Still dark outside. Have I said how much I hate the time change. We don't adjust well and neither do our cats. I have noticed similar complaints from various bloggers.
Stray thought: I think the euphoria over the results of the elections is justified but erases the fact that they may or may not be a harbinger for next year. The focus on the abortion issue obscures another fact: abortion isn't the only issue voters will be reacting to. The commentary notes that every where abortion has been the issue on the ballot the voters have favored more liberal options. However, setting that aside, the electorate is still very closely divided. One anchor this morning noted that a switch of less than 1000 votes in one Virginia district and less than 2000 in another would have given Republicans the House of Delegates and the Senate.
Another stray thought: I wish the reporters and pollsters who note that people cite Biden's age in considering why they think he shouldn't run aren't asking who in a younger generation would be an acceptable replacement.
I have read several stories for the last five or six years about the drop in life expectancy in the U.S. Those stories appeared more frequently during and after COVID. Robert Reich tries to answer the question of why is the cohort of Americans without a college degree much more affected. He comes down on 1) stagnant income which was higher, considering inflation, in 1969, 2) more tenuous, often part time, employment without sick days or vacations, 3) weakened labor unions, and 4) a very stingy social safety net. Reich has another article which describes our problems going beyond the fact that the poor die sooner and in more detail.
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