Fool Moon Madness!

Every so often, I or someone I know will post a social media note about how they had a completely crazy day and just need to decompress. Then some usually well-meaning person will chime in with "Yeah, full moon's coming", as if that explains everything.  Well, I hate to be a big fat Buzz Killington, but no, it actually does not explain it.  Statistically, people do not lose their sanity more during the full moon, even though the terms "Lunacy" and "Lunatic" derive from the latin word for the moon -- Luna. Humanity is very tied to the moon. In fact, some have speculated that without the tidal forces between the Earth and the Moon, we humans may not have evolved. (myself, I don't try to speculate. It's one of those incalculables. ) So, we have ages of social conditioning and a considerable amount of confirmation bias which drives most people's belief in Full Moon Madness.
Except, there is simply no statistical evidence that any such phenomena occur. Hospital Emergency Departments, Fire stations, police dispatchers -- statistics gathered from all of those do not show any marked uptick in "madness"  -- accidents, assaults, fires, homicides etc -- during the nights of the full moon.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1316181/

Voter Fraud vs Voter Suppression

Statistically, there has been almost no voter fraud on the small scale, and none at all on the large scale. But that's the thing. It's all a matter of scale. 

Looking back at the history, you can see that approximately 126 million people voted in the 2012 elections. Looking at the totals per candidate, we see that 65 million people voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and only 60 million voted for Mitt Romney. There were other votes cast but they were for minor candidates and not really significant. Now consider with me -- in order to "rig" an election or reverse the will of the people, it would be necessary to conjure up some five to six million votes, spread out among the several states.

The Captain. . .

I've been hearing a lot of talk lately about how people want an "outsider" to be President of the United States. 

We've all be told recently how Donald Trump should be President of the United States because he is "an outsider." Let's grant that he is, for the moment. He has no knowledge or experience in government. He has no knowledge or experience in foreign policy, and none in domestic policy.
Now, let's consider a hypothetical, leaving names out of it.

Has Trump Crashed ?

Today, video was released from NBC-Universal's "Access Hollywood" in which Donald Trump is heard saying some things. He says that he tried to have sex with a married woman, while himself marred to Melania. He says he kisses women because they're good looking, without waiting to be invited. He says he can "grab them by the pussy" because he's a Star.
The net effect of the video is disgusting. If you needed more proof Donald Trump is not suited to be President of the United States, this is it. It is my considered opinion that Donald Trump is not fit to manage the affairs of a Hot-Dog stand, let alone the United States. I want to emphasize this point: I like sex as much as the next man. I like women as much as the next man. But I do not and would not objectify women to the extent Trump does. I have women friends -- women who I have never thought of having sex with, who are just my friends. Donald Trump surrounds himself with women he considers beautiful (as beauty is a subjective quality, I do not speak to that point.) -- women whom he can objectify. Women he can imagine having sex with. He is binary on it. You're either a piece he can think of having sex with, or you're ugly. Look at every woman close to him. This is the man who has said "If she wasn't my daughter I'd be dating her. " How can anyone look at this man and not see a cheap, greasy, dirtbag of a used car salesman? How can the "morally straight" upstanding conservative republicans look at Donald Trump and think he's someone they want in the White House?  Is their hate of Hillary Clinton that strong that they would vote a man like that into office with her as the alternative ?
The mind boggles.

Is the past truly prologue ?

In the last year we have seen a wealthy braggart spend millions of dollars and log thousands of travel miles zig-zagging across the country, whipping up support from people he candidly calls "The Low-Information Set". He's been making broad, ridiculous, almost fantastic (in the classical sense) promises to people across the country, all in order to garner support. He tells people that the country is going down in flames, ruins all over, rampant crime by gangs of armed marauders who're kept out of the prisons by the wealthy money men. He promises more jobs, more infrastructure, lower corporate taxes, higher trade protections and fewer wars by way of having more wars.
Am I alone in recognizing what line of attack this man is using ? He attacks the disabled, mentally challenged, mentally ill, women, transgenders, veterans and the poor, and his fans eat it up. He spoon feeds them hate disguised as political rhetoric and they not only buy into it but many are there already You and I should know better. Do you have to be led by the hand and shown all the details, or are you so resigned to the banality of evil that my efforts are worthless ? Do my words really fall on deaf ears ? Will none of you see what is placed before you ? What is painfully obvious to any student of history ?
Holy hell. I feel like I need a wash up and a nap. or a good brandy.
Shit.

-- DLC