I often wonder how these scam telephone solicitors sleep at night.

They are not offering a worthwhile good or service and they know that. Yet, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, they strap on a headset and try to trick people into parting with their hard-earned money.

If you’re like me, you get repeated calls from these people; an unnecessary annoyance that never is going to be quelled by do-not-call lists. Those lists are, by definition, only effective when the company is reputable, sort of like how stringent gun legislation only tends to restrict the law-abiding while giving criminals free rein

To repeat, the telephone scammers are pitching garbage and they know it. They do not have plausible deniability. They are fully aware that they are crooks and charlatans, and yet they keep doing it, seemingly without remorse

Along a similar line, how can working class people, the traditional bedrock of the Democratic Party, continue to support what their party has become; this current amalgamation of elitists, fringe crazies and outright socialists whose wet dream is to destroy the U.S. morally and economically?

Democrats these days profess to be trying to protect democracy. How do they propose to do that?

By trying to get Donald Trump barred from appearing on ballots for the fall’s presidential election.

By having many of their deep-pocketed donors, people who have made money in capitalism and now profess to abhor it, funding pathetic Trump Republican challengers such as Nikki (Nimarata Randhawa) Haley

By crossing party lines in primaries to vote for Trump opposition.

By lining up like sheep to support cadaver Joe Biden, yet having the temerity to suggest Trump is losing his mental faculties due to age.

By projecting all their obvious failings – lying, cheating, stealing, for example – onto their opponents.

By acting like things are great, both domestically and internationally, and only would get better with four more years of Biden.

By going with the obviously insane supposition that cackling VP Kamala Harris is up to the challenge of taking over in the likely event Biden can’t make it through this term, or another.

By screaming Russia, Russia, Russia, insurrection, insurrection, insurrection, but being perfectly OK with the Biden family’s foreign entanglements, not to mention the foibles of minor league artist Hunter.

The Republican hierarchy isn’t much better. Perhaps you have read how Arizona’s state GOP chair has resigned after Trump ally Kari Lake came forth with recordings of how the guy tried to bribe her to stay out of politics for two years because “there are very powerful people who want to keep you out.”

Lake went public and the chairman left the scene. Why do “powerful people” want Lake out of the spotlight? Perhaps because, like Trump, she calls it as she sees it and that doesn’t make the elitists on either side comfortable.

This is one of the things about Trump that appeals to me, how he takes on Republican and Democratic elites with equal gusto and because of that is disliked by both in a large measure.

His 2016 win was arguably the greatest victory in U.S. politics because he beat his own party as well as the opposition. If Trump can repeat that in 2024, it would be an even greater shocker.

Trump was, and is, right about the Washington Swamp, a mishmash of bipartisan types and unelected bureaucrats sharing power and putting it to the American populace along the way.

There are good Republicans, likely a larger percentage than good Democrats, but there are far too many bad apples in each barrel.

And you are right to wonder how these disingenuous types — in both parties — sleep at night knowing what they are.

It’s accountability time. The four weekend NFL playoff picks I proffered here last week ended up at breakeven – two correct and two incorrect.

The daily breakdown was 1-1 Saturday and 1-1 Sunday.

It all began with Houston, a 9.5-point underdog I’d picked to play close vs. Baltimore, failing to do so. I got it half right. The Texans were locked in a 10-all tie at the half, and easily could have been ahead if their placekicker hadn’t misfired on an attempt late in the half.

But, give the Ravens credit, they buried the Texans in the second half on the way to a 34-10 victory.

In the second game Saturday, I liked Green Bay getting 9.5 points vs. San Francisco and save for a late collapse, the Packers could have won outright. As it was, Green Bay could not overcome a fourth-quarter field-goal miss (sound familiar) and interception, allowing the 49ers to carry the fourth quarter by a 10-0 margin and win the game, 24-21.

Still, it was an easy cover for those of us liking the Packers and the points.

Sunday was a repeat of sorts. I’d liked Tampa Bay getting 6 points vs. Detroit and thought the Bucs had a chance to win outright, although I did not pick that.

My calculus did not predict Baker Mayfield tossing two interceptions and yet another field-goal miss by an underdog I’d picked to cover.

Add it all together and you could understand how the Bucs just failed to cover, losing 31-23, a final that included a basically inexplicable unsuccessful two-point conversion try on the final Tampa Bay touchdown.

It was ironic that the underdog I felt strongest about, even predicting an outright win, came through. That would be the Kansas City Swifts. If there is a God in football heaven, Baltimore will beat the Swifts next week in the AFC championship game and we’ll be spared more cloying coverage of the tight end’s gal pal after the game.

Regardless, my main reason for picking KC — an injury-riddled Buffalo defense — was spot on as the Chiefs scored on almost every possession when it counted.

I was incorrect that Bills QB Josh Allen would would be bit by the turnover bug, not that he didn’t try with a near interception or two and a fumble of his that the Bills were able to recover.

Last, I suspected KC would get the benefit of close calls, but that ended up being about a wash.

In the end, the Chiefs backed my faith in them by winning outright, 27-24, but that only helped me to finish the weekend at a break-even 2-2. As I explained in the picks blog post, this would lose you money as a gambler due to the bookie’s juice.

The early betting lines on the two conference championship games next Sunday are Detroit plus-7 points at San Francisco and Kansas City plus-3.5 at Baltimore.

My preliminary take is to like both favorites. But I’ll be pondering that throughout the week.

An important part of the transition into senior citizenry is learning to lament being on a “fixed income” as though it’s a cross between indentured servitude and guaranteed poverty.

Growing up, I heard “fixed income” often, especially from my paternal grandparents – he being a retired employee of the Pennsylvania Railroad and she having been a stay-at-home wife.

But the whole “fixed income” label is meaningless without context, sort of like Obama’s hope and change. One can hope for vile things, which isn’t a positive for society. As for change, going from rich to poor, healthy to unhealthy, employed to unemployed all are changes, but are they really desirable?

We got a lot of change under Obama and little of it was beneficial.

In reality, most working people can be said to be on fixed incomes. With the exception of those on commissions or other incentives, they don’t have the option of giving themselves a raise, short of getting a second job. More on that later.

A person collecting a pension of $500,000 a year could be said to be on a fixed income. Should they be whining as if it meant they were poor? Not really; at least not in my neighborhood.

Even with the typical much lower retirement payments, the fixed income tag doesn’t begin to factor in that things such as Social Security and some pensions aren’t really fixed at all, including as they do the opportunity for annual Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs). My Social Security annual payment since I retired has witnessed COLA increases totaling 23.5 percent and the increase in my direct deposit due to those has been greater than that figure because each successive percentage increase comes on a larger base.

My pensions, pathetically small as they are cumulatively, do not have COLAs. Since they are such chump change, it really doesn’t matter.

Another aspect of Social Security, often glossed over by the fixed-income crowd, is that the government retirement plan never was designed to fund retirement in total. The preferred metaphor is a three-legged stool of Social Security, pensions and individual savings as being the financial support for retirement.

When I decided newspapers were in general decline and no longer enjoyable places to work, I began cramming 20 percent or more of my annual pay into my 401(k) to facilitate early retirement. That was my combination savings/pension to add to the Social Security of me and my wife.

This, and a pathetically small buyout offer from Tribune-Review Publishing (a half year’s salary and a full year of subsidized medical care), allowed me to retire in March 2009 at the relatively young age of 53 years and change.

Note, at that age I didn’t qualify for Social Security or pensions and we were in the years before the Affordable Care Act so my medical insurance cost me and my wife more than $1,500 a month once that year of subsidized care expired. Also any withdrawals from my retirement savings came with a 10 percent penalty, plus taxes.

I do not recall whining about being on fixed income, or eating dog food to save money. I did work some part-time or seasonal jobs, including one that required me to get a health insurance license and provide support to customers from various out-of-state providers such as Blue Cross of South Carolina.

It can be done. I know, because I did it. This makes me a tad less than sympathetic to those who automatically equate the so-called “fixed income” with poverty.

My costs for food, utilities, energy are going up, just as yours are. The admittedly small premiums I pay for the Medicare prescription drug plans for my wife and me doubled in 2024.

This inflationary trend is, in part, the legacy of politicians of both parties spending first and wondering how to pay for it all later. It’s a legacy of a Federal Reserve enabling such things with excess money creation and near-zero interest rates that it kept in place for too long to facilitate fiscal overspending by the government and the populace.

Regardless of all that, my point is if you are retired, or looking to retire, and failed to save for that event, shame on you. Don’t bemoan so-called “fixed income” for your plight.

There are few things tougher than consistently picking NFL winners against the point spread.

I know, you’ve seen countless ads from people professing to be able to do this and they are willing to share their picks with you – for a price. This is a variation of investment gurus, who sell their money-making advice so that you might rake in the profits with them.

A basic question screams to be asked of these people: Why not just bet on the picks, or make the investments, yourself and get rich?

A followup is, if you’ve cracked the code to success, why share it?

If someone answers this latter inquiry with some sort of altruistic line, turn on your BS detector and run away.

I tell you this because there will be heavy betting action on the four NFL divisional round playoff games this weekend and the only people virtually guaranteed to make money are the gambling sites or traditional bookies taking the bets.

Despite this, there will be massive numbers of people lining up to plunk down their money. It is yet another example of the triumph of hope over experience.

Back in the late 1970s I was working at the Tribune-Democrat when the paper began printing a Sunday edition. Our Steelers beat writer left soon thereafter and I was the guy who filled that role off-and-on for the next 12 years or so.

The editor wanted someone to pick all NFL games against the spread each Sunday, but said I could pass if I didn’t want to do it. Realizing even then that it was a fool’s errand, I said no, thanks.

As it turns out, this was one of those typical management questions, offering you an apparent choice, as long as you picked their preferred option. If you didn’t, well, tough luck, you’re going to have to do it regardless.

My recollection was I never finished under .500 for a season doing this. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’d have made money following me. To beat the bookies, you have to win 53 percent of the time if it’s 11/10 (bet $11 to win $10) vigorish (juice) which is the bookie’s fee. At 6/5 juice the win rate must be higher to make money.

Critics came out of the woodwork when my picks began to run. They all did better than me, or so they said. One particular guy, who did some freelance sports radio work, was particularly insistent.

I told him everyone can pick winners after the games are played, but if he would submit his picks beforehand, I’d run them as an add-on at the end my weekly picks. I gave him the pseudonym “Mr. Microphone.”

Alas, Mr. Microphone was diligent for a few weeks in submitting his picks, didn’t do so well, and faded into the ether.

I tell you all this not to paint myself as some sort of gambling guru. I did a little sports betting through an online site after I retired. I made a small amount of money gambling only by taking advantage of their promotions and winning money on free plays with blackjack, roulette and the like. When the promotions waned as such sites stopped throwing away money to acquire and keep new players, I got out of the online gambling game.

Besides, it’s much easier filing taxes without the additional forms required to account for gambling income.

And so, I don’t bet, but I do like to pick the games, just to amuse myself.

It struck me when I first checked out the lines for the four NFL games this weekend that I liked the underdog in each.

With all the caveats enumerated above, I would pick:

Houston plus 9.5 points at Baltimore because Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has a habit of coming up small in big games (0-2 in past divisional rounds with 1 TD pass and 3 interceptions). Baltimore still wins, but not by enough to cover.

Green Bay plus 9.5 points at San Francisco because Packers QB Jordan Love has been amazing making plays under duress and the Packers have won outright their past four games as underdogs. No win this time, but like the above game, Packers keep it close.

Tampa Bay plus 6 points at Detroit because the Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years last week and I think they might have quite the emotional hangover from that. I would not be shocked if Tampa Bay won the game outright, but I like the Bucs a lot getting six points.

Kansas City plus 2.5 points at Buffalo because a) The Bills defense, especially the secondary, is riddled with injuries. b) Bills QB Josh Allen is due for another turnover outburst. c) The NFL’s ongoing love affair with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Swifts means Buffalo starts the game behind. Kansas City wins outright.

The text arrived last night, suspicious stuff with an “LOL,” an internet link and “I see u” supposedly sent to me by a former colleague.

Being a cautious type, I called the guy to confirm that his phone had not been hacked before clicking on the link. Two and a half hours later, we still were reminiscing.

The link he sent was topical because current Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had used an inquiry about his future as the exit cue to his postgame address in Buffalo Monday after he had presided over yet another playoff loss.

To many of us elders, this Tomlin example recalled a similar question and response from Chuck Noll. The video clip of the Noll instance has been featured prominently through the years, including in the Chuck Noll episode on the NFL Network’s “A Football Life.”

Many years back (1989), ESPN, had a dream season series, supposedly pitting NFL dynastic teams. The producers of that epic example of what if? also had included the Noll video. By the way, the 1978 Steelers were the winners of this exercise in speculation.

Here is the link to video of the Noll job security question and response in case you are curious: https://twitter.com/steelcitystar/status/1747427688388661494?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

I tell you all this — and it was sent to me — because I have a cameo in it, seated to Noll’s right, beside Myron Cope. I was much younger then, my hair more plentiful and my beard not yet gray as I dutifully scribbled notes while a smiling Noll rises and exits, saying “I won’t even answer that question.”

The questioner, off-camera, was Steve Hubbard of the Pittsburgh Press.

The Noll clip was re-posted on Twitter (X) the other day and was said to have come from the 1988 season, which I believe to be correct. The Steelers won their opener that season, then lost six consecutive games on the way to a 5-11 finish. It was Noll’s worst record since going 1-13 in 1969, his first season.

The 1988 effort was an ironically bad season considering that longtime team owner Art Rooney, Sr., had died weeks before it began and the team wore “AJR” patches on their jerseys to honor his memory.

I was covering the Steelers at the time for the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, but a pleasant distraction from that miserable campaign was chronicling an unbeaten Johnstown High School team that year under coach Jerry Davitch.

The 1989 season that followed was a strange one for Noll and the Steelers. It began with losses to Cleveland and Cincinnati, by a combined 92-10 score. It ended with the Steelers slipping into the playoffs late, a la the 2023 Steelers.

But those 1989 Steelers won their first playoff game, 26-23 in overtime at the Houston Oilers. The next week, the Steelers nearly upset the heavily favored Denver Broncos before losing, 24-23.

In a strange twist for a man who had coached four Super Bowl champions, Noll got his first NFL coach-of-the-year honor for this 1989 season.

Noll would resign under fire after the 1991 season, a 7-9 finish.

Tomlin reportedly has told players he will return next season and his media supporters have stressed he has not had a losing record in 17 seasons as Steelers coach.

These people tend to gloss over the fact that Tomlin inherited a team just one year removed from winning the Super Bowl and that the franchise had endured just one losing season in the previous eight. By way of contrast, Noll inherited the coaching of the Steelers after five consecutive losing seasons, the last a 2-11-1 effort in 1968.

Within the next decade, Noll-coached teams had won the Super Bowl four times.

Tomlin’s career playoff record is 8-10, including a current franchise-record five consecutive playoff losses. The last three losses have not been close.

For contemporary context, Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy (a Super Bowl winning coach at Green Bay in the 2010 season against the Steelers and Tomlin) is in jeopardy because despite three straight 12-win seasons, he’s just 1-3 over that stretch in the playoffs.

Philadelphia’s Nick Sirianni is 36-20 in three seasons at Philadelphia, all winning records, and took the Eagles to the Super Bowl following the 2022 seasons, losing there to Kansas City. His postseason record is 2-3, but Sirianni is thought to be in danger of losing his job, too.

For some franchises, regular-season success is not satisfactory.

Was it worth the extra day’s wait to see the Steelers stumble and bumble to a 31-17 defeat vs. Buffalo Monday instead of Sunday? Didn’t think so.

In truth, the lackluster Steelers game was par for the course in the NFL’s self-proclaimed Super Wild Card Weekend.

Just one of the first five games played was competitive and, as I write this, Philadelphia already is down 13 points to Tampa in the final of the six “Super” games.

Where this year’s college football playoffs produced competitive and compelling games across the board, the NFL games have been neither close, nor particularly interesting — with the exception of the one-point Detroit win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Margin of victory in other games was 31 points, 19, 16 and this 14-point Buffalo win.

The Steelers were within hailing distance in the second half Monday largely because Buffalo inexplicably tried a first-half field goal from the next area code, got it blocked and set up the uneven Steelers offense with a short field that turned into a touchdown.

The Bills also got a little full of themselves after racing out to a 21-0 lead, seeming to think the game was over. Based on what I saw, even in this win, I’m not too high on Buffalo moving forward.

Various curious officiating calls added to the stew, but couldn’t get the Steelers over the hump. Remember, this is a Steelers team that lost back-to-back games late in the season to pathetic Arizona and New England teams.

The Steelers got into the playoffs by beating a Baltimore team at season’s end that was resting players and not trying to win.

When it counted Monday, Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph was more like Mason Williams of “Classical Gas” fame. But Rudolph had help. Free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick let up on Jason Allen’s 52-yard TD run, apparently thinking others would make the tackle. Later, Fitzpatrick missed a tackle on a pass completion at the 15-yard line and the receiver continued to the end zone.

Simply put, the Steelers this year were a playoff team largely because of a terribly weak schedule and the inflation that has almost half the NFL teams qualifying for postseason play.

Even though the Steelers got there, only the most starry-eyed fan thought the team actually could do well in the postseason.

The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since Rin Tin Tin was a pup. Their Super Bowl days are a fleeting memory.

But, hey, they made the playoffs and had a winning record, so you should be pleased. You are pleased, right?

In the spirit of the plaintive Rodney King inquiry “Can we all get along?” weather has brought us all together.

It was early Saturday morning that the National Weather Service took to X (still Twitter for most of us) to proclaim that this bureaucracy had put forth an active weather watch, warning or advisory in all 50 of these United States.

From Maine to Alaska, Hawaii to Florida, we all had weather to fear, or at least to respect.

This weather unanimity, as reported by The Epoch Times and linked on Zerohedge.com, is a triumph of sorts for the nanny state in its never-ending mission to save us from ourselves.

There was a time, when I was young, that the average individual didn’t need media or bureaucracy to educate them to dress warm when it was cold and windy. Moms did that.

Similarly, drivers didn’t need to be cautioned to slow down on snowy roads, people knew on their own to make sure outdoor pets had shelter during cold weather or water during warm, and somehow even before the advent of printed warnings on same, most people knew not to wrap plastic cleaning bags around their heads lest they suffocate themselves.

For the tiny minority that couldn’t grasp all this without many helping hands, think of it as the triumph of Social Darwinism.

The abundance of warnings is the same sort of no-kidding, superfluous stuff that leads many (not Rodney King) to ask who exactly benefits from Braille being part of the interaction method on DRIVE-THROUGH ATMS?

All this perceived need for elites to protect, warn and otherwise manage us, creates the need for a lot of social shepherds. And bureaucracy expands out of control to fill that void; able to do so because government revenues are thought to be infinite and therefore government efforts are not subject to economic discipline as defined by need for a good or service and value added by same.

In an interesting example noted by the Heritage Foundation and shared by Fox News, among others, Michigan not only rules the college football world, the Wolverines also are number one in DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) employees.

True, higher education is not direct government, but it suffers from the same inability to manage the purse strings as government, and counts on governmental handouts to customers (students) in the form of low-income grants, student aid, subsidized loans and government scholarships, not to mention outright gifts to schools from state governments.

In Pennsylvania we have state-related universities. An example of which is Penn State, in line to get $245 million or so from state taxpayers this year.

The University of Michigan was thought to have received $333 million or so from that state’s coffers this year. Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation reported that about $31 million will be spent on the U of Michigan DEI staff, which has swelled from 163 employees in 2021, then the highest in the nation, to 241 employees in 2023, still No. 1.

Back to weather, the National Weather Service has operated under the umbrella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1970 when NOAA was born. It’s unclear whether the acronym, pronounced Noah, was intended to invoke the Biblical figure who saved mankind from the great flood.

What is clear is that NOAA and its National Weather Service subsidiary want $6.8 billion in federal funding for 2024, up by about $450 million from the 2023 figure, to warn us not to stand outdoors naked when wind chills are below zero.

You can buy a lot of inanity for nearly $7 billion, even at today’s inflated prices. And that helps explain weather watches, warnings and advisories for all 50 states today.

The purveyors of weather porn have hit the daily double with Sunday’s Steelers-Buffalo Bills playoff game.

In general, weather types — both national and local — love to warn us of threatening weather, to the point of overkill.

If they’re wrong and the promised doom does not arrive, you are expected to forgive and forget their misinformation and just be grateful it wasn’t as bad as promised.

If it is as bad as predicted, then the weather people indulge in orgies of self-congratulation for having warned you.

Now, toss in a playoff football game, with the threat of cold, snow and high winds, and they have a guaranteed audience up to and beyond kickoff.

Perhaps you have heard reports – since discredited – that the Steelers-Bills playoff game would be moved to Cleveland due to the threatening weather.

No doubt you have heard, or read, in-depth analysis of which team benefits more from inhospitable conditions.

The weather emphasis has prompted a search of my mental archives for memorable weather games.

As a young guy rooting for anyone playing the Green Bay Packers, I recall watching the broadcast of the 1967 NFL Championship game, AKA The Ice Bowl. It was played in Green Bay, with temperatures of minus-13 degrees and a minus-36 wind chill.

Both teams struggled to cope with the incredible cold. But, in the end the Packers won, as usual, beating the Dallas Cowboys on a quarterback sneak TD by Bart Starr with 13 seconds remaining.

I was still viewing from afar when the Steelers became the team of the 1970s, with some memorable weather games along the way.

When the Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders in the 1972 Immaculate Reception game, it meant the next week they would host unbeaten Miami in the AFC title game. Although Miami came in at 15-0, the 12-3 Steelers hosted because back then playoff teams were not seeded. Instead, home field was decided on a division rotation system.

It was thought the weather would be a huge edge for the Steelers. But the game-time temperature was an uncharacteristically warm 58 degrees, with no precipitation. The Steelers lost a close one, 21-17.

The Weather Gods were with the Steelers in the 1975 AFC title game vs. the Raiders, although the Raiders saw some less-than-divine intervention. The game began with the temperature at 17 degrees, but the Raiders were more concerned about icy field conditions.

A tarp had been placed over the field, with heaters blowing warm air under it to heat the artificial turf. This was offset by a rip in the tarp overnight that occurred due to windy conditions. It has been written that the tarp also was a touch small, leading to icy conditions being worst near the sidelines.

The teams combined for 12 turnovers, but the Steelers prevailed, 16-10.

Fast-forward to the end of the 1978 season and I was covering the Steelers, who won that AFC championship game against the Houston Oilers, 34-5, in a game played in miserable freezing rain.

The teams combined for 14 turnovers and the whole scene has been immortalized in those NFL Films shots of Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw sliding on the icy, slick turf like he was riding a saucer sled.

Though the years, I’ve covered a Steelers regular season game when it was brutally cold in San Diego, and another when torrential rains in Miami during the second half turned an apparent sure loss into a Steelers win as Merril Hoge proved to be quite the mudder.

Among my memories of weather games at Buffalo were a December 1982 game when Bradshaw completed just 2 of 13 passes for 3 yards in a 13-0 loss. It was a game played on a raw day and Bradshaw was on the verge of hypothermia, having failed to wear a thermal top under his jersey.

Another regular-season game at Buffalo was memorable for the incredible winds. The color guard guy trying to hold the American Flag in pregame ceremonies looked like he’d hooked a marlin.

Buffalo fans seated in stands behind one end zone, perhaps anticipating the massive wind gusts, had brought black garbage bags with them and amused themselves by holding them up to fill them with air, and letting those bags race down the stands, traverse the length of the field and rise out of the stadium at the other end.

Back to Sunday’s game, temperatures are supposed to be in the 20s with wind gusts of 50 miles an hour and perhaps seven inches of snow.

Expect lots of turnovers — by both sides. Expect uneven play. As far as which team will prevail, I wouldn’t want to make a bet, even with your money. But it should provide some memorable images.

The lunacy that is the daily news continues with stories so bizarre they sound as though they are ripped from the satirical pages of The Onion or The Babylon Bee. Alas, they are not.

NEWS: At a time of heightened world tensions, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin went MIA for nearly four days, an absence later explained as him being hospitalized. This does not explain the curious reality that the White House was oblivious to it all until after the fact.

VIEWS: At least Kathleen Hicks, Austin’s deputy, was on the job. Well, she was not exactly on the job. She was vacationing in Puerto Rico. But, according to reports, she did forego long walks on the beach just in case something urgent like World War III erupted and she might be needed to do her job.

NEWS: Chris Christie, who ran his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination by attacking Donald Trump nonstop, finally had a cogent moment when he said Nikki Haley was “going to get smoked” in an election and is “not up to this.”

VIEWS: It was fitting that Christie’s moment of clarity was not intended for public consumption, but instead was one of those hot microphone incidents in which the speaker (Christie) thought he would not be heard. At least Christie has dropped out of the nomination chase, confirming what has been evident since the start, that he had zero chance of getting the nod.

NEWS: The United States has reported a December budget deficit of $129.4 billion, about $40 billion higher than the estimated $87.5 shortfall for the month. Three months into this fiscal year, the U.S. already had added $509 billion to the national debt, on pace for an annual deficit of $2.36 trillion.

VIEWS: If the U.S. were an individual, it would qualify for bankruptcy. But the U.S. can print dollars and require much of the world to use those excess dollars either to repay dollar-denominated debts or to buy commodities such as oil that are priced in dollars. Our enemies in Russia and China are working feverishly behind the scenes to create their dollar-alternative payment systems. If and when that happens, our raging deficits will be a major problem.

NEWS: Reports Thursday night said U.S. and U.K. warplanes were striking Houthi rebel targets in Yemen.

VIEWS: I guess we were waiting for Austin to get out of the hospital since Hicks wasn’t cutting short her vacation.

NEWS: Hunter Biden has entered a not-guilty plea to Federal charges of failing to pay $1.4 million in income taxes. Hunter also is facing trial on federal gun charges and a contempt of Congress charge for refusing to honor a subpoena.

VIEWS: At least Hunter has that lucrative side hustle as an artist, selling pieces reminiscent of zoo fund-raisers in which animals have brushes lashed to their tails or trunks to produce the art. It’s only a coincidence that the buyers of Hunter’s art seem to be big Democratic political donors.

NEWS: Students at a Brooklyn High School were put on remote learning when they were thrown out of that school to make room for illegal migrants to be housed there.

VIEWS: In a bit of irony, those illegal migrants were brought to the facility in school buses.

NEWS: A court filing by a co-defendant of Donald Trump alleges that the Atlanta Fulton County DA, who ran for office on a get-Trump platform and now is trying to follow up on that pledge, engaged in a clandestine affair with the married prosecutor she hired to prosecute Trump.

VIEW: Predictably, those on the left see no ethics conflict and bray “it’s only sex,” sounding a lot like the defenders of Bill “Likes them young” Clinton during that whole Monica Lewinsky business.

I had an interaction today (Tuesday 1-9-24) with a person that I was surprised to hear him say is a follower of my blog

He even suggested I should write about him on it.

Hate to disappoint, but no soup for you today. Maybe some other time.