The Art of the Deal

 I meant to post yesterday, but... I think I am coming down with/having a cold; felt chilly yesterday and today, had a runny nose, felt bleh, etc... so I just went to bed, and I think I will be hitting the hay again soon tonight.  This, when combined with the stomach rumbling... well, it has been something of a downer.  At least I was able -- on my lunch break -- to hit the MD's office and personally deliver my prescriptions to them (new year, new plan).  After the muckups of last year...well, I am taking no chances, and it is not like I have a tremendous amount of confidence in their ability to handle these now.  Alas.

We Have an 'Affordability Crisis' and It's Slamming Our Food Budgets – PJ Media
This is exactly correct, and I think few people (in the media) seem to grasp this.  I mean, I am pretty cheap, and eat simply, but most people cannot, and combined with all of the other expenses... well, this is a problem.  Plus, interest rates are quite high, so if you have a credit card balance, a HELOC, etc., those things are up...or, more likely, it is harder to pay them down and the interest piles up.  Again, some GOPer should be going out and campaigning on this, but if we had any brains...

Trump says Civil War ‘could have been negotiated.’ Historians disagree. (msn.com)
As I told one of my former coworkers, as always, his genius is underrated, as Trump was able concisely explain the 1920s historiography of Civil War history!  More accurately, Trump is correct, but these compromises (see Crittenden Compromise - Wikipedia) would have included say, the permanence of slavery, "super-duper" amendments to the Constitution, and a host of other things objectionable to the modern viewer.  Of course, in the 20s -- after the "uselessness" of WWI, a minimal view of the Civil Rights movement (thanx President Wilson!) -- this argument had a certain level of resonance.  Then, WWII -- wars do solve things -- and the Civil Rights movement came and... well, such compromises were... what I will politely call "quaint."

Yes, men and boys are in crisis — but traditional masculinity won't help them (msn.com)
This could be me, but the lack of traditional masculinity is the problem, as men and boys can't/won't step in to provide the leadership they used to.  This is fine, but no one else seems to want to step up and handle it, so...nothing happens.  As I sometimes say at the food pantry (to the amusement of all), me and my toxic masculinity will go and handle it... because no one else has done so.  To me, that is the essential element of masculinity -- doing the right thing no matter what.  Course, we are not Hope and Changers here, so... that is expected of us, as it should be.