Feel the Bern

[Neil Frarey]

Feel the Bern

Bob, I don't know if you saw what happened at a recent Feel the Bern rally, but this tiny little bird landed on his podium as The Bern was speaking.

Amazing stuff!!!

If ever there was a sign, a symbol which could be interpreted on many levels ... that was it!

http://mashable.com/2016/03/25/berni.../#72ARfBYl88ql

Sanders said after the bird flew from his podium. "I know it doesn't look like it, but that bird is really a dove asking us for world peace."



.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: MSM says Sanders should drop out but Trump rivals stay etc.

Well, the media continues to tell us Hillary has it in the bag.
Bernie has no chance, it’s pointless, go home, give it up, nice try but it’s the math.

Well then, let’s look at the math.
But first, back up to last tuesday, Bernie wins 2 states (Idaho, Utah), Hillary wins 1 (Arizona).
Sure, Arizona is the biggest, but the delegate count?
Sanders 76, Clinton 55: Sanders wins 58% of the delegates.

Total pledged delegates won so far:

Clinton 1,228
Sanders 934

Pledged delegates still to be contested = 1,889

This race is not over.
If Sanders can win 1,092 more, he will have the majority of pledged delegates.
That is 58%, same as last tuesday. Interesting eh!
If he wins a majority of pledged delegates, will the super delegates stay with Clinton?
Some will, but he only needs to win 50% of them.

Today, 3 states are voting: Alaska, Hawaii, Washington.
Sanders is expected to do well.

Sanders still has a hill to climb, but…...

[Nigel Hanrahan]

MSM says Sanders should drop out but Trump rivals stay etc.

Well, the media continues to tell us again and again and again, Hillary has it won, it's all over, Bernie has no chance, blah blah blah, and now back to Trump and his latest bullshit. They do such a pathetic job of reporting. Clinton leads the delegate count to date, but a closer look is revealing.

If you compare the reporting of the MSM, then what you find is that Republican rivals to Donald Trump are characterized as legitimate rivals to the leading candidate - despite showing much worse than Sanders is in relation to HRC - and Sanders himself is characterized as "finished", "should drop out", etc. The double standard requires some real cognitive dissonance.

Or prejudice, pure and simple.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Feel the Bern

Well, the media continues to tell us again and again and again, Hillary has it won, it's all over, Bernie has no chance, blah blah blah, and now back to Trump and his latest bullshit. They do such a pathetic job of reporting. Clinton leads the delegate count to date, but a closer look is revealing.

Total pledged delegates - 4,051

Won so far: Clinton 1,139, Sanders 825
Still up for grabs: 2,087 - no voting yet on more than half.

Clinton’s lead is not surprising since she is very strong in the south. The southern states have now voted, so she won’t have that advantage going forward. The next 3 states voting next tuesday are Arizona, Idaho, and Utah. Sanders leads the polls in all three.

And remember, If you see delegate counts reported with Clinton with a huge lead, they are including unpledged delegates (or superdelegates). Yes, Clinton has a lot of these. But when she ran against Obama, many of them switched to Obama when he took the lead in pledged delegates. Okay!

Anyway, it is not over.

Queue Neil……..

[Neil Frarey]

Re: Feel the Bern

Great stuff!

March 15th will be very interesting, almost as much as my Bruins beating the Sharks. On that day The Bern will need ruffly half of the 691 dels, but I'm beginning to believe he could actually do a lot better. Hollywood, still mostly silent.

...and Trump wins again.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Socialism beats Capitalism, 50-48.

The Washington Post has, recently, 16 articles in the same day attacking Bernie Sanders. And he still won Michigan. The establishment is really pulling out all the stops to attack Sanders. From this point of view, HRC is seen as a Republican "firewall" against Sanders.

Michael Moore posted a photo of his ballot on Facebook and wrote the following:

My ballot. Our day. History made. Socialism beats Capitalism, 50-48.

Is that the sound of conservative heads exploding? awww....

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Feel the Bern

Bernie Sanders continues to surprise the experts and wins Michigan.
Yes, it was close, and Hillary wins Mississippi, so she wins more pledged delegates than Bernie yesterday.

But.....more evidence of momentum shifting to Sanders!
This race is not over, despite media claims.

[Neil Frarey]

Re: Feel the Bern

Yes, interesting!?

Bernie needs a push, perhaps coming from Hollywood?

Enlightened quip from The Donald ... only reason why Sen. Cruz picked up Maine was because it's so close to Canada.

Trump: 391, Cruz: 304, Rubio: 125, delegates won. 150 delegates up for grabs March 8th.

Clinton: 670, Sanders: 460, delegates pledged.

Dem's debate was a snore fest...

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: Feel the Bern

Interesting analysis today by Scott Adams of Dilbert fame on Fox news.

Calling Trump a con man is an over simplification of what is going on.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/1381254...plained-master

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/1382143...e-fake-because

"My political preferences don’t line up with any of the candidates. My fascination with Trump is his persuasion skills. I have never seen better. "
- Scott Adams

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Feel the Bern

The media continues to tell us that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are so far out in the lead that they both have it locked up, game over.
Well that was their spin on friday,

But a few states voted yesterday,

Republicans: Trump 2, Cruz 2.
Democrats: Sanders 2, Clinton 1

Pledged delegate count:

Republicans: Cruz 60, Trump 44, Rubio 12, Kasich 8
Democrats: Clinton 51, Sanders 45.

Clinton’s state was a big one, so she picks up more delegates. But Sanders keeps it close.

The media likes to keep reporting super delegates in Clinton camp to show her with a big lead. It’s a lot closer if you count only pledged delegates. But will super delegates continue to support Clinton if Sanders takes a lead in pledged delegates? Interesting question, eh!

Anyway, these races are far from over. Feel the Bern!

Neil - Trump doe not win again!

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Feel the Bern

The one thing I will say in favor of Donald Trump is that he has shown and is still showing flexibility on things, and I think the world can use more of that.

Trump is first and foremost a con man.
I agree that flexibility can be a good thing.
But as for Trump, it isn't flexibility, it's just say whatever to whip up his base.
Don't drink the Koolaid!

[Paul Bonham]

Re: Feel the Bern

(To Tom O'Donnell): I wonder if you were an atheist in your previous life? And by the way, there are no atheists on a sinking ship.

Tom, fwiw, I apologize for my thoughtless comments on your belief system. My own belief system could be (and has been) made fun of.... really, what do any of us know? Anyway, I hope you'll accept my apologies. We had a good discussion going and I had to inject some crude remarks. Really, I'm sorry.

Atheism does puzzle me. I suppose atheists must believe in evolution as an explanation for the diversity of life on Earth. I do believe evolution happens, but I think creation could also have happened. They aren't (to me) mutually exclusive.

When I think of evolution as an explanation for all of life, I sense a lot of unanswered questions. There's one species that I just can't believe came about by a gradual process that began with an accidental genetic mutation. No, it's not humans.

And on the topic we were discussing, I personally don't think one should be always on the political left or on the right. I've always tried to have an open mind on everything. The one thing I will say in favor of Donald Trump is that he has shown and is still showing flexibility on things, and I think the world can use more of that.

[Peter McKillop]

Re: Feel the Bern

Originally Posted by Paul Bonham

1) Redistribution of wealth by speculators is theft. Legal theft, but immoral all the same. We aren't talking about accumulating for something basic like shelter or food. No one "needs" a gated 40,000 square foot mansion.

2) The Right decries government regulation. Their solution? Regulate against a woman's right to choose, against a poor person's access to affordable health care, against medical marijuana. Insanity.

3) Rand Paul.... yeah, you and everyone in ISIS would love him for President.


Not sure Tom if you are Christian like so many of the extreme right in the U.S., but when it comes to the religious right, there's two things I do remember from the New Testament of the Bible that I'm sure that group would rather forget. First, Jesus said "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's". And second, although he never took any action against the government of the day, he did throw the MONEY MAKERS out of the temple.

1) Speculation isn't theft. Anyone who buys anything is engaged in speculation. Is this hamburger worth $10? Is this house worth $200K?

2) I am personally opposed to regulations with regard to what adults do to their own bodies. I think all drugs should be legal, not just medical marijuana, for example.

3) Why does ISIS exist? How is the Middle East a better place since 2001? Millions dead and displaced, trillions of dollars wasted.

4) I am an atheist.

Re Paul's point 1), I agree with him and I think you're interpreting his comment far too broadly. Consider this: you, me, and several million other ordinary joe's deposit our hard-earned pay cheques in a bank. Over the years we accumulate some savings, some or all of which we leave with our bank. The investment banking arm of our bank has access to all, or substantially all, of the bank's deposit base for funding its investment activities. Our bank decides speculatively to invest several billion dollars in raw sewage (e.g. sub-prime derivatives). Our bank is forced to write down its raw sewage investment by a large percentage, thus placing in jeopardy its overall financial health and endangering our deposits. Did our bank pay us a risk premium for the use of our monies in a high-risk investment? No! Did our bank give us a choice with respect to the degree of risk they could take with our monies? No! I believe this is an example of the type of speculation to which Paul was referring; i.e. your hamburger example is a caveat emptor value proposition and has little to do with speculation imo.

p.s. And Bob Gillanders was correct. Always super-size for best value!! :)

[Peter McKillop]

Re: Feel the Bern

What about all the bodies floating around after the ship sinks? Are they atheists?

They're aqueous. :)

[Peter McKillop]

Re: Feel the Bern

That's an excellent question, and I am happy to answer it.

Let's say you are going to get a degree, and the degree is worth $50K to you. In other words, if you had the money or the ability to get a loan, you would be willing to pay up to $50K. You aren't willing to spend more, and like someone shopping for a car, or a house, or chicken burgers, you are price conscious. You expect value for your money and will shop around for the best value at the best price.

Now, let's say you can get a "free" education. You don't care what it costs. You are not price sensitive. You are okay if the actual cost is $100K. Since you won't argue price, those supplying the service are not likely to do what they can to cut costs. They aren't going to bill you anyway, so really what do you care? The end result is a $50K degree and $50K of waste.

There is no price discovery in government-provided services. How can there be?

P.S. A lot of people without degrees do well. If you were to exclude jobs where a degree is a strict requirement (e.g. doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc.) how beneficial on average is a degree when the cost of getting the degree is factored in? What percentage get a job in their field? If they don't end up in a job in their field why do they need the degree in the first place?

THERE was never any thing by the wit of man so well devised, or so surely established, which (in continuance of time) hath not been corrupted... - from the Preface to the 1549 edition of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer

The fact that whatever humans touch seems to eventually be characterized by things like ineptitude, ineffectiveness, corruption, etc., is a notion that has been around for a long time. But it is not, imo, a good reason for refusing to do things which could help to create a better/fairer society for all. It may well be the case that there is no reliable/accurate price discovery method in many or all gov't-provided services. But should that deter us from providing a much-needed hand up for an underclass of people within society? Or, is it a case of, "screw 'em if they can't pull themselves up."