July 28

 We have had more rain over the last few days than the prognosticators predicted and a lot less sun and heat. On that last I am definitely grateful.

The TV news just said that the economists have announced that the country is in recession. That's nice but somewhat irrelevant to those of us who aren't interested in getting a loan for a home or car, or have big balances on credit cards. We have felt we have been in a recession since inflation began rising --I would say to stratespheric heights but Turkey has (last I heard) has a 70% rate. The data might also be irrelevant since it is entirely backward looking and requires two quarters of declining growth in GDP to be called by which time the "recession" might be over. And even if the next quarter shows economic growth it doesn't mean that any of us at the middle or lower end of the economy will benefit.

Also on the news: Senators Manchin and Schumer have come to an agreement on a package of economic measures that MIGHT pass the senate which will (they hope) ease inflation, curb drug prices (by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, and impose a minimum 15% corporate tax on companies which seem very adept at getting out of paying any tax at all. Evidently the Dems are pushing to use "reconciliation" which the Reps thought was off the table for good when they agreed to pass the "Chips" bill. Now they are squealing like stuck pigs and McConnell is urging the house to vote that legislation down. Even my high school class wasn't so petty and childish.

On another subject: the gardens are doing well though somewhat bedraggled because of the rain over the last 10 days. I put four of the small pots back in the fence pot holders. I saw a couple of bees working in the squash plants and heard some I didn't see so we might get a few squash in a couple of months. This is the first season I have planted squash in several years. The morning glories are filling the trellis but haven't bloomed yet but the dahlias and hibiscuses are doing quite a job of providing color. And another nice surprise: the rose shows no sign of the mosaic disease I fought last year. It is a new rose. I gave up and pulled the others. The lemon tree seems to be flourishing. I haven't introduced it to the cats yet so I don't know if they will munch on it. I still need to prune the rosemary.

July 21

 The hoped for relief from the heat has not really shown up. It has been miserable. I did get out to water the plants on the patio yesterday. I picked several for heat, sun and drought tolerance especially for the top of the fence but I took them off and put them on the patio where they will get some shade each day. The plants in the larger containers are still doing very well but they have more soil to prevent drying out. I haven't seen any bees so I am hoping that some will find my squash plants which are blooming well. I would like a couple from each of the plants. Over the last half dozen years I have seen fewer and fewer each year. Where they are I really don't know. My nephew is getting started in beekeeping. I hope he succeeds. A friend out in Colorado has kept bees for several years and she worries every year about how many will survive.

The little patio tomato gave us a couple of dozen cherry tomatoes but we won't get many more with the temperatures as high as they are. Same for the Candy Cane pepper though the ones already formed are ripening well.

July 18

 It looks like a nice sunny day. We have light fog that should burn off fairly quickly. After several days with clouds and frequent (sometimes heavy) rain I might get out in the gardens. Things are looking a bit bedraggled. The ten-day weather forecast has changed a bit for our area: less rain, a bit lower temps (no 90s, hallelujah), and plenty of sun. I don't think I will have to water anything until Wednesday which is nice. The little patio tomato has given us a whole bunch of little ripe tomatoes which we have enjoyed them in a couple of salads and with cottage cheese. The pepper has a couple ripening. I should be able to pick them soon. With lower temps over the next ten or more days both plants might set some more flowers.

Karen Greenberg, posting on Tomdispatch.com today, asks "Can the System Be Saved?" I, like Engelhardt in his intro, am not holding my breath. As I read the post my mind went back to another "institution" that has, recently, suffered a crisis in confidence because of unaccountability: the Catholic Church and its priesthood. I did a quick google search and found several articles which cited polls saying that trust in priests had sunk to 31%. I will let you do your own search. According to this article, trust in our political institutions is lower. In each case, the institutions were protected even as the principles that, originally, supported the institutions were violated repeatedly. People loose faith or trust, in institutions slowly and only after repeated violations over time, and rebuilding that faith or trust can't be done over night. The institutions may break before the faith is renewed.

I recently started culling my e-mail list. When I signed up for some of the lists they had information I enjoyed on quilting, crochet, or embroidery. However, the sites have become more and more commercial--hawking products or memberships and providing less information and patterns. So I have unsubscribed to many and blocking others that don't let me easily unsubscribe. Sad but I am so tired of being sold something.

July 8

 The last two weeks have been depressing. The dental work is almost finished for now. I still have one cavity that will be filled next week and then a follow up appointment to see how the healing from the two extractions, scaling and root planing, and antibiotic treatments for pockets of infection. The good news: I still have most of my teeth and hope to have them still whenever in the future I shuffle off this plane of existence.

I think I mentioned before--I HATE dental or medical appointments. And I have been lucky in my 73 years to have needed very few of them.

The news adds to the glum feeling. A 10 year old girl from Ohio had to travel to Indiana to get an abortion that resulted from an incestuous rape. Ohio's abortion ban kicked in before they could deal with the matter there. I regret that by the end of this month we might have the same situation arising here because our governor has called a special session of the legislature for July 25. Our state's attorney is pushing for a total ban with no exceptions whatsoever.

In Illinois the Repthuglican candidate for governor promises that everything will be all right if we just placate his god by banning abortion and eliminating other evils their great White Daddy in the Sky doesn't approve. Every time I hear one of those sanctimonious nutcases spout off I want to get in their faces and say "I'm not a member of your church; I don't sing in your choir. Keep your damned religion out of my life."

Most of the "conservative" justices on the Supreme Court went to some pains to insist that the decision only affects abortion rights because abortion is different because it concerns the taking of life. Well, Clarence Thomas said the truth plainly in his concurring separate opinion: he thinks they should revisit Griswold v Connecticut (right to marital privacy and contraception), Lawrence v Texas (right to privacy and sexual relations between same sex adults), and Obergefelt v Hodges (the right of gay couples to marry). I noticed at the time that he left out Loving v Virginia (the right of interracial couples to marry) which was argued on the same basis as the others.

The case of West Virginia v EPA questions whether the agency or any agency can make enforceable rules. The decision holds that the legislative branch must make specific regulations (not administrative agencies authorized by previously passed legislation) to deal with "major questions." What exactly constitutes a "major question" is not spelled out. But the court has already queued up another possibly far reaching case dealing with voting rights which questions whether state courts have the right to review voting districts for adherence to state constitutions. In a previous case which basically ruled that "political" gerrymandering was permissible while "racial" gerrymandering was not, Chief Justice Roberts insisted that the state courts could still rule on exactly what was permissible in drawing voting districts. Well, his five "conservative" colleagues are about to hear a case that may totally upset that. I keep using quotes around the word conservative because those guys and gal are not conservative. They are radical.

Perhaps Margery Taylor Green should change her name to Grima Wormtongue: "Putin just wanted to be our friend and ally, but we blew the opportunity by supporting Ukraine." Quoted on the Direct eZine.