January 31

 Welcome to the end of January. The clouds should clear out later today and then usher in 40s and low 50s for the next ten days. No rain expected which is good because it will give us time to dry out. We have already shifted out of the news because there isn't really any news to listen to or speak (or write) of.

Aurelian has a long post which deserves a careful read. First, he pokes a very big whole in the "techno-enthusiast" notion that something new, expensive, and theoretically powerful is an actual game changer. He applies the argument to military technology but I would argue it applies to other systems as well. What is good in theory often turns out not so good in practice. Second, the reason the new tech is not as much of a game changer as the enthusiast expects is it is applied in real world conditions for which is isn't effective. Third, all technologies, military and other, need a network of supply and support in which it can function. Fourth, technology has to be applied to suitable strategic objectives which have to be clearly defined and are actually achievable. I don't think converting Afghanistan into a western style, democratic system was ever achievable. And we were up against an enemy who simply wanted us out of their country. Fifth, there is a cost to all technologies and the cost (in men, money, and materiel) may not be sustainable or the objective not worth the price. I could go on but I will leave that to you.

Bill Astore notes the resurrection (if it ever died completely) of the old "domino theory." Just change the Communist Boogyman to Authoritarian Boogyman and change the location from Asia to Europe and nothing changes. It seems to me that our foreign policy has us whipsawed between fear of overwhelmingly powerful autocrats who are salivating to conquer a weak, fragile West piece by piece and if they win anywhere we lose everywhere. At the same time we are feed the notion that we are powerful enough to project our power everywhere and bring every country under the umbrella of the "democratic" world order.

January 28, 29, 30

 Overcast and rainy today. Also fairly warm. Most of the snow is gone and we have little likelihood of getting any more any time soon. It has felt so little like winter that I think about taking down the winter wreath and putting up something else. But It doesn't feel like spring either so I am not inclined to put that one up.

Jan 29**************************************************************

Cloudy again today but no rain yet. The forecast says we should see the sun later today. It seemed mild when we started on our errands but I think the temps fell during our two hour circuit.

Jan 30

Wet, chilly, overcast--again.

In case you hadn't noticed there isn't much out there that is worth thinking or commenting on.

 The rage of the moment involves some of the whacky right wing commentators are going crazy ballistic over Taylor Swift and her football player boyfriend. They seem to think (using the term very loosely) that it is a conspiracy by the Biden people to gin up his popularity. I have given up trying to find a rational explanation for anything that group of nut jobs "think." But why are some in the more mainstream news even covering their reaction. They should leave all that to the celebrity tabloids.

The news has been fixated on the minutia of Trumps legal cases but the coverage is incredibly repetitive.

Another repetitive and utterly predictable story line is what is happening in the Middle East. You can reduce the plot to "tit for tat." It has been that since Israel was established. And notice how many of our actions fall into the same pattern. Right now all the talking heads can talk about is who hard we are going to hit whom following the deaths of three soldiers and wounding of some three dozen more. 

January 27

 Good morning--and it is still morning for another 30 minutes. We have been very lazy today and just sat around vegetating. We didn't want to look at the news so I have a stack of our re-runs to go through. The coverage has gotten to the point that they rehash everything and provide nothing new. I didn't even get the computer out until just a bit ago.

The first thing I saw after disposing of a bunch of ads was a piece by Bill Astore which was interesting for a couple of reasons. I won't link because I trashed it before I realized I wanted to comment. He writes that Britain is asking the U.S. to recover its resolve and continue funding Ukraine. Someone pointed out yesterday, I think, that the U.S. is actually fourteenth among the nations supporting Ukraine though many of the system they rely on are from the U.S. Astore suggests that the U.K. should send some $60 billion also instead of pushing the U.S. to save Europe from Vlad and his Russian hordes. Unfortunately, I don't think their economy (or the economies of other European nations can cough up that sum for long. And I doubt we can either. A writer, I forget who, said some decades ago that it is easy to be generous when you seem to have an excess. He was talking about the U.S. effort to fund a range of social endeavors (medicare among them) while fighting a war in Southeast Asia. It didn't go well. I have thought for some time that our economy isn't as robust as we have been told. We no longer have the heavy industry we once had. We aren't the only intact industrial power any more. The most basic question is can we afford to let Putin have Ukraine? Considering the legislation their Duma passed last week and which Putin signed directing that the Russian government begin to recover property lost over the last few centuries, maybe not. Among the "property" mentioned was Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, most of Eastern Europe, and Alaska. The we have the pairs questions of whether we, even if the E.U. stays on board, have the resources and resolve to stop Russia and whether Russia has the economic and military muscle to accomplish their aims.

Stray thought: is there any way to criticize Israel without being accused antisemitism. Israeli officials have accused the ICJ of just that. Over the years I have heard the same every time anyone voices any criticism however mild. Israel has traded on the Holocaust for the last 70 years during which time the character of Israel has changed. And American and European governments haven't noticed or have ignored.

January 25

 The temperature is definitely going up. Last week we couldn't get a temp above 10F and today we are headed for 40 or better. We had some fog earlier and sporadic rain continues to melt the remaining snow. I finally got the last of the ice away from the gate area and the gate post shifted to its original position--in other words I could close it again. I think the subfreezing temps and heavy snow did in most of the hardy plants. I look at the patio and start thinking of what I will have to do when spring comes and the soil thaws out.

I linked to an article about the rise in measles (and other childhood diseases) here in the U.S. This piece in Euronews describes a big rise in measles in Europe. In 2023 they counted 30,000 cases after a 2022 number of 941. That includes 21,000 hospitalizations with 5 deaths. Although the E.U. has high rates vaccination the article says the rates are still suboptimal. Four of the deaths were among unvaccinated patients (3 children, 1 adult).

Stray thought: I think the death penalty is inhumane largely because of the propensity for error. I came to that conclusion when I was in 8th grade. The teacher told of visiting a cemetery in a ghost town where one of the headstones read "Sorry, we hung him by mistake." This story illustrates a major problem with our system. There really is no humane way to execute someone. I often think our search for supposedly humane ways of death dealing is more an effort to sooth everyone's sensibilities--to say "see, it isn't so bad after all. We gave a terrible person an easy way out." But suffocation isn't easy.

We had a bit of a chuckle over this story which can be filed in the "failed good intentions" folder. We have a stack of both canvas and the heavier plastic bags and we have been trying to get back into the habit of taking them with us when we go shopping. We did that before the pandemic but, after the early reports came out that COVID was spread by touching contaminated surfaces, the state health department ordered all stores to not allow customers to use their own bags. That order was not rescinded even after the evidence showed it was actually airborne. The plastics industry also hyped the supposed hygienic qualities of their products. Even after the worst of the pandemic was over one of the stores used a carousel system to speed up the cashier's lines so bringing our own bags just gummed up the process. Another store used to give a 5 cent discount for every one of your own bags you used. They don't anymore. We are almost back to reliably taking our own bags again. And the single use bags we still get are not single use for us. We use those bags we still get as trash can liners and for cleaning our cats' litter boxes.

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. 

January 22

Found on Jan 20

I love this piece "Boomers: Worked. Gen X: Irked. Millennials: Shirked." The author is anxious to see what Generation Alpha does. I remember falling into the "do whatever the employer wants," show up for mandatory meetings that were "off the clock," go the "extra mile," expecting that the effort would be rewarded. It never was. I remember being told that you should send "thank you" notes after an interview. Since then my caustic remark that we "work ourselves to death to make a living" changed to we "work ourselves to death and still can't make a living." I am a boomer who worked, got irked, and wish I had shirked. I am glad to see trends that say that workers are setting rules and boundaries. I want to see more of it.

We are getting a bit of snow but the temperatures should be going up and the are promising rain. If that comes through much of this snow and ice should go away. Several communities from west of Chicago to east of here are watching because their rivers a both high and ice clogged which might change to flood. We plan on hibernating for the week since the forecast is for rain and/or freezing rain til Friday.

Well DeSantis is gone. Won't be missed. After all of the caustic remarks he made about so-called Republicans who oppose Trump and then cave and "kiss the ring," DeSantis set a speed record for doing the same.

We are doing what we can to cut the crap that is passed off as news. Saturday we got two soccer (football for those on the other side of the pond) games. And the BBC for a bit. Yesterday we had another two soccer games, the women's basketball game (I forgot which teams but it went into overtime, and the Lions vs Buccaneers (American football). Every now and then I put out a stack of our DVDs and we watch our re-runs.

January 19

 We had a fair bit of snow over night. It isn't light yet so all I could actually see is what is on the patio. A car's headlights showed a vigorous snow falling. 

Saw this first thing this morning which doesn't bode well economically. Market Watch provides more information here. Note that throwaway line where an official acknowledges that the water problem isn't just affecting the Canal--it is country wide. Actually, the drought is major factor in the immigration situation. The entire region has had a multi-year drought.

We shouldn't be surprised by this post by Susie Madrak on Crooks&Liars. All the "childhood" diseases are coming back as larger parts of our society reject vaccines. She does note that "exemptions" have been liberally allowed but pulling that back won't work. Most of the reason those diseases became rare is states and local governments and school officials mandated kids be vaccinated before going to school. I grew up before the vaccines were introduced. I and most of my cohort had measles, mumps, chicken pox. Thankfully, I don't know anyone who suffered severe complications but we should remember that those diseases decimated the native populations where ever Europeans arrived in the Americas and the Pacific islands. They can be deadly.

This is absolutely crazy. Some F&&king conspiracy theorist admitted at trial he started 14 of the Canadian wildfires. He said he wanted to test whether the governments were speaking truth when they warned about how dry the forests were.

Interesting piece by David Kaiser at his History Unfolding site. It reflects my own notions that no one is very happy with our politics and that both parties are more aligned with the financial powers than with voters.

I have read two posts over the last couple of days on the matter of trust both spring off the Davos meeting this week. One noted that the participants represent individuals and industries that have earned our distrust because of lies, predictions that fail, gaslighting (your economic pain isn't real because the numbers say something else), and other such self-serving tactics. The other today noted that we generally trust what touches us directly and that we can see. If you use something and it functions as it should, you trust it to continue to do so and the company that made. The farther the phenomenon is from your direct experience the harder it is to trust it. If you can see it and verify it, you trust it. The opposite is also true: if you can't verify it, you don't trust it.

So, our politicians mustered the gumption to pass....another continuing resolution kicking the budgetary can down to early March. One day they will run out of road. The potholes are getting pretty big already.

Major irritation: Nikki Haley trying to explain why the U.S. isn't a racist nation, and in her mind, has never been. Somehow she thinks the aspirational sentiments of the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution wipe out how people have actually lived. The fact of slavery. The fact of indigenous genocide. The fact of Jim Crow and the KKK. Not everyone was racist. But we had enough and they had enough influence to give the whole a tinge of racism.