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.
WaPo (10/11): Donna Brazile to Clinton camp - Sometimes ‘I get the questions in advance’
This is blowing up today in conservative circles, days late. It may be nothing, but the implications stink. Brazile’s statement is a classic of redirection. You’d think one person would belly up to the bar and say, unequivocally, “Yes, I emailed that. Here’s my copy. But ...” Noone’s come straight out to show intentional manipulation, either. Where’s the line-by-line comparisons with and without alterations? Just saying. You can claim ‘we need to check these’ ... I know my email. I have it right here. I can tell you in minutes if I sent something, and if it’s been changed. I expect better from politicians, who have whole phalanxes of staff handling this stuff.
The Millions: On Whimsy, Trump, and ‘Bloom County’.
PS Mag: The Sad Silver Lining to the Trump Campaign’s Implosion.
Vox: A GOP strategist explains why the Republican Party is about to break in two.
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.
NY Times: New Jersey Transit, a Cautionary Tale of Neglect.
“In the 1990s, New Jersey Transit was riding high. Its ridership was increasing, and its trains were new and running on time.” Who comes up with this stuff? Um ... NO. Not new. Not running on time. I stopped commuting in the mid-‘90’s. Overcrowded, miserable. It was better at the turn from ‘80’s to ‘90’s. The tracks were always in terrible shape. The bridges around Newark, an embarrassment. The concrete ties would shatter if the Amtraks went too fast, so they had a speed limit. The wooden ties, you could pull the spikes out with your bare hands. Some had probably been there since the turn of the last century. NJ Transit *always* needed a ‘sugar daddy’. Christie pulled it away, in good Republican fashion, and now you’ve got people dead. This isn’t hard to figure out.
Outside Mag: Obituary - Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016).
Even this won’t nudge the impenetrable.
The Atlantic: What’s ‘Healthy’? What’s ‘Natural’?
“PepsiCo misleadingly markets Naked Juices as predominantly containing high-value ingredients such as acai berry, blueberries, kale, and mango, when in fact the predominant ingredient in the product line is usually cheap, nutrient-poor apple juice ...” Well, if you remember ‘60’s advertising like I do, then PepsiCo has gone a long way to save us from terrible laxative adverts ... (wink) ...
SciAm: DEA Drops Ban on Herbal Supplement Kratom.
Suspicious. There seems to be very little science on this, other than overdose stats (and those are not high). Given the potential use profiles, one can’t help but imagine drug companies want an exclusive on the active ingredients (at maximum profit).
Guardian.UK: Study shows books can bring Republicans and Democrats together.
“ What we found was surprising: when both conservative and liberal readers talk about “bridge books” instead of their usual partisan books, they change their way of talking and thinking in significant ways. They use less negative or hateful language. They use more words related to cognitive insight, such as “admit” and “explain”. In short, what is special about these books is that they make readers who otherwise have strong political dispositions become less tribal.” Just in time for choosing Xmas presents for people ...
naked cap: As ObamaCare Death Spiral Continues, Flailing Institutions Attempt to Cope.
“So, carrying the logic through to its insane conclusion, people could be penalized for not buying insurance where there is no insurance to be bought.” Another must-read.
Youtube: Pat Paulsen For President ‘America Oughtta Shut Up’ Tour.
MUST SEE of the day.
Youtube: Triumph Meets Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson.
NY Times: Trumpism After Trump.
Guardian.UK: Did Hillary Clinton intimidate Bill’s accusers? Let’s look at the evidence.
“It’s possible that Bill Clinton assaulted Willey, Broaddrick and Jones during that same era. But that isn’t the equivalent of wrongdoing by his wife.” Evangelicals should flock to her, for ‘standing by her man’ and maintaining their marriage. But such forgiveness is only for those in the same ideological ozone.
Oh and yes, I did watch the debate. Or ‘game show’, as I like to think of it.
Hillary still doesn’t have a strong enough comeback for the ACA price increases. She’s most vulnerable there.
Donald, on certain subjects, was just all over the place. He started off pretty focused - bang on about the problems of the ACA’s costs, yet no real coherent fixes - and ended up a mess afterwards. I felt like I was watching an orange marmalade danish exploding on my kitchen table.
My bugbear, the ACA. I’m looking at a near-$7k deductible, $45-75 copays AFTER deductible for doctor visits (full price before), for the cost of a freakin’ mortgage (over $1k) for the two of us. And that’s the second cheapest offered right now, before the November increases.
I will not continue to pay for the [former] uninsured to have good free coverage, when I’m checking Youtube to fix my own health issues. It costs so much, I have no extra income to pay for the actual doctor visits. Unless I dip into retirement - or go bankrupt, live off the dole and get it all for free. There seems to be an economic range, a spot between subsidies and being comfortably middle-class, where folks like myself end up in tax and health care cost hell.
This is not about selfishness, or conservative/liberal ideology. It’s about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The ACA is violating all of that, here in NM. It feels like an old-fashioned shakedown, courtesy of the US government. It’s wrong.
Also, Kaiser (who gets quoted all the time in healthcare analysis articles) is FULL OF BS. I have a friend in Rhode Island who’s facing huge increases, and Kaiser claims RI is going DOWN 14%. Press, do your duty. Follow up on this, hard. We’re being fed bullbananas on the actual increases in costs.
Vox: Republican elites’ Trump quandary is a long-term GOP problem.
naked cap: Economic ‘Recovery’ Feels Weak Because the Great Recession Hasn’t Really Ended.
In These Times: Hillary Clinton’s Millennial Problem Is Because of Her Policies, Not Her Gende
“Laying out plans for single-payer healthcare and a $15 minimum wage, Sanders beat Clinton among millennials in each one of the 27 states where they faced off in the primaries. And he might still be the most popular politician in the US today.” The gender thing is so overdone. Yes, it exists. I’m not minimizing it. But by harping on it constantly, Hillary supporters drive any shred of enthusiasm into the toilet. It gets to the ‘thought police’ stage. Ridiculous. As I’ve said, Hillary better start talking ACA, public option, single payer, or November will see her slim lead disappear in those seven to eight days.
NY Times: Can Women Be Trusted on Abortion? Two Men Weigh In.
TechDirt: Trump Joins Clinton In Pushing For Cyberwar.
The Atlantic: Mike Pence Pretends That Donald Trump Never Happened.
“Should the Trump candidacy fail, as now seems likely, those leaders stand ready to deny that the revolt ever happened. [snip] The solution for 2020? Bring back the professionals — and return to business as usual.” It’ll work only if the obverse doesn’t give the media more clickthroughs.