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My mind is having difficulty choosing what crisis to prioritize. Two family units in the path of Hurricane Ian solved that problem temporarily. They are fine but my brother and his wife were so close to Fort Myers that it feels almost like magic that they are still with us. My sister and her husband on the east coast of Florida spent hours drenched in rain and worried by the wind, but without fears of the surge.
How many times will we be able to afford to help places in the path of giant storms rebuild? What recommendations would engineers or architects make to improve sustainability in low-lying coastal areas that are subject to storms? Can they be made sustainable? Should individuals be able to live in the areas that get demolished most frequently? Insurance will get more and more expensive and federal assistance will still be required to restore entire cities that are built next to beaches. These cities need to be redesigned and may not be open to the building of private residences in the future.
Putin
Putin allowed video cameras to record Ukrainian citizens being forced to vote at gunpoint. Now he expects us to accept that his annexation of 4 oblasts in Ukraine was the will of the people. We so want to face off with him and run him into the South Siberian Sea. We want to do this without going to war. If Trump can declassify documents by just thinking about it then if the whole world pictured Putin’s defeat and disappearance from the world scene at one and the same time perhaps, according to Trump science, it might work. But perhaps you should read Navalny’s letter in the Washington Post today. He has some ideas on the subject.
The Supreme Court
The Supremes are back. Today, with some ceremony Katanji Brown Jackson took her oath and took a seat as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Celebrate fast because that is most likely the only thing we will like about this Supreme Court. They plan to stick to the sham legal theory that Originalism is a real branch of law, and they will be going on about the independent state legislature theory. They will be trampling LGBTQ rights and claiming that they are championing religious freedom. Yelling at your TV doesn’t work. I’ve tried it.
The Midterms
How can Democrats lose the House of Representatives? How can America keep electing nutburgers who refuse to accept the results of the 2020 election, who want Trump back? I imagine I live in the time when noble estates have private chapels and women would go there to pray because they were otherwise so helpless (unless they knew how to use their womanly wiles). Please don’t let Kevin McCarthy become Speaker of the House I would chant. I know Nancy Pelosi deserves a rest, but she can’t leave us yet. And please make the predictions that Dems will win the Senate come true. Now I must go check the dinner menu. Talk later.
The United Kingdom
Wow! That was fast! You must get a grip! The world relies on you for steadiness and sanity and to prove the efficacy of a parliamentary government. We have managed to survive with a terrible, awful tax bill for five years now. Surely you can keep a stiff upper lip for a while. Someone in the UK knows what to do; someone can channel Winston Churchill. Send out a call for candidates.
New York State
There is an enormous push to turn NYS into a red state. The Republicans back Lee Zeldin for governor a MAGA guy, and the ads are full of lies about how he will lower taxes on the middle class, without mentioning that he wants to ban books and control what teachers can teach, and back other things on the far-right wish list including making sure New Yorkers are armed. Even in the local race in my district where Republicans dominate local offices the candidate who is running against the Democratic candidate is from the fringes of the right-wing. Back to that little chapel to plead for sanity. That medieval chapel rarely delivered positive results. Many a maid had to marry a man who made her shudder with fear and loathing. There were some remarkably agreeable marriages delivered up also though.
The Economy
The seeming collapse of the UK economy is echoed by the deep dive of the American Stock Market. In case you haven’t been watching (between your fingers) as the market has tumbled from 35,000 or over to today’s likely 28,900 level, the market needs your attention. Perhaps we can once again revert to the Trump ‘magical’ method. Again, if we all think uplifting thoughts, balloons rising, spirits rising, bank accounts rising the Stock Market will get the message and it will also rise. Then the Fed will raise the interest rates again and undo all our psychic efforts. It’s OK, we’ll start over. Sun salutations!