TGIF to all of you.  We have temps in the 60s and sun this morning.  We had a nice though short rain last night so I don't need to water anything.  We have a number of errands to run today so I don't think I will get much done in the gardens.  But with highs in the mid 80s I can take short trips outside to do little chores.  Let's see I if find anything to comment on this today.

The first headline I saw on the BBC site this morning claimed that 'Assad's fall is only a matter of time'-- according to the opposition, of course.  I won't link because you can find it easily enough and my comments concern something else:  what a post-Assad Syria might look like.  That is a bit unsettling.  I saw an article yesterday that has been percolating in my mind since.  The reporter described the situation in a small Syrian village after rebels blew up a vehicle carrying army officers.  The damage and death was somewhat selective--one house burned to the ground while the next left alone,  bodies and blood all over another house while those around it were completely untouched.  The Syrian army weren't responsible.  The perpetrators were Alawite fighters aligned with the regime.  Assad himself is an Alawite, a Shi'ite sect.  Yes there are Shi'ites in Syria.  The struggle in Syria is becoming, if it wasn't always, a sectarian religious struggle.  That Assad's removal will not create a stable Syria.  It might even increase the bloodshed and chaos.  Think Iraq and Afghanistan.  The only plus--we don't have troops on the ground.

As you all probably realize, I like reusing things.  Over time I have used a variety of plastic containers in my gardens.  It is a cheap and thrifty use for things that would otherwise be thrown away.  I am always concerned with exactly how safe those plastics are for growing plants we intend to harvest and eat.  I found this little article at Resilient Communities that provides some good information on the issue.  Thankfully, everything I use now is in the safe categories.

I just dropped in on Market Watch and saw that the Dow was up 200+ today after a similar rise yesterday.  The explanations involve 'optimism' over developments in Europe.  Strange I haven't seen any developments--just a lot of hot air about 'doing whatever is necessary' to protect the Euro.  Nothing is fixed and no proposals have been made that will fix Europe.  Greece is still in a depression and going deeper in hopes of a paltry 130billion euro bailout that is too little way too late.  And it is another loan that has to be paid back along with all the other loans.  Spain is in depression and going deeper.  Borrowing costs are rising and the various provincial and local governments are all well past their borrowing capacity.  Italy--has anyone heard anything hopeful there?  I wondered if the surging stocks are the result of speculative buyers hoping to time their exit so that they reap massive rewards before the  excrement hits the fan.  I seem to remember similar wild swings in the collapse of 2008.