In a story that continues to get more bizarre as new details emerge, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), is recovering from 5 broken ribs after a neighbor assaulted him Friday afternoon while the Tea Party Republican leader was mowing his lawn in his gated community in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

What was initially reported as "minor injuries" turned out to be far more severe.

2017 is an off-year for US elections. November 7 will see gubernatorial elections held in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as house state legislative elections in the same states. There will also be various other local elections, mayoral races, and other citizen initiatives taking place.

There is a lack of media coverage for these smaller elections, and they will certainly fly under the radar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZcl9fCEvi8

Late Friday night, WikiLeaks tweeted out the Joint Fundraising Agreement between the Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC officials that backs up former Interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile's claim that the Clinton camp essentially took over the party.

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/926681785819389952

The tweet links out to a PDF uploaded by MSNBC:

On November 3, Justice Samuel Alito refused a request by Pennsylvania state officials to delay a trial in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That case, filed in Commonwealth Court, seeks a ruling that Pennsylvania’s U.S. House district boundaries are an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

Shortly after the Second World War, a Republican legislator sought to temper criticism of a Democratic president. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Arthur Vandenberg declared that we should stop “partisan politics at the water’s edge.”

Today, partisan warfare knows no bounds. Democrats and Republicans routinely rationalize placing their own interests ahead of the national interest. Their mutual, unceasing attempts to subvert the other party’s political fortunes are now subverting a comprehensive review of Russian influence in American politics.

Broadcom Ltd. is planning an unsolicited takeover approach to rival chip maker Qualcomm Inc., according to sources connected to the deal.

If the deal is completed it would create the largest technology acquisition ever.

The news, reported by Bloomberg, would value Qualcomm shares at around $70. Investors immediately responded by sending Qualcomm stock up nearly 14 percent.

It's been a rough quarter for Tesla. The carmaker announced this week a quarterly loss of $671 million and now, quietly, experts are growing concerned with the direction and future viability of the company.

Last August Tesla began production of its Model 3. The first mass-marketed sedan for the company was touted as a "game changer." At the time, CEO Elon Musk said there should be “zero concern” about Tesla's ability to increase production to 10,000 cars per week at some point in 2018.

That pipe dream is over.

America’s “two-party” version of democracy is unsustainable. The good and bad news is that local and state politics is more important than ever.

If there is to emerge some third way to take advantage of the vast pool of frustrated and virtually disenfranchised independent American voters, it will likely begin in a state election.

The experiment to save American democracy is happening, right now. And if you’re an American desperate to see a solution to the corrupt status quo, you should be paying attention.