Topic A now is the government shutdown, with threatened mass firings of federal workers, shut-downs of all but essential federal services, worries about how long it will last and how much damage it will do to the US economy—and which party will suffer politically from the shutdown.

I decided to enrich American discourse by introducing needed words that the English language lacks.

BC Premier David Eby recently declared: "“We’re a clean energy powerhouse, a stable and dependable partner with an abundance of natural resources. We will be the economic engine of the new Canadian economy.”

The latest two-year revenue forecast for state government, released in September, is down by $903 million since the budget passed in the spring. In a $78-billion budget, $903 million not a huge amount, and it’s a decline in the expected rate of growth.

The country needs to do better than return to a past that wasted too many billions and ruined too many lives to too little effect.

“Sex, violent death and mystery. If your life has one of these things, people might be interested. If it has two, you’re into tabloid fodder. If it has three, you’re Amelia Earhart.”