I'm trying to figure out Mastodon, the "fediverse" alternative to Twitter that journalists, media sites big and little, analysts and bloggers are joining en masse while abandoning Twitter. TalkLeft's account is here. Hopefully over Thanksgiving I can figure out how to properly use the place. It's very enticing, and friendly, and free. But not particularly intuitive to me. It's like switching to MAC when you've always been a Windows person, it takes some getting used to. [More...]

Update: 11/17 6:00 pm: Now there are only 500 votes separating Boebert and Frisch. Looks like there will be an automatic runoff recount. At noon, Boebert had 162,175, 50% and Frisch had 161,078, 50%. I think the question now is, if Boebert holds her 500 vote lead, will there be enough mistakes in the recount for Frisch to win?

Update: I hate being wrong. But it looks like Lauren Boebert will skip to the lou for another 2 years. She's now more than 1,000 votes ahead. Her lead in Mesa County (Grand Junction) alone is 11,000 votes.

So even though she loses Aspen (Pitkin), Vail (Eagle), Telluride (San Miguel) and Crested Butte (Gunnison) by a landslide, and she even loses Garfield County (Glenwood Springs) and Pueblo (which used to be a Democratic stronghold and is apparently much more mixed now) by several thousand votes, those voters all turn into chopped liver because they're outnumbered by the Biden-hating Trump lovers.

Update: CNN is using higher percentages for the votes already counted in Colorado -- almost all at 95%. The New York Times and NPR are using the percentages I did below.

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I would love if Lauren Boebert lost to Adam Frisch. Then maybe she'll pick up her guns and go skip to her lou someplace where we don't hear from her again.

The final vote count may not be in for a few days. Colorado has a process for "curing" votes. And if the candidates are within .05% of each other, there's an automatic recount.

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>p> Update 10:24 pm: Congrats to Colorado Governor Jared Polis who won a second term easily tonight. I'm glad to see that Sen. Michael Bennet also won re-election, and of course, our indefatigable Congresswoman Diana DeGette.

Florida gets its first Gen Z Democrat. 25 year-old Maxwell Alejandro Frost, won Val Demings's Orlando house seat. He describes himself as a young, Black Latino who is focused on "gun violence, climate change, abortion rights and Medicare for all." Democrat Demings, unfortunately, lost her bid to take over Marco Rubio's Senate Seat.

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There was a total lunar eclipse last night and early this morning. Did you miss it? Here's a handy little webpage that tells when it was visible in major cities.

It seems like there is a consensus in the media that the Republicans will take the House. The difference is in the number of seats they win. There are presently 222 Democrats and 213 Republicans in the House. Some predict a 15 seat gain for Republicans. I think it will be less.

The Senate could be a toss-up. Right now it is 50/50. Even one seat lost is a disaster for Dems. Biden will have lame-duck status for the next two years. [More...]

It's official. Elon Musk has closed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. He started by firing some of the company's chief honchos. I don't think it's a good investment. Technology will leave Twitter in the dust someday, to be buried with blackberries, palm pilots, and VCRs.

I read fewer and fewer Twitter accounts, especially those written in this country. I don't like seeing other people's "likes" show up on my page, or most retweets, not to mention the increasing number of ads. On the other hand, it's still pretty good for some international things like the Middle East. I actually like Turkish President Erdogan's feed, he's always talking about accomplishments rather than problems (after all, he's running for re-election.) I also like that he's doing the exact opposite of the rest of the world to fight inflation and stop the hemorraging of the Lira --He's lowering interest rates instead of raising them. Other countries thinks he's nuts, but I don't. (Then again, I know nothing about the economy. I only know about crime and the hype over it is too depressing to write about right now). [More...]

Chris Cuomo returns to our televisions every weeknight, at 8pm ET and again at 11 pm ET, on News Nation. Here's how to watch without cable.

I completely stopped watching cable news when his show went off the air. Taking his job away for defending his brother just seemed really unfair to me.

Who else has shows on News Nation? Legal analyst and now media scion Dan Abrams (who I suspect may own the channel, or a big chunk of it) and Ashley Banfield (whose reporting I have always liked since she was with MSNBC.)

I wish them all well and I intend to make time to watch.

Also on a media note, I'm sending good thoughts to Katie Couric, who recently announced she finished radiation treatment for breast cancer. (She's going to be fine).

I'm no longer counting, but it's my birthday.

If you'd like to donate some appreciation, it would be more than welcome. Here is the link.(link fixed)

It has been more than a few years since I last asked readers for donations, mostly because my posting activity decreased during COVID. But I'd like to keep writing. I also intend to continue rejecting ads on the site. That said, the site does cost a significant amount to maintain, and help is always welcome. (And of course, no one should feel compelled to contribute).

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

At 1:05 pm ET, NBC posted this photo:

Two hours ago, the National Weather Service had this map:

The latest forecast: [More...]

Tampa and Fort Myers seem to be in the cross-hairs of Hurricane Ian, which is headed their way. According to the 1:00 pm statement by the National Hurricane Center, there is also a Tropical Storm Warning for the upper Florida Keys and a Tropical Storm Watch for the Middle and Lower Florida Keys.

Florida has set up "Know Your Zone" so Floridians know when they should evacuaate their homes. The Zones are from A to L with A being most likely to get an evacuation call and it is unlikely that Zones E or after will be called.

That's only half of it. The website says Floridans must also "know their homes".

If an evacuation order is not issued for your area, you may consider sheltering in place. Not all evacuations zones are always ordered. If you shelter in place, it’s important to Know Your Home and its ability to withstand strong winds and heavy rain.[More...]

The Jewish high holy days begin at sundown (about now, Denver) with Rosh Hashanah. Temple Emanuel in Denver, like many other temples and synagogues, is streaming its service live. For many congregations, it is the first High Holy Day service inside the sanctuary since 2019 due to COVID-19.

At Temple Emanuel, a Reform congregation, you no longer need a prayerbook to follow along, although they are available. The words are up on the screen, in English (and Hebrew, and Hebrew-alliterative English). It is heavy on music -- there is a cantor, a guitarist, a pianist, a cello, a violin, and a choir. They play some prayers like a folk song, others to a modern beat, and still others alternating with the cantor's classical voice. This is not the service of your grandparents. It's much better. [More...]

DOJ has responded to citizen Donald Trump's request (available here) that a special master review the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago during the execution of the search warrant. Among other reasons, he says this is necessary to determine whether the documents contain matters that are subject to executive privilege.

You can read DOJ's response and view the attached exhibits here.

Don't miss the exhibits, especially Exhibit "F".

I'm still shaking my head at the first paragraph of Trump's motion, link above, which identifies him as "President" and claims he is the "clear frontrunner" for the Republican party nomination in 2024, and should he decide to run, the clear frontrunner in the 2024 general election.

I don't think the Mar-a-Lago search and Trump's withholding of classified documents is Trump's biggest nightmare. I think Georgia's investigation into election fraud is what should keep him up at night.

Has Dick Cheney weighed in on Trump and the classified documents since his daughter lost the primary? (The graphic is from a post about AUSA Patrick Fitzgerald alleging in a pleading in the Scooter Libby case that Cheney, acting with the approval of former President Bush, had authorized Libby to disclose portions of the classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq to rebut some of the claims made by Valerie Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson. The government subpoenaed documents from Cheney and included in the response was a copy of Wilson's infamous Op-Ed with Cheney's handwritten notes asking if they had sent Wilson on a junket).

The Wall Street Journal has an "explainer" (free link through my subscription, courtesy of WSJ) on the different categories of classified documents. The Mar-a-Lago Affidavit is here. [More.]

And just like that, she's gone.

Republican Liz Cheney, who has seemed to be the dominant force behind the House committee hearings over the January 6 violent melee by Trump supporters lost by a landslide in the Wyoming Republican primary yesterday and has conceded.

She gets no sympathy from me. That she recently released a campaign commercial starring her father, who in my opinion, was the most horrid and ignoble VP in history, says it all.

Democrats praising her for doing what any rational human being would do remind me of those Democrats who praised the Lincoln Project, overlooking the fact that Steve Schmidt and George Conway were among its founders/leaders. Who is Steve Schmidt? John McCain's former campaign manager who was largely responsible for McCain choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. George Conway, may be a slightly more familiar name than Schmidt, but he is also comes across to me as a less likable, somewhat shifty human being who happens to be the conservative lawyer-husband of Ms. Most Unimportant Person in the World (the mother of the beleagured teen Claudia Conway who took to Tik-Tok to promote her request for emancipation from what she alleged to be parental abuse).

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