Who needs TV ads?
Donald Trump is laughing - and not sarcastically.
Television pundits can't stop talking about him.
And in between asking each other did he mean the president founded ISIS, or did he really admit his election is in trouble in Utah (forget a bunch or other states), or is he ever going to release his tax returns, one after another pundit would remark that he still hasn't spent any money on television ads.
Well, duh, people.
Why should he? You're doing it for him for free.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets supporters after giving a speech on the economy at Futuramic Tool & Engineering, in Warren, Mich., Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)Speaking of Trump and taxes
Put up or shut up, Donald.
Hillary Clinton and running mate, Tim Kaine, released their income tax returns Friday, ratcheting up the pressure on her opponent, Donald J. Trump, to make his own forms public.
The New York Times reports that the income taxes of the Clintons showed an adjusted gross income of $10.6 million for 2015, revealing how during the campaign the Clintons have reined in their moneymaking efforts after many years of lucrative speeches, book deals and business endeavors. Kaine, a Virginia senator, and his wife, Anne Holton, reported income of $313,441 for 2015.
The Clintons paid an effective federal tax rate of 35 percent in 2015, a slightly higher figure than the 31.55 percent they paid from 2007 to 2014. Over the last nine years, the Clintons have paid $48 million in federal taxes and given $16 million to charity.
Make note: We don't hear her clamoring for tax breaks for the rich.
The Donald, on the other hand? In his world, pretty much only the rich get a break.
United States' gold medal winner Simone Manuel cries during the medal ceremony for the women's 100-meter freestyle final during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 12, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)The weight of gold - and heritage
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Simone Manuel talked about the meaning of being the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in an individual swimming event - the women's 100-meter freestyle category.
"It means a lot. This medal is not just for me, it's for a whole bunch of people who have come before me and been an inspiration to me and for all the people who will come after me and believe they can't do it. I just want to be an inspiration - that you can do it."
In a calmer moment later, she added to that, noting that in the lead-up to the event she struggled with the significance of being a rare black swimmer representing the U.S. But she said she finally forced herself to put distance between her color and her goal, instead just focusing on the chase of victory.
"Coming into the race I tried to take weight of the black community off my shoulders," she said. "It's something I carry with me. I want to be an inspiration, but I would like there to be a day when it is not 'Simone the black swimmer.'"
But she added to that some of the weights of everyday life in our communities: "It means a lot, especially with what is going on in the world today, some of the issues of police brutality," she said. "This win hopefully brings hope and change to some of the issues that are going on. My color just comes with the territory."
She is a wonderful reminder to us: Far too often we all put ourselves and others into compartments that limit us, rather than complete us. She found the way out, without forgetting where she came from.
Law enforcement cordon off the area surrounding the Ferris wheel Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, after three people fell from the ride during a county fair in Greenville, Tenn. Baileyton police Officer Kenneth Bitner is visible at right. (O.J. Early/The Greeneville Sun via AP)A lesson of summer amusement
We've all read and heard, with horror, about the three girls ejected and falling 45 feet from a Ferris wheel cab car at the Greene County Fair in Greeneville, Tenn., last Monday - just days after a 10-year-old boy was killed in a waterslide accident in Kansas.
Two of the Greeneville girls were released from the hospital Friday, while another suffered a traumatic brain injury and remained in critical condition in a coma, according to reports. Officials blamed "mechanical failure" in the Ferris wheel ride.
According to NBC News, a Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development spokeswoman said the Ferris wheel had last been inspected on June 21 in Indiana, and no violations were found. The ride was set to be inspected again by Aug. 13.
That prompts a question: Why would a ride like this not be inspected each time it is set up at any location? For that matter, why would it not be inspected daily?
NBC affiliate WBIR TV-10 in Knoxville has reported that this was not the ride company's first accident. Family Attractions Amusement, of Valdosta, Ga., was fined in 2013 for an incident at a North Carolina State Fair involving a different ride named the Vortex. North Carolina state investigators found that the Vortex ride was tampered with to bypass safety measures. WBIR said that investigation was prompted after the Vortex began moving while people were getting on and off, injuring five.
Let's not wait until after an accident to seek timely - even daily - inspections on rides at our fairs, carnivals and amusement parks.