Good morning, All. I wondered yesterday morning if we were going to get the sun, lower humidity and temps the weather people promised. Finally, a bit after noon, the sun came out and the clouds burned off. I did get two of my tomatoes caged. But the others are going to stay as they are for the season because getting to them would be a real struggle. I have to catch up on some of the herbs. They grow like the weeds they once were. But I also have a couple of errands to run. Our weekly shopping and errands were a mixed bag. Mom had an appointment for a bone scan but that had to be rescheduled because who ever it was she talked to in setting the appointment told her she didn't have to worry about the calcium supplement she takes daily. Well she should have suspended them for at least three days before the scan and eliminate foods (like milk, cheese, and some juices) that have high or added calcium. So we have to repeat the whole thing again on Thursday. Needless to say, she was not happy. Then we stopped at the farmer's market we have been anticipating for the last month and which finally opened up last Monday. The corn wasn't up to what we have come to expect--a bit small and underdeveloped. And the blueberries were $4/lb. I may have missed the window for blueberries because the last ad for our year-round market didn't list blueberries. They had a sale of 5 lbs for $13.99. That would have been a bit more than $1/lb less. Blast!!

Burning Platform has a good post this morning. What the authors of the study cited call 'The American Peacock Syndrome' Thorstein Veblen (a century ago) called 'conspicuous consumption.' I rather think the full expression of the syndrome is a cyclical feature of human nature. After all the conspicuous consumption that triggered Veblen's work were the 'Gay 90s'--1890s, that is.

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalist provides this analysis, by David Apgar, of Speaker Boehner's response to President Obama's remarks concerning the debt limit impasse. It seems that lying has become the Repthuglican sport of choice in the 21st century.