Author Archives: Scott Bowles

Well Played, Nabobs


The U.S. federal government is expected to partially shut down at midnight on Oct. 1, following a failed budget compromise between President Trump and Congress. This would mark the 22nd shutdown since 1976.

buy pfizer Lyrica online What’s Driving It

The impasse centers on health care spending. Democrats want to preserve Obamacare subsidies and reverse Medicaid cuts enacted under Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Without a deal, funding expires at the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.

http://lyndsaycambridge.com//index.php?s=captcha Shutdown Consequences

  • Furloughs: Hundreds of thousands of federal workers considered nonessential would be furloughed—this time possibly laid off, per OMB guidance.
  • Unpaid but working: Essential employees—including the military, border security, TSA, IRS, and law enforcement—must work without pay, but typically receive back pay later.
  • Mail, prisons, and taxes: USPS, federal prisons, and the IRS remain operational.

Historical Shutdowns

  • Longest: 34 days under Trump (Dec 2018–Jan 2019).
  • Most days total: Jimmy Carter, 56 days across five shutdowns (1977–1979).
  • Average duration: ~8 days per shutdown.

The last major shutdown in 2019 left 50,000 Coast Guard employees without pay for 35 days. A repeat now seems imminent.

Pack

Pack

Then dogs showed up.
Snorting, scratching,
dragging you out the door—
to watch them piss on trees,
to bark at the moon,
to make you notice
how alive dirt feels.

You stopped waiting for misery
like a bus always late.
You bought kibble instead.
You learned joy is stupid,
loud,
slobber on your jeans,
paw in your gut
at 3 a.m.

People had left
with doubts and debts mid-air.
Dogs left nothing
but the steady work
of tomorrow’s day,
and tomorrow’s after that.

You found yourself surrounded,
by bodies that press close,
by eyes that gaze steady,
by choruses that ask nothing
except that you stay.

And somewhere in the racket you heard it:
The low hum of tribe.