Some Fall Color on the Way to the Beach

We headed off to the beach around noon yesterday. Our trees are in the midst of turning colors here with the approach of cooler weather. The orange-tipped one in the center is a maple, while the dark purplish one on the right is a Sweet Gum, pretty in fall, but an awful tree in a yard thanks to the spiky "gumballs"

Poison Ivy often turns before tree it's growing on does. Here it's yellow on one tree and red on another.











Hickories are the main stand outs now, with yellow-orange. Our oaks, of several different species, turn later, and are usually less colorful.

Down at the beach, the winds were light and west, although this catamaran was leaving the harbor for a sail

There were a few Horseshoe Crab molts on the beach. Left empty by the living crab having crawled out for a new, bigger shell, these can be washed out and dried to make an interesting souvenir.

As you can see in the distance, the main bulk of our trees are still green and in leaf. By the end of November the majority of the leaves will be down.

The cooler weather has Skye friskier than usual, and that says a lot.

A few butterflies still hanging on. A Common Buckeye (there are no uncommon buckeyes around here). A few Monarchs are still drifting by, and the Sulphurs (Cabbage, Clouded and Unclouded) are still around, as the the Variegated Fritillary.

Harry Potter Meets Rule 34

34. There is porn of it, no exceptions.



Actually, the Harry Rule 34 is pretty mild:

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links. Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Monday: Happy Fun Victory Week" up and running at The Other McCain.

Its National Ginger Day!

It's National Love Your Red Hair Day!

The holiday was started by two redheaded sisters who wanted to help other gingers embrace and love their fiery locks.

To help celebrate, here are nine fun facts about redheads:

1) The highest concentration of redheads is in Scotland (13%) followed by Ireland (10%). Worldwide, only 2% of the population has red hair.

2) People with red hair are likely more sensitive to pain. This is because the gene mutation (MC1R) that causes red hair is on the same gene linked to pain receptors. It also means redheads usually need more anesthesia for dental and medical procedures.

3) Having red hair isn't the only thing that makes some redheads unique. They are also more likely to be left handed. Both characteristics come from recessive genes, which like to come in pairs.

The anesthesia thing caused Georgia a lot of pain until she and the dentists worked it out.

4) Redheads probably won't go grey. That's because the pigment just fades over time. So they will probably go blonde and even white, but not grey.

5) Rumor says Hitler banned marriage between redheads. Apparently he thought it would lead to "deviant offspring."

6) Redheads most commonly have brown eyes. The least common eye color: blue.

7) Bees have been proven to be more attracted to redheads.

 I think bees bother her more, too.

8) Being a redheaded man may have health benefits. A study published by the British Journal of Cancer suggested that men with red hair are 54% less likely to develop prostate cancer than their brown and blonde-haired counterparts.

9) Redheads actually have less hair than most other people. On average they only have 90,000 strands of hair while blonds, for example, have 140,000. However, red hair is typically thicker so they it still looks just as full.

I love my ginger.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Monday: Happy Fun Victory Week" up and running at The Other McCain.

Running Out of Steam at Clinton.com

It's getting a long way down the road, near the end, and I'm running out of steam, but let's get going anyway: Comey’s not the problem, the media is the problem. As Instapundit says (over and over) just think of them as democrats operatives with bylines, and it all makes perfect sense.

A powerful public official errs on the side of transparency and disclosure and how does the media react?

Outraged. Indignant. Defensive.

These are our supposed public watchdogs. The ones whose job is to expose what taxpayer-funded officials and politicians don’t want you to know.

 No, Bret Baier’s multi-part scoop on the FBI’s Clinton probes hasn’t been “debunked”. A combination of wishful thinking and propaganda by Democrats.

Just girl talk: Hillary Clinton sent Chelsea info now deemed classified  And Then Tried To Cover Her Tracks, anyway, the subject is so important we're not allowed to see it now. Can security clearances be passed on the X chromosome? Related Wikileak: John Podesta says Calling Chelsea ‘Not Smart’ Is An ‘Understatement’.

Speaking of not smart, Wikileaks Tweet: Hillary Campaign Manager Jon Podesta Invited To, And Apparently Interested In, Ritual Dinner Featuring "Spirit Cooking," Allegedly Derived from Alesteir Croweley's Satanic Rituals. Podesta has a long running interest in the weird, including a belief in UFOs. Maybe he can become Secretary of the Paranormal. And David Brock? Just Bat S**t Crazy.

Wikileaks also reveals how the Clinton camp dealt with Women's Pay Equity issue and how it relates to the Clinton campaign. Turns out they talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk. Also revealed, FactCheck.org was working with the Clinton campaign. Brooks, tell me it ain't so!

I fear John Crudel at the NY Post is too optimistic: Hillary won’t survive another WikiLeaks dump:

And, I said, Clinton was being set up for an ambush by someone connected with the Russians who had hacked her personal emails. (Her password was stolen, my sources tell me, when she was traveling to Russia as secretary of state.)

Many of you may think that Comey’s decision to reopen the email investigation was the ambush I was predicting.

No, the ambush I am expecting has to do with the release of Clinton’s own emails in Phase 3 of the leaks.

If I had to guess, the newest releases will contain Hillary Clinton’s personal stuff. Unless WikiLeaks is lying, Phase 3 should come before the weekend. Only then will Clinton be unelectable.

So far, that final prediction is not materializing. However, his guess regarding Clinton's password seems on point. She has been notoriously sloppy. Almost as if she didn't care who saw what as long as it wasn't the American public.   Majority of voters think Clinton acted illegally, new poll finds. Unfortunately, many of them are democrats, and they just don't care. From ‘reset’ to ‘pause’: The real story behind Hillary Clinton’s feud with Vladimir Putin. She understands him, because she would like to be him, for all of us.

Kimberly Strassel has a long article on Clinton's mole at the Just Us Department, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik: The Clinton Campaign at Obama Justice. You do know how to defeat the paywall don't you? Hmmm or is that Whoa! IRS reviewing the Clinton Foundation? Too little too late. The time to do that is before she gets to appoint your bosses. Misdirection: What did Giuliani know, and when did he know it?. What, you mean Trump might have moles too?


Trump's latest ad:




That stings. So does this: Clinton's charity confirms Qatar's $1 million gift while she was at State Dept "without informing the State Department, even though she had promised to let the agency review new or significantly increased support from foreign governments."

A double from Victor Davis Hanson: Epic greed, power, and pride: Where’s the bottom? With Bill and Hillary, there’s no telling and No reason to assume Hillary’s troubles are behind her. Hillary Clinton’s Downfall And Ruling Class Collapse:

What we know so far:

Hillary’s downfall began in earnest with Huma Abedin’s estranged husband Anthony Weiner’s indiscriminate dickposting. In the course of investigating Weiner for allegedly sexting a minor, the NYPD (or the NY office of the FBI) either stumbled upon evidence of Clinton’s deleted emails on Weiner’s faptop, or Wiener sang like a bird in a bid to plea bargain himself out of prison time, and turned his computer over to the FBI with the promise of a much bigger fishwife to fry. The latest news is that Weiner may have copied and saved all of Hilluma’s emails in case of an emergency when he might need it as a bargaining tool.

In other words, Anthony Weiner may go down in history as the perv who unintentionally saved Western Civilization.

Soft core porn starlet Susan Sarandon (NSFW): 'DNC is completely corrupt’ When you're right, you're right. She's voting for The Vandal. "Big Names Campaigning for Hillary Clinton Underscore Donald Trump’s Isolation.": A NYT headline that could so easily be rewritten pro-Trump.  About that possible tie in the electoral college? Jay Z repeatedly drops n-word, f-bomb during concert for Hillary Clinton. But Donald Trump said "pussy!"

Electoral College Voter Says He Will Not Vote For Hillary Clinton Even If She Wins His State, "While that is technically Satiacum’s prerogative, as an elected member of the Electoral College, he will face a $1,000 fine from Washington for not voting for the winner of that state." Pennsylvania State Police Stage Voter Fraud Sting You have to dig hard and do a little googling to see that it's a Democratic front group involved. And speaking of people with the power to sway the election: Presidential Pollsters’ Political Contributions: Heavily For Hillary Clinton. Do you want to be on the "right side of history" or just be right? As Stacy McCain says "If Hillary Loses Ohio … finish that statement any way you want."

Be sure to check out the links at Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 11.04.16", Maggie's Farm's "Thursday morning links" and "Friday morning links", and Larwyn's Linx: These are the times for which the Constitution was written; FBI Taking Action To Take Down Top DOJ Officials.

Wombat-socho has both "Rule 5 Monday: Happy Fun Victory Week" and "FMJRA 2.0: Happy Fun Victory Week" up and running at The Other McCain.

A Smart Rule 5 Saturday - Amy Smart

This week's Rule 5 special is devoted to Amy Smart:

American actress and former fashion model. Smart began her career modeling in Italy and subsequently enrolled in acting school. Her first role in film was in director Martin Kunert's film Campfire Tales. She has since appeared in numerous films, including Varsity Blues (1999), Road Trip (2000), The Butterfly Effect (2004), Just Friends (2005), Mirrors (2008), and Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club (2014).

While modelling in Italy, Smart met fellow model Ali Larter and the two "became instant friends", according to Larter. In Los Angeles, the two took acting classes together. After appearing in the video for The Lemonheads' It's About Time in 1993, Smart's first film role was in director Martin Kunert's film Campfire Tales, followed by a small role as Queenie in the 1996 rendition of John Updike's short story. . .

Some NSFW material from early movies.

The sultry Angie Dickinson leads GOODSTUFFs BLOGGING MAGAZINE (266th Issue) way back meta blog post, along with Ellen Rometsch, the JFK spy chick, passing science and other secret data onto the loyal readers of his magazine. Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links. Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" and "FMJRA 2.0: As Falls Wichita…" up at The Other McCain.

Short and Sweet at Clinton.com

I don't have the patience today for a long post of all the news from Clinton.com, so let's just settle for a few of the juiciest: 

FBI Sources Believe Clinton Foundation Case Moving Towards "Likely an Indictment"

Fox News Channel's Bret Baier reports the latest news about the Clinton Foundation investigation from two sources inside the FBI. He reveals five important new pieces of information in these two short clips . . .

1. The Clinton Foundation investigation is far more expansive than anybody has reported so far and has been going on for more than a year.
2. The laptops of Clinton aides Cherryl Mills and Heather Samuelson have not been destroyed, and agents are currently combing through them. The investigation has interviewed several people twice, and plans to interview some for a third time.
3. Agents have found emails believed to have originated on Hillary Clinton's secret server on Anthony Weiner's laptop. They say the emails are not duplicates and could potentially be classified in nature.
4. Sources within the FBI have told Baier that an indictment is "likely" in the case of pay-for-play at the Clinton Foundation, "barring some obstruction in some way" from the Justice Department.
5. 5. FBI sources say with 99% accuracy that Hillary Clinton's server has been hacked by at least five foreign intelligence agencies, and that information have been taken from it.

The affaire du Clinton has apparently instigated a war between the DOJ and the FBI: DC Attorney: FBI Agents Working To Expose Top DOJ Officials

“Just think of the FBI as the Vietcong. That’s what they are. They are digging tunnels under the Justice Department. They are going to sink that place,” Washington attorney Joe DiGenova told The Daily Caller Thursday.

DiGenova, who has bureau sources close to the FBI investigation, named Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kaznick, Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin, and Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell as senior level staff at DOJ have who have “done something that they are going to regret.”

FBI agents pushed forward, against the wishes of the Justice Department and without the support of bureau leadership, to investigate the Clinton Foundation, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

As a result of the obstacles thrown in their way, DiGenvoa says the agents within the bureau have gone “rogue” and any upper level bureaucrat that gets in their way from investigating Clinton could be exposed.

I can't believe we're seriously faced with the choices we have, the criminal, the clown, the stoner and the vandal.

Via Wombat-socho's  "In The Mailbox: 11.03.16,", Hillary Eats Soul Food, Uh Oh! New Report Shows DOJ Blocked FBI From Investigating Clinton Foundation, The Sleeper Issue For Nine Million Americans That The Media Will Not Cover, JD Rucker – The Difference Between Scandals? Hillary’s Speak To Ability, Trump’s To Character, Our Demands When Trump Invades Canada, Hollywood Nitwits Losing Sleep, Living In Fear Of A Trump Win, BleachBit Trolls Hillary With “Cloth Or Something” Server Wipe, The Clinton-Lynch Meeting – Even Worse Than We Thought, Grover Cleveland For President. No Significant Voter Fraud, Eh?, Public Policy Is Not A Natural Phenomenon

A Great Day on the Bay

No Clinton.com post yesterday (or much else for that matter), because Walleye Pete called on Wednesday night and asked, no begged me to come with him on a commercial hook and line fishing trip. It seems a scheduling screw up had left him no charter for Thursday, and it promised to be a good weather day, at least until the arrival of a cold front, forecast for the afternoon.

Pete, I and two other fishermen that I had not previously met (Nick and Josh) left Solomons at 6 AM in the dark for a 1 hour ride down to the Middle Grounds, an area of relatively shallow water on the side of the Bay, across from where the Potomac River joins the Bay. The secret to the middle grounds is a number of "lumps" reputed to be piles of old ballast stones from old sailing ships, who would dump the stones, and take on cargoes of tobacco. You can find the humps yourself with a depth finder, but fisherman jealously guard the coordinates of their favorites. Fish seem to congregate on or near these humps in good numbers at times.

We arrived just before sunrise, and shortly after sunrise, the bite began in earnest. We caught a good number of big Stripped Bass, including the 38 inch fish Nick is holding with the sunrise behind him. My largest was only 34 inches. Since commercial fish have to be within 18-36 inches, this one was released. To the left, a piece of "soft coral" retrieved from the bottom by a lure. Relatively rare in our end of Chesapeake Bay, the only place I've ever seen them is at these lumps.

After a couple of hours fishing the lumps, the bite seemed to die, and we headed off to the nearby "Target Ship", the American Mariner, WWII Liberty ship towed into shallow water and scuttled for the Navy to use as a target. Seen here in the pink sunrise from a distance, courtesy of the telephoto lens

We had not been fishing there long (and we weren't catching) when we were approached by the Navy's range boat, who told Pete that they Navy was going to be carrying out some activity nearby (no, they weren't going to shoot more holes in the Mariner), and we were told we would have to leave the vicinity by 11:30.

 We headed off to a deep wreck out near the channel, where we did pick up a few good sized stripers, but no more giants, along with a couple of undersized Black Sea Bass. Best known as an offshore, deeper water bottom fish, smaller ones are fairly common in the Bay on deep structures. I remember one year when they were so prevalent that I was catching good numbers of little one in shallow water.

After that, we started island hopping, hitting many of the same islands of the eastern shore, on our way back north. It wasn't the best fishing, but we did add to the haul at various places along the way.

Like a scene out of a horror movie, a tomb erodes out of the bank of Hoopers Island, while grave stones fall off the edge of the bank to join the pile of rip-rap at the foot of the small cliff, trying to slow the erosion. Erosion kills the small islands of Chesapeake Bay, not sea level rise. While a salt marsh cab grow up to keep up with sea level rise, nothing keeps the islands from progressively eroding at the edges.

A view of the upper and original, "Bridge to Nowhere", the upper bridge to Hooper's Island, through Barren Island gap. across Tar Bay. I've taken my old boat through this passage way, which is narrow, shallow, and not well marked. Nearby, Pete took us to what he called a honey hole, where indeed, we did catch a good number of pretty large fish. I've filed it's location away carefully in my memory, as it is with a long but doable boat ride from home.

The cold front approached as we came to Cedar Point. Only a single fish answered the call here, and by 4:30 we were docked back in Solomons and unloading fish for a round trip of 97 miles, and about 40 gallons of gas. A total of 62 stripers, and as Pete told me later, 244 pounds, sold for slightly less than $1,000. Probably more than he would have made on a charter. Not the best commercial trip I've been on, but certainly a good one.

More Newds from New York

2016 New York bodypainting festival annual (Warning, NSFW, and some downright distasteful)



Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" up at The Other McCain.

You Could Do Worse

And probably will.



It would certainly be an upgrade in Vice President. Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" up at The Other McCain.

A Tragic Death Near Home

Woman's body found in St. Leonard harbor 

A woman’s body was found at the Flag Harbor pier in St. Leonard Saturday evening after Calvert County Sheriff’s office units responded at 8:30 p.m. in reference to a missing person who had possibly fallen into the harbor. Cpl. Smith arrived at the pier and located the body under the pier.

The victim was determined to be Pamela Fell, 45, who lived on a large boat parked in the first boat slip on the left of the pier. A friend of Fell’s had been attempting to contact the victim since the prior Thursday with negative results, according to a sheriff’s office release. The friend contacted the harbormaster at Flag Harbor and asked him to check on Fell. The harbormaster went into Fell’s boat and observed a purse on the floor of the rear boat deck, the lights and television on inside the cabin and only the screen door closed. Fell’s cellphone was retrieved from the purse on the boat.

This what I found at the boat today on our walk to the beach today.

The friend responded to the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office to report Fell as missing. The harbormaster checked the surveillance camera footage from the pier where Fell’s boat is located, which showed Fell falling off the dock, the release states.

Fell’s body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, where an autopsy will be performed.

This is a real fear around docks. It only takes a little slip wind up in the water with a head injury or worse.

Winding Down at Clinton.com

Can you believe a week from now it will end? I can't wait for this to get over. I don't know what I'll be doing after the election, but not this. I'm sure a lot of crap is still due to come down the pipe until then.

Facts. what are they? FBI never asked Clinton aides for all their devices. Why not? Chiefly because they were lawyers, even though they were officially State Dept. employees. And, oh look! State Dept: we found 323 more Hillary e-mails — and some are classified. Everything the SecState touches should be classified, just because you never know what information could be useful. From Ricochet,  Comey and the Classified(?) Emails: An Imperfect Guide to the Perplexed. Can’t make this up: DOJ official ‘running’ Clinton email probe tried to get son a job with the Clinton campaign. Everybody running DC is one jump away from everyone else. Huma's email testimony could haunt her as FBI renews probe. Until evidence shows otherwise, I'll assume her surprise that she expressed when the emails were found there was genuine. Just Days After FBI Reopens Hillary Probe, MSNBC Laments Nominating a Dem. Under FBI Investigation. But don't let her buy any weapons.

The trials and tribulations of James Comey. LOL: Remember that time Loretta Lynch 'recused herself' from Hillary’s email probe? If you believed that. . .  Former AG Michael Mukasey: Damage from Clinton Email Scandal Will Last ‘For Decades’ The Clintons taint everything they touch. Mukasey, scholars ripped FBI Director Comey for giving Clinton a 'pass'.  Desperate Democrats need to stop lashing Comey now. He had no choice. The ONLY people to blame for this email mess are Huma, Bill and most of all Hillary. Piers Morgan? When did he grow a conscience? Flashback: Bill Clinton cheered 11th hour indictment that doomed Bush re-election. Of course he did; when did we expect politicians to choose consistency over convenience? More? 9 Times Clinton Team Praised Comey And His Neutrality. It's only neutral when it's in your favor. Hillary Clinton Email Scandal -- FBI Director Comey Didn't Create This Mess "Hillary and Her Enablers Have Made Their Bed, and Are Now Lying In It" Hillary’s Hubris, Weiner’s Porn and Comey’s Conscience - Character flaws explain this election’s unexpected plot twists. After another release of documents, FBI finds itself caught in a partisan fray. What, politics in the Obama era? I'm shocked, shocked. Call Hillary Clinton’s Bluff
The FBI director and the Democratic nominee are getting what they deserve. They deserve more than just a headache.

And Wikileaks continues to spew venom: Donna Brazile's debate question flap boosts 'rigged' narrative. It does. If you cheat in the small stuff that doesn't matter, who wouldn't you cheat on the big stuff? If Dems will rig a debate for Clinton, what won't they do to win? Clearly, violence is withing their scope; how about murder? Has a single Democrat condemned Donna Brazile’s actions? No, remember that when they try to stop anti-election fraud measures. WikiLeaks #PodestaEmails25 : John Podesta Compare Your Opponent to Hitler. Be fair, now, Democrats always compare their opponents to Hitler. Bret Baier uncovers why Podesta ‘dump emails’ WikiLeaks bombshell is WORSE than you thought. Proposes to "dump" the emails sooner rather than later. I guess it depends on the meaning of the word "dump." CLAUDIA ROSETT CHALKS UP ANOTHER OBAMA LEGACY: THE CLINTON EMAIL BURLESQUE. Don't forget who was nominally in charge. Presented without comment:

Alicia Machado

It's all sexism! Hillary Clinton’s Emailgate Is an Attack on Women. What, are women uniquely unable to understand the difference between classified and unclassified email? Berkeley linguistics professor says going after Hillary for her email is a "bitch hunt" — happening only because Hillary is a woman. A stupid idea, but I like the phrase. Breaking! Hillary May Have Sexually Harassed Huma Abedin. Touched her without seeking permission, in public. Burn her at the stake! Obama to American men: You sure you’re not holding Hillary to a sexist double standard? Absolutely sure. I hate her for her politics. I wasn't racism that cause me to oppose yours. Hillary Clinton Introduced By Gangster Moll and Accused Getaway Driver for a Murder Plot Alicia Machado, For Some Reason. Yep, still playing the dumb vagina card. Hillary Clinton's "fate is enmeshed... with the wanton misdeeds of the weaker sex" — the "weaker sex" being men, because men are sexually ravenous.  writes Frank Bruni. Hillary Clinton explodes on Bill 'rapist' protester. What are her other options, agree?

The Clinton corruption watch. Feel Safe? Here Are 3 Times Hillary Apparently Took Bribes From Terror Funders. Money by any name spendeth the same. Hillary’s Two Official Favors To Morocco Resulted In $28 Million For Clinton Foundation. Just another coincidence, I'm sure. FBI Surprises With Files on Clinton ’01 Pardon of Marc Rich and then Clinton camp questions FBI release of Marc Rich pardon files. It was a remarkable convergence. The Clinton presidency is going to be a miserable slog. Yep, assuming it happens. Hillary Clinton Becomes the Unsafe Hand. For the Clintons, Two Investigations, One Protective Reflex. Deny, lie and delay.



And the horse race? Dems anxious over tightening race. Buyers Remorse, Democrats?  ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll has a 13 point shift from Clinton to Trump happening in a period of 10 days. The high day to day variability is why I have a hard time taking polls too seriously. Tight US election polls send shivers through financial markets. Clinton truly is the stockbrokers choice. Clinton camp insists it can't be thrown off course because no one is at the helm? "When I said that in September that the enthusiasm level for African-Americans as far as Hillary Clinton's campaign was not there, I was right." That won't help. IBD poll finds Trump's "women problems" over Oof! That's gonna smart, too. Dana Milbank is unimpressed with the claims from "Bill Clinton's Black Son." Gallup: For one of the few times all year, voters are now hearing more about Clinton than about Trump. The more you hear about either of them, the less you like them.

Poll: Public overwhelmingly thinks media is in the tank for Clinton I wonder where they could get that impression? HOW YOU KNOW HILLARY IS POLLING BADLY: David Brooks: Read Buber, Not The Polls! Nothing up his nicely pressed sleeve.

NYT: That big Russia-Trump connection story turns out to be a nothingburger. Considering how friendly the NYT has been to Russia in the past, they should be embarrassed. Clinton Plugs Another Weak Story About Trump’s Ties to Putin.  11th hour surprise: New York Times accuses Trump of following tax laws. Whodda thunk?

Via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 11.01.16", Day Of The Dead, Democrat Style, Hillary Camp Denies Damning Info Bret Baier Discovered In Podesta E-Mails; Baier Trounces Dems With Truth Again, TIME Gets Desperate, Claims It’s “Sexist” To Investigate Hillary, Kimberly Strassel Explains The Intimidation Game, Don’t Be Fooled – Hillary Probe Now A Formal Federal Criminal Investigation, Hillary’s Hidden Past, Camp Clinton Collapses, Five FBI field Offices Investigating Clinton Crime Family, Huma – “Hillary Still Not Perfect In Her Head”, Comey Versus The Slow-Walkers, Trump Campaign Unveils New Policy – Will Ask DOJ To Probe Anti-Israel Intimidation On College Campuses, Bums For Hillary, Seven Days Out, Even ABC Has Trump +1 Over Clinton,
Nevada Early Vote Update, Day 9 Of 14, Hillary Warns Of “Another Civil War” If Trump Is Elected, FBI Knew In April Abedin Regularly Sent E-Mails (Including Classified Material) To Personal Account For Printing At Home

Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" and "FMJRA 2.0: As Falls Wichita…" up at The Other McCain.

Morning Music - "Traveling Alone"

Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" up at The Other McCain.

Amanda Shires:

Oh No, Not Butterflies!

Claim: Extreme Climatic Events affect butterfly populations – up and down

From the UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA and the department of interchangeable lexicon comes this study that may have merit, except they can’t seem to decide if it is weather or climate having an effect by the way they word it.

Research into extreme weather effects may explain recent butterfly decline
Researchers investigated the impact of Extreme Climatic Events (ECEs) on butterfly populations. The study shows that the impact can be significantly positive and negative, but questions remain as to whether the benefits outweigh the negative effects.

ECE also equals, oh say, weather. Sometimes its good, sometimes it's bad.

While it is well known that changes to the mean climate can affect ecosystems, little is known about the impact of short-term extreme climatic events (ECEs) such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall or droughts.

Osgur McDermott-Long, PhD student and lead author from the School of Environmental Sciences at UEA, said: “This is the first study to examine the effects of extreme climate events across all life stages of the UK butterflies from egg to adult butterfly. We wanted to identify sensitive life stages and unravel the role that life history traits play in species sensitivity to ECEs.”

 A few photos from 2016.

The researchers used data from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), a high-quality long-term dataset of UK butterfly abundances collected from over 1,800 sites across the UK, spanning 37 years, to examine the effects of weather data and extreme events (drought, extremes of rain, heat and cold) on population change.

The team looked at resident species of butterflies, those which only breed once in a year, and those having more than one brood annually. Multi-brood species were found to be more vulnerable than single brood species and in general extremes of temperature rather than precipitation were found to influence changes in butterfly populations.

As you may or may not know, one of my retirement hobbies, in addition to fishing and walking the dog, has been finding, photographing and counting species of butterflies. Last year (an El Nino year, and exceptionally warm) was also an exceptional year for butterflies, with my finding some 45 species over the course of the year (a few were in California), while this year, a ENSO neutral year, was not nearly as good in terms of number of butterflies or the number of species (only 35 to date, including California).

So far, in my experience, warmer years tend to be better for butterflies, although, of course, some of the species from colder areas may not be favored. Given the number of variables, the food available when their caterpillars out, the predators that eat the larvae and the adults, the prevalence of nectar (and other adult food) sources, it seems to me pretty difficult to suss out the effects of weather, climate, land use changes etc. etc.

Dominion to Pay a Quarter Million for Spilled Baby Oil

Dominion agrees to enforcement action over oil spill in Augusta County

Dominion Virginia Power has agreed to paying civil fees and reimbursement costs to the state Department of Environmental Quality for the discharge of mineral oil onto private property from a transformer just outside Staunton in January.

An official decision on the enforcement action is expected in December. Approximately 9,000 gallons of mineral oil discharged from a transformer on Churchville Avenue onto a tributary of Bells Creek and a farm pond in Augusta County on Jan. 6. Le-Ha Anderson, a spokesperson for Dominion, said the oil escaped a containment area located around the transformer.

Dominion recovered 8,900 gallons of the mineral oil. Anderson said DEQ and the National Response Center were notified of the incident.

Jason Ericson, an environmental projects advisor for Dominion, said booms were used to contain the mineral oil. Cattle were fenced out of the 150-foot area of the stream tributary. Since the spill, Ericson said Dominion has excavated the contaminated soil and is reseeding the affected farm area to grow grass.

By May of 2017, Dominion must demonstrate to DEQ that the soil has been stabilized, Ericson said.

Anderson said mineral oil is a non-hazardous material used to cool transformers.

And mineral oil is the major ingredient of Baby Oil, the other ingredients being mostly things to make it smell like baby oil. And here, I thought it was made out of real babies.

So they spilled 9,000 and recovered 8,900 for a net loss of 100 gallons. What did they cost?

In response to the spill in Augusta County and a January discharge of 13,500 gallons of mineral oil from a transformer in the Crystal City substation of Arlington County, Dominion has proposed to DEQ a civil payment of $259,535 and $5,882 for reimbursement of oil discharge investigative costs.
. . .
Additionally, Dominion has spent $1.5 million for response, remediation and restoration at the West Staunton substation.

So, while the fine seems rather trivial in view of the expense they went to while cleaning up the spills, it seems rather high considering the amount of oil actually spilled, and the apparent environmental damage. However:

Twenty-one birds, mostly Canada geese, died after the oil coated their feathers, and more were treated by a wildlife rescue team. Recreational fishermen were urged not to consume fish they caught in the vicinity during the two-week period when the spill was under investigation by a U.S. Coast Guard-led team.

Well, twenty-one Canada Geese, which may have been worthwhile migratory geese or nuisance "resident" geese, they being indistinguishable in January.

Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" up at The Other McCain.

Party Like It's 1899!

EPA Commissar Orders Americans To Live Like It's 1899

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy has issued a directive for the U.S. peasantry.

"People have to start living a life that's commensurate with reductions in greenhouse gases," McCarthy said during a recent social discussion with Mashable.

Who is this woman to tell anyone how they should live? Was she elected? No. Called by God? No. Hired by the American people? No.

She's not even that well educatedL From Wikipedia: A native of Boston, in 1976 McCarthy graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston as a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology. She later attended Tufts University, and from there she gained the further degree of Master of Science in Environmental Health Engineering and Planning and Policy in 1981.

McCarthy was appointed by President Obama. She runs a political agency for a political administration in maybe the most political city in world history. She's neither prophet nor angel.

Yet she makes a pronouncement as if she has the moral authority, the heavenly justification, to tell others how they must live. She demands we return to an era in which humans produced less carbon dioxide emissions and therefore lived much more primitively.

Why do we put up with such arrogance? Why are we constantly subject to these bullies?

This echo's Hillary Clinton's "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

We need to put the entire Federal government back on the 1899 diet. First, take away their air conditioning in summer. No cooling for human comfort. The electricity is mostly produced by burning coal, and the coolants kill the ozone. Let them set the way. And no travel. Let them communicate by phone.

A Sugar Coma at Clinton.com?

Whew, things have calmed down just a bit on the Hillary's email front, Maybe the pundits are suffering hangovers from too much hard cider at the Halloween parties or a sugar coma from too many candy bars.

Any new facts?  Clinton's inner circle knew FIVE YEARS AGO that Anthony Weiner was messaging an underage girl on Twitter - but did nothing about it. Sex crimes in the Clinton family are not that big a deal, unless it becomes public. And, well, I hadn't heard this yet: Huma Abedin’s April warning from the FBI.

FBI agents in April confronted Huma Abedin with an e-mail she received in 2010 warning her that her Yahoo e-mail account — where she’d “routinely” stored State Department messages, including ones containing classified information — may have been compromised. The revelation is contained in a summary of the FBI’s interview with Abedin, conducted on April 5.

Abedin told agents “she was not sure that her e-mail account had ever been compromised,” according to notes of the interview, conducted as part of the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s unsecured and unauthorized home e-mail server. Abedin served as Clinton’s deputy chief of staff and is currently vice chair of her presidential campaign.

The answer wasn’t comforting to agents who feared classified government material had been hacked. Yahoo is notoriously vulnerable to hacking. In 2014, for example, a half-billion Yahoo accounts had been hacked in the biggest data breach in history.

And then it's back to the blame game:  CNN's David Gregory rips FBI's Comey, 'unprecedented interjection'. Dick Gregory should have been put in jail for willfully and publicly violating D.C.'s strict gun laws. But not unexpected as a study show Big Three Networks Attack Comey Over Clinton by 3 to 1. And of course, it's not just TV. The WaPo: Comey’s mistaken quest for transparency. Again from WaPo: Comey faces a firestorm of criticism over renewed Clinton email probe. And Katrina vanden Heuvel: A dirty trick that won’t change the outcome. We expect nonsense from Richard Cohen: The top cop who thought he was a prosecutor. Dana Milabank hears things that aren't there: Here’s the honest statement Comey won’t make. E.J. Dionne: The costs of Comey’s appeasement. But Imagine if James Comey Had Kept Quiet—Then Thank Him for Speaking Up. Comey Versus The Slow-Walkers. Did Andrew McCabe, FBI #2, and Hillary donation receiver (through his wife) slow walk the Weiner warrant? Former U.S. attorney general James Barr: James Comey did the right thing. Former FBI official: Comey refused to formally accuse Russia of meddling in the election because … he didn’t want to meddle in the election.

It’s the smoking gun that proves Comey’s trying to help Trump win the election by suppressing news that might hurt him while releasing news about Clinton that helps him!

Or, alternately, it’s a single anonymous source talking out of his ass to make Comey look bad because the source wants Clinton to win the election. You make the call.

New Clinton Probe Proves Early Voting Is Bad For America One way not to be influenced by the inevitable October surprises (does than mean they're all done? I doubt it). As if to prove it: Dem analyst Doug Schoen: 'As of today, I am not a supporter of' Clinton

Longtime Clinton supporter Doug Schoen withdraws his support, says if she is elected there will be a constitutional crisis (via #FoxReport) pic.twitter.com/K8xXCP6hBR

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) October 31, 2016

John Podesta's Best Friend At The DOJ Will Be In Charge Of The DOJ's Probe Into Huma Abedin Emails

In the letter to Congress, the DOJ writes that it “will continue to work closely with the FBI and together, dedicate all necessary resources and take appropriate steps as expeditiously as possible,” assistant attorney General Peter J. Kadzik writes in letters to House and Senate lawmakers.
. . .
Kadzik... Kadzik... where have we heard that name?

Oh yes. Recall our post from last week, "Clinton Campaign Chair Had Dinner With Top DOJ Official One Day After Hillary's Benghazi Hearing" in which we reported that John Podesta had dinner with one of the highest ranked DOJ officials the very day after Hillary Clinton's Benghazi testimony?

It was Peter Kadzik.

And whatever else you do with this post, read Mark Steyn's "Occam's Weiner."

Bridging the gap between Weinergate and Wikileaks, and always known for his calm, collected commentary, Carville Melts Down: Asserts FBI, GOP, and KGB in Cahoots.

Donna Brazile Shared Additional Debate Questions With Clinton Campaign, Identified Her Tipster

In the March 12 exchange, Brazile mentions Martin by name and offers to provide more than just the one town hall question that she is known to have shared with the campaign.

“I’ll send a few more. Though some questions Roland submitted,” Brazile wrote to Palmieri in the March 12 email thread, which is entitled “From time to time I get the questions in advance.”

The question she provided to Palmieri matched verbatim a question that an exonerated death row inmate asked Clinton the next night.

Ann Althouse on Brazile and Hillary's debate cheat

It was a debate in Flint, Michigan, so it was completely predictable that there would be questions about Flint's water problem. The help isn't even that helpful. Why cheat for so little reason? It suggests cheating means just about nothing to you.

Trump on early debate question: 'Why aren't they firing' Clinton?

 “If they fired Donna Brazile, why aren’t they firing Hillary Clinton?” Trump asked on Monday afternoon. “Why is she allowed to run?”

Because Hillary knows where all the bodies are buried,

If you need Wikileaks boiled down, The Top 100 Most Damaging Wikileaks (so far), or if even that is too long to wade through: The top ten of the (so far) top 100 wikileaks. Forget the FBI cache; the Podesta emails show how America is run and it ain't pretty. Clinton Chief Wanted ‘Decoy’ Leak After Email Scandal Broke.

Most amusing revelation of the day, John Podesta thinks Hillary stinks, literally. John Podesta: Hillary is “Acting Like a Retard – She Smells Like Boiled Cabbage, Urine & Farts” (actual email at link).

“People tell me that Hillary is acting ‘like a retard’ since her head injury,” wrote Podesta on March 22, 2015. “Frankly, considering her normal behavior, I’m surprised anyone noticed! (this is a joke!) Have someone talk to her doctor and see if there’s anything he can give her.”

“Also, I’ve noticed she’s had an ‘odor’ lately,” he continued. “It reminds me of a combination of boiled cabbage, urine and farts. I’m guessing it’s either connected to her fall or simply the fact that she rarely bathes.”

I guess it's just something she can't have Huma do for her.

Get ready for four more years of Clinton scandals, How FIVE separate FBI cases are probing virtually every one of Clinton's inner circle and their families. Bill Clinton's Black Son to make Bombshell Announcement, Return Of The Semen Stained Dress! Bill’s ‘Secret Son’ Begs Lewinsky For DNA Sample. If true, the very least they could do is cut him in on some of the RICO proceeds.

This may not help Hillary: 35% of federal workers may consider leaving their jobs if Trump wins. But it would be a good way to begin a program of deficit reduction.

Hillary Clinton Just Resurrected the 1964 Daisy Ad...

Huh – that was the ad that nuked the candidate whom Clinton herself supported in 1964. The same candidate that CBS’s anchors worked overtime to smear as a crypto-Nazi. (Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.) So if the ad is successful, will the left view Hillary with as much contempt as they did fellow Democrat LBJ in the mid-‘60s?

But the Vandal Jill Stein thinks Trump is less scary, because he will work with Russia. Hillary means WWIII!. Scott Adams offers a Candidate Risk Assessment. Can we afford to have a brain damaged drunkard with her finger on the button? It's well known she has anger issues.

How Bank Fines fund the Democratic political machine. It's simple, fine the banks, "donate" the money to your favorite left-wing interest group. If the Pubes ever get back in office, they ought go whole hog giving the money to right-wing groups. The media outcry would stop it post haste. Watchdog Alleges Virginia Prepping to Accommodate Mass Voter Fraud. Preparing 1 million provisional ballots to issue to disqualified felons, assuming they can ram through Terry McCauliffe's last second amnesty. I wonder if they'll fill them out first. Democrats sue Trump for alleged voter intimidation in four states.

"Trump has sought to advance his campaign's goal of 'voter suppression' by using the loudest microphone in the nation to implore his supporters to engage in unlawful intimidation," the Ohio Democratic Party wrote in a legal filing. Similar language was used in the other lawsuits.

Pure projection, especially considering the proven use of Democratic dollars to fund violence against Donald Trump supporters. Wanna bet these guys got Soro's dollars? Agitators Storm Republican Office in Ohio With 'Playboy Calendar Material'

A veritable mass of material via Wombat-sochos "In The Mailbox: All Saints’ Eve", In Fact, It Was Her Idea!, CNN Fires Donna Brazile For Leaking To Crooked Hillary, Moment Of Truth – Hillary Tweets That She’s One Of The Most Corrupt Candidates Of All Time, IT BEGINS – Chicago Tribune Calls On Hillary To Drop Out, Democrats Erupt With Fury At Anthony Weiner’s Return, Lack Of #NeverHillary Movement Shows No Principle On The Left, Goodbye, Blue Monday, The Media’s War On Trump Backfires, “The President Thinks Very Highly Of Director Comey”, FBI Never Destroyed Clinton Aides’ Laptops – Agents Refused!, Huma’s The One!, Did DOJ And FBI Blow Off Democratic Senators?, Hillary Campaign Lacks Support, Enthusiasm, Weiner’s Wanker Haunts Hillary’s Halloween, White House Calls DNC Head Donna Brazile A “Person Of Integrity”, Retired CIA Officer Explains Why Hillary’s E-Mails Matter The Questions That Were Never Put (In Public),