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That is what the newspaper headlnes will read on the morning of November 7th. That is barring an unforseen catastrophe or external event imposing itself in the intervening days before the election. This cake is baked! Mitt Romney cannot win. Stick a fork in him, he's done. There is nothing he can do to change his fortunes. People know him and do not like him -- even the Republicans. Maybe, most of all, the Rebublicans. The people do not identify with him or his values. The 47% tape cooked his goose for once and for all. Everyone believes that we have a national election on November 6th to elect a President and Vice President. The media -- all of the media -- perpertuates this falsehood, probably because they seek to portray everything as a horse race or high school Senior Class Election. The truth is that we are a Federated Repubic consisting of fifty separate states mandated that each shall hold a presidential election every four years on the first Tuesday of November. Each state shall select Electors based on the outcome of each individual state election and send those electors to Washington to cast their state votes for President. Each state is alotted an elector for each congressional seat that state possesses. On this day Nate Greenberg of FiveThirtyEight.com predicts the Electoral College vote to be Obama 320 / Romney 218. That is a landslide no matter how you slice it. That ratio has held fixed more or less for a few weeks now. It is not likely to change barring outside influences. If all of this unfolds the GOP no doubt will deny that this is a landslide election. They believe in States-RIghts oriented viewpoints only when it suits them. I have felt the election was uncertain yet leaning for Obama since the conventions. Today, I woke up with no feelings of uncertainty. The cues I take for that determination do not come from the Obama camp. They come from the Romney camp flailing at every turn, grasping at straws and throwing obscure minutia against the walls to see if anything might stick. And from many others in the GOP, candidates and operatives, that are getting daylight between themselves and Romney. They don't want their race or reputation going down the drain with Romney. I'm confident that if the election were held to day Obama would win convincingly. I do not think Romney can affect the outcome. Neither does the GOP, behind closed doors. That leaves only unforseen external influences that could affect the outcome. That is how I see it today.

I got there just about five and the place was already really busy. Lots and lots of boys ditto clients. When I left at about 8:40 there were lines downstairs for the bigger rooms and a line going up the stairs to the free cabines. Biggest news - Vinicius is back. No clue who had that idea. But last night they had on nice music in the bar which improved the vibe. And they are back with expanded food offerings. Misto Quente (Ham and Cheese grilled) and French Fries. So that is a good thing. They have added a new part to the stage and a few new decorations to what was there for the past month or so. I was told that the new crop of very cute younger guys circulating last night are from the sauna in Bangu. Little young for me but one cuter than the next. And of course, still unspoiled. I had some nice moments with a mammothly-hung Edmilson( I think that is what he told me - as I was mesmerized by the meat hanging between his thighs). His nickname is Scorpion. And it really does sting as it does more than tickle one's throat. Or the nether region's. It does rather sting. I was more than a bit surprised that last night I saw one of the attendant's actually spritzing the dry sauna with the eucalpytus spray for a bit of fragrance aside of the redolent manscent in other areas of the house. Will wonders never ceases? Ruan, one of my long-time favorites was there last night. But another client got hold of him quite literally in the bar and wouldn't let him go until sending him to wait in one of the lines for a cabine. Maybe he'll be around next time as well. One of the waiters from Pointe has started there as well. He said that Pointe is dead and the owner has cut back and doing more of the work himself, whatever that is supposed to mean. But with Vini back prospects for Meio Mundo look promissing.

Intelligence effort named citizens, not terrorists WASHINGTON (AP) - A multibillion-dollar information-sharing program created in the aftermath of 9/11 has improperly collected information about innocent Americans and produced little valuable intelligence on terrorism, a Senate report concludes. It portrays an effort that ballooned far beyond anyone's ability to control. What began as an attempt to put local, state and federal officials in the same room analyzing the same intelligence has instead cost huge amounts of money for data-mining software, flat screen televisions and, in Arizona, two fully equipped Chevrolet Tahoes that are used for commuting, investigators found. . . . Congress is unlikely to pull the plug. That's because, whether or not it stops terrorists, the program means politically important money for state and local governments. . . . "The subcommittee investigation could identify no reporting which uncovered a terrorist threat, nor could it identify a contribution such fusion center reporting made to disrupt an active terrorist plot," the report said. When fusion centers did address terrorism, they sometimes did so in ways that infringed on civil liberties. The centers have made headlines for circulating information about Ron Paul supporters, the ACLU, activists on both sides of the abortion debate, war protesters and advocates of gun rights. One fusion center cited in the Senate investigation wrote a report about a Muslim community group's list of book recommendations. Others discussed American citizens speaking at mosques or talking to Muslim groups about parenting. No evidence of criminal activity was contained in those reports. The government did not circulate them, but it kept them on government computers. The federal government is prohibited from storing information about First Amendment activities not related to crimes. . . . following the release of the report, Homeland Security officials indicated their continued strong support for the program. Quelle surprise! I can't imagine who in our own government will actually have the courage to step up and defend our civil liberties. Certainly no one has done so yet. I wonder if it will take someone from across the pond to remind us that we still have civil rights on the books in this country.

...very interesting accounting of the "Second New Meio Mundo. Hope it's "rockin'" in all areas when I manage to return. When that will be is unknown to date. Hope they'll like this man with grey!!

...first words in '2001,' more than 40 minutes into. Anyhoo, here a clip of the miraculous Blue Danube sequence, for those elite who care ...

....um, more like with green.

I bank with USAA, no fees, and they rebate the first 10 charges of ATMs a month. Fantastic for a traveller. But they're a bank for military, ex-military, or in my case, kid of a military family. If I couldn't do them, I'd definitely go credit union.

Stay with a state chartered or regional bank and away from the big boys whose business model is to screw you. Check out any credit unions in your area too.

As if that's gonna stop us.