thependulumswings

Way back when there were actually newspapers printed and delivered to your door yesterday’s presidential endorsement would have been front-page news.  President 44 endorsed his former VP to become President 46 by beating sitting President 45.  But 44,45, and 46 cannot find space “above the fold” when 19 is dominating the news. COVID-19, Fauci, the …

Every time the sky is falling our trusty government steps in to help.   It means well we assume.   But, we should expect so much more.  Shouldn’t we? After 9/11 we got an entirely new department.  The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was born.  And nearly 20 years later we have tables that look like they were …

How about Colonel Mustard with the revolver in the Conservatory?  If you’re bored these days and have resorted to board games perhaps you dusted off the old one called Clue. Clue has six characters and six weapons to consider when deciphering who did it and with what.  It’s played out in nine rooms of a …

If Lefty and Shorty were still with us last early evening might have unfolded like this. Lefty and Shorty sat quietly in the cool but nice spring air.  It was only 6:30 PM, and cars were nowhere to be found.  Lefty- Why do we even stay open this late?  Shorty- I guess so that we …

Friends   We got another horrific weekly jobless claims number, but that was certainly expected. What was not expected was that the Federal Reserve found another kitchen sink to throw at the situation. Previously, the Fed committed billions, if not trillions of dollars to support government bonds, mortgage bonds, investment grade corporate bonds and money market funds. Today, they stepped […]

The headlines are bold.  Opening lines and quotes from articles around the US tell us all we need to know this morning.  Here they are.  We follow with a question or comment about them as we go. During an interview on Wednesday Vice President Mike Pence stated that if people continue to follow guidelines, “we …

The start of April 2020 has been tough.   But, April is National Poetry Month, and it’s worth celebrating.  Isn’t it?  We don’t have too many choices otherwise. Could there ever be a better name for a poet than William Wordsworth?  Wordsworth, the old wordsmith, wrote: “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes …

Is the stock market trying to tell us something?  The Dow was up over 1000 points yesterday.  In premarket trading it’s up another 750 points this AM. We hesitate to even speculate.  We will, however.   But, we suggest that you keep hoarding toilet paper, if you can find it, in the meanwhile. Does Wall St. …

There’s a fine line between civility and incivility in this U.S. of A.  Have you ever been stuck on a crowded plane for an extended period of time?  If so, you know. And, the line seems to blur by the day these days.   It was there in the White House Press Room for all to …

As we near the end of week three of sheltering in place we look for the positives.  We are positive that we have had the opportunity to get reacquainted with our family in a way “normal” life doesn’t even allow.  With that comes benefits and drawbacks like most anything else in life as we know …