The Writer's Life 1/24 - Clean-up

In an op-ed piece in today's NY Post, Jonathon Trugman asks where all the money Americans have been saving on energy prices is going, since it doesn't seem to be benefiting the overall economy. He believes it's being sucked up by higher health costs, including prescription drugs, and taxes. He also points out that lower gasoline and natural gas prices has cost the economy 95,000 high-paying jobs and the revenue the government draws from them. And he thinks the falling stock market is no longer giving investors the impression they're rich, so many have cut back on spending. Reasonable analysis, I must say.
 
Retired Army Colonel Ralph Peters weighed in on the Putin scandal. Here are excerpts, pared and edited by yours truly: "On Thursday, a formal British inquiry into the assassination of a Russian defector released its findings: Litvinenko was murdered, and Vladimir Putin 'probably' approved the operation personally... Putin’s single weakness has been his poor grasp of economics. Instead of diversifying Russia’s economy when times were good, he relied on oil and gas production — which he could control, restricting Russia’s new aristocracy of wealth to the manageable size of the old court nobility (Vic: as someone who has read many Russian classics, I find the analogy fascinating). A diversified economy would have diffused his authority. His inattention to market fundamentals is hurting him now. Although Russia’s projected budget — amended week to week — seeks to fence funds for Putin’s cherished military buildup, it becomes a greater challenge by the day. Even the cautious Western sanctions add to the pain, intensifying the effects of plunging commodity prices.
Should we rejoice? Does this mean that the assassinations and invasions might end? No. In his desperation, Putin could become even more embittered and reckless. Ailing on the home front, he may feel compelled to deliver new triumphs abroad. His throne isn’t threatened yet, but his pride is wounded. And beware a wounded bear."

I am looking forward to the reboot of The X-Files, which will air tonight on Fox following the second NFL playoff, which I hope doesn't turn into one of those modern marathons. I also hope the six-episode arc isn't focused on aliens. I've not read a single article about the content. I want to be surprised.

The clean-up of the big blizzard of 2016 has begun, and it looks like it will be a long process. My old Hyundai, parked on the right side of the street, is flanked by a wall four feet high by at least two feet thick. At this point it is futile to create a lane for it, as the plows will likely block it again. Besides, I won't need the car until Saturday. I cleaned the hood and trunk. I figure the sun will melt what's on the roof. I also created a lane to the passenger door so that I could start the car and let it run for a bit. When I was done I pulled one of the crates from the trunk. Surprisingly, the area of my usual book nook is clear, so I might carry stuff down from my apartment and set up a limited edition of the floating book shop on Tuesday when the temperature is supposed to be in the 40's. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Here's a still taken from a video my buddy Bags filmed from his stoop with his phone. My old house, where my sister still lives, is across the street, furthest left.

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/