Thursday

Nothing new in the seedling nursery today.  I am not worried because the room is in the high 60s and the germination is slower in cooler temperatures.

A good many years ago, when I taught Western Civ at several schools, I inevitably got the question about ancient Athenian democracy concerning how it could possibly be described a "democracy" when most of the people couldn't vote.  I always wrote on the board "democracy" and told them that the key to understanding the term was finding out who constituted the "demos," the people.  Some women and children were politically incompetent parts of the citizenry and couldn't vote.  Slaves weren't citizens.  Adult men whose fathers and mothers weren't citizens also weren't citizens unless granted citizenship for service to the state.  It is all in the definition as this FPIF article notes in discussing the unrest in the Ukraine, Egypt, and Venezuela.
*******************************************************************************

Friday

Seeds coming up nicely.  Saw chamomile, lemon basil, cypress vine, and sunflowers popping above the soil.  I really, really want the snow to go away and the gardens to thaw out so I can get to digging.  And find out what has survived.

Found this on Naked Capitalism and I wonder if it is a sign of times to come--and how many other institutions have the same policies.  It also brought back the memory of a conversation from more than 30 years ago.  An acquaintance who was a grad student in history at the same time I was took a job as the curator of a small local history museum.  She held the job for less than a year and came back much disillusioned.  She had been promised a reasonable salary but it was contingent on her being able to raise enough funds to cover both the operation and maintenance of the museum and her salary which would be paid out of what ever was left over.  That last hadn't been mentioned when she was being interviewed.  I wonder how many of the inspiring professors I knew during my long sojourn in academia would have been able to meet the requirements Columbia has set.  And how many in the humanities would?  Another indication that the only measure of value any more is money.