February 16, 17, 18

 We have had a "lake effect" snow storm. We haven't had one as heavy as this one for some time. It has been a lazy day. I tried to do some crochet work but I had trouble with the pattern. It just didn't build well. I decided to take it all out and will do a different pattern. And then just started playing some of my favorite games and reading.

I am sure most people have heard that the Trump administration and some of its legislative supporters want a huge cut of Ukraine's mineral wealth to cover our costs in aiding its struggle with Russia. Ugo Bardi has an interesting take on the situation. He looks at the situation from a historical perspective and economics. I remember when we went into Iraq and Afghanistan and so many were giddy about the oil bounty we were about to receive. It never came. Bardi starts with the Roman invasion of Dacia to secure the gold reserves they supposedly had. The gold was there but the technology didn't allow those reserves to be tapped economically. The military operations cost more than the resources gained. Kakistocracy married to kleptocracy.

17****************************************************************************

Sunny today but temperatures below freezing so not much snow will melt. We aren't going anywhere. No appointments and nothing to shop for. I decided to let the needlework go for the day and simply read. I am continuing with Bacevich's AGE OF ILLUSIONS and Chris Hayes' SIREN'S CALL interspersed with my e-mail.

And this piece by Bill Astore (posted on Tomdispatch) started off the morning. Since so many Americans are historically illiterate I don't think many realize how far back Trump's notion of MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN goes. I have read recent posts by several writers who think that we are looking at the end of one era and the birth of a new era which is as yet undefined. I only hope that not many of the conditions of that earlier age are brought back.

18***********************************************************************************

Sunny and below freezing again today. We expect our temperatures to only get up to about 13F. But the people our landlords have doing snow removal have already been out an took care of the sidewalk and even cleared the small segment of walk going out to the mail boxes. We left the mail delivered on Saturday in the box while the lake effect snow built up. I dug out my winter boots which I haven't had to use for the last two or three seasons and cleared snow on a path to the gate. There was a layer of ice under the snow so I spread some pavement deicer which I also haven't had to use for the last couple of seasons. It didn't take long so I didn't need my coat. My flannel shirt with turtleneck underneath was enough with my gloves and hat.

I have had a disappointing day with the crochet today--following the disappointment on Sunday. Neither pattern I tried out of the book I was working out of worked out. I will put that book in the cloud so it won't clutter my "library." I have several e-book items in various crafts of I have other choices. But--DAMN. So on to reading.

First up this morning is this article by Richard Haas at his HOME AND AWAY site. I agree with a good part of it. I notice that most of the pundits I listen to would also agree. I could agree with the notion that we should root out "fraud," and "waste." But right now I don't see any 1) definition of either term or 2) proof that any given program or agency is riddled with fraud or waste. That tendency is one I have yelled at for years now. Words are bandied about without specifying what they actually mean in the context of the discussion. They have simply become placeholders and emotive buttons to be pushed. Verbal opioids that simply drug the mind and make it incapable of coherent thought.

I would ask that another word bandied about in the frenzy of firings and resignations be better defined: efficiency. What is efficient about firing people in the department that oversees maintenance and safety of our nuclear weapons and installations and then suddenly realizing that you actually need their expertise but can't ask them to return because no one thought to get contact information after disabling their e-mail accounts? What about some of the other agencies that are being dismantled or disabled but that do serve a vital purpose, like federal firefighters? What is efficient about having to rebuild those agencies from the rubble? Hey, inquiring minds want to know.

February 15

 Welcome to half past February. It has been a very busy time since Trump's second inaugural--for the U.S. and the world. It will be a long 47 months til the end of his term. I stopped the crocheting early this morning because my hands were a bit achy. Best to rest them. I have an Italian sausage soup on low heat until we want to eat. That pot will probably last for at least three days. I struggled for several years to cut the recipes down to something for two people and decided to give it up. I fixed pork chops with fried cabbage and apples yesterday which will take care of dinner tomorrow. The soup will take care of supper today and Monday. I put out some deli ham for sandwiches for Tuesday. Then I have a Swiss steak thawing in the fridge which will make another two meals to slot into the queue. It gives us variety and a lot easier on the cook. 

We are watching the Premier League games today which gives us a needed respite from the news. I don't know what we will put on after the third game. We have a choice of the 4 Nations hockey tournament pitting Sweden and Finland or the alpine skiing. We'll see.

It is fascinating watching our current Sec. of Defense and VP V stumbling their way through the Munich security conference. Kakistocracy in action. They managed to call into question our relationship with NATO and Europe. I feel like I need to take a shower after hearing that Trump has demanded a 50% ownership of Ukraine's minerals in return for U.S. support. How does it feel to be a nation of mercenaries? Our services are for sale and the price may be your country's resources or might be as little as stroking Trump's ego. Actually, I think our services can only be rented and will be withdrawn if a higher offer comes in.

Another pitiful scene was the humiliation of Eric Adams who is getting a dismissal of the federal charges (with prejudice) in return for being a good little lap dog for Trump's immigration policy. So New York now has a mayor in name only since his loyalty is to the Trump administration not to the citizens he is supposed to work for. The whole mess led to the resignations of several senior DOJ prosecutors who refused to put their names to a motion to dismiss which ignored evidence and normal procedure. It wasn't done for reasons of justice but simply to have something to hang over Adams so he will do what they want. It seems that the services of our kakistocracy aren't just being bought on the international scene but here at home as well.

February 14

 Partly cloudy today. Still cold and the ground is still snow covered. I spent the morning doing some stitching and cooking supper. It is sitting on the back of the stove until we are ready to eat. Otherwise I am settling down to reading what is in my e-mail.

Starting off with this piece by Leighten Woodhouse. He makes a good point toward the end of his long (but very readable) article. Americans are a people who share a territory but aren't really a nation. Once simply being over here was enough to define us but over the last century and especially over the last 60 years the American identity isn't enough to bind us together. But neither the left nor the right have the answers to our problems.

Timothy Snyder writes about the parallels between the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the latest security meeting in Munich today. As Mark Twain is supposed to have said: history doesn't repeat, it rhymes. I hope the point of divergence will be a better outcome for Ukraine than Czechoslovakia had. Unfortunately, Trump is an even more unreliable  negotiator than Chamberlain. Snyder also has some good observations on Trump here. However, the weak "strongman" can create hell here for those of us who aren't white, putative Christian, male, and supposed billionaires.

February 12

 Still snowing. The weather prediction says it should pass by sometime this afternoon. I was feeling fairly good until I got five phone calls in about 40 minutes. Four of them had absolute silence for several seconds before a beep and the call broke off. The one where someone answered wanted my social security information so they could find out if I was eligible for a new program that would pay for my funeral and final expenses. I have also, over the last couple of days received calls trying to get me into the Medicare advantage program that would give me the most "free" services I am "entitled to." Which is a crock of shit because we pay for it through Medicare fees. I am afraid I was very rude. I really am tired of these computer driven calls which are hijacking my phone just as they have hijacked Mom's. Both are now on silent which I don't like because we might miss an important alert or calls from family. End of Rant!

First long piece I read today is this one. I wish I could say that this is the first time I have seen such stories but it isn't. Unfortunately, what is happening in D.C. isn't going to help matters. Before COVID achievement scores for U.S. students had been falling. We have been at the bottom for a long time. Obviously, when people think we are #1 they aren't thinking about children's reading, math, or science proficiency.

So, from the news reports, Trump and his kakistocracy, have thrown Ukraine under the bus Russian tanks and drones. It doesn't surprise me. When the war began I thought an Ukraine win was unlikely just looking at economic and population metrics. Russia had three times Ukraine's population and a larger economy. At the time pundits thought the Russian army was far more effective than it proved to be. Russian ineptitude and countries willing to assist Ukraine financially and militarily allowed the war to continue. Trump has blown a very big hole in that support. But he may, at the same time, chipped a larger hole in our alliances.

February 12

 Watching the snow as it finally has started here, We are in a a winter storm advisory which will last until 3am tomorrow morning. We aren't going anywhere and we have already retrieved the trash tote and collected the mail so we have no reason to go out again today.

I was reading Chris Hayes' new book, THE SIREN'S CALL, but my iPad is loosing its charge rather quickly today. That happens every now and then. I have been considering replacing the device with a Kindle. I recently got a nook for the Barnes & Noble part of my library. but can only access the Amazon part with the iPad. I am still hemming and hawing on that. With the way the economy is going and the chaos in Washington I don't know if I want to make such an outlay right now.

I find it a bit amusing that the price of eggs are rising faster than the judiciary is handing out verdicts against Trumps executive orders. Trump hasn't had much to say about the first since he admitted that bringing prices down is "hard." But he and his lackeys have had plenty to say about judges. Stray thought: I think the Dems are taking the wrong tack in criticizing Trump for not achieving his promise on egg prices. They can't really do anything either. Hitting him harder and more frequently on his attacks on our Constitutional system which deserve flaming condemnation. By the way, my shopping took me to the little independent dairy we frequent and I noticed they still have the limit of two dozen per customer. I didn't look at the eggs section at my local Meijer store. The news segments showing customers at other supermarkets and groceries grabbing up six or eight flats (not dozens) of eggs. Quite a feeding frenzy.

February 11

 Cold and cloudy with a few snow flakes. We are buttoning down for a possible winter storm due tomorrow morning through Thursday. I had thought to put off our shopping until later in the week but reconsidered after looking at the Weather Channel's prediction.  We shop about every three weeks give or take so today was a manor restocking effort. I like to keep enough staples on hand to cook almost anything I normally cook. I don't do much exotic kinds of foods. So I tend to buy a couple of what ever (two cans of baked beans for example) and then put the item on the shopping list when I use the last or next to last item. As I said--today was restocking a number of items we were out of or nearly so.

As I watched the news conference with the King of Jordan and Donald Trump a stray thought came to mind. Trump seemed unable to understand a reporter's question about what would happen to Palestinians who didn't want to relocate outside Gaza. He keept insisting that they would be so happy with new, comfortable, safe homes elsewhere. No matter how the reporters rephrased that question he repeated the same answer and insisted Palestinians would have no "right of return" to a reconstructed Gaza and wouldn't want or need to return. That Palestinians wouldn't want to leave homes that have been thoroughly demolished seemed to elude him. But that is something I have seen before. For some years now a group of Silicon Valley tech bros have been trying to buy up a large part of California and been opposed by people living there who don't want to cash. One of the partners was quoted in an article bemused because people were so attached to their homes. Trump and the Silicon Valley group a representatives of a large part of our population who can't recognize value unless it can be reduced to money or some facsimile there of. For some the phrase "home is where the heart is" isn't just a phrase. It means something tangible--a piece of earth. You don't sell your heart. You don't abandon your heart.

Simplicius made an interesting point on his blog this morning: that Trump's moves have been busily dismantling the "load bearing pillars of the globalist superstructure" which he thinks has been "suffocating the planet for decades." He sees USAID as one of those pillars. I hadn't made that connection. I viewed the extent to which our global has been globalized with a lot of suspicion. Globalization hasn't always been good for individuals or countries. The history of the last fifty years has many examples of the process being harmful to individuals and countries. The responses to COVID. The stripping of industrial capacity as manufacturing was moved to countries with lower cost labor and fewer regulations. The pollution that was exported to those lower cost and less regulated countries has overwhelmed many areas. Globalization has encouraged consolidation of industries which led to massive companies with less accountability to anyone and a lot of political power. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. However, rolling back the process will be messy, painful, and won't be complete--unless our global civilization goes the way of the last one (the Roman) and collapses.

Robert Reich posted this hilarious piece today: a letter from Nixon (in Hell) to Elon Musk.

Ian Welsh also posted an interesting but not at all hilarious article: It's the end of the American Era. Period. 

February 9

 Some sun and some cloudy and COLD. Feels even colder considering the warm January we had. We have been ignoring the news so far this weekend. Things are just so insane it takes a bit to clear my head.

Some observations:

The arrogance of the Trump/Musk administration is beyond belief. Well they did tell us what they intended. Many of us simply couldn't believe they would actually do it. And certainly we didn't think Musk would bring on barely post pubescent boys who think it is great to have been "racist before it was cool" or who seems to think using an internet handle of "big balls" really indicates he is an alpha male or competent.

The courts have, at least momentarily, slowed their assault on our politics and finances. But even if the final decisions of the courts go against them things won't go back to where they started. Either Musk, et al., will simply play the Andrew Jackson card telling the judiciary to enforce their own decisions or they will simply tell their opponents to fix things themselves. They will have broken it but we will have to fix it.

Some things, once broken, won't be fixable. How many of the organizations, governments, or people who depend on USAID will trust it or the U.S. again? How many of the farmers who sold their crops to USAID will recover from the losses they are suffering and will suffer? And how many other things will be broken because USAID has been shattered? The U.S. has become very unreliable  on several fronts. For decades we have been told we are and  have had the appearance of being the leader on the international stage. "Leader of the free world." "Leader of the world's democracies." Not so much, I think, anymore. Trump may be a big fish but his pond has become smaller. Maybe that is why he keeps hallucinating about adding Greenland, Canada, and/or Gaza to the U.S.

One of these days I might stop being surprised by the myopia of experts. A couple of days ago I was watching a segment on CNBC where their guest opined that the U.S. economy was not likely to slide into recession. He talked about a strong job market, a strong stock market and a couple of the usual metrics solely relating to the rarified economics. He never considered how Trump/Musk mucking around with the government agencies and firing people might affect the job market. Or how breached contracts might contract the economy. Or how foreign affairs cockups might destabilize the world economy and ours.

Similarly, all those who bitch about the price of eggs don't seem to realize that bird flu is raging and producers have lost tens of millions of birds over the last year alone. And that isn't something either Republicans or Democrats can do anything about. I was somewhat amused by the reports of thieves stealing 100k eggs recently. But I remember when a warm winter caused a drop in maple syrup production and thieves hit shippers for the syrup. I am sure you can recall similar episodes over the last few years.

February 5, 6

 Overcast and cold--barely above 30F right now. The weather people say we may get a wintery mix of precipitation going to freezing rain by tomorrow morning. We don't have to go out until next week.

06***************************************************************************

Overcast and icy this morning. The mail box was covered in ice and a couple of spots on the sidewalk nearly sent me sprawling on ice I didn't see. Nearly because I don't move as fast as I once did and was able to regain my balance. I spent the usual couple of hours doing some needlework, making coffee, fixing breakfast and washing dishes. That punctuated by reading. I finished Madeleine Albright's HELL AND OTHER DESTINATIONS yesterday. It was a thoroughly enjoyable autobiography. Just started Henry Kissinger's THE WHITE HOUSE YEARS. I will read that in small bites over, probably, the next year--it is 1800+ pages including all of the notes, etc. at the end. I will put a couple of shorter books in as well.

Also I still have a long list of sites I normally read when the authors post. It is a bit shorter because I spend a bit of time purging some sites that either aren't interesting to me any more or aren't what I expected them to be. 

First off this morning I found Brian Merchant's "Government by Grok" on his BLOOD IN THE MACHINE site. I am not a great fan of automation or AI. I won't be using Chat or DeepSeek or any of those programs. And I am VERY skeptical of allowing Elon Musk to run rampant in the government systems. There is simply too much information that he should have access to. I don't like the thought that he can simply turn off systems and lock people out. Unfortunately, the rapid growth and adoption of AI and other systems is probably a tidal wave we can't avoid. All we can do I try to mitigate the harm or inconvenience it will cause.

The Trump/Netanyahu press conference amazed me with its lunacy and self-serving crap. To say that Trump's notion that the Palestinians should "be moved out" and then the U.S. could build a Riviera on the eastern Mediterranean is so ridiculous you would have to laugh it anyone but the addled President of the U.S. proposed it. Of course he insisted the he had talked to the Egyptians and Jordanians and they were enthusiastic. I heard that and wondered if someone had slipped Trump something mind altering in his Diet Coke. They have consistently and strenuously refused to allow more Palestinians into their countries just as Palestinians have strenuously rejected the notion of leaving in spite of the rubble surrounding them. And for Bibi to call that asinine suggestion an example of "thinking outside the box" is even more ridiculous. It is an old way various rulers have dealt with a rebellious or fractious population. Look up the Jewish Babylonian Exile. Or look at the Roman removal of Jews after putting down the 135 c.e. rebellion. I could go on but why? The media talking heads are saying he is walking that back some.

Stray thought: the news said that about 20k workers who were offered the "buy out" have opted to take it and the administration hopes that by tomorrow that number would reach 40k. I would guess that two groups of employees might be tempted (in spite of all of the questions about legality and who is offering the money). The first group would be older workers who are close to retirement and are don't want to put up with the crap dished out by DOGE. The second would be young workers who don't have a lot invested in the job/career yet and want to cut their losses. That is just a guess but that would follow from what happened in the wake of the Pandemic and recession.

Another stray thought: I remarked some time ago that the Donald Trump who campaigned for the presidency in 2016-17 was not the Donald Trump who campaigned in 2019-29 and certainly was not the Donald Trump who ran in 2024 and is now President. It is like watching an image fading over time. He has lost more than a few levels of physical vitality and mental acuity. The only attributes that have strengthened are his sense of victimhood and desire for retribution. And his disregard for Constitutional limits.

February 3

 Hazy this morning and the temperature should go into the low 50s. Won't stay there long. Been a busy morning so far. Got some stitching done on the embroidered table cloth. And we are doing laundry. We originally thought to do it Saturday but, as we say here, you know what thought did--not a damned thing. The news this morning has been focused on the tariffs. Stock markets around the world dropped and people are speculating on what is going to happen. The speculative camps are divided between those who think that the talks between Trump and his counterparts will come to an agreement that will cancel the whole thing. Evidently the Mexican President has been satisfied enough to put her country's countermeasures on hold for a month. The two plane crashes have gone on a back burner. I looked at the stock market which has trimmed its losses in hopes that the whole thing will go away.

In the mean time, Musk has evidently, according to various stories, gained control of the government payments systems. That and the purging of various government employees (FBI as an example) is worrying on an entirely different level. Two observations: first, Trump plays the bully on the international front. Basically he punches his opponents in the gut and as they straighten up says "Now let's talk about your pretty face." I don't know how long before someone or several someones come up and smash him in the mouth, metaphorically. Second: it is all a distraction here at home because as our attention is on more distant, maybe threats his "co-president" is taking over key agencies here. There is an old saying that there are many ways to skin a cat and I would say there are many ways to create an economic catastrophe.

February 2

 Well, it is a cloudy Groundhog Day and so far the Pennsylvania groundhog, Phil, predicted six more weeks of winter. Other such rodents might have other prognostications. It is supposed to be cooler after tomorrow which should register a balmy 50F. Then we go back to normal or near normal (in the mid 30s). It has been a nice weekend so far. Yesterday we spent watching soccer all morning and a hockey game in the afternoon. Today the Six Nations Rugby Tournament begins. So far we watched France crush Wales and now Scotland came back from a near death experience as Italy tied things at the half. They won 31 to 19. We have one more game, Ireland vs. England, and then we will go to the speed skating. I noticed that the schedule for tomorrow has a Premier League game tomorrow afternoon. Anything to avoid being irritating by the so called news.

Dave Karpf has a good Substack post on how things are going to crap faster than he thought possible. Normally I wouldn't use the word "crap" but I am trying to get away from swearing. (Part of why I am avoiding the news.) Did anyone notice that Musk minions went to the government office that disperses government payments demanding that they be given access to the computers. Needless to say they didn't have clearance. The official in charge told them no and to "f---off" when they persisted before he resigned. My first thought was "Oh, s##t. They would have all of the bank routing numbers, account numbers, social security and corporate id numbers, for anyone, individual or corporation or whoever, who gets government payments." They could decide to suspend payments to anyone they don't want to pay and, perhaps, claw back payments already made. For years, decades even, presidents have asked Congress to give them the power of a line item veto and they have been denied. We don't need an unelected, unaccountable "first buddy" mucking up the system.

So Trump followed through on his threat to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. From what they were saying last night 25% tariffs are to start Tuesday on Canada (l10% on Canadian fossil fuels) and Canada while China is only hit with 10%. Canada's outgoing Prime Minister announced tariffs an a number of American products we export to Canada and Mexico is mulling a similar response. Haven't heard anything about China's response. I hope some of these countries learn that the only way to handle a bully is to punch him in the face. I wonder how much Trump's minions, especially in the lower classes, like paying more for their winter tomatoes, peppers and other veggies. They are usually grown in Mexico, Southern California and Florida. With the weather problems in Florida and California not much will come from those areas. I had hoped that Columbia would have told Trump to "f##koff" on the military transports but they simply decided to send their own military planes for migrants. That only encourages Trump.

Update on the rugby game: Ireland 27--England 22.

 

January 31

 Welcome to the last day of January. We have rain--a nice steady rain that should soak the ground nicely. Some area here are under a flood warning but we are high enough that we shouldn't have any problem. The city has been very diligent about fixing the drainage problems some areas had a decade ago. I remember one storm when we went to a grocery and waded through ankle deep water to get to the door. That rarely happens now. Our Republican mayor is the only Republican politician I have voted for several cycles now. At least he and his people manage to get things done that improve things.

An article at ANTHROPOCENE magazine asks a good question "How long can fossil fuel dominance last?" and answers "Quite some time." It is a long piece but pretty well done. The author writes about the difficulty of transitioning away from a dominant energy form but he simplifies the matter somewhat. It isn't just the transition in the 19th century from wood to coal, gas and oil. Society transitioned from whale oil to kerosene and from human and animal muscle to mechanical energy from coal, etc. The point that the author missed was that whale oil was becoming more expensive as whales became scarce. The transition to coal came as we cut down the eastern forests. As the country expanded we developed transportation methods that allowed us to cover the distances faster than horse, wagon trains and feet would allow. A new transition from fossil fuels would require similar incentives.

Bill Astore has an interesting piece this morning on THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. He echoed some thoughts I had recently. When I first heard of Tulsi Gabbard I was impressed. Then, suddenly, things changed--she seemed to have changed. But did she. She did change to the Republican Party and did endorse Trump. I don't agree with either action. But I don't necessarily believe what has been said about her. What he wrote about the Democrats at the national level being a shell and a shill for corporate interests is equally true of the Republicans. I have said for some time that the two party system has devolved into a single party with two wings both beholden to the finance/industry/tech powers that be. And those have been fighting for dominance for a long time.

Astore has another article today which says a truth that Gabbard couldn't, for what ever reason, say: Snowdon was, and is a traitor. The Democrats tried to wipe that truth with the term "whistleblower." Two things can be true at the same time. Whistleblowers can be traitors at the same time. The question is "to what were they traitors and what values did they think they were serving when they stole information?". Motivation matters.

January 29, 30

 Sunny today and warmer. Should go up into the 40s. Still recovering from yesterday's shopping/errands. We usually shop at the little dairy every other week and the large supermarket every third week. And we go to our local meat market whenever our go to items are low. Yesterday the three coincided. We were out of or low on several things we keep on hand. By the time I got back (Mom decided to stay home and sleep) and got almost everything put away I simply played couch potato for the rest of the day. At the dairy I was surprised by how depleted their stocks were. They were out of the quart jars of cream I usually but they had the pint jars so I compensated by getting my usual quantity of the pints. They also were almost out of eggs though I was able to get my usual two dozen. The clerk said that business has increased lately and she has been urging her boss to increase stocks. 

The scanty supply of eggs didn't surprise me in light of the number of accounts I have seen of the flocks of birds that have been euthanized because of bird flu. A blogger I read yesterday also linked to a story about a fire at a large egg production farm that killed some 10K birds and another which reported that the state of Georgia has suspended all activities involving chickens in response to the bird flu. No swaps, sales, meets, shows involving chickens and chicken products in the #5 egg producing state in the country.

30******************************************************************************

Sunny today and a bit warmer. Weather that makes thinking about what I might like to do in the gardens this year. It isn't yet time to really get busy with the clean up and rearranging. We will probably have more really cold weather and snow. I yielded to temptation when I was shopping on Tuesday and picked ups three cute slow watering figurines. They had a plastic bulb with hollow terracotta spikes at the bottom. I have seen variations on the olla ---a hurried terracotta vessel that releases water at the root level. Most have a problem for my gardens--they occupy too much area in my containers. However, the new items are smaller and designed for pots. If they work well I will order some I found on the Gardener's web site which are designed to fit wine bottles. I have several of those.

Major story this morning is the airliner/helicopter crash in D.C. They will be discussing what little they know and speculating on what nobody knows for the whole day. The other story involves the testimony of three of Trump's nominees: Gabbard, RFK, Jr., and Patel. I won't follow it because the evening news will do that very well.

File this BOONDOGGLE story under HOW STUPID (OR VENAL) CAN THEY BE. Or perhaps YOUR TAX DOLLARS LOOTED--AGAIN.

Stray thought: Trump has ordered the Defense Department to prepare the facilities at Guantanamo for up to 30k migrants. Reminds me too much of how Australia dealt with the influx of "boat people" by pushing them into camps on remote islands where they could be forgotten. But it never really worked out that way and they are still dealing with the situation over a decade later. Much like the Guantanamo detainees who have been there for two decades and counting. I could make another comparison: it doesn't matter if the "camp" (the administration wants to deny that they anything so crude as a "camp") isn't in Colorado (or other western states) and isn't named Manzanar (or whatever the other camps were named) and isn't housing American citizens; it is still moving vulnerable people beyond the range of the American justice system. And given the latest breakdown of the number of detained people, that about half were not suspected or convicted of crimes, I don't think all will be "hardened criminals."

For a bit of levity look at this piece I found on CROOKS & LIARS. Evidently the Danes aren't impressed with Trump.

January 27

 Bright and sunny with an expected temperature in the 30s, I think. Tomorrow is a shopping day and the temperature should be in the 40s. We have the TV on but the sound is muted and I have Pandora on my computer. We have seen all of the news/weather we want. Later we will catch the late afternoon/evening news which is enough. And we don't get the damned commercials. We finally put Mom's phone on silent because of all of the calls we were getting for Medicare Advantage (they were going to HELP us find out what plan was best for her), someone wanting to HELP us find out if we qualified for new programs from the state to assist us cover her final expenses (that is taken care of), wanting to HELP us take care of our back tax obligations (we don't have any.) These assholes basically hijacked her phone. Every so often I go through and erase all of them. All of the family and people (doctors etc.) we deal with are in her contact list and mine as well. Most of the doctors know to call me.

On a more pleasant note, I just finished another doily--the filet crochet piece. I haven't decided which pattern to do next. Might give it a rest since I brought out the project box with the pieces for a couple of quilt blocks. The project involves a "disappearing nine squares block." Where it will go after I do those blocks, I haven't decided.

Here is what I am reading today:

Bill Astore's new post on his Bracing Views substack. A good critique of our addiction to both defense spending and nuclear weapons in particular.

Continuing to read Madeleine Albright's memoir of her life after her stint as Secretary of State: HELL AND OTHER DESTINATIONS. Very interesting so far. She has a self deprecating sense of humor and some very pointed opinions. Far more complicated than I expected just from seeing (and sort of remembering) the news coverage.

Doomberg supplied this bit of idiocy--two bits actually. The full article is paywalled but the part that isn't describes two idiotic "efforts" to address climate change. One restricts owners of vehicles that have a remote start function from running it to warm up the engine for more than one minute if the car is unoccupied. It the driver is shivering in the car they are allowed to idle the car for 10 minutes. I have always thought the "every little bit helps" argument was ridiculous. The other mandates a study of anesthetic gasses used during medical procedures to see it they should be restricted or eliminated. Do you really think anyone wants to undergo a major lifesaving operation without anesthesia? Perhaps the legislator who proposed this bit of stupidity would like to under go a public appendectomy without an anesthetic.

Ed West's new article on WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY: "Rats." A very good short history of the 1348 bubonic plague outbreak.

Heather Cox Richardson's post on Lincoln's January 27, 1836 speech. It became known as the Lyceum Speech in which Lincoln expounded on the growing threat of lawlessness especially surrounding the issue of slavery.

Alfred McCoy posting on TomDispatch has a nightmare vision for the American auto industry. For a country that has had a "happy motoring" culture (to steal James Kunstler's phrase of long ago) our industry is woefully behind on the development of electric vehicles. China is making serious headway and our leaders have responded, as has those in Europe, with huge import duties on Chinese cars. I am not sure at all how sustainable wide scale adoption of electric vehicles will be over time given the resources it demands (cobalt and lithium among others) but somebody is eating our lunch.

January 26

 After a rather hazy morning the sun is now out fully. Still cold but the "warm up" is coming. I brought out the in-process-tablecloth printed for embroidery. I hadn't touched it for a couple of weeks as I worked on the crochet pieces and thought about what I will do with the cross stitch piece (when it is finished). I got a new Herrschner's sale catalog and was very tempted to order several of the pieces--very tempted. However, I finally decided not to get any. I really do have enough pieces to do and there will always be another catalog. And I, sometime this coming week, get the pieces to a quilt top I should get back to. I have also an idea of how to continue with it.

I am still in scan mode on the news on line and still am trying to keep the news off the TV. I don't need to know details of what the "neon god" is doing or how the "(once upon a time) greatest deliberative body in the world," a.k.a. the United States Senate has lost its collective mind and its collective spine. Not that long ago, as pundits gasped over the multiple failures of the Russian military once thought to be second only to the U.S. military, I had a stray thought: the U.S. military hasn't really been unequivocally successful since the end of WWII. We just haven't had an unequivocal defeat. Now we have an inexperienced, financially inept, and morally defective Secretary of Defense who's only redeeming characteristics are Trump likes him and he looks good on TV. Not a good omen for the future of the "greatest and most powerful military" in history.

Considering the coverage of Trump's visit to the disasters in North Carolina and California I am really glad Melania didn't wear that Jacket she was wearing when they took off to fly to see the damage of a hurricane and which she decided to remove before they disembarked from the plane, or someone had the good sense to advise her to remove. Do you remember the phrase printed on it: "Do you care? I don't." Trump used the North Carolina appearances to criticize the federal agencies involved in the recovery effort and suggest that FEMA should be dismantled. He spent the California phase condemning California and playing the mob boss: "Such a shame you suffered this disaster. I will be happy to help you but first you need to do what I want." We have exchanged the "comforter-in-chief" for the nitpicking extortionist-in-chief.

Ireland, Scotland, and parts of the north of England were hit by winter Storm Éowyn as described here on BBC. The wind speeds set unbelievable records and the Weather Service issued TWO red flag warnings, one for Northern Ireland and one for Scotland. That level of threat warning is not issued frequently--maybe once a year. The Weather Channel noted that this was a "bomb cyclone" that developed over cold water. Also very unusual.

Another story on the Weather Channel noted the opening of a snow crab season in Alaska after a two year moratorium. The snow crab population has begun to recover after suffering a 90% loss two years ago that was attributed to unusually warm waters in their normal areas.

A small snippet of news appeared in a site that provides some information significant in my area: people from Michigan are coming into Indiana to get eggs because of the high cost in Michigan. The bird flu has evidently hit the supply as the flocks of chickens are euthanized as they test positive.

One of my e-mail feeds had a piece on the consequences, for others, of Trump's hiring freeze. It showed a screen shot of a post by a man who described his distraught wife as her new job with the VA disappeared. She is a nurse. The writer described how they had sold their home, bought a new one in the area where the job was located and had spent several thousand dollars in the process and the strain the family now faced. At the bottom was a plea for help. But what had me shaking my head was the description of their fervent support of Trump and MAGA. They couldn't believe that Trump had actually done that to them. He insisted that it had to be accidental, that Trump hadn't intended their pain; surely they would have been spared given their support. Why in the hell did they think that they would not feel the pain of what Trump intended? Elon Musk promised that "you" would experience a lot of pain in the new regime but "you" would "eventually" have a new promised land of plenty. He didn't promise that only the anti-Trump faction would suffer, or that he and others in his orbit would share the pain, and he also didn't give any time frame for the "eventual" new paradise.

Paul Kingsnorth posted this on his Abbey of Misrule site about his family's experience in Galway during Storm Éowyn. He describes what happens when you lose everything usually available with a push of a button. We here have had blackouts but they have never lasted long. And they never came as a result of the most destructive storm in memory. We have often wished we could get a generator considering how crazy the weather has become but we rent and there is no safe place to put one. Like Kingsnorth we do have candles, flashlights with batteries, and an oil lantern. But in a really serious event--we would don't have too many alternatives. We would have to hope the weather wasn't too cold or too hot. Then we would have to decide if we could stay put or would have to gather the cats and necessary personal effects and go somewhere else.

An interesting side note here: shortly after reading the Kingsnorth post and thinking about his comments about sitting by his fire with a drink and DONING NOTHING while the kids read real, physical books my mother remarked how odd she felt in having nothing to do. I reminded her that we both lived a long time in a world that pushed you to always be doing something. Both of us sometimes feel at odds when we really have absolutely nothing that needs to be doing. And we have found that a lot of things don't actually need to be done.

January 24

 Bright and sunny but still very cold. That should change for the better by next week. We have no errands planned til then. Right now I have Pandora on the laptop while the TV is on mute. The screen is on but only to provide something distant to ease our eyes. We did see some news this morning but it is basically very boring. I just hope Trump doesn't decide to lob rolls of paper towels at anyone in either North Carolina or California as he did during his first term when he went to hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico. The commentators keep talking about separating Trump's "signal" from his "noise." I can't really tell the difference and I am not sure it really matters. What ever his administration and lackeys do will hurt a lot of people they don't really care about. I remember a scene in the DUNE miniseries where Paul has a vision of the Fremen Reverend Mother  who tells him "when rage and politics ride in the same cart the whirlwind follows." That is our situation right now. We are waiting for the whirlwind. And Trump et al. forget that big storms don't respect anyone and they will suffer with everyone else.

I spent the morning (so far) putting a few more rows on the new lap/baby blanket but then shifted to rolling up smaller balls of yarn from a couple of the monster size balls I want to use in the project. They were much too unwieldy to work with. I might do some more needle work this afternoon after I clear my e-mail.

Some years ago, decades really, I told some friends that economics had replace religion as a driving force, especially the economics spearheaded by the Chicago School. Anyone who dared to question the pronouncements that came out by Milton Friedman and his associates/students were subjected to withering scorn. I said that, evidently, Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with an 11th commandment: Thou shalt practice unfettered capitalism. I would have to say now that Trump and Trumpism has succeeded economics as the new religion. The thought brought to mind the Simon and Garfunkel song SOUNDS OF SILENCE:

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made

The same adoring attitude. The same slavish devotion. The same response to any perceived slight to their new "god."

January 23

We had some snow--maybe 2 inches. Hard to tell because of the way the wind drove the snow around. The sun has been in and out. We had planned to do some grocery shopping today but the snow changed that. I did a short trip for a couple of things we need before next week when the weather might be better but Mom stayed home.

Ever since former-President George W. Bush declared he wanted to see an "ownership" society I have had a sinking feeling--a pessimism about our society. I quipped then that George W.'s "ownership society" was really a "you're on your ownership society." Take a look at a couple of Trump's latest actions: crowing about a $600billion investment in AI with a group of private investors while he signs an order which erases Biden's order that curbed the price of insulin and allowed Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over price. Who gains and who loses in this? Clue--ordinary people with limited incomes who need medication lose while the wealthy techbros win.

Stray thought: isn't it interesting that Trump nominated a man who handled the finances of two small veterans' organization so badly they declared bankruptcy and on hired a forensic accountant to find out where the money went to run the largest slush fund on the planet, a.k.a. the Pentagon? But then I guess that record of failure isn't impressive to a man who has at least four bankruptcies on his resume along with Trump University, Trump steaks, Trump branded water, Trump airlines all of which failed. 

January 22

Overcast with a granular snow falling. It is warmer than yesterday. I am not and haven't been for a very long time a fan of winter. I got a couple of rounds on the second doily before my fingers gave me problems. At a certain point it is best to put things away and do something else. 

We cut the morning news off early. The news and/or commentary are worry at the Trump pardons like starving dogs gnawing at a bone. And most of it is simply a rehash of what has been said before. The Democrats are highly critical while the Republicans are in a "...yeah, but Biden." Both seem to be focused on "getting past January 6." As I listened I remembered other times when we were told to "move on," "get over it," forget the past. Americans seem to have a fetish for looking to the future and never really remembering how we got to the point, the now, between the past and future. The problem with that is the past is always in the present and will influence the future. Think back to the days when President Gerald Ford gave President Richard Nixon a pardon for anything connected with Watergate. The arguments were the same: 1) the nation needed "to heal," 2) we needed "to move on", 3) our political system was in a fragile state with Nixon's first vice-president resigning and convicted of crimes and Nixon himself facing a certain impeachment and conviction in the Senate. Note an interesting parallel here--Nixon was not actually convicted when the pardon was issued and it was, in essence, a "preemptory" pardon. That was a first. And Nixon never really acknowledged any guilt and a few years later in an interview claimed "when the President does it, it isn't a crime." Now we see Trump issuing pardons to convicted rioters/seditionists who beat cops (so much for "back the blue" and law and order) and denying any wrong doing and threatening those who put them in prison. Interestingly Biden followed Ford in issuing preemptive pardons to protective people who might be targets of malicious prosecution by a notably vindictive President.

January 21

 Sunny again and, again, bitterly cold-- -4F right now. And not expected to get out of the single digits. Will be cold tomorrow also but there isn't much difference in the temperatures expected over the rest of the week. I got back to the filet doily and finished another three inches or so. I finally stopped because my hands were stiffening up and a couple of joints were aching--besides we needed breakfast. We might have frigid temps but at least it isn't snowing and we aren't under blizzard warnings like New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf (of MEXICO) coast. The entire southeast is getting the unprecedented cold and snow. A reporter on the Weather Channel said that the white sand beaches of the Florida panhandle are still white but with snow. The weather conditions they are experiencing is likely to set some records.

This morning on MORNING JOE they showed two New York City newspapers one had a headline about the "Grim Speaker" (a.k.a., Trump) while the other took off on Trump's promise that America's Golden Age has begun. In my mind the question formed "Golden Age or Gilded Age." I expect the latter.

I noticed that the U.S. media, at least in the early editions, focused on the pardons Trump issued for the 1500+ rioters (sorry I refused to call them patriots or in any way excuse their actions). I expected and I wasn't surprised when he issued a blanket order after hinting that he would consider them on a case by case basis. I noticed last night that one of the orders he signed withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and included the letter to the U.N. informing the of that. It wasn't covered by any of the media I saw until I shifted over to BBC this morning. They did mention it along with the order taking us out of the World Health Organization.

January 20

 Sunny but bitterly cold. It has "warmed" since this morning--from -1 to +10F. Too Cold to go out. Tomorrow it is supposed to only rise to about +2F (from a low of -7). We dropped our plans to shop tomorrow and will reschedule for either Wednesday or Thursday. I am trying to insist that Mom stay home but so far she is being stubborn.

We watched the inauguration but I turned off the coverage when Trump got to the rally that took the place of a parade. The headache is finally going away. I will read accounts of his executive orders later. He didn't really say anything new and much of what he proposes he can't really do with executive orders. He can't erase law (actual passed law) on his own and he can't cancel sections of the constitution on his own say so. Several items seem reminiscent of actions he took in Trump 1.0 and had courts call him on them. I think that the government is going to spend a lot of money for little or nothing. And the idea of moving Pentagon "assets" to the border will mean that the Pentagon budget will go up (above the nearly $1trillion it now gets) to replace those assets.

I noticed that Trump continues to lie. He said that the L.A. fires weren't fought--they were from the beginning. He commiserated with the Techbros at his ceremony who "lost" their homes to the fire--they didn't. I stopped counting.

Some of the MAGA congress critters are so terribly upset that Biden gave preemptive pardons to his family, Anthony Fauci, the members of the Jan 6 committee and their staff members, and the capitol police who testified at the hearings. Good. I have read some commentators who are aghast at the violation of norms but that is a train that has already left the station. Trump engaged in vindictive persecutions and prosecutions already. I don't see the purpose of leaving (potential) sacrificial offerings to a principle that has already become a dead letter.

Richard Haas posted this on his AT HOME AND AWAY substack. I agree with him that the inauguration rang hollow. And it was an incredibly graceless and petty. I remember the first inauguration and someone said there was only one thing worse than a sore loser and that is a sore winner. Trump has been that and worse. Trump and Vance were just given the flags "that were flown at full staff" during ceremony. Trump was so petty he complained that the order to fly the flags at half staff in memory of recently deceased President Jimmy Carter for a month took away from his celebration. That total toady Speaker of the House Mike Johnson ordered the flags at the capital raised for today.

January 18, 19

 Nice lazy Saturday even though the skies are gray. I think we may have had a bit of rain last night. Areas that had a good snow cover (shaded or north facing sides) are showing more bare ground than snow. They say we will very cold temps over the next few days before the temperatures go above normal again. Saturday means soccer--usually. Last weekend was a break in the play. We are still avoiding the news except in very small doses. We can't do much about most of it even if it might come out to bite us. All we can do is hope we are flexible enough to handle it. I will let the talking heads worry over it.

Stray thought: some of those Republicans are real nasty bastards. I caught the snippets where two of them were criticizing efforts to get aid to California because "they didn't help Florida and North Carolina" in the recent disasters with Hurricanes Helene and Milton. They did pass an aid bill, a big one, in which All Democrats voted for it and All of the 'NO' votes came from Republicans. And then there was the Speaker of the House who thought they should extort "reforms" from California in return for aid. I don't remember any Democrats pushing for "reforms" from Florida or North Carolina. Worse there was that mental giant Tommy Tubberville simply saying that Californians didn't "deserve" assistance after the devastating fires--which aren't yet over. Who raised those bastards? Or who removed their empathy gene?

19******************************************************************************

Sunny today but really cold. The temperatures were in single digits and the wind chill put the 'feels like' temperature into the subzero range. We are staying in until Tuesday when we have a couple of errands planned. Spent the morning experimenting with the zoom loom and seeing if I couldn't figure out how to weave earlier blocks into the new block. It can be a bit trying and led to a couple of bouts of swearing. I have to keep reminding myself that getting good at something requires practice--a lot of practice.

Anne Applebaum posted this article today about her recent trip to Denmark to talk to her contacts and, she hoped, with government officials about Trumps call with the Danish Prime Minister. The main reaction is a WTF??? I think that is probably the same reaction from Mexico and Canada. Several commentators suggested that the real effort is to take attention away from Trump's domestic agenda. Like a magician the aim is misdirection--to keep people from focusing on what he really wants to do. But a section in a book I mentioned recently ( A HISTORY OF FRANCE by Norwich) gave me a parallel possibility. Louis XIV and those who followed him, including Napoleon, used the distraction of distant, foreign wars to the same end--they provided distraction from the serious problems at home. I hope he doesn't go beyond misdirection.

Bill McKibben has a gloomy entry today. There is an old saying that comes to mind: it isn't what you don't know that will bite you in the ass; it what you are absolutely convince is true but isn't that will really hurt you. I would add that you can also be seriously screwed by "leaders" who think they know what they are doing. We aren't in the time  of FAFO (F**k around and find out); we are in the time of FAWAFO (F**k around and we'll all find out). 

January 17

 Sunny today and a bit warm. Highs have been around 40F.  Most of the snow on the south facing areas has melted. We are watching the Mummy series--the originals with Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney staring. What we aren't watching are the nominees' testimony. I really don't need to see the blow by blow show for two reasons: first, most of the nominees have been interviewed or have spoken at rallies or interviews and I expect them to be evasive, or combative, or give answers that Trump would like; second, I don't really have any say--the matter is now in the hands of Trump and the Senate.

I decide to start another Tunisian stitch lap blanket. It took a bit because I wanted to start with a foundation single crochet which I hadn't done before. The fillet crochet doily called for using a foundation triple crochet to add stitches to the pattern at certain points and I had read that one of the ways you can prevent the Tunisian stitch piece from rolling up as it is worked is to used the foundation stitch. I thought I would give it a try. It took a bit to get the pattern I wanted going but it is progressing well now. It will be another scrap buster piece using the left overs from previous projects.

So here is what I am reading now:

Ezra Klein posted an interesting piece titled "TRUMP 2.0 AND THE RETURN OF 'COURT POLITICS.' He makes some interesting points. I have also been reading a history of France and just got through the sections covering the period from Louis XIV (The Sun King) through The Revolution. Some of it sounds very much like what Trump 1.0 was like and might be much like what we can expect from Trump 2.0. Klein's argument leads into an interview which I didn't read.

Here is a good article the title of which notes "THE TECH OLIGARCHY HAS BEEN HERE FOR YEARS."  As each new technology has appeared a new oligarchy has formed around it. At certain points in history the politicians have alternately fostered those oligarchs and have regulated them. Think of the history of Standard Oil or of AT&T. Think of the banking regulations that came out of the financial crash leading to the Great Depression.

January 16

Cloudy now and we had a bit of snow over night--enough to give a light dusting on the sidewalks. The street looks good even though it is a lower priority side street. We don't have to go out and may not have to next week. I did some work on both the doilies this morning. I put the fillet piece away after I had to take out the last two rows because something went wrong. I took it back to a row I am pretty sure was right. The other went well but my hands are stiff this morning so I didn't push it. I decided to take a look at a quilt top I have had on hold for about a year. It is time to get going on it again. Not today. Today is a cooking day--meat loaf with Mac&cheese and a veggie. I also want to try out a recipe I found for oatmeal/applesauce muffins. That should give us breakfast (muffin) and dinner (left overs) tomorrow.

I turned off the U.S. news after the reporter lead off with the "news" that Biden is claiming credit for the Israel/Hamas cease fire and prisoner/hostage release plan and Trump came back claiming everything came about because of his coming administration. I fail to see how this is news and I had no patience for this nonsense. Trump is like the rooster who thinks the dawn comes BECAUSE he crows. It is going to be a long four years.

I did watch the BBC news which gave more realistic coverage of the plan which hasn't yet been approved by the Israeli cabinet where two ultra conservative members are strenuously opposed. Netanyahu is also claiming that Hamas is trying to insist on new conditions. They might get the first phase of the cease fire in place but after it ends they have to deal with far more contentious issues. We'll see what happens.

The BBC also mentioned the scheduled testimony of Trump's Treasury Secretary. They noted that nominee is respected and is in agreement with Trump's tariff policy. As the reporter put it the question is no longer whether the tariffs will be imposed but how. Buckle up.

Andrew Bacevich posted a good piece on TomDispatch this morning. A number of people have commented that Trump's notion of "Make America Great Again" assumes that America is no longer great. Some have said that Trump is the first "declinest" President. Decline, like progress, assumes that there was a point from which one has fallen or to which one is going. But each depends entirely on how one defines the parameters of declension or progress. A second assumption wrapped up in Trump's notion that he could lead us to our greatness again is that sometime in the past there was really an American Eden. Those aren't ideas I subscribe to any more.

I always listen to or read anything about agreements Hamas and Israel supposedly sign because too often they are, as Chris Hedges points out, only temporary--giving each side what they want immediately with no intention to follow through on the later phases. I don't expect the cease fire to last beyond the initial phase when 33 of the hostages are supposed to be returned. If it even gets off the ground.

January 14, 15

 Oh, my!! Almost half past January. I picked up the damaged tablecloth and started on a couple of the small motifs. I decided to put them into a log cabin quilt. I thought that would kill two birds--use the parts of the quilt I can rescue and use some of my stash of fabric.

15*********************************************************************************

Sunny but cold today. The weather people say the temperature won't break 20F. I finished the last lap blanket this morning and got a couple or so rows on the fillet crochet doily. We turned off the broadcast TV VERY early. I caught a few minutes of the sickening "hearing" concerning Hegseth's nomination. Sickening on two counts: the mewling, nonsensical questions from the Republican side and Hegseth's ridiculous non-answers. I decided I didn't want exposure to anything similar today and put the TV on mute so Mom could see the picture and put Pandora on my laptop for the music. Right now we have our own DVD reruns on. 

Stray thought: as I watched the bit of the hearing yesterday and suffered through the replays on the (s)news I vaguely remembered a scene I once read and its source finally surfaced this morning. It was from Rumor Godden's IN THIS HOUSE OF BREDE. The nuns are faced with an economic catastrophe because their recently deceased Abbess embarked on an expensive "renovation" project.  The only nun who knew about the project was the one in charge of the finances was the cellarer, equivalent of a corporate CFO, who had said nothing to anyone. She was a vain, petty, sycophantic person who basked in the confidences of the stronger personality--her abbess. As several sisters wondered why the usually sensible abbess who was a good judge of character would choose that nun to handle finances one said aloud what no one else would: so she could be cellarer herself. Listening to Hegseth it occurred to me that appointing him Secretary of Defense would allow Trump to be his own Secretary of Defense. The same might be said of Bondi as Attorney General, Rubio as Secretary of State, Patel as head of the FBI, and Gabbard for the Director of National Intelligence. They are all yes "men" who will do as their master wishes.

Second stray thought: In 27 BCE Augustus Caesar became ruler of the Roman Empire though he never claimed as royal title--Romans detested the notion of a king by any name. Instead as Princeps he consolidated all the levers of power into his own hands and thoroughly dominated the Senate. The Senate was gradually reduced to an impotent, sycophantic body with prestige but no power. Are we seeing the beginning of a similar process here? Right now our legislative bodies are tied in knots because they are 1) very evenly divided and 2) whose members have lost both civility and the ability to cooperate. A related thought--in the 150 years before August consolidated power the Senate was equally split in antagonist factions. Several cycles of political violence rocked Roman society. That set Rome up to accept an absolute ruler.

January 13

 I was rather discombobulated over the weekend. I think it was partly the hangover from the ruination of the table cloth that my cat helped me erase part of the pattern. I crocheted a bit on a doily off and on but didn't do any sustained work. Then, on Saturday night, I had trouble sleeping and the cats were no help at all being the furry little pests they are. Sunday I spent in a lethargic fog reading, crocheting and weaving without much enthusiasm. Today feels a bit better, I finished several woven squares and put a crochet edge on one that will be a coaster. As a result of my lethargy over the weekend I have a large backlog of e-mails to go through. I might as sell get to it.

I don't spend much time on Facebook but first thing I saw this morning was a post on the Slow Stitch groups: I MIGHT use all my crafting stash in 2025/I MIGHT win the lottery./ The chance for each are about the same.

Stray thought: a lot of commentators have spent a lot of time criticizing Zuckerberg's decision to, for all intents and purposes, end content moderation on Facebook. Most decry the move as opening up the site to "misinformation."I have read and listened to pundits hysterical over the levels of misinformation for years now. What exactly constitutes "misinformation" depends entirely on your political orientation. I think the argument a futile one--on both sides. I don't depend on any social media for information. I mentioned I checked in on Facebook earlier but I am very selective in what I do on the site. I play some of the games although that has declined as the ads have become more time consuming and intrusive. I see what family and friends are posting though I don't repost or follow posts they link to. And I look in on several groups that reflect my interests in needlework and fiber/fabric arts. That Facebook (I don't follow other sites) won't moderate its political content doesn't affect me. I make my own decisions on what is reliable and accurate--even in the mainstream media.

Another stray thought: a history professor, many of whose classes I took, once often said that we Americans often "honored our values (which ever value was under discussion) in the breach than in the observance." It seems to me that is very obvious in our controversies. We honor the "freedom of speech" as long as that speech reflects our own beliefs--otherwise it becomes "misinformation," "lies," etc.

Yet another stray thought: I saw one interview on TV this morning concerning how (and if which) neighborhoods should be rebuilt. The person responding to the questions mentioned 1)new fire resistant building materials and 2)fire resistant landscaping. I remember the news stories about the droughts of the 1980s which were among the most severe in memory and residents were urged to convert their lawns to drought/fire resistant xeriscapes. Experts also recommended a wide area surrounding the house without vegetation to serve as a fire break. Fast forward to about 10 years ago when I read a little book "OFF THE GRID AND FREE" by Ron Melchior. He and his wife moved to the Canadian wilderness and built a home there. They did several things to meet the very real threat of forest fire: 1) fire resistant building materials, 2) a broad band of ground cleared of trees and shrubs (their extensive gardens were planted beyond that band, and 3) an extensive system of fire suppressing sprinklers runs by pumps run on their own generator and tapped into the nearby lake. Melchior recounted one time in their several decades living there when their home was threatened by a forest fire and he spent several days in a boat on the lake watching the fire and making sure the generator remained fueled. Point here: the fires came close but their home was untouched. Most of us don't really consider what might happen if things go threateningly. We never think that such a catastrophe could happen to us or our town. I have been just as myopic often enough in my life. I keep trying to be more forethoughtful.

January 10

 It is still dark here and will be for about another hour. It has been a busy week with appointments and shopping. We don't put all our errands into a single day any more--much too exhausting. I did a couple of the New Year's chores on my long list. 

Yesterday was generally frustrating. I started working on the cross-stitch table cloth which quickly became a catastrophic mess. As I picked up my coffee one of my cats decided to jump onto my lap sloshing some onto the cloth. Anyone who does printed embroidery pieces knows what happens when liquid hits water soluble ink--the ink goes away. After I finished yelling at the cat and throwing the cloth across the room, I put it on the washing machine to dry and started thinking about what to do with it. One corner, the corner on the hoop, is unworkable--the pattern is simply gone. A couple of small motifs are also damaged. However, the other three corners and the center motif are still untouched. So I will work them and then cut them apart to work into other pieces. I might look for another cross-stitch project AND I will keep my water/coffee/tea and the cat far away from my work. One of the bloggers I read regularly does quilting and embroider with three cats "helping." Her cats appear MUCH better behaved.

Then I switched to one of the crochet doilies I found a serious mistake and had to take out almost two rounds. Swearing the whole while I pulled those rounds out and then got the pattern going again properly.

While I was doing all that we watched the Carter funeral and the coverage of the LA urban wildfire. The funeral was a very dignified affair and as simple as a state funeral for a former president could be. I loved the eulogies read by the sons of Walter Mondale and former President Gerald Ford. Those along with the eulogies by the Carter kin really humanized Carter. Throughout I was surprised by how much of what happened during his administration or which was set up by his administration I really didn't remember. Recently I decided I needed to read more history. That really puts current events into perspective and context.

I noticed more frequent references on the news segments/interviews to "climate change." Lawrence O'Donnell made an eloquent point last night about the power of wind. As he noted a heavy rain storm is simply a heavy rain until you get a driving wind. A hurricane provides prodigious precipitation but add in the rain and you get Helene or Milton, or Katrina. Those caused damage people will be or have been dealing with for a long time. Without the wind the fires in LA would have been easily contained. With the Santa Anna winds it became an inferno. I noticed a come pundits casting blame on politicians for their failure to be clairvoyant. People on the ground made the points that their water infrastructure was more than adequate for the usual urban fire that engulfs a building or a block. NO ONE ANYWHERE is prepared to fight an urban wildfire whipped by high winds. Already the politicians are making plans to try to rebuild what has been lost and, as a few commentators have said, are not questioning whether it should be rebuilt or how. Bill McKibben posted this article which touches on some of this and a good bit more. Brian Merchant at BLOOD IN THE MACHINE posted his first hand account of the fire from his home nearby.

A stray thought: Listening to some of the interviews and news segments from the LA fire I recalled a couple of controversies that bears a bit on some of the comments. We prepare, as individuals and as groups, to meet "normal" circumstances and normal is defined by the recent past. Everyone has said that the fire was, to use a word that has appeared frequently of late, unprecedented. So the firefighting systems and infrastructure was developed to handle "normal," expected possibilities. Changing the infrastructure and systems is expensive. What is the likelihood of another fire (or another Katrina, or another Texas ice storm) and would the expenditure really be cost effective. I am reminded of a cartoon a couple years ago which showed a climate change meeting outlining what action (expensive action) the participants thought would be needed. A person at the back of the room asked "What if you do spend all this money and create your better world and nothing happens?" The insanity of the comment is that making nothing happen is exactly what the proposals are supposed to ensure. But what if a different catastrophe arises and you don't have the resources to counter it? 

January 7

 Well the winter storm missed us to the south and the one coming in will set up even further south. We did get some snow but most of it is gone already. The cold isn't as cold as predicted but cold enough to make me get out my winter coat which I really don't like wearing. I avoid bringing it out for as long as I can. We had doctors' appointments yesterday and shopping today. I will finish our shopping tomorrow.

Bill Astore has an interesting post this morning which applies Darwin's theories to warfare. Reading it I realize that my exposure to Darwin has been rather fragmentary. I got pieces during my classes while I pursued degrees in biology and history. I have moved his works into my "to read" column for this year.

January 5

 First weekend of the new year and it finally feels like the holidays are over. Speaker Johnson did manage to "win" a continuation of his speakership into this new Congress but I wonder what Trump promised the holdouts in the Republican caucus to switch their votes and how much Johnson promised.

My agenda for the new year involves a good cleaning and rearranging in the kitchen. Not all at once because I don't have the stamina for that any more. We also plan to watch less of the crap on TV--too much nonsensical repetition, too much programing that we either don't want to see at all or have seen all too much, too damned many commercials. I plan to tune into Pandora much more often.

Although the House managed to elect a speaker without an overwhelming amount of drama and chaos, and will easily confirm Trump's win I don't think passing meaningful legislation will be easy. The Republicans do have a majority in the House and I doubt the Democrats will try to give the Republicans a taste of the shit they served up last time. No one is spouting spurious notions of election fraud. But the margins are very thin and neither side is all that unified.

This post by Denise Donaldson at PONDERMENTS makes a number of points neither side wants to look at. As she notes the Democrats seem to be looking at their "messaging"and how it failed to convince voters to vote for them. Their message said everything was good, inflation was down, unemployment was down, we had the best economy in the world and the best recovery from COVID. A lot of people tried to tell their advisors and pundits that, at the personal level, the stats simply didn't reflect their reality. Take a look at the statistics in the article and remember that many of those statistics didn't make it into the measures of inflation. But the Republican message going forward into their "trifecta" government doesn't really reflect reality either. The problem of rising costs is not really something Trump can cure no matter how often he assures us that only he can solve it. Or wants to solve because any solution would hit greedy corporations hard. But Donaldson also note the neither party has the will to strike at the real root cause of our discontent. I have often said that we have left and right wings of the same party--the Wall Street Party.

You don't often see anyone suggesting that we should remove highways. Progress is usually defined by how many more miles of highway are built. This article is one of the few. During the decade after the "Great Recession" a number of places started reducing some four lane highways to two lane roads and some two lane roads were put back to gravel. All of the examples I saw in articles were in rural areas that no longer carried enough traffic to justify the maintenance. I don't think we will see a massive move to remove highways in cities and their surrounding areas. Too many people who work in cities actually live well outside the cities. A catch phrase of about a decade ago advised potential home buyers to "drive till you qualify" because so many were priced out of the city and near by suburban markets. That is about when we started commenting on the "refugees from Chicago" because, for a number of years, several families or couples moved into neighboring units while they searched for a stand alone home to buy or build. We haven't seen so many of them lately but some of the developments are still under construction.

January 2, 3

Happy New Year--one day late. I spent yesterday cooking. We had the better part of a turkey breast from Christmas so I fixed two quarts of turkey soup base and a turkey/noodle casserole which are all in the freezer. When I wasn't tending what was on the stove I worked on my new doily. I didn't look at any of my e-mail or articles yesterday so I have a bit to catch up on.

There isn't much to distinguish this new year from the old one--just a change of one digit. The news yesterday (and so far today) has been dominated by the attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that has (so far) killed 15 and injured 30+. The new year was only about three and a half hours old and we had our first mass murder attack. I told Mom yesterday that we have moved from being shocked and surprised by such events to simply being shocked. That these things happen isn't a surprise any more.

03**************************************************************

We finally got some snow and may get a bit more. It wasn't much and most of the main streets are clear. Mom had a couple of prescriptions which I went out to pick up. Other than that short errand we aren't doing anything until Monday when we have a couple of appointments. The TV content is getting more and more boring and irritating. Mom keeps asking me if there isn't ANYTHING else on there. I finally got tired of it and read her the line up from the on-line guide. Eventually we left the picture on but the volume muted while I let Pandora play on my MacBook.

Stray thought: we seem to have become a very judgmental people. The first laudatory obituaries for President Carter have elicited a number of not so kind posts picking apart his legacy. Often the writers take one action Carter took, or didn't take, they don't agree with. On the whole I think Carter is one of the more exemplary Presidents in our history and especially when compared with the once and future President Trump. I think Trump is a horrible human being. However, in future days, which given my age I probably won't see, historians might find that some of Trump's policies and actions were praiseworthy. Maybe, as a society, we should be kinder and more balanced in our appraisal of our leaders.

Stray thought #2: Evidently the Surgeon General wants the Federal government to put a cancer warning on alcoholic beverages. I think we have enough warnings, on labels or otherwise, and I think most of them are simply background noise. I don't pay much attention to them now. I don't smoke but I remember when the labels were first put on cigarettes. They didn't really have much impact. What really curtailed smoking were the fast rising cost because of the increased taxes on tobacco products and the restrictions on where a smoker could light up. While smokers had the right to light up others who shared the public spaces also had the right not to inhale their exhalations. Do we really need the Federal Nanny disapproving of another habit?