(Photo) Old mink ranch in Marblemount, Washington

According to the Skagit River Resort website what you see here is an old mink ranch. You'll find it on Washington State Route 20 across from the Skagit just east of Marblemount, Washington.

At the perimeter of the farm is an electric fence, most likely to keep bears out of it.

Unfit to serve: Clinton couldn't recall key security briefings because of concussion

Hillary Clinton clearly doesn't have the mental or physical stamina to serve as president.

From CNBC:

The FBI she did not recall all the briefings she received on handling sensitive information as she made the transition from her post as U.S. secretary of state, due to a concussion suffered in 2012, according to a report released Friday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a summary of the July 2 interview it conducted with the Democratic presidential candidate, as well as other details of its investigation into her use of a private email server while heading the State Department.

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Said the report, "Clinton said she received no instructions or direction regarding the preservation or production of records from (the) State (Department) during the transition out of her role as Secretary of State in 2013.

"However, in December of 2012, Clinton suffered a concussion and then around the New Year had a blood clot (in her head). Based on her doctor's advice, she could only work at State for a few hours a day and could not recall every briefing she received," the report said.

Unlike Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has taken many days off from the campaign trail since clinching her party's nomination. She does look or act healthy. Trump, who is actually a year older from Clinton, is seemingly indefatigable.

The presidency is not a part-time job. Hillary Clinton is unfit to serve as commander-in-chief.

Trump Autumn is almost here. Hillary Clinton is not ready.

(Photos) Concrete, Washington

During our Pacific Northwest trip we passed through the small town of Concrete, Washington. It's best known as the setting for the Tobias Wolff novel, This Boy's Life. In his first major big screen role, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Toby Wolff in the 1993 film, much of which was filmed in Concrete. Robert DeNiro portrays Wolff's cruel stepfather, whose favorite catch phrase is "Shut your pie hole!"

The old Portland Superior Cement silos were emblazoned with "Welcome to Concrete" for the movie.

In this distance, behind the low-head dam, is the Henry Thompson Bridge, which spans the Baker River. The concrete object on the left is an old bridge caisson.

State Route 20 is also known as the North Cascades Highway.

West of Concrete I discovered this herd of Rocky Mountain elk.

Rahm letting a crisis go to waste: Chiraq passes 2015 murder total

Chicago's South Side

Early Thursday morning Chicago's 2016 murder total passed that of last year. Of course there are still nearly four months to go in 2016. The number of murders in Chicago this year surpasses those of New York City and Los Angeles--combined. Shootings in Chiraq are up 50 percent over last year.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel notoriously said in 2008, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." He has his crisis. And Rahm is doing nothing, because he needs to break out of his liberal self to get results.

UPDATE 11pm CDT: The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Emanuel is planning to hire more police officers. Except he won't say how many, and more importantly, Rahm isn't saying plans to pay for these new hires. Because of unfunded pension obligations, Moody's rates Chicago's bonds as junk. Let's call Emanuel's move just more bluster.

#ObamaFail: Only 150K jobs added in August

The Obama economy is limping into the prime election season. Only 150,000 jobs were added in August, fewer than expected. If you want four more years of tepid job growth dominated by part-time positions, then vote for Hillary Clinton in November.

Top Jeb super PAC donor commits to Hillary

Miguel Fernandez, the chairman of Miami-based MBF Healthcare Partners, was one of the biggest contributors to a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush, whose presidential campaign flame-out was the most spectacular since John Connolly collected one lonely delegate in 1980.

In a Thursday Miami Herald op-ed, where he calls himself Michael "Mike" Fernandez, while admitting he has given millions to Republican causes, he omits his Jeb ties in his endorsement of the most corrupt person to win a major party nomination since Richard M. Nixon, if not ever. And that person is Hillary Clinton.

The GOP needs fewer Mike Fernandez types. Leave the party now, please.

It begins: Illinois business leader suggests constitutional amendment to allow cutting pension benefits

The biggest obstacle facing Chicago and Illinois is unfunded pension obligations, these generous retirement benefits, really bribes to public-sector union members, allows able-bodied 50 year-olds to enjoy a long and lucrative retirement.

Greg Baise, the president of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, is proposing dropping the provision in the Illinois Constitution that protects cuts in public-worker pension benefits.

It probably won't go anywhere, for now, but it's a start.

From Crain's Chicago Business:

Higher taxes may be needed along with other changes, Baise said. But what's really needed is to change a clause in the state constitution that the Illinois Supreme Court repeatedly has said fully protects pension benefits some say the state no longer can afford.

"In what world do we live in where a $100 billion-plus pension obligation can be explained away by saying 'It's in the constitution'?" Baise asked. "A constitutional provision that was drafted in 1970 cannot and must not bankrupt this great state."

In a later interview, Baise conceded that the courts might balk at such an amendment. And getting it by voters would be no snap. But change nonetheless is needed, he said.

"Democrats and Republicans have both got to say, 'We need to get this problem under control,' " he said. "Nothing is so sacrosanct it can't change."

Public-sector unions are just another wing of the Democratic Party.

Also, there is another way. Who knows what financial shape Illinois will be in 2028--probably a bad one--but that year Prairie State voters will be asked if they would like to convene a state constitutional convention.

I say "Yes." Replace the current system with a 401K plan.

Mainstream media finally reporting on Hillary not holding press conferences

The mainstream media is finally reporting on Hillary Clinton's refusal to hold press conferences. She hasn't held one since last December.

Good Morning America follows up on a CBS News query to her running mate, Tim Kaine.

“Hillary takes questions from reporters every day. She does,” Kaine said. “She talks to the press everywhere she goes.”

This depiction, however, is largely inaccurate.

Clinton has only stopped to take questions from her traveling press corps a handful of times this year. It's always unannounced with no podium, limited in the number of reporters there, and never lasts more than 10 minutes. (Trump, on the flip side, has conducted numerous wide-ranging news conferences that are announced in advance.)

More often than not, Clinton simply ignores questions from the traveling press, even when they come face-to-face.

At a recent campaign stop in Reno, Nevada, for instance, a group of reporters repeatedly tried to ask Clinton questions during a visit to a coffee shop. But Clinton, who had just been presented with a platter of chocolates, wouldn't indulge.

Why is Clinton afraid? Does she fear tough questions, such as probes about Benghazi, her faulty email server, or the Clinton Foundation slush fund? Or her failing health?

If Hillary can't hack a press conference, how is she going to able to handle that 3am phone call if she is elected president?

#TrumpAutumn: He leads Hillary in latest Rasmussen poll

Trump Autumn is almost here. America is getting ready.

From Rasmussen Reports:

Hillary Clinton's post-convention lead has disappeared, putting her behind Donald Trump for the first time nationally since mid-July.

The latest weekly Rasmussen Reports White House Watch national telephone and online survey shows Trump with 40% support to Clinton’s 39% among Likely U.S. Voters, after Clinton led 42% to 38% a week ago. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson now earns seven percent (7%) of the vote, down from nine percent (9%) the previous two weeks, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein picks up three percent (3%) support. Three percent (3%) like some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Deadliest Chiraq month in 20 years

"Building a New Chicago"

Look what five-and-a-half years of Rahm Emanuel as mayor has brought to Chiraq.

From ABC Chicago:

Chicago crime numbers released early Thursday morning confirm August was the deadliest month of 2016 and saw the most murders of any August since 1996.

In the first eight months of 2016, the city tied the total number of murders that occurred in 2015, the Chicago Police Department said.

In August, 90 people were murdered, 384 shootings occurred and 472 people were victims of shootings - including two teens who were shot on Chicago's West Side Wednesday night.

Predictably, Chicago's police superintendent is blaming guns, rather than Chiraq's entrenched street gang culture for the carnage.