My Democrat Rankings after the 2nd Debate Part 2

After the second debate (part 2), these are my new ranking of the Democratic Candidates for president.

1. - Elizabeth Warren (Sen, Mass)

2. - Cory Booker (Sen, NJ) - He is a forceful advocate, but he called the Republicans and Trump "the enemy," which is rhetoric we need to move away from.

3. - Bernie Sanders (Sen, Vt)

4. - Pete Buttigieg (Mayor, Ind)

5. - Julian Castro (Sec, HUD) - He didn't get a lot of airtime, but his debate was solid.

6. ↑ Jay Inslee (Gov, Was) - He had a very strong debate. He clearly explained the progressive legislation he helped pass in Washington state and was a passionate advocate to fight against climate change.

7. ↑ Andrew Yang - He seemed to have the right messaging to beat Trump and knew what he was talking about.

8. ↓ Kamala Harris (Sen, Cal) - I'm for the Warren-Sanders health care plan, but I felt like she lost the debate with Bennet on health care. I even started questioning my beliefs on health care, that's how poorly she argued for the plan.

9. ↓ Kirsten Gillibrand (Sen, NY) - Twice she had a brain fart and had no idea what to say. She did well otherwise, but hard to get passed those lapses.

10. - Amy Klobuchar (Sen, Min)

11. ↑ Michael Bennet (Sen, Col) - His health care argument started to make sense. Either he, Ryuan, or Bullock should be the moderate in the race.

12. ↓ Tim Ryan (Rep, Ohio)

13. ↓ Bill De Blasio (Mayor, NY) - He's running from the left, but Warren, Sanders, Booker, and Harris have more cred.

14. ↓ Steve Bullock (Gov, Montana)

15. ↑ Beto O'Rourke (Fmr Rep, Tex)

16. ↓ Joe Biden (Fmr VP) - He trips over his thoughts and doesn't speak clearly. Booker swatted him down for invoking Obama when it was convenient and destroyed him on criminal justice. Hopefully, he won't be the front-runner for very long.

17. ↓ Tulsi Gabbard (Rep, Hi) - She seems to be running to be Biden's VP candidate based on the attack on Harris's record.

18. - Mike Gravel (Fmr Sen, Alaska)

19. - John Hickenlooper (Fmr Gov, Col)

20. - John Delaney (Fmr Rep, MD)

21. - Marianne Williamson

22. - Sestak, Moulton, Messam, Steyer

My Democrat Rankings after the 2nd Debate Part 1

After the second debate (part 1), these are my new ranking of the Democratic Candidates for president.

1. ↑ Elizabeth Warren (Sen, Mass) - Warren has a big progressive vision with which I mostly agree. She's edged ahead of Booker. I liked Booker because he was the candidate of unity, but he has been quite divisive in his Facebook posts recently.

2. ↓ Cory Booker (Sen, NJ)

3. - Bernie Sanders (Sen, Vt) - I like what he says. But I fear he and Warren will split the progressive vote and possibly cost each other the nomination.

4. ↑ Pete Buttigieg (Mayor, Ind) - He had a strong debate. He found a nice middle ground between Warren/Sanders and the moderates.

5. ↓ Julian Castro (Sec, HUD)

6. ↓ Kamala Harris (Sen, Cal)

7. - Kirsten Gillibrand (Sen, NY)

8. ↑ Andrew Yang

9. ↑ Bill De Blasio (Mayor, NY)

10. ↓ Amy Klobuchar (Sen, Min) - She's established herself as a moderate int his debate, which wasn't was I was hoping for from her.

11. ↑ Tim Ryan (Rep, Ohio) - I don't agree with his moderate stances, but he made a solid case for his policies.

12. ↑ Michael Bennet (Sen, Col)

13. ↑ Steve Bullock (Gov, Montana) - He gave a decent introduction and declared himself as a moderate. One moderate voice is enough, however.

14. - Jay Inslee (Gov, Was)

15. - Joe Biden (Fmr VP)

16. ↑ Tulsi Gabbard (Rep, Hi)

17. ↑ Beto O'Rourke (Fmr Rep, Tex) - He's over the top in his rhetoric.

18. ↑ Mike Gravel (Fmr Sen, Alaska)

19. ↓ John Hickenlooper (Fmr Gov, Col) - He tried to claim the mantle of pragmatist, but he seemed clueless and should drop out.

20. ↓ John Delaney (Fmr Rep, MD) - Sanders said he was "wrong" and Warren questioned why he was running for president. He shouldn't be anymore.

21. - Marianne Williamson - She had some valid critiques, but then jumped off the deep end. She shouldn't be running any more.

22. - Sestak, Moulton, Messam, Steyer

Out. - Eric Swalwell

World Leader Power Rankings

Here's the new power rankings of world leaders. The last one was posted on May 29.

Rank	Leader	Country	Previous Rank
1	Xi Jiangping	China	1
2	Kim Jong-un	North Korea	2
3	Vladimir Putin	Russia	3
4	Ali Khamenei	Iran	5
5	Jacinda Ardern	New Zealand	4
6	Abiy Ahmed	Ethiopia	8
7	Volodymyr Zelensky	Ukraine	Not Ranked
8	Andrés Manuel López Obrador	Mexico	Not Ranked
9	Narendra Modi	India	6
10	Shinzo Abe	Japan	9

1. Despite the protests in Hong Kong, Xi is leading the race to 5G. He's also taking U.S. President Donald Trump behind the woodshed in the trade war.

2. Kim managed to dupe Trump into becoming the first U.S. president to step foot on North Korean soil and the maniacal dictator din't even have to give anything up. Instead, Trump has nothing but praise for Kim, even at the expense of a respected U.S. citizen Trump doesn't believe Kim has continued his nuclear ambitions even though his own intelligence community says otherwise.

3. Putin is such an autocrat that you're in trouble if you criticize him in a different country as a Georgian tv broadcaster recently found out. And yet, Trump has nothing but good things to say about his Russian overlord.

4. Khameni's power would be neutralized if only Trump could force Iran to sign an agreement limited their nuclear capabilities and opening up their program. It would mean more if they got the other major players around the world to join in for this "deal." Or Trump could talk a big game, but ultimately back down and leave Khamenei and his hardliners in a much better position than when Trump entered office. Trump opted for the latter.

5. New Zealand was determined to be the second most peaceful country in addition to one of the least corrupt. Arden was very effective in passing gun reform after  the terrible massacre. And she got a very weird shout out at the Democratic debate in the U.S.

6. Ahmed has really put his life on the line to reform his country. His release of political prisoners nearly led to a coup last month, but that is the price of a better Ethiopia and Abiy is willing to pay it.

7. Zelensky wont he Ukrainian election even though his only political experience came on a television show in which he played a comedian that became president of Ukraine. Art imitated life. But Zelensky is tackling the big issues, starting with Russia's persistence presence in Eastern Ukraine.

8. AMLO went into negotiations with Trump about border security and beat him like a drum. AMLO gave up nothing and Trump tried to play it off as a victory even though he received nothing new.

9. Modi won reelection by a wider margin than he won his first election. He ran on a policy of Hindu nationalism and hope for economic prosperity, a promise he made the first time around.

10. Abe's trade deal with the EU shows that the rest of the world can marginalize the U.S. if Trump wants to reign in isolation.

Top Ten Pound-For-Pound

Here's my pound-for-pound list. I take into account ability and accomplishment. The previous list was posted on April 2, 2019.

1. Saul Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) [2]
2. Naoya Inoue (18-0, 16 KOs) [6]
3. Vasiliy Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KOs) [1]
4. Terence Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) [4]
5. Gennady Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) [3]
6. Leo Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 KOs) [7]
7. Olexandr Usyk (16-0, 12 KOs) [8]
8. Errol Spence (25-0, 21 KOs) [9]
9. Mikey Garcia (38-1, 30 KOs) [10]
10. Olexandr Gvozdyk (17-0, 14 KOs) [Not ranked]

Exiting the list: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (47-5-1, 41 KOs) [5]

1. Canelo has taken on the top opponents in his and around his weight division. No other fighter has had as much experience and as much success against the best. Canelo's win over one of the 3 best middleweights boosts his case for the number 1 spot.

2. Inoue destroyed an undefeated opponent in his last fight in a a weigh class he's only fought in three times. No one is running through the high level competition like Inoue.

3. Lomachenko fought weaker competition last fight. He won impressively, but he hasn't been fighting guys as tough as Canelo has and hasn't been knocking them out like Inoue.

4. Crawford has extreme talent, but doesn't have the resume to match. He needs to start fighting the top of the welterweight division.
\
5. He beat an over-matched opponent easily in June, but Golovkin's skills may have eroded a bit.

6. Would love to see Santa Cruz fight Gary Russell or Josh Warrington.

7. Usyk is moving up to heavyweight, but suffered an injury and his last fight was canceled.

8. Spence has the same issue as Crawford. He has a ton of talent, but his best wins are against an undersized Mikey Garcia, a faded Lamont Peterson, and Kell Brook.

9. I'd like to see him face Lomachenko although Commey would be a good fight too.

10. Gvozdyk does have a bit of a thin resume, but he is the lineal champ. I'd like to see him against the elites at light heavyweight: Bivol, Beterbiev, Kovalev, Alvarez, and/or Ramirez. A fight agaisnt Callum Smith would be interesting too. Let's get these light heavyweights int he ring against each other!

The winner of Josh Taylor-Regis Prograis for the World Boxing Super Series championship will almost certainly vault the winner into the top ten. Danny Roman and Rey Vargas at 122 need a signature win to receive more consideration. Tyson Fury could enter the list on the strength of his boxing skills if he can beat Wilder, Ruiz, and/or Joshua.

Dalai Lama's Successor

Hundreds of women line outside the Dalai Lama's complex in Dharmsala, India in hopes of succeeding the Buddhist holy man. These women dream of changing the world and bringing peace. They hope to inspire future generations of little girls for centuries to come. But it won't be easy. The 84 year old Tibetan leader recently declared, "If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive."

The first woman enters. "Big, fat pig!" His Holiness bellows and shoos her away.
The next woman walks through the doors. "She's certainly not hot. Next!"
Another woman enters. "Horseface."
The Dalai Lama waves another woman forward. "Such a nasty woman," and gestures her away.
"Bimbo," is how the next woman is assessed.

The fourteenth incarnation of the Avalokiteśvara checks out another potential fifteenth incarnation and hollers, "Does she have a good body? No. Does she have a fat ass? Absolutely." He dismisses her and calls for the next woman. "We're all a little chubby but she's just worse than most of us," he says of her.

After another woman shuffles through the complex, the Dalai Lama turns to an aide and says, "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever."
As he finishes his criticism, another woman walks in and is quickly kicked out. "She was bleeding badly from a face-lift," says the exiled freedom fighter to his aide.

The parade of women continues throughout the day, but all are rejected based on their physical appearance. A reporter walks in after the audition is complete and asks the method in which the Dalai Lama will select his replacement.

"Grab 'em by the pussy," he says, "then I move on her like a bitch."