Neoconservatives come out in open support of Clinton

As we have seen, the current presidential race has created some angst amongst the supposed Republican thought leaders who are disturbed that someone as boorish, vulgar, incoherent, and intemperate as Donald Trump has taken over their party. While various individuals have struggled to find their position with respect to Trump (Endorse? Support but not endorse (whatever that means)? Oppose?) there is one group that seems to have decided that Hillary Clinton is clearly the way to go and that consists of the neoconservatives.
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The silly fuss over teleprompters

Of all the silly things that people in politics make a fuss of, one of the silliest is the use of a teleprompter. Somehow not using it when giving talks is considered admirable while using one is seen as a weakness. Some people are more skilled at using it than others and president Obama is particularly adept and yet that very skill has been used against him, as if it is a sign that he cannot think on his feet, whereas he has convincingly proved that he can at unscripted events like interviews and at press conferences.
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Parody of any TED talk

I have been getting increasingly disenchanted with TED talks. I keep getting sent links to them by people because the speaker supposedly says something interesting but quite often I find the talks to consist of overhyping something banal or exercises in self-promotion. I hear that the speakers are extensively coached and assisted in giving polished presentations which may explain why the talks seem to impress people more than is perhaps warranted.
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How did being a ‘social justice warrior’ become a bad thing?

Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan is coming under attack by supporters for Donald Trump for saying that the latter’s comments that US district judge Gonzalo Curiel overseeing the case of Trump University could not be objective because of his Mexican heritage (even though he was born in Indiana) was an example of textbook racism.
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The post-primary Democratic situation

Hillary Clinton finally clinched the Democratic party nomination with convincing wins in delegate-rich California and New Jersey, and narrow wins in New Mexico and South Dakota. Bernie Sanders won in Montana and North Dakota. Clinton now has the majority of elected delegates, total delegates, and votes and can rightfully claim the title of presumptive nominee.
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How the Democratic party establishment works

Today is the day when the final six states (California, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, and New Mexico) have their primaries. The District of Columbia (not a state, for the benefit of non-US readers) has its primary next week and that will be the final primary. There are a total of 694 pledged delegates to be elected today. Of the 4,051 total delegates that are elected in the Democratic primaries, Hillary Clinton so far has 1,812 and Bernie Sanders 1,521, so Clinton needs just 214 today to put her over the top in terms of elected delegates.
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Computer cameras as spying devices

My attention was drawn to this newspaper article about how more and more people are covering up the cameras that are in their computers out of concern that other people could, unbeknownst to them, actually turn them on and spy on them. This fact has been known for some time to computer security experts but was given greater publicity by Edward Snowden as part of his expose of how the NSA and other government agencies spy on people.
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The debt recovery racket

On his show Last Week Tonight focused his attention on the dubious business of debt collection in which people’s debts to some institution are sold cheaply by that institution to agencies that then try and strong-arm people into paying them back, even if the debts have expired. Oliver shows how easy it is to set up a company that can purchase the debts of people.
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