Lee

 

A few days before Thanksgiving, our daughter recommended that we watch a movie titled “Lee”, starring Kate Winslet.

Here is the trailer:

 

LEE | Official Theatrical Trailer | In Theaters September 27 - YouTube

 

Kate Winslet should definitely be on the short lest of Best Actress nominees at the Academy Awards in February, since the movie (which we watched lost night) was absolutely riveting.

The movie is based on the true story of Lee Miller, who progressed from being a model to being one of the best photographers of WWII.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_%282023_film%29

Lee is a 2023 British biographical drama film directed by Ellen Kuras in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Liz Hannah, John Collee and Marion Hume, and story from Hume, Collee and Lem Dobbs, adapted from the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose.

(Antony Pemrose is Lee Miller’s son).

It stars Kate Winslet as WWII journalist Lee Miller. The cast includes Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O'Connor and Alexander Skarsgård in supporting roles.

The movie took eight years to make and, at one point, due to precarious funding, Kate Winslet (who also produced the movie) paid the entire cast and crew's salaries for two weeks. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. It was released theatrically in the United Kingdom by Sky Cinema on 13 September 2024.

 

After watching the movie, Sharon and I felt that our current society (thanks to the election of Donald Trump) is not that much different from what Germany experienced in the 1930’s.

 

For starters, let’s review the definition of fascism

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/01/31/the-12-early-warning-signs-of-fascism/

1. Powerful and continuing nationalism
2. Disdain for human rights
3. Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
4. Rampant sexism
5. Controlled mass media
6. Obsession with national security
7. Religion and government intertwined
8. Corporate power protected
9. Labor power suppressed
10. Disdain for intellectual and the arts
11. Obsession with crime and punishment
12. Rampant cronyism and corruption

How do these apply in the Trump era?

Powerful nationalism – Trump’s rallying cry is Make America Great Again, and it is closely aligned with the America First ideology championed by Charlie Kirk and others. The movement was at its peak in 1939, when 100,000 people attended a rally at Madison Square Garden.

Trump did exactly the same thing on October 28 of this year:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-holds-campaign-rally-at-madison-square-garden-in-new-york

In the 1930’s, Joseph Goebbels stressed the belief that Germany should be for Germans ONLY. Last week, the Nazi in the White House (Stephen Miller) said that America is for Americans, ignoring the fact that the vast majority of the people in our country are descended from immigrants.

 

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-nazi-in-white-houe.html

Disdain for human rights – one of Trump’s campaign promises was to start the largest deportation program in our nation’s history, and he has even talked of ending the protection of birthright citizenship.

Identification of enemies as a unifying cause. When he first announced his candidacy in 2015, the enemy was Mexicans and other immigrants. After getting elected, the focus shifted to Muslims, and at the 2017 rally in CHarottesville, marchers changed “Jews will not replace us”. The latest target is Haitian immigrants in Ohio – a myth proposed by J.D. Vance.

Rampant sexism – You would think that the Access Hollywood tape in 2016 would have killed his changes of getting elected – but it didn’t. Apart from the two cases involved E. Jean Carrol, he also been relentless on his attacks on Stormy Daniels, who was forced from her home by the threats that she faced. On top of that, there are roughly two dozen women who have accused him of sexually impropriety.

Controlled mass media – Trump was a frequent guess on the Fox network over the years. During the same period, he also compulsively posted comments on Twitter, and now uses a program he set up called Truth Social. He also has threated the outlets that have been critical of him, a list that includes CNN, MSNBC, and NPR. Not surprisingly, he has now teamed up with Elon Musk, the same man who bought Twitter, and changed the name of “X”>. Most people are not aware of the fact that Trump was re-elected largely due a massive misinformation campaign that was paid for my Musk, to the tune of $45 million

Obsession with national security - he has long been dismissive of NATO, the Iranian test ban treaty, the Paris Climate agreement, and other agreements, preferring to being a “lone wolf” when is come to diplomacy. Mote alarming, he is now on friendly terms with autocrats like Vladimir Putin, Victor Orban, and Kim Jung Un.

 

Religion and government entwined – the concert of Christian nationalism has now become more popular with the MAGA crowd. States like Oklahoma want to have Bibles in every classroom, but would not tolerate copies of the Koran or the Torah in the same settings. The link below goes into more detail:

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2022/08/christian-nationalism.html

Corporate power protected – the largest beneficiaries of the 2017 tax cuts were corporations and wealthy individuals. In addition, since the Reagan era, the conservatives among us have pushed for LESS, not more regulation. Very few of Trum’s nominees for cabinet positions are qualified for the positions they were nominate for, but they have two things in common:

(1)          Loyalty to Trump and

(2)         Disdain for industry regulation

Labor power suppressed – the GOP has been trying to limit the money earned through overtime, and they also have been hostile to unions, the direct opposite of the Democrats, who are strong supporters of unions.

Disdain for intellects and the arts – many states have attacked schools for the curriculums they teach, and Florida is one of the worst states for the suppression of the facts. In addition, some college presidents have been forced out because of their stand on protests of the carnage in Gaza.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/us/florida-social-sciences-progressive-ideas.html

Florida has become a testing ground for a raft of conservative policies meant to limit or expunge what Republicans describe as “woke” indoctrination in the state’s schools and colleges. Faculty and student critics have said this latest effort infringes on university autonomy and could reduce students’ exposure to courses they believe are necessary for a well-rounded education. Academic freedom advocates worry it marks a new, more organized approach.

Rather than trying to regulate what a professor can and cannot say — a legally questionable tactic — the new strategy is taking aim at entire courses.

Obsession with crime and punishment – even though our crime rates declined rapidly during Biden's term in office, Trump and his cronies continue to stay that our nation is under siege by a variety of criminals.

Rampant cronyism and corruption – although there are MANY examples of this, one of the most glaring it Trump’s pick for the secretary of the Navy, who had ZERO experience in the Navy, but who raised a LOT of money for Trump at a fundraiser at his $38 million dollar Colorado home

 Although some of Trump's worst instincts were curtailed by a few conscientious civil servants, that will not happen in his next term of office:

Trump neuters the watchdogs

• Now more familiar with the levers of power — and his own points of vulnerability — Trump is attempting to insulate himself.

Breaking it down: Trump and his allies have telegraphed unprecedented steps to put loyalists in roles that have historically been apolitical.

• FBI Director: Trump has signaled he will fire Christopher Wray, whose 10-year term would run into 2027.
• Trump sparked a firestorm in his first term by firing James Comey and replacing him with Wray.
• Firing Wray would be norm-smashing yet unsurprising, given Trump's antipathy for Wray and the bureau more generally, particularly after its raid on Mar-a-Lago to recover classified documents.
• Attorney general: The nomination of Pam Bondi, who represented Trump at his first impeachment trial, would put a close ally in a position that by tradition (though not always in practice) has a level of independence from the president.
• "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — Not anymore," Trump said in announcing the pick.
• Trump castigated and eventually fired his first AG, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, and later fell out dramatically with his successor, Bill Barr, for not endorsing his claims of widespread election fraud.
• Special counsels: Jack Smith moved to dismiss his cases against Trump after the election and is likely to resign before Inauguration Day.
• In Trump 2.0, we're unlikely to see a repeat of the Mueller probe, with an autonomous team investigating the sitting president — though Trump last year floated the idea of a special counsel to investigate the Biden family.
• Inspectors general: Watchdogs for government agencies could also be on the chopping block, with Trump's allies calling for their removal, Politico reports.
• Project 2025 — which Trump disavowed on the campaign trail before naming some of its architects to his administration — calls for a much wider culling of career civil servants in favor of loyalists.

Between the lines: Conservatives now control all three branches of government, neutralizing many potential challenges to Trump at least until 2026.

• Congress: Republican majorities — albeit slim ones — could prevent a third impeachment, at least until after the midterms. Republicans will also control the committees that would oversee investigations into the president.
• Supreme Court: A 6-3 conservative bench, which has already granted Trump presidential immunity for official acts, could side with him for years to come.

What to watch: Trump's most consistent and reliable target, the media, stands weaker than ever due to declining trust and difficult economics.

• He has filed lawsuits against news organizations, threatened to revoke broadcast licenses and reportedly cited the discrediting of news media as part of his mission.

Legal experts have rated Trump as the most corrupt American president - and he will be worse in his next term of office.

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-most-corrupt-american-president.html

***********************************

Joseph Goebbles was a master of propaganda, which is why millions of German people were very fond of Adolf Hitler. Misinformation is also the main reason that Trump got re-elected, and it’s also the reason that 95% of the Republican voters are excited or optimistic about him. This cult-like devotion to their leader is nothing new, since Jim Jones did the same thing in 1978:

 https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2018/11/forty-years-later-history-repeats-itself.html

WWI was “the war that ended all wars” – and it led to the death of between 15 and 22 million people That number includes between 9 and 11 million military personnel, and between 6 and 13 million civilians.

WWII, though was in even more deadly, since the totals were between 70 and 85 million. Tragically, WWI could have been prevented entirely if the Allied powers had done a few things differently – but that is a tale for another time.

*****************************************************

 With a little help from our son-in-law, we were able to watch the movie on Prime, but there may be other ways to view it. In any event, it was well worth the $6 that we spent.

 

 

 

 

 

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the rainbow bridge

 

Throughout our married life, my wife and I have always had pets in the house, much to the relief of my wife, whose mother did not allow any pets in the house.

After getting hit by a deer on our honeymoon on Friday the 13th, our first pet was a black cat (who was technically not allowed in the apartment we rented in West St Paul, Minnesota.) The unit we rented was less than a mile from Highway 13, so it is safe to say that we are not superstitious people.

After we bought our first house, Sharon adopted a Siberian Husky from our neighbor Mary Ann, who had a kennel of them right across the alley from us.

One day, she had the dog tethered to the lounge chair she was sitting on in that back yard, and it was not long before disaster hit.

Our neighbors, Bob and Donna Bradley, were docents for the St. Paul Zoo, and when Donna came out of the house with a tiny Artic fox in her hands, Tanya (the dog) noticed. She quickly escaped from the chaise lounger in order to play with the little fox. Unfortunately, in her enthusiasm, she picked up the fox and carried it into our yard, which snapped the animal’s neck, causing its death.

Although the Bradleys did not talk to us for 40 days, we made amends before we moved to our next house in Brooklyn Park, which had a large cage attached to the side of the garage.

Since the cage did not have a dog house, we drove to Hastings to pick up a dog house that my uncle no longer needed. 

We put Tanya in the kennel and left.

Upon our return, we discovered that Tanya was not in the cage, so we called the police. Initially, they told us that they could not find the dog, but called back an hour later to tell us that the dog HAD been found – but she got into problem when she was out.

At it turns out, one of our neighbors had a pet duck. Being part wolf, the duck looked pretty tempting, so Tanya ate it. After we retrieved the dog from the kennel (where we met the neighbors who owned the duck), we drove home. At that point, I told Sharon that she HAD to sell the dog – and she did.

After we bought our second house, we started adding cats. By the time we moved into our 4th house, the total had climbed to 5.5 cats (I would not allow the stray from our deck into our house.)

Our daughter Kelly always loved animals, and worked for a vet’s clinic while she was still in high school because she wanted to eventually become a vet. While there, she took possession of a tiny kitten brought in that was abandoned and in need of 24/7 care to survive. After a short stint in the veterinarian hospital, she was smitten and adopted him. That early care and dedication to literally save his life created a bond like no other. She named him Lucky.

When she moved to Michigan for her first year of college, she brought Lucky with her. During that first year, though, Lucky developed a tumor in his lung which was undetectable and not curable. Despite efforts by the rural vet, Lucky crossed the rainbow bridge within 7 hours of first symptoms. He was little more than three years old. His death was a difficult emotional experience for Kelly.

With more love to give, Kelly eventually adopted more fur babies. "Chance" was Lucky's partner who stayed with Sharon when Kelly went to China to teach English. Upon return to the states, Chance developed a growth and had to euthanized. Kelly acquired two more cats in the years following, Capone and Foxy. Capone was named based on his "boss" attitude and the neighborhood where Kelly lived in Chicago was Al Capone's old stomping ground. 

When the three of us moved to Flagstaff in 2011, Kelly's two cats naturally would come with her. Not long after we moved in, Kelly and her mom traveled to Second Chance, an animal shelter on the east side of town, just "to look." Instantly, an Anatolian Shepard mix, originally named Tracker, chose her as his new mom. He was 1.5 years old and would soon be renamed Cody.

We then acquired a male cat from one of our senior group friends, and we named him Cookie. Not long after that, we adopted a small female cat , who we named Gracie. Although Cookie eventually succumbed to the hazards of the desert. Gracie is still with us today.

When Kelly moved to town, she brought Capone and Foxy with her, but left Cookie and Gracie with us. She also brought Cody with her into town. Ultimately, the two cats and Cody moved to a house on the east side of Tucson, and in the spring of 2020, they all moved to Colorado.

Over the years, Cody went with them wherever they went. His adventurous spirit matched theirs as one of curiosity and always looking for the next adventure. Through the years, there were very few photos where Cody was not part of the memory. Over time, though, he started to show his age. In the summer of 2022, Cody decided to chase a stray and tore his knee tendon. The comparable of a torn ACL in humans. Surgery was emergent and he bounced back after 1.5 months of down time. You would never have known he had the surgery based on his continued excursions climbing 13ers in Colorado with Kelly and Chris. His last hike in September 2024 he scaled Engineer mountain, a famous 13er in Durango, CO.

In October of 2024, Cody lost his balance on fell from his favorite ottoman, pulling a back muscle. It was thought he developed vertigo and fell. The local veterinarian, who saved Capone from a rattle snake bite (another story all together), recommended a neurology consult in Albuquerque, NM. Chris and Kelly, who would stop at nothing to care for Cody, braved a winter storm through the mountain pass to attend this appointment 4 hours a way. The diagnosis was undetermined as three options were given. Idiopathic vestibular disease, stroke, or brain tumor. One is of unknown origin, one needs time to heal, and the last would require multiple treatments under anesthesia which Kelly and Chris deemed too risky for their 14.5 year old fur baby.

In the coming month, Cody slowed his morning walk and slowly developed breathing issues. Back to the local vet who took x-rays. Cody had lung cancer which metastasized, confirming that he did in fact have a brain tumor and that caused him to have strokes and fall from his favorite ottoman. 

The day before Thanksgiving, Chris and Kelly took him to some of his favorite spots, fed him bacon and chicken (the only thing he would eat at that point, and cuddled as they made the decision to call the local vet. His breathing was too much of a struggle at that point. The vet came to her house to administer the final dose of medicine, and he started his journey on the rainbow bridge.

When he took his final breath, Capone (17 years old at this point, and Cody's best buddy) howled in sorrow, and Foxy (18 years old at that point, who tolerated Cody but secretly loved him) placed her paw on Cody-an action she normally would not do unless there was food.

People who do not have pets do not understand that pets are literally part of the family, and are nearly on the same level as children.

If you are not an avid reader, you may not know what a rainbow bridge is, so here is he definition:

The Rainbow Bridge is the theme of several works written first in 1959, then in the 1980s and 1990s, that speak of an other-worldly place where pets go upon death, eventually to be reunited with their owners. One is a short story whose original creator was long uncertain. The other is a six-stanza poem of rhyming pentameter couplets, created by a couple to help ease the pain of friends who lost pets. Each has gained popularity around the world among animal lovers who have lost a pet or wild animals that are cared for. The belief has many antecedents, including similarities to the Bifröst bridge of Norse mythology. 

Story

The story tells of a lush green meadow just "this side of Heaven" (i.e., before one enters it). Rainbow Bridge is the name of both the meadow and the adjoining pan-prismatic conveyance connecting it to Heaven.

According to the story, when a pet dies, it goes to the meadow, restored to perfect health and free of any injuries. The pet runs and plays all day with the others; there is always fresh food and water, and the sun is always shining. However, it is said that while the pet is at peace and happy, it also misses its owner whom it left behind on Earth.

When its owner dies, they too arrive at the meadow, and that is when the pet stops playing, turns, sniffs at the air and looks into the distance where it sees its beloved owner. Excited, it runs as fast as it can, until owner and pet are once more united. The pet greets its former owner in great joy while the human looks into the soft, trusting eyes of the pet, who might have been gone and absent on Earth but never absent in the heart. Then side by side, they cross the Rainbow Bridge together into Heaven, to play again and be together in love and happiness, never again to be separated. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(pets)

Rest in peace, Cody.

Cause I ain’t got no pencil

Yesterday, I was a sub teacher at one of the local high schools.

When I was eating lunch in the staff break room, I noticed that someone had posted a poem on one of the walls.

I woke myself up
Because we ain’t got an alarm clock
Dug in the dirty clothes basket,
Cause ain’t nobody washed my uniform
Brushed my hair and teeth in the dark,
Cause the lights ain’t on
Even got my baby sister ready,
Cause my mama wasn’t home.
Got us both to school on time,
To eat us a good breakfast.
Then when I got to class the teacher fussed
Cause I ain’t got no pencil

 

I had not seen this poem before, and I was not familiar with the author.

Here’s “the rest of the story”:

A viral poem about poverty in underprivileged schools has caused a flutter online after it was shared widely by people believing its simple language was penned by a student in Baltimore, US.

It was claimed the poem, “Cause I Ain’t Got a Pencil,” was written by a student at Baltimore City Public Schools, in the mid-Atlantic US state of Maryland.

After the poem did the rounds on social media, 38-year-old professional author and poet Joshua Dickerson, who actually wrote it, took to Twitter to set the record straight.

 

“My poem has been ‘written’ by a couple different people at this point,” the Atlanta man said.

“I’m not a student in Baltimore City Schools. It’s one of those Internet things that keeps getting shared. Outside of the fake Obama beard, I was the hottest trending fake news."

Dickerson said his poem, which he wrote in April 2014, resonated with many and reflected “without a shadow of a doubt” the scenes that would have played out in Baltimore schools, so he understands why many assume it was written by a student.

The poet said his inspiration for the poem came after watching a heartbreaking incident at an Atlanta school, where a child asked his teacher for a pencil.

The teacher said the student could borrow the pencil only if he removed his shoe and left it as collateral.

“The child took off the shoe and he had a dirty sock on and it caused the other students in the class to laugh at him,” Dickerson shared.

“I wrote a story about what I imagined happened prior to that moment.”

The author said the message he was hoping to make in his piece was “you must continue to fight, regardless of circumstances.”

  https://au.news.yahoo.com/the-truth-behind-this-students-viral-i-aint-got-a-pencil-poem-38953919.html

When I left the school, one of the students gave me a pumpkin pie that the school kitchen had made that afternoon> Initially, I was under the impression that teachers were the only group that got a free pie, until I noticed that a lot students had pies also.

The poem, and the free pies, reminded me that all of us have a lot to be thankful on this Thanksgiving Day. However, the poem is also a reminder that not everyone is as fortunate as us.

At various schools in the district, I have come in contact with students who belonged to a program called YOTO, which is the acronym for “youth on their own”, a program designed to help kids who are not living with a parent or guardian. In some cases, their status is due to a custody situation, but that were also some whose parents were deported.

Youth On Their Own (YOTO) is a dropout prevention program that supports the high school graduation and continued success of youth experiencing homelessness in Pima County. The organization was founded in 1986 when Ann Young, a guidance counselor in the Amphitheater School District, noticed that talented and motivated students were dropping out of school due to homelessness and being forced to live on their own without a parent or guardian. Inspired by the students’ tenacity and willingness to stay in school, other school counselors, teachers, volunteers, and community members came together to form YOTO with the goal of helping students graduate.

After consulting with her fellow teachers, Young’s initial idea was to buy a home for a group of homeless teenage girls. She presented this proposal, along with the stories of the students she aimed to help, to a group gathered at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church dedicated to assisting Tucson’s homeless community. People were appalled at the situations they were in, and jumped at the opportunity to lend them a hand. Soon, Young had an army of volunteers. She even managed to raise $80,000 in a single morning, thanks to the generosity of the congregation.

The money funded a group residence for homeless girls. Known as the St. Andrew’s Friendly Environment (SAFE) House, it quickly became apparent that SAFE House was not large enough to accommodate all of the students who needed services. It became increasingly expensive and was too much for one volunteer parent to handle. The community stepped forward again, and many families volunteered to take care of these students in need. It was an unexpected check from a New York City charitable foundation, though, that launched a stipend program to greatly increase the aid available to homeless teens.

Young’s experience with the SAFE House, which closed after two years, encouraged her to further expand the program. She applied for grants and spread the word about the charitable work the organization was doing. At this point, it was known as the Pima County Homeless Teen Project — a marketing specialist later dubbed it Youth on Their Own — and Young knew that if she wanted to continue her project, she would have to apply to become a full-fledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation. After successfully gaining the designation, YOTO applied for and won a grant from Angel Charity for $100,000 for the stipend program in 1990. That funding coupled with a community-wide advertising campaign gave YOTO the exposure it needed to really take off and become the program it is today.

Since then, over 16,000 homeless and compromised students have been empowered to stay in school and pursue opportunities for self-sufficiency.

https://yoto.org/about-us/

 

https://www.ncregister.com/news/the-morality-economics-and-politics-of-mass-deportation

Unfortunately, the number of teens in the program is likely to increase dramatically after January 20 due to the incoming administration’s cruel and utterly stupid mass deportation program.

The folks who voted for the wrong political party in November will soon come to realize that the program will not lead to the economic benefits they thought that it would.

Approximately 11 million unauthorized immigrants currently reside in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, puts the figure at 25 million. Other estimates fall in between the two.

Regardless of the number, former president Donald Trump has vowed to launch the largest deportation program in American history. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Vance said it would be “certainly reasonable to deport around a million people per year.” The undertaking enjoys broad public support, at least for now — a CBS/YouGov poll from July found that 62% of Americans favor mass deportations, including 53% of Hispanic voters.

Vice President Kamala Harris favors a bipartisan approach to fixing border security by extending restrictions on asylum claims and establishing legal pathways for eligible immigrants.

In September, Pope Francis remarked about “those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants,” saying that “this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a grave sin.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that good government has two duties in this regard: to welcome the foreigner out of charity and respect; and to secure one’s border and enforce the law for the sake of the common good (2241).

For Hannah Kling, professor of data analytics and macroeconomics at Belmont Abbey College, mass deportations “would be extremely disruptive economically.”

Above all, Kling fears that mass deportations would decrease overall economic growth, which would harm everyone in the long run, including natural-born citizens. In her view, a high number of immigrants in the economy leads to economic growth, which has positive benefits not only for consumers, but also other workers. There isn’t a fixed amount of jobs over which citizens and noncitizens compete, but rather an ever-increasing number of jobs that increases to the extent that individuals and businesses are productive.

“People who work in landscaping or food service and the like help those companies become more productive companies,” she said. “It wasn’t that immigrant workers were crowding out U.S. citizens from jobs. Economic growth is about increasing the economic pie that we split up among people. When more people are part of that system, we can make the pie bigger.”

A recent Bloomberg analysis shows that Trump’s deportations and border crackdown could reduce the nation’s GDP by more than 3% by 2028.

Along with reduced overall economic growth, some economists have voiced concern that mass deportations would lead to increased government spending and reduced tax revenues, a combination of factors that could balloon the national deficit.

According to a 2024 study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), undocumented immigrants paid a total of $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. Meanwhile, the American Immigration Council estimated that it could cost $88 billion annually to deport 1 million people a year.

For Boston College’s Heyer, the numbers simply don’t add up.

“Estimates suggest the mass-deportation plan would cost at least $500 billion to implement, with annual losses of $126 billion in taxes and a reduction in the GDP of $5 trillion over 10 years,” she said. “This confounds the ‘economic threat’ claims frequently made to oppose immigrants, whose work, studies show, offer a net benefit to the U.S. economy and have increased jobs in recent years."

Many have argued in the past that Americans won’t do certain “undesirable” jobs in agriculture, hospitality and construction often done by illegal immigrants. Mass deportations, the argument goes, will cause labor shortages that would have the potential to significantly disrupt supply lines and raise costs for businesses and consumers.

The other bad idea being promoted by the incoming administration are tariffs.

President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed heavy tariffs for goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China could have a major impact on items from tomatoes to car parts in Arizona, which shares a significant trading relationship with its neighbor to the south.

It's still more than 50 days until Trump is sworn in for a second term, but his economic proposals are already causing commotion across the globe. Trump tied his tariff threat to immigration, posting on social media Monday, Nov. 25 that he’d “sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Trump wrote. He also pitched an additional 10% tariff on goods from China. 

Tariffs that Trump is proposing would affect the country’s international trading partners, but they’d also be felt inside states like Arizona. Much of the produce that fills American grocery stores in the winter months is grown in Mexico and passes through Arizona’s southern border. 

The largest share of Arizona imports comes from Mexico, totaling $11.8 billion in 2023. Imports from Canada also reached billions of dollars last year, according to data on Arizona-Mexico Economic Indicators compiled by the University of Arizona.

The link below goes into more details on the industries that will see price increases, but the main ones are tomatoes, wiring for cars, peppers, grapes, wood products, and baked goods.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2024/11/27/proposed-trump-tariffs-could-hit-arizona-imports-like-tomatoes-wiring/76599477007/

In the past, I’ve written a few stories about some homeless people who I have met personally:

 

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2009/11/have-good-day.html

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2010/10/thin-red-line.html

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2023/04/tough-times-do-not-last-but-tough.html

Recently, the Boston Globe published an article about a former journalist who eventually would up homeless due to bouts of depression. He finally was saved b a sympathetic family and a GoFundMe page.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/28/metro/homeless-former-journalist-patrick-fealey-rhode-island/

The election of November was a traumatic event for a lot of people.

According to a recent CBS poll, 50% of the Democrats are scared of what Trump will do as president, and another 35% are concerned.

On the other hand, 95% of the Republican voters are either excited or optimistic about him.

 So, what do we do now?

If there’s a Thanksgiving when politics could come up, it’s probably this one. The United States just had an emotional presidential election, and the country remains fiercely divided over the best ways to govern and who the right leaders are to do it.

President-elect Donald Trump is already taking steps to make major changes to economic policy, immigration and how government works. He has said he’ll introduce new tariffs on goods coming in from some countries, will start mass deportations and is trying to knock down checks and balances to make sure no one gets in his way.

 Here are the facts around some of the topics that might come up at the dinner table on Thursday.

 But first: What if someone on the other side of the table wants to ignore facts? The Washington Post’s advice columnist, Carolyn Hax, has an idea: channeling Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former Democratic presidential candidate who regularly appears on conservative news programs: “Watch clips of Pete Buttigieg, especially on Fox, to see how it’s done: Be respectful, a good sport, be all ‘us’ (no ‘them’) and bring receipts.”

 If that doesn’t work, Hax said, simply walk away.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/27/thanksgiving-family-trump- policies/

And on that note, I have one more thing to say: