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.