Ethan and Ehlana:
Happy 16th Birthday, Eddie Johnson!
This has been a big day with a lot going on; so let’s get to all of the stories we need to cover tonight – which I’m quietly doing on my computer while we also have a gang of friends spending the night after a lot of studying and watching the big college football championship battle.
Let’s start with it being Martin Luther King Day – though that was basically a side-story due to President Trump’s inauguration. We had to watch it because of our politics lessons this year, but would have done that anyway; since it is important as well as historic. Depending on political leanings, people either loved or hated his speeches – and there have been multiple speeches from the President throughout the day. Before we go there, though, we should mention that the outgoing President Biden handed out two batches of last-minute pardons that got a lot of attention because he pardoned a handful of members of his own family and a group of political allies ranging from a general and former head of the NIH to politicians that led the investigation into the protests and crimes related to January sixth, twenty-twenty-one. While we’re on that story; let’s add that President Trump has also pardoned or commuted sentences for more than fifteen-hundred citizens that have either been convicted and have been in prison or are still fighting through trials and appeals. We really want to see an end to politically-motivated lawfare; so I will only add that there is a difference in the pardons; since President Biden’s pardons are for people that haven’t actually even been charged with anything; and that leaves people wondering why they’d need the pardons at all.
Getting back to the inauguration and related news, the ceremony was indoors and probably due to security concerns more than the cold weather. The basics of the ceremony were standard and uneventful; and then President Trump really threw down the gauntlet right from the start as he declared his plans for the next four years. Through both his speech and follow-up executive orders, our country is changing in significant ways if what he wants to happen actually does. There are too-many topics to cover here; so let’s just cover some highlights. President Trump is closing the border for illegal immigration; his former policy for keeping those immigrants in Mexico while they attempt legal processing is restored; and he’s basically declaring war on Mexican cartels. He is essentially canceling DEI programs for federal agencies and employees; he’s ordered the military to re-hire all personnel fired for refusing to take COVID vaccines – along with full back-pay; and federal employees have been mandated back to in-person, in-office work instead of allowing them to continue working from their homes as they’ve been allowed to do since the pandemic lock-downs. Foreign policy issues ranged from plans to re-take ownership of the Panama Canal and officially pulling out of the Paris climate accords to the amusing declaration that the Gulf of Mexico will now be re-named the Gulf of America. That’s enough of the politics of the day; so let’s move on.
Our friends began coming over while the inauguration was still going on, but we didn’t get studying and have everyone with us until after a soup and mini-subs lunch with Mom and Dad. We used the sunroom and dining room for the studying; kept pretty much everyone through a Pizzeria pizza and finger food sides dinner; and then the studying wound down once the college football game started this evening. We’re all ready for our first day of exams tomorrow, but we’re also staying up later than we should – even though the game is over. Not all of our friends could stay for the night, but we have extra guests – including four farm kids that didn’t want to go home for a few hours only to come back again on buses. We’re happy to have the extra time with our friends; and might even still manage a co-ed sofa sleepover for some of us – though that isn’t a certainty yet and we’ll have to let you know how that goes for us.
As for the big game, the guys were more-interested than the girls, but Ehlana and Naomi were happy to lead the girl chat time and they had some music fun and watched a movie too. As we’ve mentioned before, the changes to the college football playoffs format has proved to be a big deal with the seventh and eighth-ranked teams winning their way into the championship game. That does give credence to prior complaints, but then that could be extended to a more-extensive playoffs format closer to pro football or maybe even a tournament like colleges do for basketball. We won’t try to comment on the results of the actual game, since the results don’t really make a difference to support either side of the arguments over the playoff formats. We can tell you that the number seven team, Notre Dame, ‘won’ the first quarter; and then the number eight team, Ohio State, scored three touchdowns in the second quarter for the twenty-one to seven lead at half-time. Ohio State kept the momentum going into the third quarter with another touchdown; and took the lead to thirty-one to seven before Notre Dame scored eight with a touchdown and two-point conversion. The big comeback is supposed to be essential to a ‘good’ game while also being the stuff of legends for ‘fixed’ or ‘staged’ sports events; so that change wasn’t unexpected – and cheered on by most of the guys in our house regardless of their team of choice.
Maybe this is where I should suggest that our classmates’ interest in a football game compared to all of the political events from today is warped, but then we are teens; and the football education might prove to be more-useful to the guys – at least over the short-term; while the politics won’t affect us directly beyond the need for written reports and testing at school. For some odd reason, that gave me a mental picture of the need for Presidential pardons in the future, but even Miles and Joshua are not very likely to get in so much trouble with their girlfriends that they’ll need that kind of help! ;^)
Moving along, the comeback sputtered along until late in the fourth quarter with no scoring on either side, but then Notre Dame earned another unlikely touchdown and two-point conversion to cut the lead to just eight points with around four minutes left to go in the game. As is also often required, a final defensive stand began while Ohio State attempted to run out the clock instead of trying to win outright with more scoring. Okay, the last part of that didn’t happen because of a big offensive play from Ohio State that gave them an option to run time off the clock and add three points for the two-score lead. This is where I’ll attempt to drag out the suspense, but that can only be literary; since Ohio State managed to run the clock down to less than a half-minute and then scored the field goal. That put an end to Notre Dame’s hopes; the final score was thirty-four to twenty-three; and the number eight team earned the championship with a third win in a row over higher-ranked teams! While the overall game play didn’t exactly fit the bill for a nail-biter; the under-dog victory still earned warranted attention and our friends were happy as they either headed for their homes or stayed for the night – saving some parents from the need to pick them up after their own game-watching parties or other plans.
As mentioned, we’re watching a movie and staying up too-late – especially for a school and exams night, but that’s also pretty much all we have for this update. Cassie and Michael are in Nicaragua tonight and got right to work there from their early-morning arrival and flight. They’ll need to be more-careful this week, but the danger level is still low compared to their last trip; and we’re expecting that they’ll get a lot done with developing current and new partnerships for businesses and charities. We’ll write more about that soon, but don’t really have details right now because we’ve been busy with our friends. Stay tuned for those stories and news from home and our imminent exams; and we’ll move on to this last blast of entertainment with our friends before we get to the nap time – whether that happens with co-ed cuddle buddies or not!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
