ONE LITTLE LIGHT (November 17/166)

When the economy is good, people drink. When the economy is bad people drink. The moral of the story? Invest in alcohol. 

GOOD NEWS BAD NEWS marmie had to admit he has no economic/financial genius as he grudgingly lowers tariffs on coffee, beef and fruit. Apparently, a harbinger of our economic health is based on the price of bananas-yeah, I didn't know that either. However, he is blaming it all on Biden of course as he still does not understand that Americans are paying for the tariffs which he is humorously stating he will gift a $2000 tariff windfall to the public. Love it as he is paying us back with our own money and we should be grateful. On top of trying to address grocery costs they are also controlling those who buy food by making EVERYONE reapply for SNAP benefits. We need to stop pretending this is such a rich country as obviously many millions are suffering not defrauding. 

I noticed that my cup of coffee that was $1.75 a week ago is now $2.00 resulting in no 25-cent tip for the pourer. Restaurants are charging about $3 for a plain black coffee, but at least you get refills. I usually walk out of these places wired as hell and in desperate need of a restroom. When they offer a to go cup I valiantly struggle to find more room to get my money's worth. My Mom used to complain that restaurants had the audacity to charge for her coffee with a meal. Thank god she's not around today.... for many reasons, although the airways of Grand Rapids would probably love to hear from uber liberal "Shirley from Kentwood" lol.

Meanwhile our experienced cities have been quietly training others. Charlotte NC is currently targeted and being inundated by gnomie's thugs. They have been taking advice from Portland and Chicago.  Who would have thought it would come to this? Everyone who voted for sanity. Advocacy groups surrounding, warning and recording; neighbors shopping for those afraid to leave their homes; support for businesses suffering from raids and lost business. No mistake, this is war. 

SPORTING OR NOT Our hapless MSU football team managed to stumble their way to another loss against Penn who has the exact same miserable record...at home no less. Meanwhile they self-reported Coach tuck-tuck's recruiting violations resulting in losing any credit for games lost for three years under his tutelage-big whoop. That blue/maize group on the other hand gets caught in scandal after scandal from alumni bonuses, trips and cheating violations and get a "don't do that again" wink wink? What a difference being a "contender" makes in the scheme of things. Of course, MSU is getting sued by tuck-tuck, so probably helps their case to be "transparent". Ironic as this is the guy who sexually harassed the woman he hired to teach his players how NOT to sexually harass women. Meanwhile the kid who will discover the cure for cancer is struggling to pay for classes as "student" athletes enjoy a free ride plus plus. Since we are paying for athletes these days, seems like they should be able to deliver the goods, i.e., win some games. Am I anti-woke or what?

But like all MSU alum and Lansing residents at this point in the year we comfort ourselves by saying "well, there's always basketball". Thanks Coach Izzo! Apparently, he recruited a 5-star 7-footer being sought by dozens, so that means Iz's got to stay at least another season or two.

ONE OF THEM FACES  Happened again. The grandson and I were perusing little shops in a nearby town and as I was admiring some artwork the artist said I looked familiar; insisting she knew me. Don't know if this happens to most folks, but this happens to me a lot. My theories are: I traveled a lot in my job; I was usually the sole safety female in large groups; I may have worked with them as the sole safety skate in large entities; I chat easily; I have one of those faces. But my real and hopeful thought is we don't slow down enough to really look and engage with people. We look past them, and we don't really see each other. I find it easy to do small talk after all my years investigating and interviewing. I want to believe we really want to be closer to the people we meet, even briefly, and if that makes them think they knew me from before so be it. I am happy to be that little light now and then. Hopefully, we can all slow down a little bit and pass on the glow of human contact.  Or crap, they really do know me, and I better figure out why!!! Going incognito is not an option. Peace out/stay strong  💚   💙💛

Someone, I believe it was probably Socrates, said "you can't make everyone happy. You're not a bunny."