The Ballast Online

12/10/2017

Over the years, I have come to accept the fact that I do not see everything as it is. I cannot expect myself to be right or have a perfect view on subjects much bigger than myself. But, I just can't seem to wrap my head around the schism in our country and the blatant problems we face because of it. [ 777 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/10/12/you-might-be-part-of-the-problem-stop-being-part-of-the-problem/

Over the years, I have come to accept the fact that I do not see everything as it is. I cannot expect myself to be right or have a perfect view on subjects much bigger than myself. But, I just can&…

28/09/2017

A lot of work goes into misleading headlines. Thankfully, it usually only takes a second to smell the BS.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/09/28/fair-lowers-the-bar-tucker-limbos-underneath/

This one will go down in the hall of fame.

03/07/2017

This Sunday the internet went into an uproar after Donald Trump tweeted out a video that showed him wrestling Vince McMahon, only someone had edited the video to show a CNN logo over McMahon's head. What resulted was Trump walking up and attacking a suit with the CNN logo for a head and pounding it into the ground. It was certainly something that should be beneath the President of the United States - even to have time to view such a video, but the thing is that the tweet and video are so appropriate and accurately depict our current situation. [ 559 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/07/03/trumps-tweets-accurately-depict-our-situation/

This Sunday the internet went into an uproar after Donald Trump tweeted out a video that showed him wrestling Vince McMahon, only someone had edited the video to show a CNN logo over McMahon’…

25/05/2017

Tonight the bizarro world of American politics took a turn for the worse when GOP Congressional candidate Greg Gianforte alledgedly body slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. The moment unraveled on Twitter when Jacobs tweeted that Greg Gianforte just slammed him and broke his glasses. Following that audio was posted to the Guardian US website wherein a scuffle could be heard following calmly voiced questions on Gianforte's stance with regards to the AHCA's CBO score. [ 209 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/05/25/wwe-congressional-campaigning-in-montana/

Choke slammed and punched in the face over a CBO score

17/05/2017

You may have heard about the Battle for Berkeley. If you haven't, it's the ongoing near riots that are going down at Berkeley in California every time a far right pundit like Ann Coulter or Milo Yianopolis set up a speaking engagement there. What winds up happening is that Berkeley Antifa extremists go out with pepper spray and wind up dousing the MAGA red hat crowd that shows up. [ 475 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/05/17/no-group-is-monolithic-the-battle-for-berkeley-is-not-representative/

You may have heard about the Battle for Berkeley. If you haven’t, it’s the ongoing near riots that are going down at Berkeley in California every time a far right pundit like Ann Coulte…

16/05/2017

The bizarre series of events around the last few weeks leaves me wondering if Donald Trump is intentionally trying to get ousted from the White House. He has, time and again, done the exact wrong thing to do in a given situation, such to the point that you have to wonder if he is trying to get rid of the job. [ 761 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/05/16/does-trump-actually-want-out-of-the-white-house/

How much longer will Trump have to steer toward the icebergs before he can finally sink his ship?

12/05/2017

It's possible to have one set of feelings about James Comey and another set of feelings about the circumstances of his dismissal.

It’s possible to have one set of feelings about James Comey and another set of feelings about the circumstances of his dismissal.

12/05/2017

Captain Crosscheck rides again! Hold on to your voter registration cards, because a whole lot of people's voting rights are about to get trampled.

Donald Trump signed an executive order this week establishing a panel to investigate voter fraud. We’ll be calling it what it is, however, which is a voter suppression panel. It’s all p…

11/05/2017

President Donald Trump would be well advised to find someone to add to his administration with at least a shred of self-awareness and an appreciation for optics. The situations surrounding the Comey firing suggest that the people he has around him have no idea how to estimate how things will look.

President Donald Trump would be well advised to find someone to add to his administration with at least a shred of self-awareness and an appreciation for optics. The situations surrounding the Come…

10/05/2017

How far will we go down this slippery slope before we irreversibly slide right off the edge? Donald Trump just recently hit the trifecta and fired the third person who was actively investigating him. It's a move we should have seen coming, and it's reminiscent of the Saturday Night Massacre that served as the tipping point in the Watergate scandal that ousted Nixon.

How far will we go down this slippery slope before we irreversibly slide right off the edge? Donald Trump just recently hit the trifecta and fired the third person who was actively investigating hi…

05/05/2017

We wound up getting the best case scenario when the Senate went to the White House for a special briefing on North Korea. It was mostly optics, a showpiece to mark Trump's twisted idea of a White House sweeps week ratings bonanza. However, that meeting coupled with US Naval fleet movements and Trump's aggressive rhetoric, left tensions much higher than they needed to be. New accusations from Pyongyang today show how dangerous this rhetoric might be.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/05/05/what-happens-when-two-loose-cannons-collide/

We wound up getting the best case scenario when the Senate went to the White House for a special briefing on North Korea. It was mostly optics, a showpiece to mark Trump’s twisted idea of a W…

03/05/2017

http://theballastonline.com/2017/05/03/false-reports-spread-quickly-about-attack-at-university-of-texas/

On May 1, 2017 tragedy struck my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. A student named Kendrex White apparently snapped, went to campus, and stabbed 4 people. Three victims survived, and o…

30/04/2017

Donald Trump penned an op-ed for the Washington Post wherein he described his first 100 days in office.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/04/30/trump-pens-op-ed-on-first-100-days-unsurprisingly-its-mostly-lies

Donald Trump penned an op-ed for the Washington Post wherein he described his first 100 days in office. Apparently, ma********ng privately just isn’t as satisfying for him as when there& #8217…

26/04/2017

Net Neutrality is on the chopping block, and your favorite website may soon load much slower.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/04/26/republicans-move-to-kill-net-neutrality-as-their-war-on-american-greatness-continues

There is a lot in the news this week, given that Donald Trump is desperately trying to get some good news cycles out before his first 100 days in office are up. The, “tax plan” that the…

25/04/2017

Wednesday the entire United States Senate will meet at the White House for a special briefing on North Korea.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/04/25/the-entire-senate-will-meet-wednesday-for-a-briefing-on-north-korea

Wednesday the entire United States Senate will meet at the White House for a special briefing on North Korea. The announcement came unexpectedly and leaves many people with unanswered questions. Wh…

21/04/2017

Donald Trump is pushing again for his repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The hope is that they will be able to get a repeal through congress and on the books before the media starts reporting on the first 100 days of his administration.
http://theballastonline.com/2017/04/21/trump-pushes-for-healthcare-repeal-again-heres-what-to-look-for

Donald Trump is pushing again for his repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The hope is that they will be able to get a repeal through congress and on the books before the media starts reporting on th…

21/04/2017

Chaffetz is thinking about leaving, and Bill O'Reilly is out at Fox News. It's a big week for exits.

Two hacks out in one week. It’s been dizzying.

19/04/2017

Exposing the hypocrisy of Donald Trump has become a new national pastime. It's fun, but it's too easy, really. All you have to do is go back through Trump's Twitter feed to his glory days as an armchair quarterback and birtherism cheerleader to find something that starkly contrasts his actions as President.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/04/19/trump-vs-trump-round-57-hypocrisy-and-contradictions-galore

Exposing the hypocrisy of Donald Trump has become a new national pastime. It’s fun, but it’s too easy, really. All you have to do is go back through Trump’s Twitter feed to his gl…

14/04/2017

Freedom of Speech - how will you protect it if you don't understand it?

http://theballastonline.com/2017/04/14/misunderstood-maligned-and-vanishing-freedom-of-speech-in-america

Freedom of speech, it’s one of our most important liberties. It allows us to have a free press, and to voice our dissent. It also usually winds up being shouted by one side or another in poli…

27/03/2017

Has Fox News started trying to cover for Trump's golf habit?

http://theballastonline.com/2017/03/27/news-alert-fox-news-spreads-false-reports-that-trump-is-working-through-the-weekend-while-he-golfs

The Trump administration has been dogged by reports that President Trump continues to golf at a rate exceeding President Obama by far. Trump was outspoken about his criticism that President Obama w…

26/03/2017

Deep in ISIL territory, a coalition airstrike dropped bombs on a school in Raqqa. There are conflicting reports, but groups on the ground say that over 30 people are dead. The school housed internally displaced Syrians. These were reportedly civilian casualties. You probably didn't notice, because it happened on the same day as the attack in London, so the world was busy watching that. [ 778 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/03/26/high-civilian-casualties-reported-as-coalition-bombs-destroy-a-school-in-raqqa-but-this-isnt-a-new-phenomena

Speak Truth to Power

26/03/2017

Another heaping helping of delicious irony tested the bounds of the bowl last week when the House Freedom Caucus caused Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan to abort the vote on Trumpcare. It turns out that the Freedom Caucus, who served as the tip of the spear in the GOP obstruction brigade for the last six years is stubborn and obstructs even the Republican party if they don't get their way. [ 352 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/03/26/the

Another heaping helping of delicious irony tested the bounds of the bowl last week when the House Freedom Caucus caused Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan to abort the vote on Trumpcare. It turns o…

16/03/2017

A nice surprise came this month when the jobs report came out, and it was better than expected. In February the economy added 235,000 jobs and the unemployment figure came in at 4.7 percent. However, that isn't the reason to write this article today. The article is here because of the comments from Press Secretary Sean Spicer. When he addressed the figure in a press conference, Spicer said that he and Trump discussed the numbers and, "They may have been phony in the past, but it's very real now." [ 368 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/03/16/jobs-numbers-fake-then-real-now-how-long-can-government-data-be-trusted

A nice surprise came this month when the jobs report came out, and it was better than expected. In February the economy added 235,000 jobs and the unemployment figure came in at 4.7 percent. Howeve…

03/03/2017

Today: All Stars of State and Local Politics.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/03/03/state-and-local-political-all-stars-volume-one-its-an-idiots-wonderland

Today I wanted to run through a few of the highlights of my own journey into finding the importance of state and local politics. It seems that when you’re running for ultra low turnout seats,…

01/03/2017

The media is falling over itself to pat Trump on the back for getting through an hour without ranting like a lunatic. Look to the content, not the tone of a speech to judge merit.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/03/01/no-that-speech-was-not-normal-and-not-president

It’s the content not the tone of the speech that should be judged.

01/03/2017

Tonight our President, Donald Trump addressed congress for the first time. It was a speech that at times seemed a bit like a normal drivel political speech. At other times, it was a fun exercise in hypocrisy and nonsense.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/03/01/trump-addresses-congress-for-the-first-time-the-intersection-of-ignorance-and-malice

If rage and stupidity had a baby, it would be this speech.

18/02/2017

Given the current, "God is dead and everything is permissible," regulatory environment these days, it's no surprise that big industry lobbying groups are salivating. With coal companies set to resume dumping their runoff directly into streams, and a narrow miss on the repeal of the fiduciary duty of financial advisers, big banking seems ready to throw their hat in. Reuters broke the story… [ 424 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/18/in-another-completely-unsurprising-move-big-banking-looks-to-loosen-money-laundering-regulations

Given the current, “God is dead and everything is permissible,” regulatory environment these days, it’s no surprise that big industry lobbying groups are salivating. With coal com…

16/02/2017

This morning social media posts spread the word of a note displayed at Chuy's in Round Rock, TX. In short, the note threatens that anyone who does not show up for work will have their names put into a hat and one name would be chosen from the hat to fire.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/16/texas-restaurant-takes-opposition-to-immigrant-protest-too-far

This morning social media posts spread the word of a note displayed at Chuy’s in Round Rock, TX.  In short, the note threatens that anyone who does not show up for work will have their n…

14/02/2017

Multiple agencies are running the story tonight. Michael Flynn, the conspiracy theory sharing Security Adviser in the Trump administration has resigned amid allegations that he lied about the nature and content of calls with the Russians after President Obama issued sanctions and expelled Russian diplomats. All along, Flynn and by extension the administration held that the calls did not breach the subject of the sanctions.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/14/flynn-is-out-but-where-does-the-thread-end

Multiple agencies are running the story tonight. Michael Flynn, the conspiracy theory sharing Security Adviser in the Trump administration has resigned amid allegations that he lied about the natur…

13/02/2017

They've done it. The GOP has won. There's no denying it. The GOP currently holds the House, the Senate, the White House, and soon the Supreme Court.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/13/time-for-the-gop-to-dispense-with-the-pretense

They’ve done it. The GOP has won. There’s no denying it. The GOP currently holds the House, the Senate, the White House, and soon the Supreme Court. In addition to the stolen Supreme Co…

13/02/2017

Recently, the North Koreans provided the first real security test of Donald Trump's administration when they launched a missile successfully.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/13/extreme-vetting-is-needed-for-mar-a-lago-members

Recently, the North Koreans provided the first real security test of Donald Trump’s administration when they launched a missile successfully. The event would have alarmed any administration, …

13/02/2017

Donald Trump is indeed lying when he says that 3-5 million people voted in the 2016 election illegally.

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/13/the-method-to-his-madness-trumps-imaginary-illegal-voters

Donald Trump is indeed lying when he says that 3-5 million people voted in the 2016 election illegally. He recently made a claim in a room full of Senators that thousands of people were brought in …

10/02/2017

Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), held a town hall meeting tonight, and he found himself the target of an angry mob. The room in which they held the town hall flowed over, and a large group of protesters had to stand outside. Some reports said there were over 1,000 people outside. I'm no expert, but it seems like they aren't happy that he's refusing to investigate Trump. [ 423 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/10/jason-chaffetz-grilled-in-town-hall-meeting

Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), held a town hall meeting tonight, and he found himself the target of an angry mob. The room in which they held the town hall flowed over, and a large group of protesters had …

06/02/2017

Today, for a change of pace, we're going to take a little trip into the mind of the Republican party. The GOP platform is filled with things that don't mean what they seem to on the surface, but every once in a while, they slip up and tell the truth. Voter ID, is to prevent voter fraud, right? Oh wait, you're not supposed to say that part out loud! [ 153 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/06/that-darn-gop-sometimes-they-tell-the-truth

Today, for a change of pace, we’re going to take a little trip into the mind of the Republican party. The GOP platform is filled with things that don’t mean what they seem to on the sur…

04/02/2017

There is a vacuous argument making its way around the internet. Comment sections and twitter feeds are being flooded by a conservative talking point saying that the stolen Merrick Garland Supreme Court nomination was merely tit for tat for the failed 1987 nomination of Robert Bork. How are they different? They are different in a few ways, but the most important is the most obvious, he was defeated by a vote that he got after a confirmation hearing. [ 447 more words ]

http://theballastonline.com/2017/02/04/no-merrick-garland-did-not-get-borked