VZ: Holding Two Thoughts At A Time January 3, 2026January 3, 2026 BRINGING DEMOCRACY TO VENEZUELA WHILE RAPIDLY ERODING IT AT HOME CNN’s Ana Navarro — no Trump fan — offers valuable perspective (5 minutes). It’s a good day for Venezuelans. Seth Moulton (30 seconds). Yet again Trump over-steps his authority, disregarding Congress and flouting the rule of law. Steve P.: “You can bet that right now China, Russia and Iran are working on plans to get arms smuggled into Venezuela. Trump has handed them the perfect situation to cause trouble for the US and leverage Americans’ angst against these kind of Afghanistan/Iraq incursions that cost us trillions and leave countries in shambles. Also, Big Oil’s finger prints are all over this thing. Naked imperialism.” → Steve is surely right that the motivation here is oil, not democracy or drugs. But is the Venezuelan military loyal to Maduro — or to its paycheck? If we have the good sense to install Venezuela’s landslide-elected president (or the Nobel-Peace-prize-winning María Corina Machado for whom he was the stand-in) — and if that new president gives the military a pay raise — will they fight a guerilla war against their own boss? Things could go badly, but I have high hopes for the people of Venezuela. And high hopes that a year from now people who believe in the rule of law and the separation of powers — not to mention science and civility — will hold the gavels in both the House and Senate, checking our slide into Maduro-style corrupt strong-man rule. If you believe as I do that America desperately needs a strong opposition party, please help fund it today. If not us, who? As to “when,” it’s just so much smarter to fund infrastructure now, when it’s most needed, and candidates next summer and fall, when they most need it, even though it takes discipline to say no to the dozens of candidate requests we get daily. If everyone followed this advice, Democratic candidates would have no money to fight each other in primaries or to lay the groundwork to win the general. But almost no one does follow this advice — so not to worry. SHOULDN’T IT BE WARMER UP HERE? In response to my recently noting that the days are getting longer — “summer’s in the air!” . . . Jim J.: “Just to mention that tomorrow Jan 3 is perihelion. That’s when the earth is closest to the sun.” I responded: “Crazy that it could be so cold when we’re so close! How to explain? I’ll ask Copilot.” Distance from the sun isn’t what drives seasons. The real driver is Earth’s axial tilt — about 23.5°. It’s cold in the Northern Hemisphere right now because it’s tilted away from the Sun. That tilt causes: 1. Lower sun angle: The Sun is lower in the sky, so sunlight spreads over a larger area and delivers less energy per square foot. 2. Shorter days: Less daylight = less time for the ground and air to warm up. 3. Sunlight passes through more atmosphere: A low-angle Sun means more scattering and absorption before the energy reaches the surface. 4. Snow and ice reflect sunlight. And then I asked how Diet Coke and Coke Zero compare (hey: a lot of thoughts are running thru my head at any given time). Turns out Diet Coke, introduced in 1982, has 35% more caffeine, is sweetened with Aspartame only, and has a “sharper” taste. Coke Zero, introduced in 2005, adds Ace-K to the sweetness and tastes “smoother.” It was meant to mimic real Coke more closely — and appeal to men who associated Diet Coke with weight-conscious women. Have a great weekend!