Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: The Long, Strange Trip

Alfie

Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:08:40 +1300

TRiUMPhANT
By Penultimate Straw

Alfie

Sat, 12 Nov 2016 12:54:22 +1300

The Guardian has a lovely piece from Margaret Atwood – Just like the Wizard of Oz, Donald Trump has no magic powers

And if you haven't done it yet, bung in a Google search on wankpuffin

Rich Lock

Sat, 12 Nov 2016 00:42:14 +1300

That article was published on the 2nd. The case was withdrawn on the 6th.

Kumara Republic

Sat, 12 Nov 2016 00:37:15 +1300

Or Donald trump gets impeached for something or another. Then it’s business as usual for the Republican Party. And we start a new thread about John Key being a dickhead.

Apparently there's a statutory rape trial in the works.

Rob Stowell

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 23:04:42 +1300

This is a very bad thing.
We seem to be watching (in slow motion, because history isn't a racing car – until it hits the powerpole) the end of the US dominated world. The constitution, the electoral system, the tiers of government, many of the institutions were set up in…

tussock

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 21:43:09 +1300

I get not diagnosing people. I do, it's unfair and improper in general and it's unfair to Trump, but it helps me understand the world, so here it is.

When people say that Trump is just a bad person and racist and misogynistic and so on, that he's a failed…

Simon Grigg

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 19:00:59 +1300

Or Donald trump gets impeached for something or another. Then it’s business as usual for the Republican Party. And we start a new thread about John Key being a dickhead.

That assumes that the democratic processes and checks are allowed to continue as is. Paranoia perhaps, but we already have…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 16:29:02 +1300

Instant collectors' item:
Newsweek recalls 125,000 copies of its souvenir Madam President issue
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11746242

mark taslov

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 13:32:07 +1300

Without doubt a fascinating game of RISK®. The unlikely event that The US military industrial complex acquiesces to Trump gifting Russia its Polish missile sites, the miracle that is NATO making it to St Petersburg. Then the itchy trigger finger of that recklessly impulsive rogue Vladimir Putin, the prevailing emotion…

mark taslov

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 13:02:56 +1300

What the Chinese have said is that because people behave that way they’ll reject democracy as an option

Most Chinese people don't ever get a sniff at democracy, it's not on the cards, George W. Bush was similarly ridiculed. Working to hundred year plans this stuff must be a blip.…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 11:48:22 +1300

The United Shakes of America has a bad case of the DTs...

Rich of Observationz

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 11:14:07 +1300

The problem isn't that Trump snorts too much coke and plays russian roulette with The Button. It's more subtle than that:

– Trump gives his bestie, Putin, the idea that invading Ukraine/Estonia/Poland would not spoil their friendship
– Putin goes rolling in, hoping to bolster his position as the new…

mark taslov

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 20:28:34 +1300

Thanks for some perspective there Steven, you’d have hoped that Hillary Clinton would be as aware of this kind of thing as anyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2a8nbEGOU8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVSZFOi2Stw
In other news Kim Jong Un.

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 17:05:59 +1300

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrfxnAV6Pzk
Strewth is Stranger than Fiction...

mark taslov

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:29:51 +1300

Trump won’t hurt the rich people or indeed New Zealanders who are most fastidious about these thing

If only the stigmatisation surrounding mental disorders and the required fastidiousness to combat that were limited to New Zealanders.

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:19:57 +1300

teach people, in something like a civics course in school,

Yeah, but what about the guys at the back watching pr0n under the desk?

Maybe introduce votes at 16, but make it conditional on passing a short answer and essay paper covering history, constitution and critical thinking.

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:17:41 +1300

Don’t ‘diagnose’ Donald Trump, it’s not helpful.

Obviously. Maybe if there'd been more memes calling Trump a fat ugly nutter, then Bubba T Flubba down in Shitsville, FL wouldn't have voted for him. But you know, Trump won't hurt the rich people or indeed New Zealanders who are most fastidious…

Bart Janssen

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 15:15:37 +1300

I think it’s instructive to flip from seeing this in terms of knowledge and information, to seeing it in terms of emotion and emotional satisfaction.

Yeah I am kinda saying that. Essentially what we are seeing is that many (most) people vote based on emotion – they then find facts…

mark taslov

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 14:34:13 +1300

Narcissistic_personality_disorder

The second time you’ve done that in 4 posts. Don’t ‘diagnose’ Donald Trump, it’s not helpful.

Rob Stowell

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 12:51:00 +1300

it’s pretty clear the public are not informed and really don’t care.

I think it's instructive to flip from seeing this in terms of knowledge and information, to seeing it in terms of emotion and emotional satisfaction. We like to see ourselves as rational animals, but we are experts at…

Bart Janssen

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 12:09:01 +1300

Trump represents, in the words of one writer, everything they were taught to fear about democracy

It's kind of hard to argue with them, Brexit, Trump and even here we've seen the failure of democracy. The idea that the population can make good choices relies on them being informed and…

Rob Stowell

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 11:23:51 +1300

The prong of Trump and the GOP's game that may fade from memory as the Clintons leave the spotlight is the decades long strategy of demonising Hillary. Mountains of mud were thrown, and thrown again, and stuck, even as investigation showed them to be completely unfounded.
She wasn't a great…

Rob Stowell

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 10:41:57 +1300

Trump vs 'the media' could be the next big sideshow. Outside of Hannity on Fox, there's been remarkable unanimity from newspapers and major media organisations that Trump is unfit to be president.
Some might come around, but it's likely the war of words will ramp up, as Hillary fades away…

Rob Stowell

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 10:33:53 +1300

He’s created a first world Cargo Cult and all he has to do is keep telling his supporters that things are better, and they will feel better and that will be enough.
There’s some truth in what you say. This has been the triumph of emotion – rage, grievance and…

David Hood

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 09:39:00 +1300

How do we know that?

Exit polling- so it is those people willing to answer surveys outside where they have voted.

izogi

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 09:12:39 +1300

How does Trump even begin to satisfy the white working class voters who elected him?

I'm sure the reasons are as diverse as the US, but there's a really insightful web series posted by Van Jones in the last few days leading up to the election. He went to Gettysburg…

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 09:12:16 +1300

You stats geeks, know, don't you, that there are multiple source of errors:
– there's sampling error => I have a bag of fair coins and 60% come up heads -> that depends on the sample size and is known.
– then you've got systematic errors => some of the…

David Hood

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 09:03:00 +1300

How does Trump even begin to satisfy the white working class voters who elected him?

The white voters that elected him. Don't single out the working class.

College educated white voters voted 49% Trump 45% Clinton (though Clinton get more votes among college educated white women).

The Telegraph has what…

Mikaere Curtis

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 08:45:53 +1300

How does Trump even begin to satisfy the white working class voters who elected him?
He doesn't have to. He's created a first world Cargo Cult and all he has to do is keep telling his supporters that things are better, and they will feel better and that will be…

izogi

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 08:41:25 +1300

This morning I caught Stephen Colbert's singing off, which I thought was a nice summing up of the state of politics and people in the US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXhFGO8R7aU

Hilary Stace

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 08:18:29 +1300

Seems like Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but not the electoral system, and numbers voting overall were down. So Trump was only elected by a minority of the voting public, which means they have the power to vote him out again. Particularly young voters.

I predict he will be…

Rob Stowell

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 07:51:00 +1300

How does Trump even begin to satisfy the white working class voters who elected him? There's nothing in his economic policies – or those of Paul Ryan – except perhaps massive govt spending on infrastructure. And there's a lot that will directly hurt them.
Trump could become immensely unpopular very…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 06:50:48 +1300

Damn, looks like we quietly slipped into the Philip K Dick universe overnight – and there has been a disturbance in the time/space continuum!
Stuff thinks it is Armistice Day (Nov 11) already!!
(according to their dateline anyway...)

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 06:31:56 +1300

Oh well, Michelle Obama will save America in 2020.
Or Julia Louis-Dreyfus, recognisable TV faces seem to work...

izogi

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 04:27:38 +1300

Well. That was unfortunate. Apparently a near-plurality of USians would like their country to go die in a fire now, thanks, OK, bye.

It’s easy to just blame and joke about US voters or the media, which I’ve seen lots of over this already, but I’d worry that that’s also…

BenWilson

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 03:19:03 +1300

On how people are seeing Trump, I have to say I really don’t rate my chances of doing it without numbers. I wouldn’t vote for Trump because he’s a clown, and I tend to agree with what Obama said last year, that the presidency is a serious job, and should…

BenWilson

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 02:59:25 +1300

I can't really make up my mind about the ramifications of a Trump Presidency yet. But I'm nowhere near as surprised by it as I think most others are who really wanted Trump to lose. This is not because of some deep analysis of the underlying drivers that caused Americans…

tussock

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 00:52:41 +1300

Well. That was unfortunate. Apparently a near-plurality of USians would like their country to go die in a fire now, thanks, OK, bye.

He's not the first bloke like this to be elected in recent years, just the one put in the most powerful position.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

Seems he will make…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 23:44:22 +1300

He didn’t need to spend the money when there are certain elements of the media actively pushing him.

How long before Trump starts going Erdogan on media outlets that dare to cross his path?

Rich Lock

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 23:20:52 +1300

Its tough to realise Trump did this with far less money and organisation than Hillary had.

I read a story a few weeks ago that estimated he had had around 2 billion-with-a-b dollars-worth of free tv exposure, from being able to pick up a phone and waltz onto fox for…

andin

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 23:07:11 +1300

U.S. democracy is a sham.

Nah there’s been a mass outbreak of slumbering perambulation whilst giving the appearance of being in full control of one’s faculties.
Ya get that

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 22:51:38 +1300

Its tough to realise Trump did this with far less money and organisation than Hillary had.

True. A lot of political wisdom about ground-games and suchlike was turfed in the dustbin today.

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 22:34:29 +1300

This is a hell of a read from Beijing-based FT journalist James Palmer: China just won the U.S. election:

But generally, these developments will only embolden China. After the 2008 financial crisis, Beijing was convinced the world was going its way, resulting in a spate of overconfident military moves in…

Rob Stowell

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 22:34:12 +1300

Its tough to realise Trump did this with far less money and organisation than Hillary had.

Alfie

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 21:43:16 +1300

Steve Braunias: How Donald Trump won

mark taslov

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 21:41:41 +1300

overlooked by their own governments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zH9Zca1vRM

izogi

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 21:30:51 +1300

The TPPA has already survived so much doubt and Trump is so much of an actor that I’ll not believe it’s truly dead until I see it actually happen. Don’t be too surprised if he somehow comes back and tries to sell it as a way to control other countries…

Tom Johnson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 21:22:23 +1300

Well the potential of a multitude of real lawsuits, a Republican party that may grow to hate their own “CEO” president and the mind blowing almost certainly Presidential ending reality if a link to Russian assistance and cohesion is established still remain.

Rich Lock

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 20:54:52 +1300

Just woke up here in the UK. At least, I assume I did, and this isn't some incredibly vivid fever dream.

Just.....wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jB2qxsmkUk

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 20:52:07 +1300

Reality TV, just got real bad.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbA-yKZlGAw

Tom Johnson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 20:23:28 +1300

Well done the right wing, your monster has come, he is the greatest right winger ever. Trumped by your own ideology, the survival of the fittest, with fitness being determined by your winningness. This is history.

Zach Bagnall

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 20:13:17 +1300

Well my state tipped blue, but managed to defeat a ballot proposal for universal healthcare funded by state taxes. I'm sure the thousands of vulnerable residents who are about to lose access to healthcare when the ACA is repealed will be pleased.

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:58:07 +1300

Goodbye TPP

Thank God there's a silver lining.

Angela Win

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:55:10 +1300

Like so many I have been perhaps a little obsessively following this election and while saddened, I was not surprised at the results that are coming out, when you look at what is happening around the world. I think the big questions are, globally how have we got to the…

Rob Stowell

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:54:13 +1300

The implications are slowly sinking in – a bit like Brexit, there's going to be some panic along the lines of: "what's the plan?" "I thought you had a plan?" "Does anyone know where we put the plans?"
Goodbye TPP and Obamacare. Other trade implications are hard to judge. There's…

Tom Johnson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:51:11 +1300

Dirty elections always favour the right. This idea of two bad corrupt candidates sucked out all the vibrancy of "yes we can."

"Crooked Hillary "campaigning worked. Remember Donny Brash nearly won here by calling clarks government, "the most corrupt in history" and Johnny K just fed on that . The…

Tom Semmens

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:49:55 +1300

Oh well, Michelle Obama will save America in 2020.

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:33:48 +1300

Yeah, I saw that and had to chuckle. The phrase "mathematically impossible" is usually reserved for things like proving 1+1=3. Not making spurious statistical claims, in massive disagreement with the opinions of actual statisticians.

Carol Stewart

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:25:26 +1300

And this was the NZ Herald as of yesterday: But according to online lecturer in politics and PhD candidate at Swinburne University, Bryan Cranston, polling aside, it is actually mathematically impossible for Trump to win the US election.

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 19:08:22 +1300

There’s much more involved here than margin of error.

Can't say I'm convinced. The event was unlikely, but not outrageously so.

simon g

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:26:41 +1300

But the polls were wrong by some margin, across a range of individual states, each with their own characteristics.

Michigan, for example.

There's much more involved here than margin of error.

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:26:06 +1300

I'm not seeing the benefit to us the viewers of TV1 (or whatever it calls itself these days) of indulging in the expense of having both Jack Tame and Mike Hosking metres away from each other covering the Clinton campaign's party venue.
Seems to me there are better things for…

David Hood

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:15:52 +1300

First brexit now this – polling is completely broken

It looks like Clinton will likely be with 2% of the popular vote estimate. National polls were pretty accurate in that respect.

People had been pointing out for some time that being very popular in places like Texas and Alabama (for…

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:05:38 +1300

His face was cold. His mouth trembled, asking:
“Who—who won the presidential election yesterday?”
The man behind the desk laughed. “You joking? You know
very well. Deutscher, of course! Who else? Not that fool weakling
Keith. We got an iron man now, a man with guts!” The official stopped. “What’s…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:02:03 +1300

The NZ Herald article on the Trump ‘victory party’ has a shot of the sombre looking cake above – looks like they just reworked a cake that Christopher Walken forgot to pick up…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11745114

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:01:40 +1300

First brexit now this – polling is completely broken in the post MSM age.

Nah, it's a couple of unlucky chances, and forget about all the times things went exactly as the polls said. If anyone can think of a better method, go for it. Hindsight will be 20:20, as…

linger

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:01:33 +1300

Thinking they were supposed to vote someone off ?

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:58:38 +1300

...which simply missed – or misread – millions of voters.
The Reality TV (Apprentice) fans decided to vote....?

Rob Stowell

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:52:41 +1300

Fuck. Wisconsin. How can anyone have trusted a state that elected Scott Walker. 3 times. Want to stop looking, can't stop looking ...

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:51:48 +1300

which simply missed – or misread – millions of voters

I would guess it's the first of those options more than the second. The number of undecideds was high even until the last minute.

Tom Semmens

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:49:20 +1300

Those probability numbers were based (obviously) on the polls, which simply missed – or misread – millions of voters.

First brexit now this – polling is completely broken in the post MSM age.

simon g

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:42:41 +1300

Those probability numbers were based (obviously) on the polls, which simply missed – or misread – millions of voters.

A familiar story, and one that is constantly repeated, as per the definition of madness. Followed by an inquest, followed by ... nothing changing.

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:33:46 +1300

I guess what I'm saying is that if someone offered you a loaded gun and told you it had two bullets in the chambers, and then spun it, and you put it to your head, just because your brains are on the floor is not a reason to dispute that…

Tom Semmens

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:32:51 +1300

Trump has won Florida.

Time to pull out of all defense ties with the USA. I used to support the American alliance as the most rational realpolitik choice, but I'll be buggered if I'll agree to us supporting a fascist.

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:29:42 +1300

Probability is a bitch. When I saw yesterday that it was on about 67:33 for Clinton I reflected that rolling a dice and expecting it not to come up 1 or 2 is statistically correct but not something I'd bet my entire nation on willingly.

However, even now, a 40%…

izogi

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 17:15:27 +1300

Scary, fivethirtyeight.com now say the chances are 50% Clinton vs 48% Trump.

As of right now it's on 58% Trump, 40% Clinton.

izogi

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:55:39 +1300

For the rest, enjoy what you have done (hint: you really won't)

Guess who's going to be blamed.

In unrelated news, I googled Randall County, Texas, where Trump's won a 43,000 to 8,000 victory over Hillary Clinton. Clicking through to the job opportunities page zat the top of their Quick…

simon g

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:54:38 +1300

It's more like 90-10 Trump, the states Clinton needed have almost all gone. Barring a Florida recount, or legal challenges anywhere, it's over.

Mikaere Curtis

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:46:49 +1300

Scary, fivethirtyeight.com now say the chances are 50% Clinton vs 48% Trump.

Stephen R

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:45:37 +1300

Republican House, Republican Senate, and Trump?

Is it time to panic yet?

Bart Janssen

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:21:25 +1300

I was wrong

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:07:16 +1300

Fuck. I wasn't trying to invoke anything...

simon g

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:02:23 +1300

This is a nightmare. I can't even ...

Sincere hugs to all decent Americans. For the rest, enjoy what you have done (hint: you really won't).

linger

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 15:19:27 +1300

… and now viewed through a rising red mist…

N.B. giving Trump a “40% chance of winning” is very emphatically not the same thing as saying Trump is polling at "40% of the popular vote" (among likely voters). I think these two very different types of measurement are getting confused…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 15:11:10 +1300

I think I’ve reflected a large number of people’s thoughts with this one…

...and the hippos were boiled in their tanks?
– Bullet hole aside, it kinda looks like two wannabe Houdinis trying to escape their water filling tanks...

Kumara Republic

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 14:51:20 +1300

I think I've reflected a large number of people's thoughts with this one...

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 14:34:24 +1300

It's looking very even in Florida. But Illinois going for Clinton just bumped her chances.

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:56:15 +1300

Yes, by nightfall the probability will most likely have settled at zero or one.

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:50:55 +1300

True, although that will change if a swing state comes in blue. Especially if it’s Florida.

Trump has been slightly ahead there, but that’s only the rural booths. His two-point lead just reversed on the latest update. That’s the city booths coming in.

Update: 20 seconds after I wrote that,…

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:48:19 +1300

Not saying Trump *will* win, but that there is a finite probability that he will.

Well that's always true, no matter how he's polling. Zero is, after all, a finite number. But presumably you mean there is a non-zero chance. In which case note that 0.000000000000000000000000000001 is also non-zero. So…

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:42:37 +1300

Even at the very lowest Trump got to in the last few months, around 11%, that's still not a shoo in, that's a chance you would not want to bet your savings on. Well, OK, depending on the payout and your taste for risk, of course.

BenWilson

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:40:36 +1300

When the polling in the states is taken, and the variance in the polls modeled, and then Monte Carlo simulations of all of that applied to the actual electoral race, FiveThirtyEight is still giving Trump a 30% chance of winning up to yesterday. That's an actual probability, not some other…

Bart Janssen

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:20:55 +1300

Last week Huffington Post had Clinton at 98% probability of a win, 538 has had Clinton over 60% probability from day one and their numbers have been massaged in favour of Trump.

You're right of course there is always a chance of a Trump win – hey I bought a…

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:00:31 +1300

Not saying Trump *will* win, but that there is a finite probability that he will.

Australian TAB has him at 6.0. The US treasury market is a lot more bearish.

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:56:49 +1300

That BBC page shows Clinton as either behind or ahead by less than 4% in all of 13 swing states except Virginia and Wisconsin. Do you have better data?

Bart Janssen

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:46:04 +1300

How does a 4% lead equate to ‘no doubt’? Especially when Trump supporters might well tend not to admit it to pollsters?

Because the US system is a state by state FPP system, like the old NZ system where Labour had the majority of the vote but lost because National…

simon g

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:39:19 +1300

One useful aspect of the saturation coverage is that we can see how cumbersome voting is in the USA (though it depends on each individual state). It's easy to mock Americans for their poor turnouts, but I wonder what ours would be like if we had to queue for ages,…

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:37:22 +1300

The result is in no doubt and has been in no doubt for over a month.

How does a 4% lead equate to 'no doubt'? Especially when Trump supporters might well tend not to admit it to pollsters?

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:37:09 +1300

It’s a strange election. The result is in no doubt and has been in no doubt for over a month.

Even the Senate race doesn’t look particularly close.

So we have this weird thing where the media try and find some way to make it seem exciting

Duncan Garner's "can…

Bart Janssen

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:23:09 +1300

It's a strange election. The result is in no doubt and has been in no doubt for over a month.

Even the Senate race doesn't look particularly close.

So we have this weird thing where the media try and find some way to make it seem exciting and the problem…

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:30:33 +1300

There have been some interesting insights recently on where the bafflement and bullshit comes from. First, kids in Macedonia making fake-new websites for the advertising traffic.

And Sam Bee's fascinating chat with a couple of the army of people who troll for Putin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OauLuWXD_RI

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:27:51 +1300

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/08/photo-of-trump-glancing-at-melania-as-she-votes-makes-internet-lose-its-mind.html

Alfie

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:25:52 +1300

While I've never followed any previous US election this closely, I guess that applies to half the world... in a watching-a-train-wreck-as-absurdity-overtakes-reality kinda way. It's been an almost numbing experience.

While it's not in the best of taste, I'd like to share my favourite quote of the campaign so far --…

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:20:50 +1300

BEST BUG EVER. Whatever words you choose to add to the end of the URL for this part of Trump’s website (i.e.: after /archive/) will appear in the masthead for the page . Play at home and share!

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/archive/

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:18:37 +1300

Trump, the New Yorker

If Trump gets in – I have the masthead of a new magazine ready!
:- )

Ethan Tucker

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:01:30 +1300

Samantha Bee interviews Russian troll-farm mercenaries merrily spreading chaos in the US election:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OauLuWXD_RI

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:49:15 +1300

The Long, Strange Trip…
Indeed, or more correctly in Dead…
Truckin, up to buffalo. been thinkin, you got to mellow slow
Takes time, you pick a place to go, and just keep truckin on.*

Sometimes the lights all shinin’ on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it…

Tim Michie

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:33:50 +1300

Also Jezebel's liveblog includes a calming livestream of kittens playing...

Tim Michie

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:30:30 +1300

Vox Voter Suppression Interactive h/t @Dovil (who everyone follows, right?)

Patrick Xavier

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:04:33 +1300

This American Life commissioned Sara Bareilles to write a musical theatre song about Obama's election eve thoughts. Leslie Odom Jr (fresh from 'Hamilton') sings 'Seriously'.

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:03:52 +1300

How is this measured in the US? Is it just people standing outside voting booths looking at voters’ skin colour or listening to accents or languages or something?

I've been wonder about this – the reports haven't been entirely clear, but I imagine it's more along the lines of exit…

izogi

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 09:36:54 +1300

There's been lots of reporting on turnouts of various ethnic groups, like the latino vote, and drawing conclusions.

How is this measured in the US? Is it just people standing outside voting booths looking at voters' skin colour or listening to accents or languages or something?

bob daktari

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 09:29:03 +1300

if anything sums up this election for me its this song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1mlCPMYtPk

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 09:22:14 +1300

The Bellingcat live blog is tracking voter intimidation and other polling-place issues, including bogus memes already being circulated by nutbar Trump supporters.

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 09:09:54 +1300

The Influence looks at what's at stake for drug policy.

Russell Brown

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 08:54:42 +1300

Trump, the New Yorker, is jeered by New Yorkers as he goes to vote.

Public Address

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 08:54:41 +1300

Discussion from blog post.