November 13

 Really chilly this morning but the prophesied snow hasn't materialized yet. They have moved it to Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully we don't have to go anywhere until the end of the coming week.

For the morning laugh--I found this Onion story. No explanation needed.

I keep hearing talking heads telling me that the economy is doing just fine but stories like this one make me question that. Actually these stories make me ask how much of our economic growth of the last ten years was a mirage.

The maps of the election results again show a problem with our politics I have noticed for several election cycles. The Democratic Party has its strength in cities while the Republican Party is strongest in the more rural areas. That fact has led to  two presidential elections since 2000 (George W. in 2000 and The Former Guy in 2016) beening won by candidates who lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. I voiced that observation that shortly after TFG won and one of my male relatives asked why should a vote in Wyoming count for less than a vote in California. I asked why should 100k votes in Wyoming count for more that 1million in California. But the map with blue islands in a sea of red means that the needs of rural people aren't being met or even addressed by the Democratic Party proposals. The question the politicos of both parties have to answer is how they develop programs that appeal to both groups.

We have seen repeated stories about drought and heat in our west along with the depletion of rivers and reservoirs across the country. This story about the current conditions in the Aral Sea area should, perhaps, be a cautionary tale for us.

We are being treated to the spectacle of the Republican Party cannibalizing its own. The fingers are most often pointing at TFG himself. There seems to be a brewing rebellion among Republicans against McCarthy and some, timid, agitation against McConnell who, at best, will remain Minority Leader. However the Rude Pundit has spread the blame around in this post with his usual profanity streaming rant. His basic assessment, stripped of the profanity which I did enjoy, is the blame goes from the rotting head alway down to the flipping tails (like "Dr." Oz) and all too many who should have been defeated, like Indiana's own Todd Young and Michigan's Ron Johnson, were re-elected. Now we have to deal with the aftermath and a very good question was asked by one of the interviewees on a news program: what will all those who expected and felt entitled to win will do now that they have lost? The s---storm may continue for a good while longer.