tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27118336127066143432024-03-18T16:04:03.824-05:00MaryContrary's BlogRandom thoughts about all the things that interest me, irritate me, infuriate me, or delight me.MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.comBlogger3208125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-9752893439052877592024-03-18T16:03:00.000-05:002024-03-18T16:03:29.084-05:00March 16, 17, 18<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny today but only slightly above normal temperatures. I didn't do anything outside today and, if the rain the weather people predict will come in tomorrow, I won't do anything outside tomorrow. However, I got some stitching done on the pillow case I have on the hoop. I also cleaned out a notebook and transferred the list of possible books to acquire and read. As I am reading or listening I write down citations or references for later. Sometimes I simply decide that I won't pursue the item. Other things are more interesting. In the process I also tidied up my table caddy so I can easily find things again. It is also a baking day: cornbread to go with the beans and sugar cookies for a late snack. All done now and I am back to reading and cleaning out my e-mail.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">First up: Charles Eisenstein's <a href="https://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html">essay on his substack</a>: Machines Will Not Replace Us. I can sympathize with his sentiments. I realized long ago that one of the reasons I like crochet is because it is the only kind of needlework which hasn't made the shift to machine work. There is something about thee pattern of looping threads and pulling thread through the loops that isn't easily mimicked by machines. Also hand stitched pieces have a substance to them that machine made pieces don't have. They are simply flimsy. But I have noticed the same decline in quality of many of the new books coming out. A couple of days ago David Kaiser, who has written a new book on Presidential State of the Union addresses, noted that those addresses we're once designed to propose a program and persuade the audience to support that program. Biden's State of the Union did some of that but it was also constructed around "sound bites" designed for our 24/7 news media which doesn't do depth very well (or at all).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">17**********************************************************************</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Happy St. Patrick's Day. Partly cloudy today and a bit below normal temperature--only in the 30s.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">18*********************************************************************</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">It is cold again and we have flurries with it. There was also a pulse of snow yesterday. I don't expect any of it to stick around.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The "government shutdown watch" has recommenced on the news. I haven't seen much change in the attitudes of either side. We pretty much ignore the news. The "new" news, same as the "old" news. And the "analysis" is the same so why bother.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Caitlin Johnstone posted <a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/03/18/you-cant-trust-any-part-of-this-dystopia-if-you-want-health-and-sanity/">this depressing piece</a>. It is depressing because it is very accurate.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">David Kaiser <a href="http://historyunfolding.blogspot.com/2024/03/israel-and-united-states.html">provides a good overview</a> of the Israel/Palestinian situation with a dollop of history as well. He says something I have thought and our politicians don't want to think: what we think doesn't matter much with the Israeli government. Advice, such as what our government has been giving, is worth its weight in gold. Our government has a problem. It has supported Israel for the last 75 years but now Israel is embarked on a course U.S. policymakers don't agree with. Part of the problem is political because we have a large and vocal population of Palestinian-Americans who still have relatives in Gaza and the West Bank under increasingly difficult (to put it mildly) circumstances. And part of the problem is moral--our politicians expel a lot of hot air on notions of equality, democracy, justice but their actions in both foreign and domestic affairs goes against those high flown sentiments. The U.S. has one lever of influence but our politicians have refused to pull it: the gargantuan amounts of aid we send to Israel. </span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-82773737436271270192024-03-15T17:08:00.000-05:002024-03-15T17:08:55.675-05:00March 15<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The weather channel predicts a cool day with clouds in the morning changing to sun in the afternoon. I am still reorganizing the What-not room. That will be a prolonged program. In the mean time I am making progress on the two blankets on the hooks and the four embroidery projects on hoops. I totally sympathize with craft workers who have multiple projects but usually start new ones before all of the WIPs (works in progress) are done. I am trying to bust my stashes by incorporating as much on hand materials into any new project.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I found<a href="https://medium.com/illumination/ten-simple-ways-to-reduce-your-food-waste-ecb7c54df79a"> this post on Medium </a>and was intrigued to see what the author had to say about "saving the planet from your kitchen." As you might guess the topic is "how to reduce food waste." Although we don't have much food waste here, I like seeing what others do. A lot of what the author lists we already do however, I found a few points I disagree with or that we do slightly differently. I have never been good at meal planning beyond two or three days and even then it isn't unusual that a different mean is inserted to the list and the planned meals shifted to a day or two later. Also most of my cooking involves meals that will go multiple days. A couple of days ago we finished off a tuna casserole which lasted three days. Today we are going to finish the taco fixings we had yesterday. Tomorrow we will start on a pot of beans that will go two days with the remaining being frozen in one or two quart jars. The advice to avoid buying flavorings for one dish is good but I would go another step and look at what might substitute for the ingredients I don't have. She suggests that you don't "buy in bulk" and I would suggest that you selectively buy in bulk but limit it to what space you have on hand and how quickly you use the items. We also have (over time) developed a system where when we use the next to last or last item we stock up again. We also resist sales unless we know we are low on something. Having said that most of what is in the article is good advice and my changes wouldn't fit everyone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/03/15/if-israel-wants-to-be-an-independent-nation-let-it-be-an-independent-nation/">Caitlin Johnstone has a good point</a> on Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's response to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's comments on the Senate floor concerning Israel's conduct of the Gaza war. Israel may think of itself as an "independent" nation and a democracy but if so then perhaps they should refuse any future aid of any kind from the U.S. Then they can do what they damned well please. The U.S. should recognize that once the aid is given it is up to the recipient what is done with it and the only real choice we have is to continue the gravy train recognizing we don't have control or stop the aid. I don't support Israel unconditionally and I don't condemn Hamas unconditionally. Neither side is clean.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The House of Representatives passed their bill requiring Byte Dance to sell TikTok or be banned in the U.S. Now it is awaiting action by the Senate. The proponents of the bill cite safety concerns which at the moment are more hypothetical than real--at least as far as the articles I have read. Most of the opponents were concerned with freedom of speech issues and the potential harm for business. I don't use TikTok so I don't have a dog in the fight but I wondered how much harm and how much benefit might come from banning the app. From <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/india-us-tiktok-ban-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html">this article on CNN</a> about the experience of India after they banned it back in 2020 after a border skirmish with Chinese troops I would guess not as much as either side hopes or fears. The ban didn't affect safety either way. And U.S. tech giants stepped in along with local start ups to provide the same services TikTok provided. However, on the negative, the big tech companies quickly ran over the locals. And TikTok customers quickly found new options.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: Last night one of the news/comment shows had a piece taking off on the theme of Victor Orban/Donald Trump/strongmen. The reporter asked Republicans at I forget which event about that and several said they were fine with strongman rule and that this country needed such a change. But I notice the reporter never asked a simple question: Why?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://robertreich.substack.com/p/who-do-you-trust-more-with-tiktok?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=365422&post_id=142620733&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email">Robert Reich asks a question</a> that occurred to me on the TikTok question: who do you trust (or distrust) most China or American Billionaires. I don't trust either. I wondered who would be buying TikTok if Byte Dance had to sell and noticed that one of the possibles shown on one of the news stories (but not named) was Steve Mnuchin who served ignominiously in Trump's cabinet. He is supposed to be trying to put together a consortium of investors. However, how much would TikTok be worth without the algorithms which Byte Dance owns.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Charles Hugh Smith has an<a href="https://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html"> amusing but all too accurate post</a> today on "America the Snackable." I said amusing but in a dark way because everything, not just snack foods, has been reduced to empty bites that don't really provide intellectual or physical nutrition.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-30168567373033572942024-03-14T17:20:00.000-05:002024-03-14T17:20:37.865-05:00March 15<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stormy last night--thunder and lightning with heavy rain. Now it is simply rain coming in waves. Glad I got some of the clean up on the patio done yesterday--including moving my tub of soil and half-bag of potting mix into the shed. No--I didn't get the shed cleaned out. That is for the next dry day. Welcome to half-past March.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Today I hope to make some progress in the What-not Room. I got into getting it reorganized because I remember some partly completed pieces and the pattern books to go with them. I didn't find them in the usual places. Nor did I find them in a few unusual places. So I figured it was time and--hey--it is Spring.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/03/global-warming-is-still-accelerating-in-three-graphs.html">Naked Capitalism</a> has another set of "Oh, Shit" climate graphs. Think about the fact that as the temperatures rise the GDP goes down.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I linked to an article by Martin Kulldorf yesterday, I think, in which he claims Harvard fired him because he questioned the "company line" on COVID: vaccines, lockdowns, and masks. <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2024/03/13/martin-kulldorff-fired-from-harvard/">This article</a> takes his arguments on so I thought I would give you another side of the argument. I found the article annoying. Name calling is never conducive to discussion and neither are snarky barbs. So far nothing I have read convinces me that the vaccines were not effective though perhaps not at the level the early <strike>propaganda</strike> information from the drug companies gave us. But NO vaccine is totally effective. It is a numbers game: with the vaccine X cases/hospitalizations/deaths vs. without Y cases/hospitalizations/deaths. If X is less than Y then you do get some benefit. All other mitigation measures are judged the same way. We are still learning about COVID.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Found <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00720-6">this <b style="text-decoration: underline;">Nature</b> article</a> by way of Naked Capitalism. It asks why so many young people are getting cancer. Good question. No firm answers.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-11179072257355996852024-03-13T17:05:00.000-05:002024-03-13T17:05:17.625-05:00March 12, 11<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny this morning. Chilly but not cold. All I will need for the moment is my sweater. We have an errand later and, since it is so late, we will have our late meal out.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">11***********************************************************************</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Still dark outside--damn time change. Our high yesterday reached about 65. It is supposed to hit 70+ today. Time to do a bit more outside.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The author of <a href="https://thehonestsorcerer.medium.com/the-depopulation-bomb-4e1590b1bfbe">this post on The Honest Sorcerer</a> takes off from the post on Ecosophia John Michael Greer wrote a couple of weeks ago. (I linked to it a couple of days ago after mulling it over for about a week.) As I read it I remembered articles over the last couple of decades, which quickly disappeared without much attention, describing the aging of farmers and ranchers in this country. The average in that occupation group has gone from high 50s to mid 60s in that time. I followed a link in the post linked above <a href="https://ubique.americangeo.org/map-of-the-week/map-of-the-week-world-median-ages-by-country/">to this article</a> which contains and discusses a map of the world with the median ages of populations noted. And then, with a question tickling my mind, I found <a href="https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-public-affairs-and-community-service/governing/stories/industry-and-occupation-by-age.php">this article listing</a> the average age of workers in various occupation groups. We are already experiencing disruptions from declining populations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">It looks like several countries are going through a serious "negotiation" over national identities. We have seen Putin turn to Russia's past to create a Russian identity that is opposed to the West and its "decadence." Modi in India is pushing "Hindu" nationalism and a new citizenship law. Here in the U.S. we have a struggle between those who support an "inclusive" society and those who are pushing "Christian Nationalism" (a.k.a., white supremacy. (I put these terms in quotes because they seem elastic depending on who is speaking or writing.) China, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/china/china-nationalist-attack-nobel-laureate-mo-yan-intl-hnk/index.html?utm_term=1710325670556efe1d21992e1&utm_source=cnn_Meanwhile+in+China+–+03.13.2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=7CMvXQWFIv4YlkuyhyGO3ppPjve5aC5vn13Bja3%2BTsCkAE0jB%2B4NnsxSJCULa1xN&bt_ts=1710325670559">according to this article</a>, is also having its troubles defining the soul of China. Like so many in this country they are trying to do so by erasing the not so valorous, not so heroic parts of their past as presented in modern literature. I wonder when they will try to do what some of our zealots are doing and move from restricting what people can read to editing their history. Maybe they already have but our information sources haven't covered it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: listening to Israeli politicians, especially Netanyahu, insisting on continuing the operations in Gaza until they destroy (obliterate??) Hamas and "win" the contest I remember a scene in a sci-fi novel where a warlord tries to educate a subordinate in the notion that you can lose the war by winning a battle and retreating isn't the same as losing. Will Israel have its own Pyrrhic "victory?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/harvard-tramples-the-truth?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email">This story</a> about a former Harvard professor of medicine who took a contrary position on COVID, COVID vaccinations, and COVID lockdowns illustrates the problem with censorship, whether official on any level or informal) is a bad idea. It is also why I follow several blogs which try to present critical information that goes against the official position on our controversial topics. I might or might not agree but at least the information is there for me. That is why I also disagree with the current efforts to prohibit TikTok unless its Chinese parent company divests and sells it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Bill Astore<a href="https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/depression-thy-name-is-bidentrump?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1156402&post_id=142263700&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email"> posted an interesting bit </a>on his Bracing Views substack. He expresses thoughts I have had since not long after 9/11. We have had a long period where our government uses the military to enforce solutions international problems. They swaggered around the globe like some kind of modern cowboys. We needed (and need) leaders who can think on a different bandwidth. I also believed we needed to get beyond the Cold War but were still dominated by Cold Warriors. But that doesn't describe either Biden or Trump. Astore is right: they aren't the politicians to formulate a new path for the country.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-2693227210395679402024-03-11T16:30:00.000-05:002024-03-11T16:30:46.955-05:00March 11<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny and warmer today. It looks, according to the Weather Channel, like we will have a week of 50s and 60s. Good. I can get some more of the patio cleaned up and begin rearranging the containers. We had to return the old modem to the Xfinity store and Mom has an appointment tomorrow so I guess I won't get to it til Wednesday at the earliest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: Lindsey Graham (Sen.-Mar-a-lago) suggested that any aid given to Ukraine should be in the form of loans citing the $34Trillion national debt we have. WTF--how does he expect to repay loans any time in the foreseeable future? Especially since the price tag for rebuilding the country when the war ends is almost as much as our national debt last time I heard. And no one really knows where the resources for that will come.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">A second stray thought: I have a nasty, suspicious mind listening to the news stories about our plans to build some kind of pier to get relief supplies from ships to Gaza. I could just see Netanyahu deciding to bomb that pier on the excuse that the supplies are going to Hamas.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">James Howard Kunstler <a href="https://jameshowardkunstler.substack.com/p/twilight-of-the-blobs?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2076970&post_id=142511128&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email">writes some thoughts</a> I have had about how our high tech world depends on fragile and aging power systems. John Michael Greer and Gail Tverberg have also written on this theme in their various blogs and talks about catabolic economic collapse. About twenty years ago I read news stories about Alaska's government basically pruning most of higher education--actually completely up rooting it--except for the University of Alaska itself which was also pruned. The state was facing a serious budget problem as some of the oil revenues dried up. The University system in Ohio also suffered a similar cut back for the same reasons at about the same time. Yesterday I read that Duke is planning to close its Herbarium, a world renowned collection of plants and printed materials, because the cost ($25Million) to rehouse the collections in a suitable modern building was too much. (My own snarky question is how much their sports facilities cost and which would be more valuable to Duke's supposed purpose of education.) All of those stories center on the flow of money which seems to be slowing. Several months ago I described my shock at the condition of a city nearby which I remember from 50 years ago. It has lost population and, with population, tax revenues. The result was a scene that could be the set of a post-apocalyptic movie. Street lights were replaced by stop signs. The streets badly needed repair and the sidewalks were broken. The flow of money has slowed to a trickle. Under those conditions governments, companies, and individuals choose between expenses cutting those which are as good but not as critical as others.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-5297394090639631742024-03-10T12:42:00.000-05:002024-03-10T12:42:20.775-05:00March 10<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny today. So things might have a chance to dry out and warm up. Just finished putting together a tuna casserole which can sit on the counter for an hour before I put it in the oven. That should take care of today's and tomorrow's dinners; perhaps even Tuesday's. I know people who hate left overs. My late sister-in-law was that way. I plan on having multiple meals from one cooking session and any leftovers will be frozen to be incorporated in some future meal. Considering it is only Mom and me here that seems the most efficient.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">As I read <a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2024/03/05/capitalisms-new-age-of-plagues-1/">this report</a> from <b><u>Climate & Capitalism</u></b> I stripped out the terms "capitalism," "Marxist," and "revolutionary." I didn't need the ideological or political overtones. Take a look at the list of novel (at least to Americans) diseases outbreaks. Take a look at the list of once familiar diseases we once thought extinct or at least under control. There are several features that have little to do with political/economic philosophy. First, the world population became more than 50% urban only a couple of decades ago. Crowding, especially in countries with inadequate or aging sanitary infrastructure. Two, in a global economy any place in the world is only a plane ride or two away from any place else. And more people are traveling. Three, a significant number of people in countries around the world have become skeptical of institutions that we once relied on to keep us healthy: medicine, science, public health, governments at all levels. Fourth, advertising has produced a befuddling amount of information, misinformation, mistaken information, and downright false information. During my lifetime I have seen nutrition ads that touted various artificial sweeteners over regular sugar. Many of those sweeteners are not at all as good for you as the ads claimed. Remember the ads touting pork as "the other white meat" after various studies seemed to condemn red meat. Or how eggs suddenly became a boogyman after studies panning cholesterol? Or the drives against sugar, fat, and almost anything that accounted for flavor in foods because of we had to cut calories? We always joked that we saw ads touting certain foods after the ads condemning those foods drove sales down. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I have let<a href="https://www.ecosophia.net/an-unfamiliar-world/"> this post </a>John Michael Greer posted on his Ecosophia site ferment for a few days. I grew up in the same time Greer mentions--when the pundits were hyperventilating over "The Population Bomb", which I read when it first came out. I remember when the Chinese government mandated one-child families and their concern over the pampered "Little Emperors/Empresses" and political/economic thinkers thought they might have a good idea. Things have changed radically in the last twenty or so years. It has been a long while since demographers noted that the U.S. had the only growing population in the industrialized world--because of immigration. Germany and other countries welcomed the first wave of climate refugees from Africa but now as they face the problems of absorbing large numbers of people who don't know the local language and customs their attitudes have changed. I read a couple of histories which mentioned in passing the problem sudden population losses caused--taxes declined because fewer people meant lower revenues, infrastructure declined because fewer people couldn't maintain it, food shortages because fewer farmers were growing food. In some cases the entire area was abandoned.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-66465286356731093912024-03-09T16:17:00.000-06:002024-03-09T16:17:47.509-06:00March 8, 9<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Rainy this morning but we have to go shopping. The canned cat food won't last the weekend and, believe me, the cats MUST be fed. Otherwise they WILL make their displeasure known.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Update: we are back home and the cats are pleased. We had heavy rain; heavy enough I let Mom off at the supermarket door, parked, and then went through the rain. And then let her tend the groceries while I went for the car. I will say that the grass is coming in very green with the rains we have had.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Oleo Script"; font-size: large;">09********************************************************************</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Oleo Script;">We had a heavy rain overnight but has stopped now. The sun broke through a bit ago but we now have more clouds. It looks like we will have a partly cloudy/sunny day. The temperature was quite cold this morning.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">We have three soccer games today. We enjoy some of the sports because they aren't politics and they limit the commercials to focus on the game. We anticipate a good day tomorrow with three rugby games.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Yesterday the post mortem on the State of the Union dominated the news. The coverage ran pretty much along the commentators and media outlets political alignments. Those who were more Democrat (or anti-Trump)</span><span style="font-family: "Oleo Script"; font-size: x-large;">aligned</span><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"> thought it went well for Biden. Those who are right wing Republican or MAGA aligned damned with faint praise saying Biden managed to clear the very low bar they laid out for him. I am amazed at how abysmally stupid some of the Republicans are and how easily Biden baited them and embarrassed them. (I am talking from the clips the news played.) I don't give much weight to what is said in these speeches. They might present goals I agree with but they depend on 1) the mix of personalities occupying the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives and 2) what happens between now and then socially, economically, and in world events.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The House finally got off their butts and passed one of the two groups of fiscal packages they had to pass. They finally got enough cuts in programs they don't like to do that. The Senate showed they can move when they have to and passed it themselves Friday. Now we have to go through this again for the second package that has to pass by the 22nd of this month. Let's see if they can get their heads out of their butts long enough to do that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">In another act of the Republican Comedy Hour, George Santos has announced he will enter the primary race for the 1st Congressional district in New York. He can do that since he was only expelled from Congress not impeached and convicted. He is still under indictment for criminal charges but, hey, so is his mentor Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">And<a href="https://mymodernmet.com/102-year-old-woman-asks-for-donations-to-a-local-food-pantry-for-her-birthday/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter"> here is a heart-warming story</a>. A 102-year-old woman asked her community to celebrate her birthday by donating 102 food items to the local food bank/community. They came through with 400 items.</span><a href="https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/stop-all-us-aid-to-israel?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1156402&post_id=142451224&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email" style="font-family: "Oleo Script";"><span style="font-size: large;">Bill Astore has a position on our "aid" to Israel I can agree with</span></a><span style="font-family: "Oleo Script"; font-size: x-large;">: stop giving. Of course our arms manufacturers would object because they are the main beneficiary of the aid we send. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><strike style="font-family: "Oleo Script";">If I didn't already have more books on my reading than I can keep track of I would look up that memoir Astore refers to in his piece</strike><span style="font-family: "Oleo Script";">.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Oleo Script"; font-size: x-large;"> I had second thoughts--I will pick up that book. It would give a different perspective on the Israel situation. By the way,<a href="https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/the-state-of-the-union-is-scary?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1156402&post_id=142431870&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email"> Astore also has a good take</a> on both the SOTU and (the even worse) Republican </span><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">rebuttal. As to the truth or untruth or whatever contained in either, check my third paragraph above. And truth is often like beauty--in the eye of the beholder.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">And for our bi-annual OH, SHIT<span> moment--I was just reminded that we will have to adjust our clocks forward. I hate those times because the furry clocks (a.k.a., cats) can't be reset and our own biological clocks are out of sync for at least a couple of weeks. I really wish our asshole legislators would simply pick either daylight (not)saving or standard and leave it.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><span>Have I mentioned before that I really, really hate getting new equipment--as in phones, computers, internet gateways. I just spent an annoying (to put it mildly) getting our new Xfinity gateway installed and working. Then we found that Mom could get on line without any problem but I couldn't. We originally had a "family" plan that allowed both of us to log in. We tried every way we could think of to get me on also but no luck. Finally, I bit the bullet and signed up for my own paid separate access. This might be part of the move in the industry to eliminate any kind of sharing (of passwords or accounts). Luckily we aren't so cash strapped as we were when we first got the account nearly 25 years ago. Thinking about it (and getting my temper back) it might also be good from a security point of view. OH, well, we adapt--some of us more easily than others.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/03/expat-bashing-has-become-a-new-sport-in-the-netherlands/">All of this sounds so familiar</a>. </span></span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-83167975364867548232024-03-07T15:05:00.000-06:002024-03-07T15:05:43.971-06:00March 7<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Good morning, all. Cloudy and frosty this morning. The frost on the roofs has gone. Not much planned today. The State of the Union is scheduled for tonight. We won't watch. It starts about the time we call it a day and go to bed. I don't think it is worth staying up to watch Biden's amorphous hopes for his agenda which depends on his own reelection and a majority of like minded Democrats being elect also. And I suspect we would see the usual ill-mannered Republicans acting up in spite of their Speaker asking them to behave like adults.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Reading <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-warned-great-recession-2008-brooksley-born-wall-street-sexism-2024-3?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email">this Business Insider article </a>about a woman who warned of the meltdown in the derivatives markets a decade before the 2008 crash I remembered <u>The Big Short</u> which detailed another Cassandra, male this time, who saw the same danger much closer to when it became obvious to all of the people whose job it was to look out for such catastrophes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/health/2024/03/07/if-i-miss-a-dose-i-have-trouble-breathing-anti-anxiety-drug-pregabalin-causes-concern-in-t?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=next_newsletter&utm_medium=referral&insEmail=1&insNltCmpId=339&insNltSldt=10080&insPnName=euronewsfr&isIns=1&isInsNltCmp=1">EuroNews reports on a drug causing concern</a>. Physicians have prescribed pregabalin for a variety of condition but patients have had problems from side effects and then even more severe symptoms when trying to get off of it. Studies in Sweden report a significant number of suicide cases had the drug in their systems.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: It feels like we have been on a merry-go-round (or a gerbil ball) for the last three years. When the Senate held their "trial" of Trump's Impeachment Republican leaders (and Trump's lawyers) insisted that it really wasn't their job to do anything so drastic as find him guilty, on the political stage, of insurrection and bar him from further office. Instead they insisted that there is a judicial system which can hold him accountable of the crime of insurrection. It is the DOJ's job. The DOJ took a long time to charge him for that and now the case is languishing waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on Trump's claim of Presidential immunity. Then when the courts in Colorado and the Secretary of State (backed by the courts) decide he is an insurrectionist and should be bounced from the ballot, the Supreme Court rules that ONLY CONGRESS can decide how the 14th Amendment should be administered. Isn't it so reasonable that the very institution that abdicated that job gets it back gift wrapped by the Supremes. And so it goes. Thomas Zimmer says pretty much that in <a href="https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/the-much-vaunted-guardrails-are-failing?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1205894&post_id=142377385&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email">his substack post</a>.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-49188585151988524932024-03-06T16:44:00.000-06:002024-03-06T16:44:47.437-06:00March 6<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Looking out the window it looks like we have clouds still. The Weather Channel says our current temperature is 40F and the high should be about 50. They expect the clouds to move out without dropping more rain. But I will wait until the next sunny day, at the moment predicted to be Sunday, to do the next round of garden clean up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Super Tuesday came out pretty much as everyone expected. Biden and Trump won most of the states and their delegates. But each has his own problems with his supposed constituencies. Haley won Vermont and got a significant proportion of the vote in most of the remaining states. Who knows how many of her voters will vote Trump in the fall. Biden's big problem is the number who voted "uncommitted." Many of those are critics (whether Jewish or Palestinian-Americans) of our Israel policy. I think so many of our fellow citizens really want someone who will solve knotty problems (the way they want them settled) the same way Alexander "unraveled" the Gordian Know--for those who don't know the story, he simply drew his sword and cut it. Cutting through human problems that way is more likely to damage a lot more than it will solve.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">On a sad note--the news this morning announced Haley's press conference this morning in which, a staffer confirmed, she will announce she is ending her campaign. Sad because I liked how she has morphed into a serious Trump critic. I only hope she never endorses him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://thehill.com/business/4507871-biden-strike-force-price-gouging-junk-fees-inflation/">The Hill reports</a> that the Biden Administration will form a "task force" to delve into the problem of price gouging. Various CEOs might regret their comments during a meeting a couple of years ago that they should raise prices as high as they could because of the COVID dislocations in the economy. The attitude basically was "do it while you can and as high as you can" consumers be damned. Found by way of Naked Capitalism with the reminder that the WIN (whip inflation now) Nixon and later Ford tried in the 1970s. It failed but what the admin on Naked Capitalism forgot to add was that in the next decade inflation was broken as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to the sky. That slowed the economy and seriously hurt anyone who had fixed incomes, had low wage jobs, and held CDs and savings accounts. Real prosperity didn't return until the late 1990s under Clinton. I wonder how the history rhymes this time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Yesterday Krysten Sinema decided against running for reelection to her senate seat. Over her time as a Senator I have rarely agreed with her positions which seemed, to me, to favor corporations and the wealthy and did little for people at the lower economic levels. However, I will agree with her that the political environment today is not at all conducive to honest negotiations or mutual accommodations with opposing views. Instead politics has become a "scorched earth war" in which little gets done. But, I remember several instances where she seemed to be deeply involved in throwing gasoline on the fire.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-21774378417671631052024-03-05T16:17:00.001-06:002024-03-05T16:17:14.056-06:00March 5<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Rain today and, oh my, what thunder, lightning and wind we had over night. The cats were not happy at all. The weather has calmed a bit for now. Needless to say, I won't be doing anything on the patio today. Glad I got some of the clean up done yesterday.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Thinking about the Supreme Court decisions over the last few years I had a stray thought: liberals and progressives have gotten too used to relying on the Court to drive their issues. That has been the case since the <b><u>Brown v Board</u></b> decision in the 1950s. I thought that some years ago as conservatives made concerted efforts to remake the top court and finally succeeded in Donald Trump's administration with the connivance of Mitch McConnell. What the court has given it can take away as we are finding out.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Watching the morning news coverage of Trump's latest efforts to put together coherent speeches I had another stray, and gloomy, thought: who is going to be the "gray eminence" behind Trump's throne if he wins again? Who will be his pick for Vice President? Most of the likely are, honestly, frightening. Worse, remember the talk about his cabinet invoking an Article 25 removal during the last weeks of his term. What if he wins, is sworn in, gets his cabinet in place (even if on an interim basis), and then they successfully pull off the maneuver?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Question: Is it really the job of the Supreme Court to decide "novel Constitutional issues" in a way that "insulates this court and petitioner from future controversy"? That is the comment from one of the "concurring" justices that filed a separate opinion that agreed with the basic decision (that the states don't have the power to disqualify candidates for federal office on Constitutional reasons) but disagreed with the reach of the decision (which claims that ONLY Congress has that power and then told them exactly how they should frame the legislation). That is incredibly close to "judicial activism" which conservatives claim to hate.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: I don't know how many remember a couple of opinions that distinguished between "running" for office and "holding" office." If Trump wins will the Federal Courts have to deal with lawsuits hoping to prevent Trump from "holding" office per the 14th Amendment Section 3? If so will the court come back with the same argument that ONLY Congress can do that?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">It is a day for stray thoughts. Here is the last for today: a quip I like points to American insularity. A person who speaks three languages is trilingual. A person who speaks two languages is bilingual. A person who speaks one language is---an American. I would add another line. A person who can't speak any language coherently is---Donald Trump. </span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-42689758989908798332024-03-04T17:42:00.000-06:002024-03-04T17:42:11.512-06:00March 4<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">It is starting out sunny and 52F. Might be time to do more on the patio. I have some drip pans to wash out and put out. I should also see how workable the soils are. As I mentioned yesterday I found green shoots in the pots of chives. It is time to clear away the dead leaves. I noticed the trees outside our front window is starting to put out leaf buds.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Nikki Haley finally got a win in the primaries in Washington, D.C. As the commentators noted last night, it doesn't really matter given the disparity between Trump's delegate count and hers. Super Tuesday is tomorrow so the general election match might be fully set by Wednesday morning. People are accepting the notion that it will be a Biden/Trump rematch whether we like it or not. I don't.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: sometime recently I heard on response to the often heard comment that Biden is just too old. Yeah, Biden is old; but the other guy is also old and he's crazy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Second stray thought: I said before that this election is probably the last hurrah for the baby boomers (my generation) unless something unforeseen happens. I suspect that 2028 will be a real electoral donnybrook. Given the crop of younger politicians on both sides, it might look like blue crabs and red crabs in their separate buckets seeing who will eat whom last.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Next stray thought: I have been thinking about the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/04/self-immolation-protest-sacrifice">self immolation of Aaron Bushnell</a> and his statement that he could "no longer be complicit in genocide"--meaning Israel's war in Gaza. The relationship between the U.S. and Israel has looked more like a dysfunctional marriage for the last 30 years. Either a renegotiation of the parameters of the marriage creates a different relationship or there will be a divorce.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Another stray thought: one of the news/commentary shows over the weekend showed a graph of how much aid the U.S.<span> sends Israel and Egypt each year. One commentator mentioned that the whole mess shows how little power a "superpower" has to affect the behavior of supposed allies. Perhaps it is time for some tough love. </span>Cancel this year's military aid for Israel and transfer half of it to Egypt on condition that they accept the Gaza population crowded on the order into a designated area and provide aide with the money. It is time to chart a different course that doesn't involve complicity in genocide.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Bill Astore asks "<a href="https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/who-needs-skynet?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1156402&post_id=142291894&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email">Who needs Skynet</a>?" Humans seem so eager to do the job, why worry about self-aware AI. The Terminators would probably just look on with bewildered sadness as the last two humans killed each other.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Yet another stray thought: did you all see the report that the U.S. debt is (and has been for several months) growing at the rate of $1 TRILLION/PER DAY. That isn't yelling--it's emphasis.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">UPDATE: got 11 buckets cleaned up. I trimmed back the dead branches on two, the lemon balm and a mint, and left the roots to send out new shoots. The others I pulled. They weren't hardy to our winter temps. I started sweeping the leaves gathered around the buckets and pulled the stakes, shepherd's hook, and trellis panels. Also started washing down the fence. Thankfully, the dirt and muck easily wipes off with a wet cloth. I will have to reposition the buckets later. I've done enough today.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The Supreme Court just decided on the 14th Amendment cases: the states don't have the right to disqualify candidates for FEDERAL<span> offices on the basis of Section 3 of that Amendment. I wasn't surprised and not because three of the nine justices were Trump appointees as some have opined. If it had simply been all stripes of conservatives against all stripes of progressive the count would have been 6 to 3 not 9 to zip. So many people forget that we have a Federal government system that is parallel to a system of state governments and each system has its powers and responsibilities. The states do run elections and as the court ruling (which I read) noted can disqualify candidates for STATE offices. But they don't have the power to disqualify candidates for FEDERAL offices on the basis of the 14th (or other) parts of the Constitution. That is in the Federal wheelhouse.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><span>Still another stray thought: we saw two efforts to impeach Trump fail at the Senate trial stage--on political considerations. The second was on the matter of insurrection. We haven't yet had a criminal trial but what if that also fails. The Supreme Court ruled that the states can't disallow a candidate for a Federal office. That appears to be a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation which simply leaves you damned.</span></span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-50092808023941110362024-03-03T17:04:00.000-06:002024-03-03T17:04:28.743-06:00March 2, 3<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny this morning. It feels like it is a bit warmer. That I just confirmed on the Weather Channel. They say the temperature will reach the mid 50s. We started off this morning with BBC. I really didn't want to see continued coverage of Trumps legal woes or the debate on whether the Supreme Court gave him a gift or might just sink his hopes that he will skate once again. Nor did I want to see more stories about him trying to plead poverty to get out of the monetary judgements against him. So we went from BBC to Premier League Soccer for the rest of the morning. Unfortunately the rugby season is on break for this week. Hope it is back next weekend.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: Putin might have been better served if he had been a bit magnanimous and allowed Navalny a public funeral. Russia might be one of the few countries where it wasn't covered and the crowds came in spite of the government's efforts to stymie the proceedings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">03**********************************************************************</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Nice lazy Sunday. I made up a cream of potato soup with left over pork roast and veggies yesterday. We will finish most of the rest of it today. This morning has been spent putting a few more rows in a crocheted blanket and assembling a couple of flower arrangements. They are artificial because that will last through spring when I will remake them for summer. Growing any plant inside is problematic because there isn't enough light and the cats like to munch. I also got a look at the gardens and emptied out a couple of the drip pans that had accumulated water from the rains and snow. Found some green shoots in my two pots of chives and what might be a start of a shoot in the pot of asiatic lilies. Otherwise no growth elsewhere.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I saw a headline that the U.S. and Jordan are airdropping aid into Gaza. Yesterday one of the news accounts noted that an earlier U.S. drop </span><span style="font-family: "Oleo Script"; font-size: x-large;">supplied the </span><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">equivalent of 35000 meals. Sounds like a lot doesn't it. But there are 2million people (give or take) so it would take about 57 such drops to provide ONE meal for all those people. And that assumes everyone would get their share through the crowds.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I found this article<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/the-american-revolt-against-green-energy-has-begun/ar-BB1jbhhO?ocid=nl_article_link"> posted on The Telegraph</a> and was surprised by the picture of wind turbines on fire. I hadn't seen anything on that before. I wondered how often such fires occur and more generally how often the turbines fail for any reason. So far the information is sketchy and thin but I didn't see that wind turbines fail more often or more catastrophically than other power generating plants. The article did say that a turbine fire is generally left to burn itself out which results in a total loss and replacing any turbine for any reason is a very expensive prospect. However, I didn't see anything that justified the headline about an "American revolt" against green energy. It didn't give any statistics on how many counties and where they are that may not be willing to agree to host green energy plants. It does note that the legal framework for green energy is still being built.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-86742872013495156052024-03-01T16:10:00.000-06:002024-03-01T16:10:14.550-06:00March 1<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Welcome to meteorological spring. And a double whammy has hit Texas. The largest wildfire in their history that is only about 5% contained AND a winter storm that is dumping snow--some areas expecting up to 10 FEET. The California mountains are also getting huge amounts of snow. We have clouds but the temperature is high enough to give us rain--later today maybe.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Update: the Weather Channel has just reported (3:10 pm) that the Texas Smokehouse Creed fire is now the largest in U.S. HISTORY.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.epsilontheory.com/why-we-dont-trust-each-other-anymore/?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ET+Newsletter">Epsilon Theory asks</a> "Why We Don't Trust Each Other Anymore?" and has some interesting answers. One problem involves language: the words we use and how we perceive those words. The author notes one poll that when people were asked if we "should give the poor support" more than 70% agreed. But if the word support was changed to "welfare" the approval rate dropped into the 30s. It reminds me of the polls on the ACA. Asked about the ACA and people favored it; asked about "Obamacare" people rejected it even when they were benefitting from it. The two are the same thing. The author also goes into data and how people perceive it and misperceive it. Interesting read.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">CNN put up <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/29/politics/biden-administration-investigation-smart-cars-china/index.html?utm_term=1709280273337094c4d9d705c&utm_source=cnn_Meanwhile+in+China+–+03.01.2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=%2FWsDjjsroptz0jOnFJP2WFn0akU%2B6I9C2afRhza5gWz0Nng95XmzIgseSEdjFqB7&bt_ts=1709280273340">this article today</a>. The Biden Administration is going to investigate foreign parts designed for our "smart" cars, especially those made in China. They are worried that foreign adversaries can gather intelligence or use the connections to sabotage infrastructure such as the EV charging stations. However, the focus is going to be on all connected cars which use network connections for several functions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Another<a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/geisha-paparazzi-overtourism-kyoto-intl-hnk/index.html?utm_term=1709280273337094c4d9d705c&utm_source=cnn_Meanwhile+in+China+–+03.01.2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=%2FWsDjjsroptz0jOnFJP2WFn0akU%2B6I9C2afRhza5gWz0Nng95XmzIgseSEdjFqB7&bt_ts=1709280273340"> episode</a> in the Foreign Tourists Behaving Badly show.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">CNN also had <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/asia/japan-demographic-crisis-population-intl-hnk-dst/index.html?utm_term=1709280273337094c4d9d705c&utm_source=cnn_Meanwhile+in+China+–+03.01.2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=%2FWsDjjsroptz0jOnFJP2WFn0akU%2B6I9C2afRhza5gWz0Nng95XmzIgseSEdjFqB7&bt_ts=1709280273340">this piece</a> on Japan's demographic woes. However, declining populations are evident in most countries with the exception of Africa where the populations are rising more slowly as the fertility rates are falling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">BBC featured a segment today on the growing global phenomenon of obesity. The report said that 1/8 of the world population is obese--in other words 1billion people. They didn't say why which is rather normal for stories about obesity when they aren't demonizing poor people. I can think of several reasons for the uptick. One, changes in where people live and what they do for a living. Not long ago the world population became 50+% urban. More and more people make a living in sedentary jobs. Two, the American diet has infiltrated most parts of the world as have U.S. food production companies with high levels of fats, artificial sugars, and high levels of various chemicals. Third, I suspect that the world population is getting older. In most of the industrialized world the number of people over 65 exceeds those under 25. As we get older our metabolisms slow down.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/health/2024/03/01/more-than-one-billion-people-globally-are-now-living-with-obesity-according-to-a-new-study?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=today_newsletter&utm_medium=referral&insEmail=1&insNltCmpId=209&insNltSldt=10080&insPnName=euronewsfr&isIns=1&isInsNltCmp=1">EuroNews has an article</a> on the global increase in obesity which gives more details and cites The Lancet. I found the article a while after I saw the BBC piece.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-41030778582494560942024-02-29T17:59:00.000-06:002024-02-29T17:59:33.164-06:00February 29<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny but very chilly today. Happy Leap day in this Leap Year. The snow is mostly gone--again. It has really not been much of a winter at all. We had to go out today to pay our rent so I stopped off at Michaels to get some floral pieces to put into a couple of spring arrangements for inside the house. I am not the only one who changed the door wreath early. One of the employees at Michaels said she did the same two weeks ago. Mine got changed about three weeks ago.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Mom and I both had "senior moments" yesterday because we couldn't remember if we had paid our rent during our errands over the last couple of weeks. She couldn't find any entry in her check book. I couldn't find it on the bank records. So we stopped by today and told the secretary at our landlord's office that we had a silly question: did we pay the rent. We hadn't according to her records so we paid it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">So President Biden and Former (hoping to be next) President Trump are both going to the Texas border to highlight immigration problems. I laughed when they said Trump is headed for Eagle Creek. He should get a very friendly reception because that is where that pathetic MAGA caravan went. I don't know if they are still there. I wondered at the time if they had jobs to go to and how they financed their adventure. About the only thing that will come out is some nice dueling visuals. What a waste!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has decided that he won't run to be leader of the Senate GOP contingent next year. He was elected to his current term in 2022 so he won't be up for re-election again until 2028. But I won't miss him as GOP leader but given who the news media are speculating might replace him, I don't expect any kind of real bi-partisan cooperation after he leaves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The pictures of a relief convoy in Gaza City being mobbed by desperate people was horrific enough but that was compounded by the actions of Israeli troops nearby who felt threatened as some of the mob appeared to be approaching them. They opened fire. Casualties mounted to over 100 both from Israeli fire and from people being run over as convoy drivers tried to get through the mob. The news said that the French have had some good results from parachuting aid in and our government is thinking of doing the same. The whole thinking reminded me of a messy Berlin airlift.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Loved this from <a href="https://directzine4dems.com/1328.html">DIRECT eZine</a>:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="" height="389" moz-do-not-send="true" src="https://directzine4dems.com/1328-toons/16.png" width="511" /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-28-2024?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=20533&post_id=142159735&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email">Heather Cox Richardson posted</a> a good summary of the political events. She notes that Trump's take over of the Republican appears to be complete.</span></p><p><br /></p><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 34); color: #000022; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-59799985391268680952024-02-28T18:53:00.000-06:002024-02-28T18:53:15.957-06:00February 27, 28<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Warm this morning--starting in the 40s. But it is wet. The rain may move out and it may dry out enough for me to get outside and clean up a bit. I won't do much because one of our errands yesterday was grocery shopping and both of us were exhausted by the time we finished. I can see a time in the not too distant future when we will have to set up the delivery service with the grocery we use most. Age does catch up with you.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Optima, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">Antidote du jour. Tim H: “Same pair that you featured last year in Ouroboros mode. They ignored those cat beds until they were appropriate housed.”</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Optima, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-267441" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" height="288" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" src="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/00-Georgeous-and-Munchkin.jpg" srcset="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/00-Georgeous-and-Munchkin.jpg 2015w, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/00-Georgeous-and-Munchkin-300x144.jpg 300w, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/00-Georgeous-and-Munchkin-1024x490.jpg 1024w, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/00-Georgeous-and-Munchkin-768x367.jpg 768w, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/00-Georgeous-and-Munchkin-1536x735.jpg 1536w, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/00-Georgeous-and-Munchkin-624x299.jpg 624w" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%; padding: 4px; text-align: center;" width="600" /></p><p style="hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">I loved this photo posted on <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/02/links-2-27-2024.html">Naked Capitalism</a> today. I have two cats so this resonates. It is at the </span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">bottom of the post.</span></span></p><p style="hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I saw the ad mentioned in the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/26/food/kellogg-ceo-cereal-dinner/index.html">CNN article</a>. Evidently it is getting some criticism for telling people to have cereal for supper to spare the food budget. I wan't thinking of the budget when I saw it. I was thinking of the added sugar and additives in most cereals today. We haven't had those in several years and have stuck with old fashioned (as in not quick or instant) rolled oats and farina. </span></p><p style="hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Found<a href="https://www.indianpunchline.com/russias-victory-in-ukraine-resonates-in-central-asia/"> Indian Punchline</a> by way of Naked Capitalism and it has an interesting article on the effect of Russia's victory in Avdiivka Ukraine. The focus of our news media seems to be blinkered and focused solely on Europe, Russia, and (to a lesser extent). But there is a complex set of relationships beyond and those countries don't have a very friendly relationship with the U.S. They have a far more favorable view of <span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Putin and Russia than they have of the West.</span></span></p><p style="hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">28**********************************************************************</span></span></p><p style="hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Cold today and snow. Not much accumulated but the wind is definitely not comfortable. Thankfully we didn't get the hail or tornadoes the weather forecasters predicted we might have.</span></p><p style="hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">CNN published <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/27/asia/putin-ukraine-xi-taiwan-parallels-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html?utm_term=170910742532279f4106eae20&utm_source=cnn_Meanwhile+in+China+–+02.28.2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=PtIPjbtviRfxnVQS5FMsk4UI%2F2PmNpwx%2FUYG%2BdcbRmIlFl6K7DqrdfBjGXUQr%2B8u&bt_ts=1709107425325">this article</a> today detailing an interesting parallel between Putin and Xi. I thought a long time ago that both were trying to recover a, to them, glorious past. A past when their countries were rich, powerful and could influence the course of history. The problem for each is that with the passage of time large parts of the past empires have splintered off and aren't necessarily willing to resume their old subordinate relationship. But they aren't the only ones who are trying to recover an imagined past. A lot of our own people want a return to the 1950s, or the 1930s, or even 1900. Back when women remained in the home, before the pill, before abortion, when America could pretend it was a Christian nation just like they dreamed the founders established it.</span></p><p style="hyphens: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px;"><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://lyz.substack.com/p/there-is-a-reason-politicians-dont?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=4106&post_id=142141100&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email">Lyz at Men Yell At Me</a> has a good analysis of the effect of laws from Texas, Alabama, Missouri, and Arizona which prohibit pregnant women from getting a divorce. The justifications usually involve ensuring the continuing care and well-being of children. But keeping women in abusive relationships, or relationships that aren't working (at least for the women) may actually be detrimental to the children. But the whole aim of these laws are the same as the aim of abortion bans is to keep women in subservient and impoverished positions. As the article says, keep women doing all of the unpaid and undervalued work that keeps society functioning. I remember, some decades ago, when the news media always featured a report on how much it would cost to actually pay women for all of the caring work they weren't, and still are not, paid for. I haven't seen even that minimal acknowledgement of women's work for forty years. </span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-19960123714290547742024-02-26T16:20:00.000-06:002024-02-26T16:20:59.703-06:00February 26<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">We have errands later today. It is nice and sunny with temperatures reaching the 60s--much above normal. It is supposed to continue tomorrow so I hope to get some of the patio cleaned up. After that the temperatures go back to a more normal 30s and low 40s.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">We spent Sunday watching soccer and rugby. The local news was as depressing as usual--shootings, auto accidents, Chicago politics. The national news is both depressing and infuriating. The sports are much more pleasantly entertaining.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I started hearing the Democrat message that appropriating the billions of dollars for Ukraine and Israel isn't like sending gobs of money overseas because it will, mostly, be spent in this country for armaments. <a href="https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/war-and-genocide-create-jobs?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1156402&post_id=141971621&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&open=false&utm_medium=email">Bill Astore has an appropriately sarcastic blog</a> about that cynical government argument. I don't think it is going to fly with Palestinian voters who object to their government spending their tax dollars to help Israel kill their family members in Gaza. Nor will it fly with younger voters who think supporting genocide is good foreign policy. If we are honest, and some of us aren't, we have to acknowledge that Israel's actions are genocide.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">William Hartung also has <a href="https://tomdispatch.com/war-is-bad-for-you-and-the-economy/?utm_source=TomDispatch&utm_campaign=6979d1140a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_02_25_10_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-6979d1140a-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D#more">a good article on Tomdispatch</a> on the issue of military spending. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I do wish there was a choice other than bad (Biden and business as has been usual) and much worse (Trump and despotism/Christian Nationalism/Handmaid's Tale). The assumptions our policies are based on have been baked into our thoughts and actions since the end of WWII. There is an inertia in human affairs just as in physics. What has been will continue to be unless events of sufficient impact force a change. (I.E., A body in motion will continue on its course and speed unless acted upon by an external force sufficient to change it.) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Well, fire season has started, if last year's season ever ended. Texas has a 4K acre fire that is contained and Colorado has one outside Colorado Springs. The Weather Chanel has a map of fire warnings and watches that stretches from the Gulf to Canada and almost as far east as Wisconsin and Illinois.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-76383472179160406212024-02-24T16:34:00.000-06:002024-02-24T16:34:14.572-06:00<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Some sun this morning after snow overnight. It is cold now and not expected to rise above 32F.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">We watched the Chicago news this morning. As I have mentioned before Chicago is as close to local as we can get on TV. It is a relief from the repetition of the nationally oriented news we watch during the week. Then continued with the pre-game show for the Premier League soccer. The game should start shortly. At the same time I got the salmon patties made up and in the refrigerator ready to fry later. I am resting before fixing our breakfast.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4484048-gop-shutdown-fears-grow-we-could-be-in-a-world-of-hurt/">The Hill has a long article</a> about the latest looming budget deadline in D.C. The House is supposed to return, after a couple of weeks in their districts or somewhere, on Monday with the shutdown scheduled for March 1. I keep wondering why we are paying those guys a six figure salary for doing not much at all, except preening before cameras.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Responsible Statecraft <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/biden-war-strategy/">posted this article</a> this morning. The headline claims that Biden wants to put the U.S. on a "permanent war footing." After reading it I don't see the U.S. being put on a permanent war footing, rather just the defense industry. Worse I don't think the nebulous goals listed will do move us away from the system we have where the military is "getting less for more." And, in a continuation of George W.'s pronouncements after 9/11, that most of us should support his War on Terror by going shopping.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The New Eastern Outlook <a href="https://journal-neo.su/2024/02/15/fatal-flaws-undermine-americas-defense-industrial-base/">has an interesting analysis</a> of our defense industry and expounds on some "fatal flaws" in the system as it is now organized. I haven't read much of this journal so I decided to look up more info. Wikipedia and other sources trace its ancestry back to a Soviet era academic institute specializing in Asia. They say that it is one major conduit for Russian misinformation and propaganda. I didn't see much in the article that got my skepticism antennae moving from normal to extreme. But it is a site to read carefully and skeptically.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-1771668004092563762024-02-23T16:02:00.000-06:002024-02-23T16:02:31.730-06:00February 23<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny and cool so far. The rain yesterday ended mid-afternoon.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">GZero has an <a href="https://www.gzeromedia.com/news/analysis/russia-is-winning-winning-what">interesting article</a> that asks an important question: Russia is winning? Winning What? Our government has imposed a new round of sanctions but Russia's economy isn't as sensitive to sanctions as it was originally, and India and China are still very willing to buy the oil Russia sells them at bargain basement prices.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Heather Cox Richardson <a href="https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-22-2024?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=20533&post_id=141952527&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&open=false&utm_medium=email">published a good overview</a> of our current political turmoil. There are several things that make me crazy angry. One is a bunch of <u>men</u> deciding that I, or any other<u> woman</u>, isn't competent to make decisions about my life just because I MIGHT NOT MAKE THE DECISION THEY WANT ME TO MAKE. (I am not shouting here just emphasizing the injustice of the situation.) Second, I resent <u>anyone</u>, male or female, trying to saddle me with their religion based restrictions. I don't sing in their damned choirs. Third, I hate scientifically illiterate people thinking they should opine on science. I could go on but I won't.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">By the way, I don't mind people deciding to live according to their religious beliefs and raising their children in those beliefs, but I draw the line with them imposing their beliefs on others. I don't think one parent in a school district should be able to restrict what every student in the school reads just to protect their precious offsprings delicate sensitivities. Expand that to IVF and abortion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Joyce Vance has <a href="https://joycevance.substack.com/p/life-starts-at-conception-but?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=607357&post_id=141946126&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&open=false&utm_medium=email">another piece </a>on that idiotic ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court extending the legal protections given children to embryos.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/02/after-just-a-month-a-half-of-mileis-high-voltage-shock-treatment-argentinas-economy-is-screaming.html">One for the "OUCH" file</a>. I have been watching this for a while. By the way, Milei has been described as Argentina's Trump.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">OMG, how the hell did the idiot DeSantis appointed ?urgeon General get a medical degree? To send a letter to parents telling them to go ahead and send unvaccinated children to school as cases of measles are rising. <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/02/florida-defies-cdc-in-measles-outbreak-telling-parents-its-fine-to-send-unvaccinated-kids-to-school.html">Read all about it</a>. </span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-12640547936636410832024-02-23T08:59:00.000-06:002024-02-23T08:59:43.889-06:00February 22<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Rain today. I won't complain since the rain will help the soil in my containers fully defrost. That seems to be doing well. I noticed that, though we didn't have rain yesterday, I had small streams of water flowing slowly from the buckets.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Aurelien has a good, but long, post on <a href="https://aurelien2022.substack.com/p/the-diversity-paradox?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=841976&post_id=141867212&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&utm_medium=email">his substack</a> this morning. It reminds me of Daniel Boorstin's book THE IMAGE published in the 1960. It also reminds me of the new ad for (I think) Audi where the selling point seems to be the notion that you can choose, O Joy, the configuration of lights in your headlights. Lovely image but how does that improve the performance of the car? Some years ago a book I read on the growth of advertising claimed that as a product became nearly universal in society the advertising became more about the aesthetics and less how the product worked.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Listening to the news this morning about the collapse of the newest base the Republicans in the House claim for their attempts to impeach Biden I was reminded of the Upton Sinclair quote: It is difficult to convince a man of something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. Rep. Jordan was asked about the arrest of the (newest) devastating witness and the document he provided to the FBI which was totally generated by Russian misinformation and the man's imagination. Jordan insisted that it did nothing to debunk the "facts." Unfortunately his facts aren't really facts; they are merely his own fevered imaginings. I think a corollary to Sinclair would read: A man will always believe what supports his ego, position, or salary even if false.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I found an interesting post that claimed 10 Israelis had been killed because of Israeli bombing in Gaza. I followed the link but the site is in Hebrew which I don't know. I tried to see if there was any mention in two Israeli media outlets and in Al Jazeera but found nothing recent which amount to 10 Israeli casualties of Israeli operations. Since I can't verify the claim I have put it in my mental "Maybe" file. The blogger claimed that it put a lie to the Netanyahu government's supposed concern for getting the hostages released. Well, I have always thought the two aims antithetical. I never believed that the "eliminate Hamas" aim was compatible with getting hostages out alive. I also wonder how many hostages are still alive. I wonder if the hostage exchange/pause talks have broken down because Hamas doesn't have all that many bargaining chips left.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"> Ouch!!! <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/alberta-declares-early-start-to-wildfire-season">The Edmonton Journal in Alberta, Canada reports</a> the government has declared an early start to the 2024 fire season. They still have 54 fires (new and continued from last season) burning. The problem: low snow pack and very dry weather. Yesterday the Weather Channel reported that a large area of west Texas, Arizona, and southern Colorado was under fire warnings. Same problems.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-36443120538339956342024-02-21T16:46:00.001-06:002024-02-21T16:46:46.013-06:00<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Good morning on a sunny and fairly warm day. We had an errand and I didn't need my heavy sweater. (I avoid wearing my winter coat--just don't really like it but am too cheap to buy another.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Stray thought: reading <a href="https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/democracy-not-in-america?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1156402&post_id=141859296&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&utm_medium=email">this piece by Bill Astore</a> I remember a bit I read in a book on the history of Rome. It recounted the transition from Republic to Empire and said that Augustus managed it by neatly gathering all the strings of power into his own hands while maintaining the illusion that the institutions of the Republic were still effective. The Senate still met but had less and less power as time went on. There were still Tribunes but they were subservient to Augustus. The various priesthoods answered to Augustus who held the supreme priesthood. And the power of ordinary citizens to affect policy, never really strong, was canceled out.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Interesting article on<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/21/business/china-corporate-militias-resurgence-int-hnk/index.html?utm_term=17085027218316c6d60d079a0&utm_source=cnn_Meanwhile+in+China+–+02.21.2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=2mFYPwLPLsb8XfkcbOMCop1b%2FtXenADEJn3BrVCbiJjqiqu5lx4MGZN84FWa2Cdc&bt_ts=1708502721833"> CNN </a>today on the reestablishment of volunteer, corporate armies. Evidently 16 major companies and several minor ones are "recruiting" volunteers from among their employees who do their regular work while also participating in the security forces. These armies appear to function like our National Guard does. I am not at all sure how voluntary the recruitment is.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I love this post by <a href="https://crooksandliars.com/2024/02/supreme-court-smacks-marge-over-challenge">Crooks&Liars</a>. I am no fan of Margery Taylor Green and absolutely do not see why her constituents keep voting for her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">In case any one really thought Navalny died of some unspecified natural cause,<a href="https://crooksandliars.com/2024/02/putin-promotes-navalny-executioner-general"> this should raise suspicions</a>. There was a debate during the pandemic about how to count the Covid deaths. Did someone die OF Covid or WITH Covid? If a person with diabetes or heart problems (or whatever) who contracted Covid die of the underlying condition or of Covid? I never could see why the distinction was so important. Did Navalny die of an underlying natural cause or from that cause (or no cause) complicated by harsh treatment (a.k.a., torture). I don't think the distinction mattered to Putin who has rewarded the chief torturer with a promotion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Ouch!!! <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/02/21/regular-droughts-could-become-the-mediterreneans-new-normal-due-to-climate-change?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=green_newsletter&utm_medium=referral&insEmail=1&insNltCmpId=257&insNltSldt=10080&insPnName=euronewsfr&isIns=1&isInsNltCmp=1">The drought in Europe is continuing</a> adding to the problems that are propelling farmers to drive their tractors and trucks to protest at various capitals.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-3570680615230462762024-02-20T17:00:00.000-06:002024-02-20T17:00:07.176-06:00February 20<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The temperature yesterday warmed up nicely. Today might follow that pattern. It is sunny and just a bit after sunrise. We had a couple of errands yesterday. Mom had to get her blood work done to prepare for her appointment with her doctor next week. Then all of a sudden my computer wasn't charging. It took a while going through all of the components from the wall plug through to the computer to find what part was to blame. I had to replace the chord--again. I did that a week ago last weekend when that cord failed. At least everything is working again. We got started late and hadn't had breakfast so we decided to go to our favorite restaurant for breakfast which turned into a lunch instead. That restaurant has always been busy but yesterday it was crazy. The poor waitresses needed roller skates.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">We don't go out to eat much any more. Since everything reopened after the pandemic most of our old favorites had drastically changed their menus eliminating our favorites and drastically raised prices. Too little enjoyment for the money. The one we went to yesterday has kept the same menu and hasn't raised prices outrageously.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/measles-uk-england-cases-surge-mapped-b2497059.html?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter">England is experiencing a surge in measles</a> cases that goes along with increasing vaccine skepticism. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/18/return-of-victorian-era-diseases-to-the-uk-scabies-measles-rickets-scurvy">The Guardian reports</a> that measles isn't the only once controlled disease making a comeback. Cases of Ricketts, scurvy, and scabies have also increased lately.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-39768746039132402252024-02-19T17:10:00.000-06:002024-02-19T17:10:11.404-06:00<p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny and frosty this morning.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Happy Presidents' Day. Interesting poll of historians rated Biden as the 14th most effective president in our history--and Trump as the least effective. And the morning news/commentary show presented a comedy sketch where the host mentioned that Biden and Trump are the oldest candidates for the Presidency--breaking a record they set FOUR YEARS AGO.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I heard another segment that finally mentioned the growth of an international anti-globalist movement that appears to be gaining strength. They mentioned the failure of the Arab Spring movement that has resulted in the entrenchment of even more authoritarian governments. They said that some of the people whose hopes have withered wish the Spring had never happened. The rise of European leaders who also reject the globalist movement and espouse various nationalisms. As they mentioned those I mused that the real birth of anti-globalism was the failure of NAFTA to provide the benefits promised. Less than a minute after I expressed that thought one of the moderators said the same and then commented on the U.K.'s exit from the EU. The process of globalization has enriched a few massively, stunted the economic progress of the many, hollowed out the industrial capacity of advanced countries as the CEOs of various companies in various industries moved operations to countries with lower wages, lax labor laws, and more dictatorial governments. America First marches along with India First (Hindu nationalism), Hungary First (Orban), AfD and other German nationalist groups, the recently defeated similar party in Poland, and Putin's rebuilding a Russian Nationalism based on going back to very traditional practices.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Maha at <a href="https://www.mahablog.com/2024/02/17/grifts-and-gullibility-how-we-came-to-this/">Mahablog has a good article</a> taking off for the news that a Trump supporter has established a OMG GoFundMe page for poor, poor Donald to pay the judgement he just received. Grifting has been raised to a high art and not just by Trump. As P.T. Barnum is supposed to have said: there's a sucker borne every minute." (Like so many such sayings Barnum may not have said it but that doesn't make it any less true.) Bill Astore makes the same point <a href="https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/trump-is-such-a-great-huckster?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1156402&post_id=141804830&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&utm_medium=email">here</a>.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-11223939422398576232024-02-18T16:02:00.000-06:002024-02-18T16:02:14.055-06:00February 18<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Sunny day with cloudless sky. We still have some snow from the previous fall. Nothing much planned for the day. I baked a couple of frozen turnovers for breakfast and plan on fried rice for supper. I didn't do any needlework yesterday and won't pick it up today. My hands were hurting so it was time for a couple aspirin and a rest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Found <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/02/european-governments-look-for-ways-to-send-ukrainian-refugees-home.html">this by way of Naked Capitalism</a> which isn't really surprising. I don't think anyone was prepared for a drawn out conflict in Ukraine. Everything about the conflict has violated expectations. First, we thought that Ukraine would fall in days; it didn't happen. Then people thought the Russians would come back and use their manpower and superior army to take over in a slightly longer time frame--weeks maybe; didn't happen. The we saw a Russian military that was a total s**tshow which would have to retire back to the Donbas if not exit Ukraine entirely; didn't happen. Over the last few months the lines have solidified as the Russians have found new suppliers and Ukraine finds that their allies are quickly facing difficulties, politically and industrially, producing and providing materiel. Many are returning to the positions they started in: Ukraine is at a serious disadvantage and probably won't win. The European willingness to keep the Ukrainians who fled the early stages of the war was borne out of the early enthusiasm for a plucky underdog who was over performing against the Russian juggernaught. They were not prepared for an open ended commitment. And they see our own disfunction and have to wonder if we will continue to provide the kind of aid Ukraine needs. We are squabbling over a $65billion package while they have already promised $54billion. Add to that the economic problems in Europe and the UK has slipped into recession. </span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-88106933001636787062024-02-17T16:34:00.000-06:002024-02-17T16:34:34.861-06:00February 17<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Cloudy and cold enough that the slight snowfall we got yesterday is still around. It is a Saturday so we have a couple of soccer games on the TV. Great way to evade a lot of the repetitious news. I saw several discussions of the penalty Judge Engoron has handed Trump and his sons. I hope it gives him a severe case of apoplexy. Unfortunately, Trump is already fund raising off it with the usual mewling complaints that he is so persecuted.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I saw <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/02/14/1231215446/so-you-think-you-know-all-about-the-plague?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20240216&utm_term=9279269&utm_campaign=goats-and-soda&utm_id=65834404&orgid=309&utm_att1=">this NPR story</a> about a recent case of bubonic plague in Oregon, the first in a decade and unusual because the victim acquired it from his cat. He, his cat, and all their contacts have been treated with antibiotics. One interesting piece in the history the story included was a study published in 2022 which said that the 14th century plague pandemic changed the human genome which had the interesting effects of 1) boosting a victim's chances of surviving infection by 40% and 2) suppressing the immune system making autoimmune diseases like Crohn's disease. Both traits are transmitted genetically. Just for the heck of it I looked up what animal vectors/reservoirs can pass on the plague bacillus and there are way too many to list here. I am not surprised that a domestic cat would be involved since one of the listed species is its wild cousin the bobcat.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">I believe, and have for some time, that we are way too dependent on technology. This <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/02/im-doc-warns-of-coming-medical-dystopia-in-the-us-via-pervasive-recording-of-visits-ai-test-ordering-and-upselling.html">piece on Naked Capitalism</a> covers a new aspect of AI in medicine that I REALLY don't like: automatic recording of doctors' visits. During my life time doctors have gone from independent entrepreneurs who may have had associations with a hospital to either proprietor of a chain of physicians offices or employees of the same or of hospitals. And I don't think the changes are necessarily good--for the doctors or their patients. The changes detailed in the article (which the author says are in beta form) would move them toward the status of "piece workers." I have read a couple of articles written by doctors complaining about the pressure the accountants put on them to push the patients through often setting time limits for consultations which consider profits only and take no account of the complexity of the cases. All of this is part of what Ives Smith calls crapification of everything. Others call it shitification.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">Robert Reich posted two good articles today. The <a href="https://robertreich.substack.com/p/corporate-soaring-profits-are-from?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=365422&post_id=141700310&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&utm_medium=email">first involves</a> the price hikes which has led to record corporate profits over the last couple of years. As he put is in his title: their profits come out of our pockets. And the claim by Pepsi that they raise prices because they can--because their products are popular. That reminds me of the quote from a meeting of CEOs a couple of years ago that the increase in costs meant they had the freedom to raise prices as much as they wanted--and those increases in prices vastly outstripped the cost of inputs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The second article from <a href="https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-trump-is-liable-for-fraud-even?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=365422&post_id=141744604&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=cfres&utm_medium=email">Reich was a good review </a>of the massive fraud judgement against Trump and the argument that because the banks were paid back there was no fraud. That reminds me of the old conundrum of whether a tree falling in the forest makes a sound if there is no one to hear it. The whole thing depends on the definition of sound. If you mean a sensation people can perceive as sound. If you use a physics based definition then it does make a sound--disturbances traveling through the air which is what can be perceived as sound. Focusing on banks defines the situation too narrowly as Reich demonstrates.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711833612706614343.post-44286843921852072002024-02-16T18:42:00.000-06:002024-02-16T18:42:03.102-06:00February 16<p> <span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">No sun today. In fact, it is snowing. I don't think we will get a huge snowfall. The Weather Channel predicts less than an inch accumulation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">News this morning reported the death of Alexi Navalny in a Siberian prison camp. The commentators nattered on and on what we might do to "hold Russia and Putin accountable." The most honest of them said "not much" and came closer to admitting that there are some things beyond our ability.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">The other thing they went interminably on about was the hearing in Georgia on whether Fani Willis has a "conflict of interest" that would warrant her being forced off the RICO case against Trump and his co-defendants. To me they seem to be throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Nothing so far. Perhaps they should ask that master of heaving ketchup laden plates against the wall to give it a try. I doubt even Trump could manage to get such ridiculous allegations to stick.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Oleo Script; font-size: large;">A bit I did catch on the news re-runs was a group of incredulous attorneys on the Trump and Co. side skeptical about her repaying Wade for her part of their shared expenses in cash. What?? No receipts?? Or that she would keep cash on hand at home. I remarked to Mom that they were all obviously so young I doubt they even write checks. They grew up in a world where a lot of people simply whipped out a credit/debit card. Mom and I both come from a time when credit/debit cards were rare. I wonder how they would have handled a situation we faced a couple of weeks ago. We pulled up to the gas pump and found a sign saying they could only accept cash because their electronic system was down. I simply walked to the register, put down cash and asked them to activate the pump. I told the attendant I would come back in for the change. We could understand why Willis would cash on hand and why she would repay Wade in cash.</span></p>MaryContraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16350460293199385621noreply@blogger.com0