January 24

 The melt has started. The patio path to the gate is clear and the snow has diminished by about half. I tried to put a letter in the mail box yesterday morning and gave up. I told Mom that, after slipping four times before getting to the sidewalk going to the street and wasn't going to even try that slope--and I wasn't letting her try it either. Shouldn't be a problem today. The forecast today predicts on-and-off rain with temps in the mid- to high 30s.

Well, Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary with a final tally of about 54%. However, his coronation has been postponed because Hallie came in at a bare 11% below him. It wasn't the blow out win he wanted and the poor baby is unhappy because she refuses to leave the field to him and him alone.

Improve The News posted this piece abut a leading cancer institute retracting or correct recently published studies. I remember looking at news stories about hopeful scientific/medical "breakthroughs" and deciding I would wait until a "trustworthy" source confirmed the results. Now--I am even skeptical of what were once trusted sources.

I find I skim more of the news posts--sometimes just the headlines. My interest in politics is dwindling fast. Too much inflated egos and too little policy. And most of the policy is terrifying. 

Stray thought: watching the news recounting the demonstration that interrupted Biden's speech demanding that he somehow stop the war in Gaza and I am, again, amazed that the demonstrators think the American President can simply lay down the law and Israel will roll over and do what he says. And, of course, it is Israel they think he should bully because no one expect Hamas to stop fighting. I remember, way back during George W.'s administration, the surprise in the pundit corps and the Media, went to Saudi Arabia and begged them to increase oil production and lower the price because the high prices were hammering our economy. They cut production almost as soon as George W. left the country. The Saudis were, and some think still are, our allies and, we thought, should accommodate us. There are limits to a president's power and to a country's power. That is a fact our leaders and most Americans have been able to ignore for the last half of the 20th century.