Headlines

It’s Nikki Haley vs. Don Jr. for the soul of the GOP

JPMorgan will have staff cycle between office and remote work in a move that may remake Wall Street

President Trump leads Biden by 10 points among independents

BBC scraps patriotic lyrics for broadcast after BLM pressure

FDA chef issues mea culpa for his plasma treatment claims

Citigroup raise S&P 500 outlook, says Fed will do ‘whatever it takes

Wisconsin National Guard deployed to Kenosha

Kenosha residents, business owners fire warning shots

Poll: No convention bounce for Biden, who maintains big lead over Trump

Home prices show signs of recovery, rising 4.3% in June, according to Case-Schiller index

Carrier Ronald Reagan patrols South China Sea, carries out air operations

Video shows Jacob Blake brawling with cops before shooting

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

Trump warns against panic amid first US coronavirus death

Coronavirus live update: White House issues new travel warnings, first US death confirmed

Americans canceling domestic travel ...

Molten: Poll shows Trump earns more than twice as much trust as media

Russia pledges to reduce tensions following Turkey talks

Amazon sellers struggle to keep products in stock amid coronavirus outbreak

Gates: may be ‘once-in-a-century’pathogen we’ve been worried about’

Google, Facebook, and Twitter support internet free speech — in Pakistan

New York might cancel Republican presidential primary

Washington state confirms first coronavirus dearth

Independents outnumber registered Republicans for the first time ...

Trump calls for lower rates amid coronavirus fallout: ‘Fed should start being a leader’

Coronavirus in Italy, over 1,100 infected, 29 dead

Polling

Voter preference polls are inherently biased. Certainly, so called "self-selecting" polls on slanted websites are inherently biased ... the kind that Trump often quotes. But even purportedly unbiased polls usually have an axe to grind and somehow make their results fit their purpose ... on both sides. Here are two very recent media polls that are miles apart ... the ABC News poll which has Hellary up by 12 (see: ABC Poll) ... and the IBD/TIPP poll which shows a actual tie (see: IBD/TIPP Results). How can there be such a surprisingly large disparity ... and why?

Well, often the purpose of such "dark" polls is to discourage one block of voters from going to the polls ... even at the cost of hence being known as being an inaccurate poll. This is done by rigging ... either choosing unscientific samples (40% Democrats, 30% Independents, 30% Republicans) or making "sampling adjustments" after the fact ... see: Zero Hedge Discussion. Also there are things called "push polls" whose questions are designed either to get a predetermined result ("Do you prefer Trump's bluster or Clinton's competence?") ... or actually push the respondent in a given direction ("If you knew that Trump molested his daughters, would you then vote for him?") All very unscientific and reason enough for voters to ignore most polling results.

And there are more even subtler tricks in this an often-grifter trade. Which proves even further that voter rigging takes place before, during and after the elections. There is so much ... too much ... at stake in elections ... which indicates to me that too many candidates are in politics for themselves and not for their country. A dirty business all around.

Diapers

Today my witty wife, Jeanette, sent me the following quote:

“Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason.” Mark Twain

I agree ...  actually, politicians of both stripes are often pristine up until the time they first take office. Then for some strange reason Republicans avoid being besotted for a little bit longer than Democrats (in Massachusetts, they are so pervasively corrupt I like to call them Democraps). Good reason to vote for Republicans or Independents ... but only for their first couple of terms in office.