I woke up to find out that the US has (once again) removed a head of government from a foreign country. That has always gone so well for everyone concerned, right? A brief scan of various sources suggests sure, Maduro was fraudulently elected, and sure, his removal is not unpopular with his citizens, but it’s still an act of war. Not that such things have ever stopped any country in recorded history, mind you, let alone the USA.

I was a teenager during the Vietnam War, which followed the Korean War, both of them ridiculous wars that caused a lot of damage to everyone involved. I didn’t know anything about the Korean War at the time, because I was a child; we were focused on Russia, the space race, and the Bomb at the time for our sources of global terror. World War 2 was theoretically a good war, or at least it was actually decided, except that the aftermath set up the Cold War. I won’t even mention the Spanish-American War, which was implausible and ill-founded, or the invasion of Grenada, another coup by the US. The Falklands War the year before was between Argentina and the UK, so it doesn’t count. The invasion of Panama and the deposing of Noriega was a few years later. But then you also have Iraq and Afghanistan. I lose track and have to look at maps from time to time just to figure out why the US is so excited about charging into distant foreign countries.

Usually oil these days, but you knew that.

Heck, the support for Israel is probably about oil, too, because from what I know about our current government, which is genuinely antisemitic despite using antisemitism as an all-purpose insult, it doesn’t have a darn thing to do with supporting the Jews. Vietnam was about Russia, and so was Korea, even though both were supposed to be about communism. I can’t keep track of our excuses; they are probably motivated by whoever is giving the President money, I assume. The sale of pardons doesn’t seem to faze him. Of course, he’s also looking for distractions from accusations of pedophilia and trying to set up crypto scams. Those who came before him at least pretended not to look corrupt, mostly.

All of this is to say that I would really like to know what I can do about all of this. I have been to many demonstrations, all my life. I have given money to organizations that seem as if they can make a difference. I talk one on one to people and try to change minds. I put signs in my window. I call my elected representatives, over and over. I vote. I encourage others to vote.

But meanwhile, I have an HVAC company coming Monday to see if problems with my heating system are causing the lightheadedness I’ve had since November. And I’m looking into buying a recliner. Having lived a long time, I have learned to continue living. I won’t borrow trouble. It will come looking for me soon enough, but when it does, I would like to have an efficient heating system and a comfortable recliner. You can keep going a long time if you have a recliner.