Democrats.. :^/

They wouldn't know science if it came up and bit them on the ass...

Trumpers... :D

So much for the claim that President Trump voters are experiencing buyer's remorse...

No regrets there!!! :D

Of course you don't...

And, if you DO want to offer proof, it better be anything but some Left Whinery rag...

If it's that, I shall taunt you a second time... :D

And, of course, you have FACTS to back up your claim, right??

Of course you don't...

When it comes to hysterical hating Anti-President Trump minions, they live in a fact-free environment...

Good article. But I disagree that it was built on a lie... It was built on limited perspectives.

I see what you are talking about..

When Michael Brown raised his arms to his shoulders as an expression of COME ON!! TAKE ME ON!!, some witnesses extrapolated that into he was raising his arms in surrender...

But once the complete facts were known they should have admitted that they were wrong..

While it may be too strong (but factually accurate) to say HANDS UP DON'T SHOOT was built on a lie, it's ALSO completely factual to say that the slogan was built on intentional mis-interpretation of the facts...

Michael Brown was no martyr, and Black Lives Matter does a disservice to the Black community by insisting that he was one. Unless they are telling the children that what Brown did was wrong and he was responsible for his own death, then we can expect incidents like what occurred in Ferguson to continue.

Yep....

Once again, you are describing Democrats and their messiah PERFECTLY!!!

It's amazing!! :D

Sad...

That's the big question, isn't it? Apparently a lot of people-who-voted-Trump are having regrets, but whether they realize they've been "conned" -- whether they understand they were being shamelessly played -- isn't clear.

As for the core-Trumpers, its hard to say if any of them will ever get it. Coz they don't really have a clue about policies or the law or the constitution or separation of powers or how government works. The main thing they know is that Trump hates the same people they hate/fears the same people they fear. Or at least, he says he does -- who knows what he actually feels-thinks about anything? They may well decide he's been screwed over by name-your-scapegoat(s) and that everything would have been great if name-your-scapegoat(s) hadn't gotten in his way. Even if they, themselves, are hurt, they will try to find anyone else to blame besides their beloved.

Sad.

Trump appears to be sticking his fingers in his ears and screaming "Nuh uhhhhhhhhhhh" as the Comey hearing goes on. Still insisting President Obama wiretapped him.

But, but, but... Trump saw it on Fox News. The birther nonsense went on for years where Trump made up BS about Obama. This is just more of the same utter nonsense con artist bullshittery except now he's the President of the United States, and it doesn't just reflect on him but the entire country.

PT has taken the stage in Kentucky to supposedly have a rally for Trumpcare. He's already admitted his voters will be hurt the most by the bill's passage, but what will he tell the sheeple?

At what point do the sheeple catch on to the con?

Good article. But I disagree that it was built on a lie... It was built on limited perspectives. There were a handful of witnesses that believed Brown was raising his arms and trying to drop to his knees when he was shot by Wilson. Those witnesses all shared one thing in common: they only became aware of the conflict AFTER they heard the first shot fired. None of them witnessed the struggle that had occurred prior to the shot being fired. Witnesses that saw the entire conflict from start to finish believed Brown was the attacker and Wilson was defending himself according to their testimony.

One thing that I think most people failed to realize is that the witnesses who thought Brown was putting his arms up in surrender and the witnesses who thought Brown was charging at Wilson when Brown was shot are describing the same exact physical movements made by Brown. The actions described by both sets of witnesses were identical, only their beliefs of Brown's intentions differed. Both groups described Brown turning around to face Wilson as Wilson ordered him to stop. Brown then started moving forward (either to drop to a knee or to charge) while raising his arms forward.
This was when Wilson shot Brown, killing him.

Michael Brown was no martyr, and Black Lives Matter does a disservice to the Black community by insisting that he was one. Unless they are telling the children that what Brown did was wrong and he was responsible for his own death, then we can expect incidents like what occurred in Ferguson to continue.

not at all. there's nothing inherently wrong with a filibuster if its purpose is to insist upon full deliberation. a filibuster only becomes wrong if the other side offers a substantial compromise and it is summarily ignored. so far only the republicans have done wrong on this supreme court vacancy, and that wrong would be compounded were it to go unanswered.

JL

Sent strobe tweets to induce epileptic seizures.

Trumpers.

Still insisting that Trump colluded with the Russians???

However we can't know whether to trust Comey.

You trusted Comey after he said NOT-45 committed no crime...

What gives???

In other words, two wrongs make a right...???

Just want to make sure we're on the same page... :D

do i have to break out the picard quote again?

there can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. Even life itself is an exercise in exceptions.

When does the right to dissent become endlessly obstructing??

when the right to be heard morphs into the right to be the only ones heard. i started out with a concrete example - if garland gets a vote (which would inevitably be a no), dems would have no leg to stand on in denying a confirmation vote to gorsuch, or anyone else. as things stand now, a filibuster would have legs, with legs to spare.

JL

There is NO FACTS to support the accusation that there was collusion between Team Trump and the Russians...

Ouch!! That's GOTTA hurt.. :D

GOP'ers dutifully calling out "leakers" instead of taking any interest in the possibility of Russian/Trump-team collusion. Cheating, obstruction -- that there's your GOP.

However we can't know whether to trust Comey. Reporters have to stay on the story and continue their own investigations since the GOP will close ranks and try to cover-up for as long as they can get away with it. It cannot and should not come down to the words of one man because then whichever side "loses" won't know what to believe.

Which can still be a problem even if real reporters do real reporting. But at least then the reality-based community will feel better -- Trump-loons going to froth their way to the bitter end regardless of things like "evidence".

And now we begin with the qualifications...

When does the right to dissent become endlessly obstructing??

Who decides that???

i just think allowing a supreme court nomination to expire without a single minute of deliberation is a seriously bad precedent to set.

The last 8 years has been replete with seriously bad precedents...

i expect no less. but as i said, the right of the minority to dissent is not the right to endlessly obstruct. if garland is entitled to be deliberated and voted on, gorsuch is entitled to be deliberated and voted on as well (and presumably voted in). i just think allowing a supreme court nomination to expire without a single minute of deliberation is a seriously bad precedent to set.

JL

i think that rule would be manipulated to get people automatically approved by refusing to hold deliberations, the opposite problem as last year. any rule, no matter how well crafted, can be bent to a nefarious political end if there's the will to do so and insufficient power aligned against such actions.

JL

Democrats.....

FBI, NSA has absolutely NO EVIDENCE that any votes were changed by Russian actors...

Ya'all have been played....

Pure and simple....

Welcome to the new Democrat Party....

Or, I should just say...

Democrats....

I'll remind you of that if the Democrat Party ever becomes the majority in our lifetimes.. :D

Pure unadulterated bigotry...

Welcome to the new Democrat Party....

the right of the minority to vote their dissent is not "semantics" nor is it the "definition of is" - minority dissent is a vital part of the bedrock of our government, no matter who is in the majority. that is why the entire senate is required by constitutional precedent to be able to deliberate and vote, even if the political will of the majority dictates otherwise.

JL

Again, semantics..

"The Senate" confirmed the nominee, even though 100% of the Senate did not..

We can argue the definition of 'is' until the cows come home.. But the simple fact is that the Majority Party speaks for the Senate... It was that way when the Dems were the majority, it is that way when the GOP is the majority...

The Majority sets the agenda...

The Majority says, "The Senate will work on this, the Senate will not work on that. The Senate will take up this, the Senate will not take up that."

This is the reality of how our system works...

I understand what you are trying to say.. The full Senate did not agree to NOT advise and consent on Garland...

That is irrelevant to the issue..

I also point out, once again, that if this situation had arose when the Democrats held the majority, they would have done the exact same thing the GOP did..

And my response would have been the same..

Partisan politics.. Nothing more, nothing less.

And I likely would have found the majority here in Weigantia agreed with me.. :D

Not saying YOU would have agreed with me.. But the majority would have.. :D

why is time so much more of a factor now than it was a year ago?

JL

incorrect. even though only 53% voted YES, 100% VOTED. every single senator had the opportunity to make the decision one way or the other. protecting the right of the minority to dissent is a vital part of constitutional process, and has been since 1788.

JL

I agree with you ONLY if those conditions (not wasting time and not impacting the nomination of Gorsuch) are met..

I am not sure they can be..

Time is a factor so Gorsuch should be confirmed without delay...

Do you think that Democrats will confirm him??? Or force McConnell to nuke the filibuster?

Either way, it's bad news for Dems..

And yet, if the Dem invoke the filibuster and McConnell drops a nuke, Gorsuch will be confirmed by "The Senate" even though only 53% of the Senate confirmed him..

That's the way it works...

And yet, if only 53% of the Senate votes for a judicial nominee (sans SCOTUS nominee) then "the Senate" has approved the nominee..

You are entering the area of semantics... Using your reasoning, "the Senate" doesn't pass anything unless each and every Senator agrees...

That's not how it works..

no, the majority party speaks for the majority, the senate speaks for the senate. the senate is not just its majority. the constitution doesn't say the advice and consent of 53% of the senate, it says the advice and consent of the senate. if framers of the constitution didn't mean the whole thing, they wouldn't have said so.

JL

You're wrong about that. In the most literal sense a filibuster is refusing to END discussion and vote, not refusing to START discussion.

JL

If the Senate can vote down Garland's nomination without any waste of time or repercussions, they should do it..

If only to silence the Left Whinery*.....

*Present company excepted.. :D

The Majority Party speaks for the Senate..

Just like Democrats did when THEY had the majority..

what the republicans did last year is refuse to allow the constitutional process to go forward,

And again, it's EXACTLY what the Democrats threatened to do if the situation arose when THEY were the majority...

without discussion (by the way, that's what a filibuster is, discussion).

No, a filibuster is a maneuver to PREVENT discussion of the topic at hand...

A filibuster is a way to STOP discussion...

no, the Senate did not. one party did. one party, even if they are in the majority, does NOT a senate make.

robert bork got an up or down vote, and thirty hours of hearings. THAT is an example of not giving consent. what the republicans did last year is refuse to allow the constitutional process to go forward, without discussion (by the way, that's what a filibuster is, discussion).

JL

Nothing in there that says the Senate HAS to provide advice and consent...

Nothing in there sets a timeline on when such advice and consent must be forthcoming...

The Senate can choose NOT to advise and consent...

Which is exactly what the Senate did...

Again, the Democrats threatened to do the EXACT same thing if the situation arose...

I disagree..

The power to advise and consent is the power to NOT advise and consent..

I am sure that, in the future, if the Democrats are in the same position, they will do exactly as the GOP had done..

It's what they threatened to do in the past...

no, the majority leadership denied the ability of the full senate to consent or not. by denying due process, they stepped outside of mere partisan politics and into the murky waters of the unconstitutional.

JL

The Senate DID withhold consent...

Basically, the GOP Senate did exactly what the Democrats threatened to do..

It's nothing but partisan politics...

it's the constitution. article 2 section 2 clause 2.

until the senate can give or withhold consent irrespective of which president did the nominating, they have not done their constitutional duty.

JL

Elections have consequences...

i'm okay with garland getting voted down and gorsuch being confirmed, but the refusal to even vote on garland was such a violation i think it needs to be rectified before the senate can move forward.

It's politics...

JL

Notable Exceptions Noted....

While this article is about the Gorsuch nomination, it also goes into detail about how the Democrats are adopting the GOP's PARTY OF NO mantra...

It would be a big mistake for the Democrats to think they could use the GOP playbook and obtain the same results as the GOP...

But making BIG MISTAKES is what the Democrat Party is all about these days...

Standing by my opinion that ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ was built on a lie
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/03/16/standing-by-my-opinion-that-hands-up-dont-shoot-was-built-on-a-lie/?utm_term=.4604a3df9ddd

It's funny... Lies seems to be the topic dejour so often..

But no one wants to talk about Left Whinery lies...

"Gee! I wonder why that is!!!"
-Kevin Spacey, THE NEGOTIATOR

What do ya'all think the Democrat response to the GORSUCH hearing will be??

The way I see it, the Dems have 2 choices..

1. They can go all out and fight, prompting McConnell to nuke the filibuster completely...

2. They can meekly accept Gorsuch and keep their powder dry for the next nominee...

If the Democrats do 2, their base will crucify them and many Democrats will likely get primaried by un-electable Left Whinery zealots, thereby likely assuring a GOP Super Majority in the Senate....

If the Democrats do 1, then they lose all chance of opposing 1, possibly 2 more nominees from President Trump, thereby assuring a total conservative SCOTUS for the rest of our lives...

Not a pretty position the Democrats have maneuvered themselves into, eh? :D

Which way do ya'all think the Dems will swing??

It shows complete and unequivocal ignorance of police procedures and tactics that someone would think that police must respond to every location in the exact same manner...

When I was an USAF cop and we responded to loud noise complaints, if it was at the 702 barracks, one unit was enough.. When it was at the Marine Corps barracks, a dozen units MIGHT be sufficient.. :D

Let me be clear. I am not belittling ignorance...

"There is no dishonor in not knowing everything"
-Subcommander T'al

But to come to conclusions based on ignorance??

Well, those conclusions just can't help but be totally and completely wrong...

I wish that every anti-cop Lefty would get out of their cocoon and take a ride-along with an inner city patrol..

It would be an eye-opener of colossal proportions...

But Neil.. Let's talk about how the Left Whinery has absolutely NO FACTS to support the incessant bullshit that Team Trump was in collusion with the Russians... :D

Shirley, that is a much more interesting topic, eh??

Being that ya'all have always claimed to be about FACTS and whatnot, eh?? :D

But regardless.. No matter how much you want to deny it, the simple fact is, President Trump is the leader of the free world..

He proved that at the latest G20 summit..

These are the facts.. Deal with it...

According to who???

Some Left Whinery rag???

Nothing more than wishful thinking... Just like EVERYTHING is about President Trump around here.. :D

I too, am getting concerned about CW....

And, as I predicted, Angela Merkel took the title away from him:

http://welcomebacktopottersville.blogspot.com/2017/03/yes-angela-we-all-feel-that-way.html

There was an article yesterday on HP about Dems being willing to work with the Repubs on fixing Obamacare if they gave up on repealing it and sabotaging it.

It's gone already so I can't link to it without digging, and I don't feel like digging. Maybe you saw it.

Hey, Punk; I think this is the article you're talking about to CW:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dems-trump-obamacare_us_58cb1bcfe4b00705db4dd7f3

LWYH [38]

OK, am I the only one who is a little worried by the lack of a posting from CW??? Hope everything is OK with him and his family.

Sure hope CW is okay too. :)

Last I heard, he was about to start celebrating St Patrick's Day ... and, now, I'm hoping everything is alright, too ...

A two tiered system for appropriate behavior by police can't serve justice equally.

There is a neighborhood in our town that requires at least two officers to be sent to any calls dispatched there. Why? Because there are two people who live on the same street that have made threats against the police and have a history of violence. The situation requires that the police use different tactics for this neighborhood than what they use with the others.

I don't know why you think that it is inappropriate for the police to plan out extra measures for areas that require them frequently, but this is how the police help keep the public safer.

At the Devon's previous police department, language line had to be called anytime they were dispatched to one Russian neighborhood where virtually no one spoke English. Language line is used by law enforcement and 911 dispatchers to provide 24Hour translation of close to 50 different languages. Again, this meant things were done differently for this neighborhood than for others, but you think that this shouldn't be done! You interpreted the officers response to the survey as being an excuse to use more force, but as I have shown you that doesn't necessarily jive with reality.

-Russ

Only Nixon could go to China
-Old Vulcan Proverb

Only Trump could reign in the world's top economies and push them to accept the America First agenda... :D

In other words.....

"The accusations that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia were total and complete bullshit designed to appease our rabid base..
So, please.. Don't expect us to actually come up with any FACTS to support our bullshit claims..
Thank you."
-The Democrat Party

Perhaps most revealing of all are the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee — charged with investigating these matters — who recently told BuzzFeed how petrified they are of what the Democratic base will do if they do not find evidence of collusion, as they now suspect will likely be the case. “There’s a tangible frustration over what one official called ‘wildly inflated’ expectations surrounding the panel’s fledgling investigation,” BuzzFeed’s Ali Watkins wrote.
https://theintercept.com/2017/03/16/key-democratic-officials-now-warning-base-not-to-expect-evidence-of-trumprussia-collusion/

BBBWWWWAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

Who would have thunked that ALL the accusations of Russia/Trump connection would be overblown total and unequivocal bullshit...

Who could have POSSIBLY called that!??

Oh... Wait.. :D

It's not about how much you pay. It's about how it would have been taxed if the business hadn't been in your name. If you're getting $100 in wages, $6.50 of it goes bye-bye in payroll tax. But your income is $100, and that's what you get charged income tax on. You don't get taxed on the $6.50 that was taken out before the money reached you. For every $93.50 you get, the government gets $13 in payroll tax plus whatever the income tax is on $100 -- not the income tax on $93.50 or on $106.50.

That last sentence stays the same when you're self-employed: for every $93.50 of pre-tax income you get by paying yourself wages, the government gets $13 in payroll tax plus whatever the income tax is on $100.

--

Some other commentator, in the course of saying that the tax form doesn't tell us much, said that Trump "isn't secretly broke". I don't think we can tell. If he secretly owes ten billion dollars to the Russian mafia, via some complicated paperwork to make it look legal, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't show up on a 1040.

Unfortunately, not only does the meth dealer own the house, business has been good enough that he bought the house next door too.

We live in a semi-rural area.
Going back to something you wrote earlier, gun shots are common here too... but because target practice in your back yard is legal.

A

Trump is not required by law to release anything related to his taxes or TrumpCo filings or anything.

That, of course, is not the point.

As for Trump's distraction prowess ... he doesn't need any help with that.

Wait until he must handle a real international crisis. Unfortunately, waiting until then to truncate this presidency will probably be too late.

After digesting this bit of tax wonkery... It occurs to me that the release of trumps complete tax returns will probably not show any of his foreign loans or payments from foreign powers as those would process through his TrumpCo filings, which are not required to be made public.

So at the end of the day, this release and any future releases may have done nothing but given his loyalists the fodder of saying "see he has no foreign ties".

At the end of the day my little lizard brain leads me to believe that this is just a test balloon floated by Trump to see what the reaction would be to better help him formulate a plan to control how to distract from the facts at hand regarding his business interests.

Or, Am I completely off base here?...

You should also have your friend look at this avenue as well. Specifically the Civil Abatement section.

http://criminology.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-7

If the house in question is a rental property this is another effective avenue for causing the removal of the problem.

If the neighborhood is organized and documents every problem at the property, meth houses are like a cancer and seldom is one person effected in the area, and starts to file code complaints for various activities and or code violations they can file law suits in small claims court against the landlord which will have the cumulative effect of either causing the person to be evicted or the property sold ... in either case the people will be gone.

It does require good coordination for filing the suits so that they are all filed on the same day with w request to be heard in the same court....

The end result is well worth it...

"Taking issue with the beating is something that we we should all do"

A simple statement that requires pulling teeth sometimes.
I appreciate it.

"if there are insufficient facts hold our temper until the facts come to light."

Not sure an online discussion is akin to losing your temper, but it should be noted that the argument you are making there is boilerplate, trotted out every time something like this happens.

"A two tiered system for appropriate behavior by police can't serve justice equally.

Agreed..."

And yet, our society does indeed tolerate exactly that.
I am pleased you agree with me.

"While the officer arguably did not handle the situation of the onlookers well"

But we'll give him the benefit of the doubt about the rest...

Sorry.
It had to be said.
You didn't deserve it... that was for me.

I will relay your advice to my friend.

A

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/white-house-links-washington-post-satire-236177

The complete incompetence would be funny if these clowns weren't actually in 1600 Penn.

What day is it today!?

:-)

The one I saw showed the cop chasing the guy until he got down on his knees to surrender.
When the cop got to him, instead of ordering him to lie face down and put his hands behind his back, the cop tackled him and started beating him immediately.

It speaks somewhat to my point that I had previously made. The video does not show what happened previously. The incident started across the street and eyewitness statements indicate the individual refused to comply with the officers and also shoved the officer to the ground and decided to run. The gas station seen in the background of the video is where the incident started.

That's the part I was taking issue with, and I'm not sure if what happened earlier is relevant. Playing keep away with the cop may have pissed him off, but still doesn't justify the beating.

Again, I'm not sure how the guys previous record and neighborhood justifies the beating.

Taking issue with the beating is something that we we should all do, but at the same token it is also incumbent upon all of us to also look at the facts and if there are insufficient facts hold our temper until the facts come to light. Conversely it also requires us to hold the department to the fire to get the facts out in public in a timely manner and transparent fashion that allow for healthy public discourse.

A two tiered system for appropriate behavior by police can't serve justice equally.

Agreed...

As for the onlookers moving closer for a better look, it may be foolish, but it's common, and even the article questioned the cop pointing his gun and cursing at them.

This is where the evaluation of the area comes into play. Again, the residential area is plagued by crime but not as much from those that live there but rather from the commercial area where this incident took place and the park across the street.

While the officer arguably did not handle the situation of the onlookers well, we also do not know who was approaching and what was being said. I can't say for certain that if I had a person who was not yet in custody, who shoved me to the ground and started running which could be indicative of a weapon ( prior convictions and arrests factor in on this) and had people closing in on me that also could be armed ( afterall there is a high rate of crimes with weapons in the area.) I would not have reacted the same.

Environment is a factor in almost every case, fortunately in this one it did not end up contributing to a worse outcome.

As for your neighborhood, I'm glad you are seeing progress.
The quote made it seem like you were responsible for there being a new police chief... but your story is a good one... not good that your actions were necessary mind you.

My situation was just a contributor at the right time. Since the new chief has come in things seem to be heading in the right direction. Use of force is being investigated now, discipline handed out when appropriate, and the department in being much more transparent and interactive with the community not just for situations like this, but also in educating the citizens about what they can do to combat crime and partner better with the police.

It is this new direction that has me supporting the PD in this circumstance. Now if it had been handled like the Romero shooting I would have a rather different opinion.

A mail carrier I know has a meth house behind her property, and the sheriff allows it to operate because the guy is an informant for them. His customers cut through her property as a short cut, and the sheriff won't do anything.

Your mail carrier friend should ask her route carrier if she is aware of any mail thefts. One of the related meth houses to the ones I was dealing with, it was kind of like an offsite liquor store for meth, had some of their fine clientele stealing mail...We formed a neighborhood watch group and purchased "ring" doorbells and hunting cameras to capture video evidence that we then turned over to the Mail Police. During the course of the investigation of course the drug activity was discovered so it was referred to the local DEA task force and as a result the local cabal that had been protecting them was over ruled and the house was taken out.

All I can say is it takes time, lots of time and document, document, document the hell of the situation. a well organized group in the neighborhood can band together to take back what is rightfully theirs...a neighborhood that everyone can enjoy in peace and quiet.

no ftp?

JL

Headline: Abandoned by Both Sides, a Secret Society of Trump Regretters Begins to Build

Article is about a closed Facebook Group started by a Trump-regretter, as safe space where other "regretters" can share without getting beaten up by angry Trumpers or angry un-Trumpers like me.

I'm glad some people are getting there.

I'm sure it was a very informative piece.

But, I take CW warnings very, very seriously. And, literally. :)

There was an article yesterday on HP about Dems being willing to work with the Repubs on fixing Obamacare if they gave up on repealing it and sabotaging it.

It's gone already so I can't link to it without digging, and I don't feel like digging. Maybe you saw it.

But the problem the Dem mentioned (I think it was Patti Murray) was with the individual insurance market, and that leaves some of the other issues mentioned in the medical bankruptcy articles I linked to for you unaddressed.

If Trumpcare crumbles away into nothing, Dems should be ready to offer solutions for all the problems in Obamacare... after a couple of months or whatever.

The only "fix" for some of the problems is Single Payer, so I'm talking about the list that can be addressed.

A

Thanks for the heads up about your response... can you include the column name next time or just bring it forward?

I think there are a couple of different videos of the incident.

The one I saw showed the cop chasing the guy until he got down on his knees to surrender.
When the cop got to him, instead of ordering him to lie face down and put his hands behind his back, the cop tackled him and started beating him immediately.

That's the part I was taking issue with, and I'm not sure if what happened earlier is relevant. Playing keep away with the cop may have pissed him off, but still doesn't justify the beating.

Again, I'm not sure how the guys previous record and neighborhood justifies the beating.
The recent survey of police that Listen and I were debating about a month ago showed that a majority of police believe different tactics need to be used in different neighborhoods, and I disagree with the idea.

A two tiered system for appropriate behavior by police can't serve justice equally.

As for the onlookers moving closer for a better look, it may be foolish, but it's common, and even the article questioned the cop pointing his gun and cursing at them.

As for your neighborhood, I'm glad you are seeing progress.
The quote made it seem like you were responsible for there being a new police chief... but your story is a good one... not good that your actions were necessary mind you.

Actually, you're lucky.
A mail carrier I know has a meth house behind her property, and the sheriff allows it to operate because the guy is an informant for them. His customers cut through her property as a short cut, and the sheriff won't do anything.

A

"You actually read it!?"

I read it too Liz, and it made me realize just how unfair our tax code is here in the USA, since what I got from Chris's post was that I think that capital gains should be taxed at least at the same rate as income, if not in fact at an even higher rate, if we are ever going to solve the growing problem of the inequality gap between the rich and everybody else.

there are so many exceptions to overtime rules now, they might as well just post those few remaining examples where people still CAN get paid overtime. the oxford comma interpretation was a neat legal trick, but the law was probably intended to exclude shipping and distribution as well as packing. fortunate for the dairy truck drivers that the lawmakers didn't proof the law for ambiguity.

JL

just because you didn't write about the oxford comma yesterday doesn't mean you can't do it today. the story's still fresh after all.

JL

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/trump-files-how-donald-screwed-over-new-york-city-his-tax-bill

The above link to Mother Jones contains literally dozens of Trump Family related articles. All nicely sourced.

CW: This column was a heavy lift, but worth the effort.

Alternative titles for the business tax code?

Heads I Win, Tails I Win Even More

or

Fifty Million Shades of Grey

If Trump leaked this document, it was probably a mistake. Real estate tax codes are like vampires, they don't do well in sun light. Nobody really knows what's legal, but what's fair is much clearer in the mind of the beholder.

That makes me very happy. :)

Hopefully, email between us has been restored, just as an aside...

:-)

As for the cat videos paragraph, you know I like to warn people up front of these sorts of columns. First-time readers may think this sort of thing is a light-hearted joke, but regulars will already know how serious I am about such warnings.

So everyone, take heed! Those preliminary warnings mean exactly what they state! That's why they're there!

:-)

Kick -

Yeah, but isn't he "Executive Producer" on the show as well? Don't know if he's always had that credit, but isn't what that usually means (and I don't know much about Hollywood, I'll admit) "guy who fronted the development money, and reaps the fattest profits if the show does well"? If so, Trump likely set up some sort of production company that he controlled, so the Apprentice money could have come in through Schedule E or even C. I think. There's all sorts of ways to turn "compensation" into "not actually a paid salary or wage." That's what CPAs are for, right?

neilm [11] -

I think I'd most like to see an itemized list of which banks he pays mortgage interest (or other loan interest) to... see if any of them are located in Moscow, for instance...

Also, his Schedule C. That'd really be informative.

Anyway, glad to see at least a few people wanted to wallow in the wonky details with me! Even if I may not know precisely what I'm talking about (but then that's nothing new, really...).

:-)

-CW

Thanks CW.

I looked it up; the Apprentice first aired in January 2004, which would have been filmed in 2003. By 2005, they were most likely filming at least Season 3.

On Trump's election financial disclosure form in 2015, he disclosed that he was paid $213+ million over 14 seasons.

NBC/Universal renewed, at the upfronts this year, The Apprentice (for a 15th season), but Mr. Trump decided to turn them down in order to run for President of the United States. NBC was not happy. During the 14 seasons of The Apprentice, Mr. Trump was paid $213,606,575.

This averages out to $15+ million per season. Obviously, he probably received variable amounts throughout the years, but it seems like he's either lying on the tax return or on the financial disclosure.

Also, on a disclosure filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., Trump's compensation in 2005 was reported to the SEC as $2.2 million... $2,257,464 to be exact.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/943320/000119312506061808/ddef14a.htm

Even ignoring his salary from NBC, here are two widely different numbers being reported to the government as Trump's salary in 2005.

So Trump is lying somewhere. Go figure!

I thought it'd be fun to go through Trump's 2005 tax return item by item. If that sounds to you like a less exciting prospect than watching paint dry, well then I'd have to advise you to stop reading right this very minute and go do something more interesting (hint: there are lots of very funny cat videos on the internet, for your endless enjoyment). Plus, this is going to be a fairly long article, even for me. You have been duly warned.

That was enough for me. :)

Yes. Why?

I left a comment on what we were talking about the other day a couple of columns back...

I'll keep looking forward to it!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/opinion/for-want-of-a-comma.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

You actually read it!?

:-)

Now for something completely different:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/patrick-stewart-reveals-he-uses-marijuana-daily-to-help-with-arthritis-symptoms_us_58ca80bae4b00705db4c6e80?92wwkrs8qdscbx1or&

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking. Heh.

Besides, I could always use a few tips on when not to use commas, when to use them and, when there are just too many of them ... fodder for another column!