Wednesday, 10 December 2025

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! May the Great Spirit bless you 🙏

It's a mild, wet morning here on the Niagara Peninsula; 🗾 it will undoubtedly be an LED 💡artificial sunlight day. With the Christmas tree all lit up 🎄 at least it makes the place look warm, bright, welcoming, and cheery; no gloom-pusses in this house!

Now my Green Space looks greener and more tropical, with rainwater droplets dripping from the plants. Our landlord and friend, Rick, was up here yesterday fixing a door, where I heard him talking to my partner about my Green Space. He called it "the little paradise."

I am certainly looking forward to being active again and not this sack 💩 🤢 🤮 in pain, taking up space on the couch 🛋️. I keep praying, and I keep hurting; either G-d is deaf, or he forgot to take out his earbuds 🎧

I always did my best, no matter how many faceplants I made doing so, and there were times when I succeeded. Failing taught me that when you take on a project, you do what you know best. These groups are what I know best, that which keeps my crank cranking for now. You do what you do best. An old, retired social worker can't just stop working, especially if they care for people. Do what you know best and what makes you feel fulfilled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfR6kW61Oks

Do what you do, do well, eh, and that's the best ya kins do gals and boys. It does the heart good to listen to a good, uplifting, sunshiny tune in the early morning. Try it, get into it while doing your morning duties, and turn up the noise box! Good for chasing away all of the coming days' ghosts. Just put one foot ahead of the other, dance around the room a couple of times, hum along with the music, and keep on a truckin'!

If I could only feel good again, I would get down on my knees in reverence and kiss the ground, Mother Gaia. I don't think anyone who hasn't suffered anything worse than a headache or a sore thumb from hitting it with a hammer has any idea what excruciating pain is. Being healthy and pain-free, I don't think that person would have any idea what suffering is about, especially when it's constant. Not knowing if you're going to spray lunch is not fun. IT SUCKS.

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

Doing What You Do Best

That's what we all have to do, isn't it? Apply this maxim to your personal resistance. You can resist by putting your best foot forward, fighting for what's right. Sharing and informing others for the sake of saving them, We, the People, here on the web, or among those you meet as you go about your day. I am retired from social work. Being a social worker is about helping other people because you care for them, a deep caring as though they were part of you. If you don't feel this within you, you're in the wrong job.

- Google Search -

My question: A Social Worker?

A social worker helps individuals, families, and communities address life's challenges, improve well-being, and access resources by providing counselling, therapy, and advocacy for social justice, working in diverse settings like hospitals, schools, and agencies to tackle issues from poverty to racism and domestic violence. They use specialized skills and knowledge to assess problems, develop solutions, and connect people with support, focusing on empowerment and practical, strengths-based solutions for better psychosocial functioning.

Eileen Higgins will win the Miami mayor's race, -CNN- projects, breaking a nearly 30-year GOP hold

Eileen Higgins will be the next mayor of the city of Miami, according to a projection from -CNN's- Decision Desk, breaking a nearly 30-year Republican streak in holding the nonpartisan seat and giving Democrats another example of strong performance in elections during the first year of President Donald Trump's second term.

Higgins, a former county commissioner, will defeat city manager Emilio Gonzalez, who was endorsed by Trump. She won Tuesday's runoff after leading the first round of voting on November 4 with 35% of the vote to Gonzalez's 19% Democrats are already riding a wave of momentum after a dominant performance in November's off-year elections and over-performing their 2024 results in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, shrinking a 22-point 2024 margin to single digits in a special election last week...

Read More:

Updated Dec 9, 2025, 9:14 PM ET - Updated 11 hr ago

- CNN -

Is this a sign of a trend moving in the other direction? Did someone bend the arrow back? 🏃‍♂️---↩️ I certainly pray so. We'll see. Well, this about wraps it up. Thank you for reading the Tree House News

BREAKING NEWS:

The Fed just cut interest rates for the third-straight time

What We're Covering Here

• The Federal Reserve cut interest rates Wednesday by a quarter point as expected, lowering borrowing costs for the third time this year.

• The central bank also gave more details on its plans for 2026 rate moves, issuing its quarterly economic projections, aka the “dot plot.”

• Today’s meeting caps off a rough year for central bank officials: They have battled stubborn inflation, a weakening labor market, more than the usual number of committee dissents, and a series of personal attacks from President Donald Trump.

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to head up a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET that will be closely watched. His tenure ends in May and Trump has promised to name a successor who will cut rates...

Read More:

9 min ago

Three dissenting votes were cast

Read More:

18 min ago

Fed lowers interest rates for the third time in a row

More To Read:

Updated 2:10 PM EST, Wed December 10, 2025

- CNN -

Battleground Republicans clash with hard-liners over Obamacare subsidies as party talks health care strategy

A number of endangered GOP lawmakers on Wednesday privately pressed Republican leaders to address expiring Covid-era health care subsidies — but faced sharp pushback from the right flank of their party.

And House Republican leaders remained adamant that they did not support a short-term fix, making it increasingly likely that the GOP-led Congress will allow the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire at year’s end. Inside a packed meeting of House Republicans, multiple battleground Republicans, including Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, called on Speaker Mike Johnson to put a bill on the floor that would extend the expiring subsidies for more than 20 million Americans. He argued that it needed to take priority over leadership’s other, longer-term health care plans that are expected to come to the floor next week.

GOP leaders are eying smaller-scale measures, such as expanding HSA accounts and expanding cost-sharing reduction — a way that helps offset costs for lower-income people by requiring insurers to pay more...

Read More:

PUBLISHED Dec 10, 2025, 11:41 AM ET - 2 hr ago

- CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Recall petition targeting Alberta Premier Danielle Smith approved

21 MLAs now facing recall petitions, including one Opposition NDP member

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is now one of 20 United Conservative MLAs subject to a recall petition amid a growing movement to try to remove members of her party from office.

Petitions approved by Elections Alberta were posted for Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Smith, environment minister Rebecca Schulz and technology minister Nate Glubish on Wednesday morning.

Those additions bring the total number of provincial representatives facing recall efforts to 21, including one Alberta New Democrat.

Canvassers hit the streets and MLAs push back as Calgary-area recall campaigns are in full swing 3 more UCP MLAs and 1 NDP MLA face recall petitions in Alberta...

Read More:

Posted: Dec 10, 2025 12:35 PM EST | Last Updated: 29 minutes ago

- CBC -

Trump’s point man on trade floats separate deals with Canada and Mexico

'Our economic relationship with Canada is very, very different,' says U.S. trade rep Jamieson Greer

U.S. President Donald Trump’s lead trade negotiator says the administration is considering breaking up the three-way free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, moving toward separate deals instead.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Wednesday that the Trump administration is keeping all options on the table for the future of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) as it comes up for renewal in 2026.

But Greer, who plays a key role in all trade negotiations, including the looming review of CUSMA, is laying out a strong case for separate bilateral deals with the country’s northern and southern neighbours — a move that would end 30 years of North America having a unified free trade agreement...