Trump, please

Today starts the second ten percent of meteorological winter, the most challenging weather-related factor to my mental health. I have wisely mitigated stress to my system by limiting my intake of news to BBC and Canadian sources. I just can’t hack the endless idle speculation of CNN and MSNBC, from the smugness of Scott Jennings to the irrational optimism of Van Jones.

We’re still getting a break from the weather, what with the ample rainfall, above-freezing temperatures and no snow predicted for at least two weeks. Jude and I have been able to button up our outdoor chores. I should be able to finish raking up the maple leaves into our mulch pile today.

With more indoor time on our hands, we’ve been looking for new distractions on TV. We still have a slew of Star Trek: Next Generation episodes recorded, and have just found a new (to us) sci-fi series to follow. HBO is running His Dark Materials, a recent BBC venture. It’s a convoluted plot, but the acting and special effects are terrific. Check it out.

I am compelled to speak up about one political event: the GOP’s faux outrage over Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter. It stinks, to be sure, but Aging Orange is using it as a pretext to pardon the J6 rioters, which he said he was going to do well before this. Biden’s pardon is nowhere near as outrageous as Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon. And Ford did it on the day he knew America would be preoccupied with an event of monumental importance: Evil Knievel trying to jump Snake River Canyon on a motorcycle.