3/3/2026

 Tuesday, March 3, 2026

2020 Super Tuesday revived Joe Biden's campaign as he won nine states, while Bernie Sanders won four, including California

2022 Catherine Monica Clausen Reck, 8/19/1944 - 3/3/2022

In bed at 9, up at 5.  31/39/28  114/72/58   90  207.8

Morning meds at 8 a.m.    

Yahrzeit, 4 years.

What I wrote and read to Kitty on her last birthday, August 19, 2021,  during my last visit:

On this date in 1944, in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, a beautiful and courageous and saintly 21 year old mother, who was one of God’s gifts to this world, gave birth to a daughter who was destined to become an image of her mother, beautiful, courageous, and saintly, another of God’s gifts to the world. When Mother Mary brought the precious daughter home to her little basement apartment, her waiting brother, about to turn 3 years old, is reported to have said, “Take her back. She doesn’t play.” That was just the first of many mistakes that almost 3-year-old brother would make in his life, but he learned soon enough that his new sister would become over the course of 2 long lifetimes, his best friend, his confidante, his soul-sister as well as his biological sister. He would come to love and admire her as she grew into a woman like their mother: beautiful in so many ways, courageous in so many ways, and saintly in so many ways. As they grew older and older, with lifetimes of living behind them, the brother would share his belief in the saintliness of his sister with their father, who would chuckle because he sometimes saw her when she was impatient, or ‘bossy’ or angry at one thing or another, and the now-old brother would suggest to the even older father that he just didn’t know what real saints looked like. The saintly sister herself would join in dismissing the idea that she was St. Kitty of Emerald Avenue and the brother would have to remind her and their father that real saints aren’t God and they are not angels - they are all human beings who get impatient, ‘bossy’, and even angry at times. What makes them saints was described by Jesus in Chapter 25 of the Gospel of St. Matthew: I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me water. I was sick, and you cared for me. I needed a home, and you took me into your home. So, of course, the brother, who had made many mistakes in his own life over many years, was not mistaken in describing his sister, who he loved so much, as a Saint. Nor is he mistaken in thanking God for giving him the blessing of his beautiful, courageous, and saintly sister, so very much like their dear mother.🙏❤️  

Trump's World War III.  Financial impact, so far.  U.S. stocks are set to open sharply lower today, with futures for the S&P 500 down 1.8 percent.  Bonds around the world sold off, as investors assessed the prospect of a potentially prolonged war worsening inflation and spurring higher interest rates. Rising oil and gas prices could result in increased prices at the pump for consumers and add costs to a wide range of component parts for businesses. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, which moves inversely to prices, rose by 0.4 percentage points, to 4.1 percent. Yields on government bonds in Britain, Germany and Japan jumped even more.  Since the attack on Iran was launched, our main retirement account has decreased by 0.6%, and a secondary account by 0.84%, but I'm holding on to my seat.

    If the markets continue to tumble, if inflation in food prices, gasoline, natural gas, and oil soars, if the Fed raises the borrowing costs.  Trump and his buttboy Hegseth say the U.S. is prepared to continue the war for a month "or longer," "as long as it takes" to accomplish the (very unclear) goals of the war, but Trump's nickname of Taco, for 'Trump always chickens out,' is based on his history.  When the markets tumble, especially the bond markets, he shakes in his boots, and the November mid-term elections grow ever closer.

    On the other hand, he's been laying the groundwork for interfering in those elections, probably through declaring a 'National Emergency.'  Will he try to cancel them?  or enact the SAVE Act measures (outlawing machine voting, mail-in ballots, proof of citizenship, etc.) by Executive Order?  All bets are off with this despot in office.  Hold on to your seats.

    Another unknown: will the Iranian supply of missiles and drones overwhelm the supply of expensive Patriot and other defensive weapons held by Israel and the Arab Gulf States targeted by Iran?  The war in Ukraine has consumed an enormous supply of US-supplied defensive weapons over the last 4 years.  How long can Trump maintain a war once our own stockpiles run low?