US Election and Vote Rigging: The question is not “if”, but “how much”

Trump would have been crazy to sign a blank cheque  on election results when high ranking Democrat operatives admit on video that they cheat the system as much as they can. Scott Foval bragged they have been busing people in to key seats ” to deal with you fuckin assholes for fifty years, and we’re not going to stop now”. Who plays nice in the face of that rank hostility?

Hillary said Trump’s response was horrible, but the real horror is that it’s so easy to vote early and often and in the wrong place. If Hillary is so concerned about people having faith in the system, she could fix the system. Instead, as George Will points out, the Democrats are doing everything they can to stop voters being asked for ID.

  It is hard to think of an innocent reason why Democrats spend so much time, energy and money, scarce resources all, resisting attempts to purge the voter rolls, that is to remove people who are dead or otherwise have left the jurisdiction. It’s hard to think of an innocent reason why they fight so tremendously against Voter I.D. laws. They say, well that burdens the exercise of a fundamental right. The Supreme Court has said that travel is a fundamental right and no one thinks that showing an I.D. at the airport burdens that fundamental right.

It’s not Donald who has contempt for Democracy, it’s the Democrats.

 

If it can be done, why wouldn’t a means-to-an-ends team do it?

Some newspapers have declared Trump to be Hitler (Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Sydney Morning Herald, though sometimes he’s just Mossolini . So in the face of a genocidal maniac, maybe vote rigging feels like “saving the country” instead of cheating, lying, and trashing a democracy.

Scott Adams on  the third debate:

If you want a reason to be worried, ask yourself why the mainstream media is so keen on framing the election as “not rigged.” The message I’m getting from them, collectively, is that they think it will be. (Because it will be.) We just don’t know how much the rigging will matter.

Why do I say it will be rigged?

Because whenever humans have motive, opportunity, a high upside gain, and low odds of detection, shenanigans happen 100% of the time. Our vote-counting systems have plenty of weak spots. Rigging (to some degree) is a near guarantee.

So there will be  rigging. There already has been rigging (see the paper below). But is it enough to change the outcome? The political researchers think so. In a 2014 study Richman et al  found that vote rigging was already happening, and it “likely” did matter.

Non-citizens can vote themselves healthcare (which is a pretty sensible scam if a nation will let you get away with it)

We find that some non-citizens participate in U.S. elections, and that this participation has been large enough to change meaningful election outcomes including Electoral College votes, and Congressional elections. Non-citizen votes likely gave Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health care reform and other Obama administration priorities in the 111th Congress.”

Debate Highlights

Amazing, Pat found this in the Washington Post: Trump won the third debate. OK, just one among many in the same paper that said the opposite.

See the Clinton Cash movie if there is any one out there who still thinks Ms Hillary has US best interests at heart.

 Do non-citizens vote in U.S. elections?

a b s t r a c t
In spite of substantial public controversy, very little reliable data exists concerning the
frequency with which non-citizen immigrants participate in United States elections.
Although such participation is a violation of election laws in most parts of the United
States, enforcement depends principally on disclosure of citizenship status at the time of
voter registration. This study examines participation rates by non-citizens using a nationally
representative sample that includes non-citizen immigrants. We find that some
non-citizens participate in U.S. elections, and that this participation has been large enough
to change meaningful election outcomes including Electoral College votes, and Congressional
elections. Non-citizen votes likely gave Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote
needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health care reform and other Obama
administration priorities in the 111th Congress.

h/t to a friend in the EU

REFERENCE

Richman (2014) Do non-citizens vote in U.S. elections?, Electoral Studies 36,  149 — 157

 

9.5 out of 10 based on 52 ratings

157 comments to US Election and Vote Rigging: The question is not “if”, but “how much”

  • #
    Oliver K. Manuel

    Regretfully, this once great nation that Thomas Jefferson established with the 1776 Declaration of Independence is now a leader in corrupt politics.

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    • #
      Mari C

      Corruption has been in our politics for a long time. It is, however, at a peak right now, and the checks and balances are being subverted, converted, used against the principals that put them there – all allowed because safety and security and the need to Not Be Insulted has overcome our cussed independence. Each party can claim the other is rigging the polls, the election. Each can lay claim to being attacked, at the ground level and literally, by agents of the other. Both are probably correct. It’s how they play the game, and how they’ve played it for a long time (much longer than 50 years)

      Even back in Lincoln’s day there was games playing in the elections. Chicago and New York are famous (infamous) for their political machinations – especially in those golden days of the late 1800s, early 1900s. Corporate greed and bad luck have combined to lay waste to our nation several times – the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, etc. And each time the political machine has roared to life, each side blaming the other, stirring up the anger of the masses – because actions done in anger are not well thought out. Get mad enough at someone or something, you’ll cut your nose off to be certain THEY don’t win.

      We are not The Leader in corrupt politics, not yet, but we are fast approaching that ignoble title. It is to the advantage of both parties that the voters are frustrated, angry, easily swayed, convinced that someone else is at fault for the loss of “their” candidate. Those who don’t vote shake their fists and bemoan the dire straights of our nation, yet they played no responsible role in preventing it. And the Party machinations go on – political cronies deciding which of the runners will be the candidates, who will get the money, which party gets to win… Or maybe not, maybe that is just the paranoid rantings of the ones who need to have someone to blame when they don’t get their way.

      It’s bad, but the entire reason the founders put the nation together the way they did was to put as many obstacles as they could in the way of those who would seize absolute power. I don’t know if they ever considered that we, the people, would allow those obstacles to be eroded away, the checks and balances being ignored, over-ridden, erased. We aren’t quite there yet, but the well-wishers, the unthinking, the I-didn’t-know/think, the ones who see the pretty shiny ball but not the pit of spears below it as they jump, they’ll get us there.

      I tend to be the first to champion equal rights, I am anti-racism, I want to see affordable health and education, safety nets for the ill, aged, disabled. I don’t want to see high, or higher, taxes to get this. I want to see responsibility and accounting for funds that are there now. I help people, as I can, because it is a good thing to do. Someday I may need help, and perhaps one I helped will be able to return the favor. Maybe not. It’s not why I do what I do. I live what some might call the “liberal ideal” and yet I am NOT a liberal. Not in the political sense, at least. Not in the current American sense.

      And yet, somewhere in all this mess, in the accusations, in the posturing, there is still the truth that until election day, no one knows who will be elected. No one knows what plots will be “revealed” or disasters may come. My bet is on Trump. He’s as sick of the mess as we are, and he is counting on that to pull the votes in.

      We are not the most politically corrupt, we don’t have the most corrupt politics or even politicians, but we are getting there. We are perhaps the whiniest, the most two-faced gossip-mongering mud-slinging bunch, though.

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      • #
        Oliver K. Manuel

        The corruption of politics (both political parties) was accompanied by the corruption of government science.

        If Trumlp is elected, his major obstacle will be to take away the corrupting power of the US National Academy of Sciences.

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        • #
          Craig Thomas

          a. He’s not going to win
          b. Are you suggesting he replace all scientific endeavor in the USA with a Commissar for Republican-approved science?

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          • #
            Analitik

            b) Well, Obama is trying to replace all scientific endeavor in the USA with a Commissar for watermelon-approved science

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            • #
              Oliver K. Manuel

              I think Trump may actually win, if the votes are actually counted.

              In several parts of the USA the number of yard signs and bumper stickers for Trump greatly outnumber those for Hillary.

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              • #
                James

                In most parts of the country. Clinton signs are very rare. I know where there are 4 of them, and I had to drive 180 miles to see 4 of them. Pence rallies out number Clinton rally attendance big time. Kaine could not get 50 people to show up to one of his rallies recently. Trump supporters are very motivated to show up. I like his policies, but his style leaves a lot to be desired.

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              • #
                Oliver K. Manuel

                I agree. Trump’s style leaves much to be desired, but bluntness may be the only way to wean bureaucrats and pseudo-scientists from public funds.

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          • #
            OriginalSteve

            Hey, Hellary is happy to replace the police with Commisars, why should science be any different…eh, comrade?

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          • #
            el gordo

            Craig we also need to put a broom through NASA, they should concentrate on space exploration. Along the same lines BoM and the CSIRO need to be split asunder and the propaganda wings snipped.

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          • #
            tom0mason

            Craig Thomas

            You state categorically “a. He’s not going to win”.

            Is that because you are party to, or know the people who are cheating the electoral process?

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            • #
              Oliver K. Manuel

              Craig’s not be a scientist, but will vote with NAPS, the National Academy of Pseudo-Science!

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        • #
          Oliver K. Manuel

          Jon Rapporort identified globalism as the hidden monster in the present presidential campaign:

          https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/globalism-the-monster-in-the-presidential-campaign/

          RINO Republicans will be as unhappy as Hillary and “consensus scientists” if Trump wins this election.

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        • #
          Frank

          [Snip. A thousand threads here to discuss that. Not this one. – Jo]

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      • #
        Rod Stuart

        I understand that this cartoon is going “viral” in the USA.

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      • #
        Leonard Lane

        Mari C, you stated: ” And the Party machinations go on – political cronies deciding which of the runners will be the candidates, who will get the money, which party gets to win… Or maybe not, maybe that is just the paranoid rantings of the ones who need to have someone to blame when they don’t get their way.”
        This is absolutely wrong. Do not blame both parties this time. Mr Trump fought his way through 16 primary election establishment Republican opponent and won using his own money. He is beholden to no large doners, he is not for sale, and he is in stark contrast to Hillary and all her crooked cronyism.
        You do him a great disservice to lump him with Hillary.

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    • #

      Dunno if Trump is a dud or not, but let him kick away at any head he sees. It’s renovation time.

      Time to accuse and time to shake up the lot: so-called Intelligence, NATO, the idiot German Empire called the EU, the UN, Big Green and anything “global” or “international”. Free trade and economic liberalism weren’t meant to be supported by perpetual war (Afghanistan, Big Poppy, trying for the record now at 15 years) with “world” debt at three times “world” GDP. Real bombing supporting and supported by made-up money is a stunt that can’t go on forever. Even economists, only half as silly as climate scientists, can work that out.

      I’m with that dangerous tin-foil hat radical, Dwight Eisenhower. Technocrats have a function, but that function was already vastly exceeded by 1960. Renovate or die, people.

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    • #
      Leonard Lane

      Yes, Oliver there is great election fraud in the USA and the Democrat Party has been doing it for many decades. Consider the current election between Trump and Hillary. Trump and his people know voter fraud is going on at a massive scale. But, what can they do? They cannot go to the Justice Department because the Clintons and Obama have corrupted it from top to bottom. They can’t go to the FBI because it is absolutely corrupt and in the Democrat’s pocket. Millions of people have seen the FBI Director lay out massive crimes by Hillary and then say there was no “intent” to commit crimes so Hillary would not be prosecuted. The statutes do not require intent,treason and violation of US national security laws only require that the crime happened. So we saw the head of the FBI, Comey, is a bought and payed for crook and co-conspirator with Hillary. We do not have a free press in the USA, it is an appendage to the Democrat Party, so there will be no outrage from the press.
      The question is, given that the national government has been corrupted to a great extent by the Clintons and the Democrats, where would an honest person go to report a voting crime?
      If am ordinary citizen were even to try and report voter fraud to the federal government, they likely would be investigated, charged and be ruined, or they may be convicted and sent to prison.
      If Hillary Clinton steals this election and becomes president, then the USA is probably in a rapid death spiral and will never recover.
      It is so discouraging to know this election will probably be stolen and the good citizens are afraid and powerless to stop it.

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    • #
      Dennis

      The Land Of The Fee !

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    • #
      Russ Wood

      It was apparently Samuel Clemens who wrote “Suppose, Sir, you were a politician and a rogue – ah! but I repeat myself”. Hasn’t changed much!

      00

  • #
    Manfred

    Indisputably, the MSM rigged this US election from the outset. Their bias finally removed any doubt or pretense that they ever strive for anything other than the manufacture of the farcically named ‘news’. They serve and are paid only to feed the Progressive narrative and eco-Globalisation.
    Thank God for the internet.

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    • #
      dannz

      It is about time we accepted what we all know and that is that the media does not exist to provide all the unbiased facts of an issue that enables their readers/viewers to form their own opinions. A naive belief along with the Easter Bunny, Santa and Global Warming.

      The media earns its crust through advertising, normally paid for by large Corporations, Governments and deep-pocketed Political Organisations. So it is little wonder that the ‘News’, squeezed between adverts, is more likely to be aligned with the views of their major sources of revenue rather than that of the great unwashed.

      Accept that all Western Media outlets are corrupt, they will do or say anything for money. So cancel the papers, turn off the TV and in six month you will feel mentally refreshed, approaching normality and will have done your bit to breaking the media as we know it.

      And that is what needs to be done, the OLD media must be destroyed together with the people who own it, run it and work against us. These comments apply to all Western Media, they are all owned by a small number of Corporations. If you do not believe this then read about Trump in the UK, Australian, New Zealand and US papers. They all carry the same propaganda articles, usually from the Washington Post, AP, Huffington Post, Bloomberg such bastions of free speech and factual unbiased reporting. Let’s not forget CNN, BBC, ABC (Aust & US), TVNZ, NBC and many more.

      We are being played.

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      • #
        Oliver K. Manuel

        May our future be decided by the will of the people expressed in an honest November election!

        Otherwise this once proud nation may self-destruct in November.

        00

  • #
    Roy Hogue

    Scott Foval bragged they have been busing people in to key seats ” to deal with you fuckin assholes for fifty years, and we’re not going to stop now”.

    I would have to say that it’s been more like 100+ years. The NEA (National Education Association), an organization formed to promote world socialism and has that founding principle to this day and has never repudiated it, was put together in the early 1900s. So how many years have we been subjected to subversion from within? They would have you believe they are a teacher’s union but they are not, not even in spite of acting like one.

    Needless to say, Scott Foval elicits a very visceral response in me, one that might get me in trouble if he was here in my office right now.

    These people have been (forgive me) fucking up my country for far too long. And as just one person I can do nothing effective to stop them. And the man who should be my champion in this election is a a damned jackass.

    [Saw this come up and given the language it quotes, I’m approving it, Roy. But I hope that better language will prevail.] AZ

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    • #
      Glen Michel

      In my opinion the use of the “F” word should be allowed in low doses.I think most people are mature enough to do this in discourse.After all the ABC uses it often in its “comedy shows”.I think it a good word which is in wide use.

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      • #
        Ted O'Brien.

        When in Rome, you don’t speak Dutch. It is not good to see courts penalising the use of a word for the word’s sake, when for many people the word is just a space filler in the world they live in.

        However if you don’t keep your own house tidy, you sink with the rest.

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      • #
        Annie

        Actually, it is a word I detest and I blame Hollywood and TV for its widespread use.

        However, I fully understand why Roy has used it on this occasion and support him in his feelings.

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    • #
      Yonniestone

      Your passionate language is a result of your passion for your country and the preservation of its potential, once that potential is dissolved a promised land becomes just that.

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    • #
      el gordo

      If the US had compulsory voting the problem of ‘busing people in’ would be eliminated.

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      • #
        Ted O'Brien.

        Absolutely! For democracy to survive, two things are necessary. Compulsory voting, and a valid preferential system of vote counting.

        That said, there are people in the left wing of politics in Australia who do, and have for Roy’s 100 years, made a business of running the “vote often” rort. And yes, this practice has at times determined a government, where we saw a sufficient number of dead and remote people voting to change the winner.

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        • #
          Graeme No.3

          There is a very simple way of stopping multiple voting. An indelible stamp on the back of the voter’s hand. Wears off in a few days.
          The problem of voting via postal and pre-poll voting and then turning up at the polling station should be takled by the Electoral Commission by putting the rolls on the computer (as is the case) adding a note when a pre-poll vote is cast. This should be viewable by those checking off the voters.
          The problem of the dead voting is tied in with them collecting social welfare/pensions etc. but deaths are recorded so a bit of efficiency by our Electoral officials would reduce that.

          50

        • #
          Popeye26

          Hey Ted,

          I agree with your stance on compulsory voting BUT do not agree with preferential voting AT ALL!!

          First past the post in a one person one vote system is my ideal (though not perfect) – that way the Greens would be powerless in Aust and maybe even Labor would be where they deserve to be on the cross benches for a LONG time. No backroom deals for preferences or any of that C..P either.

          Cheers,

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          • #
            Ted O'Brien.

            Have you ever considered how much support might be needed in a first past the post system? A well organised small minority can be first past the post. Preferential does not just ensure that 50% + 1 of voters have given at least some support, it also means a candidate cannot win if half the voters are against him/her.

            Even with our Australian system the theoretical lower limit of support needed to win government is about 26%. Thankfully we never got there yet.

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        We should debate compulsory voting someday because I’m not sure it will do what you say it should do. And I can make some supporting arguments for that position. But today is not the day for that debate.

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        • #
          Ted O'Brien.

          It’s theoretical, Roy. It’s still not perfect in practice, but it’s a sounder base to start from.

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      • #
        bobl

        Not eliminated but certainly limited. The USA could use the Aussie validation method to at least limit voter fraud. If each person were ticked off the electoral roll, you would at least only be able to co-opt the vote of a registered voter, if you did that then when the real elector comes to vote then you can detect the duplicate, after that then it’s a matter of cleansing dead people.

        Even without voter ID this system limits fraud, however the Australian electoral commission has implemented voter ID to even further reduce the scope for fraud. Really, the only real voter fraud in oz comes from dead people voting which the AEC minimise pretty well. In a close result, you can even cull these votes after the election. Likewise for non citizens.

        The USA could manage to do this in the light of the project veritas revelatons. That might at least give people pause for this election anyway.

        As it is though probably the best way is for scrutineers, ordinary American to follow the busses (groups of unrelated voters) around and take a few license plate photos.

        10

    • #
      Manfred

      After DJT breaks the finishing tape at this election, ‘draining the swamp’ should be the first order of business.

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      • #
        Ted O'Brien.

        That might not be difficult, either. A lot of these people are like sheep, running after the bloke they think is in front. Given the opportunity they might switch readily to a strong, sound leader.

        20

        • #
          Egor TheOne

          Well said!

          The slime will brown nose to whoever is calling the shots.

          The good thing will be if the Donald wins, that he is not dependent and/or beholden to the criminal elite….that is he will be answerable only to the American public not the special interest racketeers, as it should be.

          The Donald for President, Hitlery for handcuffs along with ‘Slick Willy’.

          The Donald can build the wall with smashed up wind turbines!

          00

    • #
      Roy Hogue

      Scott Foval bragged…

      Regarding my choice of language: Though it may not be well known to some of you, I’ve been watching this develop for a long time. And there was Scott Foval displaying his contempt for me and everything I believe in using the most ugly wording he could find and I had to hand him back that same contempt. And sometimes no other word will suffice, especially when your antagonist uses it against you. But I would not ordinarily subject you to such a word. Believe me, the provocation was and is extreme.

      If anything I can figure out to do will cause the undoing of these self righteous SOBs you can bet that I’ll do it or die trying. They are no one’s friend in spite of their usual words to the contrary.

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  • #
    Graeme No.3

    Trump made the intelligent answer; why would he accept a fraudulent result?

    What is interesting is that the dirty tricks of the Democrats aren’t working as they did in the past. This is largely due to the rise of the internet and the availability of alternative views to what people are being told to believe.

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    • #
      F. Ross

      It would seem that in some/many(?) political districts of the U.S. the dead continue to vote – for years.

      Not only that, but it seems that the dead voters – almost without fail – vote for the liberal candidate – even those who had been registered conservative.

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    • #
      cohenite

      Disputed election results are nothing new in the US or any Western nation for that matter. A good account of the processes for resolving disputed ballots is in the context of Bush v Gore after the 2000 Presidential election.

      Trump is well within his rights to dispute election results, indeed triggers for disputation happen automatically in specified circumstances such as a narrow victory threshold. Given the proven manipulations by the Clinton camp Trump would have to be mad to accept dubious election results.

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    • #
      Dave in the States

      I have thought about why the MSM is having such a fit about Trump’s reply to that question. Is it because they could not run the headline the next day: “Trump concedes defeat.” Or is it because it is now much more difficult to proceed with rigging and get away with it now? Or both? I mean why such a fit over the only answer Trump could give?

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    • #
      Pauly

      It would appear to me that modern technology can at least help with this. A security camera set up at every polling station, with the tapes assessed by facial recognition software looking for duplicate appearances. That would identify the potential level of fraud, and provide evidence that could be used to track the perpetrators.

      And I suspect these activities are targeted at marginal electorates, where a few votes will have the most significant affect. Again, information that should be easy to determine. So why couldn’t it be done?

      20

  • #
    Roy Hogue

    In spite of substantial public controversy, very little reliable data exists concerning the
    frequency with which non-citizen immigrants participate in United States elections.
    Although such participation is a violation of election laws in most parts of the United
    States, enforcement depends principally on disclosure of citizenship status at the time of
    voter registration.

    Jo,

    Unless you know something I don’t and can never find any evidence of, non citizens voting is illegal everywhere in the United States, not just most parts. There is supposed to be a requirement to offer proof of citizenship when registering to vote and were we honest about it, that settles the matter. But then comes along a bunch of subversive types who think we should be ripped apart by anyone who want’s a piece of the country and that’s the end of honesty about voting. For the last 8 years in particular I have watched the Democrats, their allies and enablers do everything they can to make election fraud easy to do, hard to detect and even harder to do anything about.

    I object to the term “immigrants” too, not because you use it but because those you talk about are mostly in this country illegally and we refuse to call them what they are illegal aliens. For the most part, any non citizens here legally resent the illegals as much as I do.

    My wife is now a citizen but was born in the Netherlands. She came here with her parents as a child. They had to wait their turn for a visa, had to be in good health and show evidence of all the required immunizations and then had to have a sponsor who would guarantee to support them while her father found work — and support them if he could not find work. And perhaps most important of all, her father had to have skills that would reasonably be expected to let him find and keep gainful employment.

    I don’t think I need to tell you what Catharine thinks about the current situation.

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    • #
      Roy Hogue

      The smell of DC is hard to ignore even a whole continent away on the other coast.

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      • #
        clive

        You only need one reason to vote for Trump and that’s Hillary.

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        • #
          markx

          Works both ways, unfortunately….

          I’d never in a million years vote for Hillary…. until I spent a long time watching Trump speaking….
          Then Hillary looks good!

          🙁

          36

          • #
            Roy Hogue

            Thanks then. I’m be willing to give you my share of Hillary if you’re willing to take it. 😉

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            • #
              Roy Hogue

              One thing is for sure, you can’t proofread adequately when angry. Nuts!

              Let’s try,

              Thanks then. I’m willing to give you my share of Hillary if you’re willing to take it. 😉

              20

          • #
            Mark D.

            Sorry, there is no time that Hillary looks good.

            As I’ve said before: Even IF Donald turns out to be a Buffoon (I don’t believe he is) Congress will be able to deal with him for a 4 year term. Hillary, with her 30 years of corrupt ties globally, will be exceptionally dangerous.

            Then there is the Supreme Court appointments. There is nothing more important.

            40

          • #
            bobl

            Then you are best not to vote or vote informally or a write-in (which is an informal vote here in oz)

            Mickey Mouse might make a good president…

            10

      • #
      • #
        Rod Stuart

        Unfortunately Larry Pickering nails it with this essay.

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        • #
          Analitik

          I seriously hope that non-compulsory voting makes the difference between Gough and The Donald

          10

        • #
          Roy Hogue

          Rod,

          And yet when I gave this same warning over and over, how many would listen to it and believe it?

          I’m not one to go around saying, “I told you so.” But this time I did tell you so.

          It hardly matters anyway because I didn’t have the ear of the American voters and even if I did have their ears (both of them) they let almost every consideration but critical thinking make the choice for them.

          Donald Trump has enough money to buy his way around the obstacles any party might put in the way of what he wants to do and has openly admitted that he does exactly that. So he’s likely to prosper under whatever administration is in control. What’s missing is any consideration from him of what the rest of us will be going through because he wasn’t up to the challenge.

          What else can I say?

          10

    • #
      John Michelmore

      Roy, You make avalid point here that the terminology for illegal immigration has changed in media reports from many countries, the term migrant and immigrant remains but illegal has been intentionally removed to make it more acceptable to those whom are not thinking about it. I wonder whether the media actually think about the terminology or just repeat the government press releases!

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        John,

        I think the media more than any other organization is sensitive to every little trend in society, including terminology. If they aren’t I think they’ll begin to lose audience share because they won’t be talking to people in the audience’s familiar parlance. I know I tend to pay less attention or even none at all when someone is trying to talk to me in terms I reject as [fill in your choice of whatever, which for me is mostly unworthy of use, attention or inclusion in my vocabulary]. We all make such judgments and loss of audience share translates directly to loss of revenue here where everything worth watching has a commercial incentive except PBS.

        They may also share a political incentive to use the PC terms of course. But they’re all very well aware of the need to talk in terms their audience not only understands but accepts.

        20

    • #
      Annie

      Likewise here in Australia Roy, back when we first immigrated. We had to have a sponsor, proved good health, plenty of money so that we wouldn’t be a burden on the state and wait a stipulated time before applying for citizenship.

      There were still some charmers who told us ‘ Go home you Pommie B……s’!

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      • #
        PeterPetrum

        Yes, in 1966 I had to have a job to come to, go through a medical (as did my young, 6 month pregnant wife, whose pregnancy was not diagnosed by the Aussie doctor ’till she told him) and have a good command of English (an easy one for us well educated Scots!). We were met by immigration and vetted on arrival to confirm our identity before being cast to the winds of opportunity, 18,000k from family support. We had no access to any social welfare, not even child support.

        Seems a lot easier now if you have a middle eastern religion, no money and can’t speak much English, but know how to access social security.

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        • #
          Glen Michel

          I know what you mean Peter.’Tis a pity that the world has come to this.State supplied mendicants all with no strings attached. Does anyone know where all the MEN have gone these days?;this is not an appeal for sexual favours by the way.No bastard shakes your hand and if they do it’s a soggy type.Speak out against emasculation.

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          • #
            bobl

            They are a victim of equality, the feminists in order to cLaim identical treatment had to emasculate men because it would have been almost impossible to masculate the women, if you follow. This has worked out very poorly for the men .
            I follow the school of equal but different, because I recognise that women and men are evidently not identical, and nor would I want them to be. Equality though does not require sameness.

            Eg. For thirty years the institution of engineers has failed to get significant numbers of girls to enter the profession. This is not because of lack of incentive, On the whole is because girls don’t want to be engineers. Yet we continue to thrust upon them some duty to do something they don’t want to do just because someone else says they should. That’s not freedom. It’s not equality, equality is about the unimpeded right to choose, equality of choice if you like.

            In some ways feminism has been very bad for women, for example women who freely choose to prioritise raising a family, the hardest job of all, are demonised, not by men but by other women.

            One can’t even pass a compliment anymore.

            It’s no wonder the effect on men has been so bad, because if the imposed sameness requirement men simply aren’t allowed to be men.

            10

            • #
              Roy Hogue

              I follow the school of equal but different, because I recognise that women and men are evidently not identical, and nor would I want them to be. Equality though does not require sameness.

              Bob,

              You speak objective truth, the one thing the grievance industry hates the most. You are not allowed to simply observe and draw accurate conclusions anymore. Where you and I agree, we now both need someone to interpret our observations and voila, suddenly I have been enlightened by the knowledge that I’m suffering from “white privilege”.

              I have a classic example of the problem of equality. Back in the 60’s the big thing was being an equal opportunity employer — still is too. I WORKED FOR AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAD TWO OF THE FINEST MANAGERS I’VE EVER MET AND THEY WERE BOTH BLACK (a PC term then but not now). So I can say with confidence that even then, competent and qualified black men and women would have been hired if they applied. That equal opportunity employer status required signing on to affirmative action, meaning you went out and beat the bushes for (for what? maybe under represented minorities in your work force, hard do define it adequately) applicants, especially black applicants because they were what it was all about then. The company literally did beat the bushes and I know of only one black ever hired. They were looking for applicants with 2 years of college and some math skill, just enough to fill the requirements as an entry level programmer, the same requirements under which I was hired.

              I know for a fact that for all the years I worked for that company only one black applicant was hired. I played chess with him at lunch quite a bit for a while — an interesting and capable man but doubting himself — and then he left for reasons I never found out. The actual entry level job was as a computer operator with likely promotion to programmer if you could pass the company’s programming course, which he did. (yes they were willing to train you so you didn’t even need to know a 1 from 0).

              There were simply no applicants with those simple qualifications. It’s staggering to think that out of the relatively large black population in the Los Angeles area there could not be found a couple of dozen black men and women living close enough to Santa Monica where the company was located who had enough interest in math, engineering, chemistry, physics, anything that would get you to the hiring decision maker with two years of college and some math. I did it going to the community college nearest me. It was quite cheap in those days too. No big name. no prestige, nothing but education I could make use of.

              And therein lies what I think is the whole problem with equality. Those who most want it and think they don’t have it do not take advantage of everything they can to get “equal” with those they want to be equal with. Hell bob, I worked nights in the backend of a bowling ally as a mechanic and went to school days. While the leagues were bowling I had little to do so I could do my studying then and after the leagues were through I had to go to work and do my day’s maintenance agenda. I started at 5:00 PM and got off at 2:00 AM, had to sleep and be in class the next morning. It was tough and I couldn’t stand up under that these days. But I was determined to work at something better than “automatic pinspotter mechanic (grade B and poorly paid)” for the rest of my life.

              Later, when I finally got serious about completing college and getting my BS degree I drove 50 miles two nights a week to downtown Los Angeles to attend classes and then 50 miles back home. I sat up the other nights until 1, 2 or several times 3:00 AM to do the work. And no matter how late I had to stay up to get it all done, I still had to be on the job the next morning at 8:00 AM.

              I’ve little sympathy for the whiners and complainers because I know where I would be now if I hadn’t been wiling to do the work it takes to get somewhere. I know that if you have a goal you have an excellent chance of reaching it if you’re willing to do what it takes to get there. And I know that no one is going to hand you any worthwhile thing for nothing. A “free lunch”, no matter what it is, will never be worth more than you pay for it.

              Women want equality! OK! I do not object. Along the way I’v worked for women who were excellent managers and for men who were terrible managers. I’ve worked alongside women who were excellent software engineers and some who were not. Equality of the kind that counts is a matter of preparation to be equal, not a political problem that laws can do anything about.

              I have two exceptions to women’s equality demands.

              1. Why my country thinks it’s a good thing to send our women, the mothers of our children in many cases, into combat just so they can rack up another chalk mark on their record of inequalities overcome is beyond me to comprehend. I would be less than a man if I bought into that. A man is someone who wants to protect women, not put them in mortal danger. The big argument that women have just as much right as the men to die for their country is pure nonsense. We do not send anyone into a fight to die. We know some will die. But we want them back safe and sound when the fight is over and we train and equip them accordingly. That anyone bought into that argument is a great tragedy.

              2. When it became PC to put women in our fire and police departments I knew some firefighters personally. To the last one their objection was the same. A woman’s strength does not compete with a man’s and sure enough some standards were lowered or they couldn’t meet the politically imposed quota’s. And every last man told me he was worried that if he became trapped in a burning building a woman might not be able to carry him to safety — their only objection by the way.

              Now in fairness to the women, some of you can no doubt handle the physical requirements for firefighter or police officer and no doubt for soldier too. So what I’ve said is not a blanket condemnation. But before you ask for that type of equality, sit down and consider those among you who can’t measure up to the necessary standard and will nevertheless get hired and be on the job every day.

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    • #
      Rod Stuart

      An anectode from the USA (equally appropriate in Australia)

      A young illegal kid asks his mother, “Mama, what is Socialism and what is Racism?

      Mama says, “Well, Child…..Socialism is when the folks work every day so we can get all our governmental entitlement stuff for free.

      You know…..like our free cell phones for each family member, rent subsidy, food stamps, EBT, WIC, free school breakfast, lunch, and in some places supper; free healthcare, utility
      subsidy, and on and on…..you know, that’s Socialism.

      That is why we vote for Democrats.

      Her son responds, “But, mama, don’t the working people get pissed off about that?”

      “Sure they do, Honey. That’s called Racism.

      Never was it more simply explained

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        Leonard Lane

        Excellent Rod. Thanks.

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        Rod,

        That story is so true I can smell it. They do think exactly that way. I’ve heard it directly from too many people interviewed by Jesse Watters on The O’Reilly Factor to believe otherwise. We have let ourselves in for a big problem when it all collapses.

        If only the freeloaders were going to suffer I would still mind it but not nearly as much as I will because the rest of us are going to suffer too. The government will try to patch this thing up until there’s no last ditch effort they haven’t exhausted.

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    Mark M

    Going o/t early …

    “Australia’s most prominent anti-climate science senator, Malcolm Roberts, used a Senate estimates hearing to ask the country’s chief scientist whether he believed carbon dioxide caused by humans affected the climate.”

    “For whose data do you rely on?” asked the senator… “Everybody,” replied the chief scientist.

    Roberts asked for a written “summary of the logic you’ve just outlined and the empirical evidence at each stage”.

    Finkel, smiling, replied, “I can certainly give it a try”.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/you-got-polar-ice-for-that-burn?utm_term=.deOjx00M#.yfey3KKo
    . . .
    Trillions of dollars, a theory that goes back to 1896, and no-one has produced the one paper that “everybody” has worked on, and can’t be referenced by an unprepared Australia’s chief scientist when appearing before a senate committee?

    What about the AAS report Prof. Cox threw at Sen. Roberts on Q&A?

    Well done Sen. Roberts, I say!

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    • #
      TdeF

      “It’s clear that by doing that we are emitting ever-increasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The natural systems can’t absorb that. ”

      This is the key logic for our chief scientist, not whether CO2 causes warming. In fact it is wrong. Half the CO2 vanishes in 14 years in exact single sink exponential decay. This was proven by the doubling and rapid absorption of atmospheric C14 as an indestructible radioactive tracer after 1965. He would understand e-kt. So what Australia’s chief scientist said is wrong.

      Where the CO2 goes is irrelevant, but it is in fact in continuous and gaseous equilibrium with the oceans which has 50x as much CO2 as the atmosphere. The biosphere is irrelevant. This is the most elementary physical chemistry which is all about equilibrium, not electrical engineering where it is cause and effect. The buffering from the oceans is overwhelming.

      I suppose though that chief scientists would not be hired if they didn’t support man made Global Warming. You would hope that Trump was elected to bring some sanity back to what is now very political science.

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      • #
        TdeF

        There also the incredibly silly idea that if two things go up, one must cause the other. This is our Chief Scientist?

        Even so, how does our Chief Scientist dismiss the obvious alternative that warming the planet increases CO2? What are his ‘natural systems’? He just heads along the popular route to his own applause. Again he just quotes NASA when many NASA staff and scientists completely disagree and very openly. They put a man on the moon you know.

        Unfortunately you have to be retired from NASA to dare say anything. As Climate Scientist Dr. Murry Salby knows, you can lose your job instantly simply for saying CO2 and temperature are totally uncorrelated. Dr. Finkel knows that too.

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        • #
          Ted O'Brien.

          That is the problem here. Alan Finkel’s story stands until you examine the data and how they were created.

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          • #
            TdeF

            Yes, but isn’t that Alan Finkel’s job? To examine the data? We are talking of hudreds of public servants in the CSIRO/BOM and elsewhere whose jobs are based on acceptance of science logic which he cannot explain except in childish and wrong logic?

            This was not a scientist speaking as a scientist. A member of the public can say ‘everybody knows’ or NASA. At least Roberts has a commitment from Finkel who will ‘try’ to explain the position using something above childish repartee. It had better be good to get past Roberts who is equally and far more appropriately qualified. IPCC, NASA, the ‘vibe’ will not do.

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            • #
              TdeF

              Plus the incredible RET which if it goes to 50% in 14 years as Labor have promised, means 50% of all electicity bills goes by law for building windmills with the explicit purpose of undrecutting and shutting down our wonderful steady and plentiful coal based electricity for erratic, unreliable, unsustainable wind. We will all end up like South Australia, devastated, lights out, out of work for no good reason and no one better off.

              The US and Europe and Canada are going down the same path of massive self harm for a political agenda exclusively of the extreme left of politics, so it was never science. Progressives? Rubbish. Back to the Dark Ages as fast as the Left can take us.

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            • #
              Ted O'Brien.

              As Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel’s job is a political job, not a scientific job..

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              • #
                TdeF

                Yes, at this level, all jobs are political jobs. That is why so many people at the top go along with Man Made Global Warming despite the fact that now we real data, it is not warming. Worse, they go along with Climate Change when CO2 cannot even change the temperature and no one can explain how it changes the climate?

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              • #
                TdeF

                How can words go missing? Now we have real data.

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            • #
              Analitik

              I just can’t wait for the renewables integration plan that his panel will present to the COAG next year!

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  • #
    Mark M

    Trump’s Not The Only One Who Thinks the System Is Rigged | SUPERcuts! #377
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9yZqsDUbKI

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  • #
    Tom O

    The problem in the US over voter fraud and a rigged election is not quite all that simple. First, electronic voting machines with no paper records obviously sets up voter fraud as a simple process. The only problem with this is having an idea of how much, percentage wise, you have to set the programming to overcome. If you think it will be a close election, then the need to shift 4% would be enough. In the case of a landslide of considerable proportion, you can’t overcome that in a program change in the voting machines without it showing. so what do you do?

    In the case of the Democrats, you talk up bussing people around and things of that nature. This allows for a greater shift in the percentage by the voting machine, since people are going to expect it. Thus you can shift perhaps 8% and there will be outrage and a fraudulent election but you may have allowed your chosen candidate to be “elected.” But what if it is even worst than that? What if the landslide is of an unprecedented proportion?

    In the case of the Democrats, they have already laid the groundwork for that. If the Trump majority can’t be overcome by bussing and a tilted program in the voting machines, they can fall back on “Russia did it.” What we are seeing is laying the ground work for either a Clinton victory, or a declaration that the election was interfered with and invalidating the process. My expectation is that if Killary Clinton isn’t elected, the election will be declared invalid, and we will continue under the current Obama regime until such time as he feels that the election can be guaranteed not to be compromised. And since this will set off a very volatile situation in the US if Trump is denied winning, Martial law will be established to control the situation and what integrity that was left in “the democratic process” will evaporate into dictatorship.

    There was a time this would not have been possible since the nation allows gun ownership. As the Japanese admiral once said when asked about invading the US, he said it was impossible because there was a rifle behind every blade of grass. The same still is true, BUT. And that but is very simple – gun ownership has been coupled with gun registration for many, many years, so in all likelihood, just prior to the declaration of martial law, there will be a midnight confiscation of firearms from all those on he “worrisome” list, and the probability of civil insurrection is considerably lowered.

    this is just personal conjecture, but it makes a lot of sense to me.

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    • #
      Roy Hogue

      Tom,

      It’s an all too real possibility. The fear that voting machines or Internet voting can be easily subverted has gotten a lot of very one sided attention in the recent past by conservative thinkers because of that possibility. But for once, California got something right and opted for paper ballots that go into a ballot box that reads them and counts the votes as they go in. You have almost instant returns when the polls close but you still have the paper trail as well. And although I can’t personally vouch for this aspect of it, it’s supposed to be impossible for precinct workers to open the ballot boxes so any hanky panky will be isolated in fewer county collection points, possibly only one or two per county.

      I almost hate to acknowledge that California has gotten something right when introducing automation but in this case the result has been good.

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  • #
    • #

      A reason that Mark Steyn is in favour of
      a Clinton defeat is ‘because a Democrat victory, bolstered
      by a five-four (or six-three, or seven-two) majority in
      the Superior Court, will be disastrous for free speech in
      the US’. Obama has just declared that the “wild wild west”
      of the internet has to be “rebuilt” to ” flow” through ”
      some sort of curating function.”

      http://www.steynonline.com/7563/complications-and-curating

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        A “curating function”? Though I’ve never heard that term I can tell it means censorship — and I just looked it up. But if anyone does that curating job there’s no doubt at all that the collection of information will be highly selective. Witness complaints against Google and others that they accept money (imagine that ;-)) to put preferred sites at the top of your list of hits. And I say that who will also acknowledge that certain things the Internet has brought us are very undesirable if not a total plague. But either it’s there for all to freely use or it’s not freedom of speech.

        For a supposed Constitutional Scholar Obama isn’t very bright about the Constitution.

        Of course his observation that some pretty wild and completely unsupportable theories are running around the Internet is an accurate one. And unfortunately the relatively cheap, in fact nearly free cost of setting up a web site and hanging out a shingle announcing that you’re open for business these days, is the enabler of that. But the solution to that is the same one we’ve always had available when news was manipulated back in his preferred days of only 3 ??? TV stations. Let the people sort it out.

        Communication has changed rather drastically since the days when Benjamin Franklin spent his time (hours of it), his money (a lot of it) and then got out the word by hand delivering pamphlets or having a courier carry them to more distant places so a young nation just considering rebellion could get the word around.

        But the Internet would work against anyone brewing up a rebellion like 1776 simply because there would be so many competing revolutionaries that no one would know who they should or should not follow. Isn’t that about the way it would work? 😉

        It does, however work much better for the revolutionary types who already are organized and know what they want to do.

        I don’t know what the complete answer is. And maybe there isn’t one. But I’m sure that answer is not censorship.

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  • #
    Mark M

    SUNY professor says Trump win at least 87 percent certain; other polls ‘bunk’.

    Instead of opinion polling, Norpoth relies on statistics from candidates’ performances in party primaries and patterns in the electoral cycle to forecast results. The model correctly predicted the victor in every presidential election since 1996, according to the Daily Mail.

    Running the model on earlier campaigns comes up with the correct outcome for every race since 1912, except the 1960 election.

    http://www.syracuse.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/10/helmut_norpoth_donald_trump_victory.html

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  • #
    Another Ian

    http://realclimatescience.com/2016/10/refusing-to-accept-the-election-results/

    “If progressives didn’t have double standards, they would have no standards at all.”

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    • #
      TdeF

      The business of Trump refusing to accept the results? That was a ‘gotcha’ question.
      There is enough wrong with any US election that the results are always suspect. Did the Democrats ever accept that George Bush had won fairly in Florida? Remember the chads?

      However there is a world of difference between accepting a win and accepting that the win was fair. These are word games by Clinton’s team, historically the world’s worst losers.

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    KinkyKeith

    That the American “Way” has been subverted was demonstrated a decade ago with the wholesale ripping off of “middle” America by those in financial institutions.

    The so called “Derivatives” and CFDs and such were little more than the tip of the ice berg of the graft that occurred in what is now known as the Great Financial Crisis.

    The people who carried out this monstrous act are still at large, too big to arrest and incarcerate.

    Only one tiny sacrificial minnow went to prison.

    This shows why so many Americans would rather vote for, as Roy says, a Jackass rather than a real politician.

    Brexit, Trump and the next citizens show of disgust at politics???????

    KK

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  • #
    Lord Jim

    except the 1960 election

    Interesting. 1960 was very close and is often considered a ‘suspect’ result.

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  • #
    joseph

    If you haven’t come across this before you’re in for quite a ride ! !

    http://blackboxvoting.org/fraction-magic-1/

    and a presentation by Bev Harris . . . . .

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huBHR9IBSsQ

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  • #
    philthegeek

    Wow, its quite amazing watching the post election theme of “We Wus Wobbed!!!!” being set up by people who for all the bluff and bluster seem to be tacitly accepting their side is in for a trumping this time around.

    Away from the tribal nature of politics and the fun conspiracy theories, there is a serious issue of inequality, fear and frustration in the US (and other countries) that seems to driving people to a more isolationist. fear of the other stance. And the more fascist of the politicians here and abroad are happy to ramp up the skeer.

    They dont actually have solutions, ( although Trumps “really GREAT wall” at least has humor value) that they can define, only “issues”. Like the Liberals here in 2013 they oft take the attitude that them simply being in power will magically make things right….somehow….and frustrated mug punters fall for it. The danger with that is you wind up with years of little or no policy like we have had in oz, particularly as matters economic get put in the too hard basket.

    But hey, we have clowns running for POTUS os, Homicidal, corrupt thugs running the Philippines, and the main players here dragging their civil war into the open over a no-brainer shotgun ban. Theater of the absurd and damn good for popcorn futures.

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    • #
      el gordo

      ‘…simply being in power will magically make things right …’

      Many career politicians have delusions of grandeur, our PM is a case in point, but that’s what democracy is all about. Australia has a history of politicians stabbing their leader in the back, this type of behavior isn’t tolerated in China. Gotta luv the steady state.

      Noticed the Mexican stock market received a boost after the third debate, from their point of view the danger of a wall is less imminent.

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    • #
      el gordo

      ‘…driving people to a more isolationist…

      If Donald becomes president he would adopt isolationism, but elsewhere its all about expansion and embarrassing your enemies.

      ‘China and the Philippines agreed on Thursday to properly handle their maritime disputes and restore the bilateral ties soured by the South China Sea dispute.

      ‘The development is a “welcome U-turn” in the bilateral ties, said Jia Duqiang, a senior researcher of Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

      ‘Rodrigo Duterte’s first visit to China as Philippine president also saw the two countries sign 13 deals, worth more than $13.5 billion, on finance, anti-drug efforts, production cooperation and tourism, said Ramon Lopez, the Philippine trade and industry secretary.’

      China Daily

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      • #
        philthegeek

        Just thinking about the implications of Duartes shifting the Philippines alliance from the US to China. There is much said about the SCSea and resources. But..as well..if the US is tossed from the Philippines it may create a “bastion” area, much like the Kara Sea is for Russia, where they can “park” their somewhat noisy SSBN’s.

        It will also provide routes through that island chain for Chinese submarines to use to get into the Pacific that may not be able to be monitored as comprehensively as they are now by the US and ASEAN. Makes it easier for Chinese subs to move through and harder for everyone else.

        Hmmm….have to look up some reading on how ASEAN as a body is reacting to Duartes??

        23

        • #
          el gordo

          No bastion, they just want their islands back.

          Beijing believe the Spratly and Paracel Islands are ‘Chinese territory that were stolen by Japan in a long and brutal war just months before Japan invaded Hainan Island in 1939.’

          Apparently this verbal spat has nothing to do with a new strategic world order or offshore oil, which they are prepared to share with the Phillipines,

          Its also interesting to note that the Phillipines made a formal claim on the islands in the mid 1970s when they were an integral part of the American Alliance, so its only natural for Beijing to interpret the Phillipines claim as a hostile act.

          ‘It follows that China’s leaders believe that countries acting in support of the Philippines claim, regardless of their words, are being hostile to China’s territorial sovereignty.’

          Source: The Diplomat

          11

          • #
            philthegeek

            stolen by Japan in a long and brutal war just months before Japan invaded Hainan Island in 1939.’

            Some of the opinion and analysis stuff i have read about this issue looks at the broader tie in with Chinese Nationalism and seems there is a body of opinion that it goes even further back than that. Way back to the Opium Wars, which from a modern perspective were certainly not the “Western” nations finest hour.

            South China Sea is a mess with all the competing claims, not only for islands but EEZ. Countries like Vietnam and Indonesia have legitimate aspirations as well, but they only emerged as anything other than French/Dutch colonies after WWII?

            Honestly, i think that the Chinese will, over time, achieve the SCS becoming a “Chinese Lake”. I’d say with Duarte rolling over they will be working to leverage that success with the only nation in the region to be problematic being Vietnam…they hate China. US to focus on supporting Japan. Australia?? Well, we had probably better keep a close eye on East Timor and be a bit more polite unless we want a Chinese sponsored port and new, longish aristrip with “facilities” built there. 🙁

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            • #
              el gordo

              ‘…not the “Western” nations finest hour.’

              Ah yes, the subjugation of China with Indian opium, disgraceful behavior by the ruling western powers, then came the charismatic Taiping Rebellion but they were no match for the consortium.

              Just recently Vietnam began receiving (gratis presumably) extensive weaponry from the US, so this is the new front line.

              Japan and Russia are seriously discussing returning Nippon’s disputed islands, wooing for peace and understanding, but obviously there is strategic value in all of this and the Alliance feels threatened.

              East Timor is the poorest nation in the region and would be easy pickings for Beijing, yet they are well aware of our sensitivities and won’t blunder in like a cargo cult.

              Our fear of China is misplaced, their intention is to avoid war, embrace free trade and lift up the third world to become part of the greater middle class. In our lifetime we have witnessed the greatest economic revolution the world has ever seen and China intends using that model in Africa.

              10

    • #
      bobl

      Have to say the lever action shotgun thing is stupid, you can legally buy the 5 shot version, you can legally modify it to 7 shots, but you can’t buy the 7 shot version.

      How’s that for consistent lawmaking…. not!

      10

  • #
    Mark M

    Michelle Obama:

    “We all understand that an attack on any one of us is an attack on all of us, and we know that that is not who we are.”
    . . .
    Quite so.

    Benghazi scapegoat remains in prison for film

    Coptic Filmmaker Blamed for Benghazi Attack Now Broke, Living in Homeless Shelter

    Who’s next? Doomsday Global Warming Skeptics?

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    Ross

    If polls are to be believed, we have had the future POTUS giving out the USA nuclear response time on national television. Clinton mentioned it (4 minutes) in the debate when trying to tell us all that Trump was not competent to be President.
    How stupid and reckless can she be ? Would you give any confidential information to her?

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  • #
    Dave in the States

    I don’t recall any links or how to find them, if they still exist, as its been four years ago, but last time around it boiled down to who won Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. If I recall correctly, Those three states, and all their electoral votes, went to Obama based on him winning two or three key urban voting districts in big cities like Philly. Those few urban districts voted nearly 100% for Obama with voter turn out exceeding 100% of registered voters. If Romney had won those key states, and it was close in those states, he would have prevailed despite so many Republican voters staying home because he was a Mormon. So even limited rigging can have profound impact.

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      Vlad the Impaler

      Hi Dave,

      With all due respect, I must comment on your statement, ” … so many Republican voters staying home because he was a Mormon.”

      My take on 2012 is that a lot of us stayed home (and, yes, I was one who stayed home) because Romney was (at best) a milquetoast Republican, and a RINO (at worst).

      Point of fact, I am born and raised native Utahn, NOT a member of the LDS church (actually Jewish by heritage, but I do not practice any faith of any kind), and I have many, many LDS and non-LDS friends from my (almost seven) decades on this rock.

      I consider myself to be a Conservative (US definition: small-government, individual freedom from governmental interference in daily life; the antithesis of Socialism, Marxism, Collectivism …). I did not leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left me. Back-to-back wishy-washy RINOs (McCain and Romney), chosen NOT by the members of the Party, but by the Party elites and ruling class — — — — enough of this charade! I held my nose for McCain in ’08, but could not hold it enough for Romney, but not because of his religion. Point of fact, I’d happily vote for a Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Rostafarian, or whom-ever, if they were a bona-fide, dyed-in-the-wool Conservative, and would uphold the Constitution, it’s authority as limiting governmental power, and do some real house-cleaning in D. C. (same as Australia’s ACT), and I mean top-to-bottom, REAL housecleaning, starting at the Supreme Court and not stopping until about half of the existing governmental agencies had gone the way of the trilobite.

      On the subject of rigging, my other reason for staying home in ’12 was the fact that a group called ACORN (“Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now”) was literally caught red-handed registering individuals multiple times under different names in thousands of communities across the nation. I conservatively came to the estimate that ACORN had the capability of neutralizing my vote, between seven times and 372 times, so my vote, for all practical purposes, did not and would not count. Stuffing the ballot box and rigging elections is standard fare for any and all leftists, regardless of who they are and where they are. ’12 was just the bellweather for what is probably happening in ’16, except with the time they’ve had to increase their sophistication, we may be looking at neutralizing votes against Hitllery by four figures, or more.

      Just to fine-tune this for non-US readers, the organization called “ACORN” was ‘disbanded’; of course, it just morphed into other organizations, and continued its nefarious activities, knowing better how NOT to get caught doing what they do.

      Same song, second verse, a little bit louder, a little bit worse

      (oooooooh! Ruairi is rubbing off on me!!!!!!!! )

      Regards,

      Vlad

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        Dave in the States

        Hi Vlad,

        Like you, I don’t care about a person’s religion, or non religion, race, or gender. And I respect and understand your point of view here. Unfortunately many, unlike you and I, do, and did, care about those things.

        One of the main strategies of the left has been to get opponent voters to stay home for one reason or another. It’s not about winning votes as much as it is about suppressing the opposing party’s voter turn out, and increasing their own, ……..artificially if need be among the left’s ends justify the means philosophy. That’s the game today. They take advantage of our natural tendency to not vote for somebody we don’t like. For the left it is their agenda that matters more than the person. This gives them an advantage in the modern world of character assassination politics. We must stop voting, or not voting, for the person and instead vote on policies. Opponents of the left and their media cronies will always portray opponents in the worst possible light.

        In parallel to modern politics, AWG proponents, knowing that they can’t win on the science directly, pursue strategies of ridicule and character assassination, and silencing opponents, rather than engaging in real scientific debate.

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          Dave in the States

          Should read: The opponents of left will always be portrayed by their media allies in the worst possible light.

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            Vlad the Impaler

            Hi Dave,

            I do believe I lost my central point in there somewhere: it is my opinion (only!) that voters ‘stayed home’, not because of Romney’s religion, but like me, found his politics wanting. It is my firm opinion that most conservative voters could care less about the religion, than the person.

            My opinion.

            Vlad

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    Hey Jo – I know you’re probably all over this, but the Canadian alt-media operation of Ezra Levant (at Rebel Media) have been banned by the U.N. Media Censor Nick Nuttall from attending the U.N. Marrakech Climate Change Conference as accredited journalists.

    Nuttall had a very damning interview with CBC where he literally states that Rebel Media are not allowed to attend as accredited, because, they ‘hold an untrue opinion’ … which he then justifies for the sake of ‘balanced reporting on the issue’; it couldn’t get any more Orwellian from the mouth of the official U.N Media Censor. Even the CBC (a global warming chorus channel) commentator is highly disturbed by his reasons for censorship (I think some on the soft-left are starting to realize the fascist nature of the cult they are supporting).

    Ezra Levant has uploaded a 39min video (of his usually subscription show) which does a really great job in hammering the censors at the U.N. regarding ‘climate change’ fascism.

    ### https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d42w3jxRIvw ###

    This story is being picked up by many media outlets across the English speaking world, and I believe it will go viral, so if you haven’t considered it already, it would make a great embedded video and story.

    Cheers if you do, because I’m a big fan of Rebel Media and they have been consistently strong in covering the climate change fraud for years.

    (Will keep this here in moderation,for Jo to see,Thank you for the link) CTS
    [Thanks for the tip. I will hunt for more info – Jo]

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    pat

    20 Oct: DailyCaller: Michael Bastasch: WIKILEAKS: ThinkProgress Trashes A Climate Expert’s Career To Appease A Hillary Donor
    ThinkProgress Editor in Chief Judd Legum sent an email to a billionaire donor bragging how the liberal blog’s environmental writer targeted a climate researcher who challenged a major Democratic talking point on global warming, according to leaked emails.
    The blog’s environmental arm, ClimateProgress, took issue with pollster Nate Silver’s 538 website, hiring Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr. to write about global warming issues. Pielke is no skeptic of man-made warming, but he challenged a Democratic talking point that global warming was making extreme weather more severe…
    ClimateProgress is part of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), which was created by Clinton’s presidential campaign chair John Podesta. Podesta also created the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, which gave CAPAF at least $1 million in 2015…
    Legum’s email to Steyer was release by WikiLeaks from Podesta’s hacked Gmail account. It’s one of several emails involving the ThinkProgress blog.
    ClimateProgress put out two articles attacking Pielke the same day he published a post on 538 headlined “Disasters Cost More Than Ever — But Not Because of Climate Change.” …

    “Within hours, ClimateProgress published a comprehensive debunk, with quotes from many prominent climate scientists,” Legum wrote, chronicling Pielke’s eventual being forced to leave 538.
    “Pielke was so upset with our piece, he called the scientists we quoted and threatened to sue them. Silver was forced to apologize,” Legum wrote. “Embarrassed, Silver was forced to publish a rebuttal to Pielke piece by an actual climate scientist, which was also devastating.”
    Silver asked climate scientist Kerry Emanuel to rebut Pielke’s article…

    Update: Pielke told The Daily Caller News Foundation claims he threatened to sue his detractors was “a lie.” Reports that Pielke threatened legal action against two climate scientists came from The Huffington Post. Pielke says that’s false.
    In fact, it was Legum who contacted 538 claiming Pielke had made legal threats against two scientists, according to HuffPo.
    http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/20/wikileaks-thinkprogress-trashes-a-climate-experts-career-to-appease-a-hillary-donor/

    novel-length – a bad novel at that – & totally insane:

    19 Oct: The Atlantic: Robinson Meyer: Donald Trump Is the First Demagogue of the Anthropocene
    He won’t be the last
    A recent analysis in Nature projected that the effects of climate change (POLICIES? – pat) will reduce the average person’s income by 23 percent by the end of the century…
    Future consumers will not register these costs so cleanly, though—there will not be a single climate-change debit exacted on everyone’s budgets at year’s end. Instead, the costs will seep in through many sources: storm damage, higher power rates, real-estate depreciation, unreliable and expensive food. Climate change could get laundered, in other words, becoming just one more symptom of a stagnant and unequal economy. As quality of life declines, and insurance premiums rise, people could feel that they’re being robbed by an aloof elite.
    They won’t even be wrong. It’s just that due to the chemistry of climate change, many members of that elite will have died 30 or 50 years prior…
    http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/10/trump-the-first-demagogue-of-the-anthropocene/504134/

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    pat

    post-3rd debate, Clinton travelling Press Secretary, Nick Merrill, giving Andrea Mitchell (wife of fmr Fed Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan) a question for Clinton, & signalling another reporter to check their phone, presumably for another of his suggested questions:

    Youtube: 39secs: Clinton Campaign appears to feed NBC’s Andrea Mitchell questions via cell-phone
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqYQ2OtggPw

    the delightful Nick Merrill:

    10 Sep: GatewayPundit: Kristinn Taylor: Clinton Aides Attack, Threaten Reporter for Saying Hillary Looked ‘Low Energy’ at Friday Press Conference
    Nick Merrill, Clinton’s traveling press secretary, and Adam Parkhomenko, who was a state coordinator for the Clinton campaign and is now National Field Director for the Democratic Party, each replied to a tweet thread by Martosko about Clinton’s demeanor with Parkomenko threatening his job and Merrill employing the ‘delete your account’ othering insult.
    When reporters are publicly attacked by high ranking political operatives it is not just meant to intimidate that reporter, it is meant to ‘other’ him by separating him from the herd and intimidate other reporters from following his lead…
    Martosko replied to two Reuters reporters who defended Clinton, Emily Stephenson and Ginger Gibson…
    TWEET: ***Bad Hombre Adam ‏@AdamParkhomenko
    Bad Hombre Adam Retweeted David Martosko
    You shouldn’t have a job in the morning.
    (MARTOSKO REPLIES: SOMEHOW I’M NOT WORRIED)
    VIDEO OF CLINTON…
    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/09/clinton-aides-attack-threaten-reporter-saying-hillary-looked-low-energy-friday-press-conference/

    ***Bad Hombre? Adam – no problem.
    however, monolithic MSM worldwide yesterday:

    Fox News Latino: Social media blows up after Trump says ‘bad hombres’ during debate
    WaPo: When Trump warns about ‘bad hombres,’ it’s our job to explain what he means
    Time: Donald Trump Raises Eyebrows With ‘Bad Hombres’ Line
    PBS: To some, Trump’s ‘bad hombres’ is much more than a botched Spanish word
    Daily Mail: Donald Trump’s Bad Hombres phrase trends on Twitter after debate
    The Age: Do you know your hombres from your ombres? Dictionary schools Trump on American English

    lol. funniest.election.ever

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    Liberator

    Interesting to note the comment about asking for ID for voters. Here down under in every election I’ve never ever been asked for ID. I’ve only ever been asked who are you and where do you live? I could be anyone and have anyone’s name crossed off instead of mine. (But then why would I – don’t want a fine, but then I could rock up to another polling booth and vote again under a different name…) So open to abuse if you felt the need to do so. The systems are broken and no one wants to fix them.

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    • #
      Another Ian

      Liberator

      Interesting. The election before last a friend had to go home to get his drivers license for ID record.

      In a one-pub-town where everyone knows everyone!

      Maybe they do things more thoroughly in the bush?

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      • #
        bobl

        Recent change to the law, however, just crossing ones name off means that you can’t vote again in that name, if you vote on behalf of someone else then that elector votes then the fraud is detected, the vote could then be confirmed with the elector. In our system that means to multiple vote you have to pick a target that cannot vote, like a dead person. Assuming the AEC does a reasonable job of tracking births deaths and marriages, electoral roles can be kept pretty clean and fraud minimised. In short the cross off system doesn’t stop fraud, it’s designed to detect it. If the level of detected fraud is sufficient to change the result in our system the result in that electorate would be voided and the poll rerun. This actually happened in the WA Senate election when some ballot boxes went missing and sufficient ballot papers to change the result were lost.

        So our system is actually pretty good even without the recently introduced voter id

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  • #
    philthegeek

    and for some levity….some remarkably good one liners in here 🙂

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    • #
      el gordo

      I like her style and it sounds ad lib.

      “Before the dinner started, Trump went to Hillary and asked, ‘How are you?'” Smith said, waiting a beat. “She said, ‘I’m fine – now get out of the ladies’ dressing room.”

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  • #
    Analitik

    There has been speculation that The Fed is part of the fix by holding down interest rates with every excuse possible, all to maintain the illusion of “growth” in the US economy.

    So what’s the bet that whoever wins, rates are going to hike up?
    http://thegreatrecession.info/blog/federal-reserve-admits-never-knew/

    Get ready for a wild ride, folks – it’s going to be global.

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    • #
      el gordo

      Central Banks all around the world are grappling with deflationary tendencies and have no idea what the remedy is. The call goes up for governments to be more proactive with fiscal policy.

      Interesting point in that story: “whether firms and households have changed behavior in ways that are likely to be more permanent than transitory…”

      In a low inflation economy the push for higher wages is uncommon and strikes may become a thing of the past.

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      • #
        Analitik

        How much more proactive can they get than quantitative easing and helicopter money??????
        That’s gone well hasn’t it?

        30

        • #
          el gordo

          Infrastructure, with due diligence, would be a good start.

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          • #
            Analitik

            Like the ghost cities in Spain and China?

            20

          • #
            bobl

            Actually it’s about risk taking, everybody these days is looking for the sure bet. The biggest problem to me seems to be that there are too many impediments to business success so that people don’t take the risk. The socialist way of robbing Peter to pay Paul IS the problem. There’s a formula to follow Governments need to lower the risk and increase the reward. This is pretty much what Trump purposes to do.

            We have regulated ourselves into stagnation, the lefties take away the reward and increase the risk, wel except for the Clinton foundation which seems all reward and no risk US government guaranteed

            I don’t see any similarity effect at all in socialist Robin Hood culture.

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    pat

    one tactic that continues is simply claiming Clinton has already won:

    20 Oct: WaPo: Philip Rucker/Robert Costa: GOP braces for Trump loss, roiled by refusal to accept election results
    A wave of apprehension and anguish swept the Republican Party on Thursday, with many GOP leaders alarmed by Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome of the election and concluding that it is probably too late to salvage his flailing presidential campaign. As the Republican nominee reeled from a turbulent performance in the final debate here in Las Vegas, his party’s embattled senators and House members scrambled to protect their seats and preserve the GOP’s congressional majorities against what Republicans privately acknowledge could be a landslide victory for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton…

    I have a comment in moderation abour Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight “polling guru” throwing Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr under the bus due to pressure from Clinton’s Media Mattters mafia.

    first, Silver was spectacularly wrong/biased about Donald Trump all along:

    4 May: Daily Caller: Blake Neff: 7 Times Nate Silver Was Hilariously Wrong About Donald Trump
    1. June 16, 2015: Why Donald Trump Isn’t A Real Candidate, In One Chart…
    Trump’s high name recognition combined with a staggering -32 favorability made him the least-liked presidential candidate of all time, Enten said.
    “For this reason alone, Trump has a better chance of cameoing in another “Home Alone” movie with Macaulay Culkin — or playing in the NBA Finals — than winning the Republican nomination.,” Enten said…
    5. Aug. 11, 2015: Donald Trump Is Winning The Polls, And Losing The Nomination
    With Trump’s poll support apparently only increasing with time, Silver sought to explain how Trump’s surge in the polls was actually coming at the expense of any chance he had of actually winning the nomination…

    he was also wrong about the last British election, claiming no party would get close to the 325 seats needed for an outright majority; he didn’t do projections for Brexit that i can see, but published typical scary articles about how bad it would be for Britain & a re-run might be necessary blah blah.

    well, Silver has gone one step further than WaPo/NYT & others, by going on Stephen Colbert Show, with Clinton-adoring audience (think Q&A or Chaser audiences at ABC, but wilder) and, by accident or design?, saying (paraphrasing) not only did Clinton win the third debate, but Trump has already lost the election:

    3mins13secs: Silver: even Al Gore, John Kerry & Mitt Romney, who all lost the the election by relatively narrow margins, probably narrower ***than Trump DID***, they all stood down … in a gracious way…

    20 Oct: Youtube: 4mins37secs: Nate Silver (538.com) Explains Just How Bad Donald Trump’s Night Actually Was
    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
    (Colbert: you have been surprisingly accurate except in one poll haha…Donald J. Trump in he Primaries)
    Xi Jinping: trump isnt losing in non-msm polls…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgLe1fWJBi0

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    Lord Jim

    “Democrats Busted On Camera Stuffing Ballot Boxes”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YsRU0TFQTY

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    pat

    ***BRILLIANT…STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING…

    20 Oct: Youtube: 8mins24secs: Dear Mainstream Media
    by Paul Joseph Watson
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpLAzAZXi2A

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    • #
      Peter C

      Yes. brilliant! I agree. Paul Joseph Watson takes the American media to task.

      After a comprehensive review of the election coverage he says this, near the end of the video:

      You have almost succeeded in destroying the fourth estate. You should be f… ashamed of yourselves. This is why 94% of the American peoples don’t trust you. …..You lie, you smear, you ingratiate yourselves with wanton abandon…..Dear mainstream media, you have betrayed your profession. You have sacrificied its one central principle and you have stabbed the American people in the back. Kindly f…off and leave the rest of us to do you job for you.

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      PeterS

      He’s certainly not a happy chap. If this is a guide as to how many Americans feel then it’s not going to be a nice place if Clinton wins. I do agree that mainstream media has let them down very badly. It’s worse here in Australia because we have a government funded ABC that’s so biased it should carry the ALP+Greens logo even though the government is the other side, well not really – it pretends to be but in fact is a watered down version of the ALP+Greens. So in some respects we are way ahead of the US – we already effectively have a one-nation government that would be a good model for the coming one-world government. George Orwell would be laughing his head off at all this and be telling us “I warned you!”. Yes Mr Orwell but unfortunately the people are too lazy or busy to think things through carefully to have prevented all this happening in the first place. That’s where I think you got it wrong Mr Orwell. It’s not the fault of the elite – they are only taking advantage of the weakness of the people who elect the scum bags. If people here were awake we would not have elected people like Rudd and Gillard. The people dropped the ball, not the government. For example, I knew from the minute Rudd first appeared on TV what he was going to be like. It was written all over his face and by the way he talked. It was so obvious to me I couldn’t understand why almost everyone around me was praising him. I almost felt I was living in the early days of Hitler’s rise before he became the national leader. Oh well, as I believe we humans have to learn things the hard way.

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        Annie

        I felt like that about Tony Blair, Obama, Cameron and Turnbull. I just wondered why people couldn’t see through them when it was written all over their faces.

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    Dennis

    Pssst: you going to vote? Hillary will give you the best outcome if you vote for her …. $10, $50 maybe $100?

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    Dennis

    If the new world order gets to rid the world of sovereign borders, divides the globe into four regions and installs a world parliament as so many from the left dream about, there would be no need to worry about voting.

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    pat

    22mins in – Hudson mentions identity politics & the links with Wall Street:

    20 Oct: Keiser Report E982
    In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy discuss friends of Bill (Clinton) and the remarkable fortunes they’ve made landing lucrative aid contracts. In the second half, Max interviews Dr. Michael Hudson about his new book, J is for Junk Economics and about the US presidential candidates’ economic plans. (HUDSON HAS LOTS OF ADVICE FOR TRUMP).
    https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/363455-episode-max-keiser-982/

    every Clinton attack on Trump is a projection to hide their own skeletons:

    20 Oct: Breitbart: Jerome Hudson: Wikileaks: Podesta’s Daughter Received His Shares in Putin-Linked Company
    An email uncovered in the Wikileaks hacks reveals that Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s “75,000 common shares” — obtained from his membership on the executive board of an energy company, Joule Unlimited, which received millions from a Putin-connected Russian government fund — were transferred to his daughter, Megan Rouse.
    “Full transfer request, with Megan’s signature attached,” Podesta’s assistant Eryn Sepp wrote to him…
    Podesta’s membership on the board of directors of Joule Unlimited was first revealed in research from Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large and Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President Peter Schweizer…
    Last week, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign’s Senior Communications Advisor Jason Miller demanded that Podesta either explain his connection to Joule or resign as Clinton’s campaign chairman…
    “Because the holding company is completely anonymous, we do not know whether or not he still has deep financial ties to Vladimir Putin and his regime,” Miller’s statement continued. “As such, Mr. Podesta needs to either reveal who is behind the holding company or he must resign from the Clinton campaign immediately.”
    Podesta has yet to comment publicly on his involvement with Joule Unlimited.
    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/10/20/wikileaks-bombshell-john-podestas-daughter-received-75000-shares-putin-connected-energy-company/

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    pat

    some background:

    Wikipedia: The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, commonly known as the Al Smith Dinner, is an annual white tie fundraiser for Catholic charities supporting needy children held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on the third Thursday of October. It is organized by the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation in honor of former New York Governor Al Smith, the first Catholic presidential candidate. The dinner is hosted by the archbishop of New York (as of 2016, Cardinal Timothy Dolan)…
    Candidates have traditionally given humorous speeches poking fun at themselves and their opponents, making the event similar to a roast…
    During the 1980 dinner, Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter was booed…
    In 1996 and 2004, the Archdiocese of New York chose not to invite the presidential candidates. In 1996, this was reportedly because Cardinal John Joseph O’Connor was angry at Democratic nominee Bill Clinton for vetoing a bill outlawing some late-term abortions…
    During the 2000 dinner, George W. Bush joked, “This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base…

    more background, in order to understand Trump’s joke:

    21 Oct: International Busines Times: Bruce Wright: Does Hillary Clinton ‘Hate Catholics’? Trump Claim At Alfred E Smith Dinner Is About WikiLeaks Hacked Emails
    “Many of the most powerful elements of the conservative movement are all Catholic (many converts) from the [Supreme Court] and think tanks to the media and social groups,” the email said. “It’s an amazing bastardization of the faith. They must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of Christian democracy.”
    Palmieri responded in part: “I imagine they think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion.”
    Podesta, who did not respond, and Palmieri are Catholics.
    The Trump campaign demanded an apology from Clinton and pro-Catholic groups pounced at the news.
    New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was seated between Trump and Clinton at the dinner Thursday night, suggested there would have been an apology if the comments were made about any other faith…
    The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops fired off an angry letter condemning Clinton and her campaign, according to Life News…
    The emails also prompted an op-ed published to Philly.com to label Clinton and her campaign as having treated Catholics “with contempt.”
    Clinton herself has never actually responded to the claims, including Thursday night, but her press secretary tweeted shortly after the news broke Oct. 12 that it was a “faux controversy.”
    http://www.ibtimes.com/does-hillary-clinton-hate-catholics-trump-claim-alfred-e-smith-dinner-about-wikileaks-2435065

    sound affects added by Cpt Pipedream who posted the video:

    20 Oct: Youtube: 7mins53secs: The Roast: Donald Trump Destroys Hillary
    The best highlights / moments from Donald Trump Roasting Hillary at the Alfred E Smith memorial dinner.
    Donald J Trump walked into the belly of the beast tonight. Into a memorial dinner hosted and attended by some of Hillary’s largest supporters and calls them out for the year of slander…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3uZHzX-XY4&feature=youtu.be

    more to come.

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    pat

    both candidates made bitter jokes about each other, so how did the MSM report it? no surprise:

    29 Oct: Bloomberg: Trump Jokes Strike Sour Tone at Al Smith Dinner
    by Henry Goldman & Jennifer Jacobs
    (Kevin Cirilli, Amanda Gordon, and Jennifer Epstein contributed to this report)
    “Here she is tonight, pretending not to hate Catholics,” he said. Several in the crowd booed.
    Trump went on: “Everyone knows of course Hillary’s belief that it takes a village, as in Haiti where she’s taken a number of them.” That was met with more jeering from the crowd. Clinton’s smile was still on her face, but she didn’t laugh…
    Both candidates were, for the most part, good-natured yet tough on each other, but Trump apparently misread this particular audience gathered in his heavily ***Democratic hometown. Still, despite the booing spells, Trump got strong laughter from throughout the room at his best jokes…
    Clinton, who spoke second, began with the self-deprecatory remarks and ***gracious gestures that have been the hallmarks of previous dinners.
    She got big laughs when she told the audience: “I just want to put you all in a basket of adorables.”…

    As has been the custom, the audience of 1,500 was dressed in white-tie formal attire. They paid $3,000 to $15,000 per person, raising about $6 million for Catholic charities that will give services to impoverished New York children, according to Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for New York’s archdiocese.
    The room was filled with Wall Street titans. Among them, seated on the dais, were Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, NASDAQ CEO Robert Greifeld, hedge fund manager Roberto Mignone and Mary Erdoes, CEO for Asset Management at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
    “Hi Chuck,” Trump said to New York Senator Chuck Schumer. “He used to love me when I was a Democrat.”
    They dined on a “seafood trio” of king crab salad, lobster cocktail and lobster roll, followed by beef, “cheesy polenta” and red cabbage and desserts that included red velvet cupcakes and dark chocolate praline. Clinton sipped chamomile tea and left a lipstick mark on her cup; Trump had glasses of Coke. Neither ate their desserts…
    “It great, also, to see Mayor Bloomberg here,” Clinton said, and smiled at former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the guests on the dais. “It’s a shame he’s not speaking tonight. “I’m curious to hear what a billionaire has to say.”
    Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.
    None of Clinton’s remarks elicited booing…
    ***“Trump got too mean, and got booed. I’d never heard that before. It’s hard to pull off mean and funny,” comedian Mo Rocca said. ***”Hillary got good when she ratcheted bitchy up – like the Statue of Liberty joke.”…
    “Hillary had a much better diatribe but Trump had the line of the night,” accountant Bob Garrett, an undecided Republican voter. “Pardon me” was his best, he said…
    http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-10-21/clinton-and-trump-trade-hostility-for-humor-at-al-smith-dinner

    Donald Trump Heckled by New York Elite at Charity Dinner
    New York Times-6 hours ago

    Donald Trump booed at Alfred Smith charity dinner for calling Clinton “corrupt”
    In-Depth-The Guardian-16 hours ago

    Trump delivers harsh remarks on Clinton at charity dinner
    CNN – ‎7 hours ago‎

    Trump jeered as roast turns nasty
    NEWS.com.au – ‎7 hours ago‎

    Trump booed for roasting Clinton at Alfred Smith charity dinner
    New York Daily News – ‎4 hours ago‎

    Donald Trump, Son of a Catholic Hater, Disgraces Al Smith Dinner
    Daily Beast – ‎4 hours ago‎

    NBC, to their credit, have the correct headline…as is to be expected from a “Roast”:

    Trump, Clinton Trade Biting Jokes at Al Smith Dinner After Fiery Debate
    NBCNews.com – ‎6 hours ago‎

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    Ruairi

    Democracy needs to awake,
    To those politicians who fake,
    Their desire to care,
    And improve our welfare,
    But crave power for power’s sake.

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    cedarhill

    A famous author once said “Facts are to liberals (aka Democrats) as Kryptonite is to Superman”.

    Currently Indiana has over 53 counties (out of 92) investigating voter fraud. Virginia, Texas and California as well. And that’s just for the walking dead (as in buried) voters. There are precincts in the US were more people voted than are registered.

    Just a few of the ways voter roles are inflated include the “motor votor” registration laws, the “register when you sign up for benefits” programs and various State and Federal court cases disallow even verification of citizenship on a “trust the person swearing they’re eligible” along with the “register and vote the same day” have added a large, mostly unknown, number of ineligible voters.

    The Veritas videos show some of the ways fraud is committed ranging from vanning the same voters to several precincts to registering (via registration drives) fake voters and using absentee ballots and/or early voting. All aided by the courts making it illegal to even require a photo id.

    Given that about 1/5th of US households do not speak English at home translates into millions of illegal votes. Two or three decades ago it was “only” a few hundred thousand mostly concentrated in “swing” precincts to enable a particular candidate to win a Congressional and/or state election. Today, State wide elections appear to be subject to this type of fraud. I.E., the margin of fraud in the last presidential election cycle was at least 1 percent; this year it will be perhaps triple.

    to make the future even worse, reports are that Obama and Holder have created the skeleton of an organization after Obama leaves office where they’ll be working to manipulated the district boundaries via the Federal Court system. The bottom line is it will get worse. The only issue is whether the fraud trend can ever be reversed.

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    pat

    cedarhill –

    I can only hope you, or other Americans who visit jo’s website, are able to get all the following on to forums, or to websites in the US that support Trump.

    first, Veritas has shown IDs aren’t a problem for the dem ops. I say that because everything I am about to post involves Georgia, where IDs are required.

    even Drudge had this story up a couple of days ago – it was all over the web. video shows lines at early voter site. why would this huge DNC bus with windows u can look out of but not into have so much sewage. it can’t have been picking up locals to have needed to be emptied surely. why stop at the early voting site?

    18 Oct: WSBTV Atlanta: Tony Thomas: DNC bus dumps raw sewage in Gwinnett County, calls it ‘honest mistake’

    ***VIDEO: 2min10secs: The bus had just stopped at the Gwinnett County ***early voting site, where hundreds of voters had lined up to cast ballots. Bus has gone on its way & is scheduled to make a stop in ***Macon at this hour.

    GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga – Authorities are investigating whether a Democratic Party campaign bus illegally dumped raw sewage in Gwinnett County Tuesday morning.
    According to the police report, authorities were called to the O’Reilly Auto Parts on Grayson Highway after reports that an RV was dumping its sewage into a storm drain…
    As of Tuesday evening, ***no action is being taken against the driver. ***Authorities say it’s too early to tell what potential fines or penalties might be considered.
    http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/gwinnett-county/dnc-apologizes-for-honest-mistake-after-dumping-raw-sewage-in-gwinnett-county/458464327

    Lawrenceville, GA to Macon, GA: 111 Miles or 178 Kms

    19 Oct: AltNews: Jay Stephens: Gwinnett County, GA: Why The DNC/Clintons Are Rigging It
    The DNC bus in question was spotted in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Lawrenceville is the county seat of Gwinnett County – population 859,304 – and is the larger of two counties that comprise Georgia’s 7th congressional district.
    Georgia’s 7th congressional district is important. After 127-years of continuous Democratic control, the last 3 representatives of Georgia’s 7th have all been Republicans who handily crushed their Democratic opponents. Trump won Gwinnett County in the primary, and local controversy erupted when a Ted Cruz delegate was appointed to represent the 7th district at the RNC convention instead. The Gwinnett County Sheriff is even on Donald Trump’s Georgia leadership team.

    It would be highly unlikely for Hillary Clinton to carry Gwinnett County or, as such, the 7th district.
    Nonetheless, Governing.com includes Gwinnett County on it’s expertly-informed list of 50 “battleground counties” to watch in the 2016 presidential election. Of Georgia, they report:
    “With its massive demographic churn, there’s no place else in Georgia quite like Gwinnett County,” said veteran Georgia political journalist Tom Baxter. Gwinnett, which is northeast of Atlanta, is emblematic of counties in Georgia (and elsewhere) where moderate, affluent, college-educated Republicans — especially women — could defect from Trump…”
    In a fair election, Hillary Clinton could not win Gwinnett County, the 7th district, or the state of Georgia.
    Republicans have carried the state of Georgia by an average of 8 points in the last 5 presidential elections, and it would have been 9 had Bill Clinton not inched out George H.W. Bush by less than a percentage point in 1992.
    Even though the reliable Real Clear Politics averaged poll still places Trump 5.5-points ahead of Clinton in Georgia, the mainstream media narrative has begun to shift:
    •Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Clinton holds a “clear advantage” in battleground states, and names Georgia as one state that has “moved in Clinton’s direction since the previous 50-state survey.”
    •The latest YouGov model suggests Hillary Clinton is leading Trump in Georgia.
    •PBS Newshour even did a whole segment on how Clinton might win Georgia.
    If a vote-rigging DNC bus a la #ProjectVeritas was really just spotted in Gwinnett County, GA, it indicates that the DNC is trying to steal the state of Georgia for Hillary Clinton.
    Don’t let that happen.
    Investigate.
    http://altnews.com/2016/10/gwinnett-county-ga-why-the-dncclintons-are-rigging-it/

    MORE TO COME.

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    Richard

    Apparently there are about 4 million dead and ineligible registered voters in the US. And, since it’s well known that dead and ineligible voters almost exclusively vote democrat, it’s clear that Hillary can’t lose.

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    pat

    Wolf Blitzer interview is in both CNN links.
    Trump adviser Cohen is sooo concerned about division in the country, and the naked Clinton statue which MSM worldwide recently claimed sparked a fight in Manhattan, but Cohen doesn’t mention all the similar Trump statues that were popping up in public spaces since August.
    from media, it would seem:

    ‘The statues were the work of a political group called Indecline, who called the project “The Emperor Has No Balls”’.

    would be interesting to look into that group.

    VIDEO: 18 Oct: CNN: The Situation Room: Wolf Blitzer: Trump adviser says election loser should concede
    Trump Organization Executive Vice President Michael Cohen says if either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton lose the election, they should deliver a concession speech to bring America together.
    http://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/10/18/michael-cohen-donald-trump-concede-if-loses-sot-tsr.cnn

    *******MAJOR ALERT:

    21 Oct: CNN: Early voting numbers promising for Clinton in battleground states
    By Jennifer Agiesta and Marshall Cohen – CNN’s Dakin Andone contributed to this report
    VIDEO: WOLF BLITZER/MICHAEL COHEN
    There are hints of good news for Hillary Clinton in key battleground states as millions of Americans vote early, according to a CNN analysis of the latest early voting statistics.
    More than 3.3 million Americans have already voted. And among that group, Democrats have improved their position in North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and even Utah compared to this point in 2012.
    CNN has partnered with Catalist, a data company that works with progressive candidates and advocacy groups, academics and think tanks, to receive detailed early vote return information this year…
    Even though the figures from Iowa and Ohio might bode well for Trump, they might not even decide the election. CNN’s latest snapshot of the Electoral College shows Clinton can clinch 270 electoral votes with wins in Colorado and Virginia, without carrying either Iowa or Ohio. She is also favored in Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada and New Hampshire, which combine for 59 electoral votes.
    There’s more likely good news for Clinton in Virginia and Wisconsin, where she’s maintained a steady advantage in the polls…

    ******And in Republican-leaning Georgia, early voting is up by about 25% this year compared to 2012. That was clear Wednesday in Lawrenceville, where about 200 people lined up to vote in the county’s only early voting location. Waiting times were two hours, officials said, and dragged longer in the afternoon.
    For Clinton to upset Trump in the Peach State, she’ll need strong turnout from non-white voters. So far, the African-American share of the early vote is slightly lower than it was at this point in 2012. But Hispanic and Asian voters have slightly boosted their share of the early electorate this year.
    http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/21/politics/early-voting-hillary-clinton-battleground-states/index.html

    comment on Freerepublic: We have voter ID here in GA. The problem is our RINO governor Nathan Deal is giving the illegals drivers licenses so then they can register to vote.

    and the MSM is still ignoring the Veritas videos!

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    pat

    ***so deeply unpopular they are lining up for hours to vote early!!!

    21 Oct: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Greg Bluestein: AJC poll: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are deadlocked in Georgia
    The poll released Friday shows Trump leading Clinton 44-42 among likely Georgia voters, which is within the poll’s margin of error…
    ***Both candidates remain deeply unpopular in Georgia. About six in 10 voters had negative views of both Trump and Clinton. And a significant portion of voters – a third of Clinton’s supporters and almost half of Trump’s backers – said they see their pick vote for president more as a vote against their opponent…
    (HOW CONVENIEN?) The New York businessman’s claims of a “rigged” election have not gained much traction in Georgia. Nearly 80 percent of voters say they are confident their vote for president will be accurately counted. And only 10 percent of Georgians say they will not accept the outcome of the election if the candidate they support loses…
    ??? But only 4 in 10 independents, a traditionally conservative voting bloc in Georgia, say they are behind Trump…
    ??? Only 3 percent of black voters are backing Trump…

    This exclusive Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll of 1003 registered voters statewide was conducted by Abt SRBI of New York between Oct. 17-20. The poll included 839 likely voters. The margin of error for the registered voter sample is 3.9 percentage points. For the likely voter sample it is 4.26 percentage points.
    The survey used both traditional land-line and cell phones… Some totals may not equal 100 percent due to rounding.
    http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/10/21/ajc-poll-trump-and-clinton-deadlocked-georgia/

    earlier piece by Jay Stephens:

    18 Oct: AltNews: Jay Stephens: Massive Early Voter Turnout In Same Georgia Town as Democratic Party Campaign “Sewage” Bus.
    From 11Live Atlanta:
    LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Long lines formed for the second straight day at early voting sites. Tens-of-thousands of people in Georgia have already voted – and there are three more weeks until election day.
    Long lines formed outside the Gwinnett County Board of Elections office. For now, it’s the only location in Gwinnett offering early voting. But those locations will multiply and the hours will expand for the week prior to the election.
    Yet with all those hours and locations available, folks still opted to stand in in line here…
    Miranda Dale, another Gwinnett County voter told 11Alive’s Doug Richards she and her husband Michael waited three hours to vote Tuesday.
    “We came yesterday and the line was extremely long so we came back today, and the line was shorter,” Dale said. “It was a long wait, but it was still shorter.”
    County officials say this has never happened before. In previous elections, the first days of early voting are typically very quiet.
    1580 voters cast early ballots in Gwinnett Monday. Gwinnett has set up a schedule with the equivalent of 52 more days of early voting at a variety of locations. Many other counties have similar early voting schedules…

    Jay – A Project Veritas film released earlier today – Rigging the Election – Video II: Mass Voter Fraud – features secretly-recorded video conversations with employees of the Democratic party establishment, wherein they casually discuss bussing people around to vote at multiple locations in order to rig election results in favor of Democratic candidates…
    PIC OF PEOPLE AT EARLY VOTING SITE
    ***ONE COMMENT: Fortunately, Georgia still has voter ID laws! So fraud is a lot LESS possible in our state!
    http://altnews.com/2016/10/massive-early-voter-turn-out-in-same-town-as-clinton-campaign-bus/

    ***sadly, even if Gov Deal wasn’t helping with IDs, getting them is no problem for the Dem operatives running the voter fraud scam.

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    pat

    this is to follow a comment in moderation.

    another Abt SRBI poll back in May &, even when Trump is 4 points ahead, it’s framed as a potential Clinton win. hundreds of comments & most i saw were scathing about AJC being a far left liberal rag & no way would they vote for Hillary, etc:

    14 May: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Greg Bluestein: Poll: Clinton vs. Trump a tossup in Georgia
    Trump’s 4-point lead over Clinton — he’s at 45 percent — is within the poll’s margin of error, meaning neither can confidently claim a state that’s voted for the GOP nominee since 1996…
    The poll gives new heft to claims by Georgia Democrats that they can turn the Peach State blue, or at least a shade of purple, for the first time since Bill Clinton’s 1992 victory…
    COMMENT:
    Ben Hendy: Heck the editor of the Atlanta Journal- Constitution does not read his own newspaper. Georgia will go 75 percent Trump.
    http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/poll-clinton-vs-trump-a-tossup-between-unpopular-c/nrMhZ/

    Poll of Georgia voters, May 2016
    This Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll surveyed 822 registered voters statewide from May 9 to May 12. The margin of error for each response is plus or minus 4.26 percentage points. The survey used both traditional landline and cell phones…
    Sources: Abt SRBI; AJC analysis
    Full poll methodology
    http://www.myajc.com/news/may-2016-poll/

    by August, they have Clinton up 4:

    Poll: Clinton leads Trump in Georgia – POLITICO
    Aug 5, 2016 – While Clinton earned 44 percent support, Trump took 40 percent. … The poll was conducted via landlines and cellphones by ***Abt-SRBI from Aug

    Abt SRBI Inc/Atlanta Journal-Constitution (8/1-8/4 2016)
    elections.huffingtonpost.com/…/abt-srbi-inc-atlanta-journal-constitution-…
    Aug 5, 2016 – 2016 Georgia President – Clinton 44%, Trump 40% (***Abt SRBI Inc/Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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    pat

    the UNUSUAL AJC polling company – Abt SRBI – which seems to be Harvard’s research company, from what I’ve seen online:

    a TRUMP who has worked at The State Dept? lol.

    Abt Associates: Our People: Dr. Marcia Trump,
    Principal Associate, International Economic Growth
    Marcia Trump is a Ph.D. resource economist with 30 years of experience in managing technical projects in climate change economics, mitigation and adaptation, environmental valuation, renewable energy, and carbon market financing. Currently, Dr. Trump is the Chief of Party for the USAID Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment, and Development (CEADIR) Project, a $19.3 million global support program assisting developing countries in strengthening economic modeling and assessment of, as well as mobilizing investments in, low-carbon, climate resilient development. She served from 2011 to 2013 as the Project Director for AILEG, a $6.7-millionUSAID climate economic and investment technical assistance project.
    Dr. Trump leads interdisciplinary teams in low-emission development, economic analysis, climate financing mobilization, and data-strengthening services. As a proven manager of projects for USAID, USEPA, World Bank, IFC, and the private sector, she helps Abt expand its Climate-Smart Development Practice in the International Economic Growth Division. Throughout her career, she has assisted development banks, bilateral donor organizations, government agencies, and many private sector clients to identify and successfully implement development projects that increase sustainable energy and resource use while providing prosperous livelihoods to communities in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South and North America.
    Dr. Trump holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Ohio State University and a B.A. in biology from Smith College.
    (BOTTOM LEFT OF PAGE)
    Abt Associates is a mission-driven, global leader in research, evaluation and program implementation in the fields of health, social and environmental policy, and international development. Known for its rigorous approach to solving complex challenges, Abt Associates is regularly ranked as one of the top 20 global research firms and one of the top 40 international development innovators. The company has multiple offices in the U.S. and program offices in more than 40 countries.
    http://abtassociates.com/About-Us/Our-People/Associates/Dr-Marcia-Trump.aspx

    BOARD MEMBERS:
    In addition to our current prominent Board, Directors Emeritus include Clark Abt, Ph.D., Henry J. Aaron, Ph.D., ***Kenneth Arrow, Ph.D., and John Shane.
    (Wikipedia: Kenneth Arrow … was a convening lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

    Anne-Marie Slaughter is currently the President and CEO of New America, a think tank and civic enterprise with offices in Washington and New York. She is also the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. From 2009–2011 she served as director of Policy Planning for the ***United States Department of State, the first woman to hold that position…
    Dr. Slaughter has written or edited six books, including A New World Order (2004)…
    She was the convener and academic co-chair, with Professor John Ikenberry, of the Princeton Project on National Security, a multi-year research project aimed at developing a new, bipartisan national security strategy for the United States…
    Foreign Policy magazine named her to their annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. She received a B.A. from Princeton, an M.Phil and D.Phil in international relations from Oxford, where she was a Daniel M. Sachs Scholar, and a J.D. from Harvard…

    watch this one too, Trump:

    Clinton Polls Eight Points Ahead In New Virginia Poll
    TPM-16 Aug. 2016
    Abt-SRBI, the pollster who collected and tabulated data for the Post, has not surveyed Virginia voters in the recent past

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    Rod Stuart

    Bill Still’s comments on a speech by Dr. Franklin Graham.

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