February 29

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.

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.

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!!

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.

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.

Loved this from DIRECT eZine:

Heather Cox Richardson posted a good summary of the political events. She notes that Trump's take over of the Republican appears to be complete.