January 24

Cold, cloudy and intermittent snow. I am looking at the forecast and trying to decide if, probably when, I will get out and get a path to the back gate so I can move the trash tote to the back curb for collection. It is so cold I just gently tossed the last bag of trash I tied up this morning beside the tote because I really didn't want to step outside. I think I will also have to do something about the front walk to the mail boxes. We aren't getting the minimum accumulation of snow that would require the landlord to send out the shoveling crew.

We are avoiding the broadcast news. I prefer to read the news because I don't have to listen to the irritating voices of Trump or his minions. Those just send me into swearing frenzy wishing I could throw something through the screen that would hit them. No such luck. Also by reading the news I don't get all the repetition and the succession of talking heads saying the same things over and over and over and over again.

So what am I finding? Note: I won't link to many of these items. You can find a lot of sources on line. I did.

First up--the story I found on NAKED CAPITALISM citing a UK investigative report from the Guardian describing United Health Care and its "money-saving" (to put it politely) strategies which are potentially (likely) detrimental to the health and longevity of elderly people in nursing homes. The company rang a bell with me so I went looking for more info and found that the U.S. Senate has been investigating that same company on this side of the Atlantic. For the same practices: paying bonuses for nursing homes to NOT transfer ailing patients to hospitals, delaying medically necessary treatment that requires hospitalization and other practices. The accounts almost (ALMOST) made me wish the case against Luigi Mangione would be dismissed. I really do wish we had a corporate "death penalty."

Then there are the poor abused ICE agents who can't find a place to pee in peace. The residents of Minneapolis who are offended by their presence and activities gathering to hassle them when ever the step out of their hulking SUVs and many of the stores and gas stations won't let them in or serve them. Poor babies. Maybe they should wear diapers and brownbag their lunches. Or better yet leave the state.

 Cloudy with flurries this morning. We decided to turn off the TV early and go with a Lord of the Rings marathon. The news isn't new and no one is saying anything we haven't heard before. So it is time to go to the e-mail.

We have heard about food deserts for a couple of decades now. Efforts to bring in grocery stores in low income neighborhoods have pretty much failed. Some of the chains go into an area with great publicity and quietly exit only a very few years later. Most make the excuse that there just isn't enough profit in the effort. This article at Boondoggle makes a different argument. The big chains make sure that no competitor can move in by tying up the abandoned land and buildings in restrictive covenants. I saw this in action about fifteen years ago. A Kmart store in a town north of us closed down when the chain went bankrupt but he land and perfectly good building sat decaying for most of a decade because the no competing retail outfit of any size could buy it or even rent space. In another case in our area a major grocery store closed and built a new, larger store across the street from the old one but refused to allow any competitor to open up in its old space. Several years later the buildings were torn down and much of the parking lot dug up. It is finally, only now, being redeveloped slowly. Evidently some cities and states are getting tired of the mess.

Yves Smith at NAKED CAPITALISM posted this story about a recent U.N report on "water bankruptcy" around the world. U gave been reading stories from various place about water shortages and none of them bode well for either the people directly affected or the broader areas. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the five states that make up the Colorado River Compact have yet to come to an agreement on how to share the water flowing down the river. They have been negotiating for years now. Recently, the U.S. and Mexico had an episode in their on-going argument over water from the Rio Grande which has often run dry along some of its length. But a very, very short snippet concerning who is supporting Trumps moves on Greenland: tech bros wanting space (and water) for data centers. Resistance to data centers which demand a lot of electricity and water is growing in areas where the tech industry is wanting to place them in this country.

January 10

 Some sun today and a bit more than an inch of snow overnight. It is about 5F right now and only expected to top out at about 10F. Much too cold to do anything outside. Tomorrow is supposed to be slightly warmer but still colder. I am considering when to put in an Instacart order. Even when I was much younger I wouldn't go out to shop either today or tomorrow so I don't want to get anyone else out. Wednesday looks like a better option. 

I have already been busy today getting my laundry which has sat in the dryer since my fall last Friday. I still feel some pain on my ribs when I move wrong but it is much better. I got the clothes folded and a piece of Swiss steak cooked. When that cools I will move it to the fridge. I baked it for about four hours at 250F. We won't eat it today. I have meatloaf sandwiches planned for today.

It's MLK, Jr. day and Heather Cox Richardson has a meditation on what makes a hero. I have thought for some time that people in our society expect an inhuman degree of perfection in heroes. And some are inclined to dismiss the title of HERO for anyone who falls short of their definition of perfection. It reminds me of the Parson Weems depiction of George Washington which gave us the cherry tree and "I cannot tell a lie" story. It was a total fabrication.

January 18

 Overcast today with possible snow--not much I hope. I am so tired of the snow and it hasn't rally been a bad winter as far as cold and snow goes. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be very cold. I am recovering--slowly--from that fall I had on Friday. My ribs still hurt and I haven't slept well. So we'll see what kind of attention I can muster. Right now I am very tired and irritable.

I noticed that Trump has chosen to wield his favorite weapons over the last few days: tariffs in the Greenland controversy, and criminal investigations and legal maneuvers in Minnesota. 

He put the "insurrection act" threat for Minneapolis in favor of "investigations" against the partner of the woman ICE killed and the Governor of the state and mayor of the city. None of that has gone over well but it is what the boy does and none of it has worked well for him so far. Remember the Comey and James cases. Both were dismissed and efforts to get a grand jury to indict James came back two times with "no true bill" decisions. The old saying that a good prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich has not held up which says something really sad about the quality of either the prosecutors or the evidence--probably both.

Trump's actions over Greenland remind me of the title of the book by his niece: TOO MUCH, NEVER ENOUGH. I haven't read it but that title lays bare his grasping nature. And the fact that anyone who gives him what he says he wants always finds that he will come back with more demands. Just remember the "discussions" with the universities.

In another instance of "stolen glory" Machado gave him her Nobel Medal. She couldn't actually give him the prize as the Nobel Committee noted--that isn't transferrable and never rescinded. And she gave it in a pretty gold frame. We all know how much he likes the gaudy.

This piece by Alley Valkyrie has been simmering in the back of my mind for a few days now. Campism is the tendency to see things as simple black or white, gain or loss, us or them situations. I have seen several ads which tell us that if you support ANYTHING at all about the Palestinians, which are equated to Hamas, you are supporting the rape, murder, abuse of Israelis. I have the habit of muting those when they show up. I don't equate Hamas and Palestinians. I don't equate Israel or Israelis with Jews. When it comes to Hamas and Israel I say a pox on both their houses. There is another old saying: two wrongs don't make a right. And there have been more wrongs on each side than I can count bit damned few rights.

A stray thought on Trump and Greenland: most pundits are hyperventilating about the damage Trump's moves might do to Nato. However, what makes them think that matters at all to our would be dictator? He has take the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, destroyed U.S.AID, abandoned the Paris Accord (for the second time), rescinded U.S. membership in 60+ international organizations (many associated with the U.N. He has been very lukewarm, if not downright chilly, about NATO so if his actions in Greenland ruptures NATO I think he would see it as an added benefit.

 

January 14, 15, 16

 Well we decided that we aren't going outside at all today. We had ten+ emergency alerts just a few minutes ago for a snow squall coming in from Lake Michigan. And they expect high winds with dropping temperatures. I won't even put the trash tote out for collection--it can wait til next week, or even to retrieve mail, if we get any--that can wait til tomorrow.

Bill Astore has a very on point essay today. I remember when the Soviet Union imploded and all the experts in politics, foreign affairs, and military planning crowed about the expected "peace dividend." Well, that never came. We quickly deployed troops for the Gulf War to get Saddam out of Kuwait. That was followed by the next Gulf War, Afghanistan (after 9/11), then Iraq to finish off Saddam. We have been involved in various wars that were never called wars in any formal way. And the "defense" budgets kept ratcheting up. Even as DOGE cut non-defense spending and agencies the budgets appropriations for the Pentagon kept going up. Since the Department of Defense has never passed a credible audit it is very misleading to call their hoard of cash a "budget."

15***********************************************

Bright sun this morning after the clouds cleared out. We got about two inches of snow though the drifts were a bit higher. It is still a bit cold and a bit breezy. I am not as lazy as I was yesterday. Did our usual load of laundry and swept around the cats' feeding area. They are a bit messy with their food. I hadn't intended to use the vacuum but last night I blundered into the small shelves that hold our DVD collection and two of our prize clowns fell off. One came through pretty will with only a bit of the sole of the foot broken off. The other I am afraid did not fare well at all. Unfortunately, it was the one I was most attached to. I remember going with Mom when she picked it out as a birthday present for her mother. It was a multicolor blown glass statue and broke into several pieces. I know from experience that it isn't reparable because I tried to repair a part of it that had broken decades ago--damned careless moving company. That was only one part but I was never able to weld it back to the main statue. Grandma has been gone for nearly 40 years and Mom is 95 later this year. It hurts to lose such a piece of my life but I wrapped up the pieces and laid it to rest in the trash tote.

16********************************************

We have another round of lake effect snow squalls. I managed to get a bill I needed to mail into the mail box but going out to bring in the incoming mail enough snow had fallen that the ice on the sidewalk was obscured. I managed to hit a patch of ice and fell hard. It took me about 10 minutes and two more falls to get my feet under me and get back inside. Luckily I didn't break anything but I will be hobbling around like I am 90 instead of 16. 

January 12, 13

 Sunny today and mild. No precipitation expected til later in the week.

13**********************************************

As you can see I just didn't have much to say about what was on the news yesterday. Since there isn't anything different today I don't know what I will see worth commenting on today. The problem I have is I can't think of anything more to say about the insanity I see. I sometimes think I should learn a new language with some juicy swear words but I would run through those too quickly.

I have been concentrating on tracing the genealogy of my family. I will say that the internet has made a lot of the process much easier since so much is own line. However, I have run into a couple of interesting issues which make me distrust AI and the promises the AI industry is making. Looking up my father's immediate family I was surprised to see the records recorded his parents having several more children than I knew they had. I looked more closely and I found a reference to Pete, Marion, and Jim added to the roster. But Pete was the same as Marion (who was also listed as Carl on another site. My uncle was Carl Marion nicknamed Pete for why I don't know. My mother doesn't know and she is the last of that generation still alive. Jim was double listed with James. They were the same person. I don't know what AI would have done with that but I wouldn't trust that it would have given an accurate list. I am finding other confusing entries which will take research and careful evaluation to sort out.

I heard that Bobby Kennedy Jr. just put out the revised dietary guidelines. The news segments didn't really go into much detail so I looked it up. It looks like a simply 180 degree rotation of the old pyramid that doesn't really change any recommendation of the old one. I will ignore it. We don't eat a lot of meat any way and given how our appetites have shrunk with age (especially Mom's) it isn't really all that relevant. It would be nice if they gave poor families a financial subsidy to afford more fresh fruits and vegetables but you know they won't do that.

Stray thought: the coverage of the unrest in Iran attributed the demonstrations to economic woes. The inflation rate according to some of the pundits was north of 40% and the sanctions are biting. But as I thought about the situation I realized that it isn't so simple. The Iranians are facing a "Polycrisis": a series of concomitant set of crises which reinforce and intensify each other. No one has talked about the water crisis which a couple of weeks ago had Iranian government officials talking about moving the population of Teheran elsewhere--toward the coast was suggested. Only one article mentioned the sever multiyear drought but it is having a major impact. I read and hear more about (unspecified) mismanagement of the economy. That may be but the other factors are very much in play to make matters worse.

Interesting side thought: the Weather Channel had a promotional segment telling people they really should pay attention to the weather. Why? well the weather can raise the energy people need to keep warm (or in other seasons, cool) which raises costs for customers. Also, the droughts (and fires) damage crops reducing yields which means that people have less food available and at higher costs. Oh, and some of those crops feed into ethanol to add to gasoline (increasing costs of gas), or feed the animals that provide meat, milk and eggs that people eat. The prices go up, and up, and up.

This is the only article I have seen that ties the drought in Iran to the inflation in costs of food and the unrest in Iran. They observe that there are other fragile economies that could fail because of adverse weather conditions that cause food shortages. Some of the prepper bloggers I read used to hammer on the fact that most of America is only 9 meals away from riot. Or less because most don't have the minimum of three days of food on hand FEMA once considered the minimum.

January 10, 11

 Mix of snow and rain today and more of the same expected for tomorrow. We had a nice morning watching the FA soccer game today with Sunderland playing Everton. It was finally won by Sunderland after two extra periods of play and a shoot out. That they say never happened before in the FA Challenge. On weekends I try to stay away from the news and politics. 

However, Collin Trent at AMERICA'S UNDOING has some good observations on our current situation. I thought from the start of Trump's term that he was building his own private army with ICE and I heard yesterday that they want to set up some kind of investigative force not answerable to the FBI but to the White House directly to look into "fraud." So are we going to see a "secret police" to complement the private army?

Pissed off comment about the shit I have been seeing about the ICE perpetrated murder in Minneapolis: I would call the piece of crap who said "F###### b####" just after he shot her a son of a b#### but that would insult b####es. I would call him a bastard but that would insult all bastards. I can't think of a form of life so low it wouldn't be insulted by the comparison.

11************************************************

It has been a nice slow day again. Two soccer games were entertaining: Portsmouth vs. Arsenal which Arsenal 4-3 and Real Madrid vs. Barcelona which Barcelona won 3-2. Next weekend the Premier League is coming back. The sun has played tag with the clouds but we haven't had any precipitation since sometime last night. Little of the snow we had stuck anywhere.

I saw an article this morning which said that, in Venezuela, heavily armed militias or gangs (depending on your perspective) are conducting traffic stops and otherwise hunting for Americans. That doesn't sound good or as though it will all that easy for our government to "run" things there. I heard a couple of times that Trump was asked how long we would have to be involved there for more than a year. So much for America First. I don't know how many remember how we were told by the Bush Administration that the Iraqi people would greet our troops as "liberators." The attitude was mixed as people were happy to be rid of Saddam but not at all happy about the presence of foreign troops. It looks like a similar sentiment is prevalent in Venezuela. A point that this administration, I think, never learned is that your goals might be very important and good but the way you get there is also very important.