One of the many things I love about living in California is getting nationwide election results without having to stay up past my bedtime

"Democracy is like a raft. It never sinks but, damn it, your feet are always in the water." (variations attributed to multiple people) Let's hope.

And the legend is heard from: “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain,” former press secretary Anthony Scaramucci posted later in the afternoon." x.com/Scaramucci/s...

Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) on X

Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain.

x.com

Happy Great ShakeOut Earthquake Day to those who celebrate.

Anyone else wondering if 47 has people working on how to monetize a livestream of a firing squad?

Given its own limited view of its role, I wonder how FEMA will respond the these GAO reports. links-2.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2...

U.S. GAO - Disaster Risk: Improvements Needed to Enhance FEMA’s National Risk Index

Natural disasters are more frequent and costlier. The National Risk Index is a tool communities can use to know their disaster risk level, which can...

links-2.govdelivery.com

When I built my house in 2001, everything was state of the art. Today, I replaced my HVAC (before it died during some extreme weather). Besides improved efficiency, my heat is now electric (generated from my solar system). The only remaining gas appliance is my stove (which I rarely use).

I subscribed to the @sacbee.com in 1986. It excelled at state news, politics, and investigative reporting. Little such coverage is now included. If someone does in California what the Washington Sun is doing in DC, I’d switch in a minute. The layoffs announced today might be the final straw

Hearing 47's plea to his supporters to vote in the midterm like he's on the ballot makes me wonder if this shouldn't actually be the D's campaign theme.

I thought I'd save Natalie the trouble so I tried ChatGPT for her.

Driving home from campus last night, for some reason, I started thinking of the lyrics to Nine to Five. I don't know why but the timing was amazing.

"If all car tyres were filled with CO2, would this cut atmospheric carbon significantly?" I just read this headline in @theguardian.com as "if all cars were filled with CO2." My thought was, of course because all the drivers would die. So I re-read it.

Maybe Natalie Harp will end up being the Cassidy Hutchinson of the second term

Miller: ". . . and she took her to the emergency room, which is a contempt violation from our shared parenting plan." When I was an EMS agency director, I got a call from the mother of a kid who was hit by a car. She was mad that the ambulance transported him without her permission.

How's this scenario: 47 fires Blanche for DOJ dropping the Reflecting Pool case? Saves face on R opposition to the nomination and looks for an AG with even fewer values to refile the case.

Scalise: "Anybody that (sic) gets on an airplane has to show a picture ID to vote." Wouldn't this be covered by the proposed ban on voting by mail or is airmail exempt?

Having now studied the movie "Dave" are Kentucky Republicans frantically searching for a McConnell impersonator?

About six years ago, I thought I was on track to remarry (nine years after my wife's death). For a year after she unexpectedly dumped me, I had "Once upon a time, I was falling in love. But now I'm only falling apart." stuck in my head. RIP #BonnieTyler

Mike Royko (Chicago columnist) labeled a young Jerry Brown as "Gov. Moonbeam" partly based on Brown's speculation about California launching its own satellite. This week, three satellites were launched to help in early detection of wildfires in California (with a plan for a global system).

Are the people speaking with Mitch McConnel getting advice from Jani McMath's mother? (www.kqed.org/news/121779/...)

New Medical Exam Ordered for Brain Dead Oakland Girl | KQED

Judge orders Stanford doctor to conduct tests on Jahi McMath, 13, whom family is seeking to keep alive.

kqed.org

So, a candidate who everyone was warned had problems waits until the last minute. He'll be replaced by someone who will be forced to throw together a campaign at the last minute against a candidate who's been preparing for years. Deja vu all over again?

Quickly scanning through the BlueSky stream can be dangerous. I was looking at a post wondering about what is really happening with Mitch McConnel and scrolled into "They say it’s “routine maintenance” and that they’re painting the columns."

Can you believe that FIFA gave its prestigious FIFA Peace Prize to a guy who admits that he didn't know what a red card was? What were they thinking?

Obviously, the founders weren't perfect human beings and didn't live up to the ideals they spoke of. But, you have to respect their dedication to the cause. History shows us that they even worked right through the holiday weekend to make sure that the Declaration was finished on time.

If you ever think that students don't remember what we say in class. A graduate from about 15 years ago wrote to say that she was sitting in a bar and got into a discussion about words people commonly misuse and remembered how I told them that "preventative" was one of my pet peeves.

Is the suffix "maxxing" popping up everywhere recently or am I just noticing it? Merriam-Webster has a definition ("making an act or practice as effective and fruitful as possible"). There's a Wikipedia page, etc. It was the subject of a NYT "On Language" column 10/11/2025 so at least that old.

It seems like studies about coffee take turns on whether it's good or bad. As I drink my pot of coffee each morning, I think I'm going to stick with this one: www.medpagetoday.com/gastroentero...

Coffee Lovers and Their Livers Can Celebrate, Study Suggests

Five or more cups a day linked to the greatest benefit

medpagetoday.com

Alito retiring

I think I'm less concerned that Dr. Oz doesn't understand the purpose of insurance than him not understanding how risk pools work and how pulling all the health people out would throw the pool into a death spiral. Can it be that his goal is really to leave single payer as the only option?