Because the electrical tape fell off that part of my car's dashboard where it had covered up the "Maintenance Required" warning light, I spent Boxing Day morning at a local garage while getting this fluid changed, that filter replaced, and the other gadget adjusted.

In the waiting room, the TV was tuned (tooned?) to Fux Nausea, and the remote was nowhere to be found. As the sole customer at the time, I was not about to spend the next two hours engulfed in electronic dysentery. I pushed the correct button on the cable/satellite box to change the channel to CSPAN. Their call-in show was only slightly better -- at least there were no Big Pharma commercials or other snake-oil peddling.

Meanwhile, in walk several other customers. The first of them included a 30-ish white male with his wife and kid (who brings his family to an oil change?), the other was an older African-American male. The white dude made a not-so-sotto voce RWNJ comment at first, but once the program changed to a lecture series, everyone in the waiting room (except the toddler) sat up and paid attention. Maybe it's because the free-wifi sucked as much as the tired, old magazine collection, but at the end of the lecture, we agreed it was a good program.

It might have been naughty of me to change the channel without asking, but I consider the outcome -- thoughtful consideration of the topic (which happened to be scientific) -- to be nice.

Perhaps we should take this approach during the new year/regime: refocus and refine discussion. Drumpf-sters will not yield on political talking points, but maybe by changing the subject will open their eyes and ears.

I know: your human and electronic resources were really stretched during the recent political campaigns, and have now enjoyed a respite -- well-earned... or not.

Now, show us that you are not a tool of Russian intelligence (or other shadow operations) and deliver the documents, emails, etc. that We The People should see during this transition -- as you did so ably in the run-up to Election Day.:

Let's start with Drumpf's most recent federal tax return. Surely, your network of "freedom-fighters" has uncovered that document by now.

No?

Is there a "smiley " for Crickets?

As you gather together with your family and friends tomorrow evening, here's a way to pass the time as polls close across the country. Giving each guest/player two index cards or note pads, pose the following questions:
1. As the opposition plummets like a homesick rock, to which five countries would you suggest the sore-losers relocate?
2. When you first heard that the Mangled-Apricot-Hellbeast got the nomination from the GOP, which five countries had you considered calling your new home?

The guests take turns with each question, number by number. Whenever one (or more) guest has the same answer, they each take a drink/treat.

It would be better than surfing channels for the least offensive coverage, or binge-watching movies/TV-shows until the west-coast polls close.

One of the advantages of being semi-retired is getting Mondays off, so I put my morning to good use by casting my ballot.

My particular multi-precinct polling site is in a very diverse neighborhood, so I didn't know what to expect, (one very good reason to early-vote on a weekday). Despite some lame-ass parking by other voters, this was Minute-Rice-perfect for me. No lines, no waiting, but most especially no hassles. There were two young gentlemen in the library's foyer, attired in day-glo orange vests -- hard to miss, even for those voters still squinting after walking from Florida's clichéd bright sunlight to the fluorescence of late-20th-Century public-space architecture. The implicit message here: any self-appointed, Drumpf-ster Divers, presumably sent there to monitor voting were not welcome there.

Everything -- except the paper ballot -- has been automated here. Check-In involved handing my driver's license at the first table (did I already mention "no lines, no waiting"?). The poll-worker swiped my ID into her terminal, asked if anything had changed, made me sign on an attached device, and -- once I checked-out, as who I said I was -- handed me my thermal-printed, bar-coded receipt, inscribed with a number in large, bold type. On to step two.

The worker at the next stop took my "receipt" and stood by a laser printer, waiting for my very-own ballot to print out. It, too, was inscribed with my magical vote number. Fill in the bubbles for each candidate or referendum item, scan it and walk away.

Un-harassed. Un-challenged. Un-impeded.
Is "white privilege" hyphenated?

What troubles me now is the automation bit. Essentially, it identified who I am with the ballot I cast. So much for secret ballots. I get it: we want to avoid multiple votes cast by the same voter, but where else are these data used?!?

OK, no screens that switch from one candidate/referendum to another. But still, in a deeply Red state, how am I assured that the above-mentioned voter number won't be misused to either void my ballot, whether his whim is based on party-affiliation, demographic or just simply because the Supervisor of Elections here in ultra-Red Duval County doesn't like the cut of my jib, or doesn't care for how the early voting results are going?

What's to stop him or one of his drones from negating my ballot -- and hundreds of thousands of others -- because they don't like how things are trending, while counting on avoidance of a manual recount?

Nothing but our perseverance and determination. In numbers that overwhelmingly express our desire to avoid the nightmare that is Drumpf and the continued gridlock on Capitol Hill.

Vote.

Demand accountability.


And, yes, I voted straight Democratic Party for the candidates and in favor of the other ballot issues that aligned with policies favored by -- or at least leaning toward -- those of our Party.

So, Republicans: be sure to change your calendar back to 1933, Central European Time.

Everyone else: set your clocks back one hour.

...by a Latino crowd, no less.

According to the Orlando Weekly (alternative newspaper) -- as well as NPR and other media outlets -- it did not play out the way Marco and his campaign staff had hoped.


The NPR report goes on to say that Rubio's support of Drumpf has become an albatross around Marco's neck. And, as one attendee Tweeted, "So @marcorubio just showed up at a largely Puerto Rican street fair in Orlando and got booed of (sic) the stage big time."

As it turns out, the Republican strategy of grouping all Latinos into one demographic has backfired on them. When you attack Mexicans as a group, the people from Puerto Rico, South America and other Central American countries do not take kindly to that approach.

I wish I could have been there!

Here's the Orlando Weekly article

Last night, I received a forwarded email from a friend in another state, outlining how Xtians should feel OK with voting for the worst-ever candidate for POTUS.

It opens with a feeble joke about a flooding victim, stranded on his rooftop, who turns away three rescue attempts -- via rowboat -- because he's waiting for "God." The punchline is the guy dies and meets his god in heaven who tells him "But I sent three rowboats to you!"

Here are some of the justifications the writer made for voting for the mangled-apricot hellbeast:


No, the image that comes to my mind is a large predator, such as hungry alligator or perhaps even a great white shark, rescuing the hapless soul on the rooftop to fill its own belly.

The argument continues:


When I spent three weeks working in the hot zone in lower Manhattan 15 years ago, those of us responding to the attacks on 9/11 did manage to accomplish a lot of good work without a lot of "combative, aggressive, outrageous, offensive or arrogant behavior."

And I'll admit, it's been a few decades since I read or even cracked-open a bible, but I seem to recall all the vengeance was crammed into the old testament. The whole tone of the book changed in the new testament; you know, the Beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount, that sort of stuff. No?

Here's the conclusion:


"Battleship"? -- Well the abbreviation matches what we've seen over the past 15 months;
"Patriot" -- defined as someone who avoids the draft via four student deferments, and when those ran out, he got a note from his doctor about a bone-spur on his foot;
"Warrior" -- someone who insults Sen. McCain, stiffs veterans of money donated by others (until he gets caught); sacrificed nothing and no one; would start a shooting war over a perceived slight; and idolized the ex-KGB official who invaded Ukraine, is currently committing mass murder of civilians in Syria, and wants Drumpf to abolish NATO so that he can invade individual European countries with no significant resistance. Yeah, some warrior!
"A bit rude, crude and offensive" -- only to people of color, women, Muslims, LGBT citizens, immigrants, anyone who disagrees with him, and just about everybody else Drumpf defines as "losers," including the author of this bit of skreed.

I'm with Hillary on this one!

Warning: do not drink or eat while watching this.
(I'm not going to replace anybody's smart phone, tablet, keyboard, monitor or laptop due to spray-damage).

What a Dirty (Sanchez) thing to say!

Best. Line. Ever. "That guy needs a turd Martini."