Brenda Snipes, PhD and Supervisor of Elections in Broward County, Florida, resigns after long history of incompetence

Brenda Snipes Submits Resignation as Broward County Supervisor of Elections:

In 2004, Snipes said 58,000 absentee ballots in heavily Democratic Broward County were lost – a detriment to the campaign of John Kerry's campaign. ...

In 2016, however, her office illegally destroyed 6,000 ballots after they were counted but a judge ordered them to be preserved.

In 2018, her office sent out a sample ballot that did not resemble the real ballot used on Election Day. The ballot arguably made it difficult to locate the U.S. Senate race on the ballot to cast a vote.

Lastly, Snipes' office submitted the results of a machine recount two minutes past the deadline and also lost over 2,000 ballots for the 2018 midterm.

Well, if anyone should know a thing or two about self-dealing and corruption, it's The New York Times

Two years on 67% of The Astrology Party says the Russkies tampered with 2016 vote totals to elect Trump, just 17% of The Stupid Party, and 41% of the nitwits in between

Well, it was question 26C. Maybe they were tired and confused by that time, or on to their third beer.

Rush Limbaugh trumpeted the Republican retirements myth to blame them for losing the House, Twitter fools run wild with it

There weren't 43 House retirements in 2018 "fearing a wave".

Just 23 House Republicans "fled" politics and retired. But of those just 8 seats flipped to the Democrats, or 35%. 65% were Republican holds.

Republicans lost CA-39, CA-49, FL-27, MI-11, NJ-2, NJ-11, PA-06 and WA-8. If you want to blame these losses on Republican retirements, you might as well credit Republican retirements for keeping the remaining 15 seats Republican: FL-15, FL-17, KS-2, MS-03, PA-13, SC-04, TN-02, TX-02, TX-03, TX-05, TX-06, TX-21, VA-05, VA-06 and WI-01 (Paul Ryan's seat). Which will it be?

The whole idea is stupid and vindictive, especially when considering that Republicans still allocated big bucks trying to retain control of retired seats even as Republican incumbents went down to defeat in six of the ten costliest races in the nation: CA-25, CA-48, CO-6, FL-26, MN-3 and NY-19.

Reuters ranked the retired Republican WA-8 loss the second most expensive House race in the country. Another analysis put the retired Republican losses in CA-39 and CA-49 fourth and third among the ten costliest House races in the country, with the GOP-retained seat in retired TX-02 the ninth most expensive House race.

The fact of the matter is Democrats outraised and outspent Republicans in this cycle in order to repudiate the 2016 Trump victory. Considering that it was by far the most expensive midterm ever, it's a wonder Democrats didn't do better than they did. 

Republican Rick Scott defeats Democrat Senator Bill Nelson in Florida by 10,033 votes in manual recount

Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race to Rick Scott

Overall, Republicans picked off Senate seats from Democrats in Election 2018 in Florida, Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota.

Democrats picked off Nevada and Arizona from Republicans who end up controlling the US Senate by only a net +2, or 52-47 at the moment.

A run-off in Mississippi in nine days will determine whether Republicans enjoy a 53-47 majority or a 52-48.

Andrew Gillum concedes in FL (again), and Stacey Abrams in GA joins Roy Moore in AL in not conceding at all

What matters in these affairs is election certification by the respective Secretaries of State, not whether the losing candidates concede or the winning candidates claim victory.

Still, it is considered un-American not to concede when you've lost, simply because that means you don't accept the rules Americans agree to live by in these matters. Without that glue, the whole thing is in danger of descending into chaos, conflict and perhaps civil war.

One such un-American person stoking these flames is Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio who said "if Stacey Abrams doesn't win in Georgia, they stole it, it's clear. It's clear. I say that publicly."

Obviously not clear to the final authority in this matter, Senator.

In rejecting the non-conceders, one might say the voters got it right in electing their opponents, including in Alabama, except that in Ohio Sherrod Brown just won six more years in the US Senate by 275,000 votes.

The mills of the gods grind slowly . . .. 

Democrat Andrew Gillum concedes to Republican Ron DeSantis in Florida governor's race:

Gillum had conceded to DeSantis on election night, but retracted it after the margin between the two candidates narrowed.

Democrat Stacey Abrams says she can't win governor's race, but will sue Georgia for election 'mismanagement':

Her speech Friday effectively puts a stop to the contest. The final result had been in doubt for 10 days after the election.

Abrams stressed as she spoke: "This is not a speech of concession."

Trump's losses in the US House are more than double the average Republican president's first midterm losses

The average loss of seats in the US House for the first midterm after a Republican's initial election to presidential office has been 17 up to Trump, who is set to lose 36.

A loss of 36 is more like what a Democrat president would lose in the first midterm, which averages 31.

Trump, of course, used to be a Democrat.

One term president waves surrender flag on drug war, signs on to criminal justice reform, no one will be executed

Criminal justice reform finally has a chance in Congress. Here's what the First Step Act would do.:

President Donald Trump’s support has put Congress within reach of passing the most sweeping set of changes to the federal criminal justice system since the 1990s, when fear of crime drove the enactment of draconian sentencing practices that shipped hundreds of thousands of drug offenders to prison.

Dear Jeff Flake: PISS OFF!

Sen. Jeff Flake draws the line: Protect Mueller probe or no new federal judges

We don't need any more immigrants: Population increases have outpaced labor force increases for a decade

Before the Great Recession the growth rate of the labor force easily exceeded the growth rate of population for decade after decade, but since then the situation has reversed dramatically.

Population has been increasing at a rate 75% higher than the labor force over the last decade. The increased population is not assimilating to work.

THERE IS NO LABOR SHORTAGE.

Increasing the population of the non-working has been the number one drag on the economy, causing GDP to fall and debt to rise, negatively impacting every standard measure.

Trump's alt-right supporters don't get it that he's already finished: The time to accomplish something MAJOR was wasted in year one on Obamacare, in year two on taxes and defense spending

Liberal math: In ME-2 the Democrat came in second but wins the seat anyway

This is how the National Popular Vote will work in the case of president if states adopt the kind of legerdemain citizens of Maine adopted in 2016.

I say legerdemain advisedly, because it is not reasoning but simple trickery. In the case of the National Popular Vote, you will think X won your state but because Y got more votes nationally your state agrees to switch its electoral college votes to Y. In Maine because of an equally arbitrary decision to deprive the top vote getter from winning (the winner must get 50% even though Bill Clinton never did), the winner ends up losing because of "ranking". The last place finisher's votes, person D's, get reallocated to A, B, and C using math reflecting the voters' rankings of all the candidates until someone reaches 50%.

The voters collectively decide how your vote will go, not you, based on their ranking of the candidates, not yours.

In other words, if you happened to vote for D, and probably also for C in this case, your vote was changed to B, not the original winner A.

They say every vote must count, and call it democracy.

I seem to recall the Germans voted for Hitler, too. They gave up their freedom willingly, you see, so it must have been OK.

GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin loses in first race decided by Maine's 'ranked-choice' system:

Poliquin narrowly got the most votes on Election Day – with 46.1 percent to Golden's 45.9 – but because he didn't get more than 50 percent of the vote, Maine's new law kicked in. Independent candidates Tiffany Bond and William Hoar combined received about another 8 percent of the vote. 

In the new system, approved by Maine voters in 2016, a person votes for their favorite candidate and ranks the other candidates by their order of preference. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the last-place candidate gets knocked out and the ballots cast for them are reallocated based on an algorithm that factors the voters' preferences. That process continues until one candidate has a majority. 

Good God you people are stupid: Trump's been hiring the wrong people from day 1 and you're only just now noticing?

At 4:40pm today with 100% of the vote reported, CA-39 was won by the Republican, at 8:53pm by the Democrat, in between which 8,185 extra votes suddenly materialize to push the Democrat over the top

screen shot 4.40.38pm 11/15/18

screen shot 8.53.09pm 11/15/18

It's not the votes that count, but who counts the votes.

DeSantis elected Florida governor a 2nd time in machine recount, US Senator and agriculture commissioner races forced into hand recount

Florida orders first ever statewide hand-recounts as legal fights continue:

DeSantis' lead held Thursday as the counties reported their tallies, keeping him above the quarter-point threshold and making him Florida's governor-elect barring a legal challenge from Andrew Gillum. But, as expected, the margins in the U.S. Senate and agriculture commissioner races remained under the threshold, requiring hand recounts of overvotes and undervotes.

Florida, laughstock of the world

Federal judge blasts Florida for bungled election: 'Laughingstock of the world':

“We have been the laughing stock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said in court, where he is at the center of the legal battle over the election recount.

One term president: Trump's m/o is to dupe, trick and snooker, whether it's Saudi Arabia over oil or Americans over immigration

'Duped,' 'tricked' and 'snookered': Oil analysts say Trump fooled Saudis into tanking crude prices:

"They're pretty much snookered by Trump," Ross said. "I mean, Trump led them to believe that the Iranian exports would be zero. It turned out they're going to be 1.2 to 1.5 million barrels a day, way higher than people thought."

13 million young adults 18-29 use marijuana but the FDA's Scott Gottlieb is shocked, shocked I tell you, by 3.6 million young vapers

This administration, like the rest of this country, is completely effed up.

US orders restriction on e-cigarette sales; youth use surges:

Tampa (AFP) - US regulators Thursday ordered sharp restrictions on sales of e-cigarettes, as national data showed a 78 percent single-year surge in vaping among young people, with two-thirds using fruit and candy-flavored products. ...

"These data shock my conscience," said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, referring to the latest data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey. ...

A total of 3.6 million US youths reported vaping at least once in the past month, the data showed.

"These increases must stop. And the bottom line is this: I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes," said Gottlieb.

Meanwhile Gallup reported in August that 24% of the 54 million Americans aged 18-29 regularly or occasionally use marijuana, over three and half times as many as vape, but the FDA's Gottlieb isn't in the headlines over that.

How to lose in 2020: Trump reportedly trying to please Turkey by pushing Fethullah Gulen out of the US

Trump doesn't give a damn about the criminality of Turkey's Erdogan. Trump should be pushing Turkey out of NATO, not Gulen out of the US. Instead it's all about a peace deal with the Joos. I smell Javanka. I smell a one term president.

To ease Turkish pressure on Saudis over killing, White House weighs expelling Erdogan foe:

The requests on Gulen in mid-October mark at least the second time the Trump administration has re-examined Turkey's extradition request since taking office. In the weeks after Trump's inauguration, the White House asked the Justice Department to review Gulen's case, NBC has reported.

Some officials have described the first request as a routine part of a new administration reviewing its relationship with a key ally. The request, however, took place under Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, whose ties to Turkey came under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling. Flynn, who resigned in February 2017, entered into a plea agreement with Mueller last December and has been cooperating with the investigation.

Making it easier to vote makes it easier to commit fraud

Ending Election Fraud

Time to nuke Mexico: Think of it as increasing your defensible perimeter against wildfires

Libertarian Senator Mike Lee talks grandly about "conservative" criminal justice reform when all he's after is throwing out federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses

Mike Lee thinks selling drugs (even while armed with a gun!) doesn't hurt anyone when the evidence is pouring in that marijuana is bad for the health of those who use it.

And he obviously hasn't lived with a user. If he had he'd know they make lousy family members and lousy Americans.

Did the young father of two let his children play with his gun, Senator?

Thanks for nothing, Utah!

Mike Lee: A conservative case for criminal justice reform:

For example, when I served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Salt Lake City, Weldon Angelos -- a young father of two with no criminal record -- was convicted of selling three dime bags of marijuana to a paid informant over a short period of time.

These were not violent crimes. No one was hurt. But because Angelos had been in possession of a gun at the time he sold the drugs (a gun which was neither brandished nor discharged in connection with the offense), the judge was forced by federal law to give him a 55-year prison sentence. The average federal sentence for assault is just two years. The average murderer only gets 15 years. While acknowledging the obvious excessiveness of the sentence, the judge explained that the applicable federal statutes gave him no authority to impose a less-severe prison term, noting that “only Congress can fix this problem.”

If only Donald Trump knew that he was president

Feinstein urged Obama in 2014 to use 'broad power' to limit immigration:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told then-President Barack Obama in the summer of 2014 that he could use "very broad power" to limit immigration as he saw fit, according to a letter obtained by Fox News.

In the July 29 letter, Feinstein cites Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act -- the same federal legislation cited by the Trump administration Thursday in unveiling a rule denying asylum claims to migrants who enter the country illegally.

"Whenever the president finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States," the legislation states, "he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate."

Feinstein's letter initially notes that the senator has discussed possible legislation with then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Feinstein then writes: "there is also an argument that there is sufficient flexibility in current law for the government to respond to the current crisis and that further legislation is not needed." She adds that the authority vested in the presidency by Section 212 (f) means that "no legislation is necessary to give your administration the tools it needs to respond to this crisis, and that any needed temporary measures can be implemented through presidential action."

Crackpot Maxine Waters set to become chair of House Financial Services Committee, bank stocks fall

Maxine Waters says easing banking regulations 'will come to an end' when she takes committee chair

The peers must be incompetent: Peer-reviewed ocean warming paper in premier journal found to have big math boo-boo

From the story here:

However, the conclusion came under scrutiny after mathematician Nic Lewis, a critic of the scientific consensus around human-induced warming, posted a critique of the paper on the blog of Judith Curry, another well-known critic.

“The findings of the ... paper were peer reviewed and published in the world’s premier scientific journal and were given wide coverage in the English-speaking media,” Lewis wrote. “Despite this, a quick review of the first page of the paper was sufficient to raise doubts as to the accuracy of its results.”

Co-author Ralph Keeling, climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, took full blame and thanked Lewis for alerting him to the mistake. ...

“Our error margins are too big now to really weigh in on the precise amount of warming that’s going on in the ocean,” Keeling said. “We really muffed the error margins.”

A correction has been submitted to the journal Nature.

Adding insult to injury, McSally's AZ-2 seat in the US House flips to the Democrats, Sinema's AZ-9 seat holds Democrat

In Tennessee EVERYBODY thinks he can be Elvis, or governor

Jon Gabriel explains Kyrsten Sinema's home turf was vote-rich Maricopa County, McSally the comparatively inferior candidate

McSally was too cautious, too negative, too aligned with John McCain for disappointed conservatives, too much of an outsider, and was not Doug Ducey. Sinema was likeable and ran a good campaign.

Here:

McSally and the outside groups supporting her were nearly all-negative, all-the-time. Focusing on the Republican’s remarkable achievements in the military and also in politics would have gone a long way to define a woman few in the state knew much about. Sure, there were a few ads like that, but not nearly enough to match Sinema’s seeming optimism.

McSally hails from Pima County, home to Tucson, while Sinema is from Maricopa County, home to Phoenix. More than half the state’s population lives in the latter, so they didn’t know much about the Tucson-based candidate. She needed to spend a lot more time defining herself since Sinema was already defined to a big chunk of Arizonans.

A pair of celestial observations portends calamity in Broward County FL recount

Ann Coulter explains the rise of feminism and the decline of the west: War insures the survival of the wrong DNA

Laugh of the Day: Photographer plays "Simon Says" with Baraboo WI High School boys of the class of 2019

He says, "Sieg Heil!" and then captures their reaction.

The left is finding no humor in this whatsoever. The boys clearly know how to tweak the liberal tyranny, except for the weirdo in the upper right with gunshot wounds to both earlobes, who has predictably become a hero to the outraged for his passive resistance. The guy front and center left goes even further, flashing the secret sign of white nationalists everywhere.

Sieg away, I say, good old Badger State of mine.

115,622 more people in Maricopa County easily could have voted for Martha McSally, but didn't

McSally: 611,161

Ducey:    726,783

And don't forget Mitt Romney now has to be counted on to cooperate

I can just see it now.

Mitt Romney, Lisa Mercowskie and Susan Collins will form the trio of stooges broken by the death of John McCain to stand in the way of Mitch McConnell.

Well, at least Jeff Flake and Bob Corker are out of the equation.

Mark Levin tonight believes McSally lost in Arizona because conservative Republicans didn't vote for her

Entirely plausible given the bitter primary, and McSally's failure to mend fences after winning. The votes for Ducey were there in Maricopa, but not for McSally.

We pointed out previously that McSally was an unconvincing shapeshifter on immigration.

The difference between the supposedly "hard right" Mark Levin and Arizona Republicans is that Levin actively supported her candidacy despite McSally being a RINO.

Thanks for nothing, Arizona, as usual. Now we're stuck with the lunatic, Sinema, which my spell-checker keeps spelling Cinema.

She will be a spectacle, that's for sure.

One week after the election, Republican hopes for a decisive majority in the US Senate have evaporated tonight

Previously observed narrow leads for Republicans in Arizona and Montana have reversed.

Jon Tester held on to win in Montana by 15,317 votes, and tonight Arizona has been won by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema by 38,197 votes.

The Mississippi run-off at the end of the month is Republicans' last hope of achieving a majority of 53, assuming a recount in Florida doesn't deprive Rick Scott of his victory.

The Hive is already circulating a story tonight about the Republican in Mississippi being a racist, trying to win that race for the Democrats.

Assuming she and Rick Scott both end up losing would mean Republicans would finish with a majority of just 51, hardly the lead-pipe cinch environment to run the board on court appointments.

Jeb Bush joins Marco Rubio in calling for Brenda Snipes to be removed as Supervisor of Elections in Broward County, FL

Jeb Bush calls for Broward County official to be removed from post:

"There is no question that Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes failed to comply with Florida law on multiple counts, undermining Floridians’ confidence in our electoral process," Bush tweeted.

"Supervisor Snipes should be removed from her office following the recounts." ...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is among those arguing for Snipes's dismissal.

"She has shown she’s incapable of conducting a large and important election in a way that inspires public confidence and trust," he told Politico.

"She’s been found to have destroyed ballots, in violation of the law. Opened absentee ballots early, in violation of the law. Misprinted ballots that have gone out."

There were plenty of votes available for Republican Doug Ducey in Maricopa County, AZ, so there should have been for Martha McSally

Ducey for Governor in Maricopa County: 717,437.

McSally for Senate in Maricopa County: 603,070.

The Democrat Sinema, who won against McSally, was also outpolled by Doug Ducey in Maricopa County: 649,445.

They didn't like McSally and Sinema in Maricopa County as much as they liked Ducey. For some reason the voters in Maricopa County just liked Martha McSally the least. Clearly Republican voters for Ducey failed to vote for her like they could have.

The governor's race polled 2.156 million votes total in Arizona, and the Senate race 2.162 million votes.

In Maricopa County the governor's race polled 1.276 million votes and the Senate race 1.28 million.

People who think it odd that one race should attract more votes and another fewer votes don't know what they are talking about.

In Michigan, the statewide individual ballot proposals each outpolled any statewide individual office winner. 

Sinema win in Arizona is due to Democrat inbound migration to Maricopa County, top US county for relocation 2012-2017

Sinema won Maricopa County by 46,375 votes, 649,445 votes to McSally's 603,070. Just 32,000 votes separate the winner from the loser overall in Arizona as of this hour.

A magnet for affordable housing in the wake of the 2008 catastrophe, the county has probably on balance attracted more voters inclined to vote for a Democrat.

More people moving to Maricopa County than anywhere in the U.S.:

Maricopa County saw more people move to the area than any other county in the U.S. during the past five years.

The county saw 221,000 immigrants between 2012 and 2017, according to a new report from RentCafe. That volume was by far the highest in the country, the report shows. Nearly 150,000 people separated Maricopa County from the 10th-highest site of immigration, Wake County in North Carolina.

Among the appealing attributes for migrants looking for a new city to live in was Maricopa County's relatively low cost of living, especially home prices. Out of the top 10 counties for net internal migration, Maricopa had the fourth-lowest average home price.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Los Angeles County saw 381,000 people leave during the same five-year span. Santa Clara County in Northern California was in the top 10 for people leaving as well.

Republicans retained 80% of "pure" House retired seats but this fool believes whatever Rush Limbaugh says

The world upside down: FDA to ban menthol in cigarettes as 10 states legalize recreational marijuana

Threat of a looming menthol cigarette ban weighs on tobacco stocks:

FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb plans to announce this week that the agency will move forward with a ban on menthol cigarettes in conjunction with a crackdown on e-cigarettes to curb "epidemic" levels of teen use, senior FDA officials told CNBC last week.

Remember how Ann Coulter's tweet about Democrats' voting day being Wednesday got her in trouble?

One false move on the bullet train in China and your credit score goes down

Video here.

Dear passengers,

People who travel without a ticket or behave disorderly, or smoke in public areas will be punished according to regulations and the behavior will be recorded in individual credit information system. To avoid a negative record of personal credit please follow the relevant regulations and help with the orders on the train and at the station.

The only person I've heard honestly assess Election 2018 has been Bill Cunningham

Last night on his 10pm broadcast Bill Cunningham accurately expressed how Republicans ought to feel about Election 2018, but don't: with astonishment that Republicans so severely underperformed in normally deep red places like Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Florida.

Do that again in 2020 and Donald Trump will not win reelection.

Build The Wall, or it's Adios America.

Did any national Republican leader warn their voters Eric Holder was targeting governorships to control redistricting?

Not Trump, not Mitch McConnell, not Paul Ryan. We heard zip, zero, nada.

The stupid party strikes again.

The Detroit News reports here:

Voters Not Politicians, the group that spearheaded the [ballot] proposal in Michigan, may have started out as a grassroots campaign, but millions in outside money poured into the state — much of it coming from far-left advocacy groups and Democratic donors. Between July and October, Voters Not Politicians raised more than $13.8 million.

Eric Holder, former attorney general under President Barack Obama, led a national effort this year in Republican-controlled states to back similar measures that would strip redistricting from lawmakers — or at least ensure Democrats took control of legislatures and governorships ahead of the 2020 census. Michigan was one of 12 target states.

Armistice Day 1918-2018

Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς

Coattails: In Michigan the ballot proposals in 2018 won by more votes than any statewide Democrat winner

Automatic Voter Registration .... 2.762 million votes

Redistricting By Committee ...... 2.507 million

Marijuana Legalization .............. 2.344 million

Donald Trump President 2016 ... 2.279 million

Hillary Clinton President 2016 .. 2.268 million

Gretchen Whitmer MI Gov. ....... 2.261 million

Debbie Stabenow US Senate ..... 2.200 million

Jocelyn Benson MI Sec. of State 2.199 million

Dana Nessel MI Atty. General ... 2.018 million

43 years ago tonight

Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,

For those in peril on the sea!

'Camp Fire' incinerates Paradise, the "most destructive wildfire since record-keeping began" in California

Reported here:

Not a single resident of Paradise, California, can be seen anywhere in town after most of them fled the Northern California community that may be lost forever. Most of the town's buildings are in ruin. Entire neighborhoods are leveled. The business district is destroyed.

In a single day, the Sierra Nevada foothill town of 27,000 was largely incinerated by flames that moved so fast there was nothing firefighters could do. Only a day after the "Camp Fire" began, the blaze had grown on Friday to nearly 140 square miles and destroyed more than 6,700 structures, almost all of them homes -- making it California's most destructive wildfire since record-keeping began.

Authorities said at least nine people were killed by the "Camp Fire," which as of early Saturday morning was 5 percent contained.

It is one of three major blazes that firefighters are battling across the state.

In Southern California, the 35,000 acre "Woolsey Fire" was 0 percent contained early Saturday. It has forced over 200,000 evacuations. The "Hill Fire" was holding at 6,000 acres.

Why we love him still: Trump rips Moochelle right back

Trump to Michelle Obama: I'll Never Forgive Obama For What He Did To The Military

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Climate Update for October 2018

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Climate Update for October 2018:

Max temp 84, Mean Max temp 79

Min temp 27, Mean Min temp 28

Av temp 50.4, Mean Av temp 51.3

Precip 5.69, Mean precip 3.00 (year to date 39.73, 5.21 above the mean annual 34.52)

Cooling Degree Days 20, Mean CDD 9, Season to date 1003, Mean Season to date 690.

The cooling season to date as measured by CDD has been 45% warmer than the mean to date.

Season to date 2018 is 7th warmest on record for total CDD:

1921: 1200

1931: 1061

2012: 1039

1936: 1022

1934: 1007

1933: 1004

2018: 1003

1939:   972.

There have been five months in a row in 2018 with max temps in the 90s, the first time that has happened since 1991.

Money in politics: Democrats spent $14.2 million per seat on average in the ten costliest US House races

And your average US Senate win just recently cost only $10 million (every six years, not every two).

For jobs which pay only $174,000 a year.

There's something funny going on here, Lucy.

Non-stop ads and robocalls: welcome to America's costliest election:

Democrats and their allies in the 10 costliest House races spent $142 million to Republicans' $96 million, Reuters' analysis found.

For a good time, call CNN (ask for Jim)

Not even a dog whistle to Antifa: Rachel Madcow openly promotes street action today

MSNBC'S MADDOW ORGANIZING STREET MARCHES TO PROTEST SESSIONS FIRING

Marijuana legalization is the spearhead of America's anti-conservative libertarian tide and ultimately of America's decline

Eventually there will be no place left to hide from marijuana users in America. And they are going to be the end of America as we once knew it. Marijuana legalization is coming to every state in the country, for the reason that a shared version of libertarianism is now America's dominant ideology, irrespective of political party. The consequences of extreme individualism are about to assert themselves like never before. Formerly, self-control and self-denial as practised by countless millions of America's original inhabitants and their descendants had been key to making America the great country which it became. Those values made possible the hard work and savings which were the necessary predicates of that greatness. But all that is in the rear view mirror now. As Baby Boomers squandered  the achievements of their parents, their children have learned from them only too well and have drunk deep from their well of narcissism. People like this will never make the country great like it was. A country full of laid back mellow folks  will never work hard and save, nor even acknowledge its need to do so. It is not a coincidence that the most hated men in America in 2012 and 2016 didn't even drink.

Marijuana Won The Midterm Elections :

Michigan voters approved a ballot measure making their state the first in the midwest to legalize cannabis. Missouri approved an initiative to allow medical marijuana, as did Utah. Voters in several Ohio cities approved local marijuana decriminalization measures, and a number of Wisconsin counties and cities strongly approved nonbinding ballot questions calling for cannabis reform. While North Dakota's long-shot marijuana legalization measure failed, cannabis also scored a number of big victories when it came to the results of candidate races. ... In Illinois, Democrat J.B. Pritzker won the governor's race after making marijuana legalization a centerpiece of his campaign. ... Minnesota Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D) wants to "replace the current failed policy with one that creates tax revenue, grows jobs, builds opportunities for Minnesotans, protects Minnesota kids, and trusts adults to make personal decisions based on their personal freedoms." ... In New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), who won the governor's race, said legalizing marijuana will bring “hundreds of millions of dollars to New Mexico’s economy." In New York, while easily reelected Gov Andrew Cuomo (D) had previously expressed opposition to legalization, he more recently empaneled a working group to draft legislation to end cannabis prohibition that the legislature can consider in 2019, a prospect whose chances just got a lot better in light of the fact that Democrats took control of the state's Senate. In Wisconsin, Democrat Tony Evers supports decriminalizing marijuana and allowing medical cannabis, and says he wants to put a full marijuana legalization question before voters to decide. He ousted incumbent Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Tuesday. ... Last month, a national Gallup survey found that 66 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, including a clear majority of Republicans.

 

Antifa gunman massacres at least 11 in California country bar late last night

Twelve dead as trenchcoat-wearing gunman storms 'student night' at country bar: Suspect kills himself after hurling smoke grenades onto dance floor and killing cop in California:

Man dressed in all-black let off at least 30 shots from a pistol with extended mags and threw smoke grenades

Gunman was dressed in all-black, wearing a trenchcoat, glasses, baseball cap and a mask covering his face

The shooter stormed the Borderline Bar and Grill, wearing a black trenchcoat and armed with a pistol equipped with an extended magazine and smoke grenades, and began targeting people as young as 18. 

The perpetrator, dressed in all-black, wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and a mask covering the bottom part of his face, walked up to the entrance at 11.20pm and shot the doorman before making his way into the venue. 

Trump fires another one: CNN's Jim Acosta loses White House press pass

CNN’s Jim Acosta Denied White House Entry After Trump Presser Dust-Up:

The Ted Turner founded outlet added that Acosta’s pass was pulled “in retaliation for his challenging questions at today’s press conference” . . ..

Hillary's thugs in masks immediately go after Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity et alia

DC Antifa Publishes Home Addresses of Tucker Carlson and His Brother — As Well As Ann Coulter, Neil Patel, and Sean Hannity

BREAKING: ANTIFA MOB CURRENTLY OUTSIDE HOME OF TUCKER CARLSON

Despite record turnout in Election 2018, Democrat hurricane falls far short of 63-seat Republican wave in 2010

Election by the numbers: 113 million voter turnout, 33 flipped seats so far, 110 female winners, $5.2 billion spent

Despite Democrat sweep of state offices in Michigan, Republicans still control the Senate and Legislature

Senate: 22-16

Legislature: 58-52

Jeff Sessions sent resignation letter to Trump yesterday, and he's outta there

Reported here.

There goes drug enforcement, and immigration enforcement, and action against sanctuary cities, and . . ..

Rush is wrong: Of 23 seats qualifying as "pure" Republican resignations in the US House according to 538, just 7 flipped to Democrat

That's just 30% of Republican seats resigned flipping to the Democrats.

But of all 35 projected total pickups by Democrats, that's just 20%.

You can't blame resignations, Rush:  

CA-49 (66% of the vote counted)

FL-27

MI-11

NJ-2

NJ-11

PA-06

WA-08 (64% of the vote counted).

What matters to Rush Limbaugh is that Trump get reelected in 2020, not that we get jobs, pay raises and The Wall

Politics, not people, is what matters to Rush Limbaugh.

We now face two years of gridlock, attacks, investigations and impeachment because feckless Republicans lost the US House.

Trump and the Republicans squandered their first year, and delivered nothing consequential for average Americans in their second, and now they've paid the political price. Losing 30+ seats and not even running in 30+ more is retreating, not fighting.

Meanwhile we get bupkis, as usual.

The only redeeming thing is that we might get some good judges because Republicans still control the US Senate, but that doesn't pay the mortgage.

Hm, now 14 US sailors in reactor room of aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan face drug abuse charges

Gee, where'd they ever get the idea that drug use was ok?

Officials: Ronald Reagan LSD probe bigger than you think, 14 nuke sailors snagged

Taylor Swift loses in Tennessee

Marsha Blackburn: 1,224,042

Phil Bredesen:           981,667

Buh-Bye Beto, buh-bye $70 million

Ted Cruz: 4,228,832
Beto O'Rourke: 4,015,082

Hillary civility watch starts now: "If we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that's when civility can start again"

Already ranked tenth in the nation for drug addiction, drug wave in Michigan sweeps Democrats into power

Proposal One legalizing recreational marijuana dragged the druggies out of the woodwork yesterday, sweeping Democrats into power in Michigan in the offices of governor, attorney general and secretary of state on the coattails of nearly 2.2 million Yes voters.

In addition they propelled other liberal propositions to victory including redistricting reform and motor voter, attracting 2.3 million and 2.6 million Yes votes respectively.

These voters also rewarded the liberal Republican-endorsed Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Clement with reelection, who controversially voted to put George Soros' Proposal Two on the ballot this summer.

Democrats were swept into office on the coattails of these ballot proposals by vote totals nearly as large as for the proposals themselves.

Despite giving up 7 governorships to Democrats, Republicans look set to control 27 nationwide

Democrats captured governorships in Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin in Election 2018.

DeSantis narrowly defeated the radical Gillum in Florida for a Republican hold there, while Kemp appears to have staved-off gun-grabber Abrams in Georgia.

In a bad sign for Trump's immigration agenda, Kobach in Kansas lost to the Democrat in the general after only narrowly winning his own primary.

What's the matter with Kansas?

Scott Walker finally lost an election in Wisconsin, by the slimmest of margins.

Republican Rauner in Illinois got creamed by Pritzker. They'll have to erect a wall around Illinois now just to keep the people in.

Bill Schuette lost decisively in Michigan in part because the NeverTrump Republican Governor Rick Snyder wouldn't endorse him.

Republicans look set to capture decisive control of the US Senate 55-45 in Election 2018

Republicans have captured US Senate seats in Florida, Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota while Democrats have taken Nevada.

Republicans appear headed for victory by narrow margins in Arizona, Mississippi and Montana.

Republicans failed even to run a candidate for US Senate against Dianne Feinstein in California, who is so disliked there by Democrats that she is winning unopposed with just 54% of the vote at this hour.

Election 2018: Democrats projected to take the US House 226-209 in the final tally

With 21 races still outstanding this morning, Democrats have captured a net 26 seats from the Republicans so far, for a total of 219-195.

Democrats lead in 7 more of the 21 outstanding races for a total projected win of 226 seats in the US House.

Republicans didn't even field candidates in 38 districts nationwide.

Members of Montana's Crow Tribe were in the crowd recently cheering on President Trump

Kavanaugh accusers now subject to criminal referrals for making false allegations of sexual assault which Democrats insisted we believe

The Boston Herald reports here:

Democrats insist we must “believe women” regardless of the facts, evidence — or lack thereof — when the rest of us smell a rat.

On Friday one of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers, Judy Munro Leighton — a left-wing activist who opposed his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court — admitted to congressional investigators she made up the lurid back seat rape tale as “a tactic” and to get attention. She now admits she’s never even met Kavanaugh. She, along with Julie Swetnick and lawyer Michael Avenatti, are all subject to criminal referrals by the Senate Judiciary Committee on allegations of false sexual misconduct charges.

These are the despicable frauds that Democrat lawmakers insisted we believe.

Mitchell poll in Michigan now shows Republican John James just 3-points behind Stabenow after being down by 13

Detroit News: George Soros-funded Sixteen Thirty Fund really is behind Michigan Proposition 2 just as it was behind the anti-Kavanaugh campaign

From the story here:

The Sixteen Thirty Fund is a 501(c)(4) based in Washington D.C. It recently funded Demand Justice, a social welfare organization that executed a massive campaign to oppose the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh, airing 3,200 ads against Kavanaugh and receiving $2 million from George Soros to further their efforts. Is this the kind of organization we want meddling in Michigan affairs of such lasting importance?

Republicans take 1-point lead in final Rasmussen generic congressional poll before tomorrow's election

Reported here this morning:

The final Rasmussen Reports Generic Congressional Ballot before Election Day shows Republicans edging ahead by one point, but in essence, the two parties are tied. The survey has a +/-2 percentage point margin of error.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds that 46% would choose the Republican candidate if the elections for Congress were held today. Forty-five percent (45%) would vote for the Democrat. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) remain undecided.

Clintonite Mark Penn: Trump has ideas, Democrats have only attacks, investigations and impeachment

Here:

Trump has also deployed more specific issue ideas than anyone in a long time. ...

Other than investigations and impeachment, what are the Democrats running on? They have made an issue of health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions. Trump has said he too would cover them. The Democratic idea is not a health-care plan, but an attack.

Nor do Democrats have an economic plan many people can remember. Nor a plan on immigration. Nor a plan to deal with jobs migrating to China and Mexico.

President Trump taunts the Democrats, calling them the “open borders” party. And yet the Democrats have absolutely no plan for dealing with illegal immigration. In response, they attack the president personally – exactly how Hillary Clinton handled Trump in the last presidential campaign.