respublica

A blessed Christmas to all here

The Light of the World

This is my past two nights

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Illinois losing population right and left

New Census data show Illinois is the only state in the nation to see worsening population loss for seven straight years. Illinois recorded population loss for the seventh year in a row, which is the longest streak of population decline in state history.

And what could possibly be the reason for this? Why are people leaving Illinois?  Well,

Researchers point out this data represents the first full year of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s policy agenda – including 20 tax and fee hikes, a minimum wage increase and a push for a progressive income tax.

I can certainly understand and even identify with this as a reason even though we just moved back to Illinois.

Just when I thought we were set

It's been a tough year for Christmas shopping what with the virus being everywhere. I pretty much did most of my shopping online and quite honestly, I missed being in stores. Most everything I ordered arrived when they were predicted...except one. And that one is supposed to be for one of our grandsons and it is a fun item which he would probably really like. I ordered it at least 3 weeks ago and a day or two last week I received an email saying "your package is arriving today". This happened twice and still no arrival.

I did some checking of the order and found that it is coming via the US postal service, not UPS or FedEx. That explains a lot and why my heart sunk. It seems many many people are having long delays with the Post Office deliveries.

I would not be surprised if our package was sitting in a trailer at the main St. Louis distribution point in Hazelwood. We had an episode with that place a couple of years ago, learned our package was there but it never got to us.

If the latest package doesn't show up today I'll have to go out tomorrow morning and try to find something else....in a store.

2020 spending

Americans have been fairly housebound this year due to Covid 19, but that hasn't stopped us from buying things. Grocery stores are one of the places we can go to as is Walmart and Target etc. But, one item has been purchased in huge numbers this year and that is guns. I have no idea why this is, but there is a list recently released of how many guns were bought by each state.

And, Hey! Illinois is number one with year to date sales of 6,625,082 !   It's nice to be number one, but this seems weird to me and I wonder who bought them and why.

Kentucky came in number two with sales so far of 2,922,940, way below Illinois. The District of Columbia (DC, not really a state) came in last just ahead of Hawaii. Missouri was 19th, buying 641,512 guns.  The entire list of states and gun buying numbers is here.

Now is when we miss Senator Coburn

When Tom Coburn was in the Senate he was known for his annual Waste Book which was filled with spending items he considered ridiculous pork. These items were put in by other congressional members to satisfy some of their constituents. Well, yesterday the latest Covid 19 relief bill was passed and not only was money put in to help those people who really need it, but many absurd monies as well.

The worst, in my mind, was 10,000 per race horse. Think of this. The workers get 600 dollars, race horses 10,000. This is justified because these horses are part of an important agricultural industry.

Also in this bill is a statement of policy “regarding the succession or reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.”

And, Congress more than doubled the budget for their own private health care clinic.

There is so much more like this and no Tom Coburn around to call them on it.

Not a political post, just a family post

This past weekend Katie and Charlie took their two boys on a whirlwind tour of Washington DC. Now, let it be said that since they live out there and Katie works for the Senate, the boys have been there before, but this time was sort of different. They're a bit older, and Katie has some charming way of getting into places.

I got a kick out of Jake and Drew taking turns at the White House press podium. No one official was there so this was great fun.

Best Catsup ever

The Old Herald Brewery and restaurant in Collinsville puts out delicious food and their own brews, but one thing tops them all. The have begun making smoked catsup and honestly, this is the best catsup I've ever had.

I've normally not been overly interested in catsup, but this is worth putting on everything. Well, maybe not everything but certainly things like burgers and fries, brats, hot dogs, anything you'd normally put it on.

And, they are now selling it in their business on Clay Street as part of their Holiday Market which is from 11-5 every day. At least right now I am not sure what will happen when the Christmas week is over.

Searching for a new, tasty, side dish?

The Pioneer Woman has always posted interesting recipes, many of which take much too long for me to bother with. But this is one I am definitely going to make. She calls it Crash Hot Potatoes and learned of it while she was in Australia some years ago.

This seems simple but terrific. Use the link for the process, but basically it involves small red potatoes boiled till tender and then put on an oiled baking sheet, mashed gently on the tops with a potato masher and then seasoned and baked for 20 minutes or so. They look delicious.

 

Show Time

We've watched a couple of Christmas movies in the past week. We aren't normally movie watching people, but with the Roku hooked up there are just so many to choose from and it's so easy. My issue with movie watching is that I can't sit still that long, but the lead up to Christmas is so tiring that it's been a luxury right now.

Anyway, we watched Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase...again and still love it. Then we watched Home Alone which is still one of the best for plain laughs. As it turns out, some survey creator with too much time on his hands, learned that the favorite Christmas movie for people in Illinois is Home Alone. Maybe taking place is Chicago is part of the allure.

Frankly, in other years I found Christmas movies much more enjoyable to watch in the week after Christmas when all the hubbub is over and I can relax.