I got nuttin' again, so a few thoughts, and a video, from around the virtual community aka the internet:
“If the world go wrong, it was, in some off-hand manner, never meant to go right.”
"When he has nothing else to do, he can always contemplate his own greatness. It is a considerable advantage to a man, to have so inexhaustible a subject.”
Both from Charles Dickens' Bleak House
My own words from a post about the conventions in 2008:
M'Hog's parked out back ... (photo & caption by husband, anyjazz - in an antique store somewhere on our travels) ~
A video, link was sent to me by occasional commenter "JD":
There is a common objection to third party voting that it wastes one’s vote. Because of our style of voting , there is some truth to this. But it is only in swing states where this is valid. In most parts of the country, the result of the election is preordained. Clinton will win California, New York, and Illinois; Trump will win Texas, and most of the great plains and the south east. In those states, a vote for Republican Trump or Democrat Clinton is a wasted vote. People should vote Green (or Libertarian) in non-swing states such as Texas and California. In 2016, 5% is the goal.
Comment: Vatch July 29, 2016 at 11:26 am at naked capitalism (link at sidebar).
The Democrats are supposed to be the party of the people, of the progressives, of the left, and yet the Democratic Party is roughly equivalent to a major corporation, operating with all of the ruthlessness and profit-driven mind state that that implies................Everything is not good. The Democrats can enjoy this convention behind the security barriers and closed doors. When they emerge, an angry country will be there waiting for them.
Hamilton Nolan at gawker.com
“If the world go wrong, it was, in some off-hand manner, never meant to go right.”
"When he has nothing else to do, he can always contemplate his own greatness. It is a considerable advantage to a man, to have so inexhaustible a subject.”
Both from Charles Dickens' Bleak House
My own words from a post about the conventions in 2008:
Even if it meant anything at all, politically talented as these people may be (or may not be), they are flippin' public servants, not pop stars. American citizens are their masters - or should be - something oft forgotten in these self-congratulatory bun-fights.
"The luckiest woman alive"
M'Hog's parked out back ... (photo & caption by husband, anyjazz - in an antique store somewhere on our travels) ~
A video, link was sent to me by occasional commenter "JD":
19 comments:
3rd party voting - this may be the year for 3rd party voting, draining the votes from both the Dems and Repubs. It seems that most voters are faced with voting AGAINST a candidate rather than FOR a candidate. Unbelievably, the AGAINST-voters have introduced a major wild-card into the game, with both parties suffering the same ill. Everyone is taking the wait-and-see approach, hoping some fate will remove one, if not both candidates. That isn't to say Hillary and Donald aren't without their supporters, but hyperbole to suggest it's a majority. Hill and Don supporters are probably like "One Million Moms", the Christian right group, that has as of today, 3,523 followers on Twitter [ https://twitter.com/1milmoms ]...LOL.
I read an entertaining essay by Laurie Penney:
https://medium.com/welcome-to-the-scream-room/bad-moon-rising-8cd348df50e9#.x4btp0ac0
M'Hog - Did you attempt to pet the cat? Was the pendant a warning or fashionista?
"Hidden Miracles of the Natural World" uses a lot of from-outer-space shots of our globe. I had the pleasure of seeing the International Space Station slowly pass overhead a little after 9 PM two nights this past week...brightest object in the sky, plus it was moving. Both passes lasted about ten minutes each. A little strange to think that there are real people up there peering down from 200 miles above.
https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/
Too bad the not-so-hidden wonders of the natural world are hidden by our own negligence and preference for the artifice of human endeavors. I'm always fascinated by my BFF, GiGi, who finds complete delight within the blades of grass, a bird nearby, the scented air, a bug...anything.
About those spoiler votes, Andrew Stewart in "Countering The Nader Baiter Mythology", had this to say:
"Did Gore lose votes to Nader in Florida?"
"The real question is actually ‘Did Gore do anything to deserve those votes?’"
"And the answer is a monumental no, he ran a right wing campaign, took on a war hawk vice president, and barred a significant portion of his own base from voting through his support of the destruction of Welfare and passage of the Crime Omnibus Bill. Was Nader the one who cut so many black and brown voters out of the rolls by building the Prison Industrial Complex? Was Nader the one who further criminalized poverty and condemned millions more to it by cutting off benefits to the most vulnerable in our society? No, Al Gore did that and he got what he deserved."
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/29/countering-the-nader-baiter-mythology/
Truthseeker, I'd say that hanging-chads and SCOTUS were far more detrimental to Gore than Nader.
"Antonin Scalia is the fascist Justice who personally shut down the state-wide recount in Florida on December 10, 2000 when he issued an emergency injunction in Bush v. Gore saying an accurate recount would hurt George W. Bush. Scalia's unprecedented injunction created a furor among law school professors, and 673 signed a letter of outrage that was published in major newspapers. Two days later, Scalia was one of five partisan Republicans who threw out 175,000 never-counted Florida votes so they could declare George Bush the winner. When those votes were finally counted, Gore won Florida under all 6 scenarios in which all of the votes were counted."
http://www.democrats.com/node/11798
"Subsequent analyses cast further doubt on conclusions that Bush would have likely won had the U.S. Supreme Court not intervened. An analysis of the NORC data by University of Pennsylvania researcher Steven F. Freeman and journalist Joel Bleifuss concluded that a recount of all uncounted votes using any standard (inclusive, strict, statewide or county by county), Gore would have been the victor. Such a statewide review including all uncounted votes was a very real possibility, as Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis, whom the Florida Supreme Court had assigned to oversee the statewide recount, had scheduled a hearing for December 13 (mooted by the U.S. Supreme Court's final ruling on the 12th) to consider the question of including overvotes as well as undervotes. Subsequent statements by Judge Lewis and internal court documents support the likelihood of including overvotes in the recount. Florida State University professor of public policy Lance deHaven-Smith observed that, even considering only undervotes, 'under any of the five most reasonable interpretations of the Florida Supreme Court ruling, Gore does, in fact, more than make up the deficit'".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000#Aftermath
Oh, and forgot to mention that sibling Jeb Bush was governor of Florida during the 2000 fiasco.
mike ~ Loved Laurie Penny's article - many thanks for the link. She's an entertaining writer I'd not come across before!
I feel sure anyjazz petted that cat, he usually does whenever we meet one - he's a cat person. I like cats but prefer dogs, and relate to them more easily. I'd guess that the collar decor was a hint that the store owner is a biker, or at least a biker groupie. :-)
Re GiGi and her nature-loving habits - yes, no dog here, but I do enjoy standing at the kitchen window to watch the squirrels cheekily stealing bird seed, rolling in the dust - presumably ridding themselves of fleas, and doing acrobatics around the trees and fences; a rabbit happily nibbling whatever is available in the yard, then going to find a bit of shade under the fence and stretching out for a doze. Not to mention numerous birds doing their thing, eating, bathing, twittering and occasionally squabbling. As anyjazz often remarks, their lives are led by finding shelter, finding food and reproducing. I'd add to that: dodging hawks, traffic, and idiots with guns.
truthseeker ~ Hi there! Thank you for your comment - it's on a subject about which I know very little, having been here only since 2004, and getting myself anywhere near US politically savvy for several years after that. Glad to see mike has responded. :-)
Happy Caturday All >^;^<
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2016/jul/29/britains-political-pets-at-war-video
mike ~ No doubt voting shenanigans played a role, however the point of my comment was that any (counted) votes lost to Nader were understandable given Gore's history. Just as Hillary will 'lose' votes to 3rd party candidates for similar reasons.
Votes were suppressed or went uncounted in the Democratic primaries as well. Related to this, non-Hillary supporters attending last week's DNC were shut up and out using various methods:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i4Z7Wcd6Nw (DNC in Philly | California Sanders Delegates Blocked | White Noise Machines Installed)
Sabina ~ Happy one to you too - thank you for the video...lol!
Truthseeker, I agree that Hillary and Trump are losing supporters or never had them to begin. There was a time I would have thrown my vote to Hillary, but as an AGAINST Trump vote, if The Bern didn't make it, but seeing how Bernie's campaign was obfuscated by the DNC and Clinton, I find 3rd party candidates the only way for me to go.
Sabina, GiGi says Happy Dogurday! /(^:^)\
Election Justice USA, Conclusions, pg 95
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5O9I4XJdSISNzJyaWIxaWpZWnM/view?pref=2&pli=1
"Based on this work, Election Justice USA has established an upper estimate of 184 pledged delegates lost by Senator Bernie Sanders as a consequence of specific irregularities and instances of fraud. Adding these delegates to Senator Sanders’ pledged delegate total and subtracting the same number from Hillary Clinton’s total would more than erase the 359 pledged delegate gap between the two candidates. EJUSA established the upper estimate through exit polling data, statistical analysis by precinct size, and attention to the details of Democratic proportional awarding of national delegates. Even small changes in vote shares in critical states like Massachusetts and New York could have substantially changed the media narrative surrounding the primaries in ways that would likely have had far reaching consequences for Senator Sanders’ campaign.”
mike and Truthseeker ~ This primary season has turned out to have been a sharp slap in the face (or punch in the jaw) to anyone who dares to lean to the left of establishment Democrats (otherwise known, by those who can see, as conservatives in disguise). These people, headed by the DNC and the Clinton's influence, have far too much power. Bernie obviously knows this, but has the good sense not to put it clearly into words in public - doesn't wish to go the way of Paul Wellstone and others! He has come near to it, however.
We can do little, other than to use our votes as a protest, and let the chips fall wherever.
I've seen various "plans" in online commentary, such as considering to vote for whoever is most likely to be gone after 4 years (or sooner) rather than who we'd be stuck with for 8 years; or, which of the nominees would be most likely nominee for impeachment leading to resignation; which of the 2 nominees is the more effective evil.
SCOTUS potentialities loom over the choice of many, and not without cause.
I'm coming to the conclusion that, as the commenter quoted at the top of today's post wrote - that in safe red or blue states voting any third party is a chance to give them more legitimacy in future elections, to get one or more of them onto more states' ballots and debates, break the dang duopoly. In swing states, then maybe vote the least effective evil as each voter determines it.
It's such a sad state of affairs that it has to come to this!
mike - Best dogvid I saw this week below. Enjoy!
http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/videos/jumping-pup-has-discovered-whole-new-kind-excitement
Sabina - Thanks! Yes, that's a good one. GoDoGo ball thrower is a blessing for many humans and their dogs...LOL. The dog understood the timing of the device, too, which surprised me, but it probably learned the hard way and was punched a couple of times. Also, the blase of the black dog.
Sabina - Also...my GiGi does not chase balls, play with toys, chew on items, etc. She'd run with fright away from the GoDogGo. She's 12.5 years old and still loves to rambunctiously play with other dogs, but most neighbor-dogs on my block have enjoyed playing with GiGi until they reach the age of two or three, then it's over, much to GiGi's dismay.
mike - What kind of dog is she? Ageism amongst the canine set - who'd a thunk it?
She's a Yorkshire Terrier. She was temporarily left in my care 11 years ago, so that a friend of mine could take care of his cancer-stricken mother on the West Coast...he never returned for her. I first met her when she was four months old...she immediately hopped onto my lap and wouldn't budge...we bonded! I never had any pets my entire adult life, due to long hours and travel for work, so this was extra special for me. She's a standard Yorkie, but was sold as a miniature...she was three weeks old when sold and almost died. She's never had a full-on immune system and has had too many near-death experiences, plus she was made very ill with the melamine-in-dog-food recalls of 2006-2007, which probably undermined her long-term health. I take very good care of her...she's my baby...LOL.
mike - So she's a toy size, not a teacup size? Teacups, sadly, became a fad when Paris Hilton got one, which reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon:
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/They-were-bred-originally-to-be-hors-d-uvres-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Posters_i9168685_.htm
LOL, Sabina! No, GiGi isn't an hors d'oeuvres...she's more like an entree plus dessert. GiGi weighs 15 pounds, which is about twice the standard breed's weight. I never thought she was purebred, though she's registered as such. Yorkies have a tendency toward "throwback" produced when both parents have recessive genes and I had been told GiGi was a throwback. I met a woman in my neighborhood that has a male exactly the same size and colors as GiGi and she told me that hers was indeed a purebred, as her mother is a breeder and she acquired her male from her. GiGi has beautiful steel-blue body with blonde legs and head...never-ending hair growth, but I nub her once a month, which makes her appear as a plain terrier.
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