TRUMP - Just because.....................Naw, I just can't say it! by SHINYGOODGUY

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Here’s what we can be fairly sure will happen in Monday’s presidential debate: Donald Trump will lie repeatedly and grotesquely, on a variety of subjects. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton might say a couple of untrue things. Or she might not.

Here’s what we don’t know: Will the moderators step in when Mr. Trump delivers one of his well-known, often reiterated falsehoods? If he claims, yet again, to have opposed the Iraq war from the beginning ... will he be called on it?
www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/10/us/politics/ap-us-campaign-2016-fa
ct-check.html

If he claims to have renounced birtherism years ago, will the moderators note that he was still at it just a few months ago?
www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/09/donald_trump
_is_still_a_birther.html

In fact, Trump already seems to be walking back his admission last week that President Obama was indeed born in America.
www.yahoo.com/news/latest-trump-pence-continue-outreach-black-voters-1
12703737--election.html

If Trump says one more time that America is the world’s most highly taxed country — which it isn’t — will anyone other than Mrs. Clinton say that it isn’t? And will media coverage after the debate convey the asymmetry of what went down?

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Sunday, September 25, 2016 2:42 PM

Great reporting SECOND. Love checking in and seeing what else you uncover.

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Monday, September 26, 2016 3:49 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

SCOTT ADAMS SWITCHES TO TRUMP

As most of you know, I had been endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, for my personal safety, because I live in California. It isn’t safe to be a Trump supporter where I live. And it’s bad for business too. But recently I switched my endorsement to Trump, and I owe you an explanation. So here it goes...

1. Things I Don’t Know: There are many things I don’t know. For example, I don’t know the best way to defeat ISIS. Neither do you. I don’t know the best way to negotiate trade policies. Neither do you. I don’t know the best tax policy to lift all boats. Neither do you. My opinion on abortion is that men should follow the lead of women on that topic because doing so produces the most credible laws. So on most political topics, I don’t know enough to make a decision. Neither do you, but you probably think you do.

Given the uncertainty about each candidate – at least in my own mind – I have been saying I am not smart enough to know who would be the best president. That neutrality changed when Clinton proposed raising estate taxes. I understand that issue and I view it as robbery by government.

Read more here...

2. Confiscation of Property: Clinton proposed a new top Estate Tax of 65% on people with net worth over $500 million. Her website goes to great length to obscure the actual policy details, including the fact that taxes would increase on lower value estates as well. See the total lack of transparency here, where the text simply refers to going back to 2009 rates. It is clear that the intent of the page is to mislead, not inform.

So don’t fall for the claim that Clinton has plenty of policy details on her website. She does, but it is organized to mislead, not to inform. That’s far worse than having no details.

The bottom line is that under Clinton’s plan, estate taxes would be higher for anyone with estates over $5 million(ish). I call this a confiscation tax because income taxes have already been paid on this money. In my case, a dollar I earn today will be taxed at about 50% by various government entities, collectively. With Clinton’s plan, my remaining 50 cents will be taxed again at 50% when I die. So the government would take 75% of my earnings from now on.

Yes, I can do clever things with trusts to avoid estate taxes. But that is just welfare for lawyers. If the impact of the estate tax is nothing but higher fees for my attorney, and hassle for me, that isn’t good news either.

You can argue whether an estate tax is fair or unfair, but fairness is an argument for idiots and children. Fairness isn’t an objective quality of the universe. I oppose the estate tax because I was born to modest means and worked 7-days a week for most of my life to be in my current position. (I’m working today, Sunday, as per usual.) And I don’t want to give 75% of my earnings to the government. (Would you?)

3. Party or Wake: It seems to me that Trump supporters are planning for the world’s biggest party on election night whereas Clinton supporters seem to be preparing for a funeral. I want to be invited to the event that doesn’t involve crying and moving to Canada. (This issue isn’t my biggest reason.)

4. Clinton’s Health: To my untrained eyes and ears, Hillary Clinton doesn’t look sufficiently healthy – mentally or otherwise – to be leading the country. If you disagree, take a look at the now-famous “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead” video clip. Likewise, Bill Clinton seems to be in bad shape too, and Hillary wouldn’t be much use to the country if she is taking care of a dying husband on the side.

5. Pacing and Leading: Trump always takes the extreme position on matters of safety and security for the country, even if those positions are unconstitutional, impractical, evil, or something that the military would refuse to do. Normal people see this as a dangerous situation. Trained persuaders like me see this as something called pacing and leading. Trump “paces” the public – meaning he matches them in their emotional state, and then some. He does that with his extreme responses on immigration, fighting ISIS, stop-and-frisk, etc. Once Trump has established himself as the biggest bad-ass on the topic, he is free to “lead,” which we see him do by softening his deportation stand, limiting his stop-and-frisk comment to Chicago, reversing his first answer on penalties for abortion, and so on. If you are not trained in persuasion, Trump look scary. If you understand pacing and leading, you might see him as the safest candidate who has ever gotten this close to the presidency. That’s how I see him.

So when Clinton supporters ask me how I could support a “fascist,” the answer is that he isn’t one. Clinton’s team, with the help of Godzilla, have effectively persuaded the public to see Trump as scary. The persuasion works because Trump’s “pacing” system is not obvious to the public. They see his “first offers” as evidence of evil. They are not. They are technique.

And being chummy with Putin is more likely to keep us safe, whether you find that distasteful or not. Clinton wants to insult Putin into doing what we want. That approach seems dangerous as hell to me.

6. Persuasion: Economies are driven by psychology. If you expect things to go well tomorrow, you invest today, which causes things to go well tomorrow, as long as others are doing the same. The best kind of president for managing the psychology of citizens – and therefore the economy – is a trained persuader. You can call that persuader a con man, a snake oil salesman, a carnival barker, or full of shit. It’s all persuasion. And Trump simply does it better than I have ever seen anyone do it.

The battle with ISIS is also a persuasion problem. The entire purpose of military action against ISIS is to persuade them to stop, not to kill every single one of them. We need military-grade persuasion to get at the root of the problem. Trump understands persuasion, so he is likely to put more emphasis in that area.

Most of the job of president is persuasion. Presidents don’t need to understand policy minutia. They need to listen to experts and then help sell the best expert solutions to the public. Trump sells better than anyone you have ever seen, even if you haven’t personally bought into him yet. You can’t deny his persuasion talents that have gotten him this far.

In summary, I don’t understand the policy details and implications of most of either Trump’s or Clinton’s proposed ideas. Neither do you. But I do understand persuasion.

I also understand when the government is planning to confiscate the majority of my assets.

And I can also distinguish between a deeply unhealthy person and a healthy person, even though I have no medical training. (So can you.)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-25/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-e
xplains-why-he-switched-his-endorsement-trump

--------------
I think it's time you disabused yourself of that pleasant little fairy tale about our fearless leaders being some sort of surrogate daddy or mommy, laying awake at night thinking about how to protect the kids. HA! In reality, they're thinking about who to sell them to so that they can get a few more shekels in their pockets.

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Monday, September 26, 2016 4:31 AM

Funny.........basically this guy is saying "you don't know shit, but I do. you're idiots to vote for Hillary and Trump is a great salesman, he says so
himself. That's who I want for president."
Persuasive.........I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much.

SGG

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Monday, September 26, 2016 9:08 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SCOTT ADAMS SWITCHES TO TRUMP

The bottom line is . . .

Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Endorses Mitt Romney For the Stupidest Possible Reason
http://gawker.com/5953065/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-endorses-mitt-ro
mney-for-the-stupidest-possible-reason

Dilbert's creator did the exact same thing in the last election as he is doing in this election. He supported the Democrat until he flipped to the Republican. Adam's grudging support for Obama then and Hillary now was always a fake out so you'd be "surprised" when this so-called "Independent" once again endorsed the Republican.

And Scott Adams predicted John McCain would be President in 2008. "That's just a prediction, not a preference," he wrote. I'd say he preferred Republicans, but is always too coy to admit it. If the McCain vs Obama election had been closer, Adams would have outright endorsed McCain. Adams is that sneaky.
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2008/04/president-mcca
i.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, September 26, 2016 9:33 AM

REAVERFAN

Not much of a record, and he doesn't seem particularly bright.

Hillary will easily "win" the debate. That is, if you're looking for someone who's informed and uses lots of facts.

However, the modern presidential debate format rewards bluster and doesn't penalize lying.

Hillary will be "right," but that won't faze the deplorables. They're voting with their emotions, facts be damned.

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Monday, September 26, 2016 9:49 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by reaverfan:
Not much of a record, and he doesn't seem particularly bright.

If you're talking about Scott Adams or Trump, I strongly disagree. Both are smart, but I've seen many people in Texas who are precisely like Adams and Trump. They don't want to appear too bright and too smooth talking or else the people they are persuading (or outright cheating as in the case of Enron) might realized they are being tricked.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron:_The_Smartest_Guys_in_the_Room

With Trump and Adams, we're not dealing with Scientists, Professors, and Nobel Prize Winners. These guys are hucksters selling buildings or books and they need to close the deal.

What did Adams recommend in 2000? Bush. There is a story about how Adams thinks:

Quote:
We went outside for most of the photos, to “take advantage of the light,” Young Me explained. He made me pose in various positions that all had the same finish: “Now turn slightly, and look toward the sun.”

Seriously. He told me to look directly at the sun. And he did it with a straight face. That is when I became convinced that this alleged other person was indeed me. If I were a photographer, I’d be having people stare at the sun until they were blind too. I’d also have them disrobe outdoors on cold days and sit on frozen park benches. That’s the fun of being a photographer. Otherwise, all you’re doing is looking through a hole and pushing a button. What kind of job is that?

Luckily, I know all of my own tricks. So I declined my doppelganger’s offer to blind myself for his entertainment. But I respected him for trying.

Trump also gets respect for "trying". http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/03/young_evil_me.
html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, September 26, 2016 2:39 PM

Some global politics.

With political pressure mounting on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ahead of elections next year, Tehran has been abuzz with rumors that combative former leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was considering a comeback.

Not so fast, Iran’s supreme leader said Monday.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran, told an audience that Ahmadinejad had asked his advice on whether to run for president next May, and that he had responded that it was “not in the best interests of the country.”

“Society is divided,” said Khamenei, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. “Unity among officials and people should prevail.”

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-iran-ahmadinejad-20160926-snap-stor
y.html

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Monday, September 26, 2016 4:42 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

They're voting with their emotions, facts be damned.

That implies that people's emotions aren't legitimate.

I have posted over ... and over ... and over ... and over ... that Hillary needs to address the real suffering of people in the US. It's that suffering that fuels a lot of Donald's supporters.

Now, I have to add the caveats. First of all, much ado has been made about the decreased lifespan among white, poor people - a statistic specifically being driven by women. Second, much ado has been made about the angry white undereducated male. Along with that, occasionally there's been some rare, mild bemusement about why the same circumstances that drive whites to early death and political revolt don't have that same effect on blacks and latinos. So let me chime in (again) that I think it's because the undereducated white was the last bastion of white privilege. Blacks and latinos have always known themselves to be less that second class citizens. They already know what they can and can't expect. But this time, the downturn played no favorites. And whites were hit along with everyone else. And that was, for them, a very rude shock.

That doesn't make their suffering any less real. And it doesn't make the suffering across the entire society any less unfair. Nobody should be suffering so that international corporations benefit.

Hillary could, and should, have taken a lot of the wind out of Donald's sails by getting out ahead on that issue.

Let me just point out that the author left out vital relevant facts in the opinion piece. Doing that is known as cherry-picking. And whether you do that in the news, in discussion, in debate or in opinion, when you distort the facts, you've changed the nature of your communication into propaganda. But WE don't have any of THAT in the US, do we?!

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Monday, September 26, 2016 4:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:

They're voting with their emotions, facts be damned.

That implies that people's emotions aren't legitimate.

Nope, just their judgement.

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016 1:21 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:

Quote:
They're voting with their emotions, facts be damned.

That implies that people's emotions aren't legitimate.

I have posted over ... and over ... and over ... and over ...

Emotions matter in the real world because they drive behavior. Facts, not so much.

Trump doesn’t ignore facts because he is dumb. He does it because facts don’t matter. Every trained persuader knows that.

In the 2D world, where people think that facts and reason matter, Trump’s claim that life is worse than ever for African-Americans is an absurd lie. But in the third-dimension of persuasion – where Trump operates – it was brilliant.
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/150979891156/trumps-african-american-refr
aming

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016 2:04 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK

You are totally right.

Trump is going to win because there is no emotional connection to the youth.

2 Elections with Obama and the eletion against an 2nd GWB did that.

Everyone Hates Hillary. Even die hard SJW's and third and 4th wave Feminists hate Hillary.

The polls going into this debate were laughable.

Back in the 70's 33 percent of people not only answerd their phones but participated in the polls.

Today, they're getting their polling information on less than 1% of poeple who have home phones.

lol

Trump won 2 months ago.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016 5:28 AM

Quote:
Blacks and Latinos have always known themselves to be less that second class citizens. They already know what they can and can't expect.

I disagree with that first part of the statement. Blacks and Latinos have always been treated like second and third class citizens, for the most part.
They have come to expect that certain "treatment" from racists that make claims of superiority because of skin color or supposed intelligence.

I'm reminded of the story of Pedro Albizu Campos, who strongly believed in American exceptionalism back in the 1930s. He believed wholeheartedly in the America that espoused freedom and the "dream," of gold in the streets, etc. But, after his disillusionment with the racist nature within America, became a stalwart nationalist fighting for independence for Puerto Rico.

He had within him the right stuff. He believed and fought for the rights of his people to be a free nation. He did not succumb to the notion that being
Puerto Rican meant that he was less than anyone. In fact, the man was himself an exceptional human being, and smart as a whip. He spoke six languages, studied at the University of Vermont and graduated from Harvard Law School with the highest GPA in his law class. So no, this man would never accept his lot in life, but persevered despite the challenges set upon him throughout his adult life.

No, I would posit that the institutions of racism and bigotry thrust upon Blacks and Latinos (among others) in this country had worked their way into their psyche. So much so, that for many years their will succumbed to the
overwhelming weight and sheer relentlessness of the invisible monolith and laid bare their frayed and weary souls. But, no more. Chains and barriers have been broken. The fact that Obama made it to the White House speaks volumes to that end.

All humans have value, and we're coming to the realization that no one is superior merely because of skin pigment. Yes, there was a time when Blacks and Latinos believed in that notion, believed they were inferior.

But, no more.

SGG

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016 7:41 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
You are totally right.

Trump is going to win because there is no emotional connection to the youth.

Everyone Hates Hillary. Even die hard SJW's and third and 4th wave Feminists hate Hillary.

Trump won 2 months ago.

Policies that help the real, real America

There are some interesting ideas coming from one of the campaigns, and it doesn’t involve deportations.

Here’s what happens every election cycle: Pundits demand that politicians offer the country new ideas. Then, if and when a candidate actually does propose innovative policies, the news media pays little attention, chasing scandals or, all too often, fake scandals instead. Remember the extensive coverage last month, when Hillary Clinton laid out an ambitious mental health agenda? Neither do I.

For that matter, even the demand for new ideas is highly questionable, since there are plenty of good old ideas that haven’t been put into effect. Most advanced countries implemented some form of guaranteed health coverage decades if not generations ago. Does this mean that we should dismiss Obamacare as no big deal, since it’s just implementing a tired old agenda? The 20 million Americans who gained health coverage would beg to differ.

Still, there really are some interesting new ideas coming from one of the campaigns, and they arguably tell us a lot about how Clinton would govern.

Wait — what about the other side? Aren’t Republicans also offering new ideas? Well, I guess proposing to round up and deport 11 million people counts as a new idea. And Republicans in Congress seem to have moved past their tradition of proposing tax cuts that deliver most of their benefits to the wealthy. Now they are, instead, proposing tax cuts that deliver all of their benefits to the 1 percent — OK, actually just 99.6 percent, but who’s counting?

Back to Clinton: Much of her policy agenda could be characterized as a third Obama term, building on the center-left policies of the past eight years. That would hardly be a trivial matter. For example, independent estimates suggest that her proposed enhancements to the Affordable Care Act would extend health coverage to around 10 million more people, whereas Donald Trump’s proposed repeal of the act would cause around 20 million people to lose coverage.

In addition to defending and extending President Barack Obama’s achievements, however, Clinton is pushing a distinctive agenda centered around support for working parents. This isn’t acompletely new idea, but the scale of the Clinton proposals is off the charts compared with anything that has gone before.

One piece of that agenda involves 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for new children, help sick relatives, or recover from illness or injury. Trump, who has offered his own threadbare version of a maternal leave plan, was pants-on-fire lying when he claimed that his opponent has no such plan.

Another, even more striking piece involves helping families with young children in several ways, especially through universal preschool and public outlays — subsidies and tax credits — to hold down the cost of child care (the campaign sets a target of no more than 10 percent of income.) And everything we know, both about Clinton’s long-term interests and her current choices of advisers, suggests that family-centered issues are close to her heart. But why should helping working parents be such a priority? It looks to me like an attempt to focus on the problems of the real, real America in which most of our fellow citizens live. And that America is one in which working parents are the norm, in which stay-at-home mothers are a distinct minority, and in which the problem of how to take care of children while making ends meet is central to many people’s lives.

The numbers are striking: 64 percent of women with children younger than 6 are in the paid labor force, up from 39 percent in 1975. Most of these working mothers are surely doing so out of economic necessity, and we as a society need to find a way to reconcile this reality with the need to raise our children well.

I suppose a free market purist might question why we need government policies to help deal with this new reality. But we are, after all, talking about the fate of children, who are to some extent a common responsibility. Furthermore, child care economics is in some ways like health economics: for a variety of reasons, mostly coming down to the fact that we’re dealing with people, not things, we can’t trust unregulated markets to deliver a decent outcome.

So anyone who complains that there aren’t big new ideas in this campaign simply isn’t paying attention. One candidate, at least, has ideas that would make a big, positive difference to millions of American families.

www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/opinion/progressive-family-values.html?_r=0

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016 7:48 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Before Kennedy and Nixon faced off in the first televised presidential debate, former White House speechwriter Emmet John Hughes wrote an op-ed for the New York Times that imagined two futures. In one, as described in The Atlantic, television helped democracy flourish by bringing policy debates directly to voters. In the other future, television filled politics with a sloganized portrayal of governing that promoted charlatans.

Hughes hoped for the first but predicted the latter. Now the Grand Old Party is being led by a man who has never in his 70 years demonstrated familiarity with policy or interest in service. The former reality show host has made it this far on his carnival barker’s ability grab attention, but his routine floundered when placed in front of a quiet crowd, a prepared opponent and dutiful moderator.

At Monday’s debate, Donald Trump’s answers were hollow where former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was substantive. She was the happy warrior where he was curmudgeonly. Even his hair seemed flat in contrast to Clinton’s energetic coif.

The debate revealed the real estate scion for what he is: uniquely unprepared.

The only thing worse than Republican nominee’s performance would be if he actually implemented his platform. Trade tariffs would kill jobs at the Port of Houston. The government would support a failing coal industry at the expense of Texas natural gas. Trump’s tax plan would send the national debt to unprecedented heights. Everything the aspiring politician says is a promise to make us less competitive.

None of this matters to Trump. He was born rich and he’ll stay rich.

But for anyone who cares about growing the U.S. economy and leaving a better nation for their children, Clinton described a path built on proven policy.

Admittedly, few of Clinton’s ideas are unique. On criminal justice issues, she touted diversion programs like those here in Harris County. On jobs, she pushed for profit sharing, paid family leave and other ways to bring more money and stability to workers.

Instead of talking about those working families, Trump stroked his ego. He defended stiffing small business owners. He bragged about putting himself first. He even hinted that he’s evaded taxes. Instead of talking about the future of our nation, Trump talked about his new hotel.

Disorganized, stumbling and sniffling throughout the debate, Trump proved that he clearly isn’t ready for prime time. It is alarming that someone like Trump has made it this far, but as people knew back in 1960, it certainly was predictable.
www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Her-night-9290181.
php

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016 8:09 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

TRUMP: “I’ve been under audit for almost 15 years.”

Trump has declined to provide the IRS’ formal notice of audit to The Associated Press and other news outlets. And former IRS officials have expressed skepticism that anyone would be audited so frequently.

Donald Trump has never provided any evidence to the public that he is actually under audit. A letter released by his tax attorneys never used the word, merely describing his tax returns under continuous review. “Review” is not a formal term for any action by the IRS.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016 7:23 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Where is economic growth going to come from?
Trump thinks it only comes from one place. Clinton sees many.

By Lydia DePillis September 27, 2016 4:16pm

Presidents have limited power to change the fundamental drivers of economic growth, which include consumer spending, population change, and business investment. But to the extent that they can do anything, candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have drastically different conceptions of where new growth will come from. The contrast was on full display during the debate Monday night at Hofstra.

Here’s the distinction in a nutshell: Trump would try to boost growth by forcing companies to stay in America and pushing immigrants out. Clinton would try to boost growth by making America a more attractive place to invest, making American workers more attractive to employ, and making sure people have enough in their pockets to revive the kind of consumer demand that has fueled America’s economic engine since the end of World War II.

Trump laid out his philosophy when debate moderator Lester Holt asked how Trump would raise wages and create new jobs in America. (He’s promised 25 million of them, which is demographically impossible without an increase in immigration that he opposes.)

Trump answered in exactly one dimension: Manufacturing jobs that in recent decades have migrated to Mexico and China. He’d bring them back, he and his advisers say, by charging steep tariffs on imports and slashing corporate tax rates so that companies bring cash back from overseas. “That’s going to be a job creator like we haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan,” Trump said. “It’s going to be a beautiful thing to watch.”

There are a number of problems with that simple prescription, which itself is based on faulty assumptions about the current dynamics of global trade.

First, although Trump isn’t wrong that trade deals played a role in manufacturing job loss, the movement of manufacturing overseas was, to a large extent, going to happen anyway.

Second, even if he magically forced companies to return all of their manufacturing output to the United States, it could never replace all the jobs that were lost, since advancing technology allows companies to produce the same amount of stuff with many fewer people.

Clinton, of course, also opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that Trump has vilified. She, too, visits old manufacturing plants and talks about revitalizing them into high-tech wonder plants that will employ some of the millions of mostly men who've faded from the labor force in recent years.

But while Trump stops there, Clinton goes further. She's spent the last several years stuffing an economic toolbox with plans for investing in clean energy, bringing more women and disabled people into the workforce, allowing young people to go to college without taking on crippling debt, creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, reining in the parasitic financial sector and putting capital to work at businesses that will use it to create jobs, not just play the stock market.

And critically, she understands the importance of raising wages for workers in the service jobs, to re-store the consumer class that weakened as well-paid manufacturing jobs faded away.

Progressives have termed this approach "middle-out economics," rather than what Clinton called the "Trumped-up trickle-down" philosophy, referring to the Reagan-era idea of giving tax breaks to the wealthy in hopes that they would use the windfall to create more jobs. Targeting lower-income workers, Clinton figures, will have a bigger economic impact. "The more we can do for the middle class, the more we can invest in you, your education, your skills, your future, the better we will be off and the better we'll grow," she said.

At a recent event in Houston, Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan briefly laid out the federal budget policy he thought should have complemented low interest rates to address the aging of the population that has created such strong headwinds for the economy, since there are fewer and fewer working-age people to support all the retirees. Without commenting on the presidential race, he essentially backed up Clinton's approach.

"We need to do things to increase the size of the workforce," Kaplan said. "Vocational training. As controversial as it is, some agreement or compromise on immigration, particularly skilled immigration. Maybe incentives that cause people to work longer in their career, so we don't have a deterioration in the workforce. Infrastructure spending in the United States."

It's true, many of these things cost money. But if billionaires like Trump paid more of their taxes, a lot more money might become available. And simply by virtue of trying lots more ideas, Clinton has a better chance of jump-starting the economy than pursuing one strategy — forcing companies to return jobs to the U.S. — that relies on history turning itself backwards instead of forwards.

www.houstonchronicle.com/business/texanomics/article/Where-is-economic
-growth-going-to-come-from-9294789.php

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016 7:30 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Billionaire Trump is singing the blues but not sharing the burden

They are different from you and me, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the very rich.

Donald Trump wants us to forget this as he drones on about his reverence for the little guy.

But one of his most interesting quotes from the presidential debate Monday night was a firm reminder of the Republican nominee’s otherworldly perspective.

When Hillary Clinton accused the billionaire businessman of not paying federal taxes, he responded coolly, proudly: “That makes me smart.”

I guess the late real estate magnate Leona Helmsley was feeling smart, too, until her belief that “only little people pay taxes” landed her in prison for tax evasion.

Surely, Trump has better accountants. Smarter ones. But even if Trump is smarter than the rest of us — a huuuge feat for a man who doesn’t read books — does avoiding taxes make him responsible, or fair, or any of the other upstanding qualities Americans once desired in our highest representative?

I would say no. But apparently, some people are fine with that.

When I tweeted about Trump’s remark and what it says about civic duty, or lack thereof, I got some clever responses. One suggested Trump’s taxes reveal fatal flaws in the tax code. Here was another:

“If you don’t believe in tax deductions, don’t claim them on your returns.”

Somewhere, there’s a line between fair deductions and gaming. If a billionaire is paying nothing in taxes, it crosses that line.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016 9:56 PM

ELVISCHRIST

Is he lying, or is he stupid? It's either one or the other.

He's also saying that he won the "CBS post-debate poll" - except CBS didn't run any such poll.

So I'll ask again: is he lying or is he just that fucking stupid?

In the debate he said he was "smart" if he didn't pay any federal taxes (and he didn't pay any); after the debate, within an hour of its end, he said that he never said that.

He's either too goddam stupid to be president, or he's suffering from dementia and cannot reasonably ascertain what he did or didn't say.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016 10:50 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by ElvisChrist:

Is he lying, or is he stupid? It's either one or the other.

There are three alternatives.

The third alternative is that Trump is smart enough to know that it takes significant effort for a voter to distinguish between true and false. He has bet that the majority of voters are too lazy to make the effort. If his guess is right, Trump will win without expending much effort. He is playing the odds. It costs Trump only a few million to play this lottery and the cash prize is worth billions in prestige and actual loot in the form of tax cuts for the Trumps! Trump will repeal the estate tax. With his $10 billion estate going tax free to his children, Trump is building a legacy for ten generations of Trumps.
www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2016/08/09/hillary-vows-estate-tax-hik
es-while-trump-vows-repeal/#707e7d895c0f
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/09/27/donald-trump-vs-hillary-clin
ton-on-tax-cuts-for-the-rich/

One currently influential philosophical movement goes under various names such as postmodernism, trumpism or structuralism, depending on historical details that are unimportant here. It claims that because all ideas, including scientific theories, are conjectural, they are essentially arbitrary: they are no more than stories. Trump, and his followers, have their stories, which are as justifiable as Hillary and her followers' stories. In this philosophical movement, Trump is not a liar if enough people believe without feeling the need to verify his stories. "Enough" is defined as 50% plus 1 person, which is the same number to win a popularity contest.

Trumpism or postmodernism sounds weird and is weird, but it explains some weird behavior of US citizens, going all the way back to the people who reelected Nixon and Reagan. Life is so easy on the brain when you automatically believe the stories of strongmen such as Trump, Nixon and Reagan.

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Thursday, September 29, 2016 3:43 PM

NY Attorney General's Probe of Trump Foundation Appears to Widen

The New York attorney general's investigation of the Donald J. Trump Foundation appears to have broadened to include new allegations of self-dealing by Trump that surfaced after the probe began, TPM has learned.

The town of Palm Beach, Florida, has provided documents to the New York Attorney General's Office as part of the probe, a lawyer for the town confirmed to TPM on Wednesday. The documents relate to a legal dispute that Trump settled with the town using foundation money. The details of the 2007 Palm Beach case were first reported by the Washington Post last week.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ny-attorney-generals-probe-of-t
rump-foundation-appears-to-widen/ar-BBwNq9X?li=BBnb7Kz

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Thursday, September 29, 2016 4:49 PM

Conservative Newspapers Breaking Tradition to Abandon Trump

A growing number of conservative newspaper editorial boards are breaking long-standing traditions and endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson, or no one at all.

The Detroit News on Thursday backed Johnson, marking the first time in the newspaper's 143-year history its' editorial board did not endorse a Republican.

"We abandon that long and estimable tradition this year for one reason: Donald J. Trump," the paper wrote.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/conservative-newspapers-
breaking-tradition-abandon-trump-n656911

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Thursday, September 29, 2016 5:51 PM

That sounds about right..........lying and stupid is
more like it. Lying because, well, he lies. Stupid because,
doesn't he think (an oxymoron) that people will find out.
Journalists will check, fact chekers will check and
serious-minded voters will check the validity of his claims
....ahem, lies.

My vote is for lying, stupid Drumpf.
While we're at it, let's throw in fat and ugly too.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by ElvisChrist:

Is he lying, or is he stupid? It's either one or the other.

He's also saying that he won the "CBS post-debate poll" - except CBS didn't run any such poll.

So I'll ask again: is he lying or is he just that fucking stupid?

In the debate he said he was "smart" if he didn't pay any federal taxes (and he didn't pay any); after the debate, within an hour of its end, he said that he never said that.

He's either too goddam stupid to be president, or he's suffering from dementia and cannot reasonably ascertain what he did or didn't say.

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Thursday, September 29, 2016 6:57 PM

Absolutely great response and comment Second. I'm amazed as well, that this man could con his way into a leadership role - mainly because it's steeped in shallowness and is only outdone by the callousness of the host, namely Trump.

Uniquely unprepared is an understatement of epic proportions...Trump-sized, if you will. I truly appreciate your review of the debate, but here's something that you mention that I believe people (the media in particular) missed:

Quote:
Instead of talking about the future of our nation, Trump talked about his new hotel.

"If I don't get there one way, I'm going to get to Pennsylvania Avenue another"

Wow! Pitching his new hotel during the Debate. Could you believe that? And he says he will be totally unbiased running his businesses if he gets to the White House. Yeah, I believe that one. But, more importantly, it shows how incredibly single and simple-minded he is - business and profit for him is paramount. Not only does that smack of conflict of interest, it could go against national security and the national agenda. He would sell us out for profit (which I believe he's already done).

It also shows how incredibly defeated he is, in his own mind (and I use that term loosely). It's like standing up during an interview and telling the interviewer to hurry because you have another appointment across the street.
You're telling them you don't want the job, you're telling them you don't think you'll get the job.

The most important, most powerful job in the world. Oh, he wants it, but he doesn't want to work for it. He wants people to say - "We totally get your awesome. Here, here are the keys to the kingdom, your majesty."

I found that supremely off topic, but very telling.

Quote:
Disorganized, stumbling and sniffling throughout the debate, Trump proved that he clearly isn’t ready for prime time.

It is worth repeating.

SGG

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Thursday, September 29, 2016 8:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
That sounds about right..........lying and stupid is
more like it. Lying because, well, he lies. Stupid because,
doesn't he think (an oxymoron) that people will find out.
Journalists will check, fact chekers will check and
serious-minded voters will check the validity of his claims
....ahem, lies.

My vote is for lying, stupid Drumpf.
While we're at it, let's throw in fat and ugly too.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by ElvisChrist:

Is he lying, or is he stupid? It's either one or the other.

He's also saying that he won the "CBS post-debate poll" - except CBS didn't run any such poll.

So I'll ask again: is he lying or is he just that fucking stupid?

In the debate he said he was "smart" if he didn't pay any federal taxes (and he didn't pay any); after the debate, within an hour of its end, he said that he never said that.

He's either too goddam stupid to be president, or he's suffering from dementia and cannot reasonably ascertain what he did or didn't say.

That's too funny.

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Thursday, September 29, 2016 9:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Absolutely great response and comment Second. I'm amazed as well, that this man could con his way into a leadership role - mainly because it's steeped in shallowness and is only outdone by the callousness of the host, namely Trump.

Uniquely unprepared is an understatement of epic proportions...Trump-sized, if you will. I truly appreciate your review of the debate, but here's something that you mention that I believe people (the media in particular) missed:

Quote:
Instead of talking about the future of our nation, Trump talked about his new hotel.

"If I don't get there one way, I'm going to get to Pennsylvania Avenue another"

Wow! Pitching his new hotel during the Debate. Could you believe that? And he says he will be totally unbiased running his businesses if he gets to the White House. Yeah, I believe that one. But, more importantly, it shows how incredibly single and simple-minded he is - business and profit for him is paramount. Not only does that smack of conflict of interest, it could go against national security and the national agenda. He would sell us out for profit (which I believe he's already done).

It also shows how incredibly defeated he is, in his own mind (and I use that term loosely). It's like standing up during an interview and telling the interviewer to hurry because you have another appointment across the street.
You're telling them you don't want the job, you're telling them you don't think you'll get the job.

The most important, most powerful job in the world. Oh, he wants it, but he doesn't want to work for it. He wants people to say - "We totally get your awesome. Here, here are the keys to the kingdom, your majesty."

I found that supremely off topic, but very telling.

Quote:
Disorganized, stumbling and sniffling throughout the debate, Trump proved that he clearly isn’t ready for prime time.

It is worth repeating.

SGG

Trump fell into every trap Hillary set because he was getting to talk about himself. He loves to talk about himself and he can't let anything go. And he always played the victim. For someone who runs on the fact that he would be a strong leader, always being a victim shows you are not.

I think the next debate is in a town hall format. If so he's fucked.

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Friday, September 30, 2016 4:40 AM

I think you may be right about the Town Hall setting, that may prove to be a disaster for him. But I noticed, as he complained about the mic, that he was not getting his usual fix of audience reaction (like at his "rallies"). I know that you're definitely right about her setting him up. He just couldn't help himself.

In a Town Hall he may have some supporters there, and that will give him confidence. Let's see what he'll complain about now. Imagine him at the U.N.
and he totally chokes!? It's just too cringe-worthy and I get the giggles, Ha!

Ya know, maybe the debate organizers should invite some hecklers to make him feel at home. Then he could have some of his supporters punch them in the face.

Now, I'll buy that for a dollar!!!

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Absolutely great response and comment Second. I'm amazed as well, that this man could con his way into a leadership role - mainly because it's steeped in shallowness and is only outdone by the callousness of the host, namely Trump.

Uniquely unprepared is an understatement of epic proportions...Trump-sized, if you will. I truly appreciate your review of the debate, but here's something that you mention that I believe people (the media in particular) missed:

Quote:
Instead of talking about the future of our nation, Trump talked about his new hotel.

"If I don't get there one way, I'm going to get to Pennsylvania Avenue another"

Wow! Pitching his new hotel during the Debate. Could you believe that? And he says he will be totally unbiased running his businesses if he gets to the White House. Yeah, I believe that one. But, more importantly, it shows how incredibly single and simple-minded he is - business and profit for him is paramount. Not only does that smack of conflict of interest, it could go against national security and the national agenda. He would sell us out for profit (which I believe he's already done).

It also shows how incredibly defeated he is, in his own mind (and I use that term loosely). It's like standing up during an interview and telling the interviewer to hurry because you have another appointment across the street.
You're telling them you don't want the job, you're telling them you don't think you'll get the job.

The most important, most powerful job in the world. Oh, he wants it, but he doesn't want to work for it. He wants people to say - "We totally get your awesome. Here, here are the keys to the kingdom, your majesty."

I found that supremely off topic, but very telling.

Quote:
Disorganized, stumbling and sniffling throughout the debate, Trump proved that he clearly isn’t ready for prime time.

It is worth repeating.

SGG

Trump fell into every trap Hillary set because he was getting to talk about himself. He loves to talk about himself and he can't let anything go. And he always played the victim. For someone who runs on the fact that he would be a strong leader, always being a victim shows you are not.

I think the next debate is in a town hall format. If so he's fucked.

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Friday, September 30, 2016 4:45 AM

Yeah, I saw that too. He doesn't have one newspaper endorsement, not one!
That's impressive!

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
Conservative Newspapers Breaking Tradition to Abandon Trump

A growing number of conservative newspaper editorial boards are breaking long-standing traditions and endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson, or no one at all.

The Detroit News on Thursday backed Johnson, marking the first time in the newspaper's 143-year history its' editorial board did not endorse a Republican.

"We abandon that long and estimable tradition this year for one reason: Donald J. Trump," the paper wrote.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/conservative-newspapers-
breaking-tradition-abandon-trump-n656911

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Friday, September 30, 2016 4:55 AM

It's also been reported that some members (3 that I know of) of his behind-the-scenes staff have been forced to resign due to criminal behavior. One was the pilot of his plane - he had run over someone with his car, on purpose. Plus another assault charge is pending. An Iowa campaign manager was also forced to resign due to an assault on a friend, he pointed a loaded
pistol at someone's knee. And yet another one who attempted to run over someone with his motorcycle.

Plus the guy he hired from Breitbart threatened his ex-wife so she wouldn't testify against him in a child support case. That's why you don't hear much from him, they want to avoid answering questions about him. And remember his former campaign manager? They all belong to the Donald J. Trump mutual
admiration society.

Lovely people; Some staff, eh!

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
NY Attorney General's Probe of Trump Foundation Appears to Widen

The New York attorney general's investigation of the Donald J. Trump Foundation appears to have broadened to include new allegations of self-dealing by Trump that surfaced after the probe began, TPM has learned.

The town of Palm Beach, Florida, has provided documents to the New York Attorney General's Office as part of the probe, a lawyer for the town confirmed to TPM on Wednesday. The documents relate to a legal dispute that Trump settled with the town using foundation money. The details of the 2007 Palm Beach case were first reported by the Washington Post last week.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ny-attorney-generals-probe-of-t
rump-foundation-appears-to-widen/ar-BBwNq9X?li=BBnb7Kz

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Friday, September 30, 2016 8:52 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Is Monica Lewinsky the Trump comeback for Miss Universe?

Donald Trump seems to be itching to bring up Bill Clinton’s sex life the next time he debates Hillary Clinton. It’s a high-risk strategy.

It could offend women, remind voters of Trump’s own marital infidelity and frustrate participants at the next debate, where voters will post the questions, likely more about issues that affect their lives.

Trump allies slam Hillary for staying married.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump adviser and no stranger to infidelity himself, this week called Hillary Clinton “too stupid to be president” for remaining with her husband after the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky broke in 1998.

More than a quarter of female likely voters said their opinions of Trump had dropped after watching the debate — which included revelations about Trump’s disparaging remarks about a former Miss Universe — according to an NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released Thursday. Clinton’s image improved for nearly a third.

Attacking a woman for her husband’s indiscretions could offend the very voters he wants to attract.

“That won’t play well with suburban women,” said Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin and Marshall College Poll in Pennsylvania.

www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article104996416
.html

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Friday, September 30, 2016 12:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SECOND:
Is Monica Lewinsky the Trump comeback for Miss Universe?

Donald Trump seems to be itching to bring up Bill Clinton’s sex life the next time he debates Hillary Clinton. It’s a high-risk strategy.

It could offend women, remind voters of Trump’s own marital infidelity and frustrate participants at the next debate, where voters will post the questions, likely more about issues that affect their lives.

Trump allies slam Hillary for staying married.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump adviser and no stranger to infidelity himself, this week called Hillary Clinton “too stupid to be president” for remaining with her husband after the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky broke in 1998.

More than a quarter of female likely voters said their opinions of Trump had dropped after watching the debate — which included revelations about Trump’s disparaging remarks about a former Miss Universe — according to an NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released Thursday. Clinton’s image improved for nearly a third.

Attacking a woman for her husband’s indiscretions could offend the very voters he wants to attract.

“That won’t play well with suburban women,” said Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin and Marshall College Poll in Pennsylvania.

And have millennials scratching their heads.

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Friday, September 30, 2016 12:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
It's also been reported that some members (3 that I know of) of his behind-the-scenes staff have been forced to resign due to criminal behavior. One was the pilot of his plane - he had run over someone with his car, on purpose. Plus another assault charge is pending. An Iowa campaign manager was also forced to resign due to an assault on a friend, he pointed a loaded
pistol at someone's knee. And yet another one who attempted to run over someone with his motorcycle.

Plus the guy he hired from Breitbart threatened his ex-wife so she wouldn't testify against him in a child support case. That's why you don't hear much from him, they want to avoid answering questions about him. And remember his former campaign manager? They all belong to the Donald J. Trump mutual
admiration society.

Lovely people; Some staff, eh!

SGG

It goes to character and who Trump will give positions too, to help him run the country; god help us.

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
NY Attorney General's Probe of Trump Foundation Appears to Widen

The New York attorney general's investigation of the Donald J. Trump Foundation appears to have broadened to include new allegations of self-dealing by Trump that surfaced after the probe began, TPM has learned.

The town of Palm Beach, Florida, has provided documents to the New York Attorney General's Office as part of the probe, a lawyer for the town confirmed to TPM on Wednesday. The documents relate to a legal dispute that Trump settled with the town using foundation money. The details of the 2007 Palm Beach case were first reported by the Washington Post last week.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ny-attorney-generals-probe-of-t
rump-foundation-appears-to-widen/ar-BBwNq9X?li=BBnb7Kz

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 4:14 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Upon learning that Trump's company may have violated the embargo on Cuba in 1998, Stephen Colbert wonders if it will have any effect on the candidate's chances of winning the presidency.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 5:14 PM

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/#now

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Let’s dispel with this notion that Donald Trump knows what he’s doing.

Trump is blowing it.

To make a long story short, Donald Trump is the GOP nominee in a year when a generic Republican would be favored to beat a generic Democrat. Rather than running against a generic Democrat, he is running against an unusually unpopular Democrat. And he is losing.

That’s not good.

Of course, the mere fact that Trump’s overall campaign is ineffective doesn’t mean that every particular choice he makes is bad. But it does mean that there’s no particular reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. The big lesson of the 2016 campaign is that the fundamentals matter a lot. The electorate is polarized, and so even a really bad candidate has a high floor.

Clinton has major weaknesses in terms of weak economic growth and voter fatigue with Democratic Party leadership (manifesting in 2016 largely in millennial disaffection with Clinton, even as young voters eschew Trump). These factors keep Trump perennially within striking distance; it’s a very winnable election for him. But instead of winning, he is losing. And he has been consistently losing, because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/9/30/13108314/trump-campaign-stra
tegy

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 5:23 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Jeeze, why are you all so obsessed with Donald?

Do you have a thing for his hair? Or do you just need to keep avoiding your feeble notions about how right Hillary is by obsessing how wrong Donald is?

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 8:13 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Jeeze, why are you all so obsessed with Donald?

Do you have a thing for his hair? Or do you just need to keep avoiding your feeble notions about how right Hillary is by obsessing how wrong Donald is?

Donald is only wrong because he is a Republican. I think he is a clever Republican for speaking about a "nightmarish" world that does not exist outside the average Republican's brain. Oh, there are real problems, the kind that can't be fixed by ending the estate tax on Trump's estate or lowering the pass-through income tax on Trump's business or nominating a new Scalia to the Supreme Court or abolishing Obamacare or whatever easy-painless-cheap solution Trump is selling at any moment. Since Trump's solutions won't fix any real problems, I'd classify all Trump's problems as imaginary. Trump's solutions make Trump's life easier and that is NOT why you elect a President, to make their personal business fortunes better.

Trump is like a Joss Whedon tuned to a different audience. When Joss finishes a vampire story, you know vampires are not real. When Trump does the same story, he is trying to make you believe vampires are real in the nightmarish world he describes, making you afraid to go out at night. Joss and Trump both know what mood they are selling and they are good at it.

I've got an enormous amount of experience with average Republican voters in Texas and they want to kill innocent programs such as Obamacare or long standing tax programs such as the estate tax, not because the programs are actually evil, but because their imaginations have taken control over their good sense. Trump feeds their imaginations with unreal horrors. He is good at it, but it is bad.

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 8:30 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

or whatever easy-painless-cheap solution Trump is selling at any moment

BUT TRUMP ISN'T GOING TO BE PRESIDENT.

So - what's your point, again? Why DO you keep harping on, and on, and on, AND on ... about something that doesn't matter?

Meanwhile, I could just as easily - and more meaningfully - say

or whatever easy-painless-cheap solution Clinton is selling at any moment

Because her solutions are equally vaporous. But worse, the threats she genuinely poses are extreme. But you ignore them. All I can conclude is that you're muttering your role in some argument that only you hear, that exists only in your head, to control those forces that you think live there. You're certainly not addressing the people who post here, or the salient facts that exist in the real world today.

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:09 PM

Too true, Second, too true. It could be said that Trump and his advisors are the Trifecta of politics, or is it Evil Triad, I always get those confused.
Gingrich, Giuliani and Trump - between them: 9 wives, all caught cheating.
Hmmmmmm, now let's see, how will that play with suburban women whose husbands
often work late at the office, or go off to that special business trip.

I've heard a rumor that their heads hang in the Gloria Steinem Hall of Shame.
(kidding)

Seriously though, these guys live in glass houses and wearing no clothes.
The Trump campaign will be taking an awful risk using that tactic, and Hillary knows this, but Trump can't help himself.

Soon after, Conway will have to go on the talk shows and news shows to defend that strategy, but that may be the moment she quits. I almost feel sorry for her.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by SECOND:
Is Monica Lewinsky the Trump comeback for Miss Universe?

Donald Trump seems to be itching to bring up Bill Clinton’s sex life the next time he debates Hillary Clinton. It’s a high-risk strategy.

It could offend women, remind voters of Trump’s own marital infidelity and frustrate participants at the next debate, where voters will post the questions, likely more about issues that affect their lives.

Trump allies slam Hillary for staying married.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump adviser and no stranger to infidelity himself, this week called Hillary Clinton “too stupid to be president” for remaining with her husband after the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky broke in 1998.

More than a quarter of female likely voters said their opinions of Trump had dropped after watching the debate — which included revelations about Trump’s disparaging remarks about a former Miss Universe — according to an NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released Thursday. Clinton’s image improved for nearly a third.

Attacking a woman for her husband’s indiscretions could offend the very voters he wants to attract.

“That won’t play well with suburban women,” said Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin and Marshall College Poll in Pennsylvania.

www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article104996416
.html

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:13 PM

Add to that murderer's row of political debauchery one Chris Christie and you have a cornucopia of sociopaths. If Trump were to win, this is what we have to look forward to.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
It's also been reported that some members (3 that I know of) of his behind-the-scenes staff have been forced to resign due to criminal behavior. One was the pilot of his plane - he had run over someone with his car, on purpose. Plus another assault charge is pending. An Iowa campaign manager was also forced to resign due to an assault on a friend, he pointed a loaded
pistol at someone's knee. And yet another one who attempted to run over someone with his motorcycle.

Plus the guy he hired from Breitbart threatened his ex-wife so she wouldn't testify against him in a child support case. That's why you don't hear much from him, they want to avoid answering questions about him. And remember his former campaign manager? They all belong to the Donald J. Trump mutual
admiration society.

Lovely people; Some staff, eh!

SGG

It goes to character and who Trump will give positions too, to help him run the country; god help us.

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
NY Attorney General's Probe of Trump Foundation Appears to Widen

The New York attorney general's investigation of the Donald J. Trump Foundation appears to have broadened to include new allegations of self-dealing by Trump that surfaced after the probe began, TPM has learned.

The town of Palm Beach, Florida, has provided documents to the New York Attorney General's Office as part of the probe, a lawyer for the town confirmed to TPM on Wednesday. The documents relate to a legal dispute that Trump settled with the town using foundation money. The details of the 2007 Palm Beach case were first reported by the Washington Post last week.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ny-attorney-generals-probe-of-t
rump-foundation-appears-to-widen/ar-BBwNq9X?li=BBnb7Kz

____________________________________________

Russia trolls get contract extension
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=60719]

____________________________________________

Russia trolls get contract extension
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=60719

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:14 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Since Trump isn't going to be president, I hope you can explain to me how any of this matters to the state of the country or the fate of the world.

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:18 PM

Good points. But I lean towards the fact that he's an utter loser despite his wealth and notorious
penchant for dehumanizing women.
Wait, that is the reason he's losing, but I do get your point.

In other words, this is the season of "the lesser of two evils"

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/#now

Let’s dispel with this notion that Donald Trump knows what he’s doing.

Trump is blowing it.

To make a long story short, Donald Trump is the GOP nominee in a year when a generic Republican would be favored to beat a generic Democrat. Rather than running against a generic Democrat, he is running against an unusually unpopular Democrat. And he is losing.

That’s not good.

Of course, the mere fact that Trump’s overall campaign is ineffective doesn’t mean that every particular choice he makes is bad. But it does mean that there’s no particular reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. The big lesson of the 2016 campaign is that the fundamentals matter a lot. The electorate is polarized, and so even a really bad candidate has a high floor.

Clinton has major weaknesses in terms of weak economic growth and voter fatigue with Democratic Party leadership (manifesting in 2016 largely in millennial disaffection with Clinton, even as young voters eschew Trump). These factors keep Trump perennially within striking distance; it’s a very winnable election for him. But instead of winning, he is losing. And he has been consistently losing, because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/9/30/13108314/trump-campaign-stra
tegy

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:21 PM

Just the facts, ma'am! You seem to be slipping into personal attack mode.
Don't worry, no matter who wins, the earth will keep spinning 'round.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Jeeze, why are you all so obsessed with Donald?

Do you have a thing for his hair? Or do you just need to keep avoiding your feeble notions about how right Hillary is by obsessing how wrong Donald is?

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:28 PM

That is a lucid, well thought out response. Thanks Second, someone else gets it. Trump is living in the fantasy reality TV world, and he knows what sells.
Aside from Sex, Fear.....and he brings it in spades.

But, in Hillary, he has a clever opponent, partially because she gets it.
Oh, and this would be contributed by Kiki and Sig; partially because she's evil.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Jeeze, why are you all so obsessed with Donald?

Do you have a thing for his hair? Or do you just need to keep avoiding your feeble notions about how right Hillary is by obsessing how wrong Donald is?
Donald is only wrong because he is a Republican. I think he is a clever Republican for speaking about a "nightmarish" world that does not exist outside the average Republican's brain. Oh, there are real problems, the kind that can't be fixed by ending the estate tax on Trump's estate or lowering the pass-through income tax on Trump's business or nominating a new Scalia to the Supreme Court or abolishing Obamacare or whatever easy-painless-cheap solution Trump is selling at any moment. Since Trump's solutions won't fix any real problems, I'd classify all Trump's problems as imaginary. Trump's solutions make Trump's life easier and that is NOT why you elect a President, to make their personal business fortunes better.

Trump is like a Joss Whedon tuned to a different audience. When Joss finishes a vampire story, you know vampires are not real. When Trump does the same story, he is trying to make you believe vampires are real in the nightmarish world he describes, making you afraid to go out at night. Joss and Trump both know what mood they are selling and they are good at it.

I've got an enormous amount of experience with average Republican voters in Texas and they want to kill innocent programs such as Obamacare or long standing tax programs such as the estate tax, not because the programs are actually evil, but because their imaginations have taken control over their good sense. Trump feeds their imaginations with unreal horrors. He is good at it, but it is bad.

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:29 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

You seem to be slipping into personal attack mode.

Where?

Do you mean when I said the reasons why Hillary is so 'right' are feeble? As far as I can tell, I'm looking for information about something OUT THERE - which you haven't so far supplied.

So, tell me about what's OUT THERE REGARDING HILLARY. What makes her so good? (And avoid references to Donald, or your statement will cease to be about Hillary.)

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:30 PM

You see!

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:

or whatever easy-painless-cheap solution Trump is selling at any moment

BUT TRUMP ISN'T GOING TO BE PRESIDENT.

So - what's your point, again? Why DO you keep harping on, and on, and on, AND on ... about something that doesn't matter?

Meanwhile, I could just as easily - and more meaningfully - say
or whatever easy-painless-cheap solution Clinton is selling at any moment
Because her solutions are equally vaporous. But worse, the threats she genuinely poses are extreme. But you ignore them. All I can conclude is that you're muttering your role in some argument that only you hear, that exists only in your head, to control those forces that you think live there. You're certainly not addressing the people who post here, or the salient facts that exist in the real world today.
Let me just point out that the author left out vital relevant facts in the opinion piece. Doing that is known as cherry-picking. And whether you do that in the news, in discussion, in debate or in opinion, when you distort the facts, you've changed the nature of your communication into propaganda. But WE don't have any of THAT in the US, do we?!

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:34 PM

Don't rush me, I'mma thinkin'................my head hurts!

-Yosemite Sam

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Since Trump isn't going to be president, I hope you can explain to me how any of this matters to the state of the country or the fate of the world.

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Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:35 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Trump isn't going to be president. Anything you say about him is useless.

So, tell me about what's OUT THERE REGARDING HILLARY. What makes her so good? (And avoid references to Donald, or your statement will cease to be about Hillary.)

ETA: In case you need help, let me suggest a few things you could address without referencing Trump.

Clinton's history as Senator. How was her attendance record? What did she vote for? What did she vote against? What legislation did she sponsor? Or co-sponsor?
Clinton's history as S'cy of State. What peace treaties did she negotiate? What wars did she prevent? What wars did she at least avoid?
How did she make sure her office was transparent and accountable? How well did she handle national security?

How about the DNC and her role in it?

And so on.

There is PLENTY of Clinton history you can examine and comment on, without referring to Trump.

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Sunday, October 2, 2016 9:26 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:

Trump isn't going to be president. Anything you say about him is useless.

As always, you are wrong. Donald Trump is asserting that the general election “is going to be rigged,” and many people who are drawn to his campaign have major doubts about the accuracy of the Nov. 8 vote. After he loses, Trump will be banging the drum loudly about crooked Hillary stealing the election. Trump could not be more disruptive of President Hillary if Trump had a license from the Secret Service that he could fire a rifle at Hillary whenever he pleased and the Secret Service would not interfere. There will be millions of Trump voters who will also be taking their shot at Hillary. Trump will be cheering them on every time there is an assassination attempt.

Fears of voter fraud are unfounded. A study by a Loyola Law School professor found that out of 1 billion votes cast between 2000 and 2014, there were only 31 known cases of fraud. Does Trump care?
www.heraldtribune.com/news/20161002/poll-trump-backers-dont-trust-vote
-count

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:

So, tell me about what's OUT THERE REGARDING HILLARY. What makes her so good? (And avoid references to Donald, or your statement will cease to be about Hillary.)

Hillary is a generic Democrat. The Republican party will be just as obnoxious and disruptive after the election as it has been for 8 years. Nothing will get better under Hillary, no matter what she does (unless she executes Mitch McConnell, using the ultimate Presidential veto) because the Republicans will make her fail. Her generic Democratic party policies mean nothing compared to the GOP's policy toward her.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, October 2, 2016 12:16 PM