Cutting Away

I had my first biopsy today... I have this rash/like thing on my knee; my MD said it looked like psoriasis, and suggested a dermatologist.  Off I went this morning, and she was like... maybe.  Or, it looks like psoriasis, but I don't really have any of the other symptoms, so... let's cut me open and look.  I had to agree, not that I was a huge fan -- why don't we treat it as psoriasis and then worry about it later, but as someone who loves ever pimple-popping video ever made, I couldn't say no.  So there it was.  The injection of the painkiller was worse than the procedure -- sort of stung a bit -- but I was completely numb when they spliced me open.  It bled through the bandage -- change and clean daily, monitor for worse -- but has no other issues for me (so far).  Rah.

I watched the Trump tariff presser -- work was interested, I assure you -- and it was quite interesting.  As for the tariffs... I noted that China has been cheating for years, and no one is going to complain that they are getting hammered by this.  Trump -- for all his flaws -- can really do a press conference.  The thing with the placard with all of the countries -- not just the dirty 15 now! -- was classic, as was the part about bringing up the auto worker.  I mentioned that my dad was a UAW member and Democrat, and he was spinning in the urn that a GOP President was doing something to save the US auto industry...but also that this explains how the shift in the GOP base -- from rich white guys to the working class.  I will admit that the man has his flaws, but for a certain part of the electorate... after the results of yesterday -- warning lights for the GOP -- this might be a solution.  Less Elon, more exposure of government waste, and some Trump doing his thing.  Will it work?  Meh.  I think we have seen -- many times -- that an angry minority can get out the vote more than the current party, with disastrous results.  Given how narrow the GOP majority is...

Food stamp nation - Don Surber
As I approach the 20th anniversary of my food pantry service, I can say that this is completely correct, and that this is something that we can easily -- well, fairly easily -- fix.  Now, do we want to?  Probably not, though if there is a time to do it, now would be, given the Trump push to cut government spending and the MAHA movement.