First impressions

Got to say it, I'm loving this little car.

The used 2012 Subaru Forester acquired earlier this week tackles marginal dirt and gravel roads like a mountain goat.

I took it out in a few places today that I would never have taken a mini-van, and even had reservations of plunging ahead in my 2wd Ranger.

Getting the feeling I may regret not getting an older, cheaper one with a few dings.

The one I have is too nice to really undertake any torture tests or true off-road challenges.  At least not right away. Yet there's a part of me that really, really wants to see what kinds of obstacles this little car, and its 8.7 inch ground clearance, can work its way through.

Binge car shopping

Spend Tuesday and Wednesday in auto dealer showrooms.

Tried to convince my wife she needed a Toyota 4Runner, but she's into Honda comfort, so she settled on a gently used 2015 Pilot.

I took what was left over and picked up a used low mileage 2012 Subaru Forester.

Mountain roads were taking a beating on the Odyssey van the Pilot replaces. I've been depending on my old Ranger pickup as a daily driver since my Sienna got totaled in a hit-from-behind wreck in February.

What sold me on a Subaru? When my wife stopped at a dealer to test drive, the salesman told her to hop a curb with it. Ground clearance in a Forester is about the same as a 4Runner, and stands more than an inch higher off the ground than a Pilot.

Cat Max seems to like the Pilot. He pretended to be road kill after we parked it in the garage.

More than they expected

Three home invaders go more than they expected...

A woman with a gun who chased them from the home they invaded.

Yes, the house was equipped with a security camera and caught it all on video. 

Having a gun is just part of the equation in home defense.

Knowing how to use it, and being willing to use it are also important.

The lady in the video seemed to know what she was doing, and pressed the invaders as she chased them out the door.

Can media continue to cover for flawed candidate Clinton?

"Look, if you love Hillary to death, that's your right. But we as a nation cannot afford to blind ourselves to blatant media bias and propagandistic suppression of legitimate inquiry, even on behalf of politicos we favor." - Charles Hugh Smith, writing at "Of Two Minds"

As seen on Twitter.... Or was it Facebook?

Food for thought from social media photo art...

And...

Damage control spin doesn't add up

Clever attempt at a cover story?

The Clinton campaign spin is now that candidate Hillary Clinton wasn't the first in her campaign to contract pneumonia.

The Clinton campaign has apparently chosen People magazine to "leak" its spin on a wider outbreak:

At least half a dozen senior staff were felled, including campaign manager Robby Mook. Two top advisers even needed emergency medical treatment, the source says. One top adviser diagnosed at a Brooklyn urgent-care center with a respiratory infection was being treated with antibiotics in the days before Clinton's diagnosis. Another top adviser was taken by ambulance to the ER after collapsing from what turned out to be severe dehydration, the source said. 

Wait a sec.

If this pneumonia outbreak previously sent Clinton staffers to ER treatment or urgent-care, and if the campaign knew how virulent the strain was, why was Hillary Clinton treated at Chelsea's apartment on Sunday, and not in an actual ER?

Another story out of the campaign Monday apologizes for waiting 90 minutes before commenting on Clinton's episode.

From NBC News:

"We were focused on making sure to track down her doctor, making sure that she had the quickest possible access to medical attention honestly," Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook chimed-in Monday afternoon on MSNBC.

Again, not making sense.

Is the campaign suggesting Chelsea's apartment could provide faster, better care than a New York City ER?

But wait, there's more.

Clinton now tells CNN, she didn't realize pneumonia was "serious."

NBC News among those picking up the new spin:

Asked by anchor Anderson Cooper why she kept the diagnosis a "secret," Clinton claimed she didn't — despite the fact that there was no public mention of it until hours after she left the memorial and had put out a statement that she had gotten "overheated."

Despite younger, presumably healthier staffers falling ill from this same pneumonia and requiring emergency medical care (according to the campaign), Clinton didn't have a clue her bout with it might be serious.

Too many damage control stories too fast lead to contradictions. The harder the Clinton campaign tries to spin Sunday's Clinton health event, the more the stories suggest "cover up." The stories either don't make sense at the git-go, or conflict with each other under even the most cursory analysis.

Nearing sunset

This evening's sky over the cabin.

Tree work almost complete, and it's opened up the overhead sky view immensely. We're still tucked a away in the woods, just not entombed by it.

Weather permitting, the crew comes back tomorrow to trim just a few limbs left on our list.

We're ready to kick back and enjoy fall.

This time, being caught might have lasting consequences

"So the campaign chose to lie. The potential reward was considerable: namely, an absence of politically damaging news stories about Clinton's medical condition. But the risk was enormous — and it's blown up in their faces. Because now the story isn't just that Clinton is ill. It's that, once again, she's untrustworthy — and this time about her own health." - Damon Linker, writing at The Week

Reuters also notes:

Clinton's campaign is likely to be pressed on why she did not make her pneumonia diagnosis public until late Sunday.

I think the answer's obvious.

The Clinton campaign thought the damage contained. It had corralled the lapdog "mainstream" media at a safe distance from its candidate, and  believed it had whisked its limp and wobbling nominee to safety without being caught on video.

Then some guy with a camera phone and a Twitter account went and ruined the ruse.


One more, this one from Twitter...

Look closely at #HillarysHealth episode on 9/11: Lost balance. Rigidity. Spasticity. This was a neurological event. https://t.co/JWcDjLDnbD

— Dr. Milton Wolf (@MiltonWolfMD) September 12, 2016

The three branches of government?

See the updated answer here.

Got your pantry stocked?

As uncertainty rises, maybe your provisions should rise accordingly.

Tim Gamble shares some thoughts on how to do it effectively. 

Life's a lot less stressful knowing where your next meal, or next few dozen meals, are coming from.

Is this why he seems so cranky lately?

How'd I miss this?

Was reported earlier this summer that Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson said he's layed off using weed while running for president. Says he won't get stoned if elected. 

Stars in their eyes

Via Twitter:

This is why the press never asks Hillary real questions. They look like enraptured tweens meeting Taylor Swift. pic.twitter.com/9ECXSczF8O

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) September 6, 2016