Tuesday.

The rolling thunderstorms just keep coming.  We had another heavy downpour which hit yesterday afternoon for about half an hour and then continued at a slower pace until evening.  From what little I can see right now we may have had more overnight.  As usual the entire area has spotty wind damage and flooding.  We have errands planned, including a trip to our local farm market, so I hope things stay dry for a while.  And cool--at least until we get back.

The mid-term political silly season is heating up.  The Bruce Rauner campaign in Illinois has trotted out his wife--again.  Her great claim to fame is that she is a "life-long Democrat" supporting her billionaire Republican husband.  Her campaign spot annoys me for a number of reasons but the one that hits me at the moment is her claim that "Bruce" doesn't have a "social agenda."  No indeed, he has an "education and economic agenda."  What makes her think that education and economics AREN'T social?  Nothing is purely social, or purely economic, or purely educational.  It is all interrelated.

I found this by way of Huffington Post.  The U.S. government was "surprised" the Egypt and the United Arab Emirates would act against Islamist militias in Tripoli without clearing their actions with Washington.  Our reactions here: 1) where are our "intelligence" services and what are they doing?  2) turn about is fair play--that has been our MO.  How often have we acted unilaterally because we thought the action was in our interests?  3)  Are we so stupidly self centered that we don't think that other actors on this world's stages might (possibly) have agendas of their own?  Or that those agendas just might not coincide with our own?

Somehow I am not terribly surprised at this item.  But it pisses me off.  I guess it all depends on how you define "caused."  I once knew a veteran, retired military actually, who tried to get treatment for an asthma like condition but was kept waiting for an appointment for nearly a year.  He died five months before that appointment.  Who can say that the lack of diagnosis and treatment actually "caused" his death?  But it sure as hell didn't help.