smoke a fuckin' peace pipe, man.

and that's the best line of the film? really? come on!

Sir, you have no call to get snippy with me. I'm just doing my job here. ;)

which voters would benefit? all voters in that state? all voters in the country? let's say california decides to go proportional, but nobody else does. great for republican voters, they get around twenty extra electoral votes for free. will texas decide to follow suit, leading to more accurate representation nationwide? not bloody likely.

JL

also that line in popular culture predated the film by almost twenty years.

Vanity Fair article on the subject:

”So when I got in the cart with Eric,” Dodson says, “as we were setting off, I said, ‘Eric, who’s funding? I know no banks—because of the recession, the Great Recession—have touched a golf course. You know, no one’s funding any kind of golf construction. It’s dead in the water the last four or five years.’ And this is what he said. He said, ‘Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.’ I said, ‘Really?’ And he said, ‘Oh, yeah. We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.’ Now that was three years ago, so it was pretty interesting.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/eric-trump-russia-investment-golf-course

i think i'm gonna have to disagree with you on your policework there lou.

he says the last guy who called him a jerk was dead now, what do you think about that, so i says that doesn't sound like too good a deal for him then.

i guess that was your accomplice there in the wood chipper?

Yes, you should. You'll have to watch the movie again. I bet Kick knows what I'm talking about. Heh.

WTFAY!?
WTFAY!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqf6ZaJcL7c

So, Carl is about to get the ransom from Jerry and they each get out of their cars and Carl sees that it isn't Jerry. It's Wade, Jerry's father-in-law who has come to the meet to kill the kidnappers.

And, the first words out of the incredulous Carl are ...

"Who the fuck are you? WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"

Did I ever tell y'all what my Poker Stars username is? Heh.

Yeah, well, I'm goin' to bed, now.

You might be confusing loans with money laundering, LWYH. The sketchy specimens Trump (fairly sure it was jr who said, "a disproportionate amount of our revenue comes from Russia) was refering to were the greasy oligarchs from Kazakhstan and Belarus who were flushing ill-gotten money thru the Trump organization in the form of 'investment in real estate'. The rub is as old as it is unartistic, One such laughably naked example is, Tevfik Arif, a shady Kazakh m8 of Putin, one time partner with Trump in Trump Soho and all round scumbagger sent his sister off to the US to invest and wash their cash, she paid the Trump org five million for a million buck apartment in Trump Tower. People with clean cash don't pay five times over the odds for real estate in a slumped market, they just don't. It's corruption 101, subsection 1, Money laundering...Pay too much for bricks and mortar, resolve to take a loss.

This Australian doc by ABC is quite good, it lays out all of Trump's corrupt ways dating back a few decades.

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

LL&P

i know the film pretty well, and i honestly can't think of what line you mean or why you'd find it funny.

okay, i'll start at season two and try again.

JL

Maybe our intelligence agencies should have conducted those pesky counterintelligence investigations into Trump’s financial ties to Russia that McCabe had ordered before he was replaced!

It is said just after the father gets out of his car, with a concealed gun, to deliver the 'ransom'.

It's laugh out loud funny but I shan't repeat it here. Heh.

https://youtu.be/yKQGT8Qc8Wo

i tried watching fargo, but found it a pale imitation of the movie. maybe if i didn't so completely love the coen brothers film and the role of frances mcdormand within it, i wouldn't have felt so let down.

JL

It'll be no contest, Trump will lie, invoke conspiracy theories, insult and evade... Biden will be on point and make sense. I doubt the debates will move the needle much, if at all. If it does, I don't think Trump will avail himself as the man to save the country from...him.

LL&P

I have to say that was one of the most interesting comments I have ever read around here.

And, you're right. None of this is surprising. But, a lot of it is certainly newsworthy.

Incidentally, Trump corps tried and failed to browbeat and sue Aberdeenshire into erecting tidal mesh bulwarks along a stretch of the property, they cited global warming for tidal erosion...I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard ...

Priceless!

Better yet, season four of Fargo premiered as well!

While I was looking into Menie Estate enviromental issues a few years back (a freelance endeavor I still do when approached, I gather, sort and submit reports for various enviromental groups here in Canada and the UK.) Menie itself is relitively bleak and windswept, even for that part of Aberdeenshire, what it does have is a beautiful stretch of natural sand dunes and spotted wetlands designated SSSl, (site of special scientific interest) as it's home to several specific breeding areas for half a dozen species of birds that aren't known to breed anywhere else in the UK. This might sound odd, but i found myself awkwardly aligned with The Trump.corp in opposition to a wind farm planned a few miles east of where he had just purchased a few thousand acres to put a 36 hole course with attendant hotel, spa and holiday homes.

While doing this kind work, it's prudent to be objective and to look into all concerned interests and who's saying and doing or planning, (it's quite embarrassing to advocate for a wildlife reserve to find out later a developer didn't want wind turbines because they wanted to build on the land adjacent and merely wanted a clean vista for their benefit.)

In my typical assiduous way, when I looked into who actually owned the dune-land in question it became apparent that the Trump corps had essentially falsified the purchase land survey to involve about 40 acres of the sssl to include it in the design of the course (the dunes were completely useless for incorporation into either course as they face south east and are bordered by the North Sea to the coast and backed by impenetrable fescue and braken to the north and west facing the pastoral, soon to be golf course) We lost to the local utilities corporation and were unable to prevent a dozen or so turbines to be erected in the area, I was however successful in preventing Trump corp from bulldozing a 3/4 mile section of the site they wanted to build 'ocean front villas' on, to which they had no ownership.

I bring this up because, while I was looking into specific ownership markers and boundary lines, Trump corps wasn't on any of the deeds associated with the land and indeed wasn't represented at the county for planning for rezoning. When I dug a bit deeper, it became apparent that an LLC out of Cyprus owned the land and had a 97% fifty year mortgage underwritten by another LLC out of Holland. Now, I've done a lot of this kind work over the years, partly because the world is full of arseholes wanting to demolish unique enviroments for personal use or gain, but mostly because I can't abide human encroachment on centuries old wildlife habitats and breeding grounds. However, it took me all of ten minutes to figure out what was going on in Balmedie, Trump corps was, and I assume, still is, a 'letter-head' organization. In layman's terms, it refers to an entity that holds little or no actual paper on a building or plot of land, but is the legitimate face of the operation. Now, I've seen situations where a perfectly legitimate concern prefers to letter-head a project for whatever reason they have, usually because it's out of the their usual balliwick and they want it separate from a name or brand that is incompatible with the proposition, however nine times out of ten it's shady money being cleaned (they're easy to spot when you backtrack the subcontracting civil engineering and discover that high bids for jobs were taken over sensible, professionally tendered lower bids, crooks like to think they're smarter than analysts, they're wrong.)

So, a decade ago I submitted my findings to the Aberdeenshire county council, who also, in their investigations, decided that Trump corp were shelling for 'individuals unknown' and moved the wind farm a few miles north of the heart of the sssl and closer to the coastline Trump corp could actually lay claim to. Incedently, Trump corps tried and failed to browbeat and sue Aberdeenshire into erecting tidal mesh bulwarks along a stretch of the property, they cited global warming for tidal erosion...I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard given that they wanted to bulldoze natures natural bullwark a few years earlier to make an interesting, albiet useless series of bunkers that no golfer would ever find with a ball.

So, upon reading about Trump's financial morass's I had to chuckle because this is old news, Trump has been playing the oldest property management scam known to real estate financia. The shell game of undervaluing assets for tax evasions and overvaluing the same assets for the purpose of gaining loans against the asset. Trump, jawdroppingly, is working this shell-game, with assets he doesn't actually hold paper on and has has to personally underwrite his own loans personally. That is quite possibly the most dangerous way to play high finance, it's no wonder he wants to keep his personal finances hidden, it's not from the American voter, he's already displayed utter contempt for them with his obvious bullshit, it's for all the suckers who have millions in his wallet.

LL&P

When will that disparity in voting capacity change? I mean when will Democrats start taking this seriously and actually do something about it?

If you think about it, polling places should be so ancient history.

Yes, but I had to work on Sunday. I am in retail you know. :-)

Me, too ... I thought you knew that.

A small percentage of the population still has to work on weekends and holidays to keep the world going, while the rest of you get to actually enjoy your time off from work.

I know what you mean but, I do make the schedule, so ... :)

I came home, had dinner, and fell asleep, so I could not join the music festival last night. :-(

I came home, made dinner - Salmon fillet on a bed of rice with spinach on the side - takes about 10 minutes including prep. But, I had a glass of wine first. After dinner, I caught my second wind and came right here.

Do you have to work every Sunday? This weekend I'm working Saturday and off on Sunday. But, sometimes I work the whole weekend. I still try to find time to come here for the festival because it gives me a reason to dance around the living room. Heh.

Hoping you'll be able to stay awake this Sunday evening! You know it goes on until 3am, Chris's time. Truth be known, I got tired last night, too ... or tipsy ... probably a little of both. :-)

proportional allocation of electors only works if all the states do it. if some don't, it reduces the power of those that do.

"John,

Did you not have internet access last night? :("

Yes, but I had to work on Sunday. I am in retail you know. :-) A small percentage of the population still has to work on weekends and holidays to keep the world going, while the rest of you get to actually enjoy your time off from work. I cam home, had dinner, and fell asleep, so I could not join the music festival last night. :-(

"Republicans also tend to actually show up to vote more. Voter turnout determines results.

Why is that?"

Why is Republican turnout generally higher than Democratic turnout? Lots of reasons:

1) Republican membership tends towards being older, whiter, and richer. That leads to more free time, and better transportation, and better means and access to time off work, etc.

2) Democratic membership tends to be younger, poorer, blacker and more brown. This leads to less paying attention among college students to politics, less ability to get time off from work to go vote, or a car to drive to the polls, and greater voter suppression and therefore more obstacles to voting, such as requiring; a birth certificate and photo I.D. to vote, and forcing ex felons who also tend to be more black or brown, to jump thru more hoops before getting their right to vote back.

So even if more Democrats are registered to vote than Republicans, it's easier for more Republicans to actually show up and vote than Democrats. That's why Trump is so freaking out about mail in ballots, that would make voting so much more easier for so many more people, mostly Democrats.

Did you not have internet access last night? :(

Why is that?

"You know, the Democrats must have a very poor case with unpersuasive arguments to put before the American people if they believe they need to pack the court."

I don't think that's the case at all.

"In any event, Trump has made the most of his opportunities and Democrats could take some lessons."

I think this is more of the point.

Republicans have been single minded when it comes to the single issue of abortion and Supreme Court appointments. That's why they have gotten what they wanted despite being the minority in terms of overall votes.

Democrats and Democratic voters, until now, have not paid attention to court appointments as much as they should, and have not been as laser focused organized on a single issue like abortion, despite Democratic voters being in the majority, or at least more Democrats than Republicans. Republicans also tend to actually show up to vote more. Voter turnout determines results.

The other major disadvantage is that the Senate is stacked against majority voting. California with 39 million people has as much of a say as Wyoming with 578,000 people. And it is the Senate only that controls the composition of the Supreme Court.

That's how you end up with a majority of justices who are far to the right of where the majority of the population is ideologically.

Secrets From The Undergound

BLM & Ruth sent us.

Stellar. :)

Huh?

The FTPs have always been intended for ALL Democrats, candidates or no.

And, to be clear, this particular "would-be" Democratic president has never had much use for talking points in the, ah, classic sense. But, Chris's FTPs? Well, that's another story! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBg5cnoNyAE&list=RDA0qm8nq8RcA&index=4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn5FyIdRkFc

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZXRV4MezEw&list=RDnZXRV4MezEw&start_radio=1&t=12

But, so far, here is my favourite:

Here, Kitty Kitty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYa02QAcAkA&list=RDQ54Oeun4o3I&index=7

It's a real hoot!

Don’t Want To Wait Anymore

Just think of the orange one as the woman in this one.

Talk To Ya Later

HA! And, that is why I don't do that. :)

. . . then this one's for you.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eJZo1Hs8yk"Cruising CA

Secrets From The Undergound

BLM & Ruth sent us.

What a coincidence! I happen to be in a California style Local 420, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-UJuYnPT_Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrJXWWql-xc&list=RDBrJXWWql-xc&index=1

In fact, it's thanks to Al that Prism continued on as a Canadian rock band after a short detour as an all-American Band in the wake of the departure of Tabak.

Don wrote,

I would support a compact that says the states would award their electoral votes on a proportional basis.

Then the electoral votes would better reflect the votes of all citizens.

That would more closely reflect the majority of citizens within smaller than state size voting districts. But those within each district who picked the losing candidate are still disenfranchised, so that's only a partial fix. Only screwing a hopefully smaller number of voters.

Why not go all the way to popular vote so everyone's vote ultimately counts?

Well, everyone - here we go!

I guess that depends how we define making the most. The most... what, exactly?

The most SCOTUS confirmations, naturally. :) And, very conservative ones at that! He might even get more yet ... :(

Yep. Turns out, Fat Donnie is a terminal tax cheat who likely paid less in taxes than the majority of Americans and is millions in debt. Who knew!?

THE PRESIDENT’S TAXES

LONG-CONCEALED RECORDS
SHOW TRUMP’S CHRONIC LOSSES
AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE

The Times obtained Donald Trump’s tax information extending over more than two decades, revealing struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due.

By Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig and Mike McIntire

Sept. 27, 2020

Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750.

He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.

As the president wages a re-election campaign that polls say he is in danger of losing, his finances are under stress, beset by losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due that he has personally guaranteed. Also hanging over him is a decade-long audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses. An adverse ruling could cost him more than $100 million.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

*
Surprise, surprise... said no one.

Go Away

. . . and here’s one for Biden/Harris from John Fogerty

Gunslinger

Agreed. That's why I asked how. I don't see how. His base was disappointed with gay rights and abortion decisions and this latest move doesn't look advantageous for him.

Well, you know what they say, don't you, about elections?

All presidents get advice. Some won't need as much of it. :)

Really? The orangutan picks who he's told to pick from the list provided to him.

McConnell and McGahn have made the most of our institutional weaknesses, consequences be damned.

You know, the Democrats must have a very poor case with unpersuasive arguments to put before the American people if they believe they need to pack the court. Perhaps, it is just that they have lost the art of persuasion and/or the American people are no longer persuadable.

In any event, Trump has made the most of his opportunities and Democrats could take some lessons.

I will take the time to read that piece later today after work.

How do think the public trust in the Supreme Court is impacted when presidents try to interfere with the justices' own sense of when they should retire?