Monday, September 10, 2018
Two months out Real Clear Politics has just nine Republican seats "likely" going Democrat: That's no blue wave
Democrats and liberals, however, want you to think it's already hopeless for Republicans. Like Al Hunt, who thinks Democrats will turn out because Trump is their great motivator to do so. Al, however, thinks the toss ups are already down to 20 to 25 seats. If it's true, as he thinks, that Republicans tend to reduce their polling deficits as the election nears, his already low estimation of the size of the field of prospects suggests this is a lot closer than he's willing to admit. The generic Congressional poll currently favors Democrats by +2 to +4 (Rasmussen). Remember Rasmussen had Hillary at +2. Al thinks the current math means Democrats need 23 seats to take the House. That means almost all of his toss ups have to flip.
Not likely!
USA Today had it right predicting Naomi Osaka's U.S. Open victory: Osaka had already whopped Serena back in March
Osaka already showed her hand. Back in March, she played Serena for the first time, showed no sense of nerves and rolled her 6-3, 6-2 in the first round in Miami. Now, that match doesn’t tell us much about how Osaka’s style will contrast with Serena’s in Saturday’s U.S. Open final, as the first match was just Serena’s fourth since returning from maternity leave and, as she’d later admit, she wasn’t in the right shape to be winning matches. Still, even with Serena playing at 40% of her capabilities, we saw how Osaka responded to seeing her across the net. There was no fear, no awe, no deference. Osaka says she often asks herself “what would Serena do?” And what Osaka did in that Miami match is exactly what a young Serena would have done to one of the stars of the game back in 1999. No fear. ... [I]n the past year, she’s defeated the world Nos. 1 and 2 in hard-court matches and took home the title at the prestigious Indian Wells tournament. ... PREDICTION: Naomi Osaka in straight sets.
Serena is an old cow (36) compared to Osaka (20). So is Roger Federer (37), who didn't lose recently just because it was hot and humid. Tiger Woods is 42 and hasn't won anything important in ten years but keeps trying. The old bulls fall to the young bucks, eventually, that's nature's way.
The old bulls just don't want to accept it sometimes, that's all. And then out come the excuses. Too bad for tennis that this time the excuses were political. But hey, Kaepernick paved the way. Expect more of the same.
Personally I can't wait for Osaka to cream Serena again.
Ari Fleischer to anonymous op-ed writer: Who the hell are you to decide what the right direction is?
"No White House staffer is above the will of the people, especially one whose name none of us know."
Counting illegal aliens as population in California unlawfully gives it 5 more seats in the US House than it should have
The State of Alabama and Mo Brooks are suing the federal government to stop the practice.
The story is here.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Ken Rogoff calls Adam Tooze's new book CRASHED an ambitious but flawed work
Rogoff takes Tooze to task for certain inaccuracies and omissions, including about Rogoff's own published work.
It's a longish read, but well worth it, here. And don't miss the second part, which reviews Sebastian Edwards' AMERICAN DEFAULT.
T. A. Frank tries to dial down the hysteria a notch or two: This still isn’t the behavior of a dictator, the press is doing just fine
T. A. Frank for Vanity Fair, here:
Finally, this still isn’t the behavior of a dictator. As much as Trump blusters about libel laws and maligns journalists, the press is doing just fine. A truly dangerous president would cloak his aims in high principles and ask Congress to pass new laws. He would ignore someone like Woodward and say quietly, to henchmen behind the scenes, “Who will rid me of that meddlesome journalist?” He wouldn’t pick up the phone and have a fumbling phone call with Woodward asking if the book was going to be bad, before concluding, glumly, “I assume that means it’s going to be a negative book. But you know, I’m sort of 50 percent used to that. That’s all right. Some are good and some are bad. Sounds like this is going to be a bad one.”
But all of this is, again, one more confirmation of what we already knew: Trump talks tougher than he acts. He also struggles to get his way, everywhere. ... Trump knows how to stoke his base, and he has started to reshape the G.O.P., but he has had a hell of a time implementing his campaign promises. He lacks the self-discipline and intuition.
And the best lines of all:
Why campaign like Pat Buchanan if you staff up like Jeb Bush? ... The man who insulted Goldman Sachs and Saudi princes and promised infrastructure and walls instead hired Goldman Sachs, did the bidding of Saudi princes, and stuck to tax cuts.
Can't very well become Donaldus Magnus if you won't appoint people to fight for and implement your agenda.
Federal employment is down 7,000 since Trump's election 22 months ago, he promised cuts of tens of thousands
President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, released early Thursday, could lead to between 100,000 and 200,000 cuts to federal civilian jobs, Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, told Fortune.
Serena Williams: She aint got no alibi, she UGLY
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| https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6146903/Im-not-cheater-Serena-Williams-argues-umpire-U-S-Open-womens-final.html |
Saturday, September 8, 2018
Dear Ann Coulter: "The Left" is already a collective noun, to speak of its "collective mind" is redundant
It's well past time that we declared "collective" a cant word, which is what it has become on the right.
My latest utility bill: "We are pleased to pass along the savings from federal tax reform"
$4.99-
What oh what will I do with this unexpected windfall?
The percentage of the population working plunged under Obama: If it's a boom under Trump why isn't it recovering?
From 1984 through 2008 the average percentage of the population working had been 62.6%. In August it was only 60.3%. The difference between the two is 6 million jobs.
If this a boom, an economy "on fire", where the hell are they?
We have not recovered from the disaster under Obama, not by a long shot.
Sorry Charlie: Jeff Cox of CNBC wildly exaggerates wages under Trump, "the last missing piece of the economic recovery"
Here in "Trump has set economic growth on fire":
Friday brought another round of good news: Nonfarm payrolls rose by a better-than-expected 201,000 and wages, the last missing piece of the economic recovery, increased by 2.9 percent year over year to the highest level since April 2009. That made it the best gain since the recession ended in June 2009. ... Indeed, the economy does seem to be on fire, and it's fairly easy to draw a straight line from Trump's policies to the current trends.
The wage series used by Cox for all workers differs little in August 2018 from the series for the 80% of workers who are production and nonsupervisory, except that the latter goes back much farther than 2006, giving a truer picture of where we are at. And where we are at is slightly better off than under Obama, but that's about it. It's still not as good as under George W. Bush, for crying out loud. And it's certainly not "on fire".
This is not an economic boom for most working people.
Friday, September 7, 2018
China's richest man, Jack Ma, suddenly retires at age 54
The story here makes it sound like he wanted to retire to pursue a life of philanthropy and education.
Sure he did. Rather later than sooner.
"For Chinese tycoons to step aside in their 50s is rare; they usually remain at the top of their organizations for many years."
Mark Meadows is a libertarian open borders fanatic posing as a Trump supporter when he's really supporting his GOPe
From the story here:
Chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina has argued that entering into a spending battle that could shutter the government in October would be unwise without a cohesive plan, appearing to side with GOP leaders who fear a shutdown before midterms would upend their House majority. ... “I don’t see a deliberate plan on how we secure our border happening by the end of September, and so having that debate over the next three months is probably more prudent than trying to have it in the next week and a half,” Meadows said.
Rush Limbaugh's "eating but not working" hits an all time high 96.29 million in August
Rush is eating but not working this week, too.
Ebola spreads, kills one in urban center in Congo, WHO official very worried for the world
“When you have an Ebola case confirmed in a city with one million people, no one should be sleeping well tonight around the world.” ... Saturday marked a month since the start of the latest outbreak, with 122 cases of Ebola reported so far. Of the cases, the WHO said nearly 70 percent of patients died despite health officials rolling out treatment drugs.
Farmers and Republicans are thick as thieves with illegal aliens and sanctuary cities
It ain't just San Fran Freako, folks.
Illegal alien Cristhian Bahena-Rivera, a 24-year-old from Mexico, has been charged with first-degree murder in Tibbetts’ death after police say he admitted to confronting and chasing down the young woman. The illegal alien lived in a region of Iowa that was surrounded by sanctuary cities, as Breitbart News noted, and an initial autopsy report revealed that Bahena-Rivera allegedly stabbed Tibbetts to death. ...
That dairy farm where Bahena-Rivera worked, Yarrabee Farms, owns the property and trailer where the illegal alien had been living and which, allegedly, many Mexican nationals frequented, as Breitbart News reported.
Eric Lang, one of the chief executives of Yarrabee Farms, is the brother of Craig Lang, who was the president of the Iowa Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureau has chapters all over the United States, with the goal of increasing the number of low-skilled foreign workers, specifically those on H-2A visas, who are allowed to enter the country every year.
As Breitbart News reported, Eric Lang is also married to Nicole Schlinger, who runs the GOP fundraising firm Campaign Headquarters in Brooklyn, Iowa.
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