Trump II

[James Clark]

Ok, foreign sounding names. Let's see:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/01/pf/jobs/foreign-names-jobs-discrimination/index.html?sr=limoney120114foreignname1140story

"Foreign name? Expect a tougher job hunt"

From the article:

Seems that I would be more "racially" discriminated in Switzerland than black in the U.S.

That's distinctly possible. However, the fact that one would discard a resume with the name "Slobodan," thus depriving him or herself of a highly qualified MBA, in no way means that they aren't also willing to pass on "Ebony".

We're also not talking about Switzerland, and just because a culture is xenophobic does not mean they aren't also racist.  From your own article: In the United States, the situation is the worst for people with distinctively "Black names," such as Jamal and Lakisha, researchers noted.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Michelle Obama's "proof" of racism was that she was several times approached in a retail store and mistook for a sales lady. Say what!? I am a middle-aged white man who was also approached several times in a retail store and mistook for a salesman, in several different countries. Did I cry "racism"?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...it's not my opinion that these unequal outcomes exist - it's fact.

I am not disputing unequal outcomes. I am disputing the cause that you claim is racism and I see a perfectly logical alternative explanation.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... From your own article: In the United States, the situation is the worst for people with distinctively "Black names," such as Jamal and Lakisha, researchers noted.

And yet the country elected (twice) a guy with the "worst" of both worlds name: black and Muslim.

I personally hired a black guy with a name Zakee, again a combination of black and Muslim.

[James Clark]

Michelle Obama's "proof" of racism was that she was several times approached in a retail store and mistook for a sales lady. Say what!? I am a middle-aged white man who was also approached several times in a retail store and mistook for a salesman, in several different countries. Did I cry "racism"?

No, Michelle Obama's example[ /i]of racism is that she is/was repeatedly mistaken for a sales lady.  That's anecdotal - I can't say if that 's fact, or just her "opinion" or her perception, but it's not "proof" of any sort.  I'm also not going to argue that every case of a minority receiving an unequal outcome is proof of, or a result or, racism. 

Those things are, however, wholly irrelevant.  Michelle Obama can suffer an indignity without it being racist. Michael Obama can be pulled over without it being racially motivated.  Michelle Obama could be sentenced to 20 years in jail without race being a causal factor.  BUT... when you look at 77,000 Michelle Obamas and 77,000 Slobodan Blagojevics, and the Obamas are suspected of having drugs more often than the Blagojevics, despite the fact that stats show that the Blagojevics actually have a higher incidence of drug possession, well, something is amiss.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Are you suggesting that whites are disproportionately more involved in drug trade than blacks?

What is amiss is research methodology. They first set a goal (to prove racism) and then massage data until they get what they want.

[James Clark]

And yet the country elected (twice) a guy with the "worst" of both worlds name: black and Muslim.

I personally hired a black guy with a name Zakee, again a combination of black and Muslim.

That's fantastic - most likely he was the most qualified for the position.  But while it may be relevant to whether or not YOU display racial bias, it's wholly  irrelevant to the question of a *systemic* bias.  The argument isn't that *everyone* is racist - it's a matter of what happens on aggregate and what the causes of those discrepancies are.

Out of curiosity, to what do you attribute the correlation in the differing outcomes I cited at the outset of this discussion? 

[James Clark]

Are you suggesting that whites are disproportionately more involved in drug trade than blacks?

What is amiss is research methodology. They first set a goal (to prove racism) and then masage data until they get what they want.

I don't have any knowledge about who is or is not involved in the drug trade on a macro scale.  As per the study cited, drugs were found in the possession of whites on a higher percentage basis than they were found in the possession of blacks.

As for your dispute with the methodology, what evidence do you have that supports that idea?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Out of curiosity, to what do you attribute the correlation in the differing outcomes I cited at the outset of this discussion? 

Traffic stops? Higher statistical probability that blacks are engaged in illegal activity. Which is an undeniable statistical fact.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... drugs were found in the possession of whites on a higher percentage basis than they were found in the possession of blacks...

If you are a black dealer or user, and you know that police will stop you disproportionally, would you be that stupid to keep it in the car?

[James Clark]

Traffic stops? Higher statistical probability that blacks are engaged in illegal activity. Which is an undeniable statistical fact.

If you are a black dealer or user, and you know that police will stop you disproportionally, would you be that stupid to keep it in the car?

So... blacks are both more likely AND less likely to be possessing drugs at any given traffic stop?  

Seriously though, why would you assume that every study that shows a bias was automagically constructed to show said bias?  And would you assume that a study that showed no bias was constructed to "prove" that outcome as well?

[tom b]

And yet the country elected (twice) a guy with the "worst" of both worlds name: black and Muslim.

I personally hired a black guy with a name Zakee, again a combination of black and Muslim.

Who was that?

[Farmer]

Cite me one law in the U.S. that racially discriminates.

Come on, Slobo - you were just telling us in regard to freedom of speech that it wasn't he law that mattered but the overall, broad view.  It's rather inconsistent to now say that there are no racially discriminating laws and therefore there are no racial issues in the US.  Actually, it's absurd.

[Schewe]

When you piss off the Senate majority leader, your life as president will tend to become "uncomfortable".

McConnell, in Private, Doubts if Trump Can Save Presidency


Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has fumed over President Trump’s regular threats against fellow Republicans
and criticism of Senate rules. Credit Eric Thayer for The New York Times

The relationship between President Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has disintegrated to the point that they have not spoken to each other in weeks, and Mr. McConnell has privately expressed uncertainty that Mr. Trump will be able to salvage his administration after a series of summer crises.

What was once an uneasy governing alliance has curdled into a feud of mutual resentment and sometimes outright hostility, complicated by the position of Mr. McConnell’s wife, Elaine L. Chao, in Mr. Trump’s cabinet, according to more than a dozen people briefed on their imperiled partnership. Angry phone calls and private badmouthing have devolved into open conflict, with the president threatening to oppose Republican senators who cross him, and Mr. McConnell mobilizing to their defense.

So, does Trump know that his executive powers are limited? That he can't sign into laws, bills that he writes? That 1/3 of the government can't tell the other 2/3 (Congress and the courts) what to do? That if the GOP wants to do anything for the next x# years (I doubt he makes it till the next major election and I suspect he'll be gone before the midterms) they are going to have to work completely around an unhinged and unfit president?

[Schewe]

#FAKENEWS for real!!! (only problem is that it's the Tennessee GOP that made it). Wow, maybe they were just trying to bolster Trump's "crowd size" since we all know that size matters to Donny!

Fake news? Trump supporters circulate photo of Phoenix rally crowds ... but it's not


The Twitter account @TEN_GOP tweeted a photo of the crowd in Phoenix for the Trump rally, but the photo was actually taken in 2016 in Cleveland.

The image was taken looking down at the intersection of St. Claire Ave. and Ninth Street in downtown Cleveland, along the parade route where tens of thousands celebrated the Cavs NBA title last June.

The photo shows a bird's-eye view of thousands gathered in a downtown area as they waited for the parade for the Cleveland Cavaliers to begin.

The Twitter account @TEN_GOP, which says its an unofficial account for Republicans in Tennessee, tweeted the photo with the caption: "Massive crowd waiting outside for the Trump rally in Phoenix!"

They weren't done...seems they wanted to show the Trump protesters being a small size (you know, because size matters)



Ya think this was what Donny was screaming about tonite at his rally? #REALFAKENEWS

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Who was that?

Barack Hussein

[Schewe]

So, he still wants to build the wall and he's willing to shut down the government to do so?

Trump threatens to shut down government to build border wall

President Trump on Tuesday threatened to shut down the government, if necessary, to make sure his proposed wall at the Mexican border is approved and funded by lawmakers.

"Build that wall. Now the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it, but believe me if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said Tuesday during a rally in Phoenix.

Is this really what you wanted?

[Schewe]

Richard Spencer, a prominent white nationalist point out on Twitter today that President Donald Trump has not denounced the Alt-Right...

Richard Spencer: 'Trump has never denounced the Alt-Right'


Richard Spencer

Richard Spencer, a prominent white nationalist, said Tuesday that, despite President Trump's remarks denouncing white supremacists and neo-Nazis, the president has yet to condemn the alt-right.

"Trump has never denounced the Alt-Right. Nor will he," Spencer wrote on Twitter.

Richard  ☝🏻Spencer‏Verified account
@RichardBSpencer
Trump has never denounced the Alt-Right. Nor will he.
#ArizonaTrumpRally
7:24 PM - 22 Aug 2017

Speaking at a campaign-style rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, Trump insisted that he sufficiently denounced hate groups after violence erupted during a white nationalist demonstration in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month. Instead, he said, the media failed to accurately cover his remarks in the wake of the violence that left one counterprotester dead.

[Schewe]

Because, you know, blowing up stuff sending tons of material into the air couldn't possibly be bad for people's health, right?

Trump administration halts research on mountaintop coal mining's health effects


US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke (nice hat doode!)

Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior has told the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to stop studying the effects of coal mining on health.

A branch of the interior department – the office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement – was funding an inquiry into the potential correlation between increased human health risks and living near surface coal mine sites in Central Appalachia.

Coal mining in Central Appalachia, where the committee’s work is focused, includes mountaintop removal in which peaks have been blasted off. Scientists have asserted that the practice is so harmful to the environment that the government should put an end to it.

According to a statement by the academy, the Trump administration told the organisation last week that “it should cease all work on the study”, as the interior department “has begun an agency-wide review of its grants and cooperative agreements in excess of $100,000”. The review was prompted largely by the department’s changing budget situation, the statement said.

[Schewe]

Things that make you go hummmm...

Senate Judiciary Committee interviews figure behind Trump dossier


Glenn Simpson Fusion GPS Founder

WASHINGTON -- The co-founder of a Washington opposition research firm that produced a dossier of salacious allegations involving President Donald Trump spoke behind closed doors to congressional investigators.

Glenn Simpson appeared privately Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a transcribed interview, CBS News' John Nolen confirmed.

Simpson runs Fusion GPS, the firm that hired the British intelligence officer who produced the dossier containing allegations of ties between Trump and Russia.

Simpson's lawyer, Josh Levy, a partner at Cunningham Levy Muse LLP, said in a statement that Simpson had met with the congressional investigators "voluntarily" for the interview, which lasted a full day.

After the interview, Levy told reporters that Simpson answered "hundreds of questions" and suggested that in only a "minority of questions" that Simpson's answers may not have been complete because of his obligation to protect the confidentiality of his clients.

In his statement, Levy said that Simpson "cleared the record on many matters of interest to congressional investigators."  He went on to say that the investigation involved Simpson because of "a desperate attempt by the Trump campaign and its allies to smear Fusion GPS because of its reported connection to the Trump dossier," which contained lurid allegations about Mr. Trump that the president has described as "phony." Fusion GPS still stands by the dossier.

Levy also said that the committee can disclose the transcript if it wishes and Levy indicated his client would not object.

It was also reported today that Christopher Steele gave the FBI the names of his sources for the "dossier"...

British spy Christopher Steele tells FBI sources for Trump 'dossier': report

The British spy behind a salacious “dossier” on President Trump has told the FBI about his sources for the document, according to a report.

Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele authored the 35-page unsubstantiated report published online in January, which alleged that blackmail against Trump was being used by Kremlin officials in an election interference plot.

Investigations into that alleged meddling have been trying to talk to Steele, who has experience in the former Soviet Union and disappeared after his dossier became public,with ABC News reporting that he has now met with the FBI.

He reportedly told investigators about the names of his sources, identified only by letters in the dossier.

But don't worry Trump supporters...this is just a #WitchHunt by the #FAKENEWS and nothing will come of it. The "Dodgy Dossier" is completely made up and Russia has nothing on Donald Trump because, you know, Donald has ALWAYS run his business totally above board and has never broken the law...but ya know, ya gotta wonder, is any of it true?