…don’t dream it’s over [DOT 31/8/20]

how you gonna have a dream come true...

…according to at least one book it’s supposedly harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the promised land

A worldwide virus-hunting program allowed to expire last year by the Trump administration, just before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, will have a second life — whatever the outcome of the presidential election.

…but according to a different sort of book

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/

…if the rich part is a bluff

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/31/trump-rnc-world-reaction

…even a rank idiot can still be within the margin for error

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/florida-political-geography

…&…I for one am failing to rest easy on that point

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/it-s-biden-s-lose-he-still-could-state-race-n1238768

Over the past week, the Republican National Convention sought to conjure a “radical left” hellscape.

…so

Conventions Can Boost the Incumbent. Did It Work This Time?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/bourbon-broadcasts-trump-s-dc-hotel-functioned-rnc-party-central-n1238771

[by comparison – https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-hotel-vancouver-permanently-closed/2020/08/28/story.html – just sayin’]

…forgive me if this is a question of shipping coals to Newcastle

…but as it happens they haven’t mined their own coal in that part of the world for a good while now

The Rent Eats First, Even During a Pandemic

…& just as recently as yesterday I found out that even in places I’d have expected to not everyone has run across this…or at least the word some people use to describe it

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stochastic_terrorism

…now…wired often seems to me to be overly fond of superlatives that aren’t strictly applicable…so even in 2019 I’d argue suggesting it takes a “master” to employ such tactics was unduly asinine…but all the same there’s definitely something to the mechanism that goes beyond the conceptual level

https://www.wired.com/story/jargon-watch-rising-danger-stochastic-terrorism/

…& even without the reich-wing lunatics to be frank the cognitive dissonance of some of those wilfully ignorant potential Dolt45 voters qualifies by any reasonable metric as extremism

…so the woeful truth of the matter is that it has for some years now been no exaggeration to declare the “acting” president as an actual terrorist

Trump, Vicar of Fear and Violence

…& yes…by that definition you could argue that, as Obi Wan might say “from a certain point of view” you could thereby claim that if not a tale as old as time it’s at least one old enough to predate the presidency itself

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-clashes-between-armed-groups-and-leftist-protesters-turn-deadly-police-face-complaints-of-tolerating-vigilantes/2020/08/30/story.html

The FBI warned for years that police are cozy with the far right. Is no one listening?

…which might well be a better point than any I find myself trying to make this morning

Breonna Taylor’s Life Was Changing. Then the Police Came to Her Door.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/deeply-reckless-critics-slam-leaked-police-memo-about-breonna-taylor-n1238777

Phoenix Settles With Black Family After Police Drew Guns Over Reported Doll Theft

How Minneapolis police handled the in-custody death of a Black man 10 years before George Floyd

…but all the same

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-rails-against-protesters-following-unrest-portland-n1238808

Portland Shooting Amplifies Tensions in Presidential Race. — A fatal shooting in Portland, Ore., over the weekend led President Trump to unleash a torrent of tweets and attacks on Sunday, capping a volatile week of street violence that is becoming a major theme in the final weeks of the 2020 campaign.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/portland-mayor-responds-to-trumps-tweet-in-real-time/2020/08/30/video.html

In a Twitter barrage, the president advanced conspiracy theories claiming that protests are an organized coup and that the virus death toll is inflated. He also reposted a call to imprison New York’s governor.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fistfights-streets-pro-trump-caravan-protesters-clashed-prior-portland-death-n1238811

A man affiliated with a right-wing group was shot and killed on Saturday as a large group of supporters of President Trump traveled in a caravan through downtown Portland, Ore., which has seen nightly protests for three consecutive months.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/30/kenosha-shooting-victims-defense

What Happened in Portland? Here’s What We Know

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/29/blm-activists-counterprotesters-clash-portland-leading-arrests

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-fatally-shot-portland-protesters-clash-counterprotesters-n1238802

President Trump and his cronies are like the cartoon villains in movies who not only unleash dastardly plots but then helpfully explain them to the audience. Thus on Thursday, the president’s outgoing counselor, Kellyanne Conway, told Fox News: “The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best on public safety and law and order.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/30/trump-cannot-be-allowed-incite-his-way-reelection

…ironically

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/chairman-joint-chiefs-says-no-role-military-presidential-election-n1238772

…the bit about the “very clear choice” actually ought to be true

He uses scare tactics about “law and order.” But what distinguishes this White House is its ties to criminals.

…& yet in a depressingly orwellian example of double-speak the meaning oh-so-obviously intended by the departing kool-aid dissemination device is characteristically diametrically opposed to reality

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/promises-kept-not-entirely-here-are-five-pocketbook-pledges-trump-broke

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-ponderous-low-energy-guy-is-trump/2020/08/28/story.html

…who, let’s not forget

The former deputy attorney general maneuvered to keep investigators from completing an inquiry into whether the president’s personal and financial links to Russia posed a national security threat.

…is a harsh mistress

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/dni-will-no-longer-brief-congress-person-election-security-over-leak-concerns

Lawmakers in both parties worry the move will block their ability to question and test intelligence assessments that can be crucial to ensuring that foreign powers do not undermine election results.

…so while visible support is all well & good

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-latest-battlefield-in-a-heated-presidential-campaign-front-yards-bearing-biden-signs/2020/08/29/story.html

‘He Did What?’: On Trump, Merkel’s Face Does the Talking

…when the other side is always willing to stoop lower

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/30/ady-barkan-scalise-twitter-video

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/convalescent-plasma-treatment-covid19-fda/2020/08/29/story.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/if-republicans-really-cared-about-hurricane-victims-they-d-stop-denying-climate-change

…I’d argue there’s a need to dig down & fight the roots of the thing

The Princess vs. the Portrait in Trumpworld

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/28/there-is-dormant-trump-vote-best-place-look-probably-isnt-facebook-memes

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/zuckerberg-says-facebook-made-operational-mistake-not-taking-down-militia-n1238730

Big Oil Is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa With Plastic.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/apple-google-or-facebook-fortnite-lawsuit-shows-who-s-been-getting-too-much-love

The coronavirus was an opportunity for the Treasury secretary to redefine his legacy, for better or worse.

…but…it is monday…so maybe I’m just mad the weekend is over & I still feel like I’m out another day of rest…& I’d like to remember what having one or two of those from time to time felt like because even the memory is starting to fade at this point

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/mike-pompeo-is-the-worst-secretary-of-state-in-history/2020/08/30/story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dont-forget-about-inflation/2020/08/30/story.html

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5 Comments

  1. As always, thank you for culling current events for us. On an up-note, excellent musical choices today, from KRS-One to the Pixies. On a low-note, your point “so the woeful truth of the matter is that it has for some years now been no exaggeration to declare the “acting” president as an actual terrorist” seems accurate.

  2. I am amazed that Trumpers can even lie after they die!
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/herman-cain-coronavirus-not-as-deadly_n_5f4ca08fc5b64f17e13fc8b4
    As you all know, I am a Laker fan but I am such an NBA junkie that I watch all the games I can.  Last night’s Nugget/Jazz game was one for the ages and hard not to root for Jamal Murray after that performance!
     
    https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/jamal-murray-bubble-play-weight-social-justice-nuggets-jazz-01eh23wrgeh3
     

  3. I am entirely impressed/amazed/horrified by the term stochastic terrorism. This is the first time I’ve encountered the phrase but I’m sitting here saying, “Holy shit, this is absolutely correct.” 
     
    I’m also reminded of Asimov’s psychohistory in his Foundation series. The premise is that a mathematician can predict the future of large populations, but not specific individuals, by basically extrapolating from statistical analysis. It’s got a lot of the same elements — you don’t know what nutjob will take a certain action, but odds are at least one nutjob will
     
    That’s giving Trump too much credit, of course, but I do feel that instinctively he’s managed to latch on to a way to attack his enemies while maintaining deniability. 

  4. for some reason the us of a wont need more ventilators (or…at least not philips made ones)
    https://nltimes.nl/2020/08/31/us-kills-philips-deal-wont-buy-30000-icu-ventilators
    i… dont actually know what to make of that one…on the one hand…dick move backing out of a major order half way through like that…but i guess with the current admin its not unexpected and philips took that gamble
    im going to use up my last shreds of optimism here and say the us must have enough ventilators now and arent just killing a deal coz they dont need it right this second….

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