1. You want to rig an election? Don’t listen to Donald Trump for ideas
As this article makes clear, there is election rigging going on in the modern USA. It’s just not being done in the cartoonish way that Donald Trump claims.
2. The subtle (and not-so-subtle) eliminationist rhetoric of Trump supporters
At a Donald Trump rally, a male supporter, deploying a level of semantic weaselling, since he understands the legal consequences of making direct threats, hinted very unmistakeably to the media in an interview that Hillary Clinton should be eliminated if she wins the Presidential election.
This is not an aberration. I have seen numerous similar comments on Twitter and in other online forums. There are a lot of people whose approach to opposition is to want to eliminate that opposition. For the groups on the authoritarian fringe who are, in many cases, armed to the teeth and itching to start the Second American Revolution, assassination is a perfectly reasonable approach.
Here’s another pile of ranting from a long-standing member of the crazy fringe, Jim Stachowiak. He seems to harbor every toxic resentment and animus known to man.
3. The “Hammond Ranch land sold by Hillary Clinton to Russian uranium company” conspiracy theory
The idea that the mineral rights of the land under the Hammond Ranch and the Malheur Wildlife Refuge had been sold to Russian or Chinese interests at the behest of Hillary Clinton is a claim that has gained credence amongst the anti-government pseudo-revolutionary fringe.
The main problem is that, like most ideas and claims, it started from a few disconnected facts and was then expanded into a grand conspiracy theory.
4. This is Spinal Tap – you starred in it – whaddaymean you want royalties?
This lawsuit, filed by one of the co-creators of “This is Spinal Tap”, could, if it actually goes to court, lift the lid on all manner of murky accounting practices by which media conglomerates magically convert highly profitable products into break-even products, in order to avoid paying creators royalties.
