Good Morning, All. A dry day finally. But the humidity is very uncomfortable. We have had condensation on our patio doors for the last several days. That is very unusual for this time of the year. By now we should be entering our dry season. I don't think I will have to water the large containers today. And I will be able to get out and check everything over--for the first time in two days. And the cat is happy for the first time in two days--he can go outside.

I have been watching the 'happy, happy' news reports on where the oil spilled from theDeepwater Horizon site. The 'static kill' seems to be working, the relief wells are on target, thedispersants don't appear to be any more toxic than the oil itself, and some 50% of that oil has simply disappeared. I guess I am a 'gloomy Gus' because I keep waiting for the next bad news to come along or for some of these feel good stories to go sour. Perhaps we all should read thisNew York Times story (found by way of MSNBC). We like to think that disasters like this are once in a blue moon occurrences but evidently the accident 'has been waiting to happen' for some time. It wasn't a question of if--it was a question of when. And I am pessimistic enough to think that, with the oil stopped and the oil itself dissipating, the pressure to change things will lessen to the point that nothing significant will be done. After all, think of all the economic benefit these companies provide. We wouldn't want to stifle that, would we?

To carry on with the notion of 'when the other shoe falls' or 'what are they not telling us now' I found this HuffingtonPost article. I would be outraged by BP's secrecy but the U.S. Government's apparent complicity takes the matter to a much higher level of anger. And it illustrates just why trust in all social/political/economic institutions is in very short supply.

Matthew Yglesias has book recommendation that sounds interesting: The Moral Consequences of Economic Collapse by Benjamin Friedman. I have often had a gut feeling that economics has been driving the increasingly bitter and vitriolic politics we have experienced of late. I have requested the book from the library so I will soon see if there is some backing for my feelings.

And then there is this article on food.change.org. I am almost at a loss for words because so many questions are running around in my mind. The author asks a major one: if the soybeans are taking up those drugs and chemical contaminants what about the other plants in our food chain. And what about the animals that eat those plants and that we then eat? I remember one of the most pernicious things about DDT (besides thinning birds' egg shells) was the fact that it actually became more concentrated the higher along the food chain you went. And guess who is at the top of that chain? Does the same thing happen in this case?