Getting my Lift permit renewed this morning took ten minutes.  Factoring-in waiting for rides, it took three and a half hours.  ARGH!!  I’m very tired, but as the effects of the Cymbalta are starting to wear off, I’m feeling a bit more human, and I know tomorrow’s appointment with Megan will limit me to a Personal Update.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:50 (average 4:44).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: PPP has put up a number of tweets this morning, which can be seen here

The descriptive story is here from which we learn

Colorado    4-way  Clinton 46, Trump 40, Johnson 6, Stein 2
                     2-way  Clinton 51, Trump 44

Florida        4-way  Clinton 45, Trump 43, Johnson 3, Stein 1
                      2-way   Clinton 48, Trump 45

North Carolina     4-way  Clinton 44, Trump 42, Johnson 7
                      2-way   Clinton 49, Trump 45

Pennsylvania       4-way Clinton 45, Trump 39, Johnson 6, Stein 2
                       2-way Clinton 49, Trump 44

Virginia                4-way  Clinton 46, Trump 40, Johnson 7, Stein 1
                       2-way  Clinton 49, Trump 43

Further, they polled who won the debate, in each case it was Clinton

CO  53-31
FL   52-35
NC  53-31
PA  51-32
VA  54-30

That’s great news for America, especially since it shows a shift in support away from the minor candidates, whose candidacies help Trump.

From NY Times: Congress averted a government shutdown Wednesday as the Senate and then the House approved a short-term spending bill, allowing lawmakers to avoid a crisis and return home to campaign.

The stopgap spending bill, which would fund the government through Dec. 9, had been ensnarled in a debate over financing for the lead-tainted water system in Flint, Mich.

But an agreement between congressional leaders late Tuesday — which would authorize aid for Flint as part of separate legislation for water infrastructure projects — appeared to ameliorate Democratic concerns, clearing the way for the Senate to pass the spending bill, 72 to 26. The House followed suit late Wednesday, approving the measure 342 to 85.

I’m glad a government shutdown was avoided, but I am skeptical of any measure that includes the Democratic benefits as part of future legislation, especially when Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Gary Peters (D-MI) oppose it. I am skeptical,because of the Republican track record for honoring agreements: virtually never.

From Think Progress: Donald Trump’s campaign manager appeared to unwittingly confirm an explosive Newsweek story on Thursday, telling ABC’s The View that a Trump company did indeed spend money in Cuba in 1998, in violation of a longstanding U.S. embargo that Trump has vociferously defended.

Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald reported on Thursday that Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts spent at least $68,000 in 1998 in Cuba, “at a time when the corporate expenditure of even a penny in the Caribbean country was prohibited without U.S. government approval.” The story notes that “with Trump’s knowledge, executives funneled the cash for the Cuba trip through an American consulting firm.” After the consultants traveled to Cuba and spent the funds, the consultants instructed Trump’s company on “how to make it appear legal by linking it after the fact to a charitable effort.”

As I have opposed the embargo of Cuba for many years, I would have supported doing business with that nation as an act of civil disobedience, as Michael Moore did, but Trump violating the law, at the same time that he campaigns to reinstate the embargo, is both hypocritical and criminal. It should disqualify his candidacy without further ado.

Cartoon:

I’ve decided to stop taking Cymbalta, so my system will be clear for the next option, when I see Megan on Friday.  It’s been a week and a half, none of the side effects has abated, and as my system has gotten used to it, it has become less effective at blocking phantom pain.  I was up with it most of the night.  Today is a busy one.  Store to Door is coming this afternoon with my grocery delivery, and I’ll have to unpack and put it away.  Later Wendy is coming to de-stink the TomCat.  Tomorrow and Friday may be days with only a Personal Update.  Tomorrow I have to go to the Tri-Met office to prove my disability for Lift Bus authorization renewal.  I wonder if they think I might have grown my leg back.  Friday is my appointment with Megan.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 4:35).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From KP Daily Funnies: Funny or Die: Trump’s Great Temperament

Barf Bag Alert!!

Not funny, but spot-on!

From The New Yorker: Plunging the future of the 2016 Presidential debates into doubt, Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday morning that he would not participate in the remaining two debates if Hillary Clinton is there.

Trump blasted the format of Monday night’s debate by claiming that the presence of Clinton was “specifically designed” to distract him from delivering his message to the American people.

“Every time I said something, she would say something back,” he said. “It was rigged.”

He also lambasted the “underhanded tactics” his opponent used during the debate. “She kept on bringing up things I said or did,” he added. “She is a very nasty person.”

Amen, Andy. I can see the possibility that he might tuck tail and run away.

From Daily Kos: House Speaker Paul Ryan once again showed what a total weasel he is in his assessment of Donald Trump’s debate performance. Ryan offered up a glowing review:

“I saw Donald Trump give a spirited voice to those of us who don’t like the status quo, and I see emerging in front of us the potential for what a unified Republican government can get you, which can be the solutions,” Ryan said at a news conference Tuesday. “I think he passed a number of thresholds… and showed that for 90 minutes he could go toe-to-toe with Hillary Clinton.”

With Lyin’ Ryan, the truth of his statements is easy to discern. When he speaks, the opposite of what he says is true.

Cartoon:

Last night I watched, and slept poorly afterwards.  Fortunately, I had the foresight to place George on the other side of the room.  That let me avoid using him as a receptacle during hours of Rump Dump Rectumite retching.  Seriously, the temperature reached 92° here yesterday with super-high humidity.  I slept poorly, because it was way too sticky for comfort.  Today’s Short Takes also involve the debate.  It is thoroughly dominating the news.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:27 (average 5:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the latest in our fantasy football league.

Scores:

Did Pam kick my kitty-kitty butt, or what?!!?

Standings:

Congrats to Rob, who sits alone atop the league.

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: As the nation awaits the first faceoff between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Monday night, more Americans are expected to self-medicate than for any other Presidential debate in history.

With over a hundred million people projected to watch the debate, roughly sixty million of them will be barely sentient after ingesting what they deem to be the necessary dose of intoxicants.

Davis Logsdon, of the University of Minnesota, estimated on Monday that the level of self-medication for the Trump-Clinton debate could be seven hundred per cent greater than for the first Obama-Romney debate, in 2012.

“The stakes seem higher this time,” Logsdon said. “There’s a sense that, depending on the outcome of tonight’s debate, all human life on the planet could be in peril.”

Dang, Andy!! The one who should have self-medicated, but didn’t, is Rump Dump Trump!

From TPM: It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to interrupt Hillary Clinton during Monday night’s debate, with the first interruption happening less than 15 minutes in. And once it started, he just couldn’t stop.

Barf Bag Alert!

51 Times!!

From Public Policy Polling: PPP’s post debate survey, sponsored by VoteVets Action Fund, finds that voters nationally think Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the debate, 51/40.

Perhaps most important for Clinton is that among young voters, who she has under performed with, 63% think she won the debate to only 24% for Trump. 47% of voters in that age group said the debate tonight made them more likely to vote for her, to only 10% who say it made them less likely to vote for her. For Trump with that group on the other hand, only 23% said the debate made them more likely to vote for him to 39% who said it made them less likely to.

Clinton also won the debate by particularly wide margins with women (54/36) and voters who are either African American or Latino (77/13). Among white voters the debate was basically a draw with Trump coming out ahead 47/45.

Speaking as a Caucasian, I’m thoroughly ashamed that so many white voters preferred Rump Dump Trump.

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