Easy and Hard...

 Do you know that Hardest thing to to do 

And the Right thing to do - are Usually the same thing.

Nothing that has meaning is Easy - 

Easy doesn't enter into Grown-up life....

Sometimes the hardest Roads lead to the most meaningful destinations.......

Nothing

 I don't even know what to say to say about a child that does not even bother to call his Parents on Christmas Day...  and Wait - I know y'all gonna say - "you need to talk to him about it " !!  And that's TRUE......

It's just the way it worked out that we stayed here at home for the Christmas Holiday -  went to neighbor's for Christmas Eve, but we had to plans for the Christmas day....   and ended up cleaning the Traeger grill,  washing some of the Cat Quilts and blankets - much to their dismay as then the don't smell like them ,, and they need to put down a new layer of Cat hair on them....   

We were very happy that two of the Kids call us to share the Grandchildrens toy haul with us,,, and the Grandkids were great showing us what toys that Santa left for them,..... we love that stuff - we can't be there  with everyone , we know that ,,,   -  and it is difficult that we are separated from everyone  but the kids have their own lives and anyway we can't live in 3 places at once ..... -   -  so not Getting to talk to and see the 3 Grandsons really sucks,,,,, I will admit this  hits harder with my wife....   

We did get  a text of  a "Merry Christmas"  and hoping that we enjoy the day from our D-in Law - then thinking  that we would get a call from our Child sometime during the day so we could talk to the Grandchildren -  and ,,,,,,,,,,, NO - nothing - no Calls no Texts no nothing,,,,   Now,  EVERYONE - especially those with Kids are busy as hell on the Eve and the Day - very stressful - I remember ......   But nothing - nothing ???? WTF ....   Forget for a moment what that teaches the children - that you can  just ignore (yea thats what it feels Like ) your Parents....   I do wonder IF my D- In -law calls her parents ??  and that it's all just my son that is the A-hole that can't be bothered ....  

Those of us that a bit older - know that Parents are not around forever..... and so Grandparents follow that path  also - you as a child are fortunate if your parents live to see their grandchildren grow up even a little...    I think the Phenomenon  that these days people need to get a higher education to secure a career that will - hopefully - pay off after College or Tech Schools, or whatever they pursue - so they  find a partner  later in life (not like we did - married at 24 & 19 respectively - and the 1st child  just two years later)  and children after that - means that they are older having kids and so their Parents are obviously older when they become Grandparents - we are by far not the only ones that see this scenario play out,,,  What I mean here is that WE ain't livin forever - and missing saying Merry Christmas one year Does not insure that your parent will be around the NEXT YEAR .... 

I guess that this is the way that I need to address this right now - but  IT can't end here

I can't keep up..........

  Republicans in Congress kick the can down the road to March. Democrats in the House and Senate pitched in and helped pass a stopgap funding continuing resolution to keep the government open until March. It does not include the lifting of the debt ceiling which Trump and Musk wanted to prepare for the next round of borrowing trillions from American taxpayers to give to their billionaire friends as tax cuts. Nor did it cut entitlement programs, which so pissed off rightwing Republicans that 34 of them voted against the bill. But those corrupt Republicans who love the morbidly rich and hate average Americans haven’t given up hope; here’s the operant sentence from the article in today’s Washington Post about the vote: “Johnson  proposed a handshake deal with fiscal hawks in his own party to try next year to slash mandatory spending — programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ health care and food stamps — by at least $2.5 trillion while raising the debt cap by $1.5 trillion, according to three people familiar with the details.” That’s how they plan to get to a $4 trillion tax cut transfer of wealth from all of us to the top 1% this coming spring: Get your popcorn.  - From Thom Hartmann

Why is President Musk endorsing the “German neo-Nazi Party”? Both President Musk and his sidekick Donald Trump are in deep with the Chinese Communist Party (which has given millions to the Trump family and where Musk makes roughly half of his Tesla cars and many of his billions) and Vladimir Putin (both are reported to have had multiple phone calls and other communications with the Russian dictator over the past two years, including Musk cutting off Starlink internet access for Ukrainian drones that were supposed to attack the Russian fleet in Crimea). Musk this week also endorsed the Nazi-infested German racist, far-right party Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) and in the past has endorsed other European hard-right politicians and parties including in France and the UK. Putin’s involved in a major effort to disrupt democratic governments around the world, mainly through using social media and video channels, and it increasingly appears that an anti-democracy coalition is forming here that includes several American and other rightwing billionaires and the Trump operation. Ruth Ben-Ghiat expands on this extensively in her excellent Lucid newsletter this week; it’s well worth the read (and subscribing to). Meanwhile, Senator Rand Paul (R-Crackpot) has suggested Republicans in the House should make Musk their Speaker (and third in the line of succession for the presidency), an idea that’s been endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene and others. The Constitution doesn’t have a citizenship requirement or election requirement for the job, so it’s a real possibility, although probably wouldn’t get the necessary votes if Johnson is taken down. No matter what, though, unless Musk and Trump get into some sort of major personality conflict (which I consider unlikely; Trump just wants to play golf and be loved, while Musk wants to get involved, presumably to protect the billions he gets in federal government grants and subsidies), it looks like the Muskrat is going to be America’s new overlord regardless of having or not having any official position.

Trump is already walking back his promises. Why don’t the headlines simply say, “He Lied”? The main promise Trump made to American voters before the election was that he’d “immediately” lower grocery and other prices. Anybody with even a tiny bit of civics education knows that’s nearly impossible; the president doesn’t control any agency or have any power other than the bully pulpit to affect marketplace prices. Just ask Jerry Ford and Jimmy Carter, who were both one-term presidents largely because of inflation. Nonetheless, Trump repeated that promise over and over and voters believed him. Now, as Todd Beeton points out in his excellent Big Picture newsletter, Trump has dismissed this promise as something he never really intended to do because, as noted, it’s simply not possible. When asked on Meet The Press if he’d keep his promise to lower prices, he replied bluntly, “I can’t promise anything.” Right. He’d also promised he didn’t know anything about Project 2025 and their plans to gut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other popular government programs; now he’s stocking his administration with the actual authors of that document. He’d also promised to end the Ukraine war the day after his election; now it just looks like he’s going to leave that democratic nation and its millions of people to the tender mercies of Russia’s brutal tyrant and his rapist soldiers. Finally, Trump promised not to attack Social Security with his campaign sending out literally millions of flyers to homes in swing states saying he’d protect the program; that’s already in the crapper as the DOGE caucus and Musk’s people are examining the program for cutbacks. Republican Rep. Greg Lopez went so far as to bluntly tell Social Security Works’ president Alex Lawson, ‘there will be some cuts’ to Social Security. The three areas where it appears Trump may keep his promises are putting an anti-vaccine crackpot in charge of our vaccine programs, cutting more taxes for his billionaire donors, and setting out on a revenge spree once he controls the Justice Department. This is going to get ugly fast.

If you think it BAD now,.....

Will the next Potus sign off on throwing millions of Americans off their health insurance and raising the rates for the rest of us ?

A new report from the  Congressional Budget Office (CBO) notes that if Republicans’ get their desire to expire the “enhanced premium tax credits” from the Inflation Reduction Act that help people underwrite the cost of their health insurance, “3.8 million [people], on average, in each year over the 2026-2034 period” will lose their insurance and “insurers will raise premiums for the remaining enrollees.”

 No surprise here; as any Republican will tell you,  billionaires don’t need help with health insurance, why should the rest of us get assistance? Cynthia Cox, vice president and Affordable Care Act policy researcher at KFF, told CBS News that if Republicans let the tax credits expire, millions of Americans “could go from paying no more than 8.5% of their income to easily paying 20% or more. I imagine a lot of those folks would drop coverage.” 

 Maybe y'all don't know - but YOU can buy American products  RIGHT NOW -  I don't know why this was ever even a talking point - cause you can - and always have been able to NOT buy imported goods. 

Ok -there are some things that you can't ... Avocados and Pineapples,,  some of that sorta stuff - I don't think there is an American product - and there are certainly other products that are not made .grown, etc in the USA  BUT you don't need to wait for Tariffs to "kick in" - you can buy AMERICAN - NOW - and you always have been able to.... ...

look you already know the price will be higher on an American made good  - ex. the Ford F150 - arguably the BEST pick up truck out there - with the Dodge RAM 1500 and the Chevy mid level trucks -  the F150 is American Made - and priced Higher then the other 2 but it's American ..  Mens shirts - American $30-$50 - made in the Dominican - $15-$20....  so Inspect the Labels - use Google , learn to  

There are things you will have hard time finding American made - Televisions, many electronics,, Phones, Steel, Many toys - aka Matell, Mens dress shirts, Most Silverware, Lightbulbs, ,  

Here are some links to help you - 

https://authenticity50.com/

https://www.allamericanclothing.com/

https://toddshelton.com/

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/02/made-in-america/index.htm

Go to Cultivate. https://www.wecultivate.us/shop  to Find American Products of many varities.. 

• Check the label

  Look for a label that says "Made in the USA" on the product itself, price tag, or cleaning instructions tag. 
• Use an app

  The Cultivate app can help you find American-made products when shopping online from sites like Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. 
• Support American brands

  Look for products from American brands, such as American Giant, Elizabeth Suzann, or All-Clad. 
• Shop local

  Consider shopping small, micro, handmade, and local businesses

Pardon me >!?>!?

 A few things on Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter....

- IF you spoke up about the last Potus pardoning  among others :  - Roger Stone ( Convicted of  obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering.)  Paul Manafort :  sent to prison  for conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice for attempting to tamper with witnesses. Rod R. Blagojevich - convicted of  trying to sell the senate seat - previously occupied by Barak Obama.  and Charles Kushner- his daughters Father-in-Law.  tax evasion, Witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions.  And you were taken back by Trump suggesting pardoning people convicted for their roles in the Insurrection attempt on Jan 6.  Then you can bark about Joe pardoning Hunter.

 - IF you did not find Trump's pardons offensive - then you need to sit this one out.  Hunter if you remember had a plea deal on these charges that was taken back by a judge overseeing the case. And most certainlly would never had been brought against him IF his last name was not Biden.

I am glad he did it - not dancing in the streets glad - but given that the POTUS elect will be pardoning the Jan 6th Felons - I do not think Biden could forgive himself if he did not help his own son. 

Secondly - IF the Democrats were smart  , perhaps even worked this out ahead of time,...  - and I am not suggesting they are or did  - they would go into  Congress today (or when ever the next sessions is... ) and say that the Presidential Pardon thing has gone far enough  and at the very least needs to be limited in that a POTUS cannot pardon or commute a sentence of a Family member - or extended Family member and/or people that have direct ties to that POTUS (that the crimes committed Benefitted the POTUS)   -  And then  watch the Republicans hem and haw at that one.........