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Other / Politics & Society / "Poll: Trump, Clinton score historic unfavorable ratings"
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on: March 22, 2016, 01:31:48 PM
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This latest CNN poll confirms what I've already guessed: the upcoming general election campaign is going to be the most brutal one in decades. Yep, the attack ads are going to be flyin', because: Poll: Trump, Clinton score historic unfavorable ratings
Washington (CNN)Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton register net negative ratings in double digits, indicating the front-runners for each party's presidential nominations are viewed negatively at historic levels, according to a new CBS/New York Times poll.
That makes Trump and Clinton viewed more unfavorably than any front-runner for either party since 1984, when CBS began polling voters on the question.
On the Republican side, Trump scores a net negative of -33, with a favorable rating of 24% compared to 57% of voters who view him unfavorably. On the Democratic side, Clinton fares only slightly better with a net negative of -21, registering a 31% favorable rating and a 52% unfavorable rating, according to the poll.
Both candidates' negatives far outweigh front-runners of the past. In 2012, President Barack Obama was viewed favorably and unfavorably by an equal share of voters, while Republican nominee Mitt Romney scored a net negative of -7. In 2008, both Obama and Sen. John McCain had net positive ratings of 16 and 7 points, respectively.
The previous highest unfavorable rating since 1984 actually belongs to another Clinton -- former President Bill Clinton, who in 1992 had a net negative rating of -17.... http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/22/politics/2016-election-poll-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/---------- Might as well leave everyone hanging with that last sentence. Hmmm, "former President Bill Clinton, who in 1992 had a net negative rating of -17" was certainly hated by a lot of folks even when times were good and he was well-liked. |
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Other / Politics & Society / "The FCC’s Plan To Take Over The Internet Has Begun"
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on: March 19, 2016, 05:47:09 PM
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Ya knew it was coming... The FCC’s Plan To Take Over The Internet Has Begun
"It's not a government takeover of the Internet.” That was the mantra of those who backed the Federal Communication Commission’s “net neutrality” rules, which the FCC approved a little over a year ago.
“Not only are the new rules not a government takeover,” argued one supporter in Variety, “they are well in keeping with how communications have been successfully fostered and regulated in America in the past.”
The rules were only meant to keep the Internet “free and open,” advocates said. All the government was doing was blocking ISPs from discriminating against users by charging more for faster speeds.
But to impose “net neutrality,” the FCC reclassified the Internet so that it could regulate it in the same way it regulated the telephone monopolies. FCC chairman Tom Wheeler promised that — despite the fact the FCC had just granted itself wide-ranging control over ISPs — it would use a “light touch” when it came to regulating ISPs.
But now, 12 months later, the FCC tipped its heavy hand with a proposal for a new set of regulations that could, as the Morning Consult put it, “reshape the tech industry.”
The proposed new rules don’t have anything to do with “net neutrality.” They are about privacy. Now that the FCC can do so, Chairman Tom Wheeler has decided that the government should impose what it determines are the appropriate privacy protections on all Internet service providers.... http://www.investors.com/politics/capital-hill/the-fccs-plan-to-take-over-the-internet-has-begun/And sure enough, at least one service is complaining about entangling regulations.  If you want to paint this, er, "pivot" with a broad brush, you can say that FedGov got the suckers to swallow the King's Shilling once again. But look at it with a more detail-oriented eye and you see the FCC essentially acting as muscle for one faction at the expense of another. And as is almost customary, the faction that gets the muscle has been branded as "the consumers." It's fascinating. Consumerism, if you will, is standard policy in a business country. The general maxim of business is, "The customer is always right." And yet, FedGov frequently uses its muscle on the side of "the consumer." Fascinating how the two dovetail. Are you one of those who decry consumerism? Well if so, you stand athwart not only "business" but also the federal government. |
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Alternate cryptocurrencies / Altcoin Discussion / Horizon [HZ] Price Speculation Thread
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on: March 18, 2016, 03:49:25 AM
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I've opened up this thread because Horizon just jumped up on daily volume that's been the biggest all year: Now as you can see, the price action of HZ hasn't been all that good in 2016 - until today. It's been an under-the-radar coin, as also shown by the chart's volume. The latest 24-hour volume is the highest for the entire year-to-date, and it's only 5.9 Bitcoins. Given the now-recurrent but still alive Poloniex pumpathon, I wonder what's up. I saw nothing about it in the Polo trollbox. There's no news on Horizon's official announcement thread today, either. Any guesses? Just to let everyone know, I do HODL a lot of Horizon. That said, I've been far more of a net buyer than a net seller this year. |
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Other / Politics & Society / "Black Trump supporter shot and killed by Chicago protesters" LIKELY HOAX
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on: March 13, 2016, 01:26:48 AM
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EDIT: This story is as yet unconfirmed. It's looking more and more like a hoax.This item comes from Christian Times News: Christian Times Newspaper has learned that an African-American supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has died after allegedly sustaining gunshot wounds in the aftermath of Friday night’s chaos in Chicago.
Robert King Bullock, aged 37, was a resident of Chicago’s Evanston suburb. According to Bullock’s friend, who also attended the Trump rally, Robert was an avid chef, and he recently obtained his Masters of Business Administration and planned to open a local restaurant.
This source spoke with CTN on the condition of anonymity, and asked to be referred to as “Terry.” He called for Bullock’s death to serve as a reminder to anti-Trump groups and the mainstream media.
“Rob was a black man, but he supported Trump because he got tired of Democrats saying his race was the thing holding him back,” Bullock’s friend told CTN.
“[Rob] lost his job because of Obamacare. He lost his brother to black-on-black gang violence. Now he lost his life because he believed in a white man. His race didn’t have a damn thing to do with what held him back.”
Bullock and Terry were separated in the chaos that followed the protesters’ interruption of the planned Trump rally, which led to widespread violent scuffles and the event’s cancellation. It is believed that he attempted to make his way to a nearby bar to charge his dead cell-phone and reconnect with Terry.
Multiple sources have confirmed that protesters and Trump supporters continued to clash as they moved from the UIC Pavillion to their vehicles and nearby locations. It is believed that Bullock, at some point after leaving the event center, was confronted by protesters, beaten, then allegedly shot two times in the abdomen and left shoulder by a small to medium-size handgun.... More at the source, including a pic: http://christiantimesnewspaper.com/breaking-black-trump-supporter-shot-and-killed-by-chicago-protesters/
This is terrible news. RIP Robert King Bullock. No word as yet if the cops have tracked down the perp(s)...
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Alternate cryptocurrencies / Altcoin Discussion / New Poll: When will Ethereum Market Cap Exceed BITCOIN's?
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on: March 12, 2016, 03:12:56 PM
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Ooookay: this somewhat tongue-in-cheek poll was inspired by an earlier one asking if ETH's market cap would exceed $1 billion this year. I voted "Maybe." As we now know, the Yeses won it - pretty durn early, too. Etherium provably hit the big billion before Pi Day. So here another poll for you to cast your vote! Unlike that earlier one, now "obsolete," this one offers you two choices to express what you think of me for raising the question.  Have at it, folks! |
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Other / Politics & Society / JEEZUS! "Chinese Hackers Break Into NY Fed, Steal $100 Million From..."
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on: March 07, 2016, 09:34:57 PM
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To think I thought the cryptocurrency frontier was the place to find the bad guys! Chinese Hackers Break Into NY Fed, Steal $100 Million From Bangladesh Central BankReports indicate that some of the stolen funds were traced to the Philippines, but given what we know about the "Cyber Axis of Evil," we can only suspect it was Iranians, Chinese, or the criminal/military mastermind Kim Jong-Un who was behind the scam, but whatever the case, someone, somewhere, hacked into Bangladesh's central bank on February 5. According to Reuters [6], "some of the funds" have been recovered, but the bank didn't initially say how much or how much was initially stolen. We suppose that theoretically it could have been a rather large sum, as the country has around $26 billion in FX reserves on hand:... But just moments ago we learned from the AFP [7] that the amount lost was around $100 million. "Some of the money was then illegally transferred online to the Philippines and Sri Lanka, a central bank official told AFP on condition of anonymity." "The bank reported that the USD 100 million was leaked into the Philippine banking system, sold to a black market foreign exchange broker and then transferred to at least three local casinos," AFP continues, adding that "the amount was later sold back to the money broker and moved out to overseas accounts within days." And here's the punchline: According to AFP, Chinese hackers have been blamed and the money was stolen from accounts held at the New York Fed... Full post, incl. pictures and graphs, here in printable: http://www.zerohedge.com/print/526062With comments: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-07/chinese-hackers-break-ny-fed-steal-100-million-bangladesh-central-bank |
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Alternate cryptocurrencies / Altcoin Discussion / What's Happening with XEM?
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on: March 06, 2016, 10:21:43 PM
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To give everyone a break from Etherium  , I'd like to throw this question out: Does anyone have an idea why the New Economy Movement - XEM - took off this morning (ET)? I know they had some great news from last December and January, but is there anything going on now to explain the jump? As I write this, the 24-hour volume on Polo is a little more than 600 BTC and it's pulled back from a ~300 peak to about 265. It's been sneaking up earlier, but on far lower volume than today's. Any new developments, credible rumours, or is this just another match in the Ultimate Pumping Championship? (Speaking of the last, Bitshares is taking off too - tho' for how long is anyone's guess...) |
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Other / Politics & Society / Bem Carson Suspends His Campaign - Yes, This One's Real
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on: March 02, 2016, 08:30:13 PM
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Dr. Ben Carson Suspends CampaignGOP presidential candidate Dr Ben Carson is suspending his presidential campaign after failing to win a single state or collect many delegates through Super Tuesday. “I have decided not to attend the Fox News GOP Presidential Debate tomorrow night in Detroit,” Carson began in his campaign press release. Even though I will not be in my hometown of Detroit on Thursday, I remain deeply committed to my home nation, America. I do not see a political path forward in light of last evening’s Super Tuesday primary results. However, this grassroots movement on behalf of “We the People” will continue. Along with millions of patriots who have supported my campaign for President, I remain committed to Saving America for Future Generations. We must not depart from our goals to restore what God and our Founders intended for this exceptional nation. “I appreciate the support, financial and otherwise, from all corners of America. Gratefully, my campaign decisions are not constrained by finances; rather by what is in the best interests of the American people.” Carson said he will discuss his conservative grassroots support and movement more at CPAC later this week. " I do not see a political path forward in light of last evening’s Super Tuesday primary results." Yes folks, this one's real. And in a way, a real shame. Lots of Americans would have been really proud to see him become President Carson. But, it was not to be. If Donald Trump wins it all, spec says Dr. Caron will be offered Surgeon-General or Secretary of HHS. But a commenter at the Free Republic said he might be elected Florida's Senator. When ya think about it, Dr, Carson would make a really fine Senator. |
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Other / Politics & Society / "Inside the Clinton Team’s Plan to Defeat Donald Trump"
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on: March 01, 2016, 02:41:19 PM
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tl;dr: It's going to be one helluva slugfest, with the Dems goin' to 11 with the muckraking. Snippet: ...While Mrs. Clinton radiates positive energy on the trail, Democratic groups are beginning to coalesce around a strategy to deliver sustained and brutal attacks on Mr. Trump.
The plan has three major thrusts: Portray Mr. Trump as a heartless businessman who has worked against the interests of the working-class voters he now appeals to; broadcast the degrading comments he has made against women in order to sway suburban women, who have been reluctant to support Mrs. Clinton; and highlight his brash, explosive temper to show he is unsuited to be commander in chief.
American Bridge, a pro-Clinton “super PAC,” has formed a “due diligence unit” of tax and business experts who are poring over Securities and Exchange Commission documents and court records related to Mr. Trump’s business career.
A staff member for an affiliated group, Correct the Record, which coordinates with Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, has collected footage of comments that have not hurt Mr. Trump’s standing among Republican primary voters, but that could be stitched together in what the group’s founder, David Brock, described as a montage of hateful speech that would appall a general electorate.
“There is something to this idea that nothing has stuck,” Mr. Brock said, but that, he argued, is because the Republicans have been too restrained to avoid offending Mr. Trump’s supporters.
In the coming weeks, Priorities USA Action, a super PAC supporting Mrs. Clinton that effectively portrayed Mitt Romney as a cold corporate titan in the 2012 campaign, will begin scripting and testing ads that use a similar approach against Mr. Trump.
As Mrs. Clinton tries to remain above the fray, Mr. Clinton would be unleashed to respond when Mr. Trump lashed out. Mr. Obama has already argued that Mr. Trump should not be trusted with the job and has told allies he will continue that charge. In February, asked about Mr. Trump, he said the president has “the nuclear codes with them and can order 21-year-olds into a firefight.”...
Even as Democrats prepare to take on Mr. Trump, there remains deep anxiety that the messages may not break through.... http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-general-election.html?_r=0In other words, the campaign for the general election is going to be the most brutal one in decades. The Dems are scared - and are preparing to lash out in "Any Which Way That Works." Curveball question 1: is the DNC preparing an ad like 1964's famous/notorious "Bomb" ad? Curveball question 2: If they do, will it work - or will it fizzle? |
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Other / Politics & Society / "Donald Trump Secretly Told The New York Times..."
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on: March 01, 2016, 12:10:35 PM
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Okay, this comes from Buzzfeed - ye hast been warned - but after chewing it over, I took it seriously, as a serious telegraphing of what Mr. Trump plans for the general election. Donald Trump Secretly Told The New York Times What He Really Thinks About Immigration
The New York Times is sitting on an audio recording that some of its staff believes could deal a serious blow to Donald Trump, who, in an off-the-record meeting with the newspaper, called into question whether he would stand by his own immigration views.
Trump visited the paper’s Manhattan headquarters on Tuesday, Jan. 5, as part of a round of editorial board meetings that — as is traditional — the Democratic candidates for president and some of the Republicans attended. The meetings, conducted partly on the record and partly off the record in a 13th-floor conference room, give candidates a chance to make their pitch for the paper’s endorsement....
On Saturday, columnist Gail Collins, one of the attendees at the meeting (which also included editor-in-chief Dean Baquet), floated a bit of speculation in her column:
The most optimistic analysis of Trump as a presidential candidate is that he just doesn’t believe in positions, except the ones you adopt for strategic purposes when you’re making a deal. So you obviously can’t explain how you’re going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, because it’s going to be the first bid in some future monster negotiation session. Sources familiar with the recording and transcript — which have reached near-mythical status at the Times — tell me that the second sentence is a bit more than speculation. It reflects, instead, something Trump said about the flexibility of his hardline anti-immigration stance.... Here's how I read it: - Mr. Trump is thinking ahead towards the general election - specifically, the attack ads that will come from the Dems. After all, how would it hurt him if the unpublished part of the tapes take a walk from the Times building to the DNC? What are they going to do - put out an ad that contains the "shocking" disclosure that Mr. Trump is more reasonable than their own attack ads will say he is? Sure, they could hold it up as evidence that he's a flip-flopper - but that move comes at the risk of making the Dems themselves look like they're all over the map. Donald Trump can get away with that image. The Dems can't.
- Even if the New York Times - DNC "symlink" doesn't kick in, Mr. Trump can ask the paper to release the entire transcript once the Dem attack ads start flying - and use it to knock them down.
- With regard to the primaries, he saying what he said implies that he's fully confident he'll win the Republican nom no matter what. As a businessman, he'll see winning the nomination as a done deal placing him in charge. Those unreleased tapes do show that he's prepared to follow the old "pivot to the centre" rule.
I realize that some Trmpbois will take this analysis as evidence that Mr. Trump is playing hyper-dimensional chess , but it's not that hard to understand. A lot of his supposed vagueness can be explained by his "Trump Card" Maximize Your Options. Just read, understand and relate pp. 50-1 of The Art Of The Deal (pb) to his campaign and you'll be a lot more wised-up than most. |
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Other / Politics & Society / Heard About Michael Bloomberg? Now, For Your Next Contestant...
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on: February 29, 2016, 11:26:54 PM
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Jesse Ventura: I’ll Run for President If Bernie Loses
The former governor of Minnesota likes Trump and Sanders, but says he will get in the race by June if Hillary wins the Democratic nomination.
Minneapolis — Jesse Ventura told The Daily Beast he will run for president if Bernie Sanders does not win the Democratic nomination.
Ventura was elected the governor of Minnesota as an independent in 1998 after serving as a Navy SEAL and professional wrestler. Ventura said his campaign was so successful at showing an outsider could be elected that Trump and Sanders are “ripping him off.” He bets he can do it again if Sanders loses and the election is Hillary Clinton vs. Trump.
“They’re setting the groundwork for me because if Bernie loses, by the time we get to June, how sick are the people going to be of all these people,” he said while dressed in a Jimmy Hendrix shirt under a blazer and SEALs beanie.
“See I’m an independent and I despise the two parties,” Ventura, who speaks as if he is prepared to tackle you, continued. “I love what Trump’s doing to the Republicans. He’s got them in complete disarray. In fact, it looks like the WWE when you watch their debates.”
As for who will prevail in the Minnesota caucus tomorrow night, Ventura really could not say.
“I support the revolution of what’s happening here,” Ventura said after telling a local that he worked for most “level-headed” news outlet (RT America). “There’s three things where I stand with Bernie on more so than Trump. Number one is campaign is finance reform,” two is “the war,” and three is ending the War on Drugs.... http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/29/jesse-ventura-i-ll-run-for-president-if-bernie-loses.html?via=twitter_page---------- These days, who knows? Like Mike Bloomberg, Jesse Ventura actually does have political experience. |
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Other / Politics & Society / Michael Bloomberg May Announce Presidential Campaign Next Week!
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on: February 29, 2016, 06:47:38 PM
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If he does, the "Battle of the Billionaires" is on!Michael Bloomberg is planning a run for the U.S. presidency that would begin as early as next week.
A source with knowledge of company affairs at Bloomberg L.P., told Anadolu Agency that said senior officials at offices worldwide were clearing schedules for meetings to discuss a sudden change in the management structure at the company.
The source, who spoke to AA on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to discuss company matters on the record.
The multibillionaire owner of Bloomberg L.P. is preparing to hand over his responsibilities at the financial data and media company ahead of an announcement after Super Tuesday on March 1, a key date in the nomination process for the Republican and Democratic parties.
Bloomberg was planning to make his announcement on or after Super Tuesday, the source said.
Bloomberg, who distanced himself from his company in a similar fashion when he was elected mayor of New York City, has been rumored to be planning an independent presidential campaign for months.... https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/bloomberg-to-announce-us-presidential-run/527403
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Other / Politics & Society / The American Rightwing Revolution Of Rising Expectations
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on: February 28, 2016, 08:21:35 PM
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You go away on a journey of the imagination, to a land where National Review is liberal, Ted Cruz is Mr. Establishment, where John Boehner and Paul Ryan are de facto allies of Barack Obama. It is a land whose inhabits flip-flop from trumpeting the best Republican showing in congress since the 1920s to apocalyptically alerting their fellows about an imminent and permanent Democrat majorities. A land where the veto power of the President is brushed off as an excuse, where many say that a typical Republican is worse for the rightwing than a Democrat. A land where heroes of the moment are hoisted up in a balloon of adulation only to crash down after their balloon is shot by gunmen who yell "Traitor!" and "Sellout!" Every hero except one. He is the scion of a very successful family whose success dwarfed that of his father. A very loyal son of a father that was a lifelong Queens Democrat. This is here, this is now. All around, you see unrest and rebellion. It's fitting that you do, for you have entered...
Although he never coined the term, Alexis de Tocqueville is credited as being the first modern historical to discover the "revolution of rising expectations." One of the chapters of his work The Old Regime And The [French] Revolution was entitled " How Attempts To Relieve The People Provoked Rebellion". That, in tl;dr form, described the mechanism of a Revolution of Rising Expectations. It's happening now, in the land of right-wing 'Merica. It's happening right in front of your eyes. It's here, it's now, it's real. And here's the most interesting part of it: from the "global" view, it looks like a bunch of folks have angrily taken leave of their sanity. But if you're detail-oriented like the late Count de Tocqueville, it begins to makes a lot of sense. Just ask the rightwingers who have rallied around Trump to the point where they seem to think he can do no wrong. You'll hear that he's a winner: he's the right man for the job. You'll hear that he's brave enough to be candid and thus buck the age of political correctness. You'll hear that his "liberal" moments are forgiven because he's right on the core issues: protectionism for the sake of American jobs and cracking down on illegal immigration. You'll hear that his lack of political experience is proof positive that he's the best man for the job. And you'll soon hear a lot of anger and frustration over a Republican party that seems to have done little for them except solicit their votes and donations. Beneath the anger, you'll see a lot of frustration from solid citizens who have - in very real ways - been treated like second-class citizens. That's the real backstory behind the seemingly unstoppable rise of Donald Trump: I can't think of any better tl;dr for the Donald Trump phenomenon than this meme:
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Other / Politics & Society / "Canadian Island welcomes Americans should Trump become President"
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on: February 28, 2016, 07:24:12 PM
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Now, this is just plain funny: CAPE BRETON ISLAND, Canada - A Canadian Island has started a campaign to lure Americans who may want to move to another Country if Donald Trump becomes President of the United States. Cape Breton Island is located on the East Coast of Canada and is about the same size as the Hawaiian Big Island. According to the website cbiftrumpwins.com the island is experiencing a bit of a population problem, despite being ranked in travel magazine's lists of beautiful island. The site goes on to say "This is not a joke! See for yourself, you belong here with us on Cape Breton Island, where health care is free, you know your neighbours and they look out for you, and nobody has a hand gun!" I'm sure a lot of Trumpers will say "Good Riddance." As a Canuck, I say: "Come on in!" If liberal-type Americans are so ticked off or horrified by a Trump presidency that they'd pick up sticks, then they and America really would be better off if they emigrated to Canada. Canada isn't part of the "Nordic Model" countries, but it's close enough in structure to give those folks a taste of what it's like to live in a Nordic-Model country. Like all of them, Canada is a parliamentary democracy tho' not as centralized as the Nordic Model countries. Like most Nordic Model countries, Canada is a Constitutional monarchy. And it certainly shares the same kind of weather with the real thing. So; as a Canuck, I am behind those Americans who actually want to follow through on their complaints and move to the Great White North. They'll find out a few ground truths about a quasi-Nordic-Model system, and we Canadians will be doing the Trumpers a real favour.  |
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Other / Politics & Society / "Wall of GOP resistance to Trump begins to crack"
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on: February 27, 2016, 08:37:59 PM
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The cracks in the Establishment dam have appeared! ATLANTA—When Chris Christie threw his support behind Donald Trump, Washington gasped. But the wall of establishment opposition to Trump’s candidacy had begun cracking days before New Jersey’s governor barreled right through it.
From Rep. Duncan Hunter and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who have signaled an openness to working with Trump, to Mike Huckabee’s daughter and adviser Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who officially joined Trump's campaign this week, Republican officials and operatives are coming to grips with the reality that this anti-establishment hero is now the presumptive GOP nominee.
“Folks are now going through the stages of grief,” said one high-ranking Republican operative. “Some are already at acceptance.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/establishment-gop-shifting-to-trump-219893#ixzz41P14Mr3Xtl:dr: - " The establishment’s opposition to Trump is crumbling."
- " Trump is actually...a savvy politician!"
- " Christie had no other play"
- "Rubio’s now in the fight of his life."
- "Cruz has been completely marginalized on the eve of Super Tuesday.
Notable quote: "Rubio is hoping to bury Trump in an avalanche of opposition research about his business failures and apparent hypocrisy of hiring undocumented foreign workers to build Trump Tower. But Trump’s supporters thus far have signaled that they don’t really care about his personal foibles, lack of policy experience or the seedy underbelly of his long business record." The bolded part shows what's astonishing about the Trump candidacy. He's attracted a lot of folks who are used to tearing other candidates apart for a relatively minor misstep - but who now are immune to all the dirt being dug up about Mr. Trump! No wonder Trump's been nicknamed the "Teflon Don". |
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Alternate cryptocurrencies / Marketplace (Altcoins) / [HZ] [ANN] The "Open Auditing" 2016 US Election Prediction Market Project
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on: February 01, 2016, 11:10:41 PM
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THE OPEN-AUDIT INITIATIVE: 2016 US ELECTION PREDICTION MARKET PROJECTThis Horizon project consists of a slew of prediction-market Assets that shadow PredictWise's price data. This project is experimental. The owner of PredictWise has kindly let me have access to APIs that will provide the numbers for the tradebot that will keep these Assets in line with his derived market-price data. Just to let you know, this project is started and run by yours truly, who is solely responsible for it. Neither PredictWise not the Horizon dev team is associated with it, except as independent supplier of data and independent supplier of the 2nd-gen cryptocurrency platform. The responsibility for this project is all on my shoulders. "Hello World!"Welcome to the first iteration, the "Hello World" if you will, of an initiative I call Open Auditing. Each of the Assets listed below in this post contain instructions on how to audit my pricing claims. Also below is step-by-step detailed instructions for any Assets you wish to audit. for a post of part of the audit instructions. Since the Horizon Asset system only allows for 1000 characters, and the full instructions clocked in at ~1600 characters, I had to post Part 2 of the instructions here. It's in the post just below this one.
YOU CAN AUDIT ANY ONE OF THESE ASSETS CONVENIENTLY by using a special Horizon demo account. It holds ten of each contract. Using the tables below, you can find the one(s) you want to price-check. The Account ID is NHZ-R66W-847L-MTQR-5CSH5 Just copy and paste this exact ID into your Horizon wallet. If you don't have one, feel free to use this Web wallet. After copying and pasting the Account ID, your login box should look like this:
If you don't trust me - perhaps you shouldn't - you can download your own independent full-node Horizon wallet here. Please check your download against one of the checksums provided to make sure you've got the right .zip file. You can download a checksum checker here. One you've got it installed, click the "Manage" button and the "Open File" icon on the top left of the Manage page. Load the Horizon wallet into it. Then, press the "Archive Information" icon - it's third to the right - and then press the "Checksums" button. The checksum you get should match the one for your full-node wallet on the official download page.
This guide in the official Horizon announcement thread tells you how to set up your new node.
Once you've got your wallet set up, or the direct link to my Web wallet opened up, click the "Asset Exchange" button on the left. It looks like this:
If you are DIYing with your own wallet, you can fill up your Asset Exchange bookmarks by clicking the above-mentioned Add Asset button......entering the Asset ID number in the form that pops up......and clicking the Add Asset button on the form. You'll see it added to your Asset Exchange bookmarks.
As you'll soon find out, the above Asset ID corresponds to the contract, "Will the winner of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election be a Democrat?" Click here to get the contract lists!
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Alternate cryptocurrencies / Altcoin Discussion / "Ladies And Gentlemen: Presenting...A New Alt Bull Market!" [Suggest Sleepers!]
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on: January 26, 2016, 08:30:43 PM
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Just look, and drool if you want, at this screenshot of Poloniex's top-ten volume coins:
Hell, Nxt has woken up! Even Bitshares has turned around!
So, I put it to you: we're witnessing the birth of a new altcoin bull market that's the spillover from Bitcoin's shift to the bull. True, there's been a time lag between BTC and the now-hot alts, but that's not uncommon. One of the lag factors was people dumping their alts for Bitcoin itself. At first, I though it was just the changing of the fads for "dev-superteam" coins like Factom and Etherium, but many other biggies are catching fire. If the venerable DOGE is skyrocketing as well, we're looking at little more than a new alt-flavour-of-the-month.
"If It's A Bull Market, Why Aren't My Coins Rising?"
Because that's how bull markets start off. It's the hot ones that catch fire first, and the fire does take some time to spread. True, it doesn't spread all over the sector and the spreading can take some time for yours (and most of mine, I have to admit.) Also, the fad game is never-ending; as long as your alt is "out", it prolly won't do that much.
HOW TO PLAY THE NEW BULL MARKET: THREE APPROACHES
1. Jump Aboard The Choo-Choo. This one actually works pretty well in a bull market, all told. I jumped on the XEM train, grumbled about paying too much and was surprised to see it shoot up to double what I paid. I missed the Etherium choo-choo at 0.0045 - but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have any real reason to complain. But that said, jumping on the train carries with it the same old risk.
2. Wait For The Bullet Train To Derail, Then Jump On Board. This approach, also known as "wait for the pullback," is the strategy recommended by stock-market pros. Just wait for the derailment, buy in, and wait for the bullet train to be put back on the track and bullet away again. The main risk for this strategy is "opportunity risk": getting left behind. But that's a better risk in an important way, because an "opportunity loss" still leaves you whole.
3. Find A Sleeper And Wait Patiently For It To Wake Up. This strategy, potentially, will bag you the most lucre. The problem with it comes with "Wait Patiently". I know: it is galling to sit and watch your alt roll downhill a little while the hotties are choo-chooing along. The best strategy to cope with this is "compartmentalized ignorance." Just sit on your sleepers and don't connect their sleepiness with the hot performers. This "compartmentalized ignorance" served me very well with VPNCoin after I bought a taste of the gig [only 2'500] through the Nxt Asset vpn2nxt a couple of months ago. I just sat on the durn thing and didn't pay much attention as it slept away; I just thought the coin was neat. One sleeper I missed was Factom when it was a tenth of what it is now.
SUGGEST A SLEEPER!
Got an alt that you think is a sleeper? Feel free to share it, but please explain why you think it's going to wake up. Example:
"I think GEMZ is a sleeper because GetGems Messenger is going viral. GEMZ hasn't woken up because there's no way to buy some through the app as yet. Once there is, there'll be a huge demand for GEMZ and it'll wake up!" <-- This "story" provides a "why." Pls supply one for yours.
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Alternate cryptocurrencies / Altcoin Discussion / Happy HELLoween: 2.0 Gripe Thread
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on: November 01, 2015, 12:53:00 AM
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I remember the day well: February 10th, 2009. Back then, there was a consensus amongst stock punters that TARP and the Fed bailouts had worked. A surprising many of them had mixed feeling about the bailouts' propriety, but pretty-much every punter agreed on their efficacy. Starting in November of '08, coalescing in December and solidifying in January, the sentiment was that Bailout Nation had turned the tide of the vicious bear market of '08. Until that fateful late-morning when Tim Geithner Himself gave a speech. About TARP. To a naïf like me, then mercenary enough to be interested only in a profitable punt, the speech sounded pretty good. But not to the vets: not to them! And boy, were they quick. Quick enough to kickstart a blizzard of selling that made for a four-week bear market within a bear market. It didn't end until March 9, 2009, when the S&P 500 bottomed out at 666 and change. ---------- Right now, or so I hope, the crypto-2.0 markets look a lot like that scary February. So I hope. Fact is, I was lulled by a Cryptsy-based altcoin index which indicated that the altcoin tide had turned earlier this year. Never mind that Cryptsy is full of 1.0 alts which benefitted from the old-is-new-again resuscitation fad. That index, plus the big BTC finally turning the tide, had me figurin' that the dark days were over for 2.0 and 2.0-related coins. Of course, I made the classic mistake of trying to catch the falling knife. With one glaring exception, and one not-so-noticeable exception, the last month has been 2.0 hell. Just below, in the spirit of a good-old-fashioned mutual gripe session, is a Polo-powered round-up of the blizzard woes of Crypto 2.0. Happy HELLoween! BITSHARES (BTS): Oh, Lordy. To think I was publicly patting myself on the back for buying 10,000 below 1500 satoshis. I shoulda known: those heady, exciting >2500 days when BTS had elbowed aside Etherium as the #1 volume leader on Polo was the time to abandon the Bitship. After 100,000 TPS turned into 100 TPS "for now," it was all aboard for the bear train. Express trip to new lows! 1300 on your left! If there were any more handy time for "sell on the [just before the] news," Bitshares was it. DASH (DASH): Of course, 0.01 will hold up. Sure it will. (Now, 0.00723 and wobbling.) RIPPLE (XRP): Wowie...just wow. The days when Ripple was a bargain below 3000 satoshis have vanished like 1500. It's now bouncing up to 1483. MONERO (XMR): More 2.0 crow to eat. Remember the pumpathon here when it had sunk to 0.002? That did mark a turning point, in a way: it did manage to lumber up to about 0.00225. But afterwards, it went downie-bye. Currently 0.00129. COUNTERPARTY (XCP): If it was a "50% off" bargain at 0.005, it's giggity-giggity a golly-sakes bigger bargain at 0.00305! BOOLBERRY (BBR): Sometimes the bear shows mercy...or absent-mindedness Boolberry has had a nice bounce, up to 4712 satoshis. Never mind what its longer-term chart looks like: a nice bounce is a nice bounce. BITCOINDARK (BTCD): Currently 0.00256. Ouch...just, ouch. GEMZ (GEMZ): Well, it still does bounce off 5000 satoshis! BURSTCOIN (BURST): More mercy, or forgetfulness, from the bear. It's holding more-or-less up at 14. "Like BURST at 40, the warriors are blown away by the wind." QORA (QORA): Revamped revived, retooled, and ready...to reintroduce itself to levels seen when everyone was standing around waiting for something to happen. FACTOM (FCT): Hi, IPO price! Long time no see! Aren't you glad I'm back? And of course, I saved the most depressing one for last................NXT (NXT): Of all the above, this one's been the biggest kneecapper. Even back in the dark days of later last year, NXT still held up. Back then, I was blithely assuring everyone that below-5000 satoshis was a bargain. Good one on me, I tell you. NXT is now less than half of that 5000 "bargain." Its current 2275 has reintroduced it to prices from two weeks after it was launched. Jeez, this one's a real kneecapping capstone for the 2015 HELLoween Tour. Those Exceptions:Go figure. Not all that long ago, Etherium was being gnawed on like the others. 0.0015...oww. But just when it confounded zero-sum thinkers everywhere in altcoin land, it leapt upwards and became a plausible "demand-hog" once again. Talk about a hard-bouncin' trick! And if ETH bestowed a treat on ye, congrats. The second exception, oddly enough, is the under-the-radar coin that I'm still associated with. Unlike all those others above, with the exception of Etherium later, HORIZON (HZ) managed a nice rickety-rocket rise from ~30 to 55. As the luck of the damned would indicate, it's since reintroduced itself to the low 30s. But, for whatever reason, the 30 level is holding up quite nicely. Nicely as of now, me pretties: nicely as of now...
Well, that wraps up the gripeathon for me. Got any 2.0 gripes of your own? Might as well share 'em on this thread. Happy HELLoween! |
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