, selling your name repeatedly...

"Yet, the very culprits responsible for the conspiracy are whining over how to get even more results from your names and private information. In a recent article, “Marketers Feel Data-Challenged,” from Direct, a junk mail industry publication, a survey reveals a general unhappiness by companies of not realizing the highest return from your personal data. They want more and more of it, but don’t know how to use it. Pathetic."

There's more...

"In keeping with the inaccuracy of ChoicePoint and Acxiom data from another survey ( 73% and 67%, respectively), junk mail marketers seem to fare no better, with only 30% reporting their data as reliable. Have you ever known of an industry selling its product—mailing lists—for $4 billion a year with an average error rate of 70%? I think not."

Well, the American public, a bunch of lazy apathetics I call them, didn't respond to my proposal, but apparently California sees the idea of the protection of this private information very important. Important enough to pass California Consumer Protection Act, or CCPA, and I look forward to seeing its effect on the use of our names and private information. Read more here...

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Michael Cohen's Trump tell-all does that and more

"Disloyal: A Memoir. The true story of the former personal attorney to President Donald J. Trump," is due out October 6, but Cohen is pushing for September. The recently published foreword site had so much traffic it crashed, which gives you an idea of the significance of the expose. Cohen says...

“'From golden showers in a sex club in Vegas, to tax fraud, to deals with corrupt officials from the former Soviet Union, to catch and kill conspiracies, to silencing Trump’s clandestine lovers, I wasn’t just a witness to the president’s rise—I was an active and eager participant,' it says, among other things."

When Cohen first outed Trump to congressional leaders, "he urged others to rethink their support," resulting in the following comment...

“To those who support the President and his rhetoric, as I once did, I pray the country doesn’t make the same mistakes as I have made or pay the heavy price that my family and I are paying,” Cohen recalled, “exhorting them to learn from my example.”

Cohen continually felt that he was under surveillance, checking to see if he was being followed. Paranoid, perhaps, but completely logical when you are dealing with Donald Trump. After all, as Cohen describes it, he was the most infamous person in the country at the time. I have read over a half-dozen books on Donald Trump recently but think I am looking forward to this one most. Read more here...

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COVID-19 aerosol transmission must be addressed

There are three kinds of coronavirus transmission: "The first is through “fomites,” objects that are contaminated with the virus (which could include someone else’s skin)." The second "is through droplets, small bits of saliva or respiratory fluid that infected individuals expel when they cough, sneeze, or talk." The latter is the major source according to WHO and the CDC, but in this case the droplets fall to the ground after traveling 3 to 6 feet.

The above droplets are only important when coughing and sneezing. However, more important is the third pathway which is aerosols. Here is Jimenez's assessment...

“'Aerosol' (sometimes referred to as 'airborne') transmission is similar to droplet transmission, except that the bits of fluid are so small that they can linger in the air for minutes to hours."

Both "WHO and CDC both state that aerosols could lead to transmission under highly specific situations, both organizations maintain that they are less important." Professor Jimenez disagrees...

"I believe this is a significant mistake and on July 6 I, along with 239 scientists, appealed to the WHO to reevaluate their stance. WHO updated its position in response, but the agency’s language continues to express skepticism of the importance of this pathway."

Even considering WHO's and the CDC's position on aerosols...

"just a few diseases, including measles and chickenpox, have been accepted as being transmitted through aerosols—and only because these are so transmissible that the evidence could not be ignored by the medical community."

Here is an excellent illustration...

"it is useful to use cigarette or vaping smoke (which is also an aerosol) as an analog. Imagine sharing a home with a smoker: if you stood close to the smoker while talking, you would inhale a great deal of smoke. Replace the smoke with virus-containing aerosols, which behave very similarly, and the impact is similar: the closer you are to someone releasing virus-carrying aerosols, the more likely you are to breathe in larger amounts of virus."

Jimenez describes it like "cannonballs" flying from someone's mouth that "travel through the air until they either hit something (worst case someone else’s eyes, mouth or nostrils) or fall to the ground." That is not a good scenario but is just yet another mandate for masks and social distancing that, while not guaranteed, are proven to cut back the transmission of COVID-19 significantly. This is an excellent article you can read here.

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Republicans out of touch beyond reality

The GOP has always been out of touch to the point they continually risk their credibility by their actions. After almost four years of Donald Trump with his antics in the White House, laughable at times, these poor souls believe the Oval Office lunatic has performed well, even if you can accept it, on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. OK, the economy is doing well but aside from killing 180,000 Americans, it has created unemployment in the U.S. of around 10%.


 CBS published their Poll today that makes the Grand Old Party even more comical. Here's an excerpt...

"The vast majority of Republican voters approve of the U.S. economy’s state and how the government handled the coronavirus, and more than half say the level of deaths has been “acceptable,” a new poll shows."

180,000 deaths due to COVID-19 are "acceptable?" A clear picture of just how little Republicans value your life. This is despicable, but should illustrate to voters across the U.S. how this Party has only one thing in mind, to win at any cost. Any cost! The osmosis of Moscow Mitch McConnell has instilled his sick philosophy into the ranks of the GOP; nothing matters matters more than power and the Party. Here's more from the CBS Poll...

"Heading into their party’s convention on Monday, 75% of Republicans say the U.S. is in better condition than it was four years ago, with 82% crediting President Donald Trump for that, according to the national survey from CBS News and pollster YouGov released Sunday."

Yet, when you look at all voters, only 25% say the U.S. is better off than four years ago, 65% say it’s not. There's more and you can see it on CBS here.

U.S. lags in therapeutic testing for coronavirus

Convalescent plasma

The United States ranks 18th in the testing of COVID-19, per 1,000 population, behind Russia. We are number one in total cases, number two in new cases, #1 in total deaths, #2 in new deaths and #1 in serious/critical cases. And for all of this we can thank Donald Trump for his early reaction to the crisis, telling the public it will just go away. It didn't. The complete incompetence of the oval office lunatic is unquestionable, but his continuing ineptitude is unforgivable. 

But the scientists are telling us...

"the clinical trials necessary to provide that evidence for convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies have been fraught with delays and have had problems recruiting volunteers. Many trials are only beginning now, months into the pandemic, because researchers focused their early efforts on therapies, such as hydroxychloroquine, that didn't pan out."

Erica Edwards of NBC points out that we are eight months into the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, and we still don't have a prescribed direction. A direction that should come from Donald Trump, but rather than face the issue, he prefers to play golf. Nero fiddled while Rome burned; the White House maniac plays another round of golf while the U.S. dies from COVID-19. Yet over 40% of Americans still hold a favorable rating of Trump. Why?

Edwards continues...

"Randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, considered the gold standard, evaluate whether a treatment works by comparing it to a placebo. At the outset, neither the researchers nor the participants know who is getting the real thing and who is getting the placebo."

But people who have the virus do not want to be the guinea pig, rather they want the real thing now. You can't force someone into this kind of situation, but the predicament clearly shows the lack of education for the public in trying to solve the coronavirus pandemic. People must understand the urgency to get something done before COVID-19 turns into a 1918 flu pandemic. And that's another factor with the flu season near and thousands of anti-vaxxers out there.

Edwards explains the process...

"The idea behind both convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies is to provide the immune system with a boost to fight off the virus. Convalescent plasma refers to the antibody-rich blood product taken from patients who've already recuperated, and monoclonal antibodies are a synthetic version of those antibodies that could be mass-produced in a lab."

This article is definitely worth a read.

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Wearing a mask to prevent coronavirus

Comments from readers re. the use of face masks...

D.B. believes that a healthy lifestyle is more important than a face mask: "Masks are simply delaying when any of us will get the virus."

Meaning, let's hurry up and catch coronavirus so we can get over it and be free of problems. WRONG! It is proved that long-term lasting effects can be heart trouble, respiratory problems and neurological complications.

In another case, Ron disagrees and says that masks are useless: “Since coronavirus can pass through ANY mask including the N-95, what is the reason for making masks mandatory? They probably are 99.9 % useless.” I question his statement, and masks have been proved to stop COVID-19.

And yet another non-believer, Tom says he is not confused about face masks: “I have worn a mask in total about a half hour since this nonsense started in March. I have been among many people and even in crowds nearing 100, without masking. I have not been sick in any way." Freakin' lucky, but stupid as a rock.

There's more in this article a well-worth a read.

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Explain today's pandemic deniers

Biggest denier of them all

The most devastating stand of all is their denial of COVID-19, itself, exclaiming that it is only a virus. It doesn't get more stupid than that. Here is how CNN Health describes it...

"With so much information available about the severity of the coronavirus and the need to follow guidelines, some people still refuse to accept reality."

The quick answer to the above is that these people don't believe the scientists, the experts trained to work in these fields. Rather, they look to social media for the answers, with some killing their children with radical, worthless remedies. The problem here is not only do they do harm to their own family, they also put friends and innocent bystanders in harm's way. And that is where I draw the line, most certainly with children, friends and innocent bystanders.

There is a lengthy Q & A between CNN and psychologists Eve and Mark Whitmore that basically attempts to explain denial in its relationship to the coronavirus pandemic. Science/medicine has a tendency to identify a problem like this, then quickly apply a name that is supposed to give it credibility. It may be appropriate here, but I have another name, independence, doing what I please regardless of the outcome, which is a product of the Donald Trump era.

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How to make sure your November mail-in vote is counted

The U.S. Postal Service, under the control of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, was appointed because he is a big supporter and donor to Donald Trump's campaign. He is single handedly dismantling the Post Office for the sole purpose of preventing the mail-in votes to arrive on time. As an example, DeJoy has started removing sorting machines from several locations, the lifeblood of these facilities to direct mail to the right people on time.

Remember the guy at the New York post office hand-sorting mail when he found the letter to Santa Claus. Without sorting machines all offices revert to this method which drastically slows down the process. In keeping with his changes, DeJoy has notified 46 states that their mail-in ballots may not arrive on time to be counted. Just what Trump ordered. I did a post yesterday with my solution to beating Donald Trump and Republicans on this issue...

"States must send out the mail-in ballots earlier than normal to compensate for slow mail delivery. I would suggest you contact both your Senator and representative, using the following sites:
U.S. SenateU.S. House of Representatives
In keeping with sending ballots out early, states should extend the date for receiving them, again, to compensate for a slowed down postal system. Put this in your note to your Senator and Congress person."

CNN reports that Pennsylvania is already considering extending mail-in ballot receipt by three days. Of course, Pennsylvania's governor, Tom Wolf, is a Democrat, but states with Republican governors can be pressured, or as I said in my earlier post, shamed into doing the right thing. Also, RepresentUS has a site, "How to Vote by Mail this November," with information on each state. Give them your email and they'll keep you updated. BE SURE AND VOTE IN NOV.

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How to beat Trump/Moscow Mitch at their own game

Pariah of the Senate Moscow Mitch McConnell

As I indicated, the miscreants we are up against are Donald Trump, who is double-jeopardy right now by fighting the stimulus program along with trying to gut the U.S. Postal Service for the sole purpose of preventing a mail-in vote. The other is Senate leader Moscow Mitch McConnell, who is against everything from the left, plus he has recessed the Senate until September 8. Contrary to this stupid move, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has cancelled the House recess.

The question is what do we do about it. Assuming the American public could be codified to the point of shaming the Trump administration to back off (he has done it before if he thought it would benefit him) the new Postmaster General could be forced to stop his bulldozing of the Post Office. Because Moscow Mitch is running a tight Senate race in Kentucky against Amy McGrath, McConnell could be enticed to cooperate.

In case none of this works, the next move is a huge decision. Should we just vote in person? In view of the COVID-19 situation, that is a tough decision for some, especially the older seniors, particularly the elderly. There is one more option, and it is somewhat simple. States must send out the mail-in ballots earlier than normal to compensate for slow mail delivery. I would suggest you contact both your Senator and representative, using the following sites:

U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives

In keeping with sending ballots out early, states should extend the date for receiving them, again, to compensate for a slowed down postal system. Put this in your note to your Senator and Congress person. And I realize these ideas won't fly with Republican governors, so the pressure on Congress must be the max to get anything done. Donald Trump and Republicans will do anything within their power to thwart this election in their favor. Those on the left must do more.

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Jonathan Karl: "Front Row at the Trump Show"

I just finished "Front Row at the Trump Show," and like a good mystery novel, you just can't put it down. Jonathan Karl has known Donald Trump for over twenty-five years beginning the book with his first trip to New Hampshire just before becoming a declared candidate. As he presses on, there is the Trump real estate con man including all the outrageous activities that went along with this and his exploiting of women.

Karl had a reasonably close relationship with Trump during the 2016 campaign, reporting on the man perhaps being the most guilty ever of unpredictability. The author is quoted re. his first contact with Donald Trump...

"I was a cub reporter for a New York tabloid. He was a flamboyant real estate developer with a scandalous personal life." (To quote Avril Lavigne, "Can I make it any more obvious?")

In one instance during the 2016 debates, Meghan Kelly of Fox News asked him about calling women he didn't like things like "pigs," "dogs," "slobs" and "disgusting animals" on his Twitter account. Trump's reply was, "Only Rosie O'Donnell," which engendered some laughter. Karl is privy to a lot of Donald Trump's relationships either directly or indirectly, so it is clear from his book who he likes or dislikes.

There are twenty-four chapters and each one is packed with a new expose of the man he claims is redefining the U.S. presidency. It's up to the reader to determine just how bad the new profile is. A MUST READ at Amazon.

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Donald Trump knows he's had it

Here's the scenario from salon's Amanda Marcotte...

"The parallels between the situation of many abuse victims and the nation’s dilemma when it comes to removing Donald Trump from power have not been lost on feminists. As sex educator Twanna Hines noted on Twitter on Friday, Trump “knows his time is up.' She predicted that he will lash out the way that abusers do “when the relationship is ending.'”

He's hard at work trying to sabotage the stimulus programs presented by both sides, and he gave up long ago in the fight against COVID-19. Now he is doing his best to destroy the U.S. Postal Service making his crony, supporter and large donor Louis DeJoy Postmaster. According to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)...

"he's worried that 'the postmaster general is working with the president to make it a problem so he can argue he doesn't like vote by mail.'"

In a major move, DeJoy has started removing mail sorting machines out of postal facilities, for what reason no one knows, except to delay the mail-in voting in November. From my experience in the junk mail business, there is nothing more important to the USPS than mail sorting machines that speed up the process while making it more accurate. Somehow this kind of action must be halted immediately and what's been done reversed. This can't wait until November!

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