December 23

 Well the snow is still hanging on and we have a gray and cloudy day. There may be more precipitation but we aren't going out so we aren't concerned. I have already turned off the TV--the insanity of what goes on or, rather, the insanity of the news coverage irritated me so I turned off the news rather than throw something at the screen. Instead we are playing a Charlie Chan marathon. We have a nice collection of our own reruns. But I am still reading what has arrived in my e-mail. That I can ignore or scan or read carefully as I choose. It isn't nearly as irritating.

Here is some of what I am reading:

1) Alfred McCoy who wrote a recent book on the transitions from one world order to another over the last couple of thousand years ( TO GOVERN THE GLOBE) posted a piece on Tomdispatch: "The World's Four Legacy Empires Going Down."