It's warm! It's abnormally warm for February. This is a screen shot of my phone weather screen. One wonders if winter is over for good.
Today we went to Walmart. I do believe we'll be shopping there more, as much as it offends my sense of how employees should be treated. We got supplies for painting, and I got a pair of cotton shorts so I can sit in the dirt. As I have mentioned, when I packed I spaced out yard work. Anyway, they're lovely shorts from the men's department, so they have pockets (!) and they were $10. I've given up on clothes for women, no pockets.
Coming back we saw this. It's going to be a new neighborhood. The birth rate is declining, where are all of these people coming from? I don't get it. They are hard at work, scraping the desert.
After Walmart we went for a restorative walk in the desert. It's bleak out there, it needs rain. The Cactus Wrens have not been his friend. They make holes for nests, allowing fluids to leak out.
So, what horrible things happened today.
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, met with the leader of El Salvador who graciously agreed to take US citizens and put them in his 40,000 person jail. Most of them are gang members and are very bad people. It's unlikely that our criminals would last long there. So, deporting citizens to save jail space. Article is here.
47 is planning to sign an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. What could go wrong? Do we really need an educated work force and electorate?
From Jared Ryan Sears on twtter:
For anyone about to claim that Trump accomplished something with his tariff threats:
-Mexico put 10,000 troops at the border under Biden without the threat of tariffs.
-Canada already announced $1.3 billion for enhanced border security before Trump took office.
Trump caused confusion, a major drop in stock markets, and destroyed our relationship with other nations to gain absolutely nothing.
And if tariffs were so amazing that they would make America rich and lower taxes, what is the plan to solve America's debt now that Trump has abandoned tariffs?
It is all a show to mask Trump's ineptitude.
From The New Republic, we learn the following.
Wired, citing two unnamed sources, reports that Elez has the ability to write code on the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which control government payments that amount to more than a fifth of the U.S. economy. Elez’s level of access could allow him to bypass security measures and possibly cause irreversible damage to these systems. Talking Points Memo further reports that Elez has already used his power to significantly rewrite code for the payment systems.
Elez is one of Musk's boys. Originally we were told that their access would be read only. This is not the case. Elez has admin privileges, he can do anything he wants to do. He could take everyone's Social Security payments and put them in that Sovereign Wealth fund, or send them to Elon, or anything. None of which would be good. This has worried me more than anything else, so far.
But hey! Egg prices are down.
So, that's what I wanted to complain about today.
Fun Times! Yeah, Winter is over around Phoenix too, it was over 80 for the past Two days, which feels glorious, yet makes me know Spring and Summer is gonna be extra toasty and Cacti were exploding from the heat the last two Summers so it is rather looking Apocalyptic when 100 year old Saguaro are exploding and can't take it. As for the fuckery in Washington DC, we knew it was gonna happen and they ramped it up quickly, didn't they, not wasting any time to implement their destruction of America. It is scary, how much of it cannot be undone or will take Decades to run damage control behind at great expense? I just saw some Eggs here up to $13 a Dozen. I see at least you guys still have my Happy Eggs, haven't found them anywhere lately... if I gotta pay a fortune, I'd like the brand I usually Buy. Yes, Walmart treats their Employees dreadfully, The Son had to work there between Construction Jobs and he wouldn't even shop there using his discount becoz of the exploitation. It offends my sense of how Employees should be treated too, but, has become the American way of treating Employees at most places now it seems, so, whaddya gonna do? They are building too much here too and me thinks all these States with catastrophic weather crisis are gonna have mass exodus and end up in Arizona and then we'll run out of Water.
ReplyDeleteAnd now he wants Gaza. The US will own it, the 2 million Palestinians need to leave so we can bulldoze it and Jared can build high end resorts and condos on all that beachfront property for our rich buddies with all that Saudi money he got last time. And fuck the poor in this country and everywhere else. I hope ll those people who refused to vote for Harris over sending Israel weapons are happy with the outcome.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel about Walmart. I feel the same way about ordering from Amazon, and yet I still do it. Ugh. I suppose you saw that now 47 wanted to remove all the Palestinians left alive in Gaza so he can develop it like a resort riviera. "We will own it," he said, or some such. All the folks who didn't vote for Kamala because of Biden's handling of Gaza, I wonder (with a touch of bitterness) what they have to say now.
ReplyDeleteIt's just one thing after another, isn't it?! I just asked Dave how much we pay for eggs -- he says £3.50 for six, so that's about $8.50 for a dozen.
ReplyDeleteIt was scorching hot (for me) here in Yuma with a couple of day's at or over 80F. It has cooled down and we seem to be settling into the mid 70's for the rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteThe only additional concession IQ45 achieved with Canada was the announcement we'll be appointing a border Czar...whatever the f that is. I don't think anyone here in the government knows either.