8 Thoughts for Sept. 12, 2016

1. 9/11: This is one of those national tragedies that sticks with the country for forever. Everyone who was living at the time, remembers where they were when they heard the news. In effect, the entire nation suffered from PTSD for years, reliving the enduring memory of the nation standing still, unsure of what was going on, how widespread the attack was, and what was coming next. Most people donated money and / or blood to the Red Cross, collectively helping out in whatever meager way they could. I want people to understand that there was this one guy who did not donate a dime in the immediate aftermath: Donald Trump. In fact, he's subsequently profited from 9/11, at the expense of American taxpayers. Heck, I donated more money towards 9/11 in the days following the attacks, than Donald.
2. Gary Johnson: For some unknown reason, Gary Johnson believes that North Korea has no capacity to invade South Korea, and as a result, we should pull out our troops because their presence in the region is "making China go crazy." I think all those decades of consuming pot has gotten to his brain. He offers us proof to back up his conclusion: "South Korea is so far advanced, the economies are nowhere near comparable in scale." Apparently, besides not knowing what Aleppo is, Gary is also unaware that NK has been building up towards nuclear weapon capability while SK is relying on the US to create a barrier to invasion.
3. Polls: I'm not talking about the polls much. Why? Because nothing has really changed. Some outlets believe that the gap between Hillary and Donald has been cut, but the truth is that the national polls don't reflect how the race is really going. As I elaborated nearly 5 months ago in my way-too-early-electoral college map, the race hinges on changing demographics, and Donald has only worked to repel key demographics that could otherwise help him. According to WaPo / SurveyMonkey tracking, Hillary's support from black voters has gone from 89% prior to the conventions, to 92% after the conventions, and now sits at 93%. Something similar has occurred with the Hispanic vote. All of this implies that poll fluctuations are primarily controlled by how big the sample of white males is, rather than a change in mood. 
4. Transparency: Apparently, these days if you're not upfront and immediately announce that you're having health problems, the press will look down on you. That's one of the signals the press has been sending over Hillary's late disclosure that she has pneumonia. In the spirit of the new rules of transparency, the past two days I've been battling allergies from dust after helping out a friend build a gravel path which involved moving several hundred pounds of the stuff, resulting in frequent sneezing and congestion. Also, some sore muscles were involved.
5. Donald's Tax Troubles: It seems fairly clear from WaPo's David Fahrenthold's tracking of Donald's charitable claims, that Donald has overvalued many of his 'contributions' and has used his charity for self-enrichment. That illegal donation to a Pam Bondi's SuperPAC is starting to look like just the tip of the iceberg of an empire built on lies. It's no wonder, therefore, that Donald says that his tax lawyer advised him not to release his records -- once made public, journalists will be able to essentially do the IRS's job for them.
6. NFL Week 1: Sadly, New England looks like it's still got enough talent without Gronk and Brady playing, to beat a really good Arizona team. After seeing the beating that Cam's head endured against Denver, we're going to learn a lot more about the NFL's true colors on the issue over concussions -- do they fine Denver players for targeting, do they fine Carolina for not putting Cam through the concussion protocol as is required? Seattle's offensive line still sucks, BTW.
7. USC Trojans Football: Apparently the tight ends still haven't learned how to block, and the offensive line, while better against Utah State, still likes to whiff on blocking assignments. The defense was strong but also consistent, all around -- no blown plays where receivers were left alone. The best you can say about the team, is that it got better from game one to game two; the worst that you can say about the team is that some players still haven't executed to the level that is required for the team to move forward.
8. God is Dog spelled backward: