The sun is going in and out, and the wind is blowing the snow that has already fallen all around. I got out and shoveled the path to the back gate and cleared around the trash tote. The people our landlords call in to clear snow got our sidewalk to the street and the mail boxes. As I suspected there wasn't anything important in there. The electric bill has been on my table since this last storm started and I knew if I mailed it in it wouldn't get through before the due date but trying to set up a payment was a thoroughly frustrating and futile process. I spent a lot of time going through the chatbot assistant which couldn't help, and had to be transferred to a real person who couldn't help either and who transferred me to billing which disconnected me. In a fury I decided to just write the check which will go out tomorrow and pay the late charge if necessary. I have decided the next time I have a problem getting the payment out in a timely manner I will simply wait til the next month and catch up. I have never found on-line interactions at all easier or more efficient. I do hope we won't have another winter storm like this last one any time soon.

Watching BBC this morning and a major story covered was the free trade deal signed between India and the EU. That combines the first and third largest populations in the world. But I had another thought: besides being economically beneficial to both countries it might be India's way of gaining protection from Trump who has been aggressive about India buying Russian oil. Will the U.S. market mean as much to India when they have a partner with a population slightly larger than the US and a GDP a bit more than 2/3 of the US.?

And think about end-around maneuvers the latest Trump moves removing Bovino from command of the ICE troops in Minneapolis and pulling some out. I notice that a number of REPUBLICAN members of the Senate have said they won't vote for the new funding bill with the more money for an already bloated ICE. I have a suspicious mind and think Trump is trying to promise little (pulling out some of ICE and demoting Bovino) and get a lot (Republicans voting for his funding bill.

I noticed a number of commentators this morning gave the Trump's ouster of Bovino and announcement of removing some ICE thugs very short shrift. As one said plugging Homan in at the top of the ICE operation is a tell since he has been a big supporter of the policy behind ICE. He is only moderate compared to Bovino. As a couple noted the moves is more to try to create better optics and does not signal a new policy.