Algernon Moncrieff
Algernon Moncrieff's JournalHRC Group: Like it or Not, Hillary Clinton is Being More Honest with Voters Than Bernie Sanders
LINK to full article at Forward ProgressivesNo, it wont.
First, theres almost zero chance Democrats reclaim a majority in the House of Representatives this November, though there is a distinct possibility that they can retake the majority in the Senate. But even if, by some miracle, Democrats took back the House and gained a majority in the Senate they would still need 60 seats in the Senate to prevent Republicans from being able to filibuster legislation. Thats even more unlikely than Democrats winning back a majority in the House.
But even beyond all of that, theres another reality many Sanders supporters seem to ignore. That is, there are quite a few congressional Democrats from somewhat conservative areas of this country supported by left of center voters who would oppose some of the policies on which Sanders is running. So its not just that Sanders would need Democrats to take back both the House and Senate, he would need overwhelming majorities in both houses to stand any chance of his proposals getting through the legislative process.
Winter Storm Kayla starts in Iowa in Monday night
Most likely a non--issue east of Des Moines until Tuesday.
I have no real inkling how this impacts Dems. My guess is that it's bad news for Cruz and Carson on the GOP side, as they are depending on the more evangelical-heavy Western Iowa towns for support.
A Cross-Bred Coyote - Poodle Hybrid Would Be Called What?
These are supposedly wolf-poodle hybrids
These are wolf-Labrador hybrids that looked cute so I'm posting them.
In your opinion, are DraftKings and FanDuel gambling?
The state Appellate Division in Manhattan granted a stay Monday for DraftKings and FanDuel, which will allow the two companies to keep taking entries from New York users as their appeal moves forward. The four-judge panel did not offer an explanation for its decision.
The stay gives the companies a temporary win in their ongoing court battle with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who claims the fantasy games offered by the two companies amount to illegal gambling. FanDuel and DraftKings' appeal is expected to be heard in May.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/new-york/2016/01/11/draftkings-fanduel-get-new-reprieve-ny/78642884/
Standoff ends with arrest, death of OPD K9
Source: KETV
OMAHA, Neb. A man who held law enforcement in a standoff that lasted 26-hours shot and killed an Omaha Police K9 before his arrest Saturday night.
The K9 named Kobus, had been with the department since 2008
Mark L'Heureux, 59 surrendered to law enforcement shortly before 7:00 p.m., after walking out of a house near 83rd and Keystone Drive.
Read more: http://www.ketv.com/news/standoff-in-omaha-neighborhood-lasts-for-several-hours/37588782
RIP
David Brooks: Time for a conspiracy
Rarely has a party so passively accepted its own self-destruction. Sure, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are now riding high in some meaningless head-to-head polls against Hillary Clinton, but the odds are the nomination of either would lead to a party-decimating general election.
The tea party, Ted Cruzs natural vehicle, has 17 percent popular support, according to Gallup. The idea that most women, independents or mainstream order-craving suburbanites would back a guy who declares his admiration for Vladimir Putin is a mirage. The idea that the GOP can march into the 21st century intentionally alienating every person of color is borderline insane.
Worse is the prospect that one of them might somehow win. Very few presidents are so terrible that they genuinely endanger their own nation, but Trump and Cruz would go there and beyond.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article55664375.html#storylink=cpy
Kos: Republicans see black voters as key to Trump becoming president
Establishment Republicans may be trying to talk themselves into accepting that Donald Trump might be their partys presidential nominee, a fascinating piece of stenography from Politico suggests, and lurid fantasy is one of their major tactics for convincing themselves, it appears. First off, black voters:If he were the Republican nominee he would get the highest percentage of black votes since Ronald Reagan in 1980, said Republican messaging guru Frank Luntz, referring to the year Reagan won 14 percent of that bloc of voters. They listen to him. They find him fascinating, and in all the groups I have done, I have found Obama voters, they couldve voted for Obama twice, but if theyre African-American they would consider Trump.
....The rest of Trumps path to general-election victory, as laid out to POLITICO by pollsters, his campaign and his former advisers, looks like this: After winning the nomination on the first ballot, Trump unifies the party he has fractured behind him and reinvents himself as a pragmatic businessman and family man at the Republican National Convention. News of small-scale terror plots on American soil, foiled or successful, keep voters in a state of anxiety. Trump minimizes his losses with Hispanics by running Spanish-language ads highlighting his support for a strong military and take-charge entrepreneurial attitude, especially in the Miami and Orlando media markets. He draws the starkest possible outsider-insider contrast with Hillary Clinton and successfully tars her with her husbands sexual history.
LINK to full article
I'm at Woodrow Wilson Middle in Council Bluffs Iowa
Where we will shortly be listening to Bill Clinton!!!
Better ways to have spent $280 M in taxpayer money
In 1995, the Edward Jones Dome was built for $280M. The main tenant, the St Louis Rams, just left the taxpayers on the hook until 2021 for $12M per year.
Riverfront Times has made an irreverent list of 25 things to do with the empty dome. My personal favorite, having grown up with the pop-a-matic games of the 70s, is:
This got me thinking along a more serious line: what are better ways that $280 could have been spent? I do get that a lot of money gets dropped at an NL game. 50-75000 people pay for tickets; pay to park; buy food and drinks and merchandise at the stadium; sometimes go out for a meal before or after the game; and sometimes purchase room nights at hotels. But so many families are priced out of this experience that I have never felt that stadium building for pro sports teams is/was a good investment. So I started thinking -- what could a city buy?
1) Free Wi-Fi
Wikipedia reports free wifi is available in some way across 150 cities in the world like: Bangkok (Thailand), Blackpool (UK), Helsingborg (Sweden), Toronto (Canada), Denver (USA), Guadalajara (Mexico)and Stellenbosch (SA). Business Insider report 9 cities with the best free Wifi among which Helsinki (Finland), Taipei (Taiwan) and Hong Kong (China).
In the Netherlands there is a start-up, planning to build free wifi-networks in 38 cities, costing 10 million. It was launched last year in Tiel, a small city of 41.000 citizens. At the moment 16.000 unique visitors in Tiel use the free wifi 20.000 hours per week. Other cities like Leiden (115.000 citizens) and Zwolle (120.000 citizens) are offering free wifi in The Netherlands too. And more will follow soon.
2) A Construction Job Training Center
Wright Way Inc. opened its doors on Friday with a free training session for people interested in the construction field.
The company will work with job seekers who need soft training and skilled-trade training.
3) School Technology
4) Sports fields - for Kids
While Colorado is not known as a true hotbed for softball talent, it becomes the center of the sports recruiting universe for one week where more than 600 college coaches attend to watch the best players compete in the countrys largest fastpitch event. This week (June 30-July 6) the three events, which are produced by Fort Collins-based Triple Crown Sports, will combine for more than 3,000 games played on 133 softball fields at 30 different sites; bringing in an estimated $30 million in economic impact to Denver, Aurora, Westminster, and communities in Northern Colorado.
5) House some homeless
Families In Crisis, a local nonprofit organization, will operate the $1.4 million facility that will house up to 74 people.
According to a compilation of surveys by the Central Texas Homeless Alliance conducted earlier this year, 532 people identified themselves as homeless in the Killeen-Temple metropolitan area.
Larry Moehnke, Families in Crisis board president, said the shelter, at 412 E. Sprott Ave., will operate 365 days a year and provide housing for people from 3 p.m. until the next morning.
6) Riverfront Times suggested 10 better ways to spend St. Louis taxpayer money than building the $1.1 billion dollar stadium designed to replace Edward Jones. One stuck out for me:
7) On the topic of the 1.1 Billion dollar St. Louis stadium that never emerged
This isnt the stage for that, one fan shouted. What made you so important? went another, as jeers rained down from across the room.
Nadra continued. Is the NFL interested in doing anything to promote the racial justice that has been misaligned here?
Whatever the answer from NFL senior vice-president of public policy Cynthia Hogan may have been, few likely heard it. A group in the back had begun to chant: If we dont get it, shut it down, while unveiling a banner that read Fund Schools, Not Football.
8) We could build grocery stores
The lack of supermarket access corresponds with higher rates of diet related death in Philadelphia.
In Los Angeles, a longer distance traveled to reach a grocery store was associated with higher BMI. Those who traveled more than 1.75 miles to a supermarket weighed 0.8 BMI units more (4.8 pounds for a 55 person).
A national study of more than 70,000 teens also found that increased availability of chain supermarkets was associated with lower rates of overweight.
9A) We could build bike lanes
If you build it, they will come. Time and time again, cycling studies have shown that adding bike lanes motivates more people to get out and bike. New Orleans saw a 57% increase just six months after bike lanes were marked. Los Angeles also saw a 52% jump in cyclists on their new lanes. Meanwhile, New York City found it was able to double the number of people commuting by bicycle in just a few years after introducing a few cycling initiatives including bike lanes. In a country plagued by obesity, the health benefits of a population that rides bicycles should not be mitigated.
2. It stimulates the local economy
That same increased use also results in a boost to commerce. While communities often fight bike lanes out of concern that it will discourage vehicular traffic from coming to the stores, recent studies have shown that bicycle lanes have the opposite effect on sales. In Manhattan, streets that had bike lanes put in saw their business increase by nearly 50%. A business boom, particularly one of that size, can probably be attributed to a number of factors, but surely an increase in people in the area plays a big role. Similar results were found for businesses by bike lanes in Portland.
3. Its safer for cyclists
Accidents happen, but research illustrates that city streets with bike lanes reduce the rate of cyclist injury by 50%. For years, the conventional wisdom was that sharing the lane with vehicles made for safer cycling, but data supports that having a separate lanes significantly cuts down on the number of cyclist emergency room visits. In fact, protected bike lanes those with barriers dividing cyclists from vehicles cuts the injury rate by a whopping 90%.
9B)Fund a community bike project
10) Build Libraries
...
In the study of Florida public libraries, a total of 17 public libraries were analyzed to assess the benefits to adult users who were 18 years of age or older; this study also considered the economic impact on these users....The analysis showed that approximately $6.40 of the total value per $1 of the budget was created.
Every Mayor in America Should Look at What Just Happened in St. Louis
Link to article at Mother JonesMeanwhile, the city and county of St. Louis will still pay at least $6 million apiece per year until 2021 to pay off bonds sold to construct and maintain the Edward Jones Dome, which opened in 1995. (The Rams paid a meager $500,000 per year to use the dome.) And then there's the more than $3 million in public funds used to develop a $1 billion riverfront stadium proposal to keep the Ramsa pitch NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell knocked as "inadequate" and "unsatisfactory."
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