What we (and especially the we on cable news) should do is take a deep breath

Here's an explainer from the Associated Press on the reasons they have not yet called the results in several states.

Respecting Georgia, for example, the AP does not call states in which recounts are mandatory in certain cases, as it looks like, in Georgia, one will be this year.

Electoral research conducted by the AP found there have been at least 31 statewide recounts since 2000. Three of those changed the outcome of the election. The initial margins in those races were 137 votes, 215 votes and 261 votes.

Overall (and moving on), there is nothing unique about this election. Votes are never entirely counted on Election Day—Election Day winners are the result of projections by news organizations.

Here's a complete description of the election timeline. The results of the election are not officially final until the votes of the Electors are counted by Congress, and that happens, by law, on January 6.

Everything's working just fine.

Duluth warms up once a Century (or so)

"The temperature at Duluth International Airport reached 75 degrees Friday, snapping the previous record high for the month, set on Nov. 3, 1903, when local thermometers rose to 73 degrees, according to National Weather Service data."

–Duluth News Tribune

And now, not only iPhone 13 but…

…to go with it, maybe?

China Launches World's First 6G Experimental Satellite

It will be used to verify the performance of 6G technology in space as the 6G frequency band will expand from the 5G millimeter wave frequency to the terahertz frequency. The technology is expected to be over 100 times faster than 5G…

Maybe this Warp Speed thing got out of control. 

And I've known New Yorkers who felt the same way

 Zoo monkeys prefer traffic noise to natural sounds: study

The soundtrack of vehicles rumbling past proved overwhelmingly the most popular choice for the animals, who sometimes slept or groomed themselves and each other inside the sound tunnel—something they did not do for any of the other sounds, Hirskyj-Douglas said.

What is a Pyrrhic victory?

 "Pyrrhic victory is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at the Battle of Heraclea in 280 BC and the Battle of Asculum in 279 BC, during the Pyrrhic War."

–Wikipedia

There is never a tomorrow, there is only a today

Today is, apparently, the first day to pre-order a brand new iPhone 12. This from the Apple website this morning, Nov. 6:

You’re . . . early.

Pre-order begins at 5:00 a.m. PST. Enjoy the extra sleep.

Also this morning, Nov. 6, comes the first report on the next-model (and next year) iPhone, the iPhone 13, from the publication MacRumors. Onward.

"Out of the Mountains"

 Here's a wonky book that doesn't seem to belong on the reading list; it's difficult to read, in some places even dull. But it has some fascinating things to say a about cities—how they fail and how they thrive, and how they break out into unrest and, even, war. And about how the modern electronic atmosphere enables, enhances, and embodies unrest and strife. 

So, mentioning.

No, it's true, it happened*

Trump and allies spread falsehoods to cast doubt on election

*To be clear: The election happened. Fair and square. It's over now. Get used to it.

Remember, remember

 The Fifth of November.

Actually, no

Presidency hinges on tight races in battleground states

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday morning, as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for three familiar battleground states…

They're not battling for anything. The battle's over. Now they're just adding up the score, and that could go on for quite some time. In several states, mail-in ballots needed to be postmarked by Nov. 3 but  needn't be delivered for several days yet. In California, they're not due until the 20th. 

The AP has long been the gold standard in election reporting but even they can't entirely resist the horserace simile.

This thing will work itself out, pretty much as expected, in time. 

Now they tell me

Scientists find harmful chemicals in household dust

(I'm screwed.)

Reminder

Note

But the vaccine…

 The Latest: Russia reports records in new infections, deaths

Russian officials have reported 19,768 new coronavirus infections and 389 new deaths, both the highest numbers since the beginning of the pandemic

Call of Duty

Meet the Wyoming National Guard’s one-man Election Day cybersecurity army

More than 15 states have activated or plan to activate National Guard troops in connection with Tuesday’s election. Texas and Massachusetts, for example, both plan to have 1,000 personnel on standby in case of civil unrest.

By comparison, the Wyoming National Guard is activating one soldier: Chief Warrant Officer 4 Warren Burgess.

Boycott Ferrari! (Wait, what?)

 Ferrari stock soars as CEO says company has no plans to go electric

Here's a nifty little bit of trivia

 "In 1846, five daily newspapers in New York City pooled their resources to cover the Mexican-American War. The result of this cooperative effort eventually became known as the Associated Press."

How the Associated Press Plans to Determine the Winner of This Year's Election

 (The AP is not just for stodgy newspaper readers like myself; TV stations and, yes, even web sites use it too.)

All right then

 After a week of gloom and rain I walk out of the grocery store this morning with a bag of bright-colored peppers. The sky's bright too, the wind brisk, and Mozart on the 'pods.

Things are looking up.

Disturbing by any other name is, well, disturbing

As a divisive election arrives, the National Guard prepares for unrest and softens descriptions of a new unit

The National Guard Bureau has established a new unit made up mostly of military policemen that could be dispatched to help quell unrest in coming days, after a turbulent summer in which National Guard members were deployed to several cities.

The unit, which also could be used to respond to natural disasters and other missions, was formed in September and initially described as a rapid-reaction force. But as one of the most divisive elections in American history closes in, National Guard officials have softened how they characterize the service members, instead referring to them as "regional response units."

 

If you haven't voted yet…

…get on it. Time to get this thing finished. Finally. 

Or.

 It won't end anytime soon. Here's my guess. Mind you, I said guess, not prediction. 

Trump won't mind losing. Maybe even wants to. All the frenetic campaigning has been theater, all the chaos and uncertainty of the coming weeks a setup of his next act.

What Trump really wants to be is president in exile. An American Romanov. An Anglo de Gaulle. Leader of the @realResistance. All the golf and none of the blame. All the adulation, none of the work. 

The wronged man. Cheated out of his rightful place.

Presumably he'll still have Secret Service protection. A taxpayer-funded allowance for expenses. A presidential library (oh, the opportunities that will bring). And, if the record of the last four years is correct, nearly 40 percent of the public behind him.

Not. Going. Away.

What if

 What if, I'm just asking, they mixed up their soundtracks and played the laugh track at the football game and the crowd noise tape in your favorite sitcom?

Would it be more, or less, anoying?