Mistakes Were Made with Newspaper Corrections

Posted by historymaniacmegan on November 16, 2016

wsj-correction-notice-nov-6-2013

Last Tuesday, over 60 million Americans would make one of the biggest mistakes in American history as well as in their lives. For the record, I did the right thing by voting for Hillary Clinton as well as more Americans who voted since she won the popular vote. But that doesn’t matter because President-elect Pussygrabber won the Electoral College due to those critical states having a bunch of racists willing to overlook how morally degenerate he is. Which means I’m totally not looking forward to Thanksgiving and not sure who the hell many people in my area are anymore. Of course, this kind of mistake can’t be easily remedied and we’ll probably have to live with it for 4 years. Yet, this article doesn’t pertain to such errors which can be remedied. And nothing shows this more than the newspaper corrections section. Because newspapers are run by human beings. And sometimes even newspapers can make errors in their reporting. So if readers notice something wrong in the articles, they can call the newspaper who will correct that mistake the next day. These corrections are listed in a special section. If it’s online, they’re listed in the articles themselves. Now corrections are a fact of life in newspapers and they’re usually a blurbs that usually say nothing noteworthy. Yet, reading some of these corrections will make you wonder what the hell did these reporters do wrong since they sound straight out of an SNL sketch. So this is where I come in.

Dead woman not returning a reporter’s call? How rude!

Yeah, asking a woman for comment in April is kind of stupid if she died last December. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to comment. Dead people tell no tales.

2. Sometimes omitting one letter makes all the difference.

You have to feel for Pastor Dick Bigelow here who was incorrectly identified as Dick Bigblow. You know the kind of name that reminds you of a male porn star.

3. Apparently, there are Marvel fans who can distinguish between Ant Man and the Atom.

Not only do they get the identities wrong, they also alleged that The Atom can talk to ants (which is one of Ant Man’s talents). Yeah, this is kind of embarrassing.

4. To be fair, you can’t always establish a gender with an Asian name.

To be fair, I had to read journal articles in Asian history while I was in college. Even I couldn’t distinguish the author’s gender. So I can totally see where this paper is coming from.

5. Apparently, this publication doesn’t know the difference between the acting profession and the oldest profession.

For God’s sake, it’s circus acts, not sex acts. Man, I guess the actress they quoted must be very pissed off by now.

6. When it comes to herpetology, comedians seem to know more than the newspapers.

It’s even funnier that John Cleese had to point that out that pythons aren’t poisonous snakes. Yes, this is a silly mistake.

7. So it’s 5 beers, not 5 years.

For some reason, 5 beers to get on the dance floor seems to make more sense. And the reasons seem obvious.

8. Before you put someone on a female author list, make sure they’re actually a woman.

Then again, most people think Evelyn is a girl’s name anyway. But Evelyn Waugh was a dude despite the girly name.

9. Unfortunately, this publication didn’t think the Pope was Catholic.

Yes, it should’ve been “non-Italian,” instead of “non-Catholic.” Because the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, duh.

10. In Britain, it’s important to distinguish between “team” and “tea.”

Because one can lead to worse connotations than the other. Of course, someone won’t be happy about this.

11. Sorry, but this guy’s interpretation of Revelation was quite different.

Interestingly, many people do believe that Obama was the Anti-Christ. And a lot of them voted for Trump who seems like a more suitable candidate in my opinion.

12. So there weren’t 30,000 pigs floating down the river?

This correction states that 30 pigs floated down a river which is a lot. But not like 30,000 that could bring down Pigaggeddon.

13. Uh, this author wants to tell everyone that she’s not married to her dog.

She goes on to say that her dog is married to someone else like another dog. Sure it’s not bestiality but it’s nonetheless strange.

14. I don’t know about you but this mistake should’ve been corrected much earlier.

I’m sure that everyone knew that this kid was a boy by this point. Seriously, there’s even a picture of him.

15. Sorry about this publication getting its goat war sources wrong.

What makes me scratch my head more when reading this isn’t the corrections. It’s why this newspaper had a goat war article in the first place. Because that seems more or less inspired by an acid trip to me.

16. We’d like to apologize for a hyphen in our print edition.

It later goes on to talk about an Italian villa that has 17 stone dwarf statues. And they’re not sure how much they weigh.

17. Apparently, Nintendo fans weren’t having it with Mario and Luigi being listed as janitors.

Nowadays, naming Mario and Luigi as janitors instead of plumbers would be unthinkable. But this article is from the 1980s.

18. Our apologies to an artist’s girlfriend whom we labeled as a whore.

Calling someone a whore isn’t a big deal in everyday conversation. Well, at least not as a big deal as a newspaper calling this. Man, this paper really doesn’t want to get sued.

19. You know that abortion we reported earlier? Well, that never happened.

As a Catholic, I don't find the topic of abortion amusing at all. Yet, in this case, it's kind of amusing how a story like this probably caused a tidal waver of scandal for nothing.

As a Catholic, I don’t find the topic of abortion amusing at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Yet, in this case, it’s kind of funny how a story like this probably caused a tidal waver of scandal for nothing.

20. Okay, we kind of screwed things up on a bunch of articles so let’s give a brief summary.

At least the Daily Mail has the courtesy to apologize for stuff they make up. Unlike Fox News who tend to get the facts wrong all the time.

21. When a newspaper has several paragraphs on an article they screwed up on, you know it’s bad.

I guess with having to correct an entire story like this, the reporter who wrote the original story is probably out of a job. Man, wonder how much credibility this paper has lost.

22. Unfortunately, biblical literacy isn’t a big deal in British newspapers.

However, mistaking that it was Moses who built Noah’s Ark is pretty unacceptable. Mostly because everyone knows that story about Noah’s Ark while Moses doesn’t appear until Exodus.

23. Remember that carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are two different gases with one being a deadly poison.

Yes, I’m sure carbon monoxide doesn’t cure hiccups. Because I know it kills people.

24. Dear readers, please don’t make toast like Jamie Oliver does.

Besides, if you want to make toast with cheese on it, I’d recommend a toaster oven. Because this method described is very dangerous.

25. If a publication should do an article about Star Wars, make sure they watched the movies.

Love how they end that correction. But still, most people know that Luke didn’t meat Obi Wan Kenobi at the Cantina. It was when Luke and the droids were besieged by Tuscan Raiders.

26. We now believe the guy in the band was Fred Durst, not Robert Durst as previously thought.

I can totally see where this paper is coming from. And yes, the Associated Press can make mistakes, too.

27. Our apologies to a woman we once reported was fined for prostitution.

Actually her real crime was failure to stop at a railroad crossing, not prostitution. Guess this woman wasn’t happy about that.

28. Okay, this paper really screwed up on covering the 2016 presidential race.

You have to wonder who this paper sent to cover the race. And yes, saying that Marco Rubio is a Florida congressman instead of a Senator is the most noticeable here.

29. Our apologies to Mrs. Letterman as reports of her passing were greatly exaggerated.

I think if David Letterman said his mother was dead, we would’ve known by now. But this paper got this wrong.

30. We admit that Central Asian geography isn’t our strong suit.

I'm sure plenty of people thought that Kyrzbekistan was a real country, too. Thanks for the info.

I’m sure plenty of people thought that Kyrzbekistan was a real country, too. Thanks for the clearing that out.

31. Sometimes punctuation can change the meaning.

Yeah, “Love Trump’s Hate” sounds different from “love trumps hate.” The apostrophe is unnecessary.

32. Dear readers, all I know about Canada revolves around its hockey teams so don’t blame me for screwing up.

I think this reporter didn’t really do much research on his or her article. So I think blaming the Edmonton Oilers and the NHL is far fetched.

33. Well, our original reading was correct if you used a different scale.

Yeah, Fahrenheit and Celsius have different temperature scales. Still, I usually opt for the former.

34. Sorry, David Brooks, but Moses didn’t part the Dead Sea. It was the Red Sea.

And yet, another biblical mistake. But this one comes from the New York Times.

35. Turns out that was a Winchester 1873 gun not a Winchester 1773.

Like the note of the decrepit cowboy. Still, a 1773 gun wouldn’t make much sense since you can’t fire it once without reloading.

36. We regret to identify the woman in this photo as a porn star.

I guess US magazine would’ve been subject to a lawsuit if it didn’t. Still, that’s pretty bad.

37. Dear Readers, we have of jumble answers all jumbled up.

Let’s hope the Arizona Republic gets their puzzle section straightened out. Yeah, it all seems jumbled here.

38. We apologize for that report about cows falling from planes which is just plain urban legend.

Still, while we can be relieved there aren’t any cows falling from the sky, it’s kind of disappointing. Seriously, you sometimes wish stories like this could be true just not in your own back yard.

39. The people at Business Insurance would like to apologize for flunking in geography.

It’s even worse they thought these cities were in places that just seem so wrong. Seriously, why the hell would anyone think that Cardiff is in Vietnam?

40. We’re afraid those were khaki pants, not tacky pants.

Kind of sad the guy didn’t wear tacky pants. Would’ve made him a more interesting guy in my opinion.

41. We regret that all these things about Jimmy Holmes from the Miami Dolphins weren’t actually true.

Still, the fake story by the Miami Herald makes him seem like a far more interesting guy. Not sure if it helps or hurts him.

42. I’m afraid there’s no such job who squeezes toothpaste for the Prince of Wales.

Well, at least Prince Charles can squeeze his own toothpaste tube when he brushes his teeth. But it’s still pretty funny.

43. Seems like the Trenton Times can’t tell the difference between a lab and a men’s bathroom.

Now how can anyone make a mistake like this is hard to explain. Seriously, a laboratory and a lavatory may sound similar but they’re completely different things.

44. Relax, Americans, rapper Public Enemy wasn’t mocking 9/11 but 911.

Guess the original article led to considerable public outcry. Because saying 9/11 as a joke could do that.

45. Apparently, sports reporters don’t seem to know much about Middle Earth and the Lord of the Rings.

What makes me scratch my head is how many Tolkein fans care about baseball to notice. Yes, guaranteed to piss off a nerd.

46. We apologize to any aliens for linking them to Scientology.

Well, aliens could be living among us. And many of them could be offended by being linked to Scientology. You never know.

47. We regret that we mistook a public official for an interior designer.

Man, you have to feel for this guy. I’m afraid being a public official in the State Department doesn’t have decorating rooms in its job description.

48. We’re sorry that our newspaper was misspelled on the front page.

So how the hell does this even happen? Seriously, it appears on the headlines every damn day!

49. Apparently, political correctness has been known to confuse some people.

Even worse is that Massachusetts is misspelled here. But yeah, “back in the black” is a figure of speech and doesn’t refer to African Americans.

50. As we see here, sometimes a typo can make a world of difference.

Yet, the typo described in this one is very unfortunate that it’s almost Anti-Semitic. However, this term wouldn’t be erroneous on Breitbart.

51. Some newspaper errors can be easier to explain than others.

You have to scratch your head and wonder how the hell did anyone think Buffy the Vampire Slayer headed a European Commission. It defies all possible imagination.

52. When it comes to translations, make sure the reporter knows the language.

Clearly, someone really messed up on their Spanish here. Because that translation was totally wrong.

53. So that bit about the drag queen appearing at a church with a dildo didn’t happen right?

That’s pretty embarrassing. Also, funny how the drag queen performer in question doesn’t even use a dildo.

54. When writing out recipes, be sure to be specific on the ingredients.

Those think the salsa seemed a bit grainy lately now have an explanation. Yeah, cement shouldn’t be used in any recipe.

55. Sometimes the wording can give a complete different meaning than intended.

Well, they could’ve said all that in the original statement. Because it seems like he did something for women other than shopping.

56. Apparently, the second hand stores and charities weren’t pleased.

Well, what do you expect when an article includes “old urine smell?” People are going to be mad about that.

57. We inform you that the Daily Planet supplement was an advertisement for the new Superman movie.

So this newspaper convinced people that there were actual Superman sightings. Makes me wonder how some people could believe stuff like that.

58. No, Ellen DeGeneres didn’t take a photo with that Bradley.

I wonder how someone could make a mistake like this since everyone should know who Bradley Cooper is by 2014. Not so much in the Guardian.

59. You know the guy who won the lottery? Well, he didn’t and he’s not that guy.

You have to wonder how newspapers could contain stories that are so wildly inaccurate. It’s pretty amazing if you think about it.

60. Sorry, but his band mate was on drums, not drugs. We regret the error.

Wonder what kind of reputation this guy got who was said to be on drugs. That must be embarrassing.

61. So how does the correct My Little Pony identification have anything to do with relationships on the autism spectrum?

Apparently, a My Little Pony fan got upset enough to complain about it. Why? I have no idea.

62. It’s important for police to know the difference between babies and jumbo size Mexican food.

You have to wonder how someone could be this dumb to report a baby in a trash can that was really a burrito. It’s just seems really crazy to me.

63. We should inform you that Grandma’s Toy Box is a toy store not a male escort service.

Love how they said, “Sorry for any disappointment.” Never underestimate how typos can really screw things up.

64. Those who misidentify Star Trek aliens would live to regret it.

Now misidentifying a Romulan as a Vulcan makes sense since they look very similar. But a Romulan as a Klingon, what the hell?

65. We’re sorry that we mistook a homicide for stolen groceries.

How a newspaper can screw up so bad like this, I have no idea. Mistaking a homicide for stolen groceries seems more believable since the former is more serious.

66. Sorry about using a pigsty as a photo for a black neighborhood.

Guess Nova Scotia’s black residents won’t be happy about this. And you thought racism was an American thing.

67. We’re afraid the NYPD steroid investigations were greatly exaggerated.

Who knew that steroid problems were just confined to sports. So 9 NYPD officers are under suspicion for this,

68. Seems like they forgot to add a few more zeroes when it came to the oil barrels.

Yeah, less than 250,000 barrels a day seems more like it than less than 250 a day. No wonder Libya is so messed up.

69. Apparently, our reporters don’t understand basic astronomy.

I mean everyone should know that the Earth revolves around the sun and the moon revolves around the Earth. That should be common knowledge to everyone.

70. Unfortunately, we weren’t very specific with our surveys that we resulted in some Islamophobia.

So this publication basically said that 1 in 5 British Muslims sympathizing with ISIS in a previous article. Now that’s very offensive on multiple levels. Talk about perpetuating hate.

71. Seems like the LA Times thinks Green Bay, Wisconsin is a seaside town.

It’s “De Pere” not “the pier.” Then again, French is a confusing language.

72. Sometimes people can confuse between Shaquille O’Neal and Aristotle.

Why such mistakes are made, I have no idea. But let’s just say, Aristotle would have no idea about basketball since he’s from Ancient Greece.

73. No, Rowan Atkinson was not the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time. That’s a different Rowan.

To be fair, Rowan Atkinson was Archbishop of Canterbury on an episode of Blackadder. Or rather his character Prince Edmund was.

74. Sorry for making an Australian soldier sound like a psycho.

Once again, punctuation matters here. Yet, not sure why they had to go on with long explanation.

75. We regret to inform that one of those Tiger Beat covers was actually from The Onion.

Again, I’m not sure how this mistake is ever possible. Tiger Beat is a teen magazine while the Onion is a parody news magazine.

76. We regret to inform how we made one of our authors look like a middle aged perv with masculinity issues.

It’s even worse when you realize that the author they’re describing is Asian. And that his book is his sexual struggles as an Asian man which wasn’t helped at all by pervasive stereotypes in the US.

77. Our apologies to Dr. Robert Goddard on his scientific claims we thought were off the wall.

Goddard is well known for his pioneering in rocketry and his findings about rockets existing in a vacuum is correct. And he wasn’t the first guy to come up with it either.

78. The Washington Post would like to apologize calling a Gitmo captain fat.

As if his figure has anything to do with the article about Gitmo detainees. Seriously, why?

79. We’re afraid that we’ve gotten our Hemingway plots mixed up.

A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls are both very different stories. One takes place in WWI while the other during the Spanish American War.

80. We’re sorry for all the errors we made in that Gore Vidal obituary.

I’m not familiar with who Gore Vidal was but these people seem to get a lot wrong about him. To be honest, I don’t blame the writers for screwing up here.

Don’t Ask Me to Give a Chance on an Unrespectable Man

Posted by historymaniacmegan on November 12, 2016

To the Trump supporters and voters out there, I know the election’s over and that your guy has been elected president fair and square through the Electoral College process thanks to your votes. It may not seem fair to me since my candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote (even by a narrow margin), but that’s how the system works. Yes, I am heartbroken that my candidate didn’t win through this bitter election and I didn’t get much sleep that night. But now that Donald Trump is president-elect, you tell me it’s time to come together, have an open mind, and to give him a chance to lead that he deserves. After all, you tell me that this is a time of civility, unity, and reconciliation. Besides, you insist that he may not be as bad as I think and my refusal to do so just makes me a whiny sore loser. You want me to treat this moment as a normal election which I should get over with and move on with my life as if everything in this country within the next 4 years will be fine.

However, asking me to accept a Trump presidency is something I cannot do. Not now, not ever. You may call me a whiny liberal with a sense of entitlement who can’t get over her candidate losing. You may call me a spoiled crybaby who can’t accept not getting what she wanted. You may call me unpatriotic for refusing to get behind the future president you voted for. You call me out of touch and immature for saying that Trump is not my president. You may say by not accepting Trump I have no respect for the presidency, the will of my fellow Americans, or democracy.

But in truth, my rejection of Trump has nothing to do with my politics or being unable to accept reality. I accept that Trump won the presidency and will be come January. I know there’s nothing I can do about it. Besides, I’ve experienced political setbacks before which I can deal with. Had the Republicans won this election with a viable presidential candidate, I would more likely put aside political differences and accept that person as my president with little complaint. Sure I’d be sad that my candidate lost, but I’d get over it. But this is not one of those times. Because with your votes, you elected an unrespectable man as president of the United States. No unrespectable man deserves a chance to lead even if he did win the White House.

When you’re asking to give Donald Trump a chance to lead, you’re asking me to accept what I already deem as fundamentally unacceptable in everything that a US president should be as well as represents America at its worst. President or not, Trump is a man I have absolutely no respect for in any capacity and that will never change. Now that he’s set to become the next president, I have never felt so ashamed of my country in my life. I am deeply horrified that so many of you could vote for such a thoroughly despicable human being with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I am appalled that so many of you were willing to excuse this man’s gross violations of basic human decency that you wouldn’t tolerate in anyone else. I am absolutely disgusted that so many of you can be fine with electing a con artist who’s cheated his customers, investors, contractors, bankers, and employees. And I can guarantee that he will cheat you. I am upset that you could choose a man to lead our nation whose campaign was built on unfiltered disdain toward racial and religious minorities as well as endorsed by white supremacist terrorists. I am outraged that so many of you could be okay with a president who’s a sexual predator with a long history of objectifying and denigrating women. I am deeply distressed that you would vote for a man who is an entitled elitist who is corrupt to the core and doesn’t think the laws apply to him, an unrepentant and vindictive bully who uses litigation as an MO to anyone who’s challenged and criticized him, a pathological liar who’s constantly made promises he never intends to fulfill, and a irrepressibly greedy sociopath who’s tried to enrich himself by abusing trust others have placed in him whenever he’s in a position of authority. I am greatly troubled that you could ever support a man who has little respect for norms of ethical and acceptable behavior. I am angered that you voted for a man who never takes responsibility for his action, never says he’s sorry, and never admits he’s wrong. I am deeply incensed that you’re willing to choose a man to lead our country who’s had a history of unethical business practices that’s hurt thousands, who’s unwilling to release his tax returns and medical records, who’s surrounded himself with sycophants and outright criminals, who’s praised and done business with notorious dictators, whose flag waving patriotism is a sham, and who’s willing to use people as pawns in order to get what he wants and doesn’t care who gets hurt. Finally, I am extremely distraught that you elected a man who clearly has no respect for American values, American institutions, the rule of law, or constitutional rights that have made this nation great. And the fact I know very well that most of you aren’t bigoted monsters only makes it worse.

I know you will tell me that you voted for Trump because you hated or distrusted Hillary Clinton, your stance on the issues, his campaign promises, or what not. But whatever it is, I absolutely don’t give a damn. If you don’t like Trump for any reason, you should’ve tried to stop him regardless of what you believed even if it meant supporting a party that doesn’t share your beliefs and electing a candidate you despise. Hell, you shouldn’t have voted for him during the primaries in the first place and not let him take over the GOP. You could’ve easily stopped him then but you didn’t. But plenty tried, even within the Republican Party. And to be honest, I actually agreed more with Bernie Sanders than Hillary. But I voted for Hillary in the primary anyway because I knew people outside the Democratic Party wouldn’t get behind a candidate like Bernie Sanders even if they were white working class. And as much as I wanted change and see Bernie’s policy ideas a reality, I really didn’t want Trump in the White House and he was already the presumptive GOP nominee by then. I knew he was an unrespectable man even then, just not to the degree I know now. Yet, I also knew that unrespectable men must be stopped. Hillary Clinton seemed to be the only reasonable choice available to me. But unlike you, at least I made the right one I would never regret. I can’t say the same for you even if you don’t now.

Whatever your reasons may be for supporting him, they don’t excuse the fact you have given validation that racist, xenophobic, and misogynist and sexual predatory behavior as well as legitimized greed and authoritarianism as acceptable. It also doesn’t excuse the fact your vote for Trump sends a message that it’s okay to bully, intimidate, incite violence, and lie to people in order to get what you want and not take responsibility for all the hurt you’ve caused as well as being fine with a leader who’s eagerly willing to violate your constitutional rights. I know you don’t intend to say these things when you voted for him. But that doesn’t matter since your vote shows you’ve decided to live in Trump’s world of vanity, hate, recklessness, untruth, vindictiveness, and his disdain for democratic norms that will lead to national decline and suffering. Yet, what’s worse is that you didn’t care. You may not really like him. You may not really believe what he stands for. But casting your vote for him doesn’t make you any less guilty of giving legitimacy to this revulsive message of this unrespectable man.

I thought you were better than to vote for a candidate like Donald Trump who goes against everything this nation stands for. I thought regardless you perceived about Hillary Clinton, you’d do the right thing by electing a leader who’d make people feel proud to live in this great country. Even if you think Hillary is a criminal who belongs in jail. But you voted your self-interests to “take my country back” and elect that despicable demagogue who promised to “make America great again.” Sorry, but voting a man like Trump for president doesn’t make America great again and never will. Nor does it take your country back either but allowing it squandered by a sociopathic demagogue who’s only playing you for a pawn as well as put the dignity of the presidential office in jeopardy. It’s not a matter whether he’ll betray your interests but when. And when that time comes, you will come to despise him as much as those who’ve opposed him. In fact, your election of Trump makes the rest of us lose our faith in the America we’ve known and grown up with and the promise that it brought us that all are created equal and endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It especially shatters my faith in the American people beyond recognition as well as in the people I know and love. And for millions of my fellow citizens, the inevitability of a Trump presidency makes them live in fear, many for their lives and families being torn apart. Their fears are entirely rational since Trump fueled his campaign on bigotry as well as promised to do terrible things to them. But what message Trump’s election sends to the American people bears no resemblance to the values I was taught to exercise, admire, respect, or value in anybody, let alone in a president-elect. And I’ve learned many of these values from you, which makes me see your vote for Trump as a betrayal of those American ideals you taught me. Now I’m not sure if I know who you are anymore. To accept Trump as my president would be to normalize him as just a regular politician he’s not, which I won’t do. To accept Trump as my president is to give my stamp of approval of his character and behavior which I will not tolerate. Winning the electoral college doesn’t absolve Trump from fueling his campaign with bigotry and hate or the grave sins he’s committed against millions of Americans. And it’s because of that I’ll never stand united behind a president who’s an unrespectable man.

Don’t tell me that it was economic anxiety that led you to vote for Trump. Because most voters earning less than $50,000 a year voted for Hillary even among whites with the most economic grievances. Besides, while many white working class voters may be struggling but they make more money than their poor neighbors and are very much the middle class of their rural communities. Not to mention, white people across the board voted heavily for Trump. Sure non-college educated whites came out by force but nearly half of white college graduates voted for him, too. I’m sure everyone in the Rust Belt states know those good factory jobs left due to policies that were at least 30 years old and knows they’re never coming back ever. You know that any promise to bring back those jobs is just a mere pipe dream that will never materialize. Also, if Trump’s election was really about economic anguish then I’m not sure why you’d go for a so-called multi-billionaire from Manhattan. Don’t tell me you voted for Trump because he’s an “anti-establishment outsider” because I know though Trump may not have any political or military experience, he’s very much part of the establishment. For God’s sake, he’s been a member of the 1% his entire life and he’s more likely to support his rich buddies than your concerns if you’re white working class. Not only that, but I’ve grown up around people like you and I know very well how you complain about your taxes going to social programs like Obamacare or welfare as a thinly veiled way to poor shame as well as denigrate minorities and immigrants. I’m also aware of how you put rich people on a pedestal as if they’re successful entrepreneurs to be revered regardless of how they earned their money or how much their greed destroys. Now I’m sure that some of you may have legitimate economic concerns, but it’s very clear to me that you couldn’t care less about economic woes unless they pertain to your struggles or your tax dollars going to programs you don’t like or to beneficiaries feel are beneath you. Sure some of you may not like the elites but many of you make wealthy corporations and businessmen sacred cows who can do no wrong. But most of you like to scapegoat minorities and poor people for taking white people’s jobs, mooching from your hard earned tax dollars, and are protected, coddled, or exploited by the white affluent liberals you revile. But those liberals at least care much more about you than the big piggy billionaires, corporations, big banks and Wall Street people you constantly excuse. Besides, out of all the candidates in the 2016 Election, the one really cared the most about you white working class folks was Bernie Sanders. But I know you wouldn’t vote for him because of how much you don’t want to unite with your brown and black brothers and sisters in solidarity since they have more in common with you anyway and how America would be much better off if you did. You shirk at the notion of him calling himself a Democratic Socialist, which you view with suspicion. And I know you don’t like paying taxes either which I know you already view as big government even if it’s for your own benefit.

The exit poll data makes it perfectly clear that most of you who voted for Trump are way more white than working class. But that doesn’t stop the mainstream media from blaming the white working class for resentment of people of color and immigrants. But I know full well that white people at all income levels deride immigrants and minorities as well but they try to conceal it through their fiscal conservative rhetoric thinking liberals like me won’t even notice. If not, then you talk about it through the lens of securing our borders or fighting terrorism. Though the latter is quite ironic to me since you don’t seem to mind voting for a candidate who was endorsed by white supremacists. Or how you talk about how deindustrialization left the poor white working class without good jobs while Democratic party abandoned them for minorities, immigrants, LGBT people, women, and the environment. Sure I may empathize with the white working class on some level and why they’d be discontent with the establishment as well feel that they’re disrespected or left behind. But I find it very hard to believe that the Democrats really don’t care about the struggles in their communities. After all, weren’t the Democrats the ones to talk about paid family and sick leave, improving Obamacare and making healthcare more accessible, environmental protection, network neutrality, making college more affordable, and a higher minimum wage? Meanwhile, Republicans want to curb collective bargaining and union power through right to work laws. To say that the Democrats left behind or disrespected the white working class makes absolutely no sense to me. Or how you talk about it through rampant voter fraud that doesn’t exist. But you don’t fool me. It’s now perfectly clear to me that you still benefit from institutional racism and want it to stay that way whether you admit it or not. I mean the fact that many of you believed Barack Obama wasn’t born in the US or was a secret Muslim illustrates my point. Besides, many of you said that Barack Obama was “not your president” when he was elected in 2008. And I know it wasn’t because Obama wasn’t an unrespectable man since he was a man of great dignity who earned that chance to lead. Trump isn’t. You voted for Trump to preserve your white privilege which you thought was under threat by the nation’s increasing diversifying cultural landscape. Even if it means voting for a man who’ll only drag you through the mud along with your fellow citizens you deem as undeserving. There is no way around it. But while I don’t write off every one of you racist, sexist, or xenophobic maniac, I have to acknowledge that each of you decided that maniacal racism, sexism, and xenophobia wasn’t disqualifying for the President of the United States. Or that your selfish reasons for voting Trump matter more to you than protecting the rights of your fellow countrymen. I’m sorry, but I’m not letting you direct blame to the white working class who you scapegoat in order to avoid responsibility for the man you voted for. It’s another way of saying, “Don’t blame us, it’s the ignorant rednecks’ fault since they’re racists facing economic peril.” You knew liberals would blame them if Trump won as well as feel guilty that they’ve been out of touch with these people. For a while, I almost believed you. Yet, later it became apparent that these white working class voters only consisted of a part of Trump’s support. And those whites who were working class weren’t living on the edges of the economy either. But even if you fancy yourselves as non-racist or non-sexist virtuous people, you deserve all the shame you can get, possibly more than the proclaimed racists. Because you knew by voting for him you willingly handed the reins to a selfish, racist snake (sorry snakes). This makes you complicit in stating that millions of your fellow Americans don’t matter no matter how much you try to rationalize it. And I will not stand for it because it’s not okay.

Look, I know I probably have racist views that I may not be conscious of. Yet, as someone who’s studied history and researched political issues, I’m much more aware than most of my fellow whites. Though that hasn’t always been the case. I know I benefit from inequality and often fail to call it where I see it. But this election wasn’t one of those times since you failed to stop someone whose explicit aim was to scapegoat and pursue discrimination into law as well as in new and dangerous ways. You can’t be blameless for this no matter how strong your love for this nation’s ideals are which I now currently question. And in many ways, I feel like I didn’t do enough to call you out on your bigotry earlier when I should’ve since I knew it was always there. Even then, I underestimated how deep your disdain for the Other until today. And now I’m absolutely disgusted with you like I don’t know who you are anymore. What I find hard to accept is that many of ordinary Americans like you would vote for such an unrespectable man to lead your country. Look, I understand if you’re frustrated by the government dysfunction in Washington and that you may want change. But that doesn’t mean you should latch yourselves onto a wolf in sheep’s clothing who goes against your national ideals. And I know full well this wolf is the man you voted for. So if you berate me for rejecting Trump, don’t call me unpatriotic or a sore loser who won’t accept the election results. Because I do accept the results. But I also accept what Trump’s election means for this country and what it says about the American people. And to call him “not my president” means that I oppose his version of America and everything he stands for. Trump doesn’t represent me or the majority of Americans who voted against him no matter how small the difference. And I will fight him and his government tooth and nail to protect the American values I hold dear which I didn’t abandon on Election Day. I can’t say the same about you. So don’t tell me to embrace or support Trump because we’re one country united. Don’t lecture me about patriotism or values. And don’t ask me to give a chance on an unrespectable man.

An Electoral Catastrophe

Posted by historymaniacmegan on November 9, 2016

I cannot express the fear, anger, and disdain I feel when I heard that our next President of the United States will be a man whom I can never respect in any capacity. Our country doesn’t deserve a man like Donald Trump as its leader. I find it especially shameful that many of my friends, neighbors, relatives, and even my home state went to this most wretched man. I know this man won’t keep his promises because he makes them with no intention to fulfill them. This man doesn’t give a damn about anything or anyone but himself and his own gain. This man has never made sacrifices, never accepts responsibility, never did any good for goodness sake, and never felt any remorse. He’s a man with no interest in anything but his own money, power, and fame. He doesn’t seem to value education, possess any intellectual curiosity, appreciate culture, or hold the truth in high regard. He’s a man of no ideas, political experience, and no understanding of the world he wants to lead. I know this man cares nothing about our country, our history, our values, our institutions, our rule of law, our democracy, or our people. This man won the presidency by stoking many of the worst sentiments of human nature as well as saying that our country is a wretched human wasteland. His victory is a disaster for democracy at its worst and sets a horrific example for the world as well as our children. His campaign represents a rejection of our democratic norms and put fascism on the ballot while white, working class rural voters responded to his vile, bigotry, and false promises in droves to vote “Yes.” I absolutely loathe Trump so much I’m not sure if I can respect the presidential office during his term because he absolutely doesn’t have the character of someone whom I could be truly proud to say he’s the leader of my country. And at no time in my life have I felt such shame for my country, my extended family, many of my friends from both high school and college, my community, my state, and even my neighborhood who elected this black hole of humanity on anti-minority statements or outright hate that even white supremacist terrorists happily joined in. Except me and my parents who only had the only Hillary Clinton sign in the whole neighborhood and were possibly the only people who voted for her. For that I feel such a sense of shame for the hatred so many people in my life believe about people who are different than themselves. So for anyone who voted for the repulsive unapologetic racist, then may I be the first to say shame on you because it’s your racism that’s wrong with this nation.

Electing Trump as president doesn’t “make America great again” and never will. It does just the opposite by giving acceptable license to such a despicable man’s behavior and rhetoric that can harm millions of Americans. And it doesn’t help that most of Trump’s supporters voted for him because of his racist comments that they were willing to overlook his other unsavory qualities. Perhaps I could be among the few white women in America who’ve not only supported and voted for Hillary Clinton, but also actively wrote about racism throughout my blogging career. Despite overcoming my own prejudices with a great degree of success while writing these and reading a few books by minority authors, I am not proud of it. In fact, I’m absolutely horrified that so many white people in this country don’t actively share my disdain for racism that they’d at least not let the racist candidate win. This especially goes for my fellow white college graduates. It’s no wonder that minorities are scared to death since Trump’s election sends a resounding message that an overwhelming number of white people doesn’t want minorities here which I feel is utterly unconscionable. I’m even more upset that these racists who don’t want minorities here are people I know and people I grew up with. I am deeply disgusted by that fact because I’m well aware that it does not make things okay for many of my fellow Americans who’ll be subject to the Trump administration’s worst abuses. Trump’s presence will embolden white supremacists who supported him to be more audacious as well as push further and more extreme actions. Mosques will be vandalized and perhaps temples, synagogues, along with black and Hispanic churches. Mexican and Latino Americans could be targeted to a degree not seen in decades while Trump’s plan to deport undocumented immigrants will divide thousands of families which to me is beyond the pale. Police departments could be filled with black suspects that are stopped and frisked with no good attorney general willing to stop them. You can also take into account that lax gun laws will allow white supremacists and other right-wing terrorists access to firearms as well as more mass shootings and law enforcement deaths. So I’m not too off about how electing Trump lets the terrorists win. I can’t accept a man as my president whose message that racial discrimination is good and prudent to the entire citizenry because I know such attitudes don’t keep Americans safe from the threat of right-wing domestic terrorism which will undoubtedly rise but will probably be unsurprisingly ignored.

Trump’s presidency will solve none of our problems in this country that desperately needed fixed. As president, Trump intends to repeal Obamacare and has the majority to make it happen, which will result in at least 22 million Americans losing their health insurance, which I won’t stand for because I don’t want our healthcare system go back to the Bush years. Denying healthcare to anyone in need is unconscionably cruel to me because I believe medical care is a basic human right. Besides, despite Obamacare’s faults, the law is a huge success that has lowered the uninsured rate by half and if we didn’t have it, things would be worse. I know that Republicans have pledged to do this since its passage for 6 years saying it’s made things worse. But in reality, they were opposed to it from the very beginning due their party’s free market ideology and contributions from health insurance companies. As for the environment, Trump is sure to reverse Obama’s efforts to curb climate change like the Clean Power Plan, emissions standards, signed on to the Paris Climate Deal, and renewable energy funding. Trump not only wants to reverse all this, he also wants to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency altogether (which was established in the 1970s). The effect on emissions could be enormous which can reverberate for thousands of years and affect hundreds of millions of people. Without drastic emission reductions, global temperatures will continue to rise. Meanwhile the ice caps keep melting, the seas will rise, Florida will go underwater, and mega droughts could affect the Southwest for generations and generations. Not to mention, Trump’s presidency will give a free ride to Paul Ryan’s fiscal plans with 60% benefitting the richest Americans, make devastating cuts in social programs, and tax cuts for the rich with Food Stamps and Medicaid ending as we know it. Not to mention Medicare could be voucherized while Social Security could be privatized. Such a plan will not only keep the rich from paying their fair share, raise taxes on poorer and middle-class Americans, but also tear into the social safety net on the nation’s poorest Americans as well as put millions of children in extreme poverty. In short it will be a disaster because government should play a key role in reducing inequality like granting paid leave, equal pay for women, affordable childcare, and tax increases for the rich. But that’s not going to happen. And I know far too well that the next 4 years will have a presidency that believes in a self-serving capitalism with no conscience that Donald Trump personifies to a tee. Rejecting such legitimized greed in my country is critical part of my progressive Catholic identity. I cannot accept this from a government to undo so much progress this country has made under Obama and I will not bow down to Trump for it.

Trump’s presidency will also tarnish America’s reputation as a respected world power and beacon of the free world. It’s bad enough that Vladmir Putin and WikiLeaks were able to help Trump with the election by hacking into Hillary’s e-mails. But Trump is sure to be Putin’s puppet since his commitment to the Trans-Atlantic Treaty is shaky, doesn’t believe in NATO, and is extremely sympathetic in Russia’s dominance of neighboring countries. He also thinks Putin and Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad are bombing ISIS when in reality, they’re focusing their assaults on non-Syrian rebels. Yet, Trump’s win should also encourage Assad and don’t expect him to lift a finger on behalf of his victims. It doesn’t help that Putin is greatly feared in Russia who’s left a trail of dead journalists. There are also possibilities of a trade war with China that could cost millions of American jobs, dismantling the Iran deal, the possibility of Trump turning Eastern Europe over to Putin, and his stupid wall he thinks Mexico should pay for. Then there’s the fact Trump supports torture which is a human rights violation in my book along threatening to alter American foreign policy in dangerous ways. I have no confidence that Trump could ever honor diplomatic ties or treaties and thus, I could never call him my president.

Though I might’ve known there may have been a chance that Trump would win the presidency, I always had faith that the American people will wise up and vote for Hillary Clinton despite all her baggage and beliefs. I thought despite whatever issues she represented or personal feelings toward her, Americans would choose a candidate who’d make people feel proud to live in such a great country like the United States. I thought my fellow Americans would put their country over their self-interests when they came to the voting booth this Election Day. And no matter how bad the race got, I somehow had faith that this day would pass and our national nightmare would be over. I thought Americans were better than to elect a sociopath for president like Donald Trump, a man who’d nobody would want to associate with in their every day life nor would want as a role model for their children. I was wrong for Trump’s victory and upcoming presidency thus marks the winter of our discontent. Today my faith in the American people is now shattered beyond recognition.

I know Trump supporters aren’t bad people. I know they work hard and take pride in supporting themselves. I know that many are angry. But what they did to “make America great again” was selfish, shameful, and disgraceful. And I will make sure they regret it for the rest of their lives. I know such a phrase will evoke nostalgia but it’s of an earlier time that only exists in a dream. I don’t want to go back to a time when they thought things were better when they were actually worse. I know these people want respect. I know these people want change. Hell, I even want change and so does everyone. But they should understand that they don’t get that by entrusting their vote to a wolf in sheep’s clothing who’ll fleece them and turn this great country into his little fiefdom. They say he’s an outsider and doesn’t represent the elite. In reality, he’s an elitist to the core whose interests always go against the common working man he sees an unsuspecting pawn and nothing more. They should also know that blaming vulnerable minorities for their troubles and lack of control doesn’t give them what they want either. What they got was an outright fraud who’s never had any respect for them, their values, their institutions, their freedoms, their country, or their rule of law. In effect, what they thought was a protest against one set of elites was really submitting to another elite as a license to screw them. They didn’t take their country back. They had their country squandered by voting a sociopathic demagogue who appealed to their baser natures. Because I’ve seen people take these deals before and I know the little guy gets swindled every time. Trump won’t fix it and he won’t make their lives better. He has already lied to them like he does all the time. He’s already given them false hopes and promises he never intends to follow through. He will rob them. He will cheat them. He will hurt them. He will let them down. But many seem taken with conservative media like Fox News or so set in their pessimistic reactionary worldview that they may not even realize this. But what’s more disturbing about them is how much they’re willing to overlook Trump’s inexcusable sins like they just don’t care that he was unqualified, temperamentally unfit, dangerous, and represents a major threat to American democracy. It’s as if they have no moral standards of behavior in a presidential candidate whatsoever. Or how their political choices may inspire their children to bully minority kids in their neighborhood or school. In the end, all I know is their support for Trump will give them nothing they want and may be even worse off than they were. And they’re doing with their votes is just bringing the rest of us down with them and dragging us through the mud. I guarantee he will wreck this nation and make the rest of us live with the consequences for the rest of our lives as well as those for generations to come. If they’re wise, these Trump supporters will regret voting for him. Maybe not today or tomorrow. But someday and for the rest of their lives. How do I know this? Because he’s screwed people who’ve trusted him left and right. And Trump supporters will be no exception.

Yet, though these Trump supporters try make themselves seem like they’re rugged individualists, the reality is that many of them aren’t. They’re actually kind of pathetic like many of the rest of us. Sure they may be religious, but they lack real Christian courage and they tend to choose their Un-Christian politics over Christian virtues. They think they’re tough with guns which they think will protect them. Yet, in reality, cling to their guns because they believe the world is a dangerous place and that the police can’t be trusted. Some may believe that government spending is out of control despite that they’re on welfare and food stamps because their job pays a shitty wage and doesn’t offer benefits. And they’re so afraid of being fired they’re so unwilling to stick up for themselves to their employer who’s exploiting or possibly robbing them. Many of them feel their lives seem hopeless no matter how hard they work they tend to scapegoat minorities and others poorer than themselves for being lazy or getting special treatment. Many also believe that if their candidate doesn’t win, then the election must be rigged by rampant minority voter fraud. They also have a tendency to fall prey to people who’d promise them a better life but actually using them for their own ends. But they always seem to cling onto a right-wing ideology that’s failing them and makes them think the world is a far worse place than it actually is. I have very little confidence these people could ever support a man like Bernie Sanders because these people are so adverse to liberal ideas that may sound even a teensy bit Socialist to them even if he best represents their interests, let alone a politician who calls himself a Socialist. I know all too well that these Trump supporters would’ve never accepted him. Many may be distrustful of government feel that it doesn’t support their interests even when their assistance helps them or is necessary that they feel they’re disregarded, disrespected or left behind. And they live in the same old patterns because they’ve been told not to stand up for themselves, revere the rich as successful people who they say earn their money, are so stuck in their ways, or accept everything as God’s plan. I’ve grown up around these people all my life and while I don’t dislike them, I tend to see many as misinformed, ignorant, self-serving, cowardly, hypocritical, and pathetic. Not to mention, I’ve heard their subtle racist comments all the time which are nevertheless damaging. But now I’m absolutely sick of their latent bigotry and won’t tolerate it any longer. Not even on special occasions when I’m supposed to be polite and keep my mouth shut on political matters. Even worse, many of them don’t seem to consider how this election will have on their children. I mean Trump allegedly sexually assaulted several women and teenage girls he called liars and threatened to sue as a form of intimidation. While he owned the Miss Universe pageant, he used to go into the dressing rooms when the contestants were partially clothed or naked, even during the teen competitions. It doesn’t help that his 3^rd and current wife is a college dropout who modeled in porn and he objectifies women on a regular basis. He even suggested that he’d date his daughter Ivanka if he could. It doesn’t help these girls’ mothers sold out their political views to this orange piece of human garbage. The fact that Trump’s election may normalize, excuse, or even encourage everything he’s said is particularly troubling. I don’t know if I can call a man like Trump, “Mr. President,” because I don’t want to normalize sexism. Or how Hillary’s defeat could prevent women from entering politics for fear of such a vicious backlash that won’t guarantee them victory (though Hillary did win the popular vote and thank God). Yet, the fact so many parents are willing to overlook Trump’s sexual predatory behavior and misogyny in this election somehow implicitly validates that these actions are acceptable. I am ashamed that American parents everywhere would even do such a thing since it sets an exceptionally horrible example to kids. And I refuse to tolerate it.

However, most importantly, I can’t accept Donald Trump as my president and because I don’t believe he respects the US Constitution as well as Americans made in order to form a more perfect union where all are created equal. He is more of a figure from authoritarian politics, not the American tradition and a democratic constitution that empowers such a leader has misfired badly. It’s very clear the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act as well as legalized voter suppression and intimidation played a huge role in his victory. In this election, Trump ran on a platform rejecting the Constitution as well as its underlying principles of democratic self-government and individual rights. Other than the 3^rd Amendment, there’s hardly a provision in the Bill of Rights or later amendments he didn’t explicitly promise to override. For instance, declaring open season on journalists is a huge violation of freedom of the press as would banning Muslims and shutting down mosques be with freedom of religion. Others include freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures like stop and frisk, the right to counsel along with the Fourteenth Amendment right to birthright citizenship and equal protection to Fifteenth Amendment voting rights. It’s like he offered Americans a bag of magic beans in an exchange for their rights and their form of government with nearly 60 million complying (which didn’t include me since I voted for Hillary who won the popular vote). I deny their right to give Trump my rights or those of others who can’t defend themselves. No result is legitimate threatening the constitutional promise “secure the blessings of liberty.” No amount of angry and frightened voters has a right to strip minorities of equal status and protections or throw away a democratic future of posterity. American national leaders gain their legitimacy by competing in compliance with not just outward forms but the clear values of our Constitution such as equal dignity, religious freedom and tolerance, open deliberation, and rule of law. These sacred constitutional principles don’t bind Donald Trump. In fact, norms of decency don’t apply to him as he shrugs off the very burden of the fact itself. Like Old World dictators, he uses the mass media to lie, insult, to strip individuals of their dignity, to commit the grossest falsehoods against religious and national groups, as well as encourage persecution, torture, and violence. He actively campaigns against any notion of sexual, religious, or racial equality. He threatens those opposing him with the unchecked power of the state. Sure there was a decay in American democratic norms before Trump who took advantage of a political system hardened in hatred that it’s caused constant gridlock as well as the growth of mass surveillance and toxic government secrecy. Though Trump was elected president on November 8, he’s not my president nor ever will be.

Why You Should Never Ever Vote for Donald Trump

Posted by historymaniacmegan on November 6, 2016

donald-trump-psychopath

With the election a few days away, most Americans have already decided to vote either for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as their new president. Of course, while I think every American has a right to vote their own conscience if they want to, I think the choice for the highest elected office in the land is obvious. And yes, I strongly urge my readers, my friends, and my family to vote to exercise their civic responsibility and for the love of God, cast a vote for Hillary Clinton. Sure she may be a liberal who goes against everything you stand for. Sure she may have a ton of baggage like her e-mails, her marriage to Bill, and what not. Sure she may be pro-choice and think what a woman does with her body is her business. But for God’s sake, she’s running against a fucking sociopath with no political experience who undermines our American ideals, people! Seriously, I don’t care where you stand on the issues or what your beliefs are. I don’t care what you think about Hillary either or whether you can trust her. This election isn’t about the issues but whether we’ll elect the first woman president or a fucking embarrassment who may put this country on the road to ruin as we know it. Say what you want about her, but at least Hillary is a normal politician who will lead this nation within the framework of the constitutional laws. At least Hillary is qualified for president as well as shown herself to be a serious candidate for the job. At least Hillary is an acceptable role model for your children to aspire to. And if Hillary is elected president, at least I’ll be assured the American experiment set by our Founding Fathers will still exist within the next four to eight years. The same can’t be said about her opponent. Trump, on the other hand, should’ve been shut down in the Republican primaries months ago. If you think Trump is more trustworthy than Hillary, then you must be an idiot. If you think Trump can change, you must be a fool. If you think Trump could “make America great again,” like you hope he would, you must be insane. Trump is a volatile con artist who’s abused his power whenever he’s been in a position of leadership. Look, I may be a practicing social justice Catholic who believes in advancing the common good in all else which is why I’m a strong progressive Democrat. But in this election, I’m not saying that Donald Trump shouldn’t be president not because I disagree with my politics which is true. I’m saying that Trump shouldn’t be president because he’s a man not to be trusted with power or leadership of any kind. Because all he cares about is himself. Seriously, there’s never been a candidate so evil in this country as Donald Trump. And here I list 50 reasons why you shouldn’t vote for him.

Even Trump supporters don’t think Donald Trump is qualified. That should send a red flag. Seriously, why wasn’t he defeated in the primaries already? Why the hell did he have to be the Republican nominee?

He’s Not Qualified or Fit for the Presidency– While Hillary Clinton was a lawyer and advocate by trade as well as First Lady of both US and Arkansas, US Senator from New York, and Secretary of State, Trump has held no political office or has held any government job whatsoever. Yes, we’ve had presidents who never held elected office. Yet, many have had some public service for the US Government. For instance, Ulysses S. Grant, Zachary Taylor, and Dwight D. Eisenhower were generals. Herbert Hoover was a Secretary of Commerce as well as head of the FDA during WWI and organizer for humanitarian relief efforts in Belgium and the Soviet Union. William Howard Taft served as a governor of the Philippines at one point in his life and in Theodore Roosevelt’s cabinet. He doesn’t even have that kind of political experience either. Besides, running a business is very different than running a country as Hoover learned the hard way. There’s also no evidence suggesting that he knows anything about foreign policy, balancing government budgets, education, diplomacy, or the Supreme Court. But more importantly, Trump has the temperament mentality of a spoiled, impulsive, and ill-behaved brat who’d probably not make it out alive in Willy Wonka’s candy factory of horrors. He’s made a lot of terrible decisions over his life that make me seriously question his judgement as well as said things that might not indicate he’s all there or even has interest in what the presidency entails. He also has serious moral character flaws that just can’t be ignored.

As they often say, the trouble with jokes is that so many get elected. Well, at least nominated as in Donald Trump’s case. However, once he started winning GOP primaries he stopped being funny. Now he’s downright scary.

2. He’s Not a Serious Political Figure Who Commands Respect– When Donald Trump first ran for president in 2015, I wasn’t nearly as upset as I should’ve been since for a long time Trump was basically seen as a joke. And a bad one at that. You know an extremely egocentric rich guy with a hideous haircut who hosted a reality show, built crappy hotels and ugly golf courses, as well as did very ridiculous things for the sake of publicity. Before his run for president, Trump’s been an international punchline as well as the honorary punching bag at a celebrity roast. To be honest, I thought Trump wouldn’t last long in the primaries since I didn’t think people would take him seriously enough to vote for him. Yet, the joke quickly stopped being funny for me when people started attending his rallies in droves and Republicans eventually voted him as their nominee. Now less than a week before the election and what I once perceived as a joke is now downright scary that I was extremely tempted to vandalize Trump signs from my neighbors’ properties. Electing Trump as president makes America look like a joke to the world, which should scare the living shit out of you.

Donald Trump is a perfect definition of a sociopath as you see in this picture. Trump only does what he can to get what he wants and doesn’t care who gets hurt. He uses people to his own ends and screws them over with no second thought. He never takes responsibility and never feels truly sorry for his actions. And he has very thin skin.

3. He Has No Conscience or Moral Values– Now when it comes to politician’s moral character, I mostly don’t care about what they do in their private lives since I know people are flawed creatures. However, we all know that Trump was never a nice guy to begin with and was never ashamed about being a shameless absolute jerk. But the more you know about Trump as a human being, the more you realize that he’s way more despicable than you could ever imagine. After considerable research into his scandals, even I can’t think of a single instance Trump has ever done anything unconditionally nice, shown any compassion or concern for other people, tried to hold himself accountable. And there are thousands of times from the last several decades when he has done the exact opposite. Trump is willing risk ruining people’s lives to get what he wants with no second thought. He just doesn’t seem to care about anything but himself. His sins aren’t just shocking but also appalling. He’s a narcissist at best and a sociopath at worst. Hell, even his The Art of the Deal co-author Tony Schwartz said if he was writing the book today, he would’ve made it a very different book with a very different title: The Sociopath. He’d later write, “I put lipstick on a pig. I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is. I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.” Schwartz found Trump to be such a horrible person that he continues to feel a sense of shame for his time as The Art of the Deal ghostwriter. Glenn Beck has also called him a sociopath asking Charlie Rose, “Have you seen him during the last year and a half truly feel for someone that couldn’t help him? Truly connect on a human level?” He went on saying how alarming and frightening how little empathy Trump shows adding, “A sociopath is somebody who doesn’t really see the human experience in somebody else, and I haven’t seen that in him. I haven’t seen him deeply affected by the human condition in an individual.” Let’s just say while Glenn Beck may have outlandish theories, his idea of Trump being a sociopath is very believable and can be thoroughly supported by biographers, people who knew him, and reporters.

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Those who think Hillary Clinton isn’t trustworthy may have a probable cause. However, those who think Donald Trump is more trustworthy than Hillary are nothing but morons. Seriously, Trump has made a career of swindling people of their money that Wall Street no longer wants to do business with him. Also, his Trump University was a major scam and he’s due to go on trial for fraud later this month.

4. He’s Not Trustworthy– Say what you want on Hillary Clinton’s e-mails and her other activities, but if you’re voting for Trump because you can’t trust her, I strongly think you should reconsider. Yes, I know that so many people are willing to trust him over Hillary with running the country, but that rationale is absolutely insane. Trump’s long record of corruption since the 1970s is well documented as well as been recorded in legal proceedings and court cases. His flamboyant corruption runs to the very core of his identity. Trump has been a defendant in literally thousands of lawsuits brought by service providers and vendors whom he failed/refused to pay for services rendered to him and his business organizations. It’s abundantly clear that wage theft is part of Trump’s business model. Even Trump’s lawyers allege he didn’t pay their legal fees. What kind of businessman would do this? He’s also failed to pay his debts on his failing casinos that he later had less control of them with each bankruptcy. Not to mention, several major financial institutions like JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have flatly refused to do business with him for these and other reasons. In fact, Trump’s reputation in business is as a scam artist or as Mitt Romney put it a “con man” and “snake oil salesman.” You can also look into the allegations involved in the Trump University scandals to support Romney’s conclusions and why he won’t support him. Sure Wall Street may not be the most trustworthy when it comes with handling other people’s money. And yes, I know these banksters have campaigned against political candidates like Elizabeth Warren because of policy disagreements. But what Wall Street bankers and Warren can agree on is Trump. What Wall Street has against Trump is that they know he’s a swindler and a cheat who will take their hard earned money they’ll never see again. In fact, many there probably have done business with Trump themselves or know someone who has. So much so that they now deem Trump a high financial risk potential investors should avoid at all times. If Wall Street bankers can’t trust a Republican presidential candidate, especially one who claims to be a successful businessman, you can’t trust him with running the country.

Hillary Clinton may lie. But whenever Trump opens his mouth, it’s easier to know whether he’s lying than whether he’s telling the truth. That’s why Politifact named him 2015 Liar of the Year. The competition wasn’t even close.

5. He’s a Pathological Liar– Trump’s dishonesty is so well known that Politifact named him the winner of its annual “Lie of the Year” Award in 2015, a competition which the fact-checker said “was not even close” unquestionably in reference to the fact that it rated 72% of Trump’s public remarks on factual circumstances as false. Politico states he lies every 5 minutes. There’s even a website called Trumplies which is a vast compendium of misstatements, inaccuracies and outright falsehoods. Greatest hits include his RNC acceptance speech, defamation of Ted Cruz’s father in his first post-convention news conference, and his recent statement to the New York Times about NATO which was reported the next day and which he categorically denied. Seriously, the guy blatantly lies in public like there’s no tomorrow. As a businessman, he’s constantly lied to people in order to give him what he wants then making excuses why he didn’t fulfill his promises. Now cheating rich investors may be understandable to some extent since many forgave him for not paying him back. Yet, the fact he promised to pay his workers before refusing to pay them later is just beyond the pale. He’s also constantly lied to cover his own ass. You can re-watch any of the debates to prove my point. Seriously, whenever I see him on TV, I usually assume he’s lying because he’s lied so much. He even doubles down on his lies. Sorry, but Trump never tells it like it is. In fact, he tells what his supporters want to hear which isn’t.

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Donald Trump has a habit of not paying his bills on time, in full, or ever. He says he pays his workers based on whether they do a good job or not. Though it’s abundantly clear that he’s been subject to hundreds of wage theft allegations by people who worked for him he stiffed. Yeah, you’re better off not working for his projects.

6. He’s a Boss from Hell and No Friend to Working People– Trump may boast that he creates thousands of jobs over his business career. However, he has proven to be a man you don’t want to work for at all. For one, Trump has long been subject to hundreds of wage theft allegations over the past few decades from workers ranging from contractors, casino employees, and even his lawyers. Small businesses worked for him have either failed or struggled to continue because Trump didn’t pay their bills. One Republican consultant even tweeted how Trump stiffed his own dad in the 1980s. Trump has used various excuses like shoddy workmanship. Secondly, Trump also has a history of hiring undocumented workers many of whom worked under terrible conditions. During the demolition of the Bonwit Teller Building in order to make room for Trump Tower, Trump’s companies hired over 200 undocumented Polish workers who did backbreaking work for $5 an hour without hard hats and often slept on site. Also, workers complaining about back pay were threatened with deportation. He’s also been subject to allegations from former models at Trump Model Management who lived in squalid conditions while earning almost nothing and not having proper work permits. Not to mention, he’s hired foreign guest workers at his resorts even when Americans applied for the same positions. Third, he’s been sued by unions as well as tried to prevent workers from unionizing at his Las Vegas hotels. Fourth, he forced production employees from The Apprentice to work for him after Hurricane Sandy despite New York City being in a state of emergency and effectively shut down. Many of these employees endured dangerous conditions during commutes to Trump Tower. Fifth, his companies have been subject to complaints for disrespecting women and discriminating against minorities. Sixth, former employees have testified that Trump was prone to micromanagement as well as takes little interest in the diversity of his executives or the welfare of lower-level staff. Many said that Trump lacks the temperament deal with setbacks and becomes instantly impatient with those who don’t support or agree with him while remaining resolutely loyal to those who do. Others said he was a workaholic with very few true friends who felt sometimes awkward with company outside the workplace. Some said he doesn’t get the best people around and hates when someone else gets credit. Not to mention, he’s made many of his employees sign non-disclosure agreements. All these incidents and more should tell you that Trump is a horrible boss and is no friend to working Americans.

Sure Trump may be subject to a Celebrity Roast on Comedy Central, host SNL, and appear on late night TV from time to time. But a lot of comedians don’t like working with him because he’s very particular on how they make fun of him. This is a huge problem because a president is joked about 24/7 and doesn’t have control which jokes get aired. This is why Trump bombed on SNL. If Trump can’t take a joke, he can’t be president.

7. He’s Dangerously Petty and Vindictive– There’s overwhelming evidence that Trump can’t take any form of criticism no matter how slight and that he’s vindictive to the extreme. Dare to challenge, mock, criticize him, or stand in his way, and he’ll either take to Twitter or threaten to file a lawsuit against you (which might be substantiated). You might remember his confrontations with reporters and news organizations during the primaries, his weeks long attack on Megyn Kelly, as well as his shameful and despicable attacks on Khizr Khan and his wife. Yet, you can even look at his record before that. Trump sued a New York Times reporter for libel over saying he was worth less than a $1 billion as well as threatened to sue a MSNBC newscaster for saying the same thing. He’s sued Bill Maher for making fun of his involvement in the Birther movement. He lashed out at Jon Stewart on Twitter for calling him “Fuckface von Clownstick.” He’s threatened to sue a rapper for writing a song about him. He’s threatened to sue an activist who campaigned to get Macy’s to dump him as the store’s spokesman and remove his branded products from their stores. He’s sued a New York attorney general for bringing suit against Trump University and the Trump Institute or as I call it, “doing his job.” He’s smeared Alicia Muchado whenever Hillary Clinton talked about him fat shaming her. He’s even bashed SNL for Alec Baldwin’s impression of him. We should all know that Trump turns to Twitter and lawsuits to intimidate and suppress. Yet, there are time in which led to victims suffering real life consequences. In 1990, he threatened to sue Janney Montgomery Scott unless they fired gaming securities analyst Mark Roffman who correctly issued a negative forecast for Trump Taj Mahal. The firm caved and Roffman lost his job as well as spent the next few years in a living hell. The next year, Trump would successfully suppress an 80 minute documentary called Trump: What’s the Deal? by threatening litigation to broadcasters and distributors. Why? Because the documentary powerfully and disturbingly portrayed Trump as fraud which is very well supported. There’s even a persistent rumor that Trump is running for president just to get revenge for his treatment at the White House Correspondents Dinner, which has substantial merit. Say what you want about Hillary Clinton, but this woman has endured vicious and false attacks by her enemies for decades, some in powerful positions. But has Hillary ever resorted to Twitter wars and threatening litigation against people who’ve criticized her, challenged her, mocked her, or stand in her way? No. Because whenever someone goes after Hillary, she does what she has to do and moves on. Sure she might get occasionally angry, but she gets over it. She doesn’t take political attacks and jokes personally because that’s what she has to deal with as a politician running for president. She can take even the most damaging accusations that’s thrown at her. Whereas Trump retaliates viciously over mere jokes about him which makes him very dangerous if he’s ever elected president. This is especially when you consider that the offices would allow him to have access to the nuclear codes. Doesn’t help that he’s threatened to drop nukes. If Trump can’t take Alec Baldwin impersonating him on SNL, then he poses a serious national security risk in the White House.

Out of all the things he’s said, the one thing I can count on Donald Trump being honest about is his greed. Sure he’s been greedy and grabbed all the money he could however way he can. But it came at a very terrible cost to people who’ve invested their dough and never got it back as well as people who worked for him and never received the money. And he’s not a good businessman either.

8. His Candidacy Normalizes Greed and Exploitation– We all know that Trump is greedy and that he’s not at all ashamed of it. Since he began his presidential campaign, he’s encouraged voters in his Nevada primary victory speech, “to get greedy for the United States … to grab and grab and grab … to bring in so much money and so much everything.” Sure people might take it as: I’m rich and successful. Vote for me and you’ll be rich and successful, too. Come with me and grab as much as you can to make America great again. While Trump may not be wholly responsible for normalized greed in this country since it’s been prevalent for the last several decades as part of the conservative and libertarian gospel. Yet, normalized greed often leads to so many social and economic problems in our nation throughout its history like labor exploitation, income inequality, for-profit health insurance, environmental devastation, subprime loans, lack of Wall Street accountability, cuts to social programs, climate change denial, privatization, large-scale wage theft, union busting, poor shaming, Citizens United, policing for profit, and more. Not to mention, normalized greed has proven very destructive Americans’ souls so much that social justice issues are now seen as liberal talking points. I staunchly want to put an end to this normalized greed not only as a liberal Democrat but also as a practicing Catholic who deeply believes in fulfilling the common good. Donald Trump not only is a staunch adherent to normalized greed, but he even resorts to measures that will even make Wall Street bankers blush such as refusing to pay his workers, not making good on his investors, using his foundation as an all-purpose slush fund, running his Trump University scam, using intimidation tactics to shoo out tenants, and more. But no matter how you look at it, Trump has lived his whole life enriching himself at the expense of others and unashamedly so, which we should never accept in a presidential candidate.

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Here are some things that Donald Trump says about women. Of course, these poster came out before the “grab ’em by the pussy” audio bit came out. And these quotes are rather tame compared to his other sexist comments.

9. His Candidacy Normalizes Sexism and Sexual Abuse– It’s well known that Trump is notoriously sexist and has objectified women all his life. And yes, he’s a walking and talking example of toxic masculinity in our culture as well as a great contributor to misogyny and rape culture. He’s also rated women by their looks from a scale of 1 to 10 as well as criticized them for being fat and ugly. His sexist comments on women are utterly repulsive and his history of sexually humiliating beauty queens who won’t tow the line is well known. He’s even used Bill Clinton’s infidelity to attack Hilary on the campaign trail. Oh, and he’s even talked about banging his own daughter. So it should surprise no one that women have come out alleging Trump of sexual assault once his “grab ‘em by the pussy” rhetoric leaked. Not to mention, the former beauty pageant contestants who stated that Trump went into their dressing rooms while they were changing. Yet, even before that, he’s been accused of sexual misconduct by his ex-wife for rape, makeup artist Jill Harth for sexual assault, and an anonymous woman for child rape in the 1990s. Trump has denied many of these allegations and has threatened to sue them as always. Yet, the fact people still support Trump despite these allegations against him is very disturbing. Meanwhile, so many women have gotten sexually assaulted and raped that many don’t report their abusers out fear they won’t be believed for what happened to them. Some don’t even receive the support they need. And some victims have seen their rapists receive an all too generous sentence. Now none of us is perfect when it comes to addressing sexual assault. But when you support a candidate like Trump whose sexism is unparalleled in our times, you’re basically making a statement by saying that this sort of behavior is okay which shouldn’t be acceptable.

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During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump has shown a shocking ignorance of how the federal government works. Just look at Stephen Colbert’s face in this bit.

10. He’s Ignorant About Government– Now I have to admit, Trump isn’t too ignorant about how government works. Or at least when it comes to political contributions to candidates. Or hiring the most savvy lawyers and accountants. But as far as I know, that’s just as far as it goes. Trump has been constantly criticized for his lack of knowledge about the US political system. Of course, you can’t expect him to know more about government than his more politically experienced opponents. We do however, expect a presidential candidate to know at least about as much about government as anyone who’s taken a high school or college civics course. Surely that’s not too much to ask a presidential candidate to know about American federalism, the basic function of federal courts, as well as the grants of and limits of federal power. We’re not sure if Trump even knows even that much. During the primaries, Trump said he’d pick Supreme Court Justices who’d “look very seriously” at Hillary Clinton’s e-mails. It’s like he doesn’t know what the Supreme Court does even in the most elementary sense. No, SCOTUS doesn’t initiate criminal prosecutions, doesn’t investigate crimes, doesn’t try criminal cases, and doesn’t serve as a fact-finder in criminal prosecutions. The Supreme Court only reviews cases on appeal whether they’re criminal or not. And they’re usually concerned whether laws pertaining to the case were constitutional. Yet, from what Trump says, he seems as if he’s suggesting that Supreme Court Justices could prevent Hillary from “getting away with it,” such as investigating her or demanding that she be tried and convicted of a crime. In a primary debate in Houston, Trump referred to federal judges as “signing bills.” Even an eighth grade civics course can tell you that federal judges don’t sign bills. That’s what the president does in the federal system. Sure many Americans don’t understand how the Supreme Court and federal judiciary system works. But if you’re a major party nominee for president and there’s an open seat on the Supreme Court, you absolutely must have some basic understanding that Trump clearly doesn’t. Yet, the fact his supporters don’t seem to mind really sends a red flag. Having a major party presidential candidate with such astounding ignorance about how the political system work may seem like he doesn’t care about the government its supporters want him to lead.

11. He’s Extremely Inconsistent– Now I know that many political candidates are guilty of flip-flopping to some extent in order to pander to their base and make themselves look electable. But it’s well-known that Donald Trump has changed his positions on issues as often as he changed his socks even during this campaign season. Trump changes his mind so frequently and so dramatically that a compilation of his current policies wouldn’t tell the whole story nor would be up to date for very long. I mean this is a guy who once offered up 3 different views on abortion within an 8 hour timespan. So if you’re only voting for Trump for his pro-life position, you might want to seriously reconsider as well as rethink what actually constitutes a “pro-life” candidacy in this election. He also tends to mix facts with exaggerations and outright falsehoods while simultaneously refusing to offer any specifics. He even insists that unpredictability is an advantage he’ll use to cut better deals. Now Trump and the Republican Party are now putting forward the most elusive platform in modern history. So much so that NBC News has compiled a list featuring no less than 138 distinct shifts on 23 major issues. And that’s just his stated views since he announced his candidacy in June of 2015. But if Trump becomes president, his views are going to matter. And the fact he lacks core ideological convictions on many of these issues is huge a problem as well as posts another reason why people shouldn’t trust him. I mean if you don’t stand for nothing, what do you fall for?

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This quote sums up on how much of an egomaniac is Donald Trump. Sure he thinks he’s a smart guy who went to one of the best schools in the country. Mostly because his daddy could send him there as a legacy.

12. He’s a Dangerous Self-Delusional Egomaniac Who Doesn’t Listen to Anyone Else– We all know that Trump is a raging narcissist with a very high sense of self that he can’t tolerate any ill word against him. We know this from his own interviews, interviews with people who’ve known him, employees, and you name it. Yet, he has such an inflated sense of self that he’s very hostile to people who call him out on his mistakes, disagree with him, make him look bad, challenge him, or what have you. Because according to him, Donald Trump’s the most wonderful, terrific, and brilliant person on the planet who’s a rich and successful businessman able to solve any problem as well as can do no wrong. And if anything bad happens to him isn’t his fault. A guy with an “I alone can fix it” mentality is a man not to be trusted because he’s not going to listen to anyone else. Trump’s career as a businessman shows this repeatedly over the years with his gigantic ego leading to many of his business failures. For instance, Trump would’ve had more success with Trump Airlines if he just merely kept it the no frills Eastern Air Shuttle he bought exactly how it was and focused on the customers’ real needs. But no, he wanted to revamp it into Trump Airlines to suit his own image of gaudy luxury that the company ended up accumulating a lot of debt it couldn’t pay. Another instance pertained to Rank Group offering to invest in Trump’s Castle with a deal that would’ve helped reversed declining fortunes for Trump Hotels and Casinos. All Trump had to do was let Rank rebrand Trump’s Castle as Hard Rock. But Trump backed out at the last minute because he wanted his name to stay on the property. A savvier person in his place would’ve taken the deal because rebranding is a small price to pay. Then there’s the time when he threatened to sue a brokerage firm unless they fired a guy for accurately predicting that Trump Taj Mahal was going to fail. And the time when he tried to evict tenants from a building he owned in order to build a luxury condo complex, which would’ve failed if the residents didn’t successfully sue to keep their homes. Now what makes one a good businessperson may not make one a good president. However, if someone is lousy in business due to their humongous ego, then they’ll certainly be a terrible president, if not then dangerous. This is certainly the case with Trump.

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Here’s a stock slip from Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts Inc. from the 1990s. Of course, this company would end up bankrupt in 2004 and 2009. Sure Trump may say he’s a good businessman, but his record of failures that include 4 bankruptcies related to his casinos shows that he’s not. Besides, Wall Street bankers no longer want to lend him money anymore.

13. He’s a Horrible Businessman– Trump likes to sell himself on the idea that he’s a rich and successful businessman whose wealth and business acumen as evidence he’ll make a great president. The reality has shown that he’s nothing of the sort. For one, he was born to wealth and privilege thanks to his dad’s success as a real estate developer during the Great Depression. If it weren’t for his daddy’s wealth or close ties to politicians, then Trump would’ve most likely became nothing more than a sleazy used car salesman at best. I apologize to the sleazy used car salesmen. Has he had success? Of course, he has such as the renovating the Commodore into the Grand Hyatt Hotel and his dad chipped in on that one. But most of his ventures have been disasters. Some have been outright scams that defrauded hundreds of people like Trump University. In fact, it’s been said that if Trump didn’t have his dad to repeatedly bail him out, he would’ve declared personal bankruptcy before he was 35. Because his tax returns during the late 1970s and early 1980s shows that his personal finances were a disaster. By the time Trump came up with his Atlantic City casino scheme, his finances were falling apart. A lot of times, it’s been his own fault like using junk bonds to finance Trump Taj Mahal that it was already losing in its first year and would eventually go bankrupt. His inability to manage his debts at his Atlantic City casinos would later lead to 3 more bankruptcies as well as reduced control each time. According to Kurt Eichenwald of Newsweek, “Lost contracts, bankruptcies, defaults, deceptions and indifference to investors—Trump’s business career is a long, long list of such troubles, according to regulatory, corporate and court records, as well as sworn testimony and government investigative reports. Call it the art of the bad deal, one created by the arrogance and recklessness of a businessman whose main talent is self-promotion.” Trump’s net worth is almost unknowable given the loose standards and numerous outright misrepresentations he’s made over the years that many don’t even think he’s a billionaire. He also tends to claim success even when it’s not there which in the business world is called lying. Not only that, but he’s gained a reputation as a scam artist on Wall Street that major banks now refuse to do business with him. Let’s just say, you don’t want to do business with this guy, let alone allow him to run the country.

While Donald Trump may call Hillary crooked, he’s way more corrupt than her. The amount of corruption cases is mindboggling. This chart shows what he did with some of his campaign cash for personal use.

14. He’s Corrupt as Hell– As I said before, Trump has a long and documented history of corruption since the 1970s which run to the very core of his identity. Many of his scandals have been recorded in court cases and legal proceedings. He’s so corrupt that I’ve had to continuously update my list of his corruption scandals on a regular basis and the sheer amount is mind-boggling, thanks to reporters unearthing many of these alarming stories. These range from unfair business practices, connections with mafia figures and known criminals, his ties to dictators, scams that defrauded hundreds of people of their hard-earned money, bankruptcies that left investors holding the bag while he made off with their cash, refusing to pay workers, history of being charged with housing discrimination, funneling money through a charity for his personal use, his history of exploiting undocumented immigrants, anti-trust violations, campaign financial abuse, and so much more. Whenever Trump has been in positions of power and authority, he’s demonstrated a pattern of trying to enrich himself while abusing the trust they placed in him whether it’s creditors, contractors, charitable givers, Trump University students, regulators, or campaign donors. Sometimes his abuses of trust are within legal bounds or entail breaking the law. Yet, the common thread shows that Trump screws people over to benefit himself. And despite the plethora of excellent reporting, too many voters either are unware of his troubling history and may view him as a successful businessman who says offensive things or don’t care. The fact so many voters think Trump is more honest and straightforward than Hillary is very troubling. Trump’s record makes it crystal clear that he’s more interested in rapaciously extracting what money he can and doing what he wants with little regard to laws, rules, or other people. Not to mention, he’s repeatedly proven willing to violate norms about what sort of behavior is acceptable and ethical. If you look what he’s done with power in the past, his corruption becomes the most troubling of his many unsavory qualities. There are many, many reasons to be concerned about a Trump administration’s ethics and potential to abuse power.

15. He’s a Perpetual Backstabber with No Respect for Loyalty– When it comes to relationships, Trump is as likely to build them, exploit them, and toss them for his own ends. Never mind if they were long time business partners who stuck by him through failure and success. Never mind if it’s the wives #1 or #2 who get tossed aside by a hotter and younger successor. Never mind if it’s the investors who gave money to him whose debts went repaid. Never mind if it’s the workers who poured their heart into his buildings for a set pay that they’d never receive. Whenever he’s in power he’s abused people’s trust. If he is ever elected president, he will certainly abuse the trust of the American people, honor no loyalties and commitments, and betray the office and government he’s sworn to uphold. Put your trust in Donald Trump and you’ll live to regret it. Because he will let you down and let you down hard.

Here’s Donald Trump tweeting about a woman being murdered in Chicago. First one just has condolences. The second one has him trying to make it all about him. Yes, it’s insensitive.

16. He’s Exploited Tragedies and Disasters– Whenever something bad happens in this country, Trump gleefully steps into the national spotlight and tries to benefit from it whether it pertains to money or stumping some speech. He has done this on several occasions throughout his life and in the worst way possible. In 1989, he faked a near death experience to get front page headlines when 3 of his company executives were killed in a helicopter crash, claiming he was supposed to be there but changed his mind at the last minute. In the 2000s, he took $150,000 from the Empire State Development Corporation which was designed to help small businesses after 9/11 when many of them were destroyed or went under that led furious local politicians issuing an open letter that Trump return the money. In 2005, he received $17 million in insurance for hurricane damage at his Mar-a-Lago club while repairs were only totaled at $3,000. During his campaign, Trump has claimed that the mass shootings at the Orlando night club and San Bernardino as well as terrorist attacks in France vindicated his claims on Islamic terrorism in America. Now that has to be very insensitive. When it comes to national tragedy and there have been many, a president must be able to give a condolence speech in remembrance to the victims. Not try to capitalize on it as Trump does, which is just so insensitive and so unbecoming.

Donald Trump racism isn’t just limited to his presidential campaign since he’s been sued for discrimination before. Yet, his ad calling for the deaths of the Central Park Five is perhaps one of his worst moments. I mean these were teenage boys for God sake! Never mind that they were railroaded by the system until the authorities caught the real rapist with DNA evidence. Yet, Trump still thinks these guys are guilty to this day.

17. His Candidacy Normalizes Racism, Discrimination, and Xenophobia– Contrary to what some experts might say, what made him so popular that people voted for him was his offensive remarks that reeks cultural hatred, which is scary enough. Yet, Trump has a long and documented history of racism. Back in the 1970s the Department of Justice sued him and his father for violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to rent to black tenants and lying about whether apartments were available. Trump claimed that the federal government was trying to get him to rent to welfare recipients. The case dragged for two years where he signed an agreement in 1975 agreeing not to discriminate to renters of color without admitting to discriminating before. He’d later break that promise by the way. There have been reports of black employees being discriminated against at his casinos over the decades. In 2000, Trump secretly ran a series of ads in opposition to a casino proposed by the St. Regis Mohawk, which he saw as a financial threat to his casinos. In them, he suggested the tribe had, “record of criminal activity [that] is well documented.” In 2010, he opposed the construction of a proposed Muslim community center in lower Manhattan two miles from Ground Zero which he called “insensitive” and offered to buy out one of the investors in the project. On Letterman, Trump argued referring Muslims, “Well, somebody’s blowing us up. Somebody’s blowing up buildings, and somebody’s doing lots of bad stuff.” The next year, he played a big role in pushing rumors that Obama wasn’t born in the US and urged the president to release his birth certificate which he did. But Trump still didn’t believe him. He also argued that Obama wasn’t a good enough student to get into Columbia and Harvard Law and demanded he release his University transcripts. However, one of his most infamous racist tirades was when he ran an ad in the local papers in the wake of the Central Park Five where 5 black and Latino teenagers were accused of attacking and raping a jogger near Central Park. In these ads Trump demanded, “BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE!” Below that, he wrote: “I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence.” The teens’ convictions were later vacated after spending 13 years in prison in a great miscarriage of justice and the city paid a $41 million settlement. Trump still believes they’re guilty to this day despite that the real culprit turned himself in and DNA evidence to the contrary. During his campaign, Trump called Mexicans rapists who were bringing crime and drugs, called for a ban on Muslims, argued that a judge should recuse himself from the Trump University case over his Mexican heritage, tweeted an image of Hillary in front of a pile of money and a Star of David, attacked a Muslim Gold Star family, and made a pitch to black voters saying, “You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?” Furthermore, he’s been endorsed by white supremacist groups like the KKK and the American Nazi Party whom he has yet to denounce. Trump’s blatant racism on the campaign trail is a serious problem since it gives even the most ardent white supremacists some level of legitimacy as well as put racial minorities in danger. And like I said, supporting a racist like Trump for president basically gives license that whatever he say is acceptable no matter how much it has threatened people’s lives.

Donald Trump often talks about how he’ll fight the terrorists. Yet, he’s never denounced the terrorists who endorsed him like the Klu Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups. Let’s just say if Hillary loses these terrorists win.

18. He’s Endorsed by Extremists and Terrorists– And if his candidacy legitimizing racism isn’t the worst thing about Trump’s campaign, well, it gets worse. Trump’s virulently racist rhetoric has attracted a lot of enthusiastic endorsements by white supremacists and anti-government extremists who think he’s the candidate they’ve been looking for. These people are domestic terrorists and who’ve posed a growing threat to our nation’s security in recent years. While lack of media attention on radical right wing terrorist attacks emboldens these people to attack minorities and other potential victims in their neighborhood, Trump’s failure to denounce their ringing endorsements of him encourage them even more. This further compromises public safety for vulnerable populations such as minorities particularly blacks, Latinos, and Muslims. There have been reports of these Trump supporters resorted to acts of violence and not just at rallies. These include a Moroccan taxi driver shot in Pennsylvania, a black church vandalized and burned in Mississippi, a black family being assaulted by a hospital volunteer in North Carolina, a Muslim woman being thrown an “unknown liquid” in her face in Virginia, a Hispanic couple’s truck being vandalized in California, and the list goes on. Trump’s campaign also has connections to the Alt-Right which is a set of far-right ideologies, groups, or individuals whose core belief is that “white identity” is under attack by multicultural forces using “political correctness” and “social justice” to undermine white people and their civilization. They’re usually characterized by their heavy use of social media and online memes, eschewing “establishment” conservatism, skew young, and embrace white-ethno nationalism as a fundamental value. Trump is a hero to these people while one of his campaign managers works for Breitbart magazine, an alt-right publication. These are the real deplorables among Trump supporters and if Trump can’t denounce these dangerous people, then he doesn’t deserve your vote.

Donald Trump hasn’t just praised dictators on the campaign trail, he’s done business with some of them. While on a visit to the UN in 2009, Trump rented Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi his house in Winchester, New York. Qaddafi would set up his tent on Trump’s estate but he never slept there. Mainly because the locals voted to kick him out their town. Of course, who could blame them because Qaddafi sponsored terrorism that killed many Americans. At least Hillary and Obama got rid of the bastard.

19. He’s Linked to US Enemies and Dictators- It’s well known that Trump has openly praised Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, calling him, “a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond.” In reality, Putin is far from respected. In fact, he’s highly feared having left a trail of dead journalists and invaded countries like Ukraine. Trump has numerous ties to Russia since he’s financed projects from its banks and it’s well known that the Russian government is behind hacks at Wikileaks and the DNC. His campaign manager Paul Manafort has offered his services to pro-Russian Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych that paid him $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments. Manafort has also worked for Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, the Saudi royal family, a Bahamian president accused of drug trafficking, and a former Angolan leader accused of torture. Before his campaign, Trump went into business with an Azerbaijani billionaire playboy with familial connections to its kleptocratic and dictatorial government, did business with the Cuban government during the Embargo in the 1990s, rented New York office space to a state-owned Iranian bank that’s been linked to the country’s nuclear program and terror groups, and tried to rent his opulent Winchester estate to none other than Moammar el-Qaddafi. Yes, that Qaddafi who’s notorious sponsorship of terror that’s killed scores of Americans. During his campaign, Trump has praised Kim Jong Un saying, “How many young guys — he was, like, 26 or 25 when his father died — take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden … he goes in, he takes over, and he’s the boss. It’s incredible. He wiped out the uncle, he wiped out this one, that one. I mean, this guy doesn’t play games. And we can’t play games with him.” No, it’s not. That’s scary since North Korea is an autocratic dictatorship that’s a US enemy and tests nuclear weapons. He’s lauded Syria’s Bashir al-Assad and told ABC that the US shouldn’t trust some of the groups rebelling against the repressive regime. “Assad’s a bad guy, but they’re all bad guys. We’re supporting rebels. You know they talk about the Syria Free Rebels. We’re supporting rebels. We don’t even know who they are,” he said. And during a North Carolina rally, he said, “We shouldn’t have been there. We shouldn’t have destabilized Saddam Hussein, right. He was a bad guy, really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn’t read them the rights. They didn’t talk. They were terrorists. Over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism. You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq. It’s like Harvard, OK? So sad, so sad.” Saddam Hussein’s best known for committing genocide against the Iraqi Kurds with chemical weapons. Trump’s history and praise for dictators from US enemy nations should really scare the shit out of you. This is not what I’d want in a president.

Here’s Donald Trump tweeting on how Scotland took its country back by voting for Brexit. However, Scotland voted IN. Yeah, not very informed in international affairs.

20. He Alienates Our International Allies– As I said before, Trump doesn’t value loyalty and commitments to his business allies, employees, investors, and even wives, Trump is likely not to value the support of our allies either. He’s also has had precarious relationships with world leaders, many of whom express fear in a Trump presidency. Some US allies have used words like “stupid” to describe his ideas. And the fact Trump has business dealings with reviled tyrants known to commit human rights abuses as well as praised known US enemies only makes it worse. Please, for the sake of our world, don’t vote for Donald Trump.

21. He Has No Broader Interest in the World– It’s well known that Trump has some interest in the world, when it pertains to his business interests. But when it comes to making the world a better place, then he just doesn’t give a damn. Even in America, his whole life revolves around making the world his personal playground he could build stuff on and profit from. He has no interest in making the world a better place or sacrificing for the greater good. He never has. He doesn’t care who gets hurt or screwed. He doesn’t care if his business deals put entire countries and people in danger. Nor does he take any interest in other cultures or honoring national commitments to other nations which should be essential for a president. For instance, Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, her Clinton Foundation, and time as First Lady show that she really has an interest in global affairs, which will help our image abroad. During his presidency Barack Obama often played tourist while in a foreign country which improves our diplomatic relationships. Foreign countries like it when our leaders show an interest in them. I don’t see Trump doing this. A world of ruthless competitors guided by nothing but blind ambition and profit is hardly a pleasant place, especially with someone like Trump in political office.

Even Trump supporters know that Trump sets a a very bad example for children. Yet, Trump supporting parents are really not helping their case when they endorse a candidate they don’t want their kids to emulate. Hillary has taken advantage of this.

22. He Sets a Terrible Example for Children– What sickens me more about Trump’s supporters the most is that many of them have children who attend school or younger. When a parent supports a political candidate, they’re implicitly telling their children that whatever this candidate does is acceptable behavior. If not, then it’s giving one’s children license to look upon that candidate as a respectable role model to emulate and admire. It doesn’t take much to see that Trump is a terrible role model for children and even parents who support him don’t want their kids to act like him. After all, he spews profanity, insults women, mocked a disabled reporter, demeaned a prisoner of war, made racist comments, incited violence at his rallies, is on his third wife, threatens to sue people on a regular basis, and calls anyone disagreeing with him a “loser.” I mean the guy is a total bully with no consideration for other people. You may say he’s a role model for children of what not to be when they grow up. Sure Trump’s own grown children may have turned out all right. But we have to concede that he was barely involved in their childhoods unlike their mothers, nannies, and even their grandparents. So they’re not really a reflection on him per se. Still, teachers have become increasingly worried about Trump’s candidacy leading to a rise in school bullying. This is especially the case when it’s white children harassing minority students. And it doesn’t help that some minority kids might be among the few nonwhite children in their schools. Now there are kids who fully understand that Trump is a bully and a terrible role model. But there are kids who may not see Trump that way and take his offensive words to heart and think that being a bully is a winning strategy. How parents feel about politics is one thing but what we teach our children is another. I know that all parents want to teach their children the right things. But for parents who support Trump need to understand that they may unintentionally be teaching their children the wrong lessons. I know most wouldn’t actually teach that Trump’s behavior is okay. But that may not be what their kids would take from it. At least I can respect Glenn Beck opposing Trump on this since he said, “I don’t want my children to look at that man and say, ‘Yeah, he’s my President.’ I won’t have that. I will not endorse it, I will not tolerate it.”

Donald Trump has often claimed that not being sorry for anything is a sign of strength. However, he’s too dumb to realize that not taking responsibility for his actions and never apologizing for anything just makes one an asshole.

23. He Never Takes Responsibility and Never Apologizes– While we all make mistakes once in a while, we’re taught to take responsibility for our actions as well as apologize. Holding oneself accountable for one’s sins isn’t easy but it’s an act of true moral courage and strength. This is especially true when it pertains to a public figure running for the highest elected office in the land. It’s well known that Trump has refused to take ownership for the outrageous things he’s said and done not just during his campaign but also over the course of his life. He never apologizes for any missteps or intemperate attacks. He’s demonstrated a remarkable lack of empathy for people whom he’s attacked, injured, or harmed. When Trump is caught he usually does one or more of the following: deny involvement, deny it ever happened, blame someone else for it, say they deserved it, spin it into something positive or trivial, threaten litigation, or resort to legal action. But he will never see it his fault and never see himself wrong. He will avoid apologizing as well as taking responsibility unless he’s pressured to do so. DOJ suing him and his dad housing discrimination in the 1970s? Say the federal government was forcing him to rent to welfare recipients. Refusing to pay hundreds of contractors? Tie them up in court and other negotiations to financially overpower and outlast them in order to drain their resources. Also, claim that their work was shoddy. Caught cheating on Ivana with Marla? Blame Ivana for losing her attractiveness after having kids and wanting to do more with the business. Gaming securities analyst forecasts trouble at Trump Taj Mahal? Threaten to sue his employer to get him fired. Call for the deaths 5 minority teenagers who were later found innocent? Assert they’re guilty as sin to this day. Caught taking advantage of a federal loophole to avoid taxes? Say that makes him smart. Caught declaring bankruptcy to avoid taxes? Claim he takes advantage of the laws when running a company. Humiliate a beauty queen for her weight gain? Say she wasn’t honoring her contract and that she starred in a porn. Cheer for the housing crisis? Say it’s called business. Trump University consumers suing for fraud? Blame them for being suckers. Call the state attorney general investigating a liberal stooge for Obama or Hillary. Use family charity as personal piggy bank? Call the state attorney general investigating a liberal stooge for Obama or Hillary. Publicly advocate birtherism even after Obama shows his Hawaiian birth certificate? Claim Hillary started the controversy in 2008. Claim opponent’s dad conspired to kill Kennedy? Deny it. Claim global warming is a hoax by the Chinese? Deny it. Caught saying, “grab the pussy” on tape? Say it’s locker room talk. Multiple women come forward with sexual assault allegations? Deny it, claim some of them ugly, and threaten to sue. No matter how you look at it, Trump always tries to cover his own ass and take considerable action not to be held accountable. And whenever he does say he’s sorry, the apologies are nothing but hollow. This is not what you want in a leader or anybody.

This is Donald Trump’s tweet after the Pulse Nightclub shooting where he just had to pat himself on the back for being right on Islamic terrorism. For God’s sake, nobody should be tweeting this shit.

24. He’s a Selfish, Shameless, and Sleazy Opportunist– Whenever Trump is in a position of power, he uses it to empower and enrich himself by abusing those who placed their trust in him. If he wins, expect the presidency to be no different. Many Trump supporters would claim that they like him because he’s not afraid to “tell it like it is”, “be politically incorrect,” and intends to “make America great again.” Some say he’s an “outsider” who “can’t be bought.” But even before he ran for president, I knew Trump was a sleazy opportunist and self-promoting con man willing to do anything to get what he wants and doesn’t care who gets hurt. I saw him do it before whenever he promoted his projects and latched on to political causes for the sake of wealth, power, and fame. While many supporters swear he, “tells it like it is,” he’s actually lying on multiple levels. He’s conning people into voting for him by telling them what they want to hear and what would entertain them. He’s playing for an audience by appealing to voters’ frustrations, insensitivities, and unsavory emotions. His candidacy is nothing but a reality show satiating a bloodlust and structured insanity. And while supporters may swear that Trump will make America great again by moving our system through sheer force of un-bought will, it’s really just part of his Big Lie. He’s telling folks never mind the policy details, never mind the separation of powers, and never mind profound partisan disagreement. Everything will be easy and terrific. But in the end, we should all understand that all who Donald Trump cares about is Donald Trump. Win or lose, he will let his supporters down and they will regret it. Like he has let down so many other people throughout the years. He’s let down Wall Street investors by breaking his promises to pay them back as well as making off with their money when things go south. He’s let down his employees by refusing to pay for their work despite promising otherwise. He’s let down his customers with his scams. He’s let down veterans after promising to donate millions to a charity for them when he didn’t. And what’s worse is that Trump doesn’t care who suffers.

Donald Trump’s campaign is one of the biggest train wrecks we’ve seen since June if 2015. Here we have Trump with a notorious anti-Hillary ad with a Star of David. It was changed into a circle to tone down the anti-Semitic imagery.

25. He Can’t Run a Decent Presidential Campaign– Since he announced his candidacy in June 2015, Trump’s presidential campaign is just a horrific train wreck that really should’ve gone away during the Republican primary season. The only reason why Trump managed to outlast his primary opponents was the fact his celebrity and penchant for controversy gave him free campaign publicity. But even then, you could sense critical flaws. For one, Trump’s candidacy was all spectacle but no substance as well as relied on his offensive statements and antics in order to hog the camera. There were no detailed policies but campaign promises consisting of simplistic bullishit by a guy who seems completely unconcerned about the implications in order to accomplish them. I mean Trump promised to build a wall between the US and Mexican border as well as promised that Mexico will pay for it. How do you expect to accomplish that? Second, Republicans working to elect Trump described his campaign debilitated by infighting, a lack of staff to carry out basic functions, minimal coordination with allies, and a message that’s prisoner to their guy’s momentary wins. According to NBC News, veteran operatives were shocked by the Trump campaign’s failure to fill key roles. In June, there was no communication team to deal with hundreds of media outlets covering the race, no response director to quickly rebut attacks and launch new ones, and a limited cast of surrogates lacking a cohesive message. It’s also said that staff appeared unprepared to address scandals and controversies like Trump University or whatever comes out of Trump’s mouth. Third, the Trump campaign was far from clean and has been prone to scandals ranging from shady campaign managers, allegations of malpractice, and the list goes on. Fourth, Trump has repeatedly violated political norms of acceptable behavior in this election. Let’s just say if one can’t run a decent campaign, they can’t run the country.

Melania Trump has promised to fight cyberbullying as First Lady if her husband is elected president (and God, please don’t let this happen). However, it’s ironic that she’s married to one and could do her part by taking away his phone.

26. He’s an Unrepentant Bully– It’s not hard to see that Trump is a bully whenever you turn on the news as he always has been all his life. But I’m not saying this because he insults whole demographics and people he doesn’t like or thinks treated him unfairly. Yet, while Trump may seem to have all the characteristics you might associate with a narcissistic school yard bully, he’s much worse. Sure he may attack immediately when someone criticizes them even for the slightest insults. You may notice that Trump frequently talks about “winners” and “losers.” Of course, “losers” to him include opponents or anyone who disagrees with him. To him, “losers” are people who “deserve to lose” which clearly reveals his indifference to, and rationalization for, injuring or humiliating others. Yet, he also does far more damaging things than that like flaunting a rival’s dirty laundry, spreading unsubstantiated claims to the masses, throwing temper tantrums, and taking an active efforts at character assassination. And if things go wrong for him, then he’ll say that the whole system is rigged against him. It’s very clear that Trump uses intimidation tactics not only to defeat, but also to demean and destroy his rivals. And that’s just on the campaign trail. Trump has also threatened and filed lawsuits against those who merely said negative things about him or joked about him. He’s threatened and took litigation against anyone daring to hold him accountable for his actions or challenging his perceived image as a skilled businessman. He’s humiliated people for not wanting to do things his way and even afterwards like with Chris Christie and Ted Cruz. Let’s just say that Trump intimidates not just to win and get his way, but also to escape the consequences of his actions. And he does it in an attempt to destroy people with no second thought. Nobody should find this acceptable behavior in a president.

27. He Associates with Horrible People– While Trump always claims that he associates and hires the best people throughout his life, this is far from the reality. You may know he has shady ties to dictators like Putin, Qaddafi, and the Castro brothers. Yet, he’s been linked to the mafia many times for many years over varying degrees of closeness. Of course, it wasn’t unusual for construction magnates like him to have mob connections during the 1970s and 1980s. Trump often portrayed himself as an unwilling participant but that’s probably bullshit. Trump’s reputed to have a close relationship with Gotti associate Robert LiButti whom he worked very hard to keep happy like not letting black and women card dealers at his table whenever he gambled at his Atlantic City Casinos, gifting 9 luxury cars in exchange for $1.65 million in cash, inviting him on his yacht and helicopters, and other instances. In the 1970s, he and his father were represented by a lawyer named Roy Cohn while sued for housing discrimination under the DOJ. Cohn also represented Genovese crime family boss Tony Salerno and worked for disgraced US Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. Cohn would later get disbarred for fraud and other wrongdoing. But Trump didn’t just limit doing business with mobsters and despots. In 1992, Trump Taj Mahal foreign marketing vice president Danny Leung and 3 other Trump casino employees were named an associates of the Hong Kong-based organized crime group 14K Triad. Additionally, Leung was said to give complimentary tickets for hotel rooms and Asian shows to numerous Asian organized crime associates and members. And according to the New York Times, Leung, “flew in 16 Italian crime figures from Canada who stole more than $1 million from the casino in a credit scam. The incident was never reported because Trump never filed charges.” His casino and junket licenses were later removed. Another criminal Trump was associated with is Felix Sater in a questionable condo hotel scheme who had a 1998 racketeering conviction for a $40 million Mafia-linked stock fraud scheme and who had then become an informant against the mafia. Another associate in that scheme was Bayrock Group’s Tevfik Arif who was detained in Turkey for running a high priced prostitution ring consisting of him setting up trysts between wealthy businessmen and Eastern European models, some underage aboard a $60 million yacht once used by the nation’s founder Ataturk. Then we have a couple of con artists named Mike and Irene Milin who ran Trump Institute in the mid-2000s and were known were known serial operators of get-rich-quick schemes. And let’s not forget his campaign mangers Corey Lewandowski who arrested for battery of a Breitbart reporter, Paul Manafort who lobbied for despots along with campaign adviser Roger Ailes best known for sexually harassing women as CEO of Fox News and surrogate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who’s under investigation for causing a traffic jam in political revenge against a mayor. You don’t want to see a guy with these connections in the White House. Then you have Ivanka’s husband Jared Kushner whose dad spent 2 years in prison on campaign finance charges as well as used his New York Observer to punish real estate Mogul Richard Mack for refusing a write-down on a loan. Let’s just say Trump does not have nice friends.

Here is Donald Trump tweeting about New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman whom he thinks is going after his Trump University because he’s a liberal stooge for the Obama administration. My theory: I think Schneiderman is after Trump for the Trump University scam because he’s doing his fucking job!

28. He Promotes Conspiracy Theories– One of my criticism in my Fox News article was how the network had a tendency to promote unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Even before his campaign, Trump has spent years pushing conspiracy theories to his supporters’ delight and his enemies’ disdain. And he pushes these theories mostly to make his foes look bad. I’m not sure if he really believes them or not. His advocacy of birtherism is utterly shameful as well as his inflammatory claims about Obama. So was his claim that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination or his and Rubio’s questionable eligibility for the presidency (Cruz was born to an American mother in Canada while Rubio was born in Miami). Or anything about Muslims like 9/11 hijackers having girlfriends who fled to Saudi Arabia, Muslim Americans celebrating in New Jersey on 9/11, mosques preaching hate, or Syrian refugees billing ISIS for their phones. He’s even pushed theories like fake racist crime statistics, immigrants mostly being rapists and criminals, Mexico deliberately sending criminals to the US, people coming into the country with Ebola, vaccines causing autism, global warming being a hoax by the Chinese, and rampant voter fraud. As for the Clintons, well, Trump is eager to get those out like alleging their involvement in Vince Foster’s murder (which was actually a suicide), Hillary wanting to take guns, Hillary lying about Benghazi, the Clintons’ involvement in Whitewater, and more. By the way, he kept talking about Hillary’s involvement in Benghazi even after the late Chris Stevens’ mother told him to shut up about it. Recently 370 economists signed a letter to the Wall Street Journal as citing Trump’s promoting of conspiracy theories that mislead the public saying: “He misinforms the electorate, degrades trust in public institutions with conspiracy theories, and promotes willful delusion over engagement with reality. If elected, he poses a unique danger to the functioning of democratic and economic institutions, and to the prosperity of the country.”

When Donald Trump tried to make a deal of how he made so many sacrifice after attacking a Gold Star family, there was a Twitter campaign called #TrumpSacrifices. Many of these were parodies of how little Trump sacrificed in his life.

29. He’s Made No Sacrifices for Anybody or Anything– One of the most powerful speakers at the DNC in July was when Khizr Khan addressed Trump to, “Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.” This comes from a Muslim Gold Star father of a decorated war hero calling Trump out on his bigotry and selfishness. Trump cruelly and viciously attack Khan and his wife in true Islamophobic fashion. But when asked by George Stephanopoulos whether he made any sacrifices to his country, Trump replied, “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.” Really? Well, from what I’ve heard, Trump skipped out of Vietnam while 58,000 men in his generation died there, bragged about cheating on his wives, neglecting his children, refusing to pay workers, failing to pay back investors, deliberately avoided paying taxes while taking government money, constantly breaking promises, uses his charity as a personal piggy bank, as well as conning customers in his scams. Not to mention, suing people in order to avoid the consequences of his actions. Let’s just say when it comes to sacrifices, it’s the party Trump deals with who ends up making them. Apparently, Trump’s idea of sacrifice is all about making wealth or you know greed which is the exact opposite. So much so that there’s a Twitter hashtag called #TrumpSacrifices as a joke. Seriously, this is a guy who’s never made any sacrifices whether it be for his country, in his relationships, or for anything else. If he becomes president, he will throw the American people under the bus.

trump-is-not-the-crazy-stupid-conservative-you-think-he-is

Despite that Donald Trump having a penchant for patriotic displays during his presidential campaign, his record shows that his patriotism is a sham. I mean the guy used government money for his projects and doesn’t pay taxes. Also, skipped out on Vietnam.

30. He Has No Respect for America, Its Values, or Its People– I’m very aware that Trump always likes to show himself as a flag-waving American patriot who loves his country. In truth, he’s more likely to say he loves his country in order to exploit it for his own gain while he couldn’t care less about our nation. He’s used his wealth and privilege to get out of Vietnam, avoid taxes, use taxpayer funds for his little projects, and filing lawsuits against people who’ve criticized him or want to hold him accountable. Hell, he even brags about paying as little as possible in taxes as he can get away with. Not to mention, he won’t release his tax returns. What about creating American jobs? Well, Trump has but a lot them came with imaginary paychecks that never materialized as well as jobs that pay below minimum wage. Some of them are even done by undocumented immigrants who could be easily told to shut up with deportation threats. Oh, and a lot of his goods were made in foreign countries like China, Mexico, Turkey, Slovenia, or anywhere in Southeast Asia. What about praising repressive dictatorships who hate America and have a rap sheet of human rights violations? I mean he did business with Cuba during the Embargo, rented out his Winchester house to Qaddafi, rented out New York office space to state-owned Iranian bank, is chummy with Russia’s Vladimir Putin whose country is hacking Democrats’ e-mails on his behalf, and praised despots on the campaign trail. What about spreading damaging but unsubstantiated claims about the President? What about calling a Vietnam War POW a loser for getting captured? What about renigging his promise to donate money to veterans? What about advocating torture? What about hostility to minorities and immigrants? What about his RNC speech about America being a pitch black country soaked in blood a la Hunger Games dystopia? A presidential candidate who has done these things deserves to have his patriotism questioned. Sorry, but I think Trump seems to salute himself and not any flag. And certainly not the American flag. To Trump, patriotism is just a convenient cloak to play to the masses.

If Donald Trump had any respect for democratic values, then tell me why he feels the need to issue legal threats and file lawsuits to anyone who’s challenged or criticized him. Of course, the New York Times knew how to respond to this threat.

31. He Has No Respect for Democracy– Now the United States was built on the idea of democracy which Americans cherish as a government that’s conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal. Now let’s see how Trump does with democratic values. American melting pot of cultures? Build a wall to keep Mexicans out and ban Muslims. Free speech? Sues people who challenge or criticize him. Also, hates when people joke about him. Freedom of the Press? Bashed the media for liberal bias despite airing almost every word he’s said and sued a reporter for challenging his billionaire status. Freedom of Religion? Ban Muslims and attack the Pope. Freedom of assembly? Stop a bunch of workers from unionizing at his Las Vegas hotel. Right to petition? Threaten to sue a guy who wants you dropped from Macy’s. What about election results? If he loses, then it must be rigged by minorities committing voter fraud. Equal rights? Believes that women should be fired for being pregnant, ugly, or fat. Also, blacks need to be stopped and frisked, Muslims banned, and Mexicans deported. That and along with a disturbing affinity for tyrannical dictators, Trump doesn’t have much respect for democracy.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has often said he’ll bring back American jobs and how he’s created so many jobs fore this country. Excuse me, but can you tell me where this was made?

32. He’s a Notorious Hypocrite– While Trump likes to relish in dishing out Hillary Clinton’s baggage such as calling her a liar and a crook who’s put our country in danger. However, records show that Trump is a much bigger liar and crook who praises and does business with dictators. He’s savaged people for not paying taxes as well as companies for moving overseas for tax and business advantages. Meanwhile, Trump hasn’t paid federal income taxes in over 20 years and has no problem using the American tax code to suit himself. Besides, many products with his name on them aren’t American made. Trump has attacked Bill Clinton for his affairs while he tried to get his wife to pose for Playboy, bragged about his affairs, and has been married 3 times. He’s blasted Hillary’s use of foreign donors for the Clinton Foundation pay for play scheme. At the same time, he’s been using his charity as a personal piggy bank with other people’s money for over two decades. He complains about undocumented immigrants being criminals while exploiting them as cheap labor he could threaten to deport. While he constantly slams Hillary for her e-mails on private server during her time as Secretary of State, court records show that his company has yearly erased e-mails since at least the late 1990s.

33. He’s a Trigger Happy Coward– We all know that Trump tends to be quite aggressive in his rhetoric. And he’s been seen by many as crazy and unstable. Doesn’t help he lacks total self-control on a podium. He has to attack everyone who opposes him even after he’s defeated them. He has to be hostile on Twitter as well as threaten or file lawsuits at anyone who’s challenged him or wants to hold him accountable. Even when it’s a Muslim Gold Star family stating how he has never made any sacrifices. His menacing, angry convention speech can only be seen as delusional and demented as if it’s spoken by a raving lunatic. He’s promised to bomb the shit out of ISIS and lock Hillary up in prison. Sure he may talk tough to trigger happy proportions. Yet as David Atkins states in Washington Monthly states, “Ultimately, however, Donald Trump is a coward. Not just for serving himself at the expense of others even as millions of Americans devoted their lives to causes greater than themselves on the battlefield, in the classroom, at the laboratory table and in the civic engagement hall. He is a coward because he cannot face the reality of what he has done with his life before an audience not prepared to idolize him.” And in many ways, he usually takes a coward’s way out in order to cover his own ass whether it be denial, blame, lawsuits, threats, or what have you. Because if Trump was truly brave, he’d take responsibility for his actions and apologize. Democrats have a word for crazy men like him known as “chickenhawk.”

Though Donald Trump brags about being a successful businessman, the truth is that he inherited his money from his father Fred. Fred also bailed him out a number of times until his death in 1999.

34. He Constantly Appeals to His Privilege– Note I’m not talking about white or male privilege here. But privilege Trump enjoys as a lifetime member of the 1% which allows him to be the entitled rich man he’s always been. All his life, Trump has constantly appealed to his status of as being born a white man of wealth and privilege to do whatever he wants and get away with it. His inherited status has allowed him to get out of serving Vietnam when thousands of other drafted young men were killed. When his personal finances were a disaster, his dad bailed him out. He’s used his status to get government funding for his projects, avoid paying taxes, and avoid responsibility for his actions while leaving his workers, investors, customers, and others screwed. And it’s his affluence and privilege as being part of the 1% that Trump can rise to positions of power and get away with breaking laws. Any normal person who’s committed a fraction of his crimes would’ve been stopped years ago. In fact, it’s because he’s so rich and powerful that he’s able to use lawsuits as a technique for retaliation, intimidation, and damage control. And he’s not shy about it at all. Yet, it’s because of his privilege as the rich white man Trump is that he’s been able to sell his image as the successful businessman for years despite it only being a façade as slews of renowned reporters have pointed out.

35. He Constantly Appeals to Secrecy– Trump has often harangued Hillary for being secretive as each batch of her e-mails is being discovered by the FBI and the Russians as well as made public by WikiLeaks. However, Hillary has released both her medical records and tax returns while Trump hasn’t. In fact, Trump is far more secretive than Hillary. Transparency is just simply not his style. His platform doesn’t have clear cut policies and no clear details on how to accomplish them. And even before his presidential campaign, Trump has a penchant of secrecy such as having employees sign non-disclosure agreements, erasing e-mails from company computers each year, destroying and withholding testimony and evidence, not disclosing charity records, and more. We don’t know how much Trump actually earns since he won’t release his tax returns. Neither does Wall Street know what Trump did to the money he stole from them. The fact Trump has resorted to secrecy so much over the years matters, especially when he’s a candidate of a major party for president. If he wins, his administration will be one of secrecy which won’t be good for the country.

While politicians are used to mudslinging each other during campaigns, Donald Trump attacks his opponents unusually viciously. Here he is saying how Ted Cruz’s wife is ugly.

36. His Campaign Strategy Mainly Revolves Around Bringing Down His Foes– Trump’s campaign is particularly noteworthy since it’s more or less on appealing to people’s prejudices and anxieties while viciously attacking his opponents in any way he could in order to get media attention. He won the Republican primary this way as he attacked and defeated his toughest opponents one by one. And it’s clear that Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush got the worst of it. Whether its calling Hillary a criminal who should be in jail or promoting conspiracy theories, Trump’s campaign has set a very hostile precedent for this election. In fact, if you watch his debates, Trump devotes more time to attacking Hillary than discussing actual policy. Even during the town hall which Trump devoted to interrupting her and talking about Bill Clinton’s sex scandals and even spent some time following her on the stage. And if he thinks he’s losing, he claims that the whole thing is rigged by voter fraud and that people need to be vigilant poll watchers in order to intimidate minorities at polling places. In years of ugly elections, Trump’s persistent bullying on the campaign trail makes it so apparent that he should be the candidate to lose.

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Here’s Donald Trump giving his daughter Ivanka a friendly hug during the RNC. Yes, I know there’s a real Manchurian candidate vibe here. It’s disturbing. Yeah, that’s just creepy.

37. He’s Terrible to His Family– Yes, I know that Trump’s family is extremely loyal to him despite that he’s completely despicable. Of course, his father was the same way which is why the two got along so well. But this didn’t help his brother Freddy whose fatal flaw was being a normal guy born to an affluent family of sociopaths. He also liked to fly planes which his father and brother Donald constantly thought was at the same level of a bus driver. Freddy died an unhappy alcoholic at 43 in 1981. Yet, it was reported that Trump helped draft his father’s last will that cut Freddy’s kids out of their grandfather’s inheritance when the old man died in 1999. According to the New York Times, “Freddy’s children sued, claiming that an earlier version of the will had entitled them to their father’s share of the estate, but that Donald and his siblings had used ‘undue influence’ over their grandfather, who had dementia, to cut them out.” It gets worse as the Times adds, “A week later, Mr. Trump retaliated by withdrawing the medical benefits critical to his nephew’s infant child.” We should take note that his nephew’s son had cerebral palsy. And you thought his mocking a disabled reporter was bad. He’s also very shitty husband who bragged about cheating on them as well as groped other women. His marriage with first wife Ivana ended after Trump’s affair with Marla Maples went public and their nasty divorce with Ivana claiming Trump raped her. His second marriage with Maples also ended in a nasty divorce with her taking their daughter Tiffany to California. As with third wife Melania, well, there’s rumors that she may not have been legal when she came to this country. But you probably know what she has to deal with. Then we have his children for whom he wasn’t really around much when they were growing up. But how he treats his daughters is pretty telling. I mean Trump once told reporters that he’d date Ivanka she wasn’t his daughter. And then he touched her ass at the RNC. Yeah, that totally seems too much like Mrs. Iselin and Raymond Shaw in reverse. Let’s just say if Jared Kushner’s New York Observer isn’t endorsing Trump right now, this is probably the reason. As for Tiffany Trump, well, he doesn’t really take much notice of her as her RNC speech makes her seem like she’s begging for his attention. And he didn’t even watch her. Yet, when she was born Trump already seemed to reduce her to body parts saying that she had her mom Marla’s legs but wasn’t sure whether she’ll have her breasts yet. Oh, and there’s a chance he may not have wanted her in the first place. His sons Donald Jr. and Eric have turned out to be pricks who hunt endangered animals on African safari. And according to one of Donald Jr.’s classmates, Trump once slapped him across the face in college and that Jr. despised his father, was habitually drunk, and hated the attention his last name afforded him. Yet, he and Eric also inherited their dad’s racism and sexism, too. Yeah, Trump isn’t really very nice to his family is he?

38. His Campaign Is Tampering with the Political Process– The reason why Trump managed to get this far in the 2016 election is that his train wreck go so much press attention during the Republican primary that the news networks basically gave him free publicity that basically put his competition out of commission. And he did the same thing during the general election with constant allusions to the Clintons’ scandals as well as Hillary’s e-mails. It doesn’t help that he’s had help by Putin’s Russian government and WikiLeaks who both have beefs with Hillary and the Obama Administration. We know the DNC hacks were by the Russians. Not to mention, Trump has called for his supporters to poll watch for in person voter fraud at the polling places particularly where minorities vote. There are even allegations of voter suppression in states like North Carolina, Indiana, Florida, and Pennsylvania. And we know who’s targeted in these states. You know minority voters who support Hillary. That doesn’t get me started by how Republican dominated states have resorted to gerrymandering. Let’s just say if Trump is losing, it’s not because the election’s rigged against him as he believes. Quite the contrary.

Donald Trump rallies have been known for their moments of violence. And Trump is said to encourage the spectacle. Here is a fight in Tucson, Arizona.

39. His Campaign Rhetoric Is Inflammatory and Incites Violence– All through the campaign season, Trump’s rhetoric is very inflammatory with racist and sexist comments that have caused supporters glee and opponents cringing in fear. And some of them have a good reason to be concerned, especially if they’re minorities since Trump’s endorsed by white supremacists. Yet, Trump also has a history of calling for violent acts against those who protest at his events that goes back until at least August of last year. He’s encouraged supporters to beat up protesters at his rallies, particularly if they’re people of color. He’s even suggested violence against Hillary alleging she’d get rid of the Second Amendment. Yet, what’s even more disturbing is how he talks about it so casually. But violent rhetoric can get too out of hand, particularly since some of his supporters are known terrorists.

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Here’s what Donald Trump said about appointing Supreme Court Justices. What he says indicates he doesn’t know what the Supreme Court does at all. This is a problem.

40. His Campaign Has No Substantive Policies– While Trump’s campaign contains enough spectacle to take over the airwaves, but there’s no substance to it unlike those of his opponents. He’s never been transparent on anything especially when it comes to his medical records and tax returns. We don’t know how he’ll build his wall on the US-Mexican border or how he’ll force Mexico to pay for it. He doesn’t have details on his healthcare plan he intends to replace Obamacare with (and probably has none). Most of his campaign promises tend to have vague assertions and broad rhetoric. There’s little on what Trump plans to spend, how he plans to pay for it, and what he thinks his programs will look like. In his rhetoric, Trump doesn’t seem to have much knowledge on public policy details even stumbling on basic American governance and frequently demonstrating his ignorance of key challenges and issues in policymaking. For instance, Trump accused President Obama for keeping interest rates low which is the Federal Reserve’s job. If he’s elected president, we won’t know what he’s going to do which is very troubling.

Protestors hold up a sign towards the crowd at a rally for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma

While the media has tried to make Trump support about economics, support is mostly based on racism, xenophobia, and authoritarianism. This banner makes it clear.

41. His Political Appeal Is Based on Cultural Hatred and Authoritarianism– I know many Trump supporters probably don’t have much faith in government and are going through tough economic times. I know many Trump supporters are working class whites with no college degrees. Yet, according to Nate Silver, Trump supporters are on average wealthier and more educated than their peers. So the white working class isn’t a monolithic group. For instance, there were a lot of white working class voters who supported Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary. Besides, a lot of these white working class voters tend to be very suspicious of government as well as continually complain about paying taxes for welfare recipients. So it’s more likely that Trump support has more to do with race and xenophobia since it’s Trump’s spewing of cultural hatred that has made him so popular like building a wall, stop and frisk, and banning Muslims. The fact he’s been endorsed by white supremacists and terrorists that he hasn’t denounced shows this. Besides, if you’ve heard “Make America Great Again,” it evokes some kind of warped nostalgia as if he sets to make it the way it was. Even though that imagined past didn’t really exist or wasn’t anything like that they thought it was. We should also take into account how white society in the South has long been structured to view whiteness as a mark of higher status whether during slavery or segregation. Not only that we should also account how Southern whites learn their history within the nostalgically racist “Lost Cause” mythology when it pertains to the American Civil War. And how Barack Obama’s presidency challenged that and many didn’t like it. Let’s just say, the cultural hatred angle for Trump support makes a lot more sense for me.

This list shows who’s been suing Donald Trump for stealing their money over the decades. What he’s done by cheating these people really shows how Trump doesn’t have much respect for the law. Not to mention, he uses the court and his money to get away with

42. He Has No Respect for the Rule of Law– If reading Trump’s history tells me anything about him, it’s that he often believes that the rules don’t apply to him. Or at least when the penalty doesn’t consist of jail time. But whatever the case, he tends to treat rules and laws as inconveniences as well as exploits legal loopholes. He ignores conflicts of interest as well as takes what he wants regardless who gets hurt. He’s been repeatedly caught for discriminating against blacks whether in housing or in the casino business. For years, he’s been repeatedly fined for breaking rules relating to operating his casinos including an incident in 1990 when his father Fred bought 700 chips at Trump Taj Mahal for $3.5 million. He’s also went to great lengths to avoid being accountable for paying back investors along with wage theft. Yet, what shows Trump’s disrespect for the law the most is his Trump Foundation charity in which he used other people’s money for his own purposes. With his Trump Foundation, Trump has used the money to pay for lawsuits, bribe public officials, buy stuff like portraits of himself and a helmet signed by Tim Tebow, and funneling money in them that would’ve been counted as taxable income otherwise. He’s even said to use Trump Foundation money to fund his campaign. All these are known as self-dealing which is illegal for a charity to do under the IRS. But Trump gets away with this. Even more telling is how many times Trump has used lawsuits to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. Furthermore, Trump’s campaign has been plagued with money shenanigans. Another can be him expressing no regret calling for the Central Park Five to be executed despite the fact they were exonerated due to DNA evidence. But Trump still believes they’re guilty to this day. Even legal experts across the political spectrum are scared of a Trump presidency since he doesn’t seem to have respect for the rule of law in this country nor has any respect for American constitutional traditions. As Adam Gopnik wrote for the New Yorker, “The American Republic stands threatened by the first overtly anti-democratic leader of a large party in its modern history—an authoritarian with no grasp of history, no impulse control, and no apparent barriers on his will to power. The right thing to do, for everyone who believes in liberal democracy, is to gather around and work to defeat him on Election Day.” He later goes on to say, “If Trump came to power, there is a decent chance that the American experiment would be over. This is not a hyperbolic prediction; it is not a hysterical prediction; it is simply a candid reading of what history tells us happens in countries with leaders like Trump. Countries don’t really recover from being taken over by unstable authoritarian nationalists of any political bent, left or right—not by Peróns or Castros or Putins or Francos or Lenins or fill in the blanks. The nation may survive, but the wound to hope and order will never fully heal. Ask Argentinians or Chileans or Venezuelans or Russians or Italians—or Germans. The national psyche never gets over learning that its institutions are that fragile and their ability to resist a dictator that weak. If he can rout the Republican Party in a week by having effectively secured the nomination, ask yourself what Trump could do with the American government if he had a mandate.” In the US, it’s well established that nobody, not even the President is above the law. Unfortunately Trump always thought he’s above the law because he’s rich. And there’s a strong chance he won’t uphold the constitution if he ever becomes president.

Here’s Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago portrait that the Trump Foundation paid for at $20,000. It’s at his Florida Resort. Of course, how Trump got it is an act of self-dealing which is illegal under the IRS.

43. He Constantly Breaks His Promises– All his life Trump has made promises to people in order to give him what he wants. Yet, once he has it, he often doesn’t fulfil his word and always making excuses why. A June article from the USA Today alleges that Trump has refused to pay workers for decades when he said he would. As of 2016, Trump has at least 60 lawsuits involving employees and contractors alleging he didn’t pay them. He’s settled with 48 servers at his Miami golf resort in a lawsuit about failing to pay overtime for a special event. There were at least 253 subcontractors who weren’t paid in full and/or on time for work on Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It’s very clear that Trump promised to pay these people or they wouldn’t have agreed to work for him. And yet, he refused to pay them in the end. He’s also failed to pay back investors who’ve lent money to him and now Wall Street no longer trusts him. Not only that, but Trump has promised to donate money to charity over the years and never makes good on them. Well, unless he’s called out on it. It’s not that Trump constantly breaks his promises. It’s just that Trump constantly makes promises that he has no intention to fulfill. It’s part of how he works. You can’t have a president like that.

44. Even Republicans Hate Him– We should understand that Trump was never the favorite to win the Republican primary in the 2016 election. The Republican establishment wasn’t happy when he was ahead in the polls or when he won primary after primary. And when the many of these Republicans finally caved to Trump in the general election, it was mostly because they feared for their jobs and possibly the good of the party. Yet, many Republicans still won’t support Trump such as Mitt Romney, the Bushes, Colin Powell, Condolezza Rice, Glenn Beck, Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Tom Ridge, Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Reagan Education Secretary Bill Bennett, the National Review, Wall Street bankers, the Weekly Standard, and many conservative newspapers. George Will even left the Republican Party for his opposition to Trump. Nebraska Senator Bob Sasse wrote a long Facebook post explaining why he won’t vote for Trump. Right wing radio host, Eric Erickson explained his reason because he’d, “put my country before my party and decline to help the voters in this country commit national suicide.” At the RNC, it’s very apparent that the Republicans weren’t warmly behind their candidate. In fact, many prominent Republicans like John McCain refused to attend. Those who did, didn’t give an enthusiastic endorsement and don’t seem to like him much. For instance, I know that Paul Ryan doesn’t like Trump and has even called him out on it. Yet, he ended up endorsing the guy anyway, because he’s Speaker of the House and was in a tough primary fight with a Trump supporting opponent. And even in his convention speech, he barely mentioned the guy. Then there’s Texas Senator Ted Cruz who declined to endorse Trump at the RNC in his speech after the latter viciously attacked him at the primary for calling his wife ugly and insulting his father. Yet, Cruz would eventually cave to endorse Trump anyway when he discovered he was up for reelection in two years. You also have Chris Christie who’s only been supporting Trump to get on a ticket or at least a cabinet position, whom Stephen Colbert likened to “a best man at a wedding he doesn’t believe in.” Any way you look at it, the Republican establishment more or less supports him as if they feel that they have to since he’s their party’s nominee.

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Donald Trump has received very few major newspaper endorsements during this election than most candidates. Perhaps it’s because Trump is no fan of freedom of the press. And that he’s a morally bankrupt individual to begin with.

45. Newspapers and Experts Have Warned People Not to Vote for Him– While experts and newspapers usually have their own political biases, what’s unusual about this election is how many have refused to endorse the Republican nominee. In fact, there are many who are coming out to encourage Americans not to vote for Trump. For one, Hillary has received way more newspaper endorsements than what’s usual for any presidential party nominee. Even more telling is that many of these publications usually endorse Republican candidates with some not endorsing a Democratic presidential nominee in decades. Major publications that didn’t endorse Hillary usually went with no endorsement, Gary Johnson, or not Donald Trump. Nevertheless, Hillary’s high newspaper endorsement count doesn’t indicate an acceptance of her politics that many of these papers disagree with. In fact, it’s indicative that the newspaper industry doesn’t want Trump to be president for good reason. After all, Trump is no fan of First Amendment rights since he sued a reporter for challenging his billionaire status. Experts who oppose Trump include 370 economists, 50 GOP national security officials, legal experts across the political spectrum, and more. Even 600 historians have spoken against Trump. David McCullough said the prospect of a Trump presidency distressed him that he felt he could no longer remain publicly attached saying, “When you think of how far we have come, and at what cost, and with what faith, to just turn it all over to this monstrous clown with a monstrous ego, with no experience, never served his country in any way — it’s just crazy. We can’t stand by and let it happen. The Republican Party shouldn’t stand by and let it happen.” Filmmaker Ken Burns voiced opposition against Trump in his commencement address at Stanford University, where he said that despite 40 years of avoiding advocacy in his work, he no longer had, “the luxury of neutrality or ‘balance’ or even of bemused disdain.” It should be a red flag that a Trump presidency poses nothing but trouble.

46. He Brings Out the Worst of America– Watching the Republican primaries take its course this election was especially distressing for me. Whenever Trump would do something outrageous that would get normal presidential candidates out of the race, he didn’t suffer any fall in his popularity. It’s like his supporters kept excusing his behavior on the stage even when he was encouraging them to beat up protestors at his rallies. There are even people comparing Trump rallies to 1930s Germany which led to the rise of Adolf Hitler. And we know what happened there. Yet, such comparisons do have merit since Trump’s campaign revolves around a cult of personality like he would make everything okay. And these supporters think he would because look how successful Trump is. Look how strong and fearless he is. And to prove how much America needs him, Trump reminds voters that America is in deep, deep trouble. Yet at same time, Trump’s campaign has no substantive policies on how he’ll get things done. Nevertheless, a candidate who says he’ll fix it but doesn’t offer any plans spells trouble. But it seems that his supporters don’t seem to care what he does and seem to take him at every word. This is bad.

Donald Trump likes to use “America First” in his presidential proposals, particularly when it comes to foreign policy. This term was used by Charles Lindbergh’s anti-war group called the America First Committee known for its isolationism as well as virulent Anti-Semitism. Lindbergh’s “America First” speech was filled with Anti-Semitic language and cost him his reputation.

47. He Has Little Knowledge of History or the Lessons Learned from It– Trump has never cared about the consequences of his actions and his candidacy certainly shows this. It’s very clear the Trump isn’t just ignorant on matters of basic civics, he has no sense of the American past and doesn’t understand the achievements in this country. Sure he’d want to “make America great again,” but he doesn’t understand what already makes America great in the first place. According to the New Republic, he’s never read a presidential biography and that his knowledge of presidential history is almost entirely self-serving. It doesn’t help that people in the media have compared aspects of Trump’s campaign to parts of America’s past and none of them are good. One example would be Trump’s foreign policy outline which he refers to as “Restore Fortress America” or “America First” which to him means disconnecting from other countries, more barriers to trade, tougher negotiations with long standing NATO allies, and a more restrictive immigration policy with a wall and Muslim ban. It also shares similarities to the America First Committee before US entry into WWII while Nazi Germany was taking power across Europe. Now the American First Committee was an isolationist group who opposed US involvement in the war, which originated with college students. Yet, it soon became a group that included conservatives who wanted to stick it to a liberal president as well as virulent Anti-Semites and Nazi sympathizers. Things got worse when famed aviator Charles Lindbergh became their public spokesman and gave a highly Anti-Semitic speech in 1941 that was universally condemned, which combined with being too nice to Nazi Germany led him to suffer an epic fall from grace. The phrase “America First” has become taboo ever since as well as an Anti-Semitic byword. But when Trump was asked about this group in July, he claimed that “America First” was a brand-new modern term and that he never related it to the past and not what Lindbergh had in mind. It’s very clear that Trump doesn’t know about the shameful American First Committee nor does he even care. Nor does he care about the parallels that suggest how the old isolationist movement is relevant to his campaign. Because he kept using “America First” as a slogan not just to his foreign policies but his other ones, too. It’s like he’s using this phrase because he thinks it sounds good for his campaign. Another term is the “silent majority” which seem eerily reminiscent of the radical right John Birch Society of the 1960s, which played an active role in the Red Scare. It was also used in the Nixon campaign of 1968. Yet, what Trump doesn’t know is that the past doesn’t always stay in the past and those who don’t know much about history are doomed to repeat it.

48. He Gives Little to No Thought to His Responses to Questions or Challenges– Trump’s campaign has been characterized as all spectacle without any substance. Trump doesn’t seem to think that policy matters much, details don’t matter at all, and that positions are negotiable. All that matters for Trump is running on attitude and charisma, strength and success, that goo-goo elites make America a loser, and that he’s the superhero who can make it win again. However, this campaign style is extremely done. Presidential elections aren’t about mere policy face offs, they’re also about competence, leadership, values, vision, records, and which face voters want to see their TV the next 4 years. Sure like Trump, Obama ran as a political outsider which worked out well for him. However, Obama had a detailed policy agenda and much of it has become the law in the land. We’re not sure what would become law under Trump or how he’d face challenges. Even worse, Trump has given little or no thought in his responses to questions or challenges as we’ve seen from his debate performances. But when we’re choosing a president, then we need to know what they’re going to do if elected. And if Trump can’t give a good response to a policy question, then he shouldn’t be elected.

While Donald Trump’s campaign has many veteran supporters, this doesn’t mean he’s nice to them. In fact, quite the opposite. Here is his fake veterans hotline voicemail.

49. He’s Shown Disrespect to People Who’ve Supported Him– Trump has been unusually vicious to people who opposed him and not just on his campaign either. Yet, he could also be quite awful when it comes to people who support him. First, Trump has had a long record of bashing veterans including times when he’s had disabled vet vendors chased off Trump Tower, calling a decorated war hero and POW a loser for getting captured, organizing fake veterans fundraisers, accepting a Purple Heart from a supporter and saying how he always wanted one, ignoring a mother’s demands not to politicize her son’s death in Benghazi, setting up a fake veterans hotline, calling his sexual escapades during the 1970s his “Vietnam,” attacking a dead soldier’s parents, claiming to know more about ISIS than the generals, and more. Let’s just say Trump really has no respect for those who served our country in uniform and kept our country safe in a time of war. Yet, veterans rank among some of his most loyal supporters despite all that. Second, while Trump claims he’s pro-life and has considerable support in the pro-life crowd, his record isn’t, even on the campaign trail. He’s taken 5 different positions on abortion in 3 days, called pregnancy an “inconvenience” for a business” (before he denied it), had a woman fired for getting pregnant, tried to replace a pregnant employee who refused to sleep with him, may not provide maternity leave to his employees, mocked a disabled reporter, rejected his first wife after she popped out 3 kids for him, bragged about sexual assault, rates women based on their bodies, cut medical benefits to his nephew’s son with cerebral palsy, praised his future current wife for taking birth control every day on the radio, may have paid and urged mistresses to have abortions (since he answered, “such an interesting question” when asked this), and once told future second wife “Uh, excuse me? What are we going to do about this?” after finding out about an accidental pregnancy (despite that Marla Maples had already made up her mind to go through with it). Sorry, pro-lifers, but Trump is not your man. I mean calling pregnancy an “inconvenience for a business” is even less pro-life than calling abortion “a women’s right to choose” especially since the former statement has killed far more innocent unborn children than the latter. And I think Trump’s belief in pregnancy as an inconvenience for business basically sums up his stance on reproductive rights. In other words, he believes a business’s needs are more important than an unborn child’s or even the mother’s. Besides, whenever he speaks on the matter, he seems like he has to go the extra mile to prove he’s pro-life. Yet, while the pro-life movement backs Trump in droves, it’s very apparent that these people are being played for major fools. Third, are women, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and minorities who are supporting him but that goes without saying. Fourth, this can go on.

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Of course, this is very true when it comes to Trump supporters. It seems that these people treat Donald Trump like he’s a bad boyfriend thinking he’ll change. But let’s just say his employees, investors, and ex-wives thought the same thing. Seriously, if you support Trump, I guarantee he’ll let you down. So I hope Trump let’s you down by losing the race. Because if he wins, we could be in trouble.

50. He Brings Out the Worst in His Supporters– I know that a lot of Trump supporters aren’t bad people. I know that a lot of Trump supporters are well-educated and not stupid. Yet, whenever I see or hear people I know support Trump, I feel utterly appalled. Now Trump isn’t a guy these people would want in their neighborhood or someone they’d want their children to emulate. Of course I know many of these people support Trump because they’re racist, Islamophobic, and xenophobic even if it doesn’t define them. Some people who support Trump are violent like some of the Second Amendment fanatics who like to carry their guns in full view as well as right wing terrorists and extremists. But this is a man who’s violated the norms of ethical behavior even the most ardent Trump fans wouldn’t accept in someone in their lives, let alone in a presidential candidate. And yet, these same people continually excuse Trump and his campaign no matter what happens like they have little to no standards for what a presidential candidate should be. Look, I know many people are supporting Trump because they’re pro-life, Republican, or don’t like Hillary Clinton. But come on, to support Trump for these reasons just makes you look pathetic. Because there are plenty of people who are in all these camps but are still voting for Hillary Clinton anyway because they have standards for what to expect in a president. Hell, even some of Hillary’s enemies are supporting her like Michael Chertoff. Yet, what’s worse is that plenty of Trump supporters don’t seem to care if their man is a raging sociopath with no political experience who’s lying them into a gigantic con. They don’t seem to question his morals. They don’t seem to question his policies or lack of them. They don’t question whether he’s fit for the presidency. They don’t question whether the veracity of his statements or whether he’s lying to them. They don’t question his sordid past that debunks his claim as a successful businessman. All they care about is whatever Trump says and how he’ll make America great again. And the fact so many Americans are willing to vote for a guy like Trump, including people I know such as friends and family just scares the living shit out of me.

Yes, here we have robber baron Trump sitting in his gaudy gold oval office ushering a new autocratic gilded age for America. For the love of God, America, please don’t let this happen. Jesus, please, don’t. I don’t want to see a Trump presidency.

Calaca Inspired Dia de los Muertos Costumes

Posted by historymaniacmegan on October 31, 2016

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Disclaimer: I am aware that the Dia de los Muertos is not just a holiday just confined to Mexico or celebrated by Latinos who aren’t just of Mexican heritage. But I have to remind viewers that this isn’t a post to give you ideas to do a Halloween costume (unless Dia de los Muertos is part of your culture and you want to save money). Dia de los Muertos is not Mexican Halloween and unless your culture celebrates the holiday, then you shouldn’t wear these costumes whether on Halloween or on any occasion. Dia de los Muertos is a time for Mexicans and people from some parts of Latin America to remember their ancestors. I understand that cultural appropriation is an American tradition and not a very good one. If your culture doesn’t celebrate Dia de los Muertos, then walking around in a Day of the Dead inspired costume for Halloween because you thought the art was cute is offensive, ignorant, disrespectful, and complicit in erasing a rich culture and identity. Painting your face with sugar skull decoration is not being cultural, it’s stupid. There’s a meaning behind sugar skulls and just because you do it doesn’t mean you understand the significance of this symbol. So please, don’t do it.

Special Disclaimer: I understand that some of these costumes may be culturally appropriated which is offensive. But since Pinterest unintentionally encourages this and I know they tend to be promoted as Halloween costumes, cultural appropriation might not be avoidable. Yet since I’m aware that blond and redheaded Hispanics do exist and that they can be of any race, distinguishing between which costumes are culturally appropriate and which are not is difficult. And you can’t always tell with a photograph. Yet, I will try my best not to be disrespectful to viewers who celebrate this holiday that they view so central to their cultural identity. And I intend not to promote them as Halloween costumes for this post. Nor do I encourage people do dress in these costumes despite having no connection to the holiday whatsoever. Just because I may show a costume post on Dia de los Muertos doesn’t mean I think these are perfectly fine for just anyone.

Aside from setting altars and visit cemeteries to honor and celebrate their dead ancestors and loved ones, it’s not unusual for those who observe Dia de los Muertos also don costumes as well as parade and dance in the streets. Yet, this tradition may not always be practiced in some places in Mexico or Latin America. But there are some areas that do. Many tend to don the calavera makeup and dress in fancy clothes in order to mock death or celebrate their deceased loved ones. For most Mexicans and other Latin Americans who celebrate the holiday, there is nothing scary about dressing up as the elegant “La Catrina” and other figures of death the holiday celebrates. Some may even wear skull shaped masks to scare the dead away. After all, death in Mexico is just part of the natural cycle of life, not something to be feared. So for your reading pleasure, I give you a treasure trove of richly elaborate Dia de los Muertos costumes for you to enjoy. And if your culture doesn’t celebrate the Day of the Dead, these are just for your eyes only.

The makeup scheme must always match the flowers.

Well, she has a pink skull face with beautiful flowers in her hair. The clothes aren’t too shabby either.

2. This woman honors her dead great-grandmother by wearing her clothes.

Yes, I know she looks what you might see in a horror movie. But she’s not meant to be scary. Just honoring her deceased loved ones.

3. Thought you’d never see a dead lady in red before.

If it wasn’t for the face paint, I would’ve sworn she seemed like one of those Mexican women from the Old West movies. Love the dress.

4. These men celebrate Dia de los Muertos in their fancy hats.

Now this is a great way to mock death along with the Mexican elite who used to starve 90% of the country’s population in the early 20th century. The hats and suits are spot on. Then again, maybe that’s another case of cultural appropriation on multiple levels.

5. Don’t forget to don the skulls and feathers.

You might see that a lot of Dia de los Muertos costumes do contain feathers and skulls on them. Then again, it’s to be expected.

6. Sometimes a small touch up is all you need.

Seems like she has a pink shawl to match the flowers. Surely looks stunning.

7. This skull face woman is draped with curls.

She’s even wearing a white embroidered dress. Love the intricate makeup job.

8. To look at her is to see a window into your own mortality.

I understand that skeletons aren’t supposed to be scary on Dia de los Muertos. But this costume is so good that it doesn’t help matters.

9. White hair is always chic on a dead woman.

I’m sure the white hair is a wig in this. But kind of reminds us that you grow old and then you die.

10. A spiderweb on your forehead goes great with flowers.

Notice how she has dark circles under her eyes. Oh, wait, that’s makeup, not sleep deprivation.

11. No Day of the Dead costume could be complete without an embroidered flower skirt.

Well, if it’s DIY, then she must’ve spent a long time doing this costume. Love the rich flowery detail.

12. Hoop earrings and roses create a neat traditional look.

This woman has roses in her hair as well as an intricate skull makeup scheme. Absolutely stunning.

13. Sometimes it’s best to stick with the basics.

Well, she didn’t really do too much as far as makeup goes. Yet, the lipstick provides a nice contrast.

14. It helps if you top off your look with a colorful sombrero.

Like how she used shiny face paint for her mask as we.. Love the rose design.

15. On Dia de los Muertos, a bride always has her diamond rosary.

Well, she has a nice white dress with her skull makeup as well as matching flowers in her hair. Love it.

16. Dia de los Muertos is a holiday that’s been celebrated for generations.

Here we have 3 generations of a family in their skull face makeup and flowers. Two of them carry parasols in hand.

17. This dead looking girl is all dressed up with no place to go.

She’s also wearing a black lace veil with a white lace dress. Nevertheless, really like the flowers.

18. This man seems to have the look of death upon him.

You can even see all his teeth. Yet, this guy seems to have a rather scary touch up.

19. This little girl dances in her flowery dress.

Helps she’s wearing a ribbon to match her dress. Love the flowers on it, too.

20. Sometimes death can bring a dour look upon you.

Well, she has a rather rich costume with fancy black lace and all. The rose on her face seems like it’s losing petals though.

21. Perhaps a red veil can go best with the flowers.

Helps she has a string of pearls to complete the outfit. Love the makeup, too.

22. Even a skeleton needs a fine pair of gloves at times.

Well, I said they dress up to mock death and the old Mexican elite. Love the flowery black veil.

23. Don’t forget to set up an altar for your loved ones on the Day of the Dead.

Well, at least there’s not a lot of cultural appropriation going on here. At least the picture gets the tradition right and has some inscriptions in Spanish.

24. You may see some revelers in Mexico during the Day of the Dead.

Here we have a La Catrina and a mariachi. Both seem a bit dead on the outside but are actually quite lively.

25. Skeleton makeup isn’t always confined to the face.

She even has a cross on her skull makeup. Love the roses in her hair.

26. This little senorita is all dressed to kill.

She even has a cute little fur stole and necklaces. I think this is so adorable.

27. Sometimes the skull eyes could be lined with jewels.

Of course, I’m not sure her skin is that white, given how they add photo effects. But this is stunning.

28. Man, does she really have her heart on display.

Funny how it’s not encased in her skeleton which is normally the case. Love the flowers though.

29. This man celebrates Dia de los Muertos like he’s on of the Three Amigos.

I’m sure this guy is white and is wearing the makeup. But even I have to admire the intricate costume details.

30. This couple are dressed like they’re together in death.

Well, they’re surely dressed nice. And I do like the flowers. But I sure hope they’re not wearing these outfits for a Halloween party.

31. This woman’s Dia de los Muertos costume is truly revolutionary.

Since she’s dressed up as a Mexican revolutionary that got fed up with the elite back in the early 20th century. Hope those bullets aren’t real.

32. Sometimes a simple white veil is all you need.

Well, she does have an intricate makeup scheme on her face despite how it makes her look like the Joker. Okay, that might be pretty insulting. Sorry about that.

33. It helps if you top your costume with a fancy hat.

It’s especially true if the hat has marigolds in it since they’re a critical flower for Day of the Dead. Also, calla lilies also symbolize death.

34. Flowers can go almost anywhere on your costume.

She seems to have roses around her dress and in her hair. By the way, this was taken by a Hispanic photographer.

35. Who said a La Catrina can’t have purple hair?

Well, she does have a Joker like face makeup. But you have to love the flowers and the large rings.

36. At Dia de los Muertos weddings, it’s till death do they part.

Too bad they only had the bride, groom, and a bridesmaid in this photo. Would’ve loved to see the rest of the party.

37. Sometimes a plain, simple dress will always do fine.

This woman just wears a traditional Mexican outfit. Just a white top and green skirt.

38. Always have a skull mask and rose bouquet in hand.

She certainly has her outfit match her face and hair. Love the flowers.

39. Sometimes a dress in bright colors is all you need.

Yes, you might think she looks like Frida Kahlo from the costume. But that doesn’t mean she’s supposed to be dressed as her.

40. May you allow this gentleman to tip his hat?

At least this guy chose to wear a mask. At any rate, I do like his hat with a skull decoration.

41. “Well, that certainly didn’t seem dead funny to me.”

She has a nice made up face with blue around the eyes and a spiderweb. Love the rose in her hair.

She has a nice made up face with blue around the eyes and a spiderweb. Love the roses in her hair.

42. The skull face can occasionally really show up in the dark.

This one has black skull eyes and roses in her hair. But you can see her almost blend into the background.

43. Here comes a skeleton bride with her veil over a crown of thorns.

Well, I have to admit how stunning this in in black and white. Love the keyhole heart on her chest as well.

44. This woman stands proud in her skull makeup and flowers.

The flowers in her hair seem to match the makeup on her face. Though her lips are in a zipper fashion.

45. This skeletal woman has absolutely nothing to hide.

Well, she’s dressed in a skeletal outfit. But she has the skull face, flowers, and veil for Dia de los Muertos.

46. Couples always dress their finest in their skull and flower finery.

Well, I think this might be from a Dia de los Muertos in California. Yet, both wear the same kinds of flowers and other decoration.

47. This photo surely shows that love is stronger than death.

While he has a tux, she has a rose bouquet and a longhorn necklace. Any guess they might be from the Southwest?

48. She knows where it’s at with red and black.

She even has the bony fingers to show it. Yet, she wears roses to go with her red corset.

49. Sometimes it helps if you have a showy flower headdress.

It also helps if you wear a dress of black lace since it gives a distinctive look. Still, she does seem stunning.

50. It’s not just hombres who don the sombreros.

This woman wears a sombrero that matches her outfit and makeup. And she has it buttoned to show some of her ribs.

51. With light colors come light flowers.

Though she wears a dress without sleeves, she seems to have a poofier skirt. Yet, the flowers match perfectly.

52. This little girl is dressed like she just woke from her grave.

For the record, there are Dia de los Muertos celebrations devoted to children and adult souls on separate days. Still love the flowers and lace.

53. This little girl comes all dressed in black.

She even has a bouquet of black flowers in her hands. Yet, the flowers she wears on her head are colorful.

54. Hope her sombrero isn’t too wide for your taste.

Well, it’s a nice touch to her costume. Let’s hope she’s not wearing it for a Halloween party. Because that would be bad.

55. If looks could kill, then this man has racked a high body count.

Yes, he surely seems like a debonair skeleton who might actually be a supervillan. Yet, I can’t really tell from here.

56. When in doubt, you might want to decorate your face with sequins.

Well, that’s a little flashy for my taste. Not sure what I think about that. Might be from a Dia de los Muertos in Vegas.

57. Sometimes a mujer has to have dress to show off her top vertabrae.

This one at least has a marigold print trim on black. She even has a necklace to resemble marigolds.

58. Dia de los Muertos is a time to visit the dead where they lay.

Well, at least she’s in a cemetery, perhaps to honor her dead relatives. Yet, I do like her multicolored serape.

59. Here comes a skeletal bride with a large skirt.

She even has a white parasol to go with it. Might want to clear a path for her.

60. Let’s hope the love never dies for these two.

This bride is surprisingly tame compared to the previous one. But she’s still dressed in white lace.

61. Best to have flowers in your hair of all different colors.

And she’s sure lined her face wit quite a few of them. Still, I really like this one.

62. On Dia de los Muertos, the dead come up to party.

Don’t look now. But the guy almost seems to be close to a “stinkin’ badges” stereotype. Well, as far as I’m concerned.

63. This la Catrina is expecting you.

This is fairly close to a traditional Catrina which was a figure of Mexican satire on the upper class. And yes, she dressed like the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey.

64. This man seems to have his heart turned to stone.

So does this mean he’s not a guy you should associate with? Because his expression doesn’t reveal that he’s that kind of guy at all.

65. Hey, look, a little mariachi boy.

He even has his own little guitar as a prop. So adorable.

66. This woman in black now takes the mic.

This one has a black dress with a rose in her hair. The mic is just a vintage touch akin to Walk the Line.

67. What’s bright about her costume are the marigolds in her hair.

Seems like she’s wearing a shawl over her head. By the Mexican marigold was used as a medicinal plant and incense by the Aztecs.

68. With your Day of the Dead costume, use all the flowers you want.

This woman has hers on her hair, neck, and dress. And she’s all dressed in leather.

69. This couple seems all flowered up.

Guy seems dressed with a powder blue tuxedo top and a string of flowers across. Woman only took to black and roses.

70. As far a I can tell, she has the look of a goddess.

Well, an Aztec goddess if you get my drift. Of course, some might find worth sacrificing for.

71. Someone seems unusually pale these days.

Yet, she decked with so many beautiful flowers that add color to her outfit. Quite stunning if you ask me.

72. A lady must always have a taste in elegance.

My, does she have a huge hat. But at least it can give her plenty of shade.

73. This Catrina has so many flowers in all her finery.

She has flowers all over her outfit as well as inside her large black hat. And she even fans herself, too.

74. This La Catrina has just woke up from the wrong side of the grave.

I have to admit, I really like that purple dress. Also, how this actually resembles a skeleton.

75. Anyone can look stunning in a lighter shade of red.

Sure she may wear a corset with flowers. But you have to concede that she does strike a pose.

76. Of course, you could always wear a mask.

She’s even dressed in traditional Victorian attire, too. Love the purple on this.

77. My, does she have flowery eyes.

Well, her eyes are laced with gold petals. Yet, she has red flowers in her hair and an embroidered dress.

78. This little girl only has two roses in hand.

Yet, she wears some in her head to brighten up her black outfit. So adorable.

79. Seems she’s a little red around the eyes.

However, that’s just the magic of makeup. Yet, I do love the roses in her hair.

80. Sometimes death can come out behind you when you’re not looking.

She’s even wearing a colorful shirt to go with the flowers on her hair. Love the eye makeup on this.

81. How about 3 red roses in your hair?

Man, she seems to have a lot of paint on her and not just her face. Love the roses.

82. My, what a lovely hat she wore.

Well, it’s not a large hat but it’s a fancy one nonetheless. Goes nice with her black lace dress.

83. Of course, she only shows some of her ribs.

Well, she’s painted ribs on her chest. Still, like the lace jacket and flowers.

84. How about a sombrero lined with gold?

Wonder if she’s worried that she’ll mess her hair if she dons the sombrero. Yet, I do think it’s finely embroidered.

85. Not sure about her, but she seems a bit bony if you ask me.

Well, she has a lot of skeleton makeup on her. Yet she has a black dress on to, if you look closer.

86. Seems like she’s had to tie up to hold herself together.

She seems to have to keep her organs contained for the moment. Yet, you have to admire her red dress.

87. Seems like someone likes to wear the flag of Mexico.

Well, the woman at least does as well as dons a turquoise shawl. The man dresses like one of the Three Amigos.

88. I suppose she might impress the proper set.

Reminds me of a Dia de los Muertos character Tim Burton would create. This especially since I think Helen Bonham Carter wore a similar outfit in Sweeny Todd.

89. A rose headdress surely makes an impression.

Well, the roses are certainly stunning. But the make up seems somewhat terrifying.

90. How about roses on your hat?

Well, she doesn’t dress too badly here. Still, I think the hat goes well with her Victorian dress.

91. Unfortunately, these well dressed women seem to be all bone.

Though the two of them seem quite lively with each other. Love their hats.

92. My, she has a very colorful Chiapas dress.

Well, it’s in white unlike some of the others I featured. But the embroidery really stands out.

93. When you’re in a big dress, you’ll need a big flower.

She even has a big parasol with her, too. Still, the rose really catches your eye.

94. Perhaps you can go to a lighter shade of blue on some occasions.

Well, these women have made up their faces to match their outfits. At least to some extent, especially the one in the middle.

95. Hope she’s not laced too tightly in that corset.

Well, she seems covered in flowers and has her hair all nice. But sexy Halloween costume, it is definitely not.

96. Sometimes you’ll just need a bowtie to snazz it up.

Seems to look more like a little Jack Skellington with hair and brighter clothes. Still, this is cute.

97. Who says you can’t have Lego people join in the celebration?

Well, Lego people must exist in Mexico. Seriously, they just got to.

98. This man always dresses to kill for the Dia de los Muertos procession.

Yes, he stands proud in his Mexican outfit that probably serves no practical use to him besides special occasions. Love the black.

99. Make sure your face paint matches your outfit.

Well, she certainly has the roses and black lace nailed. Love it.

100. Now he’s reduced to a walking, talking skeleton.

Well, at least he’s wearing the cape. But it still doesn’t protect him from exposing his bones.

Calavera Inspired Craft Projects for Dia de los Muertos

Posted by historymaniacmegan on October 29, 2016

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As you can see, Dia de los Muertos is a huge holiday in Mexico and it should surprise nobody that you’ll find plenty of Day of the Dead decorations through Pinterest and Google Search. Contrary to popular notions, Dia de los Muertos is not Mexico’s Halloween though both holidays do have similar traditions like dressing in costumes, partying, skull decorations, and trick or treating in some regions. Of course, traditions can vary from town to town. Though I have seen it presented this way. Seriously, it’s not. Nevertheless, since Mexicans are among the largest US ethnic groups as well as among the fastest growing that some horrible orange man with straw hair wants to build a wall on the US-Mexican border. So I advise everyone not to vote this fucktard for president and stick with Hillary Clinton regardless of how you feel about her e-mails. Moving on, it’s not uncommon for many Dia de los Muertos decorations to contain skulls otherwise known as calaveras. You know the decorated sugar skulls. They also have bright flowers and other Mexican motifs. So for your reading pleasure, I give you a treasure trove of Day of the Dead craft projects.

Sit back and relax on this Mexican chair.

I don’t think this could be done from scratch. But I do admire fine embroidery craftsmanship when I see it. Lovely.

2. There’s nothing more fitting than a plush skull with spiderwebs in its hair.

Even has dangling bones for earrings. And the spiderwebs are all different colors.

3. This rose headband would look great on any costumed Catrina.

Yes, people dress in costumes during this holiday. But I think this flower headband is pretty.

4. Keep warm this Dia de los Muertos with this colorful quilt.

And yes, it has plenty of skulls on it for your heart’s heart content. In triangle and square pattern.

5. No Day of the Dead could be without this crocheted Frida Kahlo doll.

Well, that’s a dead Frida amigurumi doll no doubt. But I think she’s supposed to look more decomposed.

6. Grace your mantle with these Day of the Dead nesting dolls.

As you can see, they all have skulls on them. They also have bright colors and symbols.

7. Keep warm in the cold with this crocheted skull cap.

This one has blue flowers on it. Sure it’s kind of freaky but it’s well suited for Day of the Dead.

8. For your beautiful houseplants, this Frida Kahlo flower pot is for you.

Notice she’s not a skull in this one. Yet, she has part of her face covered in bright flowers.

9. Make your Dia de los Muertos festive with this deco mesh wreath.

Has a colorful skull in the middle. And yes, the colors seem festive for a time of remembrance. But this is a Mexican holiday.

10. Check out this sugar skull mosaic.

I’m sure the skulls used in these are fake. But this one contains eyes akin to suns.

11. This stained glass skull panel is a morbid delight.

Well, it’s an elaborate skull to say so myself. Love the eyes and forehead. Yes, I know a lot of these decorations contain skulls. But what do you expect?

12. A colorful skull mask should always have birds and flowers.

I’m not sure if it’s for a costume or for hanging on a wall. Still, like the smile.

13. Nothing makes Dia de los Muertos complete like this skeleton quilt.

Seems like it’s a Mexican version of “Dumb Ways to Die.” Or as they say. “Formas Estupidas Morir.” Well, at least some of the patchwork scenes.

14. This mosaic skull has a butterfly in its eye.

This one is mostly lined with pink. And I think the butterfly brings a sweet touch.

15. Lounge outside in the fall weather with this Dia de los Muertos chair.

This one has two skeletons in love on the back. How sweet like something in a Tim Burton movie.

16. If skulls aren’t your thing, try these skeleton nesting dolls.

Well, they're just as morbid as the other set. But they seem to have a lot of colorful decor on them.

Well, they’re just as morbid as the other set. But they seem to be richly painted.

17. Try to go out in this crocheted skull cap.

This one has a rose and eyes lined with blue. Not as fancy as the other one but still just as lovely.

18. Cuddle up this Dia de los Muertos with this skull quilt.

It’s as colorful a skull quilt as I’ve seen one. Each skull is uniquely decorated in its own way.

19. Keep clean this Day of the Dead with some skull soap.

Wonder if they have some skull soap for Halloween. Bet they have but I didn’t check.

20. Dia de los Muertos is always a time to wear a flowery skull pendant.

This one has a turquoise skull. Yes, I know skull jewelry is a thing according to Etsy.

21. Keep your ipad secure from evil spirits with this Day of the Dead case.

This one has a skull and a jewels on the cover. Yes, I know the skull motif is a bit creepy but get used to it.

22. Bundle up with your very own Dia de los Muertos crocheted scarf.

Consists of crocheted skulls and roses. I know they usually don’t go together, except at grave sites.

23. Never have I saw as skull like this so richly decorated.

Yeah, you can find some unique designs like this on Pinterest. Love the hat.

24. “Angelica, will you marry me?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Keep in mind, this display is from a craft store. So it’s all good.

25. A spiderweb should always go well with roses.

This is another headband for a costume with roses, a spiderweb, and black tulle. Still, I think it’s stunning.

26. Be hospitable to guests with this sugar skull wreath with roses.

Yes, roses and skulls seem to go together during Dia de los Muertos. This one is a red and white variation.

27. How about this purple mask and flowers?

Yes, there’s a skeleton hand coming out of it. And teeth under the lips. But you have to expect this.

28. For the Day of the Dead, these skull crosses seem like holy relics.

Well, not all of these have skulls on it. One has the Virgin Mary and the other has a mermaid. Not sure why for the latter.

29. A blue and black skull can always use some metal inlaids.

Yes, it’s another mosaic skull. And yes, you’ll see a lot of these. But this one really has a lot going for it.

30. This skull lamp will surely light up a room.

It even has flowers in the eyes. Of course, it’s from a metal shade over a light.

31. This crocheted garland is great over any fireplace.

Sure it contains skulls and flowers. But you can almost hang it anywhere you please. Not sure if you can use it as a scarf.

32. I’m sure any cat lover on Dia de los Muertos would enjoy these statues.

Yes, these are cat statues painted like skeletons. They also have other animals if you’re interested.

33. The light really comes out from this skull panel.

Sure it doesn’t use a lot of colors. But it has a very elaborate design few could master.

34. This skull can reflect almost anything.

This mirror tiles were either from a disco ball or a cut up mirror. Still, love the pink flower eyes.

35. Of course, white skulls can be pretty, too if you use marble.

Sure this one may have copper teeth. But it has a lovely purple decoration. Love it.

36. Skulls and flowers always make this ceramic candelabra.

I saw a few of these on Pinterest. Not sure if they’re mass produced or handmade. Either way, goes on my post.

37. With these skull pots, you can create an interesting stack of house plants.

Yes, I’ve seen a few of these for other holidays. Yet, each skull pot has a unique flower in it.

38. Grace your front door this Dia de los Muertos with this skull and flower wreath.

Sure it might just be a normal flower wreath without the decorated skulls. But it’s nevertheless stunning.

39. Nothing makes Dia de los Muertos worthwhile than a colorful skull banner.

Now this is a very colorful display that seems to glow in the dark. Then again, they used a bright yellow I’ve seen on PennDOT uniforms.

40. Of course, sometimes you might need to touch it up with a few roses.

Another mosaic skull with reflective tiles. Yet, this one has flowery, cheeks, lips, and roses.

41. This Dia de los Muertos, how about pull a chair?

This one has a skull with roses and candles. Yes, it’s a morbid but stunning display on the seat.

42. For wreaths on Day of the Dead, the more festive the better.

This one has skulls, flowers, ribbons, and more. What else could you want?

43. Remember your deceased loved ones with these Dia de los Muertos candle holders.

Each one has a decorated skull design for your desires. Of course, I’m not sure these are appropriate but what do you know?

44. This skull vase is great for holding flowers.

Sure people might think you're a bit too into the Addams family. But these skulls are richly decorated for Day of the Dead.

Sure people might think you’re a bit too into the Addams family (if you’re not Mexican). But these skulls are richly decorated for Day of the Dead.

45. With this chair, you can sit on Calavera Catrina’s lap.

Yes, this is the original Calavera Catrina design. However, I do like her outrageous hat which I think goes well with her blue dress.

46. This cowboy skeleton fears nobody.

Well, I see a decorated skull biting his foot. So he shouldn’t spend too much time gloating.

47. You could hold these felt skulls in the palm of your hand.

They also have sequin eyes and come in variety of bright colors. Yet, not all seem to smile.

48. Curl up on your couch with this skull pillow.

Has a lot of impressive embroidery. Love the flowery eyes and other motifs.

49. This tapestry makes a great Day of the Dead garden flag.

Of course, by that time of year the garden is mostly dead anyway. Or at least it’s dead in my neck of the woods.

50. This mosaic skull always looks bright in the right circumstances.

Not sure why it has clocks in its eyes. Maybe they know everything. I was just joking.

51. Sure you may have heard of a sugar skull? But have ever seen a pumpkin skull before?

Yes, I’m aware some Halloween traditions get intermeshed with Dia de los Muertos. But this is a very nice rendition. The spider, skeleton hand, and flowers is spot on.

52. On the Day of the Dead, a skull sampler is always most becoming.

However, it’ll take more work than if it’s just for Halloween. Of course, you can use this one for Halloween, too.

53. Guess you can never come across a wooden skull panel like this.

Well, it’s on a square panel with a skull painted on it. But I do love the purple flower eyes.

54. You can never overdo the orange flowers with this wreath.

This one has so many decorations going for it. Love the skull with heart eyes and veil.

55. Dress in style this Dia de los Muertos with these beaded skull earrings.

The flowers are beaded. The skulls aren’t. But I don’t think they go with the pendant I showed earlier.

56. Celebrate Dia de los Muertos with this skeletal flamingo in your yard.

I’m sure there are plenty of Mexicans who live in Florida. Since it would be a perfect lawn decoration for them this time of year.

57. Never thought I’d ever see a sugar skull jack-o-lantern before.

Well, these only have only the eyes and nose carved out. I guess they were painted before they met the knife.

58. This skull stained glass mosaic panel is great for any window.

Might freak out some of the neighbors in the process. But it certainly has an intricate design.

59. This skull suncatcher seems content with nature.

This one has roses with a butterfly. Not very decorative but surely fitting.

60. This shiny skull mosaic bears a nice, shiny cross.

Well, Dia de los Muertos does have some religious elements in it. But these tiles seem highly reflective if you ask me.

61. With these Dia de los Muertos earrings and necklace, you’ll be talk of the town.

Contains roses as well as beads in rainbow colors. Yes, seems morbid but we’re talking about a holiday centering around death here.

62. Honor your loved ones this Day of the Dead with this colorful inviting shrine.

Seems like it was straight out of IKEA before being brightly painted. Of course, there are skulls on the border.

63. Keep almost anything safe with these skull bottles or dispensers.

From how I see it, they look like soap dispensers to me. Colorful skulls but soap dispensers nevertheless.

64. This colorful skull lamp would certainly wow visitors.

This one even has crazy eyes to hypnotize. Still, love the flowers.

65. Don’t like wreaths? Hope this Catrina hanging suits your fancy.

This may be of Frida Kahlo but I’m not really sure. Sometimes it’s hard to tell by the skull alone.

66. This skull wreath is all full with ribbons.

Well, it has ribbons, all right. And it’s surely festive even with the skull in the center.

67. Delight your guests this Dia de los Muertos with these skull dishes.

This set features a man, woman, dog and cat. Woman has marigolds for hair and a butterfly decoration.

68. In this felt sampler, this skull has a rainbow headdress of flowers and grapes.

Well, the colors aren’t in order, but still. Again, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be Frida Kahlo since she appears a lot in these decorations.

69. Never saw such a fine skull mask like this before.

So I guess this one is for hanging. Still, love the pearly whites and the bejeweled eye sockets. Very classy.

70. Keep your belongings secure with this little coffin box.

And the one for the Day of the Dead gets a very flowery finish. Love the pink flowery border on this. Stunning.

71. Dazzle everyone with this flowery Dia de los Muertos necklace.

Has a skull in the center but flowers all over the place. Hope it doesn’t weigh anyone down.

72. This skull bottle lamp can change in to many different colors.

Well, as far as Pinterest is concerned. But I have some idea, that there’s something funky going on inside.

73. This owl eyed skull jack-o-lantern is a real hoot.

Okay, it may not be an owl since I saw it had teeth which owls don’t have. But the eyes and nose sure made me think that.

74. This white skull chair has a few flowery touches.

This is contrary to the black one we saw before. Still, you have to admire the fine paint job.

75. This skull scarf will keep you warm in the dead of fall.

Contains all the skulls and flowers for your desires. And in a black background for added morbidity.

76. Bet you’d want to cuddle with this skull pillow.

Well, this one is in a skull shape. Contains a purple cross and pink flower eyes.

77. Perhaps you might want to take a cup and stay awhile.

Seems like these skull mugs almost give the word a whole new meaning. Like the one with the sacred heart.

78. Serve a drink at your Dia de los Muertos party with this mosaic bottle.

I had one featured in my Cinco de Mayo craft post in April. But not nearly as colorful as this one.

79. Never came across a skull mosaic with porcelain flower eyes before.

OR a nose for that matter. Yes, some of these skulls can be very elaborate if you use the right tiles.

80. Sometimes a partial mask can be better than the full face.

Even a partial mask can contain skull eyes and a skull nose. The flower is a great touch.

81. Hey, is that a skeletal mariachi band?

You may not hear any music from these guys. But they sure make a great lawn decoration trio.

82. This skull necklace is almost to die for on Dia de los Muertos.

Again, I almost thought this was an owl due to the big yes. And maybe it is. But now I don’t think so.

83. For double glass doors, these colorful skull wreaths are perfect.

As far as I can tell, they seem to come in a set. Still, you can’t help but adore them.

84. If you’re serving tea or hot water, here’s the perfect pot for you.

Yes, this is a pottery tea pot or kettle. And it has a skull design to fit with the occasion.

85. These turquoise skull and rose earrings are surely a delight.

If these skulls were surrounded by other flowers, they’d be perfect with the pendant necklace. But they don’t. Then again, sometimes it’s best to be simple.

86. This mosaic Frida Kahlo skull is a work of a true artist.

Like Frida Kahlo was herself. At least I could tell it’s here here. Love the earrings.

87. This Mexican chair is loaded with colors and birds.

It has two peacocks on the seat. Not to mention, even the chair back and legs are painted in bright colors.

88. A mosaic skull could never have too many flowers.

This one has flowers almost everywhere. It even has roses on the forehead.

89. This owl skeleton figure is especially flowery.

See, I told you they had other animals. And I definitely know this is an owl.

90. For a more elaborate display, you can’t go wrong with this skull headdress.

Might make people scratch their heads. But I’m sure it’ll go well with whatever dress you pick.

91. For a more simple look, this skull wreath comes with a few homey touches.

Well, it only has a few skulls on it along with some flowers. But I do think it goes great with any front door.

92. This dancing skeleton quilt will sure make things lively at your home.

Yeah, you see a lot of skeletons depicted this way this time of year. Of course, what do you expect?

93. For a morbid hair piece, these skull flowers will satisfy.

And I’m sure they will on Dia de los Muertos. Available in 7 different colors.

94. This skull pillow and rug always go hand in hand.

Doesn’t hurt they’re both crocheted in the same pattern. As far as I can tell.

95. For a more flowery cross, these may strike your fancy.

Available in several bright colors. Each one also has flowers, too.

96. Hope your little one has hours of fun on this skeletal rocking horse.

Okay, that’s pretty clever and creative. Love how the bones are painted.

97. Raise a glass to your deceased loved ones with these skull wine glasses.

I’m sure these are only just for decoration. Still, they come in a wide variety of colors.

98. This turquoise rose and skull bracelet is all the rage on Dia de los Muertos.

This one goes with the turquoise skull and rose earrings. So I had to include it.

99. For a mask like this one, you’d almost mistake it for a masterpiece.

This one is painted like a skull with a wide array of purple feathers and flowers. Like the purple butterfly.

This one is painted like a skull with a wide array of purple flowers. Like the purple butterfly.

100. With this skull lounge chair, you can lounge around like there’s no tomorrow.

Yes, this skull lounge chair is more decorated than it’s Halloween counterpart. But it still has the skull eyes and nose.

Day of the Dead Worthy Treats for Dia de los Muertos

Posted by historymaniacmegan on October 28, 2016

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Around the same time as Halloween, there is Dia de los Muertos in Mexico which unlike Cinco de Mayo is actually a holiday Mexicans celebrate. However, since I’m more focused on Halloween posts this time of year, I usually tend to skip it. But since the US has so many Mexicans living the country, I think I should acknowledge this occasion. Anyway, Dia de los Muertos is a 3 day holiday from October 31 to November 2 when family and friends gather to pray for and remember loved ones who have died and help support their spiritual journey.In Mexico, this is a public holiday as well as was inscribed by UNESCO in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. However, what you may not know that it’s a blend of the the Catholic feast of All Saints and Souls, Halloween, and an Aztec celebration that used to take place in the beginning of summer that was dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. Traditions include building private altars called ofrendas, honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and their favorite foods and beverages, as well as visiting graves with these gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased, too. Sometimes there are parties and processions as well, which is where I come in. There are even people who dress in costumes. So for your reading pleasure, I give you a treasure trove of treats pertaining to the Day of the Dead.

Skull cookies always are great on any Day of the Dead dessert platter.

A lot of these treats featured in this post will have decorated skulls on them. These are in multiple colors.

2. Take a bite out of these skull cupcakes.

These ones seem to be covered in flowers. They also seem quite cute, which is kind of disturbing.

3. No Dia de los Muertos party is a hit without this skull cake.

Well, this one has pink flowers on it. Not sure what to think about the teeth.

4. No Dia de los Muertos cake is complete without a dead flower girl.

I think this is supposed to be a cutesy rendition of La Calavera Catrina. More on her later.

5. This Day of the Dead cake is quite two faced.

Though once a figure of political satire, La Calavera Catrina may have been inspired by the Aztec Mictecacihuatl, Lady of the Dead and Keeper of Bones. She also has roots in the Spanish Dance of Death.

6. These little skull cupcakes are worth dying for.

Seem quite adorable for an image that pertains to death. Love the flowers and icing though.

7. Each skull cookie can have its unique design.

Guess these were professionally made. And each seems unique in its own way.

8. For a flowery touch, go with some cactus cupcakes.

Well, I can’t have them all be skulls. Besides, cacti grow in Mexico so I’m sure these are appropriate.

9. Sometimes a skull cake just needs the right hat.

There are even skulls on the top and the sides. Yes, it’s a really dead cake for a dead celebration.

10. On the Day of the Dead, fiesta colors are always great with skulls.

Then again, Mexicans usually prefer bright colors anyway. Though each skull is unique in it’s own way while the icing is in pink, yellow, and cyan.

11. Sometimes a purple skull cake is a real treat.

Yes, it looks quite morbid as most of these treats go. But since I love purple, I find it hard to resist.

12. Even chocolate skull cookies can be a tasty treat.

Wonder how long it took to decorate these. My guess is that they were professionally made. Hope they’re delicious.

13. You can’t go wrong with this Skull Rice Krispie cake on your dessert platter.

Doesn’t hurt that it’s decorated with candy like Smarties and gumdrops. Though they’re not the most edible decorations around.

14. This skull cake comes in its bejeweled glory.

Either those pieces are candy or are merely inedible. I don’t know which.

15. Want to bite into these sugar skull chocolate brownies?

Well, they may not be colorful. But they’re sure as decorative as the other skulls on here.

16. Have you ever sat through a skeleton serenade.

Like how he has spiky hair and a flowery guitar. Also, love the flowers.

17. Heard of a gingerbread man? How about a gingerbread skeleton?

This one even has flowers and well decorated bones. And I make no bones about that.

18. Skull cookies can also be as dazzling in black and white.

Yet, I’m not sure if these professionally made cookies come cheap either. But they’re just as elaborate.

19. A skull cake should always have flowers.

Don’t forget the red eyes, too, which might make it creepier. Could you imagine eating a cake like this?

20. If you like cats, I have just the cookie for you.

Yes, this is a skeleton cat cookie. And yes, it has a multi-colored rib cage. Don’t ask me about it. I wasn’t consulted.

21. Grace your fiesta platter with these gingerbread skull cookies.

I guess these go with the other gingerbread skeleton cookies. Love how each one is decorated though.

22. This purple skull cake comes with purple flowers.

Also comes with flowery eyes and purple ribbons. Though I wouldn’t want to eat the ribbons.

23. To go with a Dia de los Muertos skull cake, check out these cake pops.

Yes, these are skull cake pops with roses in them. But each of them sure look just as lovely.

24. This Calavera Catrina cake comes with flowery eyes.

Kind of resembles a Mexican Tim Burton character. Love the skirt.

25. Of course, these skull cupcakes shall do quite nicely on any dessert platter.

Well, they do have all the flowery trimmings. But not all the skulls are decorated.

26. This flowery skull cake can almost be considered a work of art.

Well, I do love the purple flower eyes on this one. Also think the rose is ornately painted.

27. How about a skull cake in blue?

Well, this one seems really unique. The purple teeth and green flower eyes sure are creepy.

28. Nothing makes Day of the Dead like these sugar skull marshmallows.

Wonder how people decorate these. I mean it can’t be easy to put icing on a marshmallow like that.

29. For your Dia de los Muertos party, you can’t go wrong with these skull pizzas.

These are covered in tomato sauce and cheese with veggie features. Bet you can’t resist these.

30. For lunch on Day of a Dead, take a bite out of this skull sandwich.

The jelly on this one makes it look a bit bloody. But I love how they used seeds for the features.

31. Of course, some cakes go over the top.

Now this one may be festive but it’s just so outlandish. Bet it didn’t come cheap.

32. These Hello Kitty Dia de los Muertos cookies are a real treat.

Yes, these do exist. And yes, many will find them adorable. Not sure about the witch hat though.

33. Nothing makes your Day of the Dead party a hit like these brownie bites.

Some of these have skulls on them. Some of them have bones. What you choose is up to you.

34. If you love the Day of the Dead, then you’ll enjoy these apple and cheese empanadas.

Guess these are small apple pies. Like how this skull one has heart eyes.

35. Heard of candy apples? How about candy apple skulls?

Well, that’s one unique way to decorate a skull besides cakes and cupcakes. Beautifully painted.

36. This skull cake is all flowered out.

Guess this was made at a professional bakery and didn’t come cheap. Love the flower eyes and wreath.

37. These cactus cupcakes come in all shapes and sizes.

Well, one of them is a rose but that’s beside the point. Yet, you see what I mean.

38. These Day of the Dead owl cookies will surely be a hoot.

Doesn’t hurt that they’re chocolate either. Still, don’t know what owls have to do with the holiday but I like them.

39. Sometimes it’s best to go with a simple skull head flower girl.

Well, she is surrounded by skulls but she’s not supposed to be scary. Actually quite adorable to tell you the truth.

40. If you can’t use icing on your cupcakes, sprinkles is the way to go.

After all, you can’t paint these sugar skulls. But they nevertheless look festive.

41. For simple treats, go with these skull Rice Krispie pops.

Each of these has a skull with a flower on it. Includes butterfly bites.

42. This Calavera Catrina Frida Kahlo cake is a work of art.

Frida Kahlo was an iconic Mexican artist who painted surreal self portraits. This is a fitting tribute to her.

43. Never seen an intricate gingerbread skeleton like that before.

This one is even more elaborate and colorful than the other one. Even has a gold tooth to boot.

44. Always keep your sugar skull cookies uniquely decorated.

Though I think these are by a professional decorator. Honestly, someone must spend a lot of time on these.

45. No nino could ever resist this Dia de los Muertos lunch.

Well, it has a skull cookie and some skull treats. However, let’s get this straight, Dia de los Muertos isn’t Mexican Halloween.

46. Sometimes a simple skull cake is best.

This one uses candy and icing decorations. It’s also among the most doable cake on this list.

47. For your Dia de los Muertos, you can’t resist this kind of bread.

Well, this is Pan de Muertos or “bread of the dead.” Not sure what it’s used for. But I do like these bread figures.

48. How about a skull cake encased in a coffin?

Even has cherries on the edges. Kind of morbid yet, kind of creative if you ask me.

49. There’s nothing more Mexican at a Dia de los Muertos party like a sugar skull hummus.

Even includes vegetables as well as blue nachos to dip in. One of the most elaborate hummus displays I’ve seen.

50. These skull cake pops come with interesting attributes.

Some come with flowers. Some come with mustaches. Yet, most come with icing decor.

51. Impress your guests on Dia de los Muertos with this sugar skull bread.

It’s kind of like the pizza one except it has no tomato sauce. But includes plenty of peppers.

52. This skull cakes seems rather fruity to me.

And boy, does it use a variety, too. Even has a fruit frame to go with it.

53. Wish your guests un feliz Dia de los Muertos con estes cookies.

I don’t know the Spanis word for cookie. But I do love how these are decorated.

54. When it comes to flowers, sometimes less is more.

Here we have another doable skull cake. Can also double as a Halloween cake. Then again, so can most of these treats.

55. This sugar skull pizza has all the toppings.

Indeed like pepperoni and veggies galore. Like the eyes and mouth.

56. A skull cake like this comes with blue, yellow, and green flowers.

This seems somewhat toned down compared to some of the other ones. Still, the green teeth is kind of disgusting.

57. Sometimes the skulls can just be among the trimmings.

Like you see on this cake, which wouldn’t be for Dia de los Muertos without them. Still, love the flowers.

58. You never know how elaborate a skull could be on a cake.

I think this one is for a birthday. Yet, I do like the pink flowery touches.

59. Yellow skulls and black flowers show up well in black.

This might be a wedding cake or for a birthday. I can’t tell which. But I guess the ornate decor doesn’t come cheap.

60. These Oreo skulls always make tasty treats.

You almost don’t want to eat them with their adorable faces. But since they’re Oreos, how can you resist?

61. From the faces, these Dia de los Muertos cookies almost seem like works of art.

Some of the faces seem kind of creepy if you ask me. Includes orange flowers and butterflies.

62. Sugar skulls can also take a chocolate form.

Yes, these do exist. And you can buy them in Mexico during this time of year as well.

63. For healthier options, try a skull salad.

This treat article doesn’t seem to have a lot of healthy stuff in it. Then again, sometimes you have to go with what you have.

64. Take a bite out of these sugar skull Rice Krispie treats.

Well, each seem to be bite sized and decorated. But they’re nevertheless adorable.

65. These sugar skull cake pops would do quite nicely on any Day of the Dead dessert platter.

These seem a bit more painted than the other ones. They also seem to look less like skulls.

66. These Frida Kahlo Oreos are an artist’s delight.

Strangely, her art might seem appropriate for the Mexican holiday as well. These are perfect with the Frida Kahlo cake.

67. These skull candy apples come Disney approved.

Yes, these are Mickey and Minnie Mouse skull candy apples. Disney isn’t just popular in the states, you know.

68. A Day of the Dead fiesta always needs a cake like this.

Has decor and flowers near the top and middle. Yet, the skulls are on the bottom, instead of what’s featured.

69. There’s nothing more flowery than this Day of the Dead skull cake.

Well, the flowers are all over the skull in this one. But I can’t help but adore it.

70. Of course, no Day of the Dead party can ever be without a Catrina cake.

Well, this is an older rendition of Catrina. But she really knows how to buy a hat.

71. These sugar skull and cross bone cookies shall delight.

I guess these are for the Mexican pirates in your life. Then again, I’m kidding around.

72. This skull cake comes with a cameo.

Just not the one Stan Lee makes in the Marvel movies. It’s a kind of jewelry pendant.

73. Sometimes you don’t have to ice the skulls before you decorate them.

Well, as far as these sugar cookies are concerned. Yet, I guess these were made by a professional.

74. Don’t like sugar skulls? How about flowers?

This one is a Mexican flower cake with pots. And yes, this doesn’t come cheap as well as is over the top.

75. This cake has a girl on top of a hat.

Even has a heart flower wreath as well. Professionally made but I like it.

76. Decorating these cookies requires a delicate touch.

Yes, I’m sure these require considerable time and patience fore each detail. If you mess up, you might be done.

77. Cat lovers would always want a cake like this for their Day of the Dead party.

Yes, this is a cat skeleton cake. Don’t ask me how it was made. But I’m sure you can’t eat the flowers.

78. Sometimes the most artistic skulls are done on sheet cake.

This one really brings out the colors. Not sure if a regular decorator can pull this of. But wow.

79. For Dia de los Muertos, bet you never saw such a spectacular cake like this.

This is a wedding cake and a very expensive one at that. Contains skulls, flowers, and birds galore.

80. Sometimes a simple cake design might just do the trick.

Sure it doesn’t have skulls on it. But it has flowers and hearts just the same. Love it.

Why We Need to Raise the Minimum Wage

Posted by historymaniacmegan on October 27, 2016

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When the federal minimum wage law was signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1938, it was meant to keep America’s workers out of poverty and increase consumer spending in order to stimulate the economy. Since then the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times with its current value at $7.25 an hour. However, it is a poverty wage which doesn’t keep people from being poor nor has it kept up with the US cost of living. In fact, it’s said a full time job on $7.25 an hour can’t even support even the basic living essentials in all 50 states. Nevertheless, campaigns to raise the minimum wage have recently been gaining momentum across the country ranging from ballot initiatives to grass organizing to major legislative efforts in states and localities. Many have achieved some degree of success. Yet, at Capitol Hill, proposals to raise the minimum wage have gone nowhere, despite widespread popular support across party lines as well as economists. As for me, I feel that not only should the federal minimum wage be increased, it should also be adjust automatically to keep pace with cost of living that doesn’t exempt tipped workers and the disabled. While I do not believe raising the minimum wage would relieve poverty even at $15 an hour, I feel that it’s good responsible policy as well as the right thing to do.

This graph from the Department of Labor illustrates how the minimum wage has fallen by a third since 1968. If it was automatically adjusted for inflation from that time on, the minimum wage today would at least be $11 an hour.

The Minimum Wage Is an Arbitrary Value-The only good explanation as to why the minimum wage is a poverty wage is mostly due to increases requiring approval by Congress and it doesn’t keep pace with inflation or rising costs of living. This is why the new minimum wage value usually falls from the moment it’s set. The federal minimum wage today is $7.25 per hour. Does it mean it’s higher than it used to be? In terms of real dollars, yes. But in terms of buying power, no. When adjusted for inflation, the current federal minimum wage would need to be more than $8 per hour to equal its buying power in the early 1980s and nearly more than $11 per hour to equal its buying power of the late 1960s. For tipped workers, it’s $2.13 an hour which has remained unchanged for over 25 years. In other words, why the current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour has nothing to do with inflation adjustments. Because despite minimum wage increases, its buying power has dropped and keeps falling. Though President Obama has argued for the minimum wage to increase automatically with inflation which can eliminate requirements for formal congressional action, reduce time between increases, and better help low-income families keep up with rising prices. There’s even a bill called The Raise the Wage Act proposed by Senator Patty Murray and Representative Bobby C. Scott proposing to do just that along with raising the wage to $12 an hour by 2020 as well as set automatic increases starting in 2021 and eliminate the unfair subminimum tipped wage of $2.13 an hour. It’s a policy that makes far better sense the current one. Some states have also enacted rules to do the same thing. So why is the federal minimum wage a paltry $7.25 per hour? Well, since increasing it requires congressional approval, I think it has more to do with politics and employer preference for cheap labor. In other words, it’s an arbitrary value.

2. Most Minimum Wage Jobs Can’t Be Outsourced – While conservatives often argue that raising the minimum wage will lead many people to lose their jobs, we need to understand that most minimum wage jobs are in the service industry. Unlike jobs in manufacturing, it’s unlikely most of them could ever be outsourced overseas with globalization. Besides, when we’re talking about minimum wage employees, their pay has nothing to do with international competition. Because they’re not engaged in the export sector. Competition in the service industry is mostly domestic and localized as well as staffed by local workers and serving a local customer base. In other words, service jobs be in a specific location. The biggest threats to pay in service sectors aren’t foreign countries known for human rights violations but large multinational corporate chains who treat their employees like shit.

Recent trends show that most job creation has taken place in low wage industries. So it’s no surprise that a higher share of millennials work in low wage industries while lower shares work in mid or higher wage industries.

3. New Job Growth Has Been Concentrated in Disproportionately Low Wage Industries– Today more families than ever rely on low wage and minimum wage jobs to make ends meet especially since job losses during the Great Recession have hit higher wage sectors like construction, manufacturing, and finance hard. And according to a 2012 report by the National Employment Law Project, 58% of all jobs created post-recession were low wage occupations. This isn’t a short term trend either since 6 of the top ten growth occupations projected by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for the next decade are low wage jobs, such as home health aides, customer service representatives, food preparation and service workers, personal and home care aides, retail salespersons, and office clerks. Raising the minimum wage would boost pay scales in these jobs where millions of Americans spend their careers today. And for many it’s getting harder for many workers to move beyond a low wage job. Thus, raising the minimum wage right now is more important than ever.

Here’s a picture on the hazards of domestic labor. Now people in these jobs usually earn minimum wage or less. Some of them earn more. But what this chart tells you that it’s anything but easy. In fact, it’s hard and thankless work. The same can go for many low wage jobs.

4. Most Minimum Wage Jobs Aren’t Easy– Those opposed to minimum wage increases argue that anyone could do a minimum wage job which doesn’t require a lot of responsibility. But that has no bearing on reality whatsoever. Service industry workers often have stressful work days as well as unpredictable work schedules. A lot of them don’t have nice work environments either. Not to mention, a lot of these jobs lack health benefits, paid leave, opportunities for advancement, and job security. Many minimum wage employees work on weekends and holidays. A lot of them work 8-hour days while some can work even more. Some even have more than one job if they work part-time. Some may even experience workplace injury or illness. A lot require constant human interaction, time management, and multitasking. Let’s just say there’s a very good reason why a lot of minimum wage jobs have high turnover rates. These aren’t easy jobs anyone can do. They’re thankless, stressful, and grueling jobs while these workers receive little respect for all the crap they put up with on a regular basis. I spent a Christmas season working at Macy’s which paid $8 an hour. I spent hours on my feet that I had a lot of aches and pains. I also had to deal with hours of Christmas music in the background. By the end of my shift I was exhausted. I have often seen ads for many of these jobs which have a long list of duties and responsibilities as well as skills like patience, knowledge, care, and communication. There are plenty of caregiving jobs with educational requirements that pay minimum wage like home healthcare and childcare. Hell, even hairdressers and manicurists can earn low wages and they have to go through cosmetology school. Some low wage jobs can require at least an associate’s degree or even a 4-year college education. Building services may also require special skills. For instance, janitors may have a wide range of duties besides indoor cleaning like maintenance, security, and yard work. The cleaning industry is known for hiring 17-23% of undocumented immigrants as well as posts a median pay of $10.68 an hour (though many school janitors get paid more than the teachers so it’s not always a low wage job). Bank tellers, data entry keyers, cooks, pharmacy assistants, clerks, hotel receptionists, and security guards can also be paid minimum wage. In many ways, I think the terms “low-skilled” or “unskilled labor” just refers to jobs with shitty pay.

Many people argue that low wage work is such because they don’t require a lot of skills, education, and lack social value. If that were true, then explain to me why Cesar Chavez became so famous for organizing farm workers for better conditions. Yeah, that doesn’t hold up.

5. Most Minimum Wage Jobs Don’t Lack Social Value– When most people think of jobs paying minimum wage, they tend to think about people working at fast food restaurants which only consist of 5% of low wage jobs. In fact, most low income jobs pay poor may have little to do with their value in society. Or if they do, then it might be a reason they’re paid so poorly in the first place. At any rate, they’re all around us which include security guards, nurse’s aides and home healthcare aides, child-care workers, educational assistants, maids and porters, janitors, call center workers, bank tellers, data entry keyers, food preparation workers, waiters and waitresses, cooks, pharmacy assistants, hairdressers, manicurists, fish and meat processors, sewing machine operators, laundry and dry cleaning operators, ambulance drivers, parking lot attendants, and farm workers. Sure there may be people in these jobs who make good money like a janitor at a public school or hairdressers. But we’re talking about general trends. We’re not necessarily talking about people who make no contribution to society. In fact, we’re talking about people in jobs that don’t get much respect. If you don’t believe me, then think about how Caesar Chavez became so famous for organizing California farm workers in the 1960s. Or why so many workplaces and corporations in the service industry take major steps to keep their low wage workers from unionizing.

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This is a graph from the Economic Policy Institute illustrating how a minimum wage increase would affect American families. After all, low wage workers are usually responsible for half of their family’s earnings. Not to mention, 1 out of 5 kids has a parent who’d be helped.

6. Raising the Minimum Wage Will Benefit Workers and Their Families– Even if you work full-time at $7.25 an hour, you’re lucky to retain $225 a week or $12,000 a year after taxes and deductions. This is precisely threshold of poverty for a single person. Not enough to pay rent or take care of dependent children. In fact, it’s barely surviving. In no state can a minimum wage worker afford a 2 bedroom unit at a fair market rent, working a standard 40 hour work week. Or at least without paying more than 30% of their income. But a lot of minimum wage workers are trying to pay rent and have dependent children to support sometimes by themselves, which is why many are on welfare and food stamps. In addition to the 1.3 million people working at minimum wage, raising it to $10 per hour would help 1.7 million working below it, and 21 million working above the minimum but below that amount. So you’re talking about a third of the workforce. 17.5 million children will also benefit since at least one of their parents will get a raise. Raising the minimum wage to $12 or $15 an hour could benefit even more. Not to mention since women and minorities are disproportionately represented in low wage jobs, raising the minimum wage could help close significant gender and racial pay gaps.

Here’s a snapshot on how many hours a person would have to work a week on $7.25 an hour to afford rent in the country. As you see, all the values are above 40 hours.

7. Raising the Minimum Wage Benefits the Economy– When workers are paid more, they’re more likely to spend more, especially when it comes to their own companies or hometowns. This explains why Henry Ford decided to pay his workers high wages to make and later buy his cars. Now Ford wasn’t a nice guy. But even he knew that workers are customers and the better a worker’s ability to participate in the economy as a consumer, the better off businesses and the economy will be as a whole. Though businesses might experience a dip in their profits, they’re able to pay higher wages without reducing employment because the savings can be substantial even if greater productivity and lower turnover may not fully pay for the minimum wage increase. Workers earning low wages are less committed to their jobs and less likely to stay for long. Employee turnover forces businesses to constantly find and train new workers, costing them significant money and time. Most of the time the new recruits may not be as optimally efficient during their training period as the experienced and productive workers they replaced. This can incur indirect costs to businesses from lost sales and imperfect customer service as new workers learn on the job. Add to that the fact a lot large retail companies like QuikTrip, Mercadona, Trader Joe’s, and Costco not only invest heavily in their employees, but also have the lowest prices in their industries, solid financial performance, and better customer service than their competitors. They also have better reputations, more work satisfaction, and less employee theft. 89% of small businesses in the country also pay their employees more than the federal minimum wage. Many small business owners believe higher wages level the playing field by preventing larger and less scrupulous firms from gaining a competitive advantage through very low labor costs. A strategy adopted by large corporations such as retail giants like T.J. Maxx, Walmart, Gap, and Ikea which have enjoyed record profits for years as well as employ 2/3 of all low wage workers. It’s no surprise why most small businesses support increasing the minimum wage to at least $12 an hour, some to even $15. In many ways, this makes a lot of sense since these large retail giants see workers as expendable while small businesses need to hold onto their best employees for as long as they can. Small businesses and large companies have proven that the key to their success is a combination of investment in the workforce and operational practices benefiting employees, customers, and the company.

This map show the lot of tipped workers many of whom can earn below minimum wage at a rate as low as $2.13 an hour + tips. But the system in paying tipped workers is so complex that these workers are subject to manipulation and abuse. Many have had their tips stolen by their bosses. And many live in poverty.

8. Current Tipped Minimum Wage Laws Are Terrible– According to the National Employment Law Project, an estimated 4.3 million people work in predominantly tipped occupations in the US. Employees classified as tipped workers if they receive at least $30 per month in tips and the current federal tipped worker minimum wage is $2.13 an hour, which is less than a third of the current federal minimum wage and has remained unchanged since the 1990s. While most tipped workers are in the restaurant industry, these include car wash workers, nail salon workers, valets, and airport attendants among others. Two thirds of tipped workers are women which makes the subminimum tipped wage a form of legislated pay inequity. Many tipped workers use these tips to support their families and to pay for higher education like student loans. Labor movements have called to eliminate the tipped minimum wage. 7 states already have and their tipped workers earn full minimum wage + tips which I strongly think is how tipped workers should be paid anyway. New York’s tipped minimum wage is $7.50 which is more than 83% its full minimum wage. And in Hawaii, tipped workers only earn less than half minimum wage if they receive more than generous tips. Other states and D.C. have also increased their tipped minimum wage above $2.13 an hour. But these rates aren’t equal and aren’t always fair. And personally, I find the idea of a subminimum tipped wage as absolutely unfair and ridiculous. Add to that the fact employers are required to make up the difference if a tipped worker’s base wage and tips doesn’t add to the full minimum wage. But this is a complex system that’s both difficult to comply with and largely unenforceable for these reasons:

It requires extensive tracking and accounting tip flows which even law-abiding employers find burdensome and difficult. This also allows less ethical employers to take advantage of this notorious complex system to illegally keep a portion of tips for themselves. Thus, this results in many tipped employees failing to receive the tips which they’re entitled to as well as have their income prone to manipulation and abuse.
Employers are allowed to average tips over the course of the work week and required to “top up” only if an employee’s average hourly earnings are less than the full minimum wage. They’re also allowed to estimate their workers’ tips in order to determine how much tax to withhold. Though this estimation approach isn’t sufficient for federal minimum wage compliance, many employers use this anyway though they don’t actually verify that their workers really do receive enough tips to bring them up to the full minimum wage. One southern New Jersey waitress told NELP, “They just take our total sales for the day—say it’s [a couple] hundred dollars—and they just [estimate] 15% of that.” Under the federal minimum wage law, this is illegal as well as overstates tips since many customers tip less than 15% and “a few times a week” a customer leaves no tip at all.
Tips are allowed to be pooled among various types of restaurant employees, giving a portion of those tips a server receives to legitimately be reallocated to other workers. This is a frequent and sometimes legally dubious practice at many businesses across the country as well as creates other opportunities for unethical employers to illegally skin off a portion of these tips for themselves or use to pay other employees whether they’re tipped or not.
Tipped workers who’ve experienced tip-stealing or other forms of wage theft are often reluctant to demand what they’re owed in fear of reprisal. Many of rely on their supervisors to schedule their shifts and make more or less in tips depending on what shifts they’re given. So complaining about being ripped off might lead to being scheduled on a less profitable shift or simply fired.
Tip stealing is rampant in industries that employ tipped workers who are often victims. Tip violations can take various forms but ultimately, they all result in tipped workers losing some of their tips to improve the employer’s bottom line. Some employers simply pocket a portion for tip pools while others can be less direct such as including non-tipped workers in the tip pool so they can be paid the lower minimum wage for tipped workers. Sometimes restaurants can take advantage of communication barriers among workers. The National Employment Law Project mentioned a waitress setting aside 15% of her tips for bussers but was expected to pay upfront and didn’t know whether they got it. They also discuss how waiters and waitresses in an upstate New York town exposed that managers had simply pocketed a portion of their tips they deducted, supposedly to share with the bussers. Additionally, they also talked about a Maryland waitress who already shared her tips with a captain, bussers, and host who finally contacted a union for help when the restaurant’s managers tried to take a portion of her tips for themselves as well. Several high profile lawsuits have recently been filed in response to these practices.
According to a 2014 report by the White House Economic Council and the Department of Labor, 1 in 10 surveyed tipped workers reported hourly wages below the federal minimum wage, tips included. This compared to 4% of all workers reporting earnings below minimum wage.
Compliance and enforcement challenges aside, despite requiring employers to make up the difference between tips and statutory minimum wage, it remains the case that customers are directly responsible for paying a portion of workers’ wages under this system. Thus, instead of being a gratuity for good service, having a subminimum tipped wage renders tips a customer-funded wage replacement and lowers labor costs for employers in a few select industries.
Work for tipped employees is inherently uneven and often unpredictable with most making substantial amounts on Friday and Saturday nights and much less other days of the week. In addition, bad weather, a bad economy, seasonal change, and a host of other factors can cause sudden drops in tipped income and economic insecurity. Also, tips can fluctuate widely and are often paid in cash.
Nationwide, the median tipped wage for servers is $10.11 per hour and $9.89 for waitresses. This despite claims from the restaurant industry that servers make a median between $16 and $22 per hour. The median wage for all workers nationwide is $16.48 per hour. Median wages for tipped workers in general are nearly 40% lower than overall median hourly wages.
46% of tipped workers depend on public assistance from the federal government which is well over the rate of 35.9% for all workers. 12.8% of tipped workers in the US live in poverty, including 15% of restaurant servers. In fact, servers experience poverty at well over twice the rate of the overall US workforce. They’re also only a quarter as likely as the workforce as a whole to receive employer-provided health insurance and are twice as likely to be uninsured. In states the federal tipped minimum of $2.13 per hour is implemented, 14% of tipped workers and 18% of servers live in poverty. In states where tipped workers are paid full minimum wage + tips, the poverty rate for them is 10.8% and 10.2% for servers.

Despite fierce contention in the media and in Congress, raising minimum wage has wide support among Americans. This NELP graph illustrates this.

9. Raising the Minimum Wage Has Wide Support– Most Americans feel the minimum wage is too low and are concerned about rising inequality. A 2014 Public Policy Polling shows that 80% of respondents don’t believe they could support themselves or their families on minimum wage. Other polls show that 7 in 10 Americans believe that income inequality is getting worse and nearly as many believe the government has a role to play in reducing the gap between rich and poor. A 2013 Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 57% of Americans want lawmakers to address income inequality. The Hart Research Associates shows that 75% of Americans support raising the minimum wage to $12.50 or more by 2020, including 92% of Democrats, 53% of Republicans, 73% of Independents, 80% of women, and 72% of non-college whites. On the small business front, support for increasing the minimum wage is 61% or 3 in 5. 63% of Americans support a $15.00 minimum wage. 71% of Americans favor eliminating the subminimum tipped waged to ensure tipped employees the same minimum wage as other workers. 82% support automatic annual minimum wage increases to ensure it keeps up with the annual costs of living. There is no reason why Congress should be unable to pass The Raise the Wage law right now, even with a Republican majority. At least as far as the American people are concerned.

10. Minimum Wage Laws Unfairly Exempt Disabled People– Under the current federal law, the Secretary of Labor can issue special wage certificates to employers allowing them to pay disabled workers a subminimum wage, sometimes just a few cents per hour and in segregated work environments where they often perform mundane tasks that don’t use their existing skills, interests, and talents. Yet, this exemption is based on an antiquated notion that encourages disabled workers to rely on Social Security Income, Medicaid, food stamps, or other government programs in order to get by. There are also current training and employment strategies to assist those with even the most significant disabilities to obtain integrated and meaningful work. And when paired with the right rehabilitative tools, training, and expectations, employees with disabilities can be as productive as their nondisabled peers. It’s also discriminatory since nobody should be paid below the minimum wage, disabled or not. And I say that even if the minimum wage is too low.

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During the Gilded Age, those in blue collar professions worked in terrible working conditions with long hours and shitty pay. Many of these workers were children, some of them as old as kindergartners, mostly because their parents worked in the same place and didn’t earn enough to support a family. Still, we should also acknowledge that once workplace regulations and protections were in place, these large companies still earned money and lost nothing.

11. Blue Collar Jobs Used to Have Shitty Pay– Yes, I’m well aware that a lot of jobs in the service industry pay minimum wage or even less than that. And yes, I know many argue low wages are a cost-driven necessity for these jobs. On the other hand, you have a lot of blue collar jobs in mining and manufacturing which many people see as good paying jobs that many working class people lament leaving their hometowns or being outsourced. However, we should also acknowledge that blue collar jobs were the shit jobs of 19th and early 20^th century industrialization with dangerous conditions, long hours, and very low pay. And I mean like working in the mine for 14 hour days on a wage that can’t support your family. So now your eight year old has to drop out of school and go to work with you. It wasn’t unusual for whole families to work in a factory, including the kids who could be as young as four years old. Now we’re talking about a time when there were no workplace safety protections, no minimum wage, no workers’ rights, and institutionalized child labor. So what changed? Well, these workers organized into unions and went on strike for their rights, not just risking getting fired but also getting killed. And they faced staunch opposition from their robber baron bosses. Yet, once they got what they wanted, these blue-collar jobs were no longer seen as shit jobs by later generations. In fact, they were seen as jobs that could support a family and local economies benefitted just the same. But this shows us that the existence of shit jobs has more to do with an employer’s desire for cheap and expendable labor than what the job entails. Also, keeping workers dependent on them that they’ll put up with any abuse they give them. Not to mention, it supports the argument that low wages are a choice and not a cost-driven necessity. This is why a lot of corporations don’t want to raise the minimum wage or have their workers unionize. Not only that, but also that the shit jobs of today don’t have to be the shit jobs of tomorrow if we invest more in our workers. Raising the minimum wage is a good place to start.

12. Raising the Minimum Wage Saves Taxpayer Money– With wages being what they are, many low income workers have relied on public assistance because their paycheck can’t cover basic expenses. Even if they work for companies that could certainly afford to pay them a raise and benefits. American taxpayers spend an annual $153 billion in taxpayer money helping low wage earning families get by. This includes food stamps, Medicaid, CHIP, TANF as well as childcare subsidies and reduced-free school lunch programs. These programs help Americans meet a basic standard of living despite being targets for cuts and reductions. But having workers rely on public assistance has more to do with their employers paying them nothing more than poverty wages. Therefore, the government is indirectly subsidizing these companies that refuse to pay more. In fact, some companies like McDonald’s doesn’t even hide that half their workforce is on welfare and even encourage their employees to seek public assistance. Higher wages at work save taxpayer money since they lift more people out of poverty and produce more tax revenue. Sorry, libertarians, but cheap labor doesn’t come cheap.

This is a graph from the Economic Policy Institute that shows what the average minimum wage worker. Despite the stereotype of a teenage working after school, most minimum wage earners are adults who work full time as well as earn more than half of their family’s total income.

13. Low Wages Don’t Relieve Poverty– Contrary to what conservatives said about minimum wage jobs being for teens trying to earn extra money and experience, 89% of minimum wage workers are 20 years old or over while many are women and people of color. 37% of them have at least some college education. A third of them are over 30. Not to mention, 57% of minimum wage jobs are full-time and are unlikely filled by teens anyway. Some low wage industries don’t hire teens at all. That being said, statistics show a lot of low wage workers make nearly to over half their family’s income and 28% of them are parents. Sometimes they could be the family’s chief breadwinner, especially in single parent households. In every state working the minimum wage leaves a full-time worker with two kids below the poverty line. Not to mention, low-income wage earners may work multiple jobs which gives them even less time to spend with their kids as well as take care of themselves. At worst this could lead to a case like Maria Fernandes who worked so hard to make ends meet that she died from gas fumes in her car while napping between shifts. Fernandes was said to work 4 jobs and sometimes didn’t sleep for nearly a week. There were a couple occasions when single mothers were busted for leaving their kids unsupervised due to working 3 jobs and lack of available childcare options. Many low income workers have also experienced a considerable toll on their health while their children suffer in school and in life. No one who works for a living should have to live in or near poverty, especially full-time.

14. Raising the Minimum Wage Has Expert Support– In January 2014, over 600 economists across the country sent a letter to President Obama and congressional leaders arguing for a minimum wage raise to $10.10 by 2016 and then indexed to protect it against inflation. 7 of these were Nobel Prize winners. Even the Department of Labor supports this measure and think it’s a better idea than the current minimum wage laws we have now.

Here’s a map from the Wall Street Journal showing the minimum wage increases within each state. Of course, some pay below or have no minimum wage laws at all.

15. The Minimum Wage Has Been Raised in Localities and States– As of 2016, 29 states, D. C., as well as countless localities have raised the minimum wage, many in recent years. Some have even enacted measures to increase the minimum wage automatically with inflation and the costs of living. Not only that, but despite congressional Republican opposition, raising the wage in these states, D.C., and other jurisdictions weren’t just mere liberals pushing for it. Sure Washington State, Oregon, California, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts voted for minimum wage increases. But so have red states like West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, Alaska, Missouri, and Montana. Swing states like Florida, Michigan, Arizona, and Ohio have also raised their minimum wage. The fact minimum wage increases have passed in states of various political leanings should emphasize its widespread support among party lines.

Despite that many opponents of minimum wage increases argue that raising it would kill jobs or raise prices, keep in mind that none of them bring up this argument when it comes to skyrocketing CEO pay while regular wages remain stagnant. Seriously if your company can afford to give a CEO a generous severance package of a few million bucks, they can raise wages on their lowest paying workers. It’s not hard to see.

16. Opposition to Minimum Wage Increases Has More to Do with Self-Interest and Ideology– I know there are people who argue that raising the minimum wage would hurt the economy as well as kill jobs and raise prices. However, we need to understand that despite bipartisan and expert support, raising the minimum wage is still seen as a mainly liberal issue in the halls of Congress. Why? Because a lot of Republican politicians are bankrolled by big corporate lobbies who would rather use cheap labor, many of whom boast record profits and very much can afford to pay their workers more. There are a lot of libertarian and conservative economists and think tanks to back them up, some of whom want to abolish minimum wage which just makes workers even more prone to further exploitation. Believers in free market and trickle down economics usually see low wage jobs as a cost-driven necessity for economic prosperity. But employers often use this argument to justify not giving their impoverished employees a raise for decades, including your Gilded Age robber barons. Besides, no Fortune 500 CEO uses this argument when it comes to their own pay, which has skyrocketed dramatically. I mean the median CEO to worker pay ratio has risen from 20-to-1 in 1965 to 204-to-1 in 2015. Some of the highest paid CEOs make 300 times more than their typical employees. There are plenty of CEOs with million dollar salaries as well as stock options/grants, bonuses, benefits, and other perks. Hell, even bad CEOs receive generous severance packages whenever they left their companies in worse shape than when they took over. Yet, no libertarian or conservative argues that raising their pay will contribute to higher prices, job loss, or worse economies. Or why people end up paying higher prices and lose their jobs while worker wages remain stagnant. Yes, I know that a CEO’s job may require more skills, education, and talent than a lot of minimum wage occupations and that we’ve been through a recession. But it doesn’t convince me why conservatives and libertarians think raising the minimum wage will lead to economic ruin while raising CEO compensation won’t. Surely a company that can generously compensate its own CEO can pay its lowest earning workers $15 an hour, which is just small potatoes. So I think it’s more of a matter of corporate greed and self-interest.

This quote by Chris Rock perfectly explains why we need the federal government should raise the minimum wage. Most companies will not give their employees a raise by themselves. They need to be mandated to do it.

17. Large Employers Are Unlikely to Increase Wages on Their Own– While many conservatives and libertarians might tell us that workers would be better paid if it weren’t for all those pesky taxes regulations, it is not the case. The robber barons during the Gilded Age didn’t pay federal income taxes until the 16^th Amendment passed in 1916 and none of their tax dollars went to benefit their impoverished, overworked, and underpaid employees. Not to mention, their workplace policies are the reason why we have so many regulations and agencies to protect workers today. Besides, there are plenty of large corporations exploit federal tax loopholes so they don’t have to pay at all. And yet, conservatives and libertarians claim that if we get rid of the tax burden with social welfare programs and regulations, the “free market” will provide and take care of workers. Uh, excuse me but during the Gilded Age, those tax supported social programs didn’t exist and I’m pretty sure the free market didn’t take care of those low wage workers. Unions and the government policies they lobbied for while facing staunch opposition from these large companies. Besides, corporations lobby at all levels of government like crazy for direct and indirect public assistance like bailouts, subsidies, special tax breaks, deductions, tax and policy loopholes specifically designed for them, so-called “right to work” laws, and more. Say what you want about welfare, but I’d rather have my tax dollars go to assisting poor people than to a $3 billion a year corporate jet subsidy, a $200 billion Wall Street bailout, special tax breaks to hedge fund managers allowing them to pay a 15% tax rate, or a $70 billion a year home mortgage deduction with 77% going to people earning over $100,000. Sure corporations may like lower taxes and less regulations but even if they get what they want from their political lackeys, they will not give workers a raise unless they’re pressured to either by unions, government policy, or both. But wait, what about companies that pay workers better wages like Costco? Yes, there are big businesses that treat their workers generously like Costco but the Costcos in this world are the exception to the rule, especially in sectors that hire low wage workers. Therefore, federal government action to raise the minimum wage is necessary.

By raising the federal minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour, corporations will only have to spend just 1/3 cent of every dollar spent on wages, according the the Congressional Budget office. So I’m confident these large companies with minimum wage labor can totally afford it.

18. Raising the Minimum Wage Is the Right Thing to Do– Economics aside, we should consider the fact that as earnings from corporations and the top 1% increased to dramatic new high, wages have stagnated or lost value even as productivity also rose. This could never be more true for low income workers. Raising the minimum wage will protect the most powerless in our workforce. Now could anyone say whether it’s fair for businesses to boast big profits while paying their employees poverty wages? Of course not. Is it fair for someone to live in poverty despite working a full-time job? Hell no. And if raising the minimum wage hurts their profits, why should I care? I mean a big company like McDonald’s is unlikely to lose business if they pay their workers $15 an hour since they’ll usually make a big profit anyway. Besides, most small businesses pay their staff more than minimum wage anyway since they can’t afford replacing them while retaining a competitive edge against their larger counterparts. As for price increases, well, they usually rise whether wages increase or not. And studies show that the increases won’t be much. What about jobs? If raising the wage results in reduced hiring and hours and more job loss by big companies, it won’t be due to economics. It would be more or less because of greedy executives who’d use just about any excuse to cut their workforces. Small businesses, on the other hand, are more worried about poor sales than being trounced by their big business counterparts than anything. Even if raising the minimum wage does hurt the economy like its critics have predicted, what about the concept of economic justice? I think that should matter. After all, labor is critical to a business’s success and workers who dedicate their time and effort into that company should get a bigger cut in that. Look, from how I see it, there’s no good reason to not raise the minimum wage. And above all, no one working a full time job should live in poverty. Even though I know that raising the wage won’t cure poverty any time soon, at least it can show a good example by making businesses invest more in their workforce. It’s about time.

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As FDR said himself, nobody should work a full time job and still live in poverty. Workers have a right for a decent living wage which has been denied to many in the name of profit. So raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do. Besides, what’s wrong with economic justice for God’s sake?

The Spooky World of Halloween Pumpkin Dioramas (Second Edition)

Posted by historymaniacmegan on October 26, 2016

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Last year, I did a post on Halloween pumpkin dioramas that has caused as much of a sensation on my blog and continues to do so. So I decided to do another post despite having a hard time finding unique pumpkin dioramas like these posted above. And I used all of them in last year’s post. When I discussed the idea of pumpkin dioramas with my mother, she seemed to imagine the pumpkin being part of the display. So she was surprised when she saw the dioramas in the pumpkin whether they come from a pumpkin patch or a craft store. And many of them do have a lot of scary Halloween stuff. But once in a while you might find pumpkin dioramas like these which revolve around polar regions, fairy gardens, and space. Some pumpkin dioramas revolve around Thanksgiving but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. So for your reading pleasure, I give you another treasure trove of these Halloween pumpkin creations.

How about a some campfire music with old friends?

Sure they may not want to get out of their graves at the moment. But the music can go straight to their bones or wake the dead.

2. Things have been a little dead lately in the big house.

And here they are gambling behind bars. Seem to have no bones about it.

3. Seems like this graveyard has seen better days.

Guess somebody hasn’t tended this cemetery in years. As I can tell by the weeds.

4. Hope you don’t have to stay in this haunted house.

The house lights up from the inside if you get my drift. Seems like a skeleton answers the door.

5. Just because the house is small doesn’t mean it’s not haunted.

Well, this house is a paper cut out. Yet, I do love how they used moss and trees for the scary decor.

6. Sometimes these old houses could take their secrets to the grave.

Yes, I know it’s not painted black for a night scene on the inside. Yet, it nevertheless seems all the more eerie.

7. Don’t mind these skeletons hanging out on the graveyard shift.

“So I said to her, ‘Look, we’re not getting any younger. At least I you still have your skin while I’m practically decomposing.'”

8. Hope your pumpkin graveyard includes a scary tree.

And I don’t mean one of those Ents from Lord of the Rings. Unless you want to do a Lord of the Rings pumpkin diorama, which this is not.

9. Seems like we have a light from the ground here.

It’s also part miniature garden as well with a carved top. Still, like the light.

10. Man, those skeletons sure know how to party.

But I often hear that they’re not a lively bunch. Though they really seem to have a dead good time.

11. When you see a large skull at night, you’ll be in for a fright.

Now this one is quite menacing. Really like how the one skeleton rises out of the ground and the white trees. That kid will surely need therapy.

12. Guess you can find lots of bats about this one.

This one seems to take a view from the sky with paper bats and branches inside. Amazing.

13. Open the door to this pumpkin and you’ll find a haunted house inside.

You’ll also find some pumpkins stacked like a snowman as well as bats on a lite tree. But that’s beside the point.

14. Sometimes people would want their pumpkins to contain the sights of nature.

However, they couldn’t include a scene of deer mating, fighting, getting shot but hunters, or being hit by cars as would you normally see during the fall. So they decided to go with a deer family scene instead.

15. This little pumpkin contains a real graveyard scene.

Well, it doesn’t use much. But you might not want to know who’s buried here. Or who’s decomposing.

16. Enter this graveyard if you dare.

Love how they painted the clouds in this one. Also like the large gate. Really eerie.

17. This barbecue is bound to be a graveyard smash.

“How about we cook ribs on the grill tonight?”
“Whose yours or mine? Cause I don’t have any meat on ’em.”

18. Here we come to Cinderella being let out from her pumpkin coach.

Well, that’s one way to put a pumpkin to good use. Not scary for Halloween, creative enough.

19. May your dreams come true with this Disney pumpkin diorama.

Once again, this also features Cinderella and her castle. Why was I not surprised?

20. Even foxes should know not to be alone in a graveyard at night.

Well, I think the fox touch is a bit clever since wildlife frequent cemeteries all the time. Hope it can get through the night.

21. How about a road of black trees into the sunset?

I guess the trees might be made from paper. But I love how they create an arch over the road so close together.

22. This skeleton is by himself with his bones.

Yes. he’s on a bench in his bones on a night like this. Hope he didn’t die waiting for anyone or anything.

23. This haunted house has really gone to the ghosts.

Well, you have bats around here, too but they seem more part of the scenery. But they’re the only living creature you’ll find here.

24. Fans of the Wizard of Oz would enjoy this pumpkin diorama of Emerald City.

Of course, I think the flying monkey scenes would’ve been more appropriate. Considering this is Halloween we’re talking about.

25. Using cotton is great for cobwebs and fog.

Well, this seems like a messy craft project made by a school child. Then again, it’s kind of supposed to be.

26. For a fighting mummy scene, an Egyptian scene is necessary.

And it seems these mummies are going at it with each other. Must be in a museum.

27. Seems like these skeletons are having a graveyard smash in the Old West.

Well, it’s kind of hard to make out what’s going on here. But I’m sure the figures are kind of undead.

28. Sometimes a graveyard might need to blend with its surroundings.

After all, having it a plain orange pumpkin doesn’t make it seem any more dead. Also, got to make room for those trees.

29. This skeleton really knows how to make an entrance.

Yes, they really seem to dig a stylish red motorcycle. Then again, it’s not like the moped could kill them since they’re dead already.

30. Ahoy, dead pirates on the high seas.

Seems like they came across some treasure, too. Too bad they may not be able to enjoy it.

31. It always seems a little dead at 1313.

Doesn’t seem like a lively place. Unless you’re a bat. Like the house and trees.

32. Need room for broom parking?

Well, outside broom parking anyway. Inside broom parking space is a closet. Like the spiderweb.

33. This place seems to have become a real ghost town.

Think of it as an Old West town but with skeletons. Why Tim Burton doesn’t make a western movie like this I have no idea.

34. It’s always eerie to see bats flying at the full moon.

Well, bats are kind of creepy if you ask me. Yet, wonder if there’s a pumpkin diorama with a Batman sign.

35. Seems like this pumpkin is under construction.

This one uses Playmobil figures. Must’ve been made for a kid so it would be less scary.

36. Behold the raven overlooking the unburied graves.

Odd, to have the skeletons all black like they’re decomposing. Nice to have a mausoleum, which you don’t see in a lot of grave yard scenes.

37. Now this makes a great cemetery entrance.

I’m sure most cemeteries don’t have skeleton entry archways. So enter if you dare.

38. These pumpkins always make nice abodes for fall fairies.

Both of them even have bats for added Halloween emphasis. Also like the gnomes.

39. You’ll never know what you’ll find on Halloween night.

These seem to have a more vintage look to them. Two have trick or treaters. One has a witch.

40. May you step up to know your fortune.

Seems like that’s an Evil Queen from Snow White in a yellow dress for this purpose. Love the border though.

41. Seems like we have plants spilling out this pumpkin.

Well, I said some of these are mini gardens. Not sure if it will be good after October though.

42. Not sure if I could hear the future from this fortune teller.

Like the spider web outfit on the skeleton. Very fitting for a haunted fortune teller.

43. Something must’ve awoken the dead during the night.

Then again, they could be early risers. Of course, it’s probably too late for me to say that.

44. Those who enjoy Harry Potter will enjoy these pumpkin dioramas.

One depicts Buckbeak at Hagrid’s Hut from the Prisoner of Azkaban. The other has Harry on his broom during a Quidditch match.

45. There’s nothing more adorable than a couple of raccoons.

Yes, these are cute inside your pumpkin. But they can be a terror in your trash bin.

46. Better rest in peace with this spooky town.

Yes, I know you see a lot of graveyard pumpkin dioramas. But it’s Halloween for God’s sake. So graveyard scenes are a thing.

47. Well, hope these ghosts can haunt to it.

This doesn’t seem that hard to do. And will surely not scare people. Like the ghosts.

48. Nothing makes a better pumpkin diorama like a tiger and a squirrel.

And the squirrel doesn’t seem to scale which makes it ideal prey for the tiger. Because, that’s nature.

49. Perhaps you may say he’s dead but not completely buried.

Now that looks pretty creepy, especially with the foliage. Love the crow on top. Or is that a raven?

50. This spidery pumpkin has no bones about it.

Well, it has plenty of bones about it inside. But that’s just an expression. Still, has spiders for extra creepiness.

The Dark Scary World of Vintage Halloween Costumes (Second Edition)

Posted by historymaniacmegan on October 21, 2016

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Whether it’s how they made costumes those days, the photography, or what else, there’s some reason why many of these vintage Halloween costumes are so creepy. Some of these can put a slasher horror movie costume department to shame. Sometimes they can be quite strange. Last year, I did a post on these old Halloween costumes and it became a hit. Not to mention, I had plenty of pictures left over that I couldn’t use in the last one. So I decided to do another one for this year. After all, why not? Halloween’s around the corner and I feel people need some distraction from the scary election playing out on our airwaves. Still, vintage stuff doesn’t always consist of cutesy politically correct nostalgia of one’s imagination.Sometimes it might feature stuff that might make you laugh or cringe. And Halloween costumes are no exception. Since there could be a lot of these that may make you shake your head in horror or disgust. So for your reading pleasure, I give you another treasure trove of haunted Halloween costumes from long ago.

Sometimes witches aren’t always in a scaring mood.

Sure they may not be excited for Halloween. But they’re nonetheless creepy if you take a good look at them.

2. Here we come to a witch and an African tribesman?

Dude, that’s not cool. Seriously, blackface racial caricatures are never okay. Nor are African tribesman stereotypes.

3. Is that supposed to be Donald Duck with a top?

Now that’s a very creepy rendition. More like a serial killer dressed as Donald Duck and on a budget. Not something you’d want in a slasher horror movie.

4. Either this is a gnome or the Joker’s daughter. I can’t tell which.

Okay, I think it's supposed to be a girl dressed as a gnome. But she reminds me more like the Joker with a beard and hat.

Okay, I think it’s supposed to be a girl dressed as a gnome. But she reminds me more like the Heath Ledger’s Joker with a beard and hat. Why so serious?

5. For witches, it’s always like mother, like daughter.

Well, they can both scare the bejesus out of you. But I love how they have matching dresses.

6. You might want to beware of walking outhouses while trick or treating.

Well, I knew people had outhouses during those days. But I didn’t know they’d dress like them for Halloween.

7. Don’t have a witch’s gown? Use a trash bag.

Well, seemed to work for this kid. However, not sure what to make of the makeup job. Let’s hope it’s not blackface.

8. No, I don’t think you should let a grizzly babysit. It won’t go well.

Sure it’s just a Halloween costume. But this bear seems to have dead eyes. And I wouldn’t trust it with children.

9. Every demonic nightmare always has to start small.

Well, putting on a mask is one way to go trick or treating with little effort. But would you want to give candy to this kid? Well, if it means not seeing him again.

10. Unfortunately, the original Batman costume didn’t go so well.

Kind of a combination of Chernaborg from Fantasia and someone from Cats. Creepy, yes, but not something for Batman.

11. You never know what kind of costume you could make with a paper bag.

Well, the scarecrow is pretty scary enough. But the witch photobomb can really creep you out.

12. No matter what you think, sometimes things can be quite chill on the Planet of the Apes.

And you thought a chimp head wouldn’t look scary on a small child. You were wrong.

13. Let’s see what this ragdoll looks in color.

Well, this might make a nice costume. But that face just creeps me out. There’s something about her that sets me off.

14. For witches and ghouls, cats make great companions.

I don’t feel great for this cat. Wonder if these women are going to make cat stew later on. Wouldn’t be surprised.

15. During fall, you’ll never know what you’ll find in a field.

Now these scarecrows can literally scare crows. Along with anyone else in that regard. Not sure which one will give you more nightmares.

16. Remember, kids, always carry a trick or treat bag and wear a mask.

The trick or treat bags are for holding candy. The masks are for scaring the neighbors into giving it to you so they won’t have to worry about their lives.

17. When the cat and the pig get together, there’s always trouble.

Of course, they’re already planning their scheme to taking out the neighborhood. Not that it matters to anyone.

18. Halloween is a great time for ghost costumes and offensive racial stereotypes.

Sure the ghost costumes are creepy as hell. But the blackface and the Fu-Manchu mustache may qualify as offensive cultural appropriation.

19. Pink elephants always stick together.

Pink elephant is a euphemism for a drunken hallucination. But these pink elephants are freaking nightmares in living color.

20. When it comes to costumes, the masks aren’t always lifelike.

At first I almost though the guy in the middle wasn’t real. Also, not sure about the priest depiction though scary.

21. Now these two seem like strange old crows.

Well, they have bird heads which remind me of those old taxidermy pictures. But this is freakier.

22. My, what a very ghostly classroom.

Each is made from paper it seems. But they’re quite menacing as a group. Maybe that’s the magic of black and white photography.

23. A skeleton always needs to cover his bones.

If I saw this guy on Halloween, I’d run away screaming. Yes, he’s a virtual omen of death.

24. Wonder why this witch won’t show her face.

Either she has a face that could stop a clock or she’s insecure about her appearance. Or she might want to scare more children.

25. Well, that’s one handy way to use a First Communion dress.

However, that creepy bride look really won’t help you at the altar. Still, best give her candy if you want to live.

26. Seems like the mad scientists want to show off his little green man.

Well, more like an alien in white. But yeah, I don’t like where this is going.

27. No, I don’t think you’d want to be at this quacky chorale.

I think the guy in back might view Donald Duck cartoons as horror from now on. And I couldn’t blame him.

28. Oh, shit another creepy clown sighting.

Yes, they creepy clowns, too. But it was nothing like the creepy clown scare now. Then again, I might be wrong.

29. The paper bag girls will have their vengeance.

Are these two scarecrows? If so, then I think they’ll really scare the crows this year. And anyone else if you think about it.

30. Hope these kids won’t bring any harm but I’m not sure.

Not sure what they’re doing with the jack-o-lanterns. Are they using them as weapons.

31. Beware of the pumpkin head people.

I always thought there was something not right with them from the vintage cards. But these are goddamn creepy.

32. You might want to be on the lookout for a black cat.

Especially when it could scratch your eyes out with no second thought. Yes, this cat is evil.

33. You may want to stay away from these angry birds.

Each of these seems to remind me of a Big Bird’s evil twin or a plague doctor. And yes, they will peck you to death if they have a chance.

34. These Michelin men aren’t here to give you new tires.

Both seem to have Teddy Roosevelt glasses. But both will steal your tires if you give them the chance.

35. No, you don’t want to be near scarecrows making faces.

Even in this photo op they seem like they want to gang up and kill someone. That can’t be good.

36. Victorian Batgirl is always up to the challenge.

However, she doesn’t see a lot of action with Batman and Robin. Mostly because 19th century women’s fashions weren’t built for comfort. Seriously, she could barely breathe in her corset.

37. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the original Playboy Bunny.

Okay, Playboy wasn’t around at the time. But if it was, their bunnies would look just like this. I swear.

38. Give me a club.

Well, it looks more like a shamrock. But she seems like she works for the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.

39. Looks like another Jules Verne monster has taken to the streets.

Not sure what this is supposed to be. But scary it sure is. Stephen King, if you’re running out of ideas….

40. Some masks are more scarier than others.

At least those dressed in white don't have cone hats or white sheets on them. Because that idea for a ghost costume is very ill-advised.

At least those dressed in white don’t have cone hats or white sheets on them. But it comes very close.

41. Ghosts and witches can’t always be kept waiting.

“If that woman doesn’t give us candy soon, then I’ll have to cause a major frog infestation. Or have blood coming from her eyes. I haven’t decided.”

42. Thought you’d never see a mummy princess before.

Yes, there are probably mummy princesses. But this is just ridiculous. Seriously, she should be in Egyptian clothes.

43. No, I don’t think this bunny wants carrots.

I think he’s going after the souls of your children instead. He’s very particular if you ask me.

44. Hope that little gnome in the woods doesn’t come near you.

Or at least I think it’s a gnome. In any case, give it candy or else face certain death.

45. As a butterfly one must spread their wings.

Other than the wings, she doesn’t seem to have much on her. Wonder why.

46. Sorry, but Frankenstein’s monster is not amused.

And when he’s not amused, he can get angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

47. Looks like scary clowns have company.

Are those black robe guys Dementors or Ring Wraiths? Either way, they’ll suck out your soul. The clowns will just kill you.

48. No, I don’t think these kids are playing fortune teller.

I think they might have something more sinister in their minds. Like killing the grown ups.

49. No, I don’t think this baby wants its bottle now.

Okay, it’s an adult dressed like a baby but still. Seems more like a scary George Washington in his night shirt.

50. Masked witches are never a good sign.

These little girls aren’t around just to trick or treat. In fact, they want to terrorize the neighborhood.

51. And I thought werewolves were nice like Eddie Munster.

Of course, if he’s active during the day, he’s probably a menace in the neighborhood. You’ve been warned.

52. These ghosts just want a day on the town.

Yeah, they just want to scare the bejesus out of trick or treaters and take their candy. Kiddies, you’ve been warned.

53. What the hell is the devil doing to her boobs?

Feeling her breasts? I could Satan do that. Oh, that’s part of the costume. Today’s equivalent would have a Donald Trump head instead. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

54. Hopefully, you’d be safe with this unicorn.

Then again, the unicorn seems to view this baby with a hungry eye. Like he’s thinking of having him for dinner.

55. Well, a cigar is just a cigar.

Not only does this costume look terrifying, it embodies what can actually kill you. You know tobacco.

56. No, I don’t think these are cute little munchkins. They could eat me alive.

Not sure what these are supposed to be. But do they scare me to death? Absolutely.

57. Oh, shit, Chewie’s got a gun!

Then again, he might be a heavily Sasquatch if this picture was taken before 1977. Either way, he could rip your arms out of their sockets. So it’s best to let the Wookie win.

58. Strawberry Shortcake might want to watch her back.

Once the killer clown got a hold of her, she was never seen or heard from since. We’re not sure what happened to her.

59. Those from the 1980s might remember Rainbow Brite.

Okay, the mask eye holes should always be at the eyes. Anywhere else makes a seemingly cute costume terrifying as hell.

60. I don’t think this lady is up to anything good this Halloween.

Is she supposed to be a geisha? Please don’t tell me she’s supposed to be a geisha. That ain’t right.

61. I don’t think you’d want to run into these two in a dark alley.

These two could scare off half the neighborhood if they could. After all, all they want is your soul, blood, an brains.

62. Here we come to the ape man and his ghost gal.

At least I hope that’s an ape mask. But they sure look so cute together.

63. Seems like this witch forgot her potion list again.

“So do I need to get eye of newt or tongue of dog? Also, where’s my broomstick? Dammit!”

64. Now this has to be an original version of Stranger Things.

Sorry, but that bald waiter doesn’t really stand a chance. Those monsters will eat him alive when they have the chance.

65. Don’t worry, that’s just a harmless little bunny.

Sorry, but that’s no ordinary rabbit. Those eyes have no soul. And she’ll bit your neck if she can get away with it.

66. This neighborhood was nice until the zombie gangs moved in.

Now they just go around killing people for their brains. It’s insane. The cemetery is especially dangerous.

67. “Want to go to the beach to take someone down? It will be fun.”

Okay, give these two what they want so they don’t turn you into a toad. Or something else. Or worse.

68. Not sure what the hell this is. And I’m not sure if I want to find out.

From Buzzfeed: “And then the kids found out the truth, that Little Billy wasn’t wearing a costume!” Nobody saw or heard them since.

69. “Come out and play with us, Danny.”

Sorry, but Danny can’t come right now. He has chores to do like not wetting the bed and keeping himself alive.

70. What’s worse than a killer clown? A Nazi clown.

This picture was taken in Nazi Germany. That’s why the kid’s clown costume has swastikas on it. Yes, I know it’s very offensive.

71. The gnome should keep these cats at bay.

Then again, the gnome may unleash the white kitties to attack at any moment. You never know.

72. No, I don’t want to give you kids candy. Please don’t take me.

Yes, these kids are very terrifying. And yes, I think they could strike you at any moment if you don’t give them what they want.

73. Jason Voorhees, meet your dream girl.

For us, she could either keep Jason at bay or join him in his slaughter. But she does have a very nice dress.

74. Please beware of the bag people.

They may not seem like much. But they can really take you down without any second thought. You’ve been warned.

75. Hopefully these robots won’t get too out of hand.

“Humans sighted. Destroy them.” Oh shit, I really screwed up on this one.

76. So this is how you throw a Halloween party.

“So what do we do tonight? Do we kill some teenagers at some haunted house? Or do we just scare people?”

77. I guess these court ladies know how to have a ball.

But piss them off and you’ll live to regret it. If you ever live at all. Since they’re not nice.

78. Your friendly neighborhood ghost says hello.

However, remember that first impressions can be deceiving. And he might plan on kidnapping your children. Just a thought.

79. “I have you now, my pretty.”

Unfortunately, Sweetums was eaten by the wolfman soon afterward. He will be missed.

80. The witch and the ghost wish to speak to you.

And I think they mean business. Please don’t try to trick them. Or they’ll treat you to some torture you won’t forget.

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The Lone Girl in a Crowd

The thoughts and perceptions of an aspiring writer on life and the world around her

Yearly Archives: 2016