Canadian Immigration Site Crashes

It looks like all that talk about moving to Canada was more serious than I thought.  During yesterday's American election, Canada's immigration website crashed.

Read more at BBC News, Business Insider, the Independent, CTV News and Sky News.

I haven't run across anything similar with America's other large neighbor, Mexico.  While some people apparently have a problem with president-elect Trump wanting to build a wall on our border with Mexico, as if desiring a secure border is xenophobic, their sympathy with Mexico seems only to be directed toward people trying to leave that country while illegally crossing into the United States.  Making the trip in the opposite direction, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be in their plans.

Donald Trump Wins Presidential Election

It took until the wee hours of this morning, but Donald Trump (R-NY) has been elected President of the United States, defeating former First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY).  Some media outlets are calling his victory an "upset".  At age 70, Trump becomes the oldest person to be elected president, which would also have been true had Clinton been elected.

I spent yesterday evening, and early today, reading the results on a Google search page, which now indicates that Trump has 276 electoral votes and Clinton has 218.  When I finally retired for the night, the election had not yet been decided.  This morning, I learned that Pennsylvania and Wisconsin had been called for Trump, thus putting him past the needed 270 electoral votes.  In the states not yet called, Trump leads in Michigan, Arizona and Alaska, while Clinton leads in Minnesota and New Hampshire.  She also has a small lead in the popular vote.

Besides the final vote totals, one other thing which remains to be determined is how Canada will deal with the Americans who had previously stated that they would move up there if Trump wins.  Perhaps they can be housed in some igloos in Nunavut.

Read more at Politico, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, NBC News and USA Today.

UPDATE:  The Google search page now says Trump 279, Clinton 228.  Alaska (3 EV) has been called for Trump, while Minnesota (10 EV) has been called for Clinton.

Some Election-Related Stories

It's early in the afternoon on election day, so it will probably be a while before we know who will win, but some developments have been reported in the news.

In several states, voting machines are experiencing technical difficulties.

One such problem has occurred in Lebanon - the county in Pennsylvania.

A similar problem has occurred elsewhere in PA, in an ironically-named township.

America has had a "weird history"with voting machines.

The media expect a skeptical public.

Meanwhile, Wall Street holds it breath.

A Florida man dies before finding out if his absentee ballot signature is accepted.

Here's an hour-to-hour guide for what's going on tonight.

How to regard exit polls.

The government is making a serious effort to protect the election from being hacked.

An "unlikely race" that could decide which party controls the Senate.

And last but not least, the two presidential candidates vote.

Janet Reno 1938-2016

Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as the United States Attorney General, has died at age 78, in her home in Miami, Florida, of complications from Parkinson's Disease.  She was also the longest-serving AG during the 20th century.

Janet Wood Reno was born in Miami to parents who were both newspaper reporters.  She was valedictorian of her high school.  She graduated from Cornell University with a degree in chemistry, and earned her law degree at Harvard.  She worked for two law firms in Miami, for the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives, and for the Dade County State Attorney's Office.  In 1978, she was appointed State Attorney for Dade County and later elected Florida State Attorney.  In 1993, after President Clinton's first two nominees for Attorney General had both been found to have employed illegal aliens as nannies for their respective children, he successfully nominated Reno, who served throughout the rest of his presidency.  In 2002, she ran for Governor of Florida, but lost in the Democratic primary.

Read more at CNN, Fox News, The Washington Post, USA Today and Reuters.

A Hokie Visits Duke

Yesterday, I was in Durham, North Carolina to watch a football game, in which my Virginia Tech Hokies narrowly beat the Duke Blue Devils.  I arrived at the Duke campus with plenty of time before kickoff, which allowed me to walk around and take some pictures.  This was my fourth trip to Duke, which meant that I had already seen much of their campus, but this time, the sunny weather gave me a great opportunity for some good shots.  My route from a gameday parking lot, as in previous visits, took me past their greenhouse complex, part of which is shown here.

Turning onto Science Drive, I encountered the statue of a biology professor named Knut Schmidt-Nielsen and a camel.

This dormitory, not far from Wallace Wade Stadium, includes a clock tower.

Another dormitory section includes parapets and a bell tower.  While positioning myself for this shot, someone told me that I was brave wandering around there "dressed like that", referring to my shirt with its Virginia Tech logo.  I told him that it was only the fourth time I have done such a thing.

This is Duke's chapel.  Years ago, when I asked a Duke alumna which European city they stole it from, she replied, "All of them."

Not far from the chapel is a statue of James Buchanan Duke, who left a large endowment to Trinity College, which was later renamed after his father Washington Duke.

This parking lot, full of tailgating tents, is part of Krzyzewskiville, an area named after Duke's highly successful basketball coach.  My inner Pole tells me that there should be a dot over the second "z".

After this last pic, it was time to put away the camera and watch the game.

Hillary Clinton Again Escapes Charges Over Emails

Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will still not face any criminal charges resulting from a review of new emails, according to FBI Director James Comey.  About a week ago, Comey had revealed that the agency's investigation into Clinton's emails had been reopened.  Or to slightly modify a certain saying, skaters gonna skate.

Read more at CNN, The Washington Post, the Daily Mail, the Los Angeles Times and Business Insider.

Hillary Clinton Ballot Gets Suspicious Typo

In Lonoke County, Arkansas, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's first name was misspelled as "Hilliary", which contains consecutive letters spelling the word "liar".  Is this an honestly mistaken typo, a deliberate jab, or maybe a Freudian slip?  Obviously, I'm no fan of the former Arkansas resident, who in 2000 bagged her carpets into my native state of New York, but I don't need that particular typo to remind me why.  Besides, she's far from the only politician who deserves those four letters.

Read more at NBC New York and Arkansas Matters.

Chicago Cubs Win World Series

The year was 1908.  Teddy Roosevelt was in the last full year of his presidency.  A large man named William Howard Taft was poised to succeed him.  The Olympics where held in London because Rome wasn't ready to host the event.  Russia and China were both ruled by emperors.  Americans weren't yet sure what to make of the contraption invented by the Wright brothers.  Three of my four grandparents were little kids; the other would be born the next year.  And for the second straight year, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

The year is 2016.  Barack Obama is in the last full year of his presidency.  Two large (at least when it comes to their egos) people named Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are vying to succeed him.  The Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro despite health concerns over the Zika virus.  Russia and China, having cast off their respective emperors decades ago, are still stirring the proverbial pot.  Americans endure hassles in security lines to board the Wrights' invention.  My grandparents, and more recently my father, have all gone to Sasquatch heaven.  And for the first time in 108 years, the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series.

It took seven games, with the last one going into extra innings after a rain delay, but the curse of the billy goat has finally been lifted.

Read more at ABC7, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Herald and NBC Chicago.

Meet The Namesakes

Courtesy of CNN, meet Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, neither of whom is running for president.  In fact, this Hillary Clinton is too young to qualify for the office, and her namesake's rival's namesake is correctly addressed as Dr. Donald Trump.

You can also watch the video directly on YouTube.

Wednesday Links

Today is All Souls Day for Catholics and the Day of the Dead in some cultures, but is also a day in the news.

From Bloomberg Markets, bookmakers overwhelmingly choose one presidential candidate.

From LifeNews, a Catholic bishop sets forth one criterion about whom you vote for.

From The Denver Post, if you vote for Hillary Clinton (D-NY), there's something you should read.

From the Observer, Clinton loses the support of a former rival.

From Breitbart's 2016: The Race, a little reminder from the past.

From the Tampa Bay Times, in Florida, early voting has turned out different from that in 2012.

From ABC News, joking about Boko Haram gets three Cameroonian men a long jail sentence.

From the Washington Examiner, U.S. drones keep finding al-Qaeda leaders.

From The Daily Caller, Iraqi jets spoil an ISIS pool party.

From TechCrunch, the future of ticketing is already taking place.

From NPR, the Fed is leaving interest rates alone - for now.

From CBS Chicago, as the Cubs and Indians get ready to play the deciding game in the World Series, a fan calls today his "longest day".  By winning tonight, one of the two teams will end a very long championship drought.

From PoliZette, the Obama administration claims to have the votes to ratify TPP.

From the Daily Mail, Attorney General Loretta Lynch faces a lawsuit over her meeting with Mr. Bill.

From the Associated Press, France orders four mosques closed.

From China(dot)org(dot)cn, it's not a pig, it's just a symbol.

From Vocativ, Turkey reads islamophobia into Pac-Man.

And from the New York Post, a friendship for the ages - both young and old.