@#14

... and diverting more campaign donations to lawyer fees?

@#13

imo, just looking for attention.

Some excellent guitar-playing coupled with great lyrics...

The problem with election results seems to be a MAGA takeover of the reporting of the election results.

Can you say, "Georgia?"

I knew you could.

More from the article...

... US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Jen Easterly and her counterparts from the UK and EU want the world to know that, when it comes to securing elections, they've never been more prepared.

Easterly, EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) COO Hans de Vries and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) CEO Felicity Oswald took the stage for Black Hat's opening keynote, and all agreed that their countries (or international blocs, in De Vries' case) have managed to make their voting systems pretty resilient to outside threats.

"I can say with confidence that election infrastructure has never been more secure," Easterly claimed, and she had a ready explanation as to why: "the election stakeholder community has never been stronger." ...

More from the article...

... Long considered ideologically non-identifiable, "Musk has openly supported more right-wing views and right-wing politicians since he acquired the platform," according to Matthew Facciani, a social scientist at the University of Notre Dame in the US.

Facciani, who studies social networks and political polarization, said Musk's online activity suggests the billionaire "consumes a substantial amount of right-wing content on his platform."

"Many people can fall into information echo chambers on social media, and Elon Musk appears to be no different, except for his massive wealth and influence," Facciani told DW. ...

More from the article...

... Riots in the United Kingdom. Venezuela's presidential election. Germany's handling of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

These are just three recent examples for where billionaire Elon Musk has waded into the political debates of other countries far from his home in Texas.

As the US prepares to elect a new president in November, Musk isn't just using his social media platform X to support Donald Trump's candidacy. The world's richest man also frequently tweets to his more than 193 million followers about political issues in other countries, often displaying what appears to be a limited understanding of the situations on the ground. ...

@#56 ... all of them have been standing room only ...

Context is needed.

@#55 ... He had crowds in 2016. This year not so much compared to what Harris-Walz draw. ...

Yup.

From the sub-summary...

... Donald Trump held a seemingly pointless press conference on Thursday, ...

"Seemingly pointless???"

I had to stop listening because I thought my ears would start bleeding from the rambling lies he stated.

What concerns me now is that fmr Pres Trump may actually consider that dumpster fire of a "press conference" to be a success.

And, as a follow-up, why has the Trump campaign been so silent about that disaster?

Are we seeing a divergence of fmr Pres Trump and his campaign?

So, fmr Pres Trump admits that VP Harris is Black, apparently admitting his prior (I'll be kind) faux pas?

@#7

OK, I admit, I avoided the gist of your comment.

But, yeah, after thinking about it and looking at the evidence, I'll agree.

The GOP seems to have turned into a criminal organization, with mob-like attributes.

Does anyone have anything to counter that assertion?

@#7 ... I have no problem "going that far". Hell, that road seems paved. ...

Your comment caused me to take a step back and pause. ...

While I was thinking, this song popped up on the playlist here this evening ...

Oops formatting problem.

Everything including the sentence starting with "So" is my opinion, not the article.

Fun tunes this evening distracting me....

(I know, that's not an excuse. I'll try harder going forward....)

@#17 ... If his hearing loss is as great as said on another thread ...

My Mom had a hearing loss. Since her 20's.

Yet, because of hearing aid technology, she was able to function quite well.

... "I'm a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles. "I guess we all look alike," Holden told POLITICO, letting out a loud laugh ...

Wow.

Fmr Pres Trump seems to have blown it, big time.

Now that facts seems to be coming out, the affable story he tried to tell now seems to be coming back and, well, wow.

From the cited article...

... Holden, who is 95 years old, was in touch with Trump and his team during the 1990s when the flamboyant Manhattan developer was trying to build on the site of the historic Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Holden represented the district at the time and supported the project. ...

imo ...

This is going to get interesting ...

More from the article...

... Why it matters: Harris' campaign is navigating how to promote her history with U.S.-Mexico border policy to attract swing voters as well as Latinos.

- - - "Fixing the border is tough, so is Kamala Harris," a narrator said in the ad released this week, which is running in Arizona and Nevada, per a campaign statement.

- - - Besides her experience in the White House, a separate ad from this week talks up her prosecutorial record and her role in advocating for families when she was California attorney general.

Driving the news: "As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border," one ad said.

- - - "As vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking."

The other ad, released Thursday, aims to reach Latinos and highlights her family's immigrant roots.

- - - "When you're raised by an immigrant mother, you learn what's possible with determination," the narrator says in the ad. ...

@#5 ... GQP is an organised criminal conspiracy. ...

I'm not yet ready to go that far ... yet.

But as much as I want to avoid that appellation, fmr Pres Trump seems to try to convince me of my error in avoiding it.

Cool tune that just popped up on a playlist here...

@#55 ... Millions and millions of unknown people from God knows where in America illegally.

I do not disagree. But the "millions and millions that the GOP asserts seems to be higher than the actual numbers.

That aside...

Yeah, I have always said that if you are in this country illegally, that is wrong.

So....

Why do red-state companies seem to prefer to hire those illegal immigrants?

I'll offer my opinion on that ...

1) their labor is cheap, so good for profits

2) the immigrants can be subject to abusive work conditions, but they cannot complain to the government (e.g., OSHA) because they would be deported if they did.

As the Border Patrol union seems to state, the problem is not the immigrants but the companies that endeavor to hire them to boost their profits.

Do I need to post a link to the CBP union webpage *again*?

@#116 ... Bellringer is the Swiss cheese of credibility. ...

Hey, hold on there.

That's an insult to Swiss Cheese.

I like Swiss Cheese.

;)

@#11 ... Anyone who's ever experienced Minnesota winters knows this isn't a good idea. ...

I was in Minneapolis on business in early January once back in the day.

The temp was -6 degrees.

The people I met with and worked with that week were great.

So happy and willing to work for our common goal.

So, why is that a bad idea in your opinion?

@#38 ... Trump has had massive rallies ...

So he says.

But the attendance numbers of his recent rallies seem to tell a different story.

@#108

Yup.