Kamala Harris - it appears that the woman is in reality what her hushed reputation has portended she is - an imperious hubristic bitch (and Hillary doppelgänger), not someone we want a hearbeat away from Half-term Joe. Lots more to come.

Jo Ann thanks you for the good wishes, and reports that she is currently at L1 and looking forward to L0. Gregory - Good points, but when I questioned two separate people at two separate facilities about the 1-10 index, they both reported that not only were the patients' reported numbers taken normatively, they actually had established response policies afo the reported pain number - e.g. a number above 5 was required before analgesics would be considered or prescribed. Go figger.

PaulE re NC demonstrations - From the multiple videos it is clear that there were about 50 BLM demonstrators and 11-15 counter-demonstrators. One van full of imported organizers were all that was needed to pull off what we saw, and that didn't require any parking lot full of obviously out-of-town vehicles. No 'investigation', save your denials, has looked into this. The obvious question is still 'why did only some demonstrators wear backpacks, and why would a local resident who's just going to walk down Broad St strap on a back pack? I'm sure that you can come up with an answer, but how plausible would it be?

PaulE 440pm - Quoting your favorite candidate, 'C'mon man! Don't you have a more credible source than the fellow demonstrators who would never admit to being joined by imports?'

PaulE 245pm - The same place that causes you to doubt that demonstrators who show up with backpacks and used signs are locals who have not been transported. Do you know of anyone who has claimed that all the demonstrators were local folks?

PaulE 124pm - That's the way it's supposed to work, but has not always worked like that, even in California. "Also do you give Trump the prerogative to pick what States can use Mail in Voting?" This is a bit embarrassing again. Paul, our president does NOT have a prerogative for such picks. When he talks about that, he's using his bully pulpit. What's sad is that leftwing constituents know so little about the operation of our governments at all levels, that they actually believe whatever claptrap their thought leaders tell them about the meaning of what Trump said or plans to do. And the thought leaders are equally ignorant or horribly cynical in spreading such 'information' to their followers. Are you one of the followers or a thought leader? And my sharing Trump's decision criteria, have you gone totally off the rails?

PaulE 1218pm - Paul, the article confuses requested abasentee ballot voting with 'mail-in' voting that involves everyone - dead/alive, here/gone - getting a ballot a very short time before election date (so that the most eligible voters can register in time). This period is as short as 7 days, which according to my conversations with the NC USPS, is too little time for the ballots to get to the voter, and then turned around and mailed back in. It really doesn't matter what we claim right now, the vote by mail ballots are going to be a mess, and Trump is quite right about that. What is a more interesting discussion is that leftwingers don't recognize existential evidence of fraud, but only recognize fraud if someone is convicted of it. This fits well with their expectation of un-prosecuted fraud.

The voter rolls used for mail-in voting speak for themselves. And anyone who thinks the USPS is ready for the onslaught should speak to any local post office employee to see what is already happening with the handling of the mails. Those are existential facts on the ground, the quotes from the literature are propaganda to assuage the unwary.

NC police doing a "complete investigation" of anything makes one recall Comedy Central and Keystone Kops. But on a more serious note, has anyone run across any data on the composition of the Nevada City BLM demonstrators? How many were locals vs the number of imports? A good place to begin a complete investigation.

RobertC 212pm - You can go beyond empty blather with your "needs to change from differences to similarities" by adding some useful similarities to the list I started here - https://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2020/08/e-pluribus-unum-still-really.html

PaulE 111pm - Do you think it's time to move such a 'national dialogue' about the country's future off the streets, and into a calmer environment with a table and chairs?

PaulE 1000am - Paul, the only thing this statement confirms is that you continue to practice an abysmal form of logic. But take comfort in the demonstrable fact that you are joined by millions of like-minded 'logical thinkers'. Think of it as a form of 'consensus logic', similar to the hallowed precincts of 'consensus science' that salves the socialist soul. If the correct collective does it, it must be correct. Administrivia - Please note the topics under today's 'Ruminations', and disperse your comments appropriately.

PaulE 935am - What part of my 920am was confusing?

If someone argues for just one side of an issue and only opposes the other side, then it is a reasonable assumption that he supports the entirety of his preferred side until evidence to the contrary arrives. PaulE has made that clear in his years of one-sided support in these pages. That cannot be said for those of us who regularly take both sides to task.

For the Electoral College debaters, I invite them to do a little exercise. Download the EC spreadsheet tool I created, and insert in there your own assessments for how the states must be assigned in order for Trump to have any given (your pick) probability of winning. And then consider how real that picture looks. If you send the resulting spreadsheet to me with your 'solution', I'll post. So far this talk without any specifics is just idle hot air. BTW, I did my own assessment, and was not able to come up with a believable assignment of chances for Trump's victory. I'll keep working on it. https://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2020/07/election2020-electoral-college-predictor.html

BarryP 1017am - How do you know that Barry? There's nothing in his comments that would let us draw that conclusion. As Walt (957am) points out, SteveF is solidly in the hard-left camp that views rioters as 'protesters' just practicing their free speech rights.

PaulE - https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/movies/barry-review-barack-obama.html https://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/answer-man/article162988863.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/barry-young-barack-obama-story/story?id=42940412 Maybe I should charge tuition.

re PaulE's 1241pm - Did I just get my wrist slapped for responding to his question illustrating ignorance of the appellations of our former president, and perhaps his speckled past? - "obscure trivia" indeed!

PaulE 1200pm - It is more than common knowledge across the land that Barack Hussein Obama was called and went by Barry in his pre-political circles. At one time he was even known as Barry Soetoro along the nefarious route his identity took in the attempt to clear his foreign-entangled roots. So now you know - better late than never. https://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/answer-man/article162988863.html RobertC 1110am - were you to check some non-lamestream outlets, you would be aware that the Dem congressional leadership, the DNC, and his immediate handlers are extremely concerned about his unsupervised public presentations. It is they who corroborate that he most definitely is a Bumblebrain. But rejoice in the knowledge that he's not the only politician so afflicted.