SF New Mexican: Ominous GOP mailer draws criticism.
Sick and twisted. I cannot condemn this in strong enough terms.
New Republic: The Most Important WikiLeaks Revelation Isn’t About Hillary Clinton.
PS Mag: The Sad Silver Lining to the Trump Campaign’s Implosion.
Slate: How are these two Missouri Democrats surviving in Trumpish Missouri?
Breaking the mold. Don’t miss the ‘background checks’ video in the middle of the article. That’s authenticity. That’s what I’m talking about.
The Nation: Michelle Obama Just Delivered the Most Powerful Speech of the 2016 Campaign.
It is a shame that this cannot be the first woman President.
ANN: Ancient ‘Kennewick Man’ remains returned to Columbia River tribes.
It’s about time.
InTheseTimes: Natives Are Being Killed by Police at a Rate Higher Than Any Other Group.
I’ve been trying to get this fact into people’s heads, to little avail.
The Atlantic: How America’s Past Shapes Native Americans’ Present.
“Later that century, there was a movement to “civilize,” or assimilate, Native Americans, and the Bureau created federal boarding schools, where Native American children were separated from their parents and only allowed to speak English and play sports that had European origins.” The local tribes ground the old Indian School to powder, even taking the old trees away. That bad a memory.
The Rumpus: A Man’s ABCs Of Miscarriage.
Too flip. If it’s a natural miscarriage, even at a couple of months, the woman’s body goes through all the contractions of birth. It’s devastating physically and mentally, and needs a more empathetic treatment than this. It’s the great undiscussed trauma so many women suffer alone, utterly alone.
In These Times: The Hypocrisy of Some Trump Supporters.
Now that Trump’s on a downhill slide, you wonder where all these on-point articles were during the primaries.
NPR: Authors Take On Native American Stereotypes.
NY Times: Can Women Be Trusted on Abortion? Two Men Weigh In.
Dissent: How Tax Havens Make Us Poor.
Archaeology News Network: The fall and rise of Native North America.
“In a case against a Guantanamo Bay suspect, United States vs Al Bahlul, it was said that the trial and summary execution by General Andrew Jackson of two Scots in Spanish Florida in 1818, traders with the Seminole, was legal and correct and provided precedent for contemporary behaviour by the USA in the war against Al-Qaeda. The Scottish traders had been providing weapons to terrorists. In a non-ironic manner, the Seminole were themselves compared to Al-Qaeda.” Talk about pervasive prejudice and injustice. BLM is important, but the original inhabitants of America get killed [statistically] more often.
I’m going to say it again. November 1 and November 8. Hillary, inoculate yourself.
The new ACA rates come out on November 1. Election is November 8. The new rates are going to sink you, Ms Clinton, unless you do something NOW. Your polling margins are terribly slim. Even three days of the 24/7 news cycle can sink you. Please listen, take my advice. DO SOMETHING. Don’t just shimmy.
I told everyone back when this started that the media would do their utmost to make this entire political season a 50/50 horserace. They have done so through simply terrible journalistic practice and false equivalence. When you’ve blogged through as many elections as I have, and had to suffer Bush/Gore, you know the territory. Sometimes I hate being right.
The Economist: Bill and Hillary Inc.
“An obvious question is what ancillary benefits donors thought they were getting, and here the Clintons’ sloppy approach to conflicts of interest is evident, with the three pillars of their activities—public, private and charitable—colliding. Donors to the foundation attempted to get, and on occasion may have got, favours from Mrs Clinton while she was secretary of state. Most of these requests appear to have been for meetings with her. There was a flow of communication between donors, aides and Mrs Clinton’s government office.” I’ll note that The Economist basically endorses Hillary as the only choice this election. But they’re keeping their eye on her, as evidenced by this article. Hillary supporters won’t like it, but they cannot call it misogynist (the overuse of which, I should mention, is not changing behaviors but quietly and productively driving male voters over to Trump). I don’t fault her for making speeches - I know the industry. Make hay while the sun shines. But that last sentence in the pullquote above bothers me, and I’ve made no bones about it. The Clintons are supposedly smart people. The only conclusion I can draw is, they never really seriously planned for Hillary to do a national run. They experimented all along the way, to see where the roadblocks would occur, and never changed their other long-range plans laid down after Bill left office. Now they have to do the fast-shuffle. “Nothing to see here, just move along!” isn’t going to work.
Debate?
This will reflect my lack of free time to blog:
There WAS no debate. One person was professional, the other was unqualified, underprepared and overcooked. Stewing in his own juice and boiling over to hiss on the stove.
Spin? Sorry, not playing. Trump was never a serious candidate in the first place. Past time for the media to stop giving him free publicity. He belongs in the ENTERTAINMENT section, not the POLITICS section.
America has only one choice. You know who she is. You may not like her, you may have longstanding biases (legitimate or not). But she’s the only one qualified to handle the job. Register, pull the lever, let’s move on with our lives. Enough of this circus.
Reuters: Parent bloggers question role in Mylan’s EpiPen schools push.
Note this is the same strategy big pharma uses with doctors; symposia held in exotic locations. Read: bribery. I used to wonder that anyone would accept such largess without having at least one night of moral indigestion. I’ve since learned humanity has an incredible capacity to rationalize just about any action.
Bloggers, wake up. List your favor-granting, tchotchke-supplying influencers. Even if offered for free or for ‘loan’. List your sponsors. I understand you want or need to make money. Be open and honest, please.
I have no sponsors, have had none. If I did, they would be prominently listed in my right-side nav section here.
Reuters: U.S. lawmakers blast Mylan CEO over ‘sickening’ EpiPen price hikes.
Even a Republican’s pissed. Nice to know there’s still only so far down they’ll go.
Guardian.UK: The Trump Foundation - what’s known is shocking. We need to know more.
So, be above board and fair. Investigate both Foundations. Let’s see what’s going on.
NY Times: Museum Officials and Archaeologists Sign Petition Against N. Dakota Pipeline.
“In this case, it’s pretty clear that the Standing Rock area is important to our national history for a lot of reasons.” Legal efforts to preserve the historical spaces will be the strongest argument for rerouting the pipeline; the judge pretty much threw out all else.
UN Dispatch: Why Angelina Jolie Means So Much to the United Nations.
A reminder for us all to keep out of others’ personal lives, and to stay focused on what’s important.
BBC: How did Disney get Moana so right and Maui so wrong?
I suspect the character-modelers were very taken with Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, whose voice and presence seemed otherworldly and godlike, in spite of his very serious health issues. If they would just admit such, much of the controversy would go away (well, except for that terrible Halloween costume).
Political Wire: Young Voters Force Clinton Campaign Reset.
Both campaigns are missing opportunities, letting others slip away. By the time it starts to affect the polls (poll-driven policy, a Clinton weakness from the ‘90’s), it’s often too late.
Riveted: The Re-Dedication of Naay I’waans (the Chief Son-I-Hat Whale House).
Simply wonderful photoset. Thanks, Wiredfool!