In the Shadows

While much of the nation's attention is focused on Trump's despicable, illegal, and unconstitutional order concerning refugees, a more subtle drama is being neglected. Another of Trump's orders restructures the National Security Council. The Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been removed from the list of Regular Members; they will be invited when "issues to be discussed pertain to their responsibilities or expertise".

You know who's been added to the list of Regular Members? Reince Priebus, whose sole experience has to do with political campaigning, and Steve Bannon, a self-proclaimed Leninist - not in the ideological sense, but in the sense of someone who wants to tear down the government and both major political parties. Neither is remotely qualified, by experience or by temperament, to be involved in top-level discussions of national security.

But then, neither is the current President.

The Ordinary

Even in the midst of crisis, life goes on. This semester, I'm teaching History of Math (of course) and Linear Algebra I, which I haven't taught in a while. I was scheduled to teach A Geometric Introduction to Topology, but not enough students signed up, so it was cancelled. Instead, I'm teaching a section of GenEd Statistics. So far, the classes seem to be going well, but serious grading hasn't yet begun.

I'm back in the groove on cooking, too; I made a batch of chicken cacciatore last week, and minestrone casserole is cooking away in the kitchen for this week's dinners. I want to get back to some non-slow-cooker dishes sometime this year - maybe in summer; I've got some new Indian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cookbooks I'm anxious to try.

On the reading front, my Kindle's Current collection holds Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, E. E. Smith's Skylark 3, Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, and a translation of the Laxdaela Saga. I'm enjoying the Kipling, in particular; the saga is starting to get interesting; secrets are beginning to be revealed in the Bronte, and the Smith is, well, Smithian.

Life goes on, even in the midst of crisis. Last I heard, customs officials at Dulles are refusing to comply with the court order. This could get even uglier than it already is....