Tag Archives: Vote Nov. 8!

Animal Issues

Some electoral musings: CLOSING POLLS SHOW CLINTON LEADING

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The country needs another awesome prez! pic:R.T.

By Steven R. Maher

On the last day of the 2016 campaign, new polls show Hillary Clinton’s lead against Donald J. Trump is steady.

Fox News this morning reported that Clinton was ahead in a national poll – 48% to 44%. Given that Fox is the more conservative mainstream media outlet, whose pundits like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity have been favorable to Trump, this is clearly not a slanted poll. Likewise, the Boston Herald and Franklin Pierce University did a poll that yielded the same 48% to 44% result.

Transit strike

There were concerns that a mass transit strike in Philadelphia would prevent thousands of African-Americans from voting in the key Pennsylvania battleground states. The strike ended Monday when the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and a union representing 5,000 employees announced a deal on the eve of Election Day. “Tentative agreement reached. We are off strike,” Local 234 announced on its website.

Cyber Security

With the uproar over WikiLeaks and Russian hackers, voters might be concerned someone in Moscow will be invading their voting booth to change their votes. Fortunately, America’s voting network is decentralized, safely in the hands of city and town clerks. There is no national database of voters that the Russians can hack into to change election results. The Russians would need to hack into the electronic voting lists of a substantial number of cities and towns to affect an election. Given that the state and federal governments are working with the larger communities to cyber-protect them from our former Cold War adversary, the small entities probably can take care of themselves. Keeping our elections decentralized would be a good thing.

Two calls from the Governor

Today I received two robo-telephone calls from Massachusetts Governor Charles Baker. In one call Governor Baker asked me to vote for Question 2 to lift the charter school cap. In the next call Governor Baker asked me to cast my vote for State Representative Paul Frost (R-Auburn), so Baker and Frost could continue fighting for equal pay for women. I was too abashed at receiving two calls in one day from such an august figure to tell the Governor that I had voted two weeks ago in early voting!

Florida

A Republican consultant in Florida, David Johnson, told Reuters news agency that he believed Clinton could win Florida by as much as three points, thanks in part to the shortcomings of his own party’s get-out-the-vote efforts. “We used to have a great statewide operation,” Johnson told the Naples Daily News. “Now I’m not convinced that’s going on, because I don’t see the evidence. And I see it on the Democrats’ and their allies’ side.”

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On election eve: to Donald Trump from ICT:

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Worcester dump truck. pic:R.T.

Animal Issues

State of the Race: ALAN DERSHOWITZ SAYS HILLARY CLINTON WON’T BE INDICTED

By Steven R. Maher

In a November 1, 2016, interview on Fox News’ Kelly File famous appellate attorney Alan Dershowitz said it was more likely that Donald Trump would be indicted for his ties to the Russians and Trump University than Hillary Clinton would be indicted over the email imbroglio. The exchange was reported by the Week, a Republican leaning website.

The Kelly File is a daily TV show hosted by Megyn Kelly, who came to national notoriety during the first Republican debate by asking Trump whether calling women pigs, slobs and dogs meant Trump lacked the temperament to be a President.

“Not going to happen”

“Let’s just say she gets indicted, which is a far step away from where we are right now,” Kelly said to Dershowitz.

“It’s not going to happen,” said Dershowitz.

“But people are wondering how it would affect the election,” continued Kelly. “Let’s say she wins on Tuesday, and then she gets indicted, can she still be president?”

“Yes, but let’s turn it around,” Dershowitz said. “Let’s assume she loses on Tuesday and then on Dec. 1 Comey announces, ‘There’s nothing in any of these emails, they’re simply duplicates.’ He becomes the villain of the piece. He should not be having an impact either way.”

Kelly then asked Dershowitz if FBI Director James Comey did the right thing by announcing his intention to reopen the Clinton email investigation.

“I think he did the right thing by making a statement, I think his statement was wrong,” Dershowitz said. “What he should have said is this: ‘I don’t know what’s in these emails, I haven’t seen them, the 4th Amendment precludes any of us from looking at them. I’m going to look at them now, but don’t infer anything, don’t change your vote based on my announcement — it is a technical announcement designed to inform Congress.'” He added that Comey is “a man of great integrity,” but he just set a dangerous precedent that could be exploited by “a J. Edgar Hoover in the future.”

“That’s my point”

Kelly asked Dershowitz if Clinton could pardon herself if she was elected and then indicted.

“She can’t pardon herself, she’s not going to be indicted,” Dershowitz said. “It’s more likely that Trump will be indicted for his Trump University, for his relationships with Russia, for all of that.”

“He’s not going to be indicted for any of that,” Kelly replied.

“Of course not, that’s my point,” concluded Dershowitz.

*****

InCity Voices

State of the Race: THE BALLOT – VOTERS HAVE 4 REFERENDUM QUESTIONS TO DECIDE

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Vote for president and down-ticket pols Tuesday, Nov. 8! And don’t forget: 4 referendum Qs. Mind them! pic:R.T.

By Steven R. Maher

In the November 8, 2016, election voters will decide four statewide referendum questions.

Question 1 would allow the Stating Gaming Commission to license one additional slot machine parlor.

Question 2 would lift the cap on the number of charter schools.

Question 3 would create more humane living conditions for farm animals.

Question 4 would legalize marijuana.

Question 1 – Expanded Slot Machine Gambling

Question 1 was drafted to narrow down the location of the slot machines parlor to one site:

• The location has to be “at least four acres in size”;

• It has to be “adjacent to and within 1,500 feet of a race track, including the track’s additional facilities, such as the track, grounds, paddocks, barns, auditorium, Amphitheatre, and bleachers”

• It has to be “where a horse racing meeting may physically be held”;

• The site has to be “where a horse racing meeting shall have been hosted”; and

• The site cannot be “separated from the race track by a highway or railway.”

All these references to horse racing suggests that the beneficiaries of the ballot question would be the owners of the Suffolk Downs racetrack. Opponents of Question 1 deny this.

“Suffolk Downs itself would have no ownership interest in the proposed casino, and would receive no direct benefit from it,” says the Vote No website.

According to the website of “The Horse Racing Jobs and Education Committee” the slots parlor will bringing the following benefits to the Commonwealth (www.Massachusettsquestion1.net)

• “Over $80 Million Dollars in new Revenue to the State per year”;

• “$12 Million Dollars to support Horse Racing in Massachusetts”;

• “1000’s of new jobs both Direct and Indirect for Massachusetts citizens”;

• “$5 million dollars in guaranteed new revenue to the Host City.”

The website of the “Committee for Responsible and Sustainable Economic Development”, MaCasinos.net urges a no vote for the following reasons:

•”Legalized casino gambling in the Commonwealth is too new and unproven to expand at this time”;

• “Only one slot parlor has opened in Massachusetts, and it is significantly underperforming”;

• “Five casinos are expected to open in Massachusetts by 2019. The Wall Street Journal warns that New England already has more casinos than the market wants or needs”;

• “Proponents of the ‘Act Relative to Gaming’ have traveled across the globe to exploit the Commonwealth and send a message to other casino developers – they can come to Massachusetts and do the same”;

• Urges a no vote “to postpone the question of gambling expansion until a review of the costs and benefits of existing Massachusetts gaming establishments is completed.”

Both sides dispute that state taxpayers, on the whole, will benefit or not benefit from passing the question. The proposed slot parlor would be built in Revere. Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, and Suffolk Downs Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle all have come out against the proposal.

As the Secretary of State noted in an information circular mailed out to Massachusetts voters (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/IFV_2016.pdf): “As required by law, statements of fiscal Consequences are written by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.” The Statement of Fiscal Consequences states on Question 1: “The fiscal consequences of this proposed measure for state and municipal government finances could range from 0 dollars to an unknown positive amount. Under the Expanded Gaming Act, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has the discretion to determine whether a gaming license should be issued and when that determination would be made. If the Gaming Commission did award the proposed license, a new analysis of the casino market would be needed to determine the amount of revenue from this license, based on proposed size and operations, and the potential impact of competition from other gaming establishments in Massachusetts and surrounding areas.”

Question 2 – Charter School Expansion

This is arguably the most controversial question on the ballot. This question would allow the State Board of Education to approve up to “twelve new charter schools a year or expanded enrollments in existing schools, but not to exceed 1% of the statewide public school enrollment.”

Arguing that Bay Staters should vote “Yes on 2”, advocate website Yeson2.MA states:

• “Charter schools are public schools open to any child, free of charge. If more children want to “enroll in a school than it has space for, a random lottery determines who gets in—there are no admission hurdles, no entrance exams, and no tuition.”

• “Public charter schools do no harm to school districts. Education funding is assigned to a student, not to a school. So when a student opts for a public charter school, the money to educate that student simply follows her from one public school to another, exactly how it would if she moved from one district school to another. Additionally, school districts are given additional state aid whenever a student moves to a public charter school.”

• “Charter public schools are under the same state and federal obligations to provide services to special needs children and English Language Learners as other public schools, and indeed take on a similar percentage of such students.”

• “Charter schools are PUBLIC schools open to all children. They offer longer school days and more individual attention, and have a proven record of closing the achievement gap for kids trapped in failing school districts.”

• “Today, almost 33,000 children are stuck on waiting lists for public charter schools because of the legislature’s arbitrary cap on enrollment. Voting YES would give more children the opportunity to attend these great public schools — especially in the state’s lowest-performing school districts.”

Those who urge a no vote on Question 2 (saveourpublicschoolsma.com) contend:

• “Charter schools are privately run, publicly funded schools with no local oversight. They are funded by diverting money from local school districts. The 71 charter schools operating in Massachusetts educate just less than 4 percent of Massachusetts children—only 32,000 students—yet they will siphon off more than $450 million this year alone. This money would otherwise stay in neighborhood public schools and be used to improve learning for all students.”

• “The ballot question could allow charters to expand into areas where they don’t exist now, taking millions of dollars away from successful district public schools.”

• “Under the proposed ballot question, 12 new charter schools enrolling up to 1 percent of the school-age population could be approved every year, forever, with no limit. These charters could open anywhere in the state, and there are no restrictions on how many charter schools could be opened in a single community or how much money any one district could lose to these new charter schools.”

• “The amount of money lost will grow: $100 million more the first year, more than $200 million the next year, more than $300 million the year after that, crippling our school system with every passing year.”

• “Even if a number of students leave from different classrooms across a district, the cost of operating a community’s entire school system is essentially unchanged. Our neighborhood schools are left with less money to cover the same operating expenses, such as maintenance, utilities and transportation costs. To put it another way, one student leaves a classroom to a charter school, the district doesn’t save money because it can’t lay off 1/25th of a teacher.”

• “In cities and towns such as Boston, Holyoke, Randolph, New Bedford, Gardner and Lynn, charter schools can already take as much as 18 percent of a school district’s budget. That jeopardizes our public schools—the schools most families choose for their children—and it causes the elimination of classes – such as music, art technology and foreign language courses– and leads to larger class sizes in district public schools. Lifting the cap to allow more charters would only make things worse.”

The Statement of fiscal Consequences, written by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, states on Question 2: “This proposed measure would make no changes to the current funding formula, which mandates that state and local per-pupil funding follow students who enroll in public charter schools. School districts that experience annual increases in payments to public charter schools receive transitional state education aid.”

Question 3 – Humane Living Conditions for Farm Animals

Question 3 “would prohibit any confinement of pigs, calves, and hens that prevents them from lying down, standing up, fully extending their limbs, or turning around freely.”

The yes on Question 3, Citizens for Farm Animal Protection (www.citizensforfarmanimals.com) state on the Secretary of State’s ballot information mailer:

• “A YES vote prevents cruel treatment of animals in Massachusetts by ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small they can’t turn around or stretch their limbs, and will remove inhumane and unsafe products from the Massachusetts marketplace.”

• “Endorsed by the MSPCA, Animal Rescue League of Boston, The Humane Society of the United States, and 400 Massachusetts veterinarians because no animal should be immobilized in a cramped cage.”

• “Endorsed by the Center for Food Safety and Consumer Federation of America because cage confinement increases food safety risks, and a YES vote protects Massachusetts consumers.”

• “Endorsed by Massachusetts family farmers and the United Farm Workers because proper treatment of animals is better for farmers. From McDonald’s to Walmart, retailers are switching to
cage-free eggs—the right thing to do at the right cost.”

Question 4 – Legalizing marijuana

The group favoring legalization, www.regulatemass.com, states:

• “[O]piate addiction is causing the real drug crisis in Massachusetts. And there’s a reasonable way to slow the epidemic down: legalizing and regulating marijuana. By avoiding opiates, reducing painful addiction, and protecting families, patients can use marijuana to prevent hitting rock bottom. • “Marijuana cases cost taxpayers by clogging our legal system.”

• “Marijuana arrests ruin lives. Too often young people and people of color can’t find a job or take care of their families because they have a petty arrest record for possessing marijuana.”

• “Marijuana is here, no increased police presence is going to change that.”

• Unnamed experts “say that taxing marijuana sales will create $100 million in new tax revenue for vital essential services in our communities. We can use the money to strengthen our schools — smaller classes, more books, and newer technology for our children.”

• “People of color are 3x more likely to be arrested. Instead of keeping us safe, the “War on Drugs” has ruined the lives of countless people. In Massachusetts, people of color are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession — a problem that has been getting worse, not better.”

Opponents of legalizing marijuana state (www.SafeAndHealthyMA.com):

• “Massachusetts has already decriminalized marijuana possession and authorized medical marijuana. People are not being jailed for marijuana use, and have access to it for health reasons. This ballot question is about allowing the national marijuana industry to come into Massachusetts and market and sell marijuana products in our communities.”

• “It [legalization] incorporates the laxest ‘home grow’ provision in the country, allowing individual households to grow up to 12 marijuana plants at a value in the tens of thousands of dollars. This provision will have a significant impact on public safety, and has led to the creation of an entirely new black market in Colorado.”

• “It specifically authorizes marijuana edibles (products like candy bars and gummy bears), oils and concentrates.”

•The new statute “specifically limits communities’ ability to restrict the locations and growth of pot shops. Two years into legalization, Colorado has more marijuana stores than Starbucks and McDonalds combined—and the numbers keep growing.”

•”Today’s Marijuana is much more potent than it was even a generation ago. Marijuana for sale in Colorado averages 17% to 18% THC, which is several times more potent than was common in the 1980s.”

• “Since becoming the first state to legalize, Colorado has also become the #1 state in the nation for teen marijuana use. Use by teens aged 12-17 jumped by over 12% in the two years since legalization, even as that rate declined nationally.”

• “Commercial legalization has led to more fatal car crashes. In Washington, the number of fatal car crashes involving marijuana doubled in the one year since legalization.”

• “The marijuana edibles market is dangerous for kids, and a huge part of the commercial industry’s profit model. Marijuana infused products such as candies, cookies, and ‘cannabis cola’ account for nearly 50% of the sales in Colorado, and that number is growing. These products are often indistinguishable from traditional products and attractive to children, placing them at significant risk of accidental use.”

The Statement of fiscal Consequences, written by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, states on Question 4: “A March 2016 report from the Special Select Committee on Marijuana concluded as follows: ‘Tax revenues and fees that would be generated from legal sales may fall short of even covering the full public and social costs (including regulation, enforcement, public health and safety, and substance abuse treatment.’)”

InCity Yum Yums

State of the Race: FBI THROWING WEIGHT BEHIND TRUMP

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pic:R.T.

By Steven R. Maher

It seems the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is going all out to elect Donald Trump the next President of the United States. By accident or design, the bureau has done four things in the last week to discredit Hillary Clinton and shift what may be an unstoppable momentum to Trump. The FBI has jumped into this campaign with both feet.

• On Friday October 28, 2016 FBI Director James Comey sent a three-paragraph letter to the Chairmen of Congressional oversight committees updating his sworn testimony on the original investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email servers. Comey said the FBI came across emails “pertinent” to the Clinton email scandal after seizing Anthony Weiner’s computer during an investigation of Weiner’s alleged texting to a fifteen-year-old girl. Weiner is married but separated from Clinton’s former chief of staff Huma Abedin. Comey said the FBI would investigate the newly discovered emails to determine if they contained classified data.

• On October 31, 2016 MSNBC reported that Comey had blocked the FBI from signing off on a report by U.S. Intelligence agencies that the Russians were behind the WikiLeaks dumps of Clinton Campaign Manager Joh Podesta’s email. Comey reportedly blocked the release because it was too close to the election. As MSNBC reported, their source stated “some government insiders are perplexed as to why Comey would have election timing concerns with the Russian disclosure but not with the Huma Abedin email discovery disclosure he made Friday.”

• On Tuesday November 1, 2016 the FBI posted on its website 129 pages of files on Bill Clinton’s controversial 2001 last minute pardon of financier Marc Rich. The FBI claims this was a mechanical functioning of the Freedom of Information Act response mechanism, and the documents were not posted to harm Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

• The FBI has been leaking like a sieve with highly critical leaks of Clinton. According to published reports, Comey reopened the Clinton email investigation out of fear that they would be leaked anyway, and to stave off a mass resignation of FBI agents.
Comey flouted two Justice Department policies: commenting on an ongoing investigation, and doing so in a manner that could affect an election. “We now have real-time, raw-take transparency taken to its illogical limit, a kind of reality TV of federal criminal investigation,” wrote Republican Jamie Gorelick, a former Justice Department official, in the Washington Post. “Perhaps worst of all, it is happening on the eve of a presidential election. It is antithetical to the interests of justice, putting a thumb on the scale of this election and damaging our democracy.”

Trump seized on

Not unexpectedly, Trump seized upon Comey’s reopening of the investigation to lambast Clinton as guilty of all sorts of sins. The campaign, which had been heavily trending towards Clinton, immediately began to trend towards Trump. States such as New Hampshire and Nevada, once considered solidly blue, are trending to Trump.

Clinton’s campaign has been putting a brave front on recent developments, saying they expected the polls to tighten during the past week, that early voting trends favor the Democratic nominee, and that the electoral map demographics are in favor of Clinton. But unless something dramatic happens during the next six days, the FBI will bear the responsibility for electing Donald Trump President of the United States.

InCity Yum Yums, Rosalie's Blog

Early voters! All voters! – Please VOTE YES on QUESTION 3

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Rosalie asks you to Vote YES on Q 3 – for the animals!

Question 3 – Humane Conditions for Farm Animals

Question 3 “would prohibit any confinement of pigs, calves, and hens that prevents them from lying down, standing up, fully extending their limbs, or turning around freely.”

PLEASE VOTE YES ON QUESTION 3!

By Rosalie Tirella

Don’t believe the fear-mongers!!! A YES vote on Question 3 helps the Mass. economy! Especially our local Worcester County farmers, all of whom farm with wisdom and compassion! A YES vote means an economic boost for our local farmer guys and gals! A YES vote means you are supporting our LOCAL biz folks – mostly small biz folks. Many of whom are third/fourth generation farmers…

Egg, pork and veal suppliers from other states who “factory farm” – an innocuos-sounding phrase that only hints at the cruelty/neglect that is never-ending when raising farm animals in gargantuan, miles-long warehouses, “animal-factories” where pigs, chickens and calves are treated like widgets/assembly line parts and not like animals – will have to make improvements. Animals that need sunlight; space in which to turn around, walk around, stand up, fully extend their limbs; caregivers who don’t kick, stomp, punch or fling them will at least be given “the right” to turn around in their crates and cages, lie down, turn their heads, stand up. So basic!!! This is all Q 3 asks for!

Factory farms that truck their “product” “produced” by animals living in factory farm animal-hells will be prohibited from selling their “product” in Massachusetts. Their pork, eggs, veal will not be accepted here until their farm animals are housed more humanely. Just like the way McDonald’s and Wal-Mart treat their egg suppliers: If you house your chickens in animal hell, these multi-billion dollar global corporations tell the factory farms, then we don’t buy your eggs – do business with you!

OUTSTANDING! VISIONARY!

The ABUSE of farm animals in America on factory farms MUST STOP! LIKE ALL AMAZING animal/human (the two are intertwined!) RIGHTS crusades, A NEW AND BETTER WORLD FOR FARM ANIMALS needs to start somewhere. Why not in beautiful Massachusetts, once home to the abolitionists and suffragettes and now home to climate-change visionaries and women’s rights crusaders? Suppliers will get the message and, for love of the holy BUCK$$$, they WILL MAKE the necessary improvements. They will make THEIR HUGE FACILITIES MORE HUMANE so they can once again sell their “product” in Massachusetts. Like Woody sang: It’s all about the do(ugh) re me!

If all 50 of our great states had a Question 3 on their ballots election day what a wonderful America it would be! And if it was voted in, millions of farm animals would be able to literally breathe more freely, cry out in pain and fear a little less often, physically ache not as intensely … stand, turn around, move their heads in their cages/crates, fully extend their limbs! This is all we ask! To alleviate some of their suffering! 

Slavery in the U.S. was once called “good business” by millions of “good” people in this country!

Child labor was once labelled “good business,” too!

Circuses with performing elephants were “business” as usual all over the world.

But times change. People evolve – our hearts grow bigger. We see the light.

SEE THE LIGHT this election season! EARLY VOTERS and NOV. 8 VOTERS – please Vote YES  on Question 3!

Thank you!

*********

The yes on Question 3, Citizens for Farm Animal Protection (www.citizensforfarmanimals.com) state on the Secretary of State’s ballot information mailer:

• “A YES vote prevents cruel treatment of animals in Massachusetts by ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small they can’t turn around or stretch their limbs, and will remove inhumane and unsafe products from the Massachusetts marketplace.”

• “Endorsed by the MSPCA, Animal Rescue League of Boston, The Humane Society of the United States, and 400 Massachusetts veterinarians because no animal should be immobilized in a cramped cage.”

• “Endorsed by the Center for Food Safety and Consumer Federation of America because cage confinement increases food safety risks, and a YES vote protects Massachusetts consumers.”

• “Endorsed by Massachusetts family farmers and the United Farm Workers because proper treatment of animals is better for farmers. From McDonald’s to Walmart, retailers are switching to
cage-free eggs—the right thing to do at the right cost.”

VOTE YES ON 3!!!!

********

From PETA.ORG:

Factory Farming: Misery for Animals

On today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds and stuffed into wire cages, metal crates, and other torturous devices. These animals will never raise their families, root around in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural and important to them. Most won’t even feel the warmth of the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they’re loaded onto trucks headed for slaughterhouses.

The factory farming industry strives to maximize output while minimizing costs—always at the animals’ expense. The giant corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can make more money by squeezing as many animals as possible into tiny spaces, even though many of the animals die from disease or infection.

Animals on factory farms endure constant fear and torment:

They’re often given so little space that they can’t even turn around or lie down comfortably. Egg-laying hens are kept in small cages, chickens and pigs are kept in jam-packed sheds, and cows are kept on crowded, filthy feedlots.

Antibiotics are used to make animals grow faster and to keep them alive in the unsanitary conditions. Research shows that factory farms’ widespread use of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten human health.

Most factory-farmed animals have been genetically manipulated to grow larger or to produce more milk or eggs than they naturally would. Some chickens grow so unnaturally large that their legs cannot support their outsized bodies, and they suffer from starvation or dehydration when they can’t walk to reach food and water.

When they’ve grown large enough to slaughter or their bodies have been worn out from producing milk or eggs, animals raised for food are crowded onto trucks and transported for miles through all weather extremes, typically without food or water. At the slaughterhouse, those who survived the transport will have their throats slit, often while they’re still conscious. Many remain conscious when they’re plunged into the scalding-hot water of the defeathering or hair-removal tanks or while their bodies are being skinned or hacked apart.

********

VOTE YES ON QUESTION 3!

Animal Issues

Hoffman on FIRST presidential debate

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Vote! Our future depends on it! (Downtown Worcester mural) pic: R.T.

Hillary ran away with it!

By Jack Hoffman

Just about every pundit had some metaphor or analogous characterization of the (presidential) race to the finish line. Mine is very simple: If you have ever seen a horse race, the flower garland prize for the race in this case goes to Hill … . A five-furlong horse
usually starts in the starting gate and barely goes from the starting gate to the finish.

But a horse that has the “stamina” can go the distance, usually a mile or more and can wipe out that five furlong sprinter. That’s exactly what happened at the first Hillary-Trump presidential debate.

I remember in my Worcester Academy debating class 101 – we participated in several debates. We were usually graded on several things. Most important – our preparation. Donald flunked the course!
I got very nervous in the first 20 or more minutes of this race to the finish line. As we got going Donald seemed not to adhere to his advisors’ advice to lay off the name calling and act presidential. But it some how leaked out that he was absent from the set ups, where with one of his advisors pretending to act out Hillary and what she might say to him during the debate.

At the 1/2 mile post Hillary pounced on Trump. First, it was one of his many lies. Too numerous to mention here, but she wanted to start getting under that thin skin of his. So she hit him in the gut about his inheritance lie.

He did, in fact, get more than $14 million from his father. He never talks about the loan his father gave him for his casinos in New Jersey. That was before Donald actually stiffed his own father on the loan package when it went belly up. Donald’s father was already dead – “a stiff “! – when Donald stiffed so many. That’s not counting the $3.5 million buy his father made in chips to help the failing casino. Undoubtedly daddy Trump Fred was just trying to recoup some of his original loan money.

I wonder if some of Trump’s advisors told him it would be a split screen tv debate and he should keep his arrogant smiles, belying looks and more to himself? But most of all his constant interruptions. Now that was class?

Then came his taxes that he has lied about, and when Hillary raised the issue that he probably paid zero in taxes, just as he did in the latter 1970s, he responded,  “That was just being smart.”

Followed by his woman comments about fat, ugly and more.

He said: That was directed at Rosie O’Donnel.

Rosie called him “an orange asshole.”

Imagine Donny at a conference table discussing NATO with all its members?!!
Donny breaks away from the substantive issues that he doesn’t  understand and looks at Angie Merkel (Prime Minister of Germany) and comments on her weight.

Lisa Machado, who was a Miss Universe contestant at one of Donald’s beauty pageants, commented on what the Don said at the end of the event. He said to Lisa: “You looked like a fat pig” “and you better get a job as a hotel housekeeper.”

She is a native Mexican and a naturalized citizen of the U.S.

Maybe Donald couldn’t screw
her like he did so many…

I spent most of the day asking all kinds of people what they thought of the debate.

One volunteer said she doesn’t know how any self respecting woman could ever vote for him. I responded there are plenty of women out there who are truly subordinate to their husbands and their opinions, especially re: voting.

In this day and age that’s sad. I remember election days past in Worcester when I was growing up: My mother was handed a piece of paper with the names of all the Republican candidates on it that she was supposed to vote for. Ma couldn’t wait to get into her car and rip up that slip of paper on the way to the voting booth! She was a true woman – liberated long before it was fashionable.

Now I didn’t watch Fox, but I heard they were not that positiveabout the Donald. Probably Roger Ailes’ departure has changed Fox around the edges.

Interestingly, Ailes couldn’t get laid either!

He is now an aide to Donald.

I guess the birds all fly together…

I’m begging to hear from you Trump supporters! I dare you!

InCity Voices

Six months to go!

By Edith Morgan

Presidential elections always bring out many more voters that do the local ones. And at times, this has meant that there will be long lines at the polls. Here in Massachusetts probably not more than an hour (there are states and countries where it may be DAYS!!).  But there are always ideas being floated, to try to make voting as easy, as fast, and as accurate as possible.

We all know there is NO human activity which is always 100% accurate, foolproof, predictable and perfected in all ways. But we keep trying to improve what we have.  WE have already done a lot here in Worcester: we have new voting machines; we have 50 polling places, distributed around the city so as to be as close as possible to voters’ homes; and we work hard to keep our lists updated and accurate.

A number of other states have done something additional in order to make voting easier and more convenient: they have gone beyond the traditional  13-hour voting day (This year it will be on Tuesday, November 8th). They have added “early voting days.” Our election commission unanimously endorsed a plan to establish five early voting locations in Worcester, distributed throughout the city according to the five city council districts. They would be available between October 24 and November 4th and would provide four days of early voting at each site.

The state legislature had already passed a law authorizing early voting, and Worcester’s proposal exceeds the minimum required. To open the five sites in Worcester would cost $72,800, according to our election commission.

We already have done much to make voting easier: you can vote ahead of time by absentee ballot – and you can plan voting day so that at some point during the 13 hours that polls are open, you can take a few minutes to get in to do your civic duty. And, of course, most important, you can get – and stay – informed about the issues and the candidates.

There can be no democracy without an INFORMED electorate.