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May 21·edited May 21

@Eric Zorn. I appreciate when my posts are cited the edits which tighten up what I write to make it more articulate. However I never posted anything like this:

"Well, my retirement savings have significantly lower purchasing power than they did four years ago and robberies and assaults in my neighborhood continue at much higher levels than prior to our governor's disastrous Covid policies. My unequivocal conclusion: No, I am not better off than I was four years ago."

Also, my retirement savings after adjusting for inflation is higher than it was four years ago, and crime is not up in my neighborhood. There is nothing in that paragraph I agree with.

Of course there would be some people attaching a narrative to the stock market going down related to Biden. It is human nature to attach narratives to patterns, even random patterns. However, smart journalists and commenters should partake in this. You are better than that EZ.

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Isn't the stock market up? Not that it matters but in an increasingly MAGA world it is important to establish the truth.

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Oh I think it is very well established. Adding a few comments on social media is not not going to move the needle beyond what many stock charts on the internet make readily available. People are going to believe what they want.

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I assumed that a FB message to me making these same points using much of your sa,e language was from you; I’ll change that online. Sorry,

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Thank you Eric. That is an understandable mistake. I have never contacted you via Facebook Messenger, and I wouldn't do that. Any social media comments on PS items I put right here in the comments.

To me, that paragraph is so not like the kind of thing I would post here or on social media. I invite anyone who has read my posts to tell me if that seems like something I would say or not. I thought it was kind of dumb. If that is what I seem like, well, I guess I just have to deal with that.

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The stock market had inflation adjusted average annual returns of 11.8% under Trump and 4.4% under Biden. The inflation adjusted average return over the last 20 years is 7%. I don't directly credit the president with market returns, but the candidates have no problem trying to make hay on the numbers that favor them. I only want the media to correctly report the facts.

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You haven't written about it, but, something needs to be done with the NY Times, as it is flat out trying to defeat Biden! Apparently the NYT's publisher/owner, incompetent & crackpot nepo baby Pinch Sulzberger is angry that Biden won't sit down with his Biden hating paper for an interview, so he has ordered his editors to dump on Biden unmercifully, no matter what the consequences!

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Oh Zorn....those tweets this week!!! No way to pick one but I will.

I did a lot of scrolling today so thks for those. When does anything meaningful-like stuff we rely on get cheaper anymore? Think about it. Corporations must make billions-for the shareholders. Right

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May 21·edited May 21

EZ, I take great exception to your editing of my comment concerning Ken Griffin's donation to the bike and walking path along the Lake Shore Trail. Your addition of the actual dollar amount that he donated was helpful as I did not know the amount. But labeling his politics as "conservative Republican" is not what I wrote, or meant, or even agree with. Yes, he is a business friendly fiscal conservative, as are many more moderate Democrats and Independents. He was a supporter of Democratic mayor Rahm Emanual, who was a pretty darn good mayor in my view. His opposition to Pritzker's graduated income tax was a policy disagreement shared by other Democrats as well. California's graduated income tax with a 13% high rate that results in constant boom and bust fiscal years and, despite its huge climate advantage, is a state with even larger outflows of population than Illinois, is a perfect example of why many are against a graduated tax. He then backed the moderate Republican Irvin for governor, not Darren Bailey. And when leaving Illinois, he moved his company to the ethnically diverse and socially liberal city of Miami, not The Villages.

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I removed the reference to his brand of politics, but here is some info on Griffin's politics: >>>Griffith’s largest federal recipients are political action committees associated with Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate and House: the Senate Leadership Fund, which has received $59.1 million since 2016, followed by the Congressional Leadership Fund, which received $40.5 million. Other major recipients include Honor Pennsylvania ($8.8 million), the National Victory Action Fund ($8 million), the Conservative Solutions PAC ($5.1 million), the Better Future MI Fund ($4 million), the Strong Leaders Fund ($3.5 million), the Protecting Americans Project Action Fund ($2.5 million), and the Freedom Partners Action Fund ($2 million). " https://www.influencewatch.org/person/ken-griffin/

He's also donated to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) Governor Scott Walker (R-WI). Nikki Haley and Future45, a PAC supporting Donald Trump.

Donations to Emanuel in a deep blue city like Chicago? I will draw my conclusions about that and you are free to do so as well .

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So what? Are philanthropists supposed to meet some kind of moral/political standard? The charitable recipients don't reject the filthy lucre that they need in hopes of finding more worthy donors. But it has always been fashionable to denigrate the motives of unpopular capitalist philanthropists as merely trying to burnish their image or pave their way to heaven. Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Ford, Nobel, and many others are examples. And very few people gag on those names anymore. If ego and a desire for recognition are part of the attraction to charitable giving, so be it. It certainly hasn't been considered a significant ethical failing to recipients.

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Griffin and his henchmen were important early supporters of Obama. Obama was invited to Citadel HQ for a speech and, as I remember, raised a lot of money from the wealthy crew.

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David Leitschuh: Your back and forth debate with Eric regarding the Gaza War has my full support. However, you lost me when you hoped for a Trump victory in November. Though Trump may talk tough in his Israeli support, he certainly falls short in his interactions with Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping.

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I was going to say exactly that. I was with him right up until the view that Trump will somehow resolve the conflict and get the hostages out. If anything can be expected of him it's letting Israel completely annihilate what's left of Gaza and its population, and possibly start an all out war with Iran, all while turning the US into a corporate christian nationalist authoritarian state.

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Edward, for full disclosure I must confess that I am very distressed with Trump's lack of support for Ukraine and their fight for independence against a Russian invasion. That is one area in which I give strong kudos to the Biden administration, and a strong reason why I was a supporter of Nikki Haley early on.

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I think that there is legitimate concern about corruption in Ukraine, the failure to offset spending on Ukraine with reductions elsewhere, and the insufficient EU spending. But those concerns pale in comparison to the immediate need to defeat the Russian aggression.

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Well said Marc! There is no more naked aggression than the full scale invasion of a sovereign country with these stated intention of deposing the democratically elected leadership and installing a puppet subservient to Moscow. Putin has made no secret that this is simply part of his fond desire to reconstitute the former Soviet Union of enslaved nations, and if he is allowed to do so the Baltics stateswill start to feel his pressures. This is the same existential threat the US and our European allies faced when I served in NATO Command during the Cold War, and we must not allow Putin to succeed.

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After Trump’s recent post about the “unified Reich” he intends to create, coupled with his prior statements about immigrants “poisoning the blood” of our country, and calling his political opponents “vermin,” and his “Project 2025,” there can really be no doubt that he is the leader of a modern American nazi movement. And immigrants, sexual minorities (LGBTQ+) people, and independent women who wish to control their own bodies will serve as the scapegoats of this modern American nazi movement as the Jews served as the scapegoats of the German nazi movement. Trump has said he will set up internment camps for immigrants before they are deported; he will require transgender people to live as the sex they were designated at birth, and he has already, with his Supreme Court picks, made it possible for states to take away a woman’s right to reproductive freedom. Under Trump’s announced policies, I would have to start using men’s locker rooms even though I have breasts and a vagina. What’s shocking to me is that so few people seem to give a shit about the cruelty he intends to impose on the scapegoats of this modern American naziism.

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David Leitschuh: Your back and forth debate with Eric regarding the Gaza War has my full support. However, you lost me when you hoped for a Trump victory in November. Though Trump may talk tough in his Israeli support, he certainly falls short in his interactions with Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping.

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For what it's worth I'm firmly on the Hinz end of the protester question. If you're willing to yell slogans and disrupt other people's lives to make a point, you should be willing and even eager to have a chance to articulate your views to a reporter and reach an even wider audience through the press. I understand the concern of being quoted out of context, but what is a slogan other than a catchy phrase without any context?

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I believe it to be extremely hypocritical to take the side of the protesters on this one. How many stories have we seen posted by the media defending themselves against the demands of the right and their attacks on the media? Now someone is saying that the protesters shouldn't talk to the media because journalists are sometimes mean? Then what is the point of the protests? I thought they were out to get public attention for their cause. Furthermore, as a follower of the news, I don't want nothing but prepared and staged statements. Let's hear what the protesters really think. It's pretty disingenuous for someone to defend the muzzling of the protesters when so many are bashing the right over their attempts to control the news cycle.

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The other possibility that was unstated is that the protestors are actually clueless and have no idea how to answer a tough question like 'How would that work?'. It is also disingenuous to imply that the quotes would misrepresent the group as a whole when nothing is being provided on who the organizers are, what they propose, or their answers to the questions.

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Good points! Are the protesters totally united in their demands? How many want divestature from Israel and how many want Israel dissolved as a country? Why is it necessary to be identified as a bloc? The First Amendment protects individual expression. It doesn't say that anyone needs to be part of a group to protest. Can one protest against what's happening in Gaza without being in favor of every demand being made by the protest leaders?

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Eric had a long debate with David. That's okay. I, myself, have written some long scribbles in this space. But let's boil it down. Too many base political decisions are made based on one issue. It seems that's what many of the protesters are doing. Nobody is saying that Biden is the ideal candidate. But there is only one other candidate. I discount Kennedy who seems to have nothing other than a famous name and is not even supported by his own family. To me, Trump is odious. I have absolutely no intention of supporting him. That leaves me two choices. I can support Biden or sit it out. Sitting it out is the same as supporting Trump. So there aren't a whole lot of options here. We can argue Gaza to death. But it seems to me that there is more to this election than just Gaza.

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Thank you.

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And polling of the under 30 age group showed Gaza ranked 15th on their list of important issues. The media gives far more coverage to the protests than they deserve.

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Wow- great point! I didn't know about the polling. To listen to the protesters disdain for Biden, you would think there was no other issue with the young except Gaza.

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How high on the list does it have to be to get enough people to not vote who would otherwise to change the outcome in a swing state? I remember my mother-in-law not voting in 2016 because she wanted Bernie. Her stated belief was that it did not make any difference in the choice between Trump and Clinton. I think she was lying -- mainly to herself.

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laurence, i gave you a Like on this one. but i disagree that 'sitting it out' = supporting trump. if i vote for biden [setting aside the elctoral college, for a moment], joe is either 1 vote closer [from behind], or 1 vote further ahead. if i don't vote for Prez, no impact for joe in the Prez race.

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I see this kind of logic all the time - either “not voting is a vote for Trump” or “a vote for Kennedy is a vote for Trump.” Patently these are both false. Sitting out, or voting third party, is neither a vote for Biden nor Trump. And the is no such thing as a vote against someone, which is also tossed around as a way to describe not voting or voting 3rd party.

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I think that that call screening tip is not an Android feature but is particular to Google phones like the Pixel. It's not available on my Android phone.

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May 21·edited May 21

Art Lange - Ditto. It's standard on the Google Pixel Phone, and the Androids that use Google Phone as its calling App. But my Carrier (T-Mobile) doesn't use Google Phone as its App on many of its phones.

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I think that I missed Eric’s mention of the iPhone call screening tip. Can anyone link it here? Thanks in advance.

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EZ, isn't it still better to use the paper bag for yard waste? I imagine that it decomposes better than if it is in a plastic bag (and less plastic use). But I guess you can throw loose stuff into the cans in Chicago. Maybe I am wrong on both counts.

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I fill my Chicago plastic garbage cart up with loose weeds all the time. I have some huge ones that I will spray with Roundup to kill them to the roots, after today's rains & after they die, I'll cut them down & put them in the black plastic cart & they're always emptied on Tuesday.

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Biodegrading doesn't really matter in those huge landfills.

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After the human race is long dead along with most other life on earth, if earth is still here, compostable/biodegradable will matter in landfills from which some kind of life may again emerge. I'm always the optimist...

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Eric, technical question: is there a way you can configure it so that we can change our vote on a poll or picture tweet until a certain time? it hasn't happened yet but I can see someone fat-fingering the choice they didn't want on a smart phone.

Announcer: that someone is Michael M.

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No way to do that as far as I know.

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Here's another frustrating thing about yard waste pickup -- even if you call 311 or make an online request via the app or website, Streets & San will still take whatever bags are in the alley. Best to put your yard waste bags out after your weekly trash collection.

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How is 'Dime' slang for 'Tell me'? I think a payphone call cost more than a dime before Ivy Queen was born and I can't imagine that the majority of the population even remember using a payphone which pretty much disappeared 15 or 20 years ago.

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May 21·edited May 21Author

Wikipedia: " In the 1930s, calls were five cents; the cost of a typical local call had risen to 10 cents by the 1960s, 15 cents during the 1970s, then 25 cents in the 1980s. By the early 21st century, the price of a local call was usually fifty cents. The rise of mobile phones led to the near extinction of payphones by the early 21st century. New York City, which once had 30,000, removed its last public payphone in 2022." Ivy Queen was born in 1972.

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For the young'uns: "dime" is short for "drop a dime" - i.e., drop a dime into a payphone slot to call (inform on) someone - usually the cops in film noir genre movies.

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could also be spanglish. in spanish 'd-i-m-e' is pronounced 'DEE-may', means 'give me'. could also be short for 'digame', which means 'tell me'.

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Anti-war protestors in 68 knew that there was no policy difference between Humphrey and Nixon regarding the war. Pro-Palestinian protestors know that the there is no policy difference between Biden and Trump regarding Israel. When the current fighting stops the US and the world will return to the same somnolent acceptance of Israeli policy, whatever it might be. Just as they have after every previous incursion into Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.

There are still plenty of good reasons for them to vote for Biden, but the future of Palestinian's is not one of them.

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Totally disagree. Trump would turn Gaza into a parking lot (or a golf course or a string of resorts) and is so totally transactional that he'll blunder us into WWIII.

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Were you alive during the Humphrey - Nixon election?? -- No difference?!?!! SHEESH!

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Yes. And the point is that Humphrey and Nixon were both offering a vague peace negotiations/exit policy. Humphrey said he would stop the bombing campaign in an attempt to distance himself from Johnson, but he was viewed correctly as a traditional establishment candidate and not a McCarthy or Kennedy. Clearly the protestors agreed with me or they wouldn't have been in Chicago for the convention.

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No such thing as a pro-Palestinian demonstrator.

They should be correctly labeled as pro-Hamas, Jew hating scum that worship Hitler & the Nazis!

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Garry - Can you be pro-Israel, but not pro-Likud? Or pro-Netanyahu?

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Yes!

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But anyone who supports the Palestinian people automatically supports Hamas? (The latter being scum.)

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Also yes!

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I don't believe this is necessarily or even generally true. I think the protesters see the astonishing carnage in Gaza and object to that while also advancing the idea that those who lived in what is now Israel were unfairly deprived of their land rights there and want them restored. Not going to wade into that debate but IF you believe something was stolen from you gernerations ago, it doesn't mean you "hate" those who are now in possession of it, you just want it back.

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Sorry EZ, but it's totally true! All of the protesters are flat out haters of Jews!

And that goes double for the batshit crazed self-hating Jews that are with them!

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What do you base this on?

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Just seeing what they write on their placards & the fact that they cover up their faces just like their Hamas brethren do.

Scratch someone that hates Israel & you'll find a total anti-Semite!

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May 22·edited May 22

Garry -

Without going into fraught the history of Palestine/Israel and its/their founding, just because a person sympathizes with a civilian population that wants to have its own homeland and not be bombed and subjected to military action does not make the person a "Jew-hater". I agree that it was extremely dumb/short-sighted of the Palestinian people to vote Hamas into control of its government in 2006, but I cannot condemn them for not wanting their residences bombed and women & children killed in 2024. Supporting those Palestinian civilians who want to live in peace (and who are not in favor of destroying Israel) does not make that supporter one who "hates Israel".

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In 2016 we were repeatedly warned that Trump would establish a fascist dictatorship, start WWIII, give away the store for a North Korea deal, that he was actually a Russian agent/collaborator, that he would appease the Chinese to get business deals, etc etc.

I prefer to focus on the facts that he is an unprincipled, immoral, narcissist with no coherent political ideology and none of the political skills necessary to advance any kind of compromise agenda that is required in a divided congress. I wish I had a better choice than Biden, but I don't need apocalyptic visions to prefer him.

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He wants to be a dictator and chafes at any limits on his power, he is a very likely leader to provoke a world war, seems to love Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin and Xi. Other than that...

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