The penultimate pre-election Trump link dump

Trump says he insulted women ‘for the purpose of entertainment’

hillary-started-trump-u
I haven’t written about Donald Trump lately. It isn’t that he hasn’t ticked me off. In fact, after about a week of not saying too many irritating things a while back, he has returned to form, and that was before the 2005 tape was revealed.

But I haven’t the energy to rant on him. Other sources are doing that for me. So I’ve cleaned out my email with this link dump.

There are basically two narratives about why the mainstream media is finally spending more time analyzing The Donald:

1) He is the nominee of a major party, not just one of 17 candidates for the GOP nomination. The media were counting on someone who was a grownup would defeat him in the primaries – surely they won’t nominate HIM – and they could pretty much go with the entertainment/ratings of the sideshow. But when that didn’t happen – and it’s been at least likely since March 15, when Marco Rubio lost Florida. – they were then obliged to do their jobs.

2) The media is out to get him because they’re all Hillary Clinton supporters.

I think 1) is true, but I also believe Donald ticked off the media when he called them together for “a major” address on the birther issue, spent 30 minutes doing an infomercial about his properties, spent 30 seconds saying that Barack Obama WAS an American after all and that it was Hillary who created the birther movement. The press corps felt they had been played, and they did not like it.

Did this bring on The Death of ‘He Said, She Said’ Journalism? “The New York Times responds to a candidate who breaks all the rules by discarding some of its own.” In other words, trashing the false equivalence argument?

So here is a load of links about DJT. This is hardly an exhaustive list, just a number I’ve come across since the last link dump. Feel free to add your favorite links in the comment section, or on my Facebook feed to this article.

If you read nothing else, read the first one, because it links to other stories.

Investigative Reporters and Donald Trump: the 9 Best Articles

The Many Scandals of Donald Trump: A Cheat Sheet

The question of what Donald Trump “really believes” has no answer

Lies

Powerful New Clinton Ad Nails The Impact Of Trump’s Vile Behavior

USA Today’s non-endorsement. Plus Newspaper endorsements in the United States presidential election, 2016

UN Rights Chief Blasts Trump as ‘Dangerous’ for Global Community

30 GOP Ex-Pols: Trump a ‘Disgraceful’ and ‘Unacceptable Danger’

Trump budget would boost debt more than HRC’s

The Trump supporter

The ‘Trump Effect’ is contaminating our kids — and could resonate for years

‘Finally. Someone who thinks like me.’

Christians Must Stop Pretending About Donald Trump – Stop pretending that you know what God’s thinking.

How to Talk to Trump Supporters (Robert Reich)

On Your Way to the Camps, I Just Want You to Know…

Video of Trump explaining his dangerous theory that people like him have superior genes

The Post-Trump Problem

Bill of Rights

Trumpism Is the Symptom of a Gravely Ill Constitution; No matter what happens in November, the sickness may be terminal.

Donald Trump Tells Non-Christians At Rally To Identify Themselves

Donald Trump Suggests ‘Freedom Of Expression’ Is Hurting Fight Against Terrorism

On the right to counsel for Ahmad Khan Rahami

International Affairs

Donald Trump’s Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia

Trump Did Business With Castro’s Cuba

Money from the Saudis

Business

Donald Trump Counts on Scamming Others to Make His Money

Donald Trump’s Business Plan Left a Trail of Unpaid Bills and Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills. As a librarian for small businesses, this particularly irritates me.

Trump may not have paid federal taxes for nearly 20 years and Trump Tax Tweets. No wonder he doesn’t release his taxes.

Trump’s father helped him with numerous loans

The People Behind The Apprentice Owe America the Truth About Donald Trump

American Steel workers screwed

Trump Foundation

New York attorney general has notified Donald Trump that his charitable foundation is violating state law – by soliciting donations without proper certification – and ordered Trump’s charity to stop its fund-raising immediately.

Trump Used Foundation Money to Launch Presidential Campaign

Settling legal problems with money from his charity

Women

I had finished this blog post BEFORE the recent revelations. Shows you what I know. I was appalled by the “all guys do it” defense, and the sometimes vociferous attacks by the Trump defenders against men (including myself) who found Trump’s comments abnormal.

The Most Disturbing Aspect Of The Trump Video Is One That Many Men Won’t Appreciate. And a report that in 2010, that it was his M.O.

Trump says he insulted women ‘for the purpose of entertainment’

Trump Called Her A “Cnt” And “Sht For Brains” For Writing A Story He Didn’t Like

50 Ways Donald Trump Is Every Obnoxious Man You’ve Ever Met – He’s THAT guy.

Porn Trump

“The Blacks”

Donald Trump Says Central Park Five Are Guilty, Despite DNA Evidence

Trump Calls For Intimidation At Polling Places In Black Neighborhoods

Trump barred from civil rights museum after his cronies made demands and bullied the staff

Comedy

Carly Simon allows the use of ‘You’re So Vain’ in an anti-Trump video—with one tiny tweak

Trump Lies about His Birther Past – Late Night with Seth Meyers

Doonesbury on Trump

JORDAN KLEPPER FINGERS THE PULSE – CONSPIRACY THEORIES THRIVE AT A DONALD TRUMP RALLY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Cartoon: Donald Trump’s tremendous charities

Mr Brunelle Explains It All – read many of them

Joss Whedon returns with star-studded, anti-Trump video to get out the vote

Satire: Evidence That Trump Is a Genius – CHRISTIE CALLS TRUMP GENIUS FOR PLAN TO BURN DOWN WHITE HOUSE AND COLLECT INSURANCE and Putin cancels campaign event with Trump

In conclusion

Did the movie A Face in the Crowd predict Trump’s rise?

Both Keith Olbermann and Dan Rather point to Trump’s debate threat against H. Clinton as worthy of a despot, tyrant, or monarch – not a president

STEVE SCHMIDT, Republican strategist, on Meet the Press, October 9, 2016:
What [the Trump candidacy] exposes, though, is much deeper and it goes to the Republican Party as an institution. This, this candidacy, the magnitude of its disgrace to the country is almost impossible, I think, to articulate. But it has exposed the intellectual rot in the Republican Party. It has exposed at a massive level the hypocrisy, the modern-day money changers in the temple like Jerry Falwell Jr. And so, this party, to go forward and to represent a conservative vision for America, has great soul searching to do. And what we’ve seen and the danger for all of these candidates is over the course of the last year, these, these candidates who have repeatedly put their party ahead of their country, denying what is so obviously clear to anybody who’s watching about his complete and total manifest unfitness for this office.

Random notes from Facebook

obama-cryWhen another person and I, separately, posted on Facebook from The New Yorker, The News Reshuffled what was clearly a piece of satire, Emotional Obama Tearfully Thanks Trump for Granting Him Citizenship, a few people thought it was unfunny. One, on my feed, said it was a “lie” that I was sharing FOX News garbage, and that the New Yorker is a terrible magazine.

Trying to explain that it was meant as humor did not help. However, when I posted, from the same source, that Obama had paid Mexico $5 million to keep Trump, now THAT was considered funny.
***
I believe:

One should NEVER say, “See what I did there?” As The Daughter rightly notes, it lessens the joke. Let others notice.

A: After releasing his health records to Dr. Oz, Donald Trump is now said to be considering allowing only Tex Baxter and Lois Lane to cover him. Peter Parker, Jimmy Olsen, and “Animal” will form the press photo pool.
B: What about Clark Kent?
A: Too much of a liberal do-gooder. “Truth and justice.” So corrupt!
Me: And Clark would see right through him.
C: I see what you did there! 😀
***
I posted this video on Facebook, Are Cracker, White Trash, & Redneck Racist? from Decoded on MTV News, which led to a very long conversation about white privilege, which Francesca Ramsey mentioned only in passing. Conversations about white privilege are ALWAYS lengthy.

I appreciated input from Michael Rivest and others on this, but I shan’t relitigate it here.

It’s a good thing I didn’t post the White Fragility Workplace Training.
***
Keith Olbermann took on DJT in GQ, which Arthur linked to. In a Facebook discussion, someone wrote of Olbermann: “He is a paid character assassin. He’s rehashing the same accusations made against Trump. since the beginning of his campaign.”

To which someone else noted: “I will refrain from insulting you personally. But as Roger [me] said, you only have to listen to what comes out of Trump’s mouth. And because he is featured on almost every news and talk show 24/7, I have heard him actually say most of the things Olbermann attributed to him. In other cases, I have read the accounts of people that have had to deal with him. I even know a couple of people personally who have had to try and get paid for the work they did for him. So this is not a ‘choice’ I have to make about believing Olbermann or not. It is the sad reality of Donald Trump. It’s hard to imagine that one guy running for President can be such an ass clown, but then Mr. Trump is no ordinary guy.”
***
areacode-new-yorkmapA local reporter posted on Facebook: “the #518 is getting a new area code. Like or dislike…”

Wow, the dislike was STRONG. “I dislike this change. Life is more complicated when there are more numbers to use.” Which is true; one will have to dial 518, even within the 518, which I have to do at work presently. But people won’t have to get new phone numbers; the new area code, which has not yet been determined, will be for new calls. Expect it in October.

Someone asked if we’d get 666. I wrote: Here’s the current list. 666 IS available, but don’t count on it!

One person would have preferred they divided 518 geographically, as they did with 914, leaving only Westchester County, just north of Albany, as 914 and creating a new area code 845 in the rest of the area. “An overlay means if I get a new neighbor, I may need to dial 10 numbers to call her. An overlay is easier for them, not us. Another example of not putting people first.”

Not necessarily. The change was a pain for all those counties in the Mid Hudson section of New York who had to change ads, make new business cards, repaint signs. Not to mention all the folks interacting with those people, businesses, colleges, governments, et al.

“This area could have kept 518 in the Capital District.”

Probably not. The plan that was rejected “would have meant giving residents of both Albany and Troy, as well as towns south of them, a brand new area code and phone numbers to learn.”

But my favorite comment was “Don’t they have anything better to do?” Actually, making sure we have enough phone exchanges IS what THEY do.

September rambling #1: unfinished art

Busker lends a helping hand to people with cancer

Blessed are the poor
Instead of Dumbing Down

Meet the People Who Believe the Earth Is Flat

Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun; Scientists’ warnings that the rise of the sea would eventually imperil the US coastline are no longer theoretical

How Trolls Are Ruining the Internet

The Falling Man

The FBI Accused Him of Terrorism; He Couldn’t Tie His Shoes

The Aurora shooting survivors’ $700,000 legal bill shows the difficult reality of one Colorado law

Risky alone, deadly together Overdosing on prescription drug combinations plays a part in the growing rates of premature death among white women

White people think racism is getting worse, against white people

White privilege has enormous implications for policy — but whites don’t think it exists

‘He paid a dear price for it’: The 19th-century ordeal of one of America’s first transgender men

JEWEL OF THE NILE and why Ken Levine will be forever haunted by it

Who is Funding the Backlash against John Oliver’s Charter School Critique?

‘Playing Joan Crawford ruined my career’: Faye Dunaway says Mommie Dearest changed the way Hollywood thought of her

Now I Know: The Pool Party That Wasn’t a Gas and A Token Effort

One in Four Americans Didn’t Read a Book Last Year, But don’t mourn the death of the printed word just yet

Introvert Hangovers Can Be Really Rough

Hugh O’Brian, Star of TV’s Wyatt Earp, Dies at 91

Actor Jon Polito, known for roles in Coen brother films ‘The Big Lebowski’ and ‘Miller’s Crossing,’ dead at 65

Trouble with Comics contributor Tim Durkee passed away

Woman in iconic WWII Times Square kiss photograph dies at 92

A little good news

Dozens of higher education institutions in New York state will stop asking applicants whether they have past criminal convictions

Jerry Lewis returns, at 90

Star Trek: The Making of The Next Generation’s Greatest Episode, ‘The Inner Light’ and When ST was banned in Albany and ST and Jaquandor

Gene Wilder on Willy Wonka Remake, Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks, and more (2013)

Actress Bea Arthur leaves LGBT youth a generous gift in her will

Ken Levine’s favorite celebrity sighting

Dan Van Riper: We Walked The Entire Rail Trail From the South End of Albany all the way to Voorheesville

An exhibition celebrates unfinished art

Early comics reading and A Number 1 By Any Other Name, both featuring moi

Busker lends a helping hand to people with cancer (Roger Green, not me)

Alicia Abdul: My favorite part of the trip– the Library of Congress!

Library Gothic

The fifty-year odyssey of a born-again baseball fan

High school was hard, and no one showed it better than My So-Called Life

How Lace Is Made

Finding Dory As Told By Emoji

When He Turned Out the Light, He Was in Bed Before the Room Was Dark

Berlioz

Star Trek suites

Fred Hellerman, Last Living Member of Folk Group the Weavers, Dead at 89 – Folk icon also produced Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’

Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies No. 5 in E minor and No. 6 in B minor

Cover of Michael Jackson’s Bad by Jordan’s Project (Big Band; Soloist – Artur Katz)

K-Chuck Radio: The Vanda and Young Songbook

Four chords, no waiting

An Oral History of “We Built This City,” the Worst Song of All Time; or at least a real contender.

Beatles appropriation and ‘Eight Days a Week’ — The Beatles’ story in Ron Howard’s documentary

Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Rolling Stones Songs

All 314 Bruce Springsteen Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best

Beach Boys: Mike Love’s Endless Summer of Love

Playbill Asked Over 70 Actors to Name Their Favorite Show Tune of All Time

The Price is Right losing horn

Links galore: Barack, Hillary, and Donald

I’ve decided to offload the overtly political links here, not because they’re more important, but because they are more volatile.

obama-clinton-trumpDo you know what I hate? The political rhetoric that doesn’t inform, but merely belittles the other. Recent examples:
*Hey look, the GOP is drowning. Throw them an anvil, STAT!
*Trump Is ‘Urinating On You And Telling You To Dance In The Rain’
Really?

Oh, there are more, but I’m too tired to look. And there are equally vile, or worse, comments aimed at Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the Democrats.

One of the things I pride myself on is reading a wide variety of opinions, even those I disagree with vehemently. I have a particularly curious relationship with the husband of a friend of mine. He’s made some decent points on his Facebook page, particularly about Hillary Clinton.

But then he has to spoil it all, by saying something wacky, such as citing former FEMA head Michael Brown as proof that Obama’s response to the Louisiana flooding was inadequate. It’d be like Oliver North complaining about money for hostages or citing Dinesh D’Souza about much of anything.

I never look for these links, BTW; they come to me by various email subscriptions or I see them on Facebook or someone emailed to me directly. I don’t do a Google search. And as of August 24, I had some mondo list of various links, with another week to go before the usual linkage.

I’ve decided to offload the overtly political ones here, not because they’re more important, but because they are more volatile. I had some article about Trump canceling some rallies, but he’s so mercurial, they might be back on.

But first, 3 Reasons the Standing Rock Sioux Can Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. I hope they succeed.

Barack Obama

Obama Shows How A Real President Acts During Tour Of Louisiana Flood Damage

‘Heckuva Job Brownie’ Slams Obama’s ‘Botched’ Response to Louisiana Floods

Why “Obama’s Katrina” Never Sticks But Won’t Die; A conservative meme resurfaces after the deadly flooding in Baton Rouge

5 myths about Presidential vacations, which was from a couple of years ago, but still valid

Hillary Clinton

Her speech on the alt-right A primer on alt-right

How Hillary Clinton Became A Hated Yankees Fan

The AP’s big exposé on Hillary meeting with Clinton Foundation donors is a mess

What does the Clinton Foundation do, other than get attacked by Republicans?

Donald Trump

A Full List of Donald Trump’s Rapidly Changing Policy Positions

The 258 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter: A Complete List

Democracy Will Survive This, With Damage

Trump’s damage has already been done: He has nurtured a generation of racist bullies; Win or lose, Trump has inspired a new wave of racial hostility in America, and capitalized on it

How Evangelicals are Losing an Entire Generation

Those who view him favorably are disproportionately living in racially and culturally isolated zip codes

Eugene Robinson On Trump’s New ‘Outreach’: ‘He Wasn’t Speaking To African Americans’ and Minorities Not Buying Trump’s Bogus Outreach

It’s time to accept that he is never going to learn basic stuff about the world

He Used Campaign Donations to Buy $55,000 of His Own Book

Trump App Collects Data From Phone’s Contacts, Draws Ire of Privacy Experts

I SPENT 5 YEARS WITH SOME OF TRUMP’S BIGGEST FANS. HERE’S WHAT THEY WON’T TELL YOU; How Donald Trump took a narrative of unfairness and twisted it to his advantage

Understanding Trump

‘The Daily Show’ Takes On Trump’s Relations With Workers

Guess How Much Time He Spent ‘Helping Out’ Louisiana Flood Victims. Plus PHOTO OPS, BAD OPTICS, AND PLAY-DOH

Trump, allies push conspiracy theory about Clinton’s health

Angry

Barbra Streisand:Singer Performs Duet With Jimmy Fallon on ‘The Tonight Show’

Trump blames bad poll numbers on the existence of the numerical system

Trump campaign chief Steve Bannon is a registered voter at a vacant Florida home

The Appalling Last Act of Rudy Guiliani

I think this article is mistitled – Another Frank Luntz GOP focus group spells disaster for Donald Trump. At least half of them said Trump could still get their vote if he stays on message. They seemed to be impressed by his “apology.” That’s why I think DT is going to be elected unless he takes John Oliver’s advice to drop out of the race.

Different take on the news

I need to get a different take on the news for a while.

You start writing a blog post, and sometimes, at some point, it just loses its joy.

Yeah, I was going to write about the lying Ryan Lochte and the other Olympic swimmers, and how he particularly was the Ugly American abroad. And Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada downplaying their actions may be a case of white male privilege– OK, probably is, while the black girls’ hair is analyzed.

And I was going to write about the Louisiana flooding and whether there was enough media coverage – the New York Times acknowledged it was slow on the story, but I saw it daily on TV – and which politician should visit when, and whether Obama was responsible for Katrina.

And there’s this story about Donald Trump’s health report that was released in December of 2015, when most people thought it was bogus. So why is it a big news story only NOW? Because there are folks with a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton’s health, which Trump has helped spread, which the Democrats are contradicting.

Plus stuff about Paul Manifort and the Russians, and California fires, and explaining that this story about Obama banning the Pledge of Allegiance is bogus. I had thoughts on all of it. But then I realized something, that was just for a while, a little more important to me.
llws
That is: a team from Maine-Endwell, NY is in the Little League World Series, after going 19-0. The hamlet of Endwell is in Broome County, where Binghamton, my hometown, is the county seat. “It’s the first time in over 35 years that a team from anywhere other than New York City has represented the Mid-Atlantic region in Williamsport.”

M-E won its first LLWS game on Thursday, 7-2, over a team from New England, Warwick North (Rhode Island). The team will play today in the double-elimination tournament, which means that, if they should lose today, they’re not yet eliminated.

I need to get a different take on the news for a while and may take a hiatus from the cares of the world, especially on Facebook. Instead, I will concern myself with fastballs and turning the double play, for a little while. Well, except for the stuff I’ve already written, and if something REALLY big happens…

Ramblin' with Roger
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