Cronyism at its worst. Or the best politicians money can buy. Unfortunately, although the politicians came cheap, the results are going to be expensive for the taxpayers. Either they will pay to clean up the mess or, more likely, suffer the health consequences of the mess not being cleaned up. But, hey, that's Texas whose two senators voted against funding Hurricane Sandy relief claiming there was too much "pork" in the bill. That claim was refuted in a line item examination of the bill I read recently. Politifacts writes a good assessment of Ted Cruz's charge that two-thirds of the appropriations were unrelated to the hurricane and says they are mostly false.

Another craptastic decision by #45. As soon as I read this three thoughts went through my mind. First, he is moving money around to get two things: his idiotic wall and the military. That was confirmed by the statement that government employees outside the DC area will get a 0.5% raise while the military will get a 2.1% increase. Second, where is the "national emergency"? Please don't tell me that Hurricane Harvey is a NATIONAL emergency. Since when is Texas the whole of the nation? Third, what "serious economic conditions?" We have been told for the last ten years that the economy is recovering well and doing fine. Now, suddenly, #45 sees "serious economic conditions?"

Very interesting article about (some) of what brought #45 to the presidency. The description reminds me of some of what I have been reading on the 1920s. To quote from Battlestar Galactica "this has happened before; it will happen again."

This blogger has a story that parallels mine. Like her I resisted getting a cell phone but relented because I made trips home alone and didn't want to be stranded with no way to get help. So the cell phone entered my life. A couple of years ago we decided to go entirely cell and eliminated the home phone. I also resisted the e-reader for some time before breaking down and getting my first nook which took me about four years to out grown because my e-library had grown bigger than the memory capacity of the device. But I also put Kindle software on my laptop only to find that Barnes & Noble no longer offers nook software for laptops. But the nook was simply a tablet computer so I could put Kindle software on it. That strategy worked until the combined library exceeded the memory which led to the iPad on which I run both e-readers. Why not just move most of the content to the "cloud?" Well, I thought about what would happen if our internet service was interrupted just as I finished a book and wanted to download one from the cloud. I prefer my library accessible. I still love physical books but the iPad is lighter and more convenient. I can change the type size, adjust the brightness, highlight, put in lengthy notes on the text. I don't know if I am a "fan" but I am an enthusiastic user. The battery life hasn't been an issue. I can read for or five hours without a problem. However, I have thought about finding a solar charger--just in case.