Thursday.

Wet and cool today.  The temperature is mid 40s now and not expected to rise much.  No work outside today and probably none until the weekend.  But the temperatures are warm enough that I brought the rosemary and "Christmas" cactus downstairs to the living room.  I put both upstairs during really cold period because I don't think they liked the frigid air they got when we had to open the front door.  Both have come back nicely and the cactus is blooming.

So good to see you back, Kay.  I agree with you on the news and our idiot politicians.  We don't watch much news anymore.  It is repetitive, uninformative, and frothy--for lack of a better word.  They give scant time to important issues and huge amounts to time to the inconsequential.  Do we really need blow-by-blow coverage of the results from Dancing With The Stars??  We turn the news off as soon as the local news goes off in the morning.  We don't even watch Good Morning American anymore and that used to be a favorite.  Mom commented recently that we are watching more science, and history programs or listening to music.  I won't even go into the political or economic commentary which seems to be coming from another planet and totally divorced from my reality.

A while ago I saw part of an interview with one of our "entitled" billionaires (sorry, I forget who it was) who argued that because he had so much more money than most people he should have more votes.  Though not quite saying that, the Supreme Court seems to agree.  Dmitri Orlov posted a piece a few days ago titled "American Democracy is Dead."  In an era when corporations are people and owners of companies claim those companies have "deeply held religious values" which should exempt them from legal duties, and the wealthy can buy what ever politicians they want--I agree.  We used to say "one man, one vote" now we are moving rapidly toward "one dollar, one vote."  Though the decision left the caps on donations to individual candidates, it removed the overall cap so that those who have the money can give to as many candidates (or campaigns) as they want.  During the last election in Chicago we saw billionaire (then) mayor of New York Bloomberg supporting a candidate there.  How much more will we see of this?

Interesting set of photos of derelict and abandoned shopping malls.  I look at them and think "what a waste."

Tom Englehardt has a post which resonates and illustrates very well why I am a recovering "news junkie."  There is no real news on the news.

I remember reading some many years ago that one of the favored tactics Soviet authorities used against dissidents was to imprison them in mental hospitals.  The mere act of defying the state was evidence of the dissidents' mental disease.  I thought of that as I read this piece from Susie Madrak.

And then there is this tactic to suppress dissent--declare it terrorism.  And so is participating in (undefined) "hostilities" in other countries.