Thursday--

I plan to get out and get some more of the gardens cleaned up.  I could have yesterday but I dusted bookshelves instead.  I still have the ornamental sweet potatoes, the mandevilla, the bee balm, and hyssop to cut down.  I am thinking about moving the foxglove and feverfew because I might not be able to get the shepherd's hook out without damaging them.  I am taking them down because I will be moving them to new spots next season.  The leaves are beginning to accumulate on the patio so I will be sweeping them up to use as mulch.

George Washington has a piece on endocrine disrupting chemicals and their links to diabetes and obesity.  This story has been gathering steam for some time.  Most people rail at the chemical companies and they do deserve our anger for some things--like being so invested in the production and use of the chemicals that they not only refuse to see the "collateral damage" they may cause but actively try to keep that knowledge from the public.  However, I think the root of the problem is in our own human nature.  We tend to see a problem and then apply a solution without thinking about what other problems the solution will cause.  That is what I mean by "collateral damage."  Often our "cures" are worse than the conditions they are designed to solve but by the time the damage is evident it is widespread and entrenched interests are dependent upon the continued use of the "cure."

Ah, the benefits of globalization!!  It seems that the only one really enjoying those benefits are our major corporations.  They seem to specialize more in tax evasion than actual production.  The article mentions the competition between countries to offer companies sweetheart deals to bring jobs and economic activity into areas where people have suffered under austerity for several years.  Perhaps we should welcome Europe to our world where our states and cities try lure companies away from other states and cities hoping they will provide a needed economic boost.  From the statistics I have seen the economic boost never amounts to what was promised and the jobs created cost the state and local governments more than the tax revenue the workers' income provide.

I don't think much of Donald Trump but there are some things he says with which I must agree.  The TPP is one of those as the author of this article points out.  Frankly, they ought to scuttle the whole thing and go with individual treaties openly negotiated without the global business interests dictating the terms.

On Paul Ryan's demands that his job as Speaker of the House not cut into his time with his family--wouldn't it be nice if every parent could make that demand of their employers.  And wouldn't it be nice if Paul Ryan supported family time for all working parents--which he doesn't.