Christmas is Closing in

Poinsettia Plantings
Tequesta, FL
November 18, 2024

 I was able to get bike yesterday, even though the wind was strong and in places made me wonder why I decided to head out. I walked Finnegan a mile-and-a-half before the ride and I had failed to eat breakfast. Don't know how that happened. Well, about 10 miles into my ride I realized that I was low on energy and, as it was about 11:30 AM, I shortened my ride and headed home to get some lunch. Coffee is just not good for powering a body into the middle portion of the day. 

Along the way I did see more poinsettia plantings to bring a splash of color to the upcoming holiday season. Most of the usual flower plantings are past their prime and the poinsettias provide as needed kick-start to the gardens. 

Chris and I are about to start our holiday season travel gymnastics. She returns today from the baby shower trip and we leave Sunday to head back for Thanksgiving. We will be there two weeks and then return to Florida for about two weeks before heading back for Christmas and an undefined stay in Maryland while waiting for the arrival of our fourth grandchild, who is also our fourth grandson. Gonna be a wild ride. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday Musings - November 18, 2024

 

1. Well, it has arrived. The last Monday before the beginning of the holiday travel season. There are just six Mondays remaining in the year and starting next week the rocket sled ride towards the new year gets into high gear. 

2. Thanksgiving is as late as possible this year. That means---a short Christmas season and more stress. 

3. Family NFL Report. Family teams went 2-3 with the Cowboys playing tonight. The Ravens lost a nail biter to the Steelers, again!.

Cowboys (3-6) tackle Texans (6-4),tonight

Steelers (8-2) survived Ravens (7-4), 18-16

Commanders (7-4) got whipped by Eagles (8-2) 18-26 on Thursday 

Dolphins (4-6) swam past Raiders (4-4), 34-19

Chiefs (9-1) stampeded by Bills (9-2), 21-30

4. For those of you who maintained that Project 2025 was not Trump's plan, see the article in the Washington Post, linked below, about the FCC pick. Project 2025 envisions sweeping changes to economic and social policies and the federal government and its agencies. The plan proposes taking partisan control of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Commerce (DOC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), dismantling the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and abolishing the Department of Education (ED), whose programs would be transferred or terminated.^[26][27]  (Wikipedia) I recommend getting familiar with Project 2025 because it seems to be the basis for what is coming to America.

5. Today in History. On a day like today, the first case of a person infected with Covid-19 was confirmed in the Chinese province of Hubei.

On November 17, 2019, the first case of a person infected with Covid-19 was confirmed: a 55-year-old adult from the city of Hubei, China, although at that time the authorities refused to confirm that it was patient zero.

China was able to reach the first known case of Covid-19 in the world, after an in-depth investigation that finally managed to track the patient and map the early contagion pattern, two months before the local outbreak turned into a pandemic.

On December 27 of that year, the doctor of the Provincial Hospital of Chinese and Western Integrated Medicine, Zhang Jixián, had reported to the authorities about new infectious conditions caused by a new type of coronavirus.

Ukraine's allies in disarray as Trump presidency draws near Show all - CNN

Analysis Trump doubles down on controversial Cabinet picks - CNN

India’s successful test of hypersonic missile puts it among elite group - CNN

Long-range strikes against Russia: too late to save Ukraine? - Reuters

US no-frills pioneer Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy protection - Reuters

Oil prices tick higher as Russia-Ukraine tensions escalate - Reuters

Trump picks Brendan Carr, who laid out agenda in Project 2025, as FCC chairman - The Washington Post

As it enters polar night, this Alaska town won’t see sunrise for 64 days - The Washington Post

No, Trump Cannot Run for Re-election Again in 2028 - The New York Times

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Worrisome Choices

 One of the biggest concerns that I had about the president-elect was who would he surround himself with as advisors and cabinet leaders. 

I think the answer is coming in fairly clearly: patsies. 

He is not willing to find experts or even people with experience to run important departments such as defense, justice, and the interior. He is selecting, in at least two cases, people with no experience but who will do his bidding. 

Is anyone else concerned about this? 

On top of unqualified appointees, Trump may be planning to subvert the advice and consent of the Senate by trying for recess appointments--there is something just wrong about that, and also skipping security vetting from the FBI. 

About the announcement for DNI, Director of National Intelligence:

As former Illinois representative Joe Walsh wrote: “Donald Trump just picked someone to oversee our intelligence who, herself, couldn’t pass a security clearance check. She couldn’t get security clearance. She couldn’t get a job in our intelligence community. Because she’s too compromised by Russia. Yet Trump picked her to run the whole thing.” (Letters from an American)

What is happening? Trump seems to be knee-capping Defense, Justice, and the Intelligence Community. 

I saw this coming.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Along the River

Over the Loxahatchee
Tequesta, FL
November 15, 2024

 I realized that my bike ride is generally defined by some body of water. It might be the ICW, or the Loxahatchee River, or even the ocean; but I am never far from water. 

I enjoy riding over the bridges and looking for the tidal level and the wildlife. Even along the ICW and the ocean there is always activity. 

Yesterday's ride was an interesting one. As can be seen in the image, the sky was partly overcast, but there were blue patches. This was just about 2 miles into my almost 18 mile ride. Within the next few miles, the sky becomes completely overcast and at times I wondered if I might get rained on. Fortunately, there was no rain, just an ever strengthening wind that was very cool and at times made the ride difficult. 

But in reality, it was just another great day in Florida. Chris is in Maryland today and she reported the morning temperature in the 40s. It was cool here too, the morning temperature was 67. Too cool to go to the beach, but it will warm to almost 80 later. 

What a difference a thousand miles makes. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

More Festive Decorations

Poinsettias at Publix
Tequesta, FL
November 10, 2024

 I know I wrote about this last year, but using poinsettias for outdoor Christmas plantings is a thing here where we do not get frost. 

The poinsettias are out everywhere brightening up the season with their red festive bracts. 

The splash of poinsettia red makes even the most unassuming garden announce that Christmas is coming!

I enjoy watching the transformation of the gardens for the holiday season and seeing the use of a typically indoors only plant (up north) in outdoors garden plantings. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

The Festivities Begin

 

Tiki52 Decorations
Tequesta, FL
November 12, 2024

We went back to our favorite Tuesday evening restaurant which is collocated with a marina. The holiday season's decorations were already illuminated brightening up the uncovered seating area. They added a festive mood to the area. We sat under the Tiki Roof to shield ourselves from the wind, which was not as bad as the previous week, for an enjoyable outing. 

Wall Under Repair
Tiki52
November 12, 2024

I appreciate the Christmas light wrapped palm trees. It is quite a production to wrap a palm tree--sometime they use a bucket lift to also wrap the fronds. 

This was the same restaurant where I pointed out the vandalization last week. Well, I can report that the holes are being fixed, but sadly even the new plaster has been vandalized. I just do not understand the immaturity of some people. 

This is why we cannot have nice things!

Newly Vandalized Wall
Tiki52
November 12, 2024

I worry that as the rails come off our society that there will be more of this needless vandalization. I remember when I visited Moscow during August 1992 that the vandalization was so prevalent that car owners took their windshield wipers off unless it was raining and every gas tank had a lock.

It should be noted that I retouched the image to remove two offensive words which were not consistent with the content of my blog. The subject is the vandalization, not the actual words that were carved into the new plaster. 

Well, at least the holiday lights and the food were enjoyable. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Information Warfare

 It seemingly has become a way of life in America. False news and disinformation are everywhere. The recent election demonstrated the effectiveness of the false news agencies in convincing Americans that we, as a country and a society, are bottom barrel and trash. 

If a majority believe it, it must be true--right? Not so. It remains not true, but the following information does demonstrate how disinformation affected the election outcome.

There is data from a Reuters/Ipsos poll in October that shows just how damaging the information gap is. People who are in possession of truthful, accurate information voted overwhelmingly for Harris. In other words, if you believed violent crime in major American cities was at an all-time high—which is not true—you were far more likely to vote Republican. Voters who knew that inflation had declined over the last year and was close to historic averages were +53 Democratic votes. Perhaps most disturbingly, people who did not have truthful information about undocumented people crossing the southern border were more likely to vote Republican.

(Civil Discourse)

If Americans were making decisions based upon disinformation then who won the election? Well, that does not change, but America will change. 

I am a bit frightened because our president-elect has stated that he will fulfill every promise he made. 

We can't afford them. And I thought Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility?

Figure 1 summarizes Trump’s campaign promises and their corresponding revenue estimates (collected by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget).

(Forbes)

And so it begins. The sad thing is that the people who elected him will be the ones who may suffer most. BTW, I heard him say something like that in a campaign speech.

Almost every economic policy Trump proposes would, at best, do little for the middle and working classes and, at worst, outright harm them. To take one example, among the random suggestions Trump has made is to make car insurance interest tax deductible. But that would only benefit you if you already itemize your deductions, and only 10% of taxpayers itemize, most of whom are wealthier. The rest of us take the standard deduction, which was significantly increased in that 2017 tax cut Trump wants to extend.  (MSNBC)

Well, the ride into misty future has already begun.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Ending the Day

 

Sailing Across the Sunset
Tequesta, FL
November 11, 2024

With the shorter days that are now in play, the sun sets earlier. 

Chris and I headed off to the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) last evening to watch the sunset. We had not visited there in a while, as we often go to an eastward facing beach rather than sit along the ICW facing west directly into the setting sun. 

Jet Ski in the Sunset
Tequesta, FL
November 11, 2024

The ICW beach was more crowded than I expected, but I forgot that it was Veterans Day and many people had a holiday to enjoy. I kind of miss the excitement of a three-day weekend, but since every day is like a weekend I sometimes forget that holidays mean more people on the beaches. 

We arrived about 50 minutes before sunset. The sun was directly in our eyes as we waited for the anticipated event. Once the sun dropped below the buildings the real fun began as the sky and clouds began to reflect the ever-reddening rays. It was a grand show and the Jupiter Lighthouse soon became the focal point of our attention. I was amazed at the number of jet skis on the water even as it became dark and hard to see. I guess they weren't ready to end what had been an almost idyllic weather day in South Florida. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Monday Musings - November 11, 2024

 

Veterans Day. 

Say thank-you to a Veteran.

Gobble Till You Drop
Tequesta, FL
November 10, 2024

1. As the year careens to a close, we have arrived at the second Monday of November. There are seven Mondays remaining in 2024. 

2. Family NFL Report. Family teams went 3-2 with the Dolphins playing tonight. The Cowboys have apparently mailed in the rest of their season.

Cowboys (3-6) were massacred by the Eagles (7-2), 6-34

Steelers (7-2) slipped by Commanders (7-3), 28-27 

Ravens (7-3) slipped past Bengals (4-6), 35-34

Dolphins (2-6) visit Rams (4-4) tonight 

Chiefs (8-0) overcame Broncos (5-5), 16-14

3. Chris and I saw this haunting Thanksgiving lawn decoration yesterday on our bike ride. The skeleton was used for Halloween, but has been updated for Thanksgiving with the shirt that reads: Gobble Till You Drop! 

4. I am amazed at the difference this Monday brings over last Monday. Last Monday the world had hope that America would continue to be the leader of democracy for freedom loving people; today that hope is gone as we even now begin to look inward for the imagined "enemy within." Until this morning's news I had hope that the House of Representatives might be under Democratic control, but looking at the numbers, that seems unlikely now and so there are literally no rails on the president-elect and his plans to remake America into his own image. Well, it may not be his own image, but rather Viktor Orbán's image. 

5. My post-election unanswered question is: Why did about 12 million Americans stay home and not vote? 

6. Today in History. On a day like today, in 1918, the Armistice of Compiègne was signed in France between the Allies and Germany, with the aim of ending hostilities on the western front of the First World War. The main signatories were Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander-in-chief of the Triple Entente forces, and the German representative, Matthias Erzeberger.

About 9 million soldiers lost their lives, 21 million were wounded and almost 10 million civilians died, indirectly, victims of the war. The two most affected countries were Germany and France, which sent approximately 80% of their male population between the ages of 15 and 49 to the battlefield.

After the armistice, in 1919 the peace treaty of Versailles was signed, in which Germany was obliged to reduce its troops by half, pay large compensations to the victorious countries, cede all its colonies and return Alsace-Lorraine to France. However, the treaty was unsuccessful: Germany said that it had signed the armistice under false pretexts, believing that peace was a "peace without winners." Germany's resentment towards the treaty and its authors is considered one of the causes of World War II, which occurred two decades later.

Trump is already causing massive disruption - CNN

Ukraine’s war effort faces uncertain future as Russia mounts record drone strikes - CNN

Tens of thousands of Chinese college students went cycling at night. That put the government on edge - CNN

Notre-Dame’s bells ring out for the first time since the devastating 2019 fire - CNN

Source says Trump told Putin not to escalate in Ukraine, Kremlin denies they spoke - Reuters

Oil falls as China stimulus fails to boost sentiment, US dollar strength - Reuters

New Zealand Maori begin march on capital to protest Indigenous treaty bill - Reuters

Trump Victory Leaves China Calling the Shots at COP29 - The Wall Street Journal

What Trump Can—and Can’t—Do on Day One - The Wall Street Journal

Republicans inch toward ‘trifecta’ control of House, Senate, White House - The Washington Post

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

Rough Football Day and Stuff

Stuart Airshow Fireworks and Drone Display
Stuart, FL
November 8, 2024

 Chris and I have begun watching college football on Saturdays when the Georgia Bulldogs are playing. 

I also continue to cheer for Syracuse and Maryland. 

Yesterday was a trifecta of misery: all three lost. 

Syracuse is having a solid season and should get a bowl invite as they are 6-3.  Georgia's loss probably takes them out of contention for the playoffs and a possible National Championship as they fell to 7-2. Maryland is mired in another so-so season at 4-5. 

I added an image from the fireworks and drone show the ended the first evening of the Stuart Airshow Friday night. It was so spectacular that I had to show more of it. The addition of drones, and at one point a piloted aircraft, really kicks the whole show up a notch. 

Today is football Sunday. The Ravens, thankfully, have already secured their win for the week on Thursday night. The other family teams are in action today and tomorrow. 

Do not forget that tomorrow is Veterans Day! Hug a veteran! OK, just say thank you for your service. For those who have a holiday tomorrow--enjoy the day. Veterans Day was when I used to set up the outside Christmas lights and decorations, although we did not light them until after Thanksgiving. Living in a condo, we do not have outside decorations anymore.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL