December 10

 Good morning. Temperature is still above normal at about 40F and it is likely to hit over 50 before the day is over. The forecasters say another round of very cold weather is coming later in the week. We haven't had much precipitation. Most of the plants on the patio are done but I am not cleaning them out because they can keep the soil from blowing or splattering out.

Most of the news is repetitious noise. Trump's nominations for various positions dominate with the reporters/commentators trying to handicap their chances for confirmation. Things are going to change and the only question is whether the changes will be bad or worse. I really don't expect them to be good for ordinary people. The congress has about a week to get a new continuing budget resolution in place before the government shuts down. Speaker Johnson will need Democrats to help him get it through and the Dems are insisting on a "robust" funding for disaster relief across the country in exchange. We'll see what happens.

The situation in the Middle East just got far more complex with the sudden collapse of the Assad regime. As Hemingway said of how he went bankrupt "slowly, then all at once." That seems to be how dictatorships fall as well. Everyone is waiting on what the HST will do and hoping it aligns with their promises of moderation and inclusiveness. I hope that our own government takes a largely hands-off approach and lets the people there take care of their own business.

Reading today:

    1) Ed West has an interesting post detailing the history of immigration in Europe and its consequences--intended and unintended. A couple of thoughts popped up while reading it. First, the old saying that "assume makes an ASS of U and Me." The history of immigration is riddled with assumptions and many were very mistaken. Second, though West concentrates on Europe, much of what he says has parallels on our side of the Atlantic.

    2) Richard Haas at AT HOME AND AWAY assesses the Syria situation. Considering how many different ethnic/religious groups occupy various regions creating a unified "Syria" might be a pipe dream. The complexity goes beyond just Kurds, Shi'ia, Sunni divisions. Both of the Islamic groups have splinter groups. And there are Christians and Druse populations as well. And the Alawite Shi'ites aren't very popular being the group who most supported Assad and benefited most from his rule. Then you have the other countries: Israel (who are currently bombing what remains of the Syrian military facilities and occupying the Syrian Golan Heights, Türkiye who took over two Kurdish villages in the north of Syria and are totally opposed to any Kurdish power in that area, Iran (who supplied much of Syria's armaments but suffered from Israel's operations against their military), Russia who supported Assad militarily and economically but who are a bit stretched by its war in Ukraine. I could go on but Haas does a good job.