December 6

 It is too dark to see what the weather is like outside. Only 3:30am. What can I say? We go to bed early and get up early. And our two furry alarm clocks insist they want their food when they want it and they're petting when they want it. It is easier to just get up and do something. Right now I am waiting for water to boil so we can get some coffee.

Have you all seen the stories on the news about a hacking group (supposedly) linked to the Chinese government stealing tens of millions of dollars of COVID relief funds? Is anyone really surprised that the sloppiest program with the least effective oversight in history got hacked? And if they really look into it I don't doubt that "upstanding, red-white-and-blue blooded Americans also took Uncle for a bundle. (I wrote "supposedly" because tracing the origin of cyber attacks is notoriously difficult and slippery.) 

This assessment from Improve the News is right on:

Establishment-critical narrative: This is no surprise given that the government handed out more than $800B in COVID funds with zero checks and balances, essentially providing an open invitation to fraudsters and criminals. Coupled with the government's awareness of past Chinese hackers' attempts to steal from relief programs, American taxpayers could understandably believe their government doesn't actually care about safeguarding their hard-earned money.

The New York Times has this story which details a child custody case in New Zealand. The child services agency is seeking custody because the baby needs, REALLY needs, heart surgery which the parents would agree to IF the hospital would supply "safe blood," meaning from non-COVID vaccinated donors. That part of the story is both sad and unsurprising giving the depth of vaccine skepticism. What I thought both sad and bemusing at the same time was the sentence about the 62 year old man sentenced for conspiring to bring down the power grid to protest vaccines. Just a bit earlier Mom asked (in total unbelief) if North Carolina authorities are really thinking the vandals shot up the power station to stop a drag queen show. I think they are just desperately looking for anything that might lead them to the culprits. Petty motives for causing major difficulties (perhaps even life threatening difficulties) to a lot of people. Later in the article the author notes that the custody battle isn't necessary as unvaccinated people are willing to donate.

CNN posted this today which we found looking for details on a story barely mentioned on Morning Joe. The article about the unhealthy consequences of eating "ultra processed foods" started by listing "hotdogs, burgers, fries, sodas, candy, cakes, cookies and ice cream" and we start scratching our heads. What in the hell? So I started looking for exactly what the definition of "ultra processed foods" is. Basically, according to Harvard Health Publishing (Harvard Medical School), ultra processed foods include additives derived from foods (fats, sugars etc.) or non-food additives (colors or stabilizers, etc.). OK--but when does a merely "processed" food become "ultra processed?" We process food all the time just by cooking it. There isn't a recipe that doesn't call for some salt or sugar or some other food (milk, cream, flour). I think it comes down to whether you can cook the same food yourself with readily available ingredients. Our general rule is: as few ingredients as possible and none that are unpronounceable or which we have no idea of the function. And at our ages we aren't so worried about dementia or Alzheimers.

What could possibly go wrong? Just another step in the militarization of civilian police forces and another example of bringing foreign battlefields home.

And then there was this "OH, S**T" moment from Fox Business. It led me to a google search to find out where in this country rice is grown and found that four areas produce our rice. I can condense those to two: California's Sacramento Valley, and the stretch from the Gulf of Mexico (Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana) north through Arkansas and Missouri. Guess what? All are under drought threat.

Another "OH, S**T moment on the TV news just now. The jury came back with a guilty judgement on all  charges for the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation. I so hope this is only the beginning of the end of the Former Guy.