Today I will spend most of the day in hiding, because Republican ghouls are grabbing pussies, and I am a wondrous one.  Tomorrow, I have to do all the research for October’s Report in addition to meeting with a social worker, who will help me navigate the complexities of an advanced care directive.  I may be able to publish no more than a Personal Update.  We’ll see how the day develops.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:20 (average 9:21).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

I have to say that the intentional hit on Denver Defensive Coordinator, Wade Phillips, by a San Diego player is the most despicable sportsmanship I have ever seen.

Short Takes:

From NY Times: THE F.B.I. is currently investigating the hacking of Americans’ computers by foreign governments. Russia is a prime suspect.

Imagine a possible connection between a candidate for president in the United States and the Russian computer hacking. Imagine the candidate has business dealings in Russia, and has publicly encouraged the Russians to hack the email of his opponent. It would not be surprising for the F.B.I. to include this candidate and his campaign staff in its confidential investigation of Russian computer hacking.

But it would be highly improper, and an abuse of power, for the F.B.I. to conduct such an investigation in the public eye, particularly on the eve of the election. It would be an abuse of power for the director of the F.B.I., absent compelling circumstances, to notify members of Congress that the candidate was under investigation. It would be an abuse of power if F.B.I. agents went so far as to obtain a search warrant and raid the candidate’s office tower, hauling out boxes of documents and computers in front of television cameras.

The F.B.I.’s job is to investigate, not to influence the outcome of an election.

Such acts could also be prohibited under the Hatch Act, which bars the use of an official position to influence an election. That is why the F.B.I. presumably would keep those aspects of an investigation confidential until after the election. The usual penalty for a violation is termination of federal employment.

Click through for more. The more I learn,the angrier I become at Comey’s criminal Republican behavior.

From Washington Post: The politically charged hate-speech trial of Dutch firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders got underway Monday with Wilders boycotting the opening.

Instead, his lawyer, Geert-Jan Knoops, read out a statement that the lawmaker published last Friday in which he called his case a “political trial” targeting freedom of speech.

It is not the first time Wilders, whose party is riding high in opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections due next March, has been prosecuted. He was acquitted on hate-speech charges in 2011 after complaints about his fierce criticism of Islam.

This sounds scary enough that I hope Lona can give us more info on this Dutch Republican fascist.

From NY Magazine: Republicans are at each others’ [sic] throats in a way they haven’t been since at least 1964. Republicans disagree about Trump, and they disagree about what they need to do in order to regain power. But those disagreements have very little to do with the decisions the party will face between now and the next presidential campaign. Its position toward a prospective Hillary Clinton administration is so predetermined it is hardly a decision at all. The party will oppose her completely and totally.

Some Republicans blanched at Donald Trump’s outright promise to imprison his opponent if elected. But almost none of them objected to his underlying premise that Clinton is a criminal figure who should be in prison but for the politically motivated decision of the FBI’s Republican director to inexplicably spare her prosecution. That consensus will quickly return to the fore.

Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, boasts to Dave Weigel that he plans to begin multiple years’ worth of investigations into the incoming Clinton presidency. “Even before we get to Day One, we’ve got two years’ worth of material already lined up.” Chaffetz makes clear in his interview that two years truly is a low-ball figure.

The sedition Republicans will commit against the first woman President will be even worse than the sedition they committed against the first black President. Republican political extinction is the only solution in sight.

Cartoon:

It’s a busy day and the start of a very busy week.  Wendy is here doing light housework.  The clothes are drying, and I’m trying to publish before the Bronco game.  Tomorrow is Halloween and my day to hide, because I’m such a magnificent pussy that Republican monsters will try to grab me.  Tuesday I collect the data for our Monthly Report, but Providence Elder at Home is coming to help me with my Advanced Directive.  Wednesday is Monthly Report, grocery delivery and Wendy day.  Thursday is fasting labs day, and Friday is Physical Terrorist  day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:06 (average 6:08).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In an unexpected televised address on Saturday, Queen Elizabeth II offered to restore British rule over the United States of America.

Addressing the American people from her office in Buckingham Palace, the Queen said that she was making the offer “in recognition of the desperate situation you now find yourselves in.”

“This two-hundred-and-forty-year experiment in self-rule began with the best of intentions, but I think we can all agree that it didn’t end well,” she said.

The Queen urged Americans to write in her name on Election Day, after which the transition to British rule could begin “with a minimum of bother.”

Dang Andy! I could get behind THAT third party candidate! 😉

From NY Times: The day before the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, sent a letter to Congress announcing that new evidence had been discovered that might be related to the completed Hillary Clinton email investigation, the Justice Department strongly discouraged the step and told him that he would be breaking with longstanding policy, three law enforcement officials said on Saturday.

Senior Justice Department officials did not move to stop him from sending the letter, officials said, but they did everything short of it, pointing to policies against talking about current criminal investigations or being seen as meddling in elections.

At the time Obama appointed Comey as a gesture of bipartisanship, I said that appointing a Republican to head the FBI was a big mistake. I don’t think he supports Trump. Instead, he may have been trying to effect down ballot races.

From Think Progress: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump repeatedly suggests to his supporters that the elections are rigged against him, that undocumented immigrants are “voting all over the country,” and that there is “large scale” voter fraud.

Instances of voter fraud are so rare that only about 31 allegations of voter impersonation fraud have been found since 2000. But when they do occur, they often happen in a much different way than what Trump describes. On Thursday, voter fraud did take place in the form of a U.S. citizen in Iowa who allegedly voted twice for the Republican presidential candidate. And thanks to safeguards in place, the perpetrator was quickly identified and charged.

And the Republican criminal was caught without benefit of repressive Voter ID Laws.  If my memory is correct, virtually all the documented cases of intentional voter fraud were perpetrated by Republicans.

Cartoon:

I’m back in the saddle, but the next week is so very busy that I’ll be intermittent.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My Broncos are meditating at home against the Chargers and it will be televised here.  May the Divine Orb blast the Chargers in the butt with their own lightning bolts and shine its blessed light on the other teams, especially my Broncos.It’s also a Wendy day, so don’t be surprised if I publish late.  Today, I’m feeling so ground down, that I’m made it a point to include humor in both articles.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:55).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Why Donald Trump is Obsessed with Dictators

These dictators are the Republicans that would serve as models for Trump in a Rump Dump Republican Reich.

From KP Daily Funnies: Hamilton Parody: Hillary Rodham Clinton!

Like they said, lets flush the orange turd.

From The New Yorker: James Comey, the embattled director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, presided over a special ceremony on Friday evening to commend the brave F.B.I. agents who had to touch Anthony Weiner’s computer.

In awarding the commendations to the agents, whom Comey called “the bravest men and women this country has to offer,” the F.B.I. director criticized the political uproar that he said had overshadowed “their selfless acts of heroism.”

“These agents have performed far and beyond the call of duty,” a visibly angry Comey said. “I know we’re eleven days away from an election and tensions are running high, but we shouldn’t let that subtract in any way from what these brave agents did with their own hands.”

Dang Andy! I know there is nothing of substance here, but the way Republicans and the pie in the sky set will spin false equivalence around this, I really wish he had an Oscar Mayer Weiner!!

Cartoon:

I’m posting a quick note before pre4paring to leave for my volunteer work in prison.  Please see yesterday’s Open Thread for more details.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:41 (average 5:01).  To co it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

In the last 30 years, it has increased to over 1,500,000.