February 27, 2016

Bits Bucket for February 27, 2016

Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here. Please visit my Youtube channel which you can also find here:

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371 Comments »

Comment by Overbanked
2016-02-27 03:18:17

Donald Trump “thought” invading Iraq was a mistake. But he’s going to kick ISIS’s ass.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/02/25/timeline-of-trumps-comments-on-iraq-invasion-not-loud-not-strong-and-no-headlines/

Comment by DumidolFanger
2016-02-27 06:48:09

Somebody has to clean up Obama and Hillarys mess.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:02:08

DumidolFanger for president!

 
 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-27 09:16:07

He has something to say that every fool likes, and it matters not at all that these things often conflict.

 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-02-27 11:55:00

and build a $12 billion wall, and deport 11 million and CUT taxes.

Cut taxes and spend

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 18:56:25

Remind me again why the Trumplings want a freakin’ NAZI in the White House?

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 20:22:47

Meltdown still going on? Ahhahahahahahhahahahaahha

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 21:48:58

The only meltdown was due to me exposing your fraudulent misrepresentation of yourself as six different people, including Donald Trump.

I’ve also been making a systematic effort to inform the public with factual information about your Dear Leader’s fascist tendencies.

Americans deserve to know before it is too late!

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 04:47:19

If you have to borrow for 15 or 30 years, you can’t afford it nor is it affordable.

Comment by Goon
2016-02-27 06:42:34

Don’t be a debt donkey.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:20:58

Is Trump University a fraudulent operation?

Comment by Goon
2016-02-27 05:29:01

Most taxpayer funded organizations with the word “University” in their title are.

“I love the poorly educated” — Donald Trump

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:42:32

Some more than others.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:40:40

Trump University fraud case becomes campaign issue at GOP debate
By Drew Griffin, CNN Special Investigations Unit
Updated 8:37 PM ET, Fri February 26, 2016
Donald Trump on Nevada win: ‘I love the poorly educated’
Story highlights
* Donald Trump faces lawsuits from Trump University, the online real estate courses the bore his name
* Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz both raised the issue at the GOP debate in Houston
*Trump could be called to the witness stand later this year

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump likes to talk a lot about winning, but it is one of his failed ventures that brought out daggers from his opponents in Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate. Florida Senator Marco Rubio took the first stab at trying to label Trump’s failed “Trump University” as a fake.

“There are people who borrowed $36,000 to go to Trump University, and they’re suing now,” Rubio said. “And you know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump.”

That allegation is mostly true. Donald Trump continues to be haunted by a failed real estate investment school that threatens to pull him into the witness chair in the middle of this presidential campaign. And that opened the door for the second dagger in last night’s debate, this time from Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

“You know, Marco made reference earlier to the litigation against Trump University. It’s a fraud case, ” Cruz told the debate audience before asking Republican voters to think about what that would mean if Donald Trump is called into court to stand trial for fraud, right in the middle of an election.

“If this man is the nominee, having the Republican nominee, on the stand in court, being cross-examined about whether he committed fraud, “Cruz explained, “You don’t think the mainstream media will go crazy on that?”

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 07:05:04

Do you really care about this? Some trumped up claim of fraud pushed by a couple of losers? Was it a shit school? I don’t know but I’ll bet the answer is yes. Did people at the school feed students massive amount of bullshit how they’d make money in real estate careers? Probably. These same accusations can be leveled at about 90 percent of the higher education establishment and especially at every “for profit” college like University of Phoenix. It can be leveled at probably every 3rd tier on down law school also.

Who let these morons borrow $36,000 for this?

Can you tell me what Trump did other than show up for pictures to make him any more responsible than the government that allowed, heck pushed, these loans?

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:07:22

Con men always blame their victims. “They shoulda known!”

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 08:38:30

You picked yet another name, CawCawCaw? It’s getting hard to keep up.

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Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 08:43:01

Cawcawcaw is what you do, pro. I guess the irony is lost on you.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 08:57:51

The irony of you pretending to be six or more different posters is not lost on me.

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 10:07:32

That’s not me. I’m not him. I’m not ABQ Dan either.

Caw is a reference to your eating crow all the time now after constantly crowing over AbQDan

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 11:02:38

Caw is a reference to your eating crow all the time now after constantly crowing over AbQDan

No you tell us. The professor must eat crows while they’re still alive if they’re still making noise.

 
 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-27 09:19:50

What matters to anybody that isn’t a complete chucklehead is Trump was happy to swindle poor people who idolize him and leave them in crushing debt.

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Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 10:11:49

Sounds like every millenial I know bitching about loan debt and having to work. That’s the swindle. Welcome to life.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-27 10:26:47

So your argument is “People don’t swindle people, swindles swindle people.”

Pathetic.

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:01:14

The swindle is in your head, Lola.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 18:59:47

Meltdown = CawCawCaw = DumidolFanger = Anklepants = Canklepants= Yuuge in Burma = Angry old redneck with WAY too much time on his hands…

 
Comment by Michael Viking
2016-02-27 22:17:05

WAY too much time on his hands…

You’re the one who posts 16+ hours a day. Pot, meet kettle.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 23:45:57

Stop whining, Michael.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 23:51:28

By the way, during the eight hours I wasn’t posting today, I helped my wife with a major work responsibility, played a concert, hung out at a brew pub with friends, took my sons out to dinner, and went shopping. All told, it was an excellent day. And it was a pleasure to expose Anklepants’ six other blog handles for all the world to see!

 
 
 
Comment by ann gogh
2016-02-27 07:50:25

If someone plays golf at a Trump resort and loses the game can he sue trump too?

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-02-27 11:57:20

lame logic of the month post

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:43:47

Does Trump even know how to spell, much less run a university?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:45:59

“Honor” normally doesn’t rhyme with “boner”.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:17:55

No, but we should use them in the same sentence more often.

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Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 09:53:22

I’m an honers student!

 
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 09:55:46

I’m studying plants and electrolytes, btw.

 
Comment by Tarara Boomdea
2016-02-27 11:46:37

I’m studying plants and electrolytes, btw.

Brawndo?

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-27 16:25:18

Trump: the white Camacho.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:48:03

The Hill
February 26, 2016 - 09:57 AM EST
Trump stumbles over spelling in Twitter rant about debate

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump made several spelling errors in a series of tweets Friday morning about the previous night’s debate, in which he was attacked by his rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Trump hit back at the two senators, calling Cruz a liar and a loser, and accusing Rubio of being a lightweight choker. However, he stumbled over the spelling of the latter insult. He also misspelled “honor.”

Trump later deleted the tweets and reposted them without the errors, but not before they were caught and saved by Twitter users.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-27 10:03:44

Trump: A Stupid Candidate for a Stupid Country

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 14:43:18

With 95% of the electorate being rank idiots, that might be the perfect slogan to propell Trump into the White House.

 
 
 
 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 05:46:48

Rent free

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:50:49

You are up early today,
CawCawCaw
Canklepants
Anklepants
DumidolFanger
Donald Trump

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 06:50:42

Paranoid. I just got up.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:09:58

Lie alot?

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 10:13:44

I’m telling the truth. I swear to Allah.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 11:56:07

Insulting other people’s religious beliefs becomes you.

 
 
Comment by Ol'Bubba
2016-02-27 07:02:01

You tell him, Professor Get Stucco Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Throwing Bear!

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:06:35

I’ve never denied changing screen names over time. But using five different names at once as an ad hominem attack strategy is despicable.

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 07:17:24

Porf is here at 1:40 reacting to Trump’s taking a bite out of the phony oligarchy establishment’s Baby Ruth:

http://youtu.be/TPxiXGr9nFM

 
Comment by ann gogh
2016-02-27 07:51:30

I was agitatedinSD and oroverde, but i’ll always be ann gogh

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:52:31

Is “Porf” how Trump University students abbreviate “Professor”?

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:01:43

Don’t know. You must know…you sound like one unhappy graduate of the trump university.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:09:06

Rather I’m a happy non-graduate of Trumpling University.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:13:30

Your postings don’t show that. Only bitter, angry, old, loser white men post like you do.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:23:28

Your postings show you support the candidate of angry, old, frightened, bitter, disenfranchised white men. I am not one of those.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:57:30

I support no one. I just love watching full meltdown of people like you. Hope this election never ends.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:08:00

“I support no one.”

That’s sad.

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 07:13:09

The “Porf” thing just popped into my head one day and I started using it here and there thinking it was a funny sounding misspelled variation on the bloviating windbag who styles himself as “prof”. It has nothing to do with the urban dictionary definition. Just a juvenile misspelling that I knew would needle porf.

I think it’s ironic that now Trump’s got people so scared of losing their power that they are criticizing his tweet spellings.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 07:58:31

Dudes and dudettes, maybe we should cut the fratricide and concentrate on the real enemy: the NAR.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 08:42:38

It’s become nigh impossible to keep track of CawCawCaw’s sixty-four different blog personas!

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 08:49:38

Unfortunately, it’s the same dopey persona using a dozen different handles.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:53:48

Maybe a crackdown on multiple blog personas is overdue. It seems inherently duplicitous to post under multiple names at the same time.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:57:36

It seems inherently duplicitous to post under multiple names at the same time.

Hey, he’s working the system, just like his hero Trump’s many bankruptcies and swindles.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:08:50

‘The “Porf” thing just popped into my head one day…’

Your spelling skills resemble those of your Dear Leader.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:34:42

Dumidol Duplicitous Fanger’s middle name is Duplicitous.

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 10:22:57

Look, it’s only ever serial. Once it changes. Not multiple at once. Usually topical for the day or week, based on the context of the blog, in a way that amuses me. Cmon how am I not gonna be Meltdown today? But in fairness poor is making wild accusations about posters who I am not.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 11:26:27

Yeah, it only changes once every five minutes,
Meltdown
DumidolFanger
Canklepants
Anklepants
Yuuge in Burma
Donald Trump

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:03:02

I’m not sure who some of those people are, but I salute them nonetheless.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 19:01:59

Your scam is totally obvious. Give it up, phony.

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 20:24:38

Now I’m phony too? Ahhahahahahahhahahahaahha.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 21:52:38

Meltdown is only the latest dopey handle added to a long, lame, annoying list:

Yuuge in Burma
Canklepants
CrotchItch
NosePicker
Donald Trump
Etc

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 22:00:22

“Now I’m phony too?”

That’s a description, not a name. I guess they didn’t teach you about proper nouns at Trumpling University.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-27 06:19:11

Porf?

The urban dictionary says …

“PORF

“Pile Of Red Flags. When a prospective romantic interest indicates numerous signs or ‘red flags’ that they are not fit to date.
‘He said he’s been unemployed for a year, tried to light his parents house on fire, and was once arrested for hitting his ex-girlfriend - total PORF, man. I paid the check and fled the restaurant.’”

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Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-27 06:22:10

Pile of red flags. That’s what the economy is showing, a pile of red flags.

The economy is porf, dude.

Porf. I like it.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:24:55

“Pile of red flags”

Sounds like Trump’s platform, to a tee!

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-27 06:38:02

The first indication of FUBAR is PORF.

If you don’t pay attention to PORF then you will end up with FUBAR.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-27 07:10:26

Porf leads to poof.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 12:08:39

TIL…

The Porf Economy—I like it.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 05:57:55

NBC News
Feb 8 2016, 4:44 pm ET
Education Dept. Works to Nix Fraud at Colleges
by Halimah Abdullah

Following a series of high profile investigations of fraudulent practices at for-profit colleges, the Department of Education announced Monday that it will now devote a team to take a harder look.

The Federal Student Aid Enforcement Unit will work to root out fraud at institutions of higher learning.

“When Americans invest their time, money and effort to gain new skills, they have a right to expect they’ll actually get an education that leads to a better life for them and their families,” John B. King Jr., acting Secretary of Education said in a statement. “When that doesn’t happen we all pay the price. So let me be clear: schools looking to cheat students and taxpayers will be held accountable.”

The Department of Education already investigates colleges for fraudulent activity and has the ability to remove the school’s eligibility to receive financial aid. However, the new unit will position the department to move much more quickly, department officials said Monday.

As part of the 2017 budget, which the president will submit to Congress on Tuesday, President Obama is requesting $13.6 million in additional funds to strengthen the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid’s enforcement and oversight activities.

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 06:00:07

Now that another windbag, Nazi Chris Christie declared his support of WIndbag Nazi Trump, will the regulars on HBB start chirping a different song, about the virtues of Surveillance State Christie?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:05:49

Fascism and privacy rights don’t mix.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:07:29

Opinion
Republicans have declared war on Apple. It will totally backfire.
James Pethokoukis
Isaac Brekken/Getty Images
February 24, 2016

Apple — the world’s most valuable public company — would seem to represent everything free-market Republicans and conservatives believe is great and good about American capitalism. Silicon Valley’s quintessential garage startup symbolized booming U.S. technological superiority during the Reagan era. Apple then survived a near-death experience, not thanks to government bailout or subsidy, but by again creating beautiful, innovative products for consumers. And now, Apple’s revolutionary iPhone has helped create a more dynamic economy by enabling a new generation of startups to disrupt incumbents in staid markets such as hotels and taxis.

Given all that, Republicans have been able to forgive the liberal leanings of Apple executives while holding up the company as an icon of free enterprise. But no such absolution from some GOPers, apparently, for Apple’s position on data encryption — in particular its decision to resist an FBI request to help it crack the password of an iPhone (without losing data) used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Here’s a representative sample from GOP 2016 frontrunner Donald Trump:

[Blah, blah, blah, tweet, tweet]

Trump later called for a boycott of Apple products until the company helped unlock the smartphone.

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 07:22:45

Remember, Trump’s regular calls for increased torture, bombings, and state surveillance are all just lies to sucker the rubes. We all know he’s better than that.

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Comment by Red Pill
2016-02-27 07:56:59

Seems like someone is going to miss the globalist takeover when Trump puts his boot up their asses.

Just look at all of the Organizations, Countries and People coming out against Trump.

China
Mexico
RNC
DNC
Establishment Media
Europe
SJW’s
Crony capitalists
Wall Street Bankers
Lobbyists
Carl Rove
George Will
Bill Kristol
…and the list goes on.

Sounds like the person for the job.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:05:59

My thoughts exactly. He may be a deeply flawed candidate and human being, but the fact that he’s caused the establishment scum to close ranks against him tells me this is a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to give the System a middle-finger salute.

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 08:14:59

You forgot to add the libertarian philosophy, which rejects Trump. Ron Paul opposes Trump. You conveniently left him out.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 08:19:13

“Sounds like the person for the job.”

There it is.

And given the Trump signs everywhere, most agree with you.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 08:28:02

If Charles Manson was running for president, that entire list would oppose him as well, along with many others. I suppose that that would encourage you to vote for Manson.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:33:25

I was hoping today would be one of your rare semi-lucid days, MM, and you might actually have something worthwhile to add for once. No such luck….

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 08:33:36

Irrelevant

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:44:19

No such luck….

I think he made a very good point that you have no good response to.

Would you vote for Manson?

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:48:28

Irrelevant

Another one with no good response! Next up, phony to divert us with a totally unrelated article about something outrageous somewhere.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 08:51:44

MightyMouse is an idiot.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:55:35

is an idiot.

Another one with no good response! I’m sensing a trend.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:58:47

The differences betwen Manson and Trump are so self-evident that such a moronic comparison doesn’t even rate a comment. More to the point, the entire lineup that Red Pill listed are the who’s who of the corrupt, crony capitalist, neoliberal, oligarch-owned establishment, i.e. the villains of the piece. Their loathing for Trump is because they don’t own him, and anything that upsets their establishment status quo (i.e. that benefits only the 1%) terrifies them.

 
Comment by Red Pill
2016-02-27 09:03:42

Oh…and the Pope.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:06:43

“MightyMouse is an idiot.”

Thanks for another vapid and insulting post, Meltdown, DumidolFanger, CawCawCaw, Anklepants, Canklepants, Yuuge in Burma…

Or was that the real Donald Trump posting?

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:11:23

He may be a deeply flawed candidate and human being, but the fact that he’s caused the establishment scum to close ranks against him tells me this is a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to give the System a middle-finger salute.

How would Manson not serve this purpose just as well?

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 09:20:01

I wasn’t comparing Manson to Trump. I was asserting that it doesn’t make sense to think that Trump would be a good president just because a lot of people that you don’t respect don’t like him. I was trying to point out that that argument doesn’t make sense.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 09:46:11

Irrelevant. Manson isn’t running.

 
 
 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 07:22:11

Speaking of Nazis, do you really think that having too much order is the problem in this country? Too much order and too much conformity? There’s a huge swath of the population that can’t conform enough to get up and go to work to support themselves.

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:10:20

So you’re calling for more order and more conformity? To be instated by the government? Or by empowered mobs?

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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 12:15:19

To be instated by the government? Or by empowered mobs?

False dichotomy.

There is a more reasonable option, instated by no one: allow such people to hear the drumbeat of their basic human needs for food/shelter/clothing. At the moment, the government has its fingers in their ears, keeping out the din.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 12:18:54

So you desire more order and conformity too, prime?

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 12:40:17

So you desire more order and conformity too, prime?

Don’t put words in my mouth, Oddie—all I did was point out your obvious logical fallacy, and that other options exist. I made no argument for more order or confirmity.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 13:24:54

Don’t put words in my mouth,

I’m just trying to figure out what you’re saying. Do we have too much nonconformity and disorder? Is it caused by government intervention, and if so, how?

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 15:23:36

Do we have too much nonconformity and disorder?

Nope—I’m a big fan of nonconformity and disorder. Feel free to express yourself to the utmost, right up to, but not including, the point where you are infringing on other’s rights.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:22:01

The Founding Fathers in their writings repeatedly warned that only a moral and self-governing people could sustain a republic. The 2008 and 2012 elections provided convincing proof that our national march into IDIOCRACY is complete, and we are now a manipulated mobocracy rather than a vibrant, healthy democracy.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:28:09

The intelligent in this country are an endangered species as our national march into IDIOCRACY has only accelerated since the 2008 and 2015 elections vividly highlighted the stupidity of 95% of the electorate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXSz0bA9CiE

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 08:31:04

Speaking of Nazis, do you really think that having too much order is the problem in this country? Too much order and too much conformity?

Is that a defense of the Nazis?

There’s a huge swath of the population that can’t conform enough to get up and go to work to support themselves.

It’s probably not reasonable to describe the number that you’re referring to as a huge swath, unless you’re talking about senior citizens and small children.

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Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:06:42

Actually it’s millions on welfare and fake SSI. Able bodied millions.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 08:44:42

Your efforts to hide behind sixty plus screen names are failing.

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Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:09:53

All the people you are falsely accusing of being me are laughing their asses off. Thank you for the Saturday meltdown bowl.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:03:36

SH, your comments about the corporate statist leanings of the candidates don’t go amiss. That said, maybe you need to hike up your skirts and get actively involved to bring about positive change instead of bloviating ad nauseum about how you’re too ideologically pure to vote or participate in the political process.

Comment by anklepants
2016-02-27 08:48:38

Or at least approve my friend request ;)

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:15:57

Don’t you have enough imaginary friends to keep you company?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 11:31:13

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 07:26:28

Actually it’s 9 (imaginary Trumplings). You can’t even count. Trump University?

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-27 09:43:06

Bill can do whatever he wants, he can even get on his soapbox and preach the good news of anarchy. It’s his right; which so far is still supported by our statist establishment. But don’t try speaking your mind in a failed state like Mexico, or you might find yourself on the wrong end of a hitman’s gun. I recently read that Mexico is now the most dangerous country in the world for journalists.

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Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 06:39:01

“Is Trump University a fraudulent operation?”

If it paid Hillary $300,000 for a speech it is.

Behind the scenes of Hillary Clinton’s $300,000 speech at UCLA

By Jake Miller CBS News November 28, 2014, 11:09 AM

Before Hillary Clinton spoke at the University of California at Los Angeles in March, her representatives had a few specifications to negotiate with school officials.

A team at the Harry Walker Agency, a speaker’s bureau handling Clinton’s appearance, requested snacks in the green room (”diet ginger ale, crudité, hummus, and sliced fruit,” they wrote in an email obtained by the Washington Post.) They described her preferred onstage refreshments (water, both hot and room temperature, and lemon wedges). They specified the type of chair Clinton should be sitting in during part of her appearance, and the type of pillows to be placed on that chair (long and rectangular, with an additional pillow backstage for added support, if needed.) They even requested that a medal being presented to Clinton be given in a box instead of being draped around her neck.

And of course, there was the matter of Clinton’s $300,000 speaking fee. When officials asked for a price reduction on behalf of the public university, Clinton’s representatives didn’t budge, saying $300,000 was already the “special university rate.”

The emails exchanged between school officials and Clinton’s team, obtained by the Post under a Freedom of Information Act request, shed new light on the intense choreography behind Clinton’s lucrative turn on the speaking circuit.

Comment by talon
2016-02-27 08:44:34

Not a Hillary fan here, but really that’s pretty tame and mostly standard contract rider stuff for a speaker or entertainer. Back in the day I worked as a stagehand and some of the requirements, especially for the bigger names, bordered on the ridiculous. One rock band (don’t remember which) specified that they wanted a large bowl of M&Ms in the dressing room, but “no green ones.” So four hours before the show some poor schlub was backstage spreading out bags of M&Ms and separating out the offending color. He was probably cross-eyed by the end of the day.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 09:12:05

Um, that was Van Halen. Their contract stated no brown M&Ms in the bowl backstage. People thought they were being divas or rayciss (even though the Van Halen brothers, Eddie & Alex, are half Indonesian), but in reality frontman David Lee Roth was a very shrewd businessman. He understood that if the concert organizers failed to heed the “no brown M&M” stipulation, it showed they probably hadn’t thoroughly read or honored the signed contract. That in turn gave Roth & the band the right to demand that every single point on the contract be checked for compliance, which often turned up multiple other issues. So there was a method in the madness.

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Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-27 11:29:21

“David Lee Roth was a very shrewd businessman. He understood that if the concert organizers failed to heed the “no brown M&M” stipulation, it showed they probably hadn’t thoroughly read or honored the signed contract. That in turn gave Roth & the band the right to demand that every single point on the contract be checked for compliance, which often turned up multiple other issues. So there was a method in the madness.”

Hmmmm … I think those who have power and understand power understand that any power they have needs to be constantly exercised just to serve as a reminder to others that they have it - that they have power.

Power begets power and it also attract followers who want to tap into power but these followers need signals of some sort to help cue them in on who is gaining power and who is losing power and constantly exercising one’s power is what generates these signals.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-27 14:03:49

If David Lee Roth was to allow it to be known that he really doesn’t care what color his M&Ms are (which is most likely the case) then the guys on the other side of the table (a metaphor) just might begin to question what else he would be less demanding about (such as money). But if he is going to raise hell about brown M&Ms then it is going to be egg shell walking for the other-side-of-the table guys about every issue because this David Le Roth guy is a money-making machine and nobody in their right mind (outside of possibly the government) wants to diddle with a money-making machine.

 
Comment by oxide
2016-02-27 14:07:07

Was it the same demand for no brown M&M’s each time? If so, then the story would spread and even shady promoters would take out the brown M&Ms without reading the contract. Better to change the contract slightly each time to make sure it was read each time. Like, no red M&Ms, or just blue Skittles this time.

And I would have made a demand that was non-food, like white tulips or distilled bottled water. Who wants eat M&Ms which had been pawed over by an schlub with unwashed hands?

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 14:49:27

Was it the same demand for no brown M&M’s each time?

Yes, but the concert venue promoters assumed the band were just being typical rock divas. I don’t think the real story came out until the book “Freakonomics” spilled the beans.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-27 16:37:26

Here’s a video of David Lee Roth talking about brown M&Ms and such (run time = 5:40) …

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2014/05/david-lee-roth-explains-no-brown-m.html

 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 09:01:10

All for-profit universities are fraudulent operations.

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 14:59:29

Is that what attracted Trump to the business?

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 15:29:10

I don’t think he was actually “in” the business—he just licensed his name to some RE sharks who wanted to fleece the ignorant public.

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Comment by Donald Trump
2016-02-27 05:53:32

I am the only candidate in many years who is self-funding his campaign. Lobbyists and $ interests totally control all other candidates.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:36:44

Give up your candidacy and go back to your business of stiffing creditors for maximum personal gain.

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 07:24:05

So out of touch he only knows one Trump supporter, whose ethnicity he has to mention before calling him a moron.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 08:46:22

Whatever you say, CawCawCaw…

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:38:22

Grand Old Primary

POLITICO’s coverage of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox slammed Donald Trump’s policy and refused to apologize for using profanity in earlier comments on the the GOP frontrunner. | AP Photo
Former Mexican president: Trump should drop out of the race
By Eliza Collins
02/26/16 09:01 AM EST

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Donald Trump should drop out of the presidential race, go back to his business and reflect on how Mexico has been a positive influence on the United States.

“I would invite this guy to drop out of the race and go back to his business,” Fox said in an interview with Fox Business on Friday. He pointed to the history of trade between the U.S. and Mexico.

“He doesn’t know a little bit about macro-economics, he doesn’t know about history, he doesn’t recognize what NAFTA is about,” Fox said. “We [Mexico] are partially responsible for making that economy as strong as it is.”

Fox initially appeared to respond to a request for an apology from Trump after the former president said “I’m not gonna pay for that f—— wall,” during a Fusion interview. He was referencing Trump’s plan to build a giant wall between the two countries and make Mexico pay for it.

But Fox refused to apologize Friday, and instead he repeated his statement.

“I am not gonna pay for that f—— wall, I am not … I am not gonna apologize,” Fox said. “Building a wall is stupid. It will go against your best interest.”

On Thursday, Trump — who has been known to use vulgarities on the trail, but has promised to give up cursing — tweeted his request for an apology.

“FMR PRES of Mexico, Vicente Fox horribly used the F word when discussing the wall. He must apologize! If I did that there would be a uproar!” he tweeted.

During the Republican CNN debate Thursday night, he said that the former president’s comments meant that “the wall just got 10 feet taller, believe me.”

Comment by ibbots
2016-02-27 07:06:30

Fox, what does that guy know? He’s as corrupt as any of the MX politicians. He’s just worried someone is going to turn off the gravy train from the north.

Was there a recent article about remittances from Mexicans abroad exceeds MX what they get from oil revenues? That’s real money that helps keep their economy afloat. Almost half of MX live below the poverty level. Fox should direct his energy inward rather than be concerned with the US primaries.

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:12:31

Easily enough to build a wall through heavily taxing remittances going south.

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 06:43:39

Mr. Trump. You are a superb statesman….. with a squad of sexy strumpets. :mrgreen:

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:14:24

Strumpet = prostitute

It’s weird how the evangelicals have no problem with The Donald’s sexy squad of happy hookers. Bunga bunga!

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:24:49

evangelicals have no problem with The Donald’s sexy squad of happy hookers.

Their strict morality is apparently a fleeting thing when it needs to be.

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 09:45:03

Lola,

You talking about morality is priceless. Stick to something you understand intuitively. Like men wearing dresses.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 12:15:34

In Dallas, Rubio Eviscerates “Con Artist” Trump
by Patrick Svitek Feb. 26, 2016 27Comments

Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio speaks at Klyde Warren Park in Dallas on Feb. 26, 2016.

DALLAS — Marco Rubio on Friday unleashed a full-frontal assault against Donald Trump, blasting him as a “con artist” who is hijacking the conservative movement and mercilessly mocking Trump’s alpha-male status.

At a rally here, the U.S. senator from Florida unveiled what amounted to his most comprehensive — and scathing — critique of Trump yet, declaring it “time to pull off his mask so that people can see what we are dealing with here.”

“He is a con artist,” Rubio said. “He runs on this idea he is fighting for the little guy, but he has spent his entire career sticking it to the little guy — his entire career.”

Rubio’s full-throated offensive came the morning after he and Ted Cruz teamed up against Trump at the 10th Republican debate in Houston. Rubio specifically pounced on Trump’s hiring of foreign workers and his now-defunct Trump University, both examples Rubio cited here as he argued the billionaire is doing a “con job” on voters.

“He’s going to Americans that are struggling, that are hurting, and he’s implying, ‘I’m fighting for you because I’m a tough guy,’” Rubio said. “A tough guy? This guy inherited $200 million. He’s never faced any struggle.”

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:00:48

Are MSM reporters keeping tabs on all of Trump’s many thuggish remarks on the campaign trail?

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:10:48

This kind of obsession can’t be good for anyone’s health.

Obsession of a blowhard, nonetheless. You need life.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:16:56

You need to get busy posting under your other five screen names.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:17:42

You know nothing.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:40:52

You contribute nothing here except insults and propaganda.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:52:57

You contribute nothing here except insults and propaganda.

You must not look yourself in the mirror. I don’t blame you if i was this angry, white, old and ugly I wouldn’t either.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:09:40

You should try recording yourself and replaying what you say.

 
 
 
Comment by ann gogh
2016-02-27 07:55:45

Personally the anguish of watching obama defy regular rules in all of his EO has turned me into a White Trash Mute!

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:15:55

The Sacramento Bee
Ben Boychuk
February 25, 2016 8:05 AM
Trump is the last straw for this Republican

Latest voter registration figures show that California’s GOP is collapsing

Trump’s rise will only further alienate true conservatives

GOP needs a modern-day Abraham Lincoln to rescue it

The success of Donald Trump, shown speaking Wednesday at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., is finally persuading Ben Boychuk to leave the Republican Party.

By Ben Boychuk
Special to the Bee

Here’s a question: When barely a quarter of voters in the most populous state in the union register as Republicans, is it possible to still consider that party electorally viable or anything remotely close to it?

The secretary of state’s office this week reported that the California Republican Party lost about 400,000 registered voters over the past four years, a decline of 8 percent. The Democrats are more or less holding steady, at around 43 percent of registered voters.

Meantime, about 500,000 more voters are unaffiliated with any party today than in 2012. Just shy of a quarter of California’s voters (24 percent) claim “no party preference.”

I’m about to become one of them.

The reason? I’m a conservative in a party that has turned conservatism into a cartoon caricature. Truth is, I’ve been a “Republican in Name Only” for years and only remained registered out of a combination of inertia and sheer laziness. The comically inept state GOP hasn’t managed to mount a successful statewide campaign in a decade. The Republican standard-bearer in 2014 – I’ve forgotten his name and please don’t remind me of it – was a former Bush administration official who voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Good Lord, why bother?

But the biggest reason I’m dumping my party preference is Donald Trump. He isn’t the Republican nominee for president yet, but the damage is done.

Republicans have long needed a national candidate who could challenge its feckless leadership – somebody who could shake up the status quo and kick the Chamber of Commerce in the teeth. The party needed someone who could not only throw off the straitjacket of Reaganism – which served Republicans and the country very well 30 years ago when circumstances were much different – but who also could exorcise the debilitating legacy of George W. Bush.

For our sins, we got Trump.

Trump’s supporters know exactly what he is and they don’t care. He isn’t a conservative. He’s barely a Republican. He was until recently a generous donor to the Democratic Party.

He doesn’t know the difference between a collection basket and a communion plate and has famously said he has no need to repent or ask for forgiveness. Evangelicals vote for him anyway.

He’s making promises about a border wall he cannot possibly keep. Well, his supporters say, at least he’s made illegal immigration a national issue again!

Trump is vicious. He talks like a thug. A sizable chunk of his supporters are honest-to-goodness racists. Crowds love him.

Establishment Republicans are now in a blind panic. Can this madman be stopped? Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio seem to think the path to victory is to bash each other’s brains in until the weaker Cuban American keels over. Rubio said this week he won’t go out of his way to attack Trump.

Comment by oxide
2016-02-27 14:12:38

I don’t belong to a political party either. It’s got nothing to do with how I identify. I just don’t want to get beggy campaign mail from anyone.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:21:00

Trending
No, Seriously, Trump Is a Fascist
By Walter Hudson
February 26, 2016

Eyes roll whenever comparisons to Nazi Germany are made, and for good reason. The analogy is almost never called for, and is almost always an example of rhetorical hyperbole. George W. Bush was compared to Hitler. Barack Obama has been as well. Neither comparison is fair. But that does not mean Nazi comparisons are always inappropriate. If anything, the overuse of Nazi references has desensitized the public to manifestations of actual fascism. When “fascist” becomes nothing more than a pejorative, few will take its meaning seriously.

Right now, we have an actual fascist running for president of the United States, and he seems poised to secure the Republican nomination. Donald Trump is a fascist, not in a vague rhetorical sense, but according to the father of fascism’s own definition. Benito Mussolini coined the term and defined it as complete subjugation of the individual to the state. He wrote:

The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups are relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the State…

The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone….

Note, fascism is not characterized by the Holocaust. It is not characterized by the deaths of millions. The Holocaust was a product of fascism, not a component of it. One need not propose or carry out mass murder to be a fascist, but only support an all-powerful state that completely subordinates the individual to the arbitrary will of its leader.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 06:33:12

The dunces Conveniently ignore the fact that the pied pipers who follow the pattern of Fascist dictators all start the same way.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:51:04

Neocons calling other people fascists. How cute.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:11:20

The guy with five screen names calling others names…not cute.

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Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 07:26:28

Actually it’s 9. You can’t even count. Trump University?

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:09:18

The neocon bag of dirty tricks must be empty if they’re trying to pin the “fascist” label on The Donald. Next up, the Thought Police will solemnly intone he is a “hater.”

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Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-27 10:06:20

Your worshipfulness blinds you to the truth.

 
 
 
Comment by Fang nu
2016-02-27 07:44:43

I’m ok with the last half of the facist definition. Useless freedoms, such as rights for illegal anyones of any sort, be they in the wrong place or have done the wrong thing, or refuse to do the right thing, or are incapable yet given the same rights as the capable: need quashed.
Mental incapables need trained to be productive, not given a living wage handout.
Moral incapables need re-educated.

Since we as a nation have no stomach to exorcise ourselves of them, then we as THE nation need to have it done for us.
The basement dwelling mentally diseased little jewel we call our children, that are now on daily rampage shootings, need excorcised, no matter who think they have rights. becsause some parent loves that damaged child doesn’t mean society need tolerate them.

Bad teacher? You’re retrained or starve.
Same with all from all walks.

Some countries ran better with dictators and hard rules. Maybe we’re one of them.

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:14:20

I’m ok with the last half of the facist definition…Mental incapables need trained to be productive…Moral incapables need re-educated.

Yes, we can see why you’re fine with many aspects of fascism.

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Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:15:39

On a spectrum between anarchy and totalitarianism, a single step towards order makes you a fascist or a Nazi.

 
 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 12:38:33

but only support an all-powerful state that completely subordinates the individual to the arbitrary will of its leader.

It is interesting to me that those who are crying fascist the loudest have been remarkably quiet about Obama taking Executive Orders to a new level in our republic. An all-powerful executive that can create law-equivalent by fiat is the very epitome of fascism.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-02-27 13:27:12

‘those who are crying fascist the loudest’

I’m going to break my self-imposed detachment from the bits bucket to make a point. Adolph Hitler didn’t step into dictatorial powers upon being elected. It took years of coups, purges, rewriting laws to achieve that. The fact is, we have allowed the president to have pretty much the same kind of power. Congress is supposed to declare war because it was considered too much power for one person to have. In war, all of our civil liberties are at the mercy of the chief executive. If a person could become a dictator in the US, it’s because our system has failed to prevent that from happening, which is the main reason for the constitution being in existence.

We go to war at the drop of a hat these days.

Remember; those powers not expressly given to the federal government belong to the states or the people. The federal government has checks and balances to protect our freedom. Congress checks the president and vice versa. The judiciary checks both. The president and congress check the judiciary. All designed to prevent tyranny. And ultimately the people have the power to remove the government, either by vote or revolt. Therefore there will be no standing army inside our borders to threaten the peoples ability to exercise that right.

If there is one smidgen of chance there could be tyranny in this country, every facet of the constitution has failed. It seems to me that instead of freaking out like some of you are, maybe we should address this problem.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-28 00:39:06

“It seems to me that instead of freaking out like some of you are, maybe we should address this problem.”

I’m open to level-headed suggestions. However, electing Trump seems like a step in the wrong direction from preventing tyranny.

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 13:31:05

“Obama taking Executive Orders to a new level in our republic.”

Number of Executive Orders issued by US Presidents:

Reagan 381
G. H. W. Bush 166
Clinton 364
G. W. Bush 291
Obama 224

Do you ever get the feeling you’ve been misled, Prime?

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Comment by Ben Jones
2016-02-27 13:54:26

‘Number of Executive Orders’

See, talking to you is a waste of time. It’s just “my team, no MY team”. Not trying to learn anything, no discussion, just looking for an argument. C-ya!

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 14:18:34

just looking for an argument.

Just talking to Prime. I didn’t realize your post would pop up in between. That happens to me a lot, since I’ve been delegated to the slow track.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 15:34:17

“I didn’t realize your post would pop up in between. That happens to me a lot, since I’ve been delegated to the slow track.”

That is some serious @ss backpedaling there Oddie.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 15:35:43

I never claimed anything about NUMBER of Executive Orders, Oddie.

I believe he has taken them to a new level in terms of the TYPE and TENOR of Executive Orders. I don’t recall other Presidents openly and blatantly claiming a right not to enforce laws that they disagree with, nor to effectively write other laws into effect where they do not in fact exist and they can’t get them through Congress.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 16:02:40

I don’t recall other Presidents openly and blatantly…

But you not recalling doesn’t make it so. Do you have any examples that show earlier Executive Orders weren’t so extreme or far-reaching? Like Truman integrating the armed services, or Eisenhower desegregating public schools?

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 16:29:02

buh bye Lola! :mrgreen:

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 16:56:57

But you not recalling doesn’t make it so. Do you have any examples that show earlier Executive Orders weren’t so extreme or far-reaching? Like Truman integrating the armed services, or Eisenhower desegregating public schools?

That’s a good point. These folks making a fuss about executive order assume a lot. They don’t know the history of executive orders.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 18:37:53

waste.of.time.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 18:55:15

“They don’t know the history of executive orders.”

22 Times President Obama Said He Couldn’t Ignore or Create His Own Immigration Law

November 19, 2014|Matt Wolking

“I am president, I am not king. I can’t do these things just by myself. We have a system of government that requires the Congress to work with the Executive Branch to make it happen. I’m committed to making it happen, but I’ve got to have some partners to do it. … The main thing we have to do to stop deportations is to change the laws. … [T]he most important thing that we can do is to change the law because the way the system works – again, I just want to repeat, I’m president, I’m not king. If Congress has laws on the books that says that people who are here who are not documented have to be deported, then I can exercise some flexibility in terms of where we deploy our resources, to focus on people who are really causing problems as a opposed to families who are just trying to work and support themselves. But there’s a limit to the discretion that I can show because I am obliged to execute the law. That’s what the Executive Branch means. I can’t just make the laws up by myself. So the most important thing that we can do is focus on changing the underlying laws.” (10/25/10) - See more at:

http://www.speaker.gov/general/22-times-president-obama-said-he-couldn-t-ignore-or-create-his-own-immigration-law#sthash.qO58X9fJ.dpuf

Obama Announces His New Immigration Plan

An executive action will allow undocumented parents of citizens to apply for relief from deportation.

By Tierney Sneed
Nov. 20, 2014, at 8:52 p.m.

President Barack Obama unveiled the executive action he will take that will shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation during a live address from the White House Thursday night.

The president’s executive order comes after Congress failed to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul that could have addressed the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. An immigration bill stalled in the House of Representatives after passing in the Senate with bipartisan support in 2013. The president’s new action does not prevent Congress from trying again to act legislatively, and Obama has said he would revoke his executive order if Congress passes an immigration bill Obama found acceptable.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:32:20

IL TRUMPO
Donald Trump is not a joke: A warning to Americans from an Italian who survived Berlusconi
Annalisa Merelli
February 26, 2016
We laugh to keep from crying. (AP photo)

Of course if you listen to the pundits, we weren’t expected to win too much, and now we’re winning, winning, winning the country. And soon the country’s going to start winning, winning, winning. […] We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.

–Donald John Trump, Las Vegas, Feb. 23, 2016

Donald Trump is hilarious, you guys.

The Republican presidential candidate literally went from being that guy trolling the world on Twitter to being that guy trolling the Grand Old Party’s campaign. He says he’ll build a wall between the United States and Mexico and it will be huge and Mexico will pay for it and America will be great again. His sexism is nauseating, his ignorance cringe-worthy, his conduct baffling. He provides more memes, gifs, jokes and video games than one could possibly have time for.

And he really is winning.

In advance of the South Carolina primary on Sunday, a joke circulated online asking women if they’d have sex with Trump, if it meant he’d drop out of the race. My answer would be “no” for at least three reasons:

1. I am not an American citizen, and this is not the kind of thing one should even remotely consider doing for a foreign country.
2. Even if Trump dropped out of the race, what would we do about the people who support his brand of hatred? Would they give up their claims to US citizenship, too?
3. I’ve heard this question before.

Well, not exactly this question. As an Italian citizen, I have heard different variations on this question–with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi subbing in for the Donald.

It’s been said before that Trump is America’s Berlusconi, and the comparison is easy to see. Both are older white men with a lot of wealth of dubious provenance. Both decided to enter the public arena after promising they would run their countries the way they run their companies. Both are openly misogynistic while claiming to love women, and both share a questionable sense of humor. They appeal to what in Italy is referred to as “the belly” of the electorate—their gut reactions to the issues at hand.

Both men are populism at its worst. And their tactics work.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:11:28

Piss off, harpie. Italy has had more than 40 governments since WWII, all corrupt and incompetent. Clean up your own house before you worry about ours.

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:16:55

Clean up your own house before you worry about ours.

You rag on other countries all the time, hypocrite.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:38:34

I point out developments in other countries that either indicate the direction we’re headed (i.e. Venezuela, after our permanent Democrat supermajority is unassailable due to the cretin/FSA vote) or where internatonal developments could have some impact on America.

Having an Italian lecture us on governance is like having Son of Sam lecture us on public safety.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:46:14

The Italians know what fascism looks like.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 09:04:01

They also know how to re-purpose lampposts. That’s one trick we could learn from them.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:13:38

That’s one trick we could learn from them.

Is that the sort of thing we can expect from a Trump presidency? Bodies hanging from lampposts?

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:03:47

The Washington Post
Opinions
Trump’s candidacy is already damaging America
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
By Danielle Allen February 25

The writer is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post.

Since my column Sunday arguing that we, the people, ought to unite to block Donald Trump, a highly successful demagogic opportunist who is taking advantage of a divided country, I have, as you might imagine, received a great deal of correspondence. You can read a sample here. (Be forewarned that you’ll find obscenities, though they are not mine.) I have, however, also had the pleasure of an extended, quite civil email correspondence with one Trump supporter, and this has helped me further clarify my views.

Our conversation reached an interesting point when I asked him, “What could actually make you change your mind about Trump? That is, if your hypothesis is that Trump would be a good president, what would actually refute that hypothesis for you? If you didn’t mind sharing your thoughts on that, I would be very grateful.”

He responded (I promised that I would only paraphrase, and not quote, him) by saying that he would conclude that Trump hadn’t been the right choice if Trump ever made good on his promises to ban Muslims generally from entering the United States or to deport people whose only crime is being in the country illegally. He takes all those proposals to be pure performance. He believes he can count on Trump to undo President Obama’s executive orders and to block the admission of refugees from dangerous places, and that that’s as far as it will go.

 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 06:17:03

Does Californica have a GOP primary?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 06:42:54

I hear that Trump’s campaign is leading California Republicans to leave the party in droves.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 06:46:35

I’d say Mr. Trump and GOP voters will cause widescale mass enragement there.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:48:29

Don’t worry another neocon war or a “capitalistic bailout of banks” will bring them back.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 07:05:09

Or is it the patriot act or the homeland security? The lovers of freedom & liberty will flock back to gop one day. LOL

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 09:05:17

The lovers of freedom and liberty are down to no more than five percent of the electorate, as the 2008 and subsequent elections showed.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:13:34

I hear that Trump’s campaign is leading California Republicans to leave the party in droves.

As long as they don’t come to Colorado and bring their California ways here, I don’t give a rat’s a$$.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 09:02:55

Colorado is too much of a hick town. Oregon is our b1tch.

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Comment by Goon
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 07:23:12

Full encryption, Bitcoin, gold bullion, and plenty of ammo to fend off the jackboots.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 06:43:43

Good Entertainment..The pro is in full meltdown mode today.

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 06:55:48

I get up later than normal today and seen he has gone full batshit rabid dog crazy. See how easy that was. If Trump is half as successful pushing Hillary (another bloviating phony windbag) over the cliff it’s lights out.

Pure comedy.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 11:38:14

Posting off your own post with a different screen name…how clever!

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:12:41

Where did all of your imaginary friends go?

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 07:23:44

They are all in your head.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:35:49

Whatever you say, Yuuge, Canklepants, Anklepants, DumidolFanger, Donald Trump… did I miss any?

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Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 07:10:03

All in all you’re just a another brick in the wall.

Vicente Fox says it again — this time on live TV: ‘I’m not going to pay for that f***ing wall’

By David Wright, CNN

Fri February 26, 2016

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:15:01

Trump seems to be damaging the Mexico-America relationships.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 07:16:25

LOL..that was funny.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:37:28

You have a weird sense of humor.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 07:59:26

We don’t even need a wall. We need a government that respects the law.

When illegals can’t get a job here they go home. It is pretty obvious.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 08:02:08

The issue is the Federal Govt is not enforcing the law.

WHY

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:19:12

Why would they go home when they can live on the Dole? No one is checking status anymore.

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Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 08:10:34

“When illegals can’t get a job here they go home.”

Until then, they will send the money home.

Remittances totaled more than oil income

Money sent from abroad came to $24.8 billion last year, up 4.75%

Mexico News Daily | Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Remittances sent home by Mexicans working outside the country surpassed petroleum revenues in 2015 for the first time.

There was a 4.75% increase in money sent from abroad, most of which comes from the U.S., to total US $24.8 billion last year, up from $23.6 billion in 2014, said the Bank of México.

The bank said it was the first time remittances had totaled more than petroleum revenues since it began tracking them in 1995.

Oil revenues last year totaled $23.4 billion.

An important factor in the increase in remittances is the jobs created by economic recovery in the U.S.

Some 11 million Mexicans are believed to be living in the U.S. and many work in construction. Remittances, 97% of which are sent electronically, averaged $292 last year.

Prior to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 1994, petroleum exports represented almost 80% of U.S. dollar income. Banorte economist Alejandro Cervantes told The Associated Press that today that figure is less than 20%, demonstrating how much the Mexican economy has diversified.

- See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/remittances-totaled-oil-income/#sthash.sdHjZZRh.dpuf

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 08:44:33

We don’t even need a wall. We need a government that respects the law.

When illegals can’t get a job here they go home. It is pretty obvious.

Not many are working for the government. So we must need businesses to respect the law.

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 10:23:24

The FedGov opposes local initiatives to enforce the law, in case you hadn’t noticed.

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 11:00:52

That has nothing to do with my point. Private businesses are the problem. If they would restrict their hiring to citizens and foreign residents with the necessary documents, many of these illegal immigrants would go home. Those businesses certainly deserve a large share of the criticism and anger generated over this issue. Yet they receive little when these arguments erupt. That’s noteworthy, don’t you think?

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 11:37:36

Irrelevant. Private enterprise isn’t responsible for border security.

 
Comment by measton
2016-02-27 16:53:49

fine private business 10000 for every illegal they hire and poof the problem is gone.

It would be more effective than a wall and would cost a lot less.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 18:35:37

Irrelevant. The law isn’t enforced.

 
 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:53:28

We don’t even need a wall. We need a government that respects the law.

Someone should mention that to Trump, and maybe he’d win some votes from the more rational parts of the electorate.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 09:09:00

“We don’t even need a wall. We need a government that respects the law.”

“Someone should mention that to Trump”

Better yet, someone should mention that to Obama.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:17:58

Obama isn’t calling for a massively wasteful wall.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 10:11:33

Irrelevant. The law isn’t being enforced.

 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:21:22

Wasteful? You’ve fallen back to wasteful? First it was a lie. Then it was impossible. Now it’s wasteful.

Million undocumented on the dole is wasteful. Millions more is more wasteful.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2016-02-27 07:13:30

dont be bitter because you missed the bull market again.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 07:15:12

Trump is what america is perceived as all over the world. Corrupt, blowhard, unprincipled, bigoted, bellicose and so on. This is even with GW’s humble foreign policy and O reading softer tunes from teleprompters.

In Trump, america has fnally met its match, so why the aversion?

#letsbereal
#acceptwhoyouare

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:59:41

This message brought to you from the Kremlin.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 09:22:13

Truth hurts, doesn’t it?

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:27:03

I could well see truth hurting you. I find it invigorating.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 07:30:42

“Christie Hugs Trump”

Two oddball politicians in love…

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 07:32:32

When he hugged another fraud, Otrauma I bet you experienced a tingle….

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 07:35:36

The Surveillance Nazis are in love.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 14:52:59

If you like your Orwellian surveillance state, you can keep your Orwellian surveillance state. Brought to you by the Constitutional scholar.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-27/obama-expand-surveillance-state-powers-signing-21-page-memo

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 07:48:46

About that Hillary. She’s already taken $150 million in bribes. Why should we vote for her?

Does she have a snowball’s chance running a campaign solely based on calling the other guy rude?

Comment by Obama Goons
2016-02-27 07:50:24

Hillaryous is unelectable.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 09:00:46

But she is selectable.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 07:56:26

She’s already taken $150 million in bribes.

Then she’s so rich she can’t be corrupted, right?

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 08:03:53

She’s not self-funding her election effort.

Smarten up Lola.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:02:21

She’s not self-funding her election effort.

She’s too smart to spend her own money on it, only a newbie rube would do that.

Once she gets in, then we’ll find out if she’s a good president or not.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 09:36:38

Dirty money comes at a price.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:40:38

A greedy, venal oligarch like HIllary will never be satisfied with money alone. She wants unlimited power as well.

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Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-27 09:09:32

Reposting from the Friday Desk Clearing section:

During a fit of boredom yesterday I turned on the TV and attempted to channel surf off the antenna. Before I gave up on finding something to watch I came across a Hillary commercial.

In this advert a little Hispanic girl tells Hillary that she’s scared because her parents received a deportation letter. Just a letter, immigration hasn’t shown up yet to deport her parents. In fact, her parents are not only still in the US, they are at Clinton’s town hall meeting.

Clinton beckons the child to approach her and in halting Spanish (with subtitles in English) she tells her to be brave and makes vague promises (again, in bad Spanish) to put an end to deporting illegal immigrant families if she were to become President.

And people wonder why Trump, despite being an unlikable braggart, is popular. His promise to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it is purely bombastic, but the message he sends is clear: illegals will no longer be coddled. Even if he doesn’t make good on it, he is at least saying it.

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-27 11:36:13

+1, although I find him somewhat likable, precisely because he IS saying it.

I saw my first anti-Trump commercial yesterday. It was run by a PAC supporting Rubio. First sentence went something like:

“Marco Rubio is a proven expert on foreign policy”. I LOL’ed. News to me. His “expertise” consists of “I can see Cuba from my house.”

Then the commercial laid out three points that were supposed to diss Trump, and in fact two of them actually made a positive impression.

Marco is not a total dummy. He is an expert on Florida state politics and the Cuban community, I’ll give him that. He also had some interesting ideas on taxes at one point. Other than that, meh.

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Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:25:33

I’d love to see expert on foreign policy little boy say that at a debate to Trump. Mexico IS foreign policy. Illegal immigration IS foreign policy. Supporting shamnesty that’s his expertise.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Donald Trump
2016-02-27 07:47:52

I built a great company, some of the most iconic assets in the world, $10 billion of net worth, more than $10 billion of net worth, and frankly, I had a great time doing it.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 08:07:29

How many bankruptcies?

I am on my 3rd rite now. You inspire me.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 11:41:50

Trump should be ashamed of himself for shafting his creditors, especially after starting out life on third base.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 07:54:52

“After four years of building an audience,”

Now what are those 14 people going to watch?

Melissa Harris-Perry Walks Off Her MSNBC Show After Pre-emptions

By JOHN KOBLINFEB. 26, 2016

The host, Melissa Harris-Perry, wrote in an email to co-workers this week that her show had effectively been taken away from her and that she felt “worthless” in the eyes of NBC News executives, who are restructuring MSNBC.

“Here is the reality: Our show was taken — without comment or discussion or notice — in the midst of an election season,” she wrote in the email, which became public on Friday. “After four years of building an audience, developing a brand and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced.”

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:52:05

Translation: after four years of vapid, empty-headed chit-chat interspersed with Two Minutes of Hate for the oligopoly’s enemies de jour and endless reinforcement of DNC talking points and praise for the wise and enlightened policies of The Dear Leader Obama and collectivists everywhere, the only “audience” Melissa Harris-Perry had were slack-jawed, glassy-eyed oldsters slumped in their wheelchairs in their nursing homes who couldn’t quite reach the remote control to change the channel. Buh-bye and good riddance.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 09:40:20

“the only “audience” Melissa Harris-Perry had were slack-jawed, glassy-eyed oldsters slumped in their wheelchairs in their nursing homes who couldn’t quite reach the remote control to change the channel.”

If they ever do another Twilight Zone movie they could use that for…

Do you want to see something really scary?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETC6NSxpFFE - 172k - Cached - Similar pages

 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 07:57:10

“US Government Releases 2015 Financial Statements: Keeps Getting Worse”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-26/us-government-releases-2015-financial-statements-keeps-getting-worse

Theres a mind blowing stunner here. From the article-

“37% of the government’s total reported assets are student loans”

And they have tens of millions of sub-prime mortgages on the books, all founded on sketchy, questionable appraisals.

And the money quote; “On the other side of the equation are a reported $21.5 trillion in liabilities, giving the government an official net worth of negative $18.2 trillion.”

If you’re in debt on a rapidly depreciating house, you’ve got a serious problem.

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 08:29:23

Don’t forget the trillions of house debt in the vault at the Fed.

This “government” has succeeded in enslaving countless millions of Americans with debt. Houses, college, cars, credit cards.

Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-02-27 08:34:52

“This ‘government’ has succeeded in enslaving countless millions of Americans with debt. Houses, college, cars, credit cards.”

Close, but not quite. Try this …

“This ‘government’ has succeeded in allowing countless millions of Americans to willingly enslave themselves with debt. Houses, college, cars, credit cards.”

There.

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 08:46:07

Don’t forget the banks.

People who go into debt to buy things they cannot afford are mentally defective. Enslaving the mentally defective is very wrong.

40% of corporate profits in the U.S. go to the banks. The banks are the fourth branch of the U.S. government.

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Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-02-27 10:04:18

“Enslaving the mentally defective is very …”

… profitable.

And easy.

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-02-27 11:03:41

“40% of corporate profits in the U.S. go to the banks.”

Think of this as a good … beginning.

 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 09:31:09

That’s a nice try, Mr. Banker, but your tricks are well known by now. You’re the one who tells the government what to do in these matters.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 10:40:06

Mr. Bankers tricks are indeed well known, yet 95% of the electorate bend over for the banksters every election. Will this one be different? We’ll see. Certainly the Rubio, Cruz, and Hillary supporters are bending over right on schedule.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 08:05:36

Boris Nemtsov, Russian patriot and opposition politician, assassinated next to the walls of the Kremlin, on Putin’s orders, one year ago today, for daring to call for political change in Russia. Did Putin watch from a window?

Putin later voiced support for Trump’s presidential run.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 08:08:35

Lola,

Putin isn’t a citizen and cant vote.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 08:14:08

Let’s talk about the corruption in demoratic party.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:25:43

The Democrat Party is synonomous with corruption. Corruption, graft, patronage, and forcibly extracting wealth from the productive to give to the parasites are the organizing principles of the DNC and its unsavory voting blocs.

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 08:19:09

An honest relationship with a country like Russia would benefit them and us. Putin did not find this in Obama. Maybe he doesn’t think he would find it in Hillary.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:46:39

Both Russia and the US have a vested interest in not blundering into WWIII thanks to the recklessness and war-lust of the neocons.

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:07:54

Putin later voiced support for Trump’s presidential run.

Game recognize game.

 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 08:17:07

First there is CraterRage as a result of paying massively inflated prices for what are always depreciating assets in an environment of widespread fraud, collapsing demand and falling prices resulting in MT Pockets.

A new form of enragement is emerging on the HBB causing derangement and high temperature meltdowns of MT Skulls.

MT Pockets, your Rage Cages are on the left. MT Skulls, to the right.

Drink up my good friends. Drink up. http://goo.gl/oikLRe

 
Comment by goedeck
2016-02-27 08:27:06

Whats Jack McCabe’s screen name?

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 08:31:35

It is “Jack Macabe”

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 09:32:29

It is “Jack Macabe”

His screen name is a misspelling of his real name? Weird.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 09:47:41

Sorry for the typo. My intended response as that he posts under his real name.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 13:04:06

Sadly, he hasn’t been posting here, even in response to questions about his new newsletter:

My query from a couple of weeks back:


Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-11 10:17:15

One thing I have wondered about the Jack McCabe RE newsletter subscription, but can’t ask there since comments are turned off: did Jack maintain a model portfolio during the first innings of the downturn, based upon his advice to other clients? If so, what were his returns during 2008-2012?

Comparing investment returns based upon a model portfolio (updated over time as their investment recommendations are released) is a common way of comparing newsletters…

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Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 13:47:38

There is a link in Ben’s post.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 15:48:57

Yep—but I had looked over the link, and there wasn’t any mention of model portfolios or past results there either.

I had missed that there was an email address, though; perhaps I’ll give that a shot.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by SV guy
2016-02-27 08:29:03

There was a question posed a day or two ago. I didn’t see until the late evening (I think I need to get a teaching position so I can post at all hours of the day). The question was ‘What does the US get for the 3 billion ~ we give to israel every year?’.

The answer is quite obvious actually. They supply us with most of our senators, congressman & lobbyists.

Very thoughtful of them.

 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-02-27 08:32:19

Sarasota, FL Housing Market Craters; Prices Plummet 16% YoY As Demand Evaporates

http://www.movoto.com/sarasota-fl/market-trends/

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 08:33:56

Why don’t GOP leaders stand in the way of Trump’s efforts to destroy their party?

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 08:35:15

Trump is the GOP leader and he’s growing the party.

 
Comment by azdude
2016-02-27 08:36:11

trump is the party. he is going to clean up all the fraud.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 08:45:09

The current “GOP leaders” couldn’t lead ants to a picnic. Having long since abandoned any pretense of having actual Republican principles and convictions, they are solely focused on managing the ever-more larcenous payola schemes on behalf of their Wall Street patrons. Think of Jesus taking a whip to the moneychangers who had profaned the temple - not that I’m comparing Trump in any way to Jesus, heaven forbid, but anybody who takes the whip to the nest of vipers who have usurped and corrupted the Establishment GOP is A-OK in my book.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 08:55:39

Do you plan to vote for Citizen Trump in the fall 2016 election?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:01:06

Citizen Trump: What the Donald’s love of Citizen Kane reveals about him
By Ryan Vlastelica
Feb 20, 2016 10:00 AM
“Here’s a man who could’ve been president. Who was as loved and hated and talked about as much as any man in our time.”—Citizen Kane

No single movie can explain a man’s life. Nevertheless, it’s extremely telling that Donald Trump’s favorite movie is Citizen Kane, Orson Welles’ masterpiece about “America’s Kubla Khan.” If there’s anyone in the country who could find real, personal resonance in the film—as opposed to viewing it as a cautionary parable; its original title was the more overt American—it’s Trump.

The parallels between Trump and Charles Foster Kane are significant—more significant than the ones between him and the film character he’s usually compared to, A Face In The Crowd’s Lonesome Rhodes (which is more of a Glenn Beck story). Most obviously, there’s the incredible wealth, a fortune half-earned, half-given. (Kane’s family lucked into the deed of a huge gold mine, though his real empire stemmed from his management of a newspaper he happened to own; Trump was born rich, but made his mark in real estate after a “small” million-dollar loan from his father.) Both suffered devastating familial losses—Trump’s brother died from alcoholism; Kane’s son and first wife died in a car crash, and he was also ripped from his parents at a young age. There are the gaudy tributes to themselves, Kane with his Xanadu (“since the pyramids, the costliest monument a man has built to himself”), Trump with his towers. Both put their names on everything, a byproduct of their shared egoism and megalomania. “Few private lives were more public,” Citizen Kane says of its subject, and Trump follows in the tradition of highly publicized divorces and outsize reactions to petty personal spats. Both form and break alliances out of convenience, as in the way Trump has waved off his one-time support of the Clintons, or how Kane would “often support, then denounce” figures like Hitler. (Perhaps we can expect a similar about-face with Trump’s praising of Vladimir Putin.)

Comment by Bluto
2016-02-27 12:08:58

r.e. “A Face in the Crowd”, watched this about a year ago, an excellent movie and waaay ahead of its time (1957) but not well known.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/face_in_the_crowd/

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 08:55:43

I’m still waiting for my call.

CHELSEA: And I don’t think anyone that’s human that has (crying) feelings and sense can sit through hours of talking to people that believe that, um, just because you weren’t (blubbers) born in the United States or even if you were and you’re not white — which, I don’t know what qualifies you as “white” anymore — (sobs) it makes you not a human being. There were a lot of comments about (sniffles) just building walls and getting rid of the Mexicans and — and, um, hearing… hearing that for hours was so horrible. And it was really, really nice, uh, when you would get people that answered that were for Bernie, or even Hillary. (giggles) There were very few Republicans and conservatives that would answer the phone and be kind, that wouldn’t have something horrible (sobs) to say.

Sad Sanders supporter cries about mean Trump supporters …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoAmll3ViQA - 173k -

Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-27 09:14:16

(sobs) it makes you not a human being

Nope, it just means you aren’t a US Citizen. And elected officials are, in theory, supposed to look after the interests of US Citizens; and not those of other countries.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-27 09:20:01

If your voters are non citizens, then you want more non citizens.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 10:41:19

Must.not.laugh.

 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 08:57:10

Trump Reveals the End of the Religious Right’s Preeminence

Conservative Christian leaders have proven unable to steer the race, exposing the splintered state of their movement.

Many headlines trumpeting Donald Trump’s victory in the Nevada Republican caucuses credit voters’ anger with the federal government. But the real lesson of Trump’s rise is not about fury, but faith. Trump’s momentum reveals that the conservative Christian voting bloc is a splintered remnant of the kingmaking machine it once was. And perhaps this is good news both for Trump for and the conservative Christian movement itself.

Leading up to the Iowa caucus, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council helped corral old-guard religious-right leaders for a secret meeting to determine which nominee they would support for president. Texas Senator Ted Cruz narrowly beat out Florida’s Marco Rubio.

Thirty years ago, such a blessing would have sealed the nomination. But not today.

One kind of conservative Christian—described by Yahoo’s Jon Ward as “most likely to be under 45 and less politically active than the Cruz evangelical”—instead threw their support to Marco Rubio. Another faction of the faithful—ordinary evangelicals and the more God-and-country type of Christians—rallied behind real-estate mogul Donald Trump. This group included Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and son of one of the founders of the religious-right movement.

To an outsider, conservative Christian support for these three candidates appears to be something of a draw. But no candidate has endured more resistance from prominent Christian leaders than The Donald. The editor of the leading evangelical magazine in America, Christianity Today, declared “Trump threatens to Trump the Gospel.” R.R. Reno, the editor of the conservative Catholic magazine First Things, warned America may be heading for a “Trumpaggedon.” Russell Moore, the political spokesperson for the 15-million member Southern Baptist Convention took to the opinion pages of The New York Times to dissuade evangelicals from supporting Trump.

Again, such fierce opposition from so many evangelical leaders just three decades ago would have shipwrecked a Republican candidate for president. But not today.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/the-demise-of-conservative-christian-political-prominence/471093/?platform=hootsuite

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 09:00:07

“Anyone who says America is in an economic decline is peddling fiction.”

– Barak Obama, 2016 SOTU Address

http://www.businessinsider.com/bank-of-america-cutting-banking-trading-desks-2016-2

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 09:12:55

Stop Calling Bernie Sanders a Socialist

By Thor Benson
April 30, 2015

Bernie Sanders is a Socialist

By phony scandals
February 27, 2016

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:19:14

Doesn’t he self-identify as a socialist?

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:28:31

You self identify as a professor, what’s your point?

 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 09:51:23

Barney Sanders is pro-debt slavery.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-02-27 13:18:55

Is Bernie worse than Reagan?

 
Comment by measton
2016-02-27 17:01:37

I’d say he’s pro taxing the elite and spend on the rebuilding of America and America’s middle class.

but hey Black Rocks Schwartzman is really worth 850 million a year, and he should pay no taxes so America can be greater.

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 11:37:00

All the Repugnants and Dumbocraps are socialists.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 09:16:54

Our inner cities are showcases for what happens when the votes-for-benefits crowd installs successive corrupt Democrat municipal administrations. If you like your blighted urban wasteland, you can keep your blighted urban wasteland.

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/02/26/more-than-30-blocks-of-fiscal-irresponsibility/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 10:27:41

SKF time?

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:22:24

Is Trump inevitable?

Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 09:28:03

Professor

Since I didn’t get you anything for Christmas.

You’re A Mean One, Mr. Trump (Grinch Parody) - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9-5DJhBh6M - 268k -

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 11:41:15

What Larken Rose said is that remember, if Trump or any of the other sociopaths get elected in 2016, they still have to worry that their lies can only take them so far. Truth lasts longer than lies. Voluntaryism is what most of the people in the USA and around the world practice. And they will eventually realize they have been duped to hire criminals via politics. The revolution will be silent. One by one, people are dropping out of sanctioning the criminal system known as the State.

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:30:48

How is aligning with the PC crowd who tell everyone what to think voluntaryism? You’re a yuuuuge SJW hypocrite.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 15:12:11

Larken is a great spokesman for voluntaryism. His communication is much better than my own and a lot of people. When you agree with someone’s ideas and you see that person communicate more effectively than yourself, and you are passionate about those ideas, and you have a frigging BRAIN, what would “Meltdown” do?

Sit on his little hands.

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Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 15:47:02

There you go again telling me what to think. You’ve acclimated well to SoCal.

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-27 14:59:46

Voluntaryism is what most of the people in the USA and around the world practice.

I thought the majority belonged to the FSA.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 15:13:46

“I thought the majority belonged to the FSA.”

Well you thought wrong. You are too lazy to use a search engine and put the word “Voluntaryism” in it, so you instead choose to continue to create fiction about what it is not.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 09:24:03

So far, Trump has laid to waste the Republican Party.

If elected, will he do the same for America?

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 10:06:31

Some things should be laid to waste. Average people are not laid to waste when a corrupt system is disturbed, yet the corrupt creatures of that system will see it as unimaginable destruction.

Should a populist candidate best Hillary in the general election then we might see some of this disturbance in Washington. It is what we are hoping for and what minions of the corrupt status quo are fearful of.

Spending hours a day heaping personal insults and fabricated accusations against this national tide will not change what is happening. It isn’t about Trump.

 
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 10:24:29

Bear, I’m not trying to troll you, but do you seriously believe the outcome will matter to guys like you and me?

The bubble will continue, war will continue, FIRE sector will continue owning legislature, etc. The Bill/Blue plan is probably the best option for all of us.

FWIW, my worst work conditions have happened under Obama.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 11:54:36

My optimistic side says the checks and balances of the U.S. government will withstand Trump’s Trumpitude.

My inner pessimist wonders if once in power, he might succeed in tearing down the U.S. system of freedoms, individual rights and constitutional protections as effectively as he has already torn down the GOP.

Regardless of any real damage he might inflict, the thought of listening to a smarmy huckster reality teevee star pontificate from a Presidential bully pulpit over the next four years does not thrill me. Posters like Canklepants give a clear indication of the type of behavior Trump encourages.

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 11:59:50

Posters like Canklepants give a clear indication of the type of behavior Trump encourages.

It does seem like the obnoxious cretins form about 90% of his base around here. I wonder if that holds true nationally?

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Comment by jane
2016-02-28 02:49:53

For your information: I may be obno, but I am most certainly not a cretin. Mr. Trump presents a disruptive change to the old order.

The order that is routinely bought and sold in order to enact laws that impoverish the rest of us, and place bulls’ eyes on the backs of our sons - should they happen to be Caucasian and not amongst nature’s aristocrats.

The order whose strings are pulled by the 300 men in the world who own 90 per cent of the world’s GDP, and who want to make sure theirs is safely separated from the likes of our marginalized, beginning-to-be-angry sons.

 
 
Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 12:32:51

Pooh Bear thinks Trump’s gonna start a nucular war.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 15:05:36

If Trump ends up in the White House, a lot of his belicose rhetoric is going to be shown up as just that. He will not build a wall: he will surprise his critics by showing a pragmatic side they didn’t credit him with as he settles into the demands of the office. The only question is whether he will govern in a style that satiates his own enormous ego, or will he be humbled by the enormous honor and privilege of representing those who have been so shoddily treated by the establishment and make a sincere effort to be remembered as one of our greatest presidents, even when it means walking back some of his incendiary campaign rhetoric. I’m betting on the latter.

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 16:53:39

He will not build a wall

That’s quite possible. The result will be that many of his supporters will be disappointed by his term in office.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-28 00:43:56

“…he will surprise his critics by showing a pragmatic side they didn’t credit him with as he settles into the demands of the office.”

I wonder if Hitler’s supporters presumed that reasonable behavior would follow the inflammatory rhetoric that supported his rise to power?

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 12:01:58

“…my worst work conditions have happened under Obama.”

Same here, though the die was cast on W’s watch

 
Comment by measton
2016-02-27 17:04:09

I”d say Bernie would veto a lot of bad legislation. Even if he can’t get most of his bills through we wouldn’t be going to war and we wouldn’t be bailing out banks. With Trump I”m not so sure.

Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 18:34:44

“we wouldn’t be going to war and we wouldn’t be bailing out banks”

Lordy… that would be enough for me.

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 10:01:23

Trump says he ‘can’t’ release his tax returns. The IRS doesn’t see why not.

BY VERA BERGENGRUEN AND JACOB BELL
McClatchy Washington Bureau

Donald Trump says he would like to release his tax returns to the public, but just can’t.

“I’m being audited now for two or three years, so I can’t do it until the audit is finished, obviously. And I think people would understand that,” the Republican front-runner said at Thursday night’s Republican debate in Houston.

The Internal Revenue Service and tax experts, though, say he can.

“Nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information,” IRS spokesman Anthony Burke said in an e-mail.

Audits aren’t out of the norm for someone with Trump’s wealth, legal experts say, and there’s nothing to stop Trump from making his tax returns public.

“He’s not legally prevented from disclosing tax returns publicly. There’s no prohibition on that,” said Georgetown University tax law and policy professor John Brooks.

“He probably just doesn’t want to,” Brooks said.

The issue became a focal point this week when 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who himself initially refused to release his tax returns, suggested there is a “bombshell” in Trump’s taxes and called on the candidate to make them public.

Trump hit back at Romney, saying the criticism was irrelevant since “you don’t learn anything from a tax return.”

“The phrase ‘you don’t learn anything’ is false,” said Stanford tax law professor Joseph Bankman. “You learn a lot. You get great information about ‘true’ annual income, as most people would define the term. The tax return is the single most relevant document you could have.”

Romney presented several theories: Maybe Trump has not donated to veterans groups as he says he has. Maybe Trump hasn’t paid the kind of taxes that voters would expect him to, given his wealth. Or maybe he is just not as wealthy as he claims to be.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article62741867.html#storylink=cpy

Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 11:09:05

“IRS spokesman Anthony Burke said in an e-mail.”

I thought the IRS lost all their e-mails.

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-27 12:34:40

And you can trust the IRS.

 
 
Comment by jane
2016-02-28 02:54:46

Consider the least hysterical possibility.

Maybe - just MAYBE - he has not released his files while in the midst of an audit on the counsel of his tax attorneys.

Makes sense to me. If I pay a professional a lot of dough for his/her opinion, I tend to execute based on that opinion. After all, it is to be expected that Mr. Trump hires the best professionals he can find.

 
 
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 10:02:26

Anybody wanna chat housing?

I’d like to buy now but prices are too damn high and the inventory sucks. It’s that time of year again when I stress about re-upping, which usually happens in about a month.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-27 10:07:20

Well, at least you’ll have the option to reup or not next year.

Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 10:17:13

We’ve had a great relationship with the owners and manager, and the rent is very reasonable, so it is likely.

 
 
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 10:13:14

“I’d like to buy now but prices are too damn high and the inventory sucks.”

It has occurred to me that it may be this way from here on out. At least we’re in a magnet school so we can live anywhere, which is nice since Downtown St. Pete might be an option.

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-27 10:30:41

Try to avoid the temptation of buying something you cannot afford with money you haven’t earned. It’s a trap.

Also, it’s a bubble.

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 11:47:07

The problem is that in many areas the rate of increase in house prices is going down, Byut the prices are still increasing. I remain on strike. Looking at my neighborhood in the foothills of Saddleback Mtn, the prices have gone up by 33% since I moved here in 2013.

 
 
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-27 10:20:26

Goon, your comments on new owners are spot on. I have a high school bud who is buying in NY, and now he’s become withdrawn and traveling less.

A work bud of mine just recently bought a house a “works on the yard” instead of going fishing with me and the other work buds. He’s pretty much lost his weekends to fixing up his joint.

And then at lunch I hear about what needs to be purchased at Home Depot next weekend. At least my work bud is funny about it. I tell him to go treat his wife to Olive Garden if he has time and he gets it.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 11:50:20

That is what happened to me in the 90s when I was a loan owner. I spent a lot of time in the yard or at the hardware store. I replaced a motor for my swamp cooler three times in six years, replaced the pads, replaced the copper tubing once or twice, had frozen pipes break under my driveway. I would have gone skiing more at Mammoth Mtn if not for that stucco box.

 
Comment by Goon
2016-02-27 17:07:26

I’ll reply more on this tomorrow.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 10:41:01

1979/80 college ritual

2 bong hits, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley side 1, football practice.

Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley

From Wikipedia

Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley is the debut solo album by Robert Palmer, released in 1974. It was his first effort after three album releases co-fronting the band Vinegar Joe.

Palmer is backed by The Meters and Lowell George of Little Feat. Multiple reviewers have commented that Palmer sang confidently on this album, despite being backed by more accomplished musicians such as Lowell George, Art Neville and New Orleans singer-songwriter Allen Toussaint.[2][3]

robert palmer mix ,sailing shoes-hey julia-Sneakin’ Sally Through …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMnzytIbH1I - 237k - Cached - Similar pages
May 5, 2010

 
Comment by azdude
2016-02-27 10:45:25

most of you are ok with basically racking up more debt to pay the bills. We have had 8 years of this , time for some real production.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-02-27 12:01:13

Bush Wars are expensive. Bush Tax cuts gave the money back.

Did the GOP cut? No they doubled the deficit under Bush….. but this time is different….

Comment by azdude
2016-02-27 12:55:48

you pathetic souls make me laugh that u keep talking about bush. Your buddy did not to fix any problems except throw 10 trillion in debt at them. LMFAO

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-02-27 13:28:22
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Comment by CalifoH20
Comment by azdude
2016-02-27 16:51:39

corporate profits are falling off a cliff.

short covering rallies by central bank jawboning will only work for so long.

 
 
 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-02-27 11:59:23

There are certainties in life:

1) Death
2) Taxes
3) Sex sells
4) There will always be predatory lending

Add to this list please.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 12:04:12

Trump

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-02-27 12:41:41

Maybe a meteor will hit the earth and take care of all our problems?

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 12:28:27

Everyone is making such a big deal over campaign quitter Christie’s Trump endorsement.

Isn’t the newly formed coalition between Trump’s main remaining rivals the bigger news?

Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-27 12:42:52

Trump-Christie 2016

Building walls and blocking bridges!

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 13:37:23

Here’s an idea Lola…

Have you ever considered joining the conversation with the adults on the daily housing posts?

If you can keep yourself out of the RageCage and man up long enough, you might make your way over there. It might be… well…. rather therapeutic for you.

 
 
 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-02-27 13:25:31

Reagan, Bush1, Bush2, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Paulson, McConnell,Perry, Palin, Rice, Rove, Hanity, Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter…..

As an independent, I will always be a contrarian to these fools.

Even though being a Republican doesn’t make you stupid, there’s no doubt that being stupid makes you more likely to be a Republican.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 14:22:01

Every last one of them lives in your empty skull, rent-free.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-02-27 15:35:07

not true, Cheney pays $666 a month.

Comment by Meltdown
2016-02-27 15:49:53

Plus your SSI

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 15:10:46

Hillary keeps coming up with creative excuses for why she can’t or won’t release the transcripts of the speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs and other financial firms that directly benefited from Clinton actions such as the repeal of Glass Steagall and other services rendered while in “public service.” Even the New York Times is calling out Hillary. Personally, I don’t think the transcripts would be all that damaging. Sure, she tossed Wall Street’s salad in exchange for raking in $153 million in speech fees. But so did 95% of the ‘Murican electorate with their votes for Obama, McCain, and Romney. So what’s the big deal?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-27/ny-times-hillary-release-those-damn-bank-speech-transcripts

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 16:22:36

“Obama Racks Up The Largest Yearly Deficits In US History

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200

Comment by azdude
2016-02-27 16:54:55

there u go buddy.

A lot of folks have gotten paychecks with borrowed money.

lumber is in the sh@tter again.

How long will this short covering rally last?

Who will be wheeled out next week to talk about more stimulus?

 
 
Comment by measton
2016-02-27 16:29:24

Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman took home $810.6 million in 2015, the hefty payout represented a 17 percent rise in Schwarzman’s earnings compared with 2014.

Work and creativity and productivity count for nothing next to God’s work of market manipulation and skimming.

We need to cut the taxes on this guy to make America great again.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-27 22:32:05

And… what rate did he pay?

 
 
Comment by azdude
2016-02-27 17:01:05

world trade is contracting, u cannot deny it.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 17:20:23

“Obama To Expand Surveillance State Powers By Signing A 21 Page Memo”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-27/obama-expand-surveillance-state-powers-signing-21-page-memo

This guy makes the KGB wince.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-27 17:34:20

‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ - featuring Hillary Clinton - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgCP9vOUd1o - 160k - Cached - Similar pages
Feb 16, 2016 … Hillary Clinton barks along to Baha Men’s “Who let the dogs out”.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 17:45:47

Damn it feels good to be a Clinton (Office Space parody).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Z-lXO-99E

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 17:53:39

“Friends” who loan guns to criminals who then use them to commit felonies should be tried on one day, sentenced the next, and executed the day after. If Obama and his AG were serious about combating “gun violence,” they would go after the real criminals: those who commit and enable it.

http://news.yahoo.com/gun-sharing-kansas-shooter-obtained-guns-friend-investigators-213338871.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-27 17:56:16

The Free Sh*t Army propels Hillary to victory in South Carolina. The one redeeming virtue of Hillary Clinton in the White House would be chortling about how fast she throws her brain-dead supporters under the bus to further enrich the already super-rich.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-27 18:44:41

Interesting - there’s no mention of FSA in that article.

 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-27 18:14:51

Edward Snowden: “2016: a choice between Donald Trump and Goldman Sachs.”

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/703733273504018432

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 22:08:48

Donald Trump on Edward Snowden “Kill the Traitor”

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms&hl=en

Snowden responds to Nazi Trump’s death threats and talks about Hitlary

http://www.mintpressnews.com/snowden-responds-to-donald-trumps-death-threats-hillary-clintons-email-scandal/209258/

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 18:26:40

Trump the fascist promises media criticism of him will be illegal if he becomes president

http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/02/trump-promises-to-make-harsh-media-criticism-of-him-illegal-if-he-becomes-president/#

 
Comment by Donald Trump
2016-02-27 19:40:22

I unfairly get audited by the I.R.S. almost every single year. I have rich friends who never get audited. I wonder why?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-28 00:47:09

Why are you trying to suppress the free press? Are you afraid they will expose you as a fraud?

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-27 21:26:55

Full encryption on a Droid (I tried this on an later model Droid).

First, Full encryption is an option on Android since 2014. Only state worshippers with Stockholm Syndrome do not encrypt their Droids, which basically means 65% of Droid users do not encrypt.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/25/technology/android-apple-police-encryption/

However you can encrypt your DAR (Data At Rest - when the phone is powered off the phone can be fully encrypted) as the option:

http://www.androidcentral.com/what-full-disk-encryption-android-lollipop

For data while the phone is powered on, it can be encrypted further with apps such as Folder Lock Advanced:

http://www.newsoftwares.net/folderlock-advanced/

You can encrypt your naked ladies pictures (oops), your financial wallet access info, and other categories with Folder Lock Advanced.

For text messaging, the texts can be encrypted on Android with Signal, for example:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms&hl=en

The Android passcode can be many digits. Suggestion is more than ten digits. The more digits, the harder to crack.

For iPhone (and I have one of them) some models only allow 6 digits but the iPhone is much harder to crack since the passcode does stronger encryption.

I don’t believe that. I also have Signal for iPhone and I do folder encryption.

Suggestion is to lock all your passwords/passcodes in a fireproof safe. And with an app like Folder Lock Advanced you can keep the same list, and it will be encrypted with the passcode you write for Folder Lock Advanced. If a fire happens, your fireproof safe will be okay up to maybe 1,000 degrees and then that’s it. But you would have your passwords encrypted with Folder Lock Advanced and then you hopefully memorize your passcode for that (keep it under key lock at your desk at your office).

If you “don’t have anything to hide,” you are a damn fool. You are giving permission to thugs to access your data. Bootlicking did not win the Jews in Germany their lives.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-27 21:55:42

Does Trump University offer training in real estate fraud and stiffing creditors?

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-28 00:30:53

Do Trumplings enjoy life from the inside of their monkey cages?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-28 00:34:48

Monkey Cage
Donald Trump may be showing us the future of right-wing politics
By Federico Finchelstein and Pablo Piccato
February 27 at 9:00 AM

Pundits and politicians have been shocked by the Trump phenomenon, startled that so many Americans could be so enthusiastic about his anti-democratic style proposals.

But Trump is not that original. His actual proposals are in keeping with longstanding trends in U.S. history and society, with the rejection and nativism that have erupted after each immigration wave. His style is reminiscent of populist and fascist leaders who’ve succeeded both in Europe and Latin America during periods of economic stress, including such recent champions as Hugo Chávez and Silvio Berlusconi, authoritarians who elevated themselves and their supporters rather than building party structures or democratic institutions.

Some observers believe – or, perhaps, hope — that Trump’s followers misunderstand or don’t believe in what he represents. They’re wrong. We will explain.

Some observers, including President Obama, suggest that his voters are misguided. Here in the Monkey Cage, Doug Ahler and David Broockman argued that Trump is a textbook example of an ideological moderate. Still others portray Trump followers as working-class outcasts of the changing economy that see his candidacy as a way to channel their frustrations. And many U.S. pundits—such as George Packer in The New Yorker—explain all this by saying that voters on left and right are “angry” with Washington, and that both Trump and Sanders represent a new wave of populism.

But Trump and Sanders must not be conflated. Sanders wants to politicize inequality. Trump, rather, is advocating for anti-politics, by which we mean that Trump’s language, and his followers’ celebration of his speeches, primarily express a rejection of politics in a democratic key. Trump’s stance represents the antithesis of Sanders’s call for political change. Trump’s narrative insists that he is above the fray of politics. This is, of course, an ideological and political claim. Returning America to national and international anti-democratic traditions is just a different kind of politics.

And Trump’s followers explicitly agree with what he says. In December, seven out of 10 republicans believed that Trump “tells it like it is.” As Sarah Palin suggested when she endorsed Trump in Iowa, Trump stands against politics as usual as represented by “establishment candidates” who are “wearing political correctness like a suicide vest. And enough is enough.” While the establishment hears random insults, his followers hear a list of the enemies of a homogeneous America.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-28 01:10:45

Is it time for the Republican Party to fire Trump?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-28 01:17:31

Leaders
The Republicans
Time to fire Trump
The front-runner is unfit to lead a great political party, let alone America
Feb 27th 2016

IN A week’s time, the race for the Republican nomination could be all but over. Donald Trump has already won three of the first four contests. On March 1st, Super Tuesday, 12 more states will vote. Mr Trump has a polling lead in all but three of them. Were these polls to translate into results, as they have so far, Mr Trump would not quite be unbeatable. It would still be possible for another candidate to win enough delegates to overtake him. But that would require the front-runner to have a late, spectacular electoral collapse of a kind that has not been seen before. Right now the Republican nomination is his to lose.

Worse, it might not stop there. Polls show that 46% of Americans of voting age have a “very unfavourable” opinion of Mr Trump, which suggests his chances of winning a general election are slight. But Mr Trump’s political persona is more flexible than that of any professional politician, which means he can take it in any direction he wants to. And whoever wins the nomination for either party will have a decent chance of becoming America’s next president: the past few elections have been decided by slim margins in a handful of states. When pollsters ask voters to choose in a face-off between Mr Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner wins by less than three percentage points. Mr Trump would have plenty of time to try to close that gap. An economy that falls back into recession or an indictment for Mrs Clinton might do it for him.

That is an appalling prospect. The things Mr Trump has said in this campaign make him unworthy of leading one of the world’s great political parties, let alone America. One way to judge politicians is by whether they appeal to our better natures: Mr Trump has prospered by inciting hatred and violence. He is so unpredictable that the thought of him anywhere near high office is terrifying. He must be stopped.

The world according to Trump

Because each additional Trumpism seems a bit less shocking than the one before, there is a danger of becoming desensitised to his outbursts. To recap, he has referred to Mexicans crossing the border as rapists; called enthusiastically for the use of torture; hinted that Antonin Scalia, a Supreme Court justice, was murdered; proposed banning all Muslims from visiting America; advocated killing the families of terrorists; and repeated, approvingly, a damaging fiction that a century ago American soldiers in the Philippines dipped their ammunition in pigs’ blood before executing Muslim rebels. At a recent rally he said he would like to punch a protester in the face. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Almost the only policy Mr Trump clearly subscribes to is a fantasy: the construction of a wall along the southern border, paid for by Mexico. What would he do if faced with a crisis in the South China Sea, a terrorist attack in America or another financial meltdown? Nobody has any idea. Mr Trump may be well suited to campaigning in primaries, where voters bear little resemblance to the country as a whole, but it is difficult to imagine any candidate less suited to the consequence of winning a general election, namely governing.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-28 12:25:47

PB,

Why do you allow Donald Trump to live in your head rent free?

 
 
 
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