It's already too late to get new voting machines for the presidential election in November. It's hoped that if funding is approved, voters will have updated voting machines in time for the 2018 elections, when Michigan will elect a new governor.

Michigan's optical scan voting machines are between 10 and 12 years old, according to a state Senate Fiscal Agency report in Fall 2015.

Michigan's not alone. Our voting machines, along with many around the nation, were purchased with the help of federal funds made available to states after the controversy surrounding vote counting in the 2000 presidential election in Florida, in which the world learned about hanging chads.

But somehow CNN cut away to "Breaking News" of a Trump rally (huh?).  I switched the channel before Trump said one word.  

I will never, ever listen again to a word that man ever says.  I can read in print what the facts are.  I don't want to listen to t.v. talking head marvel at how clever Trump is.

Trump's mocking of a disabled person tells me all I need to know about him:  he is, in my opinion, a pathetic excuse for a human being that we will be lucky as a country to survive.

And, we have the GOP posters here saying how Trump just cracks them up, he is so funny.  Ick.  I never want to hear about family values, or conflicts of interest, or about pay to play from the GOP ever again.  Stunted hypocrites, all.

An event most commonly known today in this country by only two words, Pearl Harbor was the true watershed moment and turning point in modern U.S. history, a military disaster on our own home soil of such staggering consequences that it shocked, angered and united Americans across all spectrums of society and politics, immediately silenced all further talk of isolation in this country, and thrust the United States directly into the Second World War as a full combatant.

This Japanese carrier battle group -- which constituted some 51 warships in all -- had quietly departed the naval base at Hittokapu Bay in the Kurile Islands thirteen days earlier in the early morning hours of November 26, 1941, and then had sailed across the North Pacific in total radio silence, while Japan's diplomats were still negotiating with our State Department in Washington.

Once the Japanese strike force reached its pre-planned position of deployment some 200 miles north of its intended target in the wee morning hours of December 7 (December 8 in Japan), it then launched two successive waves of 360 aircraft, timed to unleash Hell upon an unsuspecting community of some 300,000 civilian and military residents, just as the Japanese ambassador prepared to formally inform Secretary of State Cordell Hull that Tokyo considered further negotiations between the two governments to be pointless.

With surprise thus achieved at 7:45 a.m. Hawaii time, the first squadrons of Japanese warplanes screamed down from the sky at Kaneohe U.S. Naval Air Station in windward Oahu, Wheeler U.S. Army Airfield and Schofield Barracks in central Oahu, Ewa U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in west Oahu, and Hickam Army Air Force Base just west of downtown Honolulu. Within mere minutes, any American attempt that might otherwise have been forthcoming in resistance to the incoming waves of torpedo bombers and high-altitude bombers, had instead been completely smothered on the ground before it could even be mounted.

That Japanese success was assisted inadvertently by Gen. Walter Short's order from three days prior to line up all U.S. warplanes on the tarmacs of these airfields in an ill-fated effort to thwart efforts of suspected saboteurs. It was an unfounded belief on the general's part, and it cost his command dearly and those planes instead became sitting ducks for their attackers when they arrived that morning.

Only eight U.S. fighters managed to get aloft that morning to engage the Japanese warplanes. Another six fighters were destroyed on the runway at Wheeler as their pilots obediently awaited permission from the control tower to begin their takeoff roll, an order which never came because the tower itself had been strafed by a Japanese Zero, which killed the three occupants.

At 7:55 a.m., with American air defenses having been effectively neutralized, the primary wave of Japanese bombers struck the capital ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, with their main target being the battleships at anchor on the east side of Ford Island, as well as other ships at anchor in the harbor on that quiet Sunday morning:

• The U.S.S. California was hit by two torpedoes, and sank quietly in place in the shallow waters as her crew abandoned ship.

• The U.S.S. West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes, the last one completely destroying the ship's rudder.

• The U.S.S. Oklahoma was hit by four torpedoes, which quickly caused her to capsize and trap hundreds of her crew inside.

• The U.S.S. Maryland and U.S.S. Tennessee were each hit by two bombs apiece, none of which caused damage sufficient to disable their targets for any length of time. Both ships were again operable within eight weeks of the raid.

• The U.S.S. Nevada quickly weighed anchor and got under way, making a heroic if somewhat foolhardy dash for the harbor channel entrance before its captain thought twice about what he was attempting to do, as Japanese warplanes swarmed down upon his ship and crew, killing 60 of them. Rather than risk getting sunk in the channel itself, which would have bottled up the fleet for Lord only knows how long, he instead beached his ship on Waipio Point.

One of those aboard Arizona who died at that moment was Rear Adm. Isaac Kidd, Sr., who was on the bridge directing the defense of Battleship Row when the bomb stuck. The highest ranking casualty at Pearl Harbor, Adm. Kidd remains the only senior flag officer to ever be killed in action against a foreign enemy in the history of the United States Navy. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that morning. 32 years later, his son and namesake, Adm. Isaac Kidd, Jr., would himself become the commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk, VA.

In one bit of fortuitous circumstance and luck for the Americans, the Pacific Fleet's three aircraft carriers had sailed from Pearl Harbor only four days prior to the assault, and thus avoided getting caught in the ensuing maelstrom which enveloped their fellow sailors.

Their absence at Pearl Harbor as reported by his pilots prompted a very nervous Adm. Chiuichi Nagumo, commander of the Japanese strike force, to call off -- much to the dismay of his subordinates -- what would have been the climactic and perhaps decisive third wave of Japanese warplanes, which was to have been launched at the port facilities of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard itself. Had those facilities been destroyed, the base itself would have been rendered inoperative and the Pacific Fleet would have been obliged to withdraw to San Diego, leaving Hawaii dangerously exposed to a potential Japanese invasion and occupation.

But since he did not know the exact location of the American carriers, which were actually on their way to deliver aircraft to the U.S. Naval Air Station at Midway Island (1,100 miles WNW of Honolulu), Nagumo was unwilling to further risk leaving his own carriers without sufficient air cover, should he order a third strike on Oahu only to get caught in the open by the Americans. Confident that his forces had already inflicted crippling losses on the Americans, he decided to end the attack.

And so at 9:30 a.m., Japanese warplanes abruptly broke off combat operations and were recalled to their carriers, which were at that moment moving directly westward to withdraw from Hawaiian waters before any American carriers and submarines might find them. In their immediate wake lay a scene of utter devastation.

In total, 2,403 Americans died in the attack on Oahu that Sunday morning, and another 1,178 were wounded:

• U.S. Navy - 2,008 killed, 710 wounded (Note: over half that number were entombed aboard the Arizona, now a fiery ruin):
  
• U.S. Army and Army Air Corps - 218 killed, 364 wounded;
  
• U.S. Marine Corps - 109 killed, 69 wounded;
  
• Civilians - 68 killed, 35 wounded.

Japanese losses that morning were 29 planes, 4 mini-submarines, and 64 airmen and sailors. It should be noted that Japanese pilots were under strict orders to confine their assault to designated military targets only and avoid targeting civilian areas.

Four members of the Honolulu Fire Dept. were killed and 12 wounded at Hickam Field, when the department personnel answered the alarm and raced to the scene after the first wave, only to get caught in the open when the second wave of Japanese warplanes arrived and again struck the airfield hanger facilities that they were attempting to save. Another three civilians were killed when their car was strafed while on the road between Pearl Harbor and Hickam

Of the remaining 61 civilian dead in Honolulu itself, it has since been determined that all died from friendly fire, when military personnel manning anti-aircraft batteries at Pearl Harbor failed to set the fuses properly on their shells before firing them upward at attacking Japanese warplanes.

Instead of exploding at a pre-set altitude, about 50 shells instead arced into the sky and rained down upon the city, where they subsequently detonated upon impact. Four of them fell in rapid succession around 9:00 a.m. near the corner of McCully St. and South King St. outside of Waikiki, destroying two entire city blocks and killing 13 people, including 6 children.

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

"The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

"Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

"It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

"Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

"Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

"Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

"I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

"Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.

"I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire."
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Day of Infamy" Speech to Congress (December 8, 1941)

This isn't surprising either....

The jury foreman in Michael Slager's murder trial told NBC on Thursday that the panel had focused on a manslaughter charge after deciding the North Charleston policeman had done nothing "malicious" in Walter Scott's shooting death.

Eileen and Richard Sorokas loved Barack Obama. They made calls and even knocked on doors to get him elected president in 2008 and 2012 because they believed he would bring change to their stagnant corner of northeast Pennsylvania. (The couple even named two of their ducks after the president and his veep, though a coyote killed Biden.) But in early November, Eileen and Richard voted for Donald Trump for president, as they and the rest of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, flipped from supporting Obama by 5 points in 2012 to a 20-point victory for the billionaire. Reversals like that throughout Pennsylvania gave the state to the Republicans for the first time in a national election since 1988.

When I first moved to Seattle in the fall of 1979 for my freshman year at the University of Washington, Alaska Airlines was strictly a small regional carrier servicing ten Alaskan cities and towns out of Seattle.

That year was also the first year of airline deregulation in the United States with the abolition of the Civil Aeronautics Board, and Alaska Airlines made its first efforts at expansion into the California market with service to San Francisco, Burbank and Ontario. Fast forward 37 years, and with its Virgin America purchase just about completed, this is what Alaska's route network now looks like. Its growth over the years has been steady, measured and impressive.

It will also be interesting to see what Hawaiian Airlines has planned for its own expansion, once it takes delivery of its 18 new Airbus A-321 aircraft starting this coming January to complement its existing overseas fleet of 24 A-330 and 17 B-767 widebody aircraft, and its 20 B-717 aircraft which the airline uses exclusively on its interisland routes. Word has it that Hawaiian will aggressively expand service to Asia and the U.S. west coast as a means to appeal to business travelers in the growing Pacific Rim market.

That said, the top four U.S. carriers still account for 80% of the domestic travel market. Despite Hawaiian's success in slicing off a significant portion of business on lucrative Hawaii-U.S. mainland-Asia routes, United Airlines remains our state's dominant carrier with a nearly 60% share, and it is the only airline providing nonstop service to the west coast from my hometown of Hilo.

We seriously need more robust competition, not less, within the airline industry. While major U.S. cities do enjoy that competition which results in fairer pricing for local travelers, our country's smaller cities, towns and communities are often at the mercy of one carrier which has carved out and guarded its near-stranglehold on service, and it can charge whatever fares it wants.