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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 8:47:13 GMT -8
This morning some clown opened the door for me. I thought to myself that's a nice Jester.
My Opinion: Why Do We Get Such Extreme Republican Candidates?
In 2016 around 31 million Republicans voted in voted in Presidential primaries. Over 136 Million Americans voted in the general election. That means that aorund 23% of the electorate selected the Republican candiate
In fact 45% of Republican primary voters cast a ballot for Trump. That means that just over 11% of voters picked the candidate.
It's hard to find date on how many Republicans vote in primary elections for other offices. Let's be generous and say 30% of the general election voters do. If it takes 51% to get the nomination (which isn't always true in multi-way primary races), that means around 15% of the electorate picks Republican candidates.
If you wonder how the QOP keeps nominating candidates who are so out of line with mainstream America, that's why. It only takes 15% of voters to win a Republican nomiation.
Around 20-40 million people select all the Republican candidates in America, and you only need half of them to get nominated. That's 5%-10% of eligible voters, and they are mostly the most extreme voters.
Republican elected officials are not trying to appeal to the majority of Americans. They are trying to appeal to 10-20 million Americans.
31 Million Republicans CAN Be Wrong
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 8:52:32 GMT -8
Karen-ing for Clicks
A white California "mom influencer" has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for fabricating a story about a Latino couple trying to kidnap her children.
Katie Sorensen was convicted in April of making a false report of a crime after her December 2020 social media post that alleged a man and woman tried to kidnap her two children in the parking lot of a Michaels craft store in Petaluma, about 40 miles north of San Francisco.
The accused couple were ultimately cleared by authorities of any wrongdoing. The district attorney’s office said in April that Sorensen's report to police was false and "resoundingly contradicted by the accused couple as well as store video that was obtained."
Judge Laura Passaglia on Thursday ordered Sorensen to serve 90 days in jail, 60 of which could be served on a work-release program, a news release states. She was immediately taken into custody Thursday.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 9:03:48 GMT -8
Can He Get a Witness? Yes, He Can!
Appearing on MSNBC on Saturday afternoon, a former assistant U. S. attorney who helped prosecute Jan. 6 insurrectionists claimed that the DOJ got a boost from being able to speak with a close Donald Trump aide heard on tape looking at and discussing confidential documents with the former president after he left office.
Speaking with host Michael Steele, attorney Alyse Adamson claimed the audio recording of Trump and aide Susie Wiles talking and laughing about the documents is helpful, but her testimony under oath likely will lead to more serious charges against the former president.
"How much damage could she cause Trump in his defense?" host Steele asked.
"I think it's very interesting," she replied. "I think it means it is ongoing and again, other charges are imminent."
"It's very damaging," she added. "We heard former president Trump say that he was not really showing classified documents, it was just bravado. These were just random papers he had. But now we have a witness who is likely going to say, 'no, that was a map.'"
"We have someone who was present that can refute Donald Trump's claims and so, I think, that is very important because all we have right now is an audio recording," she elaborated. " And so, yes, he is making statements that are important for his knowledge and intent that he was hanging on to classified documents, which is important for the ultimate charges in this matter. But you have a witness say, 'yes, I actually saw classified documents' that can lay the foundation for those additional, very serious, charges."
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 9:07:08 GMT -8
Candidates Who Can't Debate
With the Republican National Committee setting guidelines for the minimum requirements needed to participate in the GOP's 2024 presidential debates, a report from Politico suggested that, if those standards aren't changed, only Donald Trump and his four closest rivals will appear next month with the majority of candiadtes left watching on TV.
According to the report from Politico's Steven Shepard, a reliance on polls — and the type of polls used — is creating an uphill battle for low-polling candidates to set foot on the stage.
Noting that a candidate "must earn 1 percent in three polls" to join the debate next month, Shepard explained that the devil is in the details.
"The RNC’s criteria exclude virtually all of the public surveys conducted these days, meaning there may not be many opportunities for the lower-polling candidates to even hit that 1 percent," he wrote before adding, "According to the RNC’s guidelines, in order to count for debate qualifying, polls have to survey at least 800 'likely' primary voters or caucus-goers. That criteria aren’t just strict — they’re unrealistic."
As it stands now, besides Trump only Gov. Ron DeSantis (FL), former Vice President Mike Pence, ex-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) would make the cut.
According to Shepard, "As the 51-day qualifying period begins on Saturday, a review of FiveThirtyEight’s database of GOP primary polling nationally and in the four early 'carve out' states shows that only two polls out of 70 conducted in the previous 51 days would meet those requirements," adding, "With only a handful of polls, candidates like former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson who are only at 1 percent in about half of the prior surveys may not be able to get the three polls they need. And even candidates who are typically at or above 1 percent like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Vivek Ramaswamy — could be in danger of missing out if they register an inopportune goose egg."
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 9:09:49 GMT -8
If Previous Guy Bedomes Next Guy
From unleashing a fleet of flying cars to executing drug dealers, Donald Trump has not been coy about his unorthodox vision for America as he seeks to retake the White House.
The former president and frontrunning Republican candidate for 2024 -- sometimes accused of lacking a clear political philosophy -- has explained in speeches and a series of "Agenda 47" policy videos how he would govern.
Often thin on detail, the eye-catching pronouncements form the backbone of a platform that Trump says will "make America great and glorious again."
Critics say it spells out why he should never be allowed to return to the Oval Office as the country's 47th president.
- 'The Jetsons' revisited? -
One of Trump's more striking proposals is a competition to design up to 10 state-of-the-art "freedom cities" -- roughly the size of Washington -- on federal land.
Built around cutting-edge "hives of industry" brimming with factories, these innovation hubs would represent a "quantum leap in the American standard of living."
- Year-long birthday bash -
Trump has proposed a "Salute to America," honoring the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with "an entire year of festivities across the nation" from Memorial Day 2025 through July 4, 2026.
"I will work with all 50 governors, Republican and Democrat alike, to create the Great American State Fair, a unique one-year exhibition featuring pavilions from all 50 states," he said. "It'll be something."
- An American utopia -
Trump wants to launch "a great beautification campaign" to improve US cities, making the streets more pleasant for ordinary Americans.
The Republican, whose Las Vegas hotel was named one of the world's ugliest skyscrapers by Architectural Digest, says he wants to replace grotesque buildings with "magnificent" classical architecture.
Streets would be renamed in honor of "great American patriots" while the homeless, on threat of arrest, would be sent to tent cities on "large parcels of inexpensive land."
- A new war on drugs... -
The former president has vowed to designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and to impose the death penalty on drug dealers and people traffickers.
The former president pardoned multiple dealers during his time in the White House and struggled to grasp the apparent contradiction during a Fox News interview in mid-June.
He boasted of pardoning a convict who had been in prison for 21 years for involvement in a cocaine ring, and became flustered when the network pointed out that she would have been executed under his new policy.
- ...But pardons for rioters -
Trump has promised to issue pardons to "a large portion" of the rioters jailed after the deadly 2021 assault on the US Capitol.
More than 600 of his supporters have been convicted over the worst attack on the seat of US democracy in two centuries -- with some 140 police wounded with flag poles, baseball bats and pepper spray.
The charges have ranged from trespassing to obstructing the government and seditious conspiracy.
- Mandatory stop-and-frisk -
Trump says he would require police to enforce "stop-and-frisk," the practice of detaining and searching civilians for weapons and drugs.
Declared unconstitutional by a federal court in 2013, the tactic is widely criticized for discriminating against racial minorities.
Trump says he would also deploy the National Guard "to restore law and order" in liberal cities and would investigate "radical Marxist prosecutors" refusing to punish disorder.
- Culture wars -
Trump has weighed in on most of the so-called "culture war" issues that polarize Americans, from abortion, transgender rights and gun control to the teaching of America's racist history.
The candidate says he would crack down on doctors providing gender-affirming care to minors and "pink haired communists" pushing critical race theory or "inappropriate" political material in schools.
Trump would also create a new tax credit, he said, to reimburse teachers for concealed carry firearms and training, as the country copes with a torrent of mass shootings.
- Immigration -
After years of unfulfilled promises, there has been no more talk of "the most gorgeous wall you've ever seen," stretching 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across the southern frontier and paid for by Mexico.
But a second-term Trump would "fully secure" the border, he says, ending mass unskilled immigration.
The 2017-21 Trump administration built around 440 miles of fencing -- more than any other president in history -- but fewer than 50 miles of new wall where there was none before.
Trump also announced in May he would issue an executive order ending a longstanding policy of granting citizenship to US-born children with undocumented parents.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 9:11:28 GMT -8
No Jon Snow in Orlando
Black engineers and “Game of Thrones” fans are the latest groups canceling Orlando events and attributing their decisions to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s political climate.
The National Society of Black Engineers’ 50th conference would have brought up to 15,000 visitors to the Orange County Convention Center in 2024 and generated millions of dollars in economic impact, the group’s CEO Janeen Uzzell said Friday.
Instead, it’ll be held in a different city that will be announced next week, she said.
The Con of Thrones, which typically draws 3,000 to 4,000 fans of the “Game of Thrones” books and television shows, also announced this week it was pulling the plug on a gathering planned for this Aug. 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.
Organizers cited “increasingly anti-humanitarian legislation” in the state.
“It’s becoming an inhospitable place to be part of any marginalized group,” said Melissa Anelli, CEO of Mischief Management, the company putting on the event. “They have laws that say you can’t even talk about being gay in school. That is absurd.”
Three other groups have taken their business elsewhere in recent months.
AnitaB.org, an organization of female and nonbinary tech workers, announced it would no longer hold events in Orlando after this year’s conference, which will be at the convention center in September.
The American Education Research Association, which typically draws up to 15,000 people to its conference, decided to hold its 2025 annual meeting in Denver instead of Orlando, said Tony Pals, a spokesman.
The group has a policy of not holding events in states that have enacted “anti-trans laws,” he said in an email.
Another group, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, also cited political concerns when it canceled its 2027 surgical conference and expo, according to the Orange County Convention Center. Organizers declined to comment on their decision-making process for events.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 9:12:58 GMT -8
You Can Run, Buy You Cannot Hide From the Long Arm of the Law. --- Actually, You Can Hide for 40 Years.
A Florida murder suspect who featured thrice on America's Most Wanted was arrested after nearly four decades on the run.
Donald Santini, 65, allegedly used 13 aliases to evade arrest for the 1984 murder of a 33-year-old Florida woman, authorities said.
He was serving as the president of a local water board in California at the time of his arrest.
Santini was extradited to Florida where he faces a charge of murder.
He was wanted for the murder of Cynthia Wood, a then 33-year-old going through a divorce with her husband. He was the last person seen with her on 6 June, 1984 before detectives discovered her body, strangled and left in a canal.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 9:23:43 GMT -8
We Fell Into a Blowing Ring of Fire
A rotating supercell thunderstorm formed in Kimball, Nebraska, caught a ride in the jet stream that evolved into a Derecho bringing winds of over 100 miles per hour barreling to the east across several states. Tropical force winds started in Kansas in the Midwest, turning into hurricane-force winds in Illinois and Indiana, narrowly missing Cincinnati, Ohio; the wind ended at the Kentucky-Tennessee border. This resulted from the remarkable heat dome now centered in the United States. Australian scientists have now named them the Dome of Doom. The storms formed amid a “ring of fire” pattern, which features relentless waves of severe thunderstorms cresting up and over a stubborn high-pressure “heat dome.” Excessive heat warnings blanket the lower Mississippi Valley, where triple-digit temperatures will combine with tropical humidity to push heat indexes above 115 degrees. That heat and moisture is fueling vicious thunderstorms, which remain in the forecast through the weekend. Thursday’s qualified as a derecho, since it produced damage over a continuous track more than 400 miles long and delivered winds to hurricane force. The derecho began as a rotating supercell thunderstorm that spawned a tornado near Kimball, Neb., on Wednesday evening. It then progressed east along the Kansas-Nebraska border, surfing jet stream winds eastward. The storms began to tap into that jet stream momentum, mixing it to the surface in the form of damaging wind gusts. Strong winds caused the squall line to fan outward in the middle, arcing and taking on a backward-C shape. By midmorning Thursday, it began producing hurricane-force winds. Then it accelerated east, with forward speeds surpassing 65 mph. The Storm Prediction Center added a Level 4 out of 5 red zone to their severe weather outlooks around lunchtime, racing to keep abreast of the rapidly evolving forecast.  The derecho, which has been on a rampage since late Wednesday, has already produced winds over 80 mph and left more than 200,000 without power in parts of the Midwest. Accuweather. --Classic derecho but with one caveat: It’s only late June. These usually only occur towards the end of summer. This suggests that we should expect to see a few more; perhaps more than hurricanes that make landfall. Crops will be decimated.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 1, 2023 9:24:09 GMT -8
He Picked Pickens
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