We didn't get the thunderstorms and the early rain fizzled out pretty quickly. I didn't harvest anything. By the time the rain ended the heat was building and my ambition went to sleep. It is overcast now and we did get rain overnight. I hope it burns off but more rain is forecast for today. We'll see.

The southwest is baking in triple digit heat but at least someone has a sense of humor.

Huffington Post has a nice concise guide to the House and Senate (faux)health care bills and how they differ from each other and from the ACA. Number 45 called the House bill "mean" while Senator Schumer described the Senate bill as "meaner." I think both understated the situation.

I had thought, for a very brief moment, that the clouds might burn off. Well, the deluge that started a few minutes ended that dream. The major consolation: I won't have to water anything.

Continuing on the health care reform scam, Kunstler has a good piece this morning which takes the discussion from the realm of who gets screwed to give the wealthy even more than they have now to some underlying truths. First, the debate has been couched, both for the ACA originally and for the so-called reforms, in terms of "access to health care." That is untrue. The ACA and the bills to replace it only deal with who gets access to health insurance with what restrictions at what cost. If you can't afford the insurance you need, the Repthuglicans say "tough shit, if you were a good person you wouldn't be sick or you would be rich enough to afford the insurance. Otherwise, Scum, shut up and die." If you have insurance but can't afford the care because of the deductibles--see above. He is also right to describe the medical industry as a racket which is marching lockstep with the education racket and the other rackets that dominate our economy. They are all swirling down the drain together.

It's all smoke and mirrors. Not only should we not pay attention to what #45's says because his verbal effusions (or tweets) are lies, exaggerations or contradicted with the next outpouring of verbiage but we have to reserve judgement on his actions as well because the immediate results (if any) may be ephemeral in the extreme.