Happy Halloween!

Hello there! It’s been a long time. I’m sure you can tell. The hiatus is over. Actually, it’s been over for the past couple of weeks. I’ve just been to lazy to start posting again. Until now.

I spent the entire month of September and the first two weeks of October on the road, traveling the country. A long vacation, visiting family in my home state of RI and some friends in Minnesota. It certainly wasn’t an uneventful trip. On my way home, after leaving my friends in MN, I hit a pheasant on my way down from Mount Rushmore. The damned thing broke the grill on my truck. It just wandered onto the highway. By the time I saw it, it was too late. Wham! Feathers everywhere, and broken plastic, which I discovered when I stopped to rest in Wyoming.

By the time I stopped, I found myself in the middle of a blizzard. And for two days, I drove through ice and snow.  It was the first time I’ve seen snow in four years. And I think I’ve seen enough snow to last me another four years. I was never so happy to cross the border of Colorado into New Mexico. New Mexico greeted me with sun, nice puffy white clouds, and a beautiful blue sky with some moderate temperatures. Familiar territory. And it remained that way for the rest of the trip.

As the song goes, It’s nice to go travelin’, but it’s oh so much nicer to come home. And how true that is. It has never felt so nice to be home.

 

Without further ado, I bring you the top Entrecard droppers for October!

 

Dropper	# of drops
Life, According To Christopher	22
English Wilderness: Nature Photography	9
one 2 day	8
Imagination Madness	8
Tiddly Winks	8
Sands of Thyme	8
Shalampax Speaks	7
Just My Two Cents	7
First Door on the Left	6
Did I miss something	4

Thanks for dropping by, guys! And Happy Halloween!

Panel to declare Franken winner of Senate race

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- A state election board on Monday will announce Democrat Al Franken has defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, state officials told CNN Sunday.

The canvassing board on Monday will say a recount determined Franken won by 225 votes, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie told CNN.

However, Coleman's campaign, which contends the recount should have included about 650 absentee ballots it says were improperly rejected in the initial count, has indicated it will challenge the certification.

Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said his team believes the recount process was broken and that "the numbers being reported will not be accurate or valid."

"The effort by the Franken campaign, supported by the secretary of state, to exclude improperly rejected absentee ballots is indefensible and disenfranchises hundreds of Minnesota voters," Sheehan said.

After the results are certified, Coleman's campaign will have seven days to file a challenge.

The initial count from the November 4 election put Coleman, a first-term senator, 215 votes ahead of Franken -- known for his stint on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and as a former talk-show host on progressive radio network Air America.

CNN

I'm glad they finally straightened that mess out. Norm will repeal the ruling, I'm sure, but I don't think anything will come of it. Al Franken is on his way to the senate. Good luck to him. Now the Democrats are one seat short of having a filibuster and veto overriding majority. I am sure they can pick up one liberal Republican to help pass their agenda. And likewise, they have the moderate and conservative Democrats to worry about as well. Having a huge majority does not guarantee success on the senate floor.

Coleman's Lead Dwindles to 2 Votes in Minnesota Senate Race

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Sen. Norm Coleman saw his lead over Al Franken in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race dwindle to just two votes Thursday. Meanwhile, a key court ruling put hundreds of improperly rejected ballots in play and promised the recount would drag into the new year.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that improperly rejected absentee ballots be included in the state's recount. It ordered the candidates to work with the Secretary of State and election officials to set up a process to identify ballots that were rejected in error. Counties must make a report by Dec. 31.

The ruling came as the state Canvassing Board nearly erased what had been a 360-vote lead for Coleman before the panel began its third day of reviewing disputed ballots Thursday. The Republican incumbent had a 215-vote lead over the Democrat Franken after the initial count of the Nov. 4 election.

There are hundreds of challenges yet to decide, thousands of withdrawn challenges that have yet to be tallied and now the improperly rejected absentee ballots, estimated to number around 1,600. Franken supported and Coleman opposed counting those absentees.

The Supreme Court said the candidates will have a chance to challenge the absentees as they are unsealed and counted, just as they did during the earlier hand recount.

Justice Alan Page dissented. He warned that giving the candidates a say in identifying the ballots was a mistake.

Coleman's lead eroded all day Thursday as the Canvassing Board considered a pile of challenges brought entirely by the Coleman campaign. The pile included a big chunk of withdrawn challenges, many of which went quickly to Franken's column.

Fox

Why don't they just quit this legal wrangling and hold a special election like they did in Georgia? We won't know who really won because of all this wrangling. The winner of this election will be determined by the Minnesota supreme court. I say let the Minnesotan people have their say, and vote again.