June 29, 30

 Cloudy with a bit of rain so far today. So often lately you can't tell if it is cloudy or if we have the haze from the fires. That tracks with what the Weather Channel has predicted for today: Warm (80s), cloudy with some sun, with periods of rain. I pulled out frozen dish I cooked a while back that I just have to put in the oven for a bit. And the dried herbs are ready to grind. Thankfully, not a lot of things I need to do. I can simply chill out for the most part.

JanInSanFran has an amusing post on the absurd hat styles among some militaries around the world.

30*********************************************************************

Last day of the first half of this year. Sunny so far but the weather predictions are for possible storms over the weekend. I still have the herbs to grind. My get-up-and-go was missing in action yesterday. Luckily I had a frozen meal ready for the oven so I didn't do much cooking. I have a quick dinner planned--not the beef roast which hasn't thawed out yet.

I rather expected the Supreme Court decision today on the student loan issue. Most of my thoughts on the situation don't deal with the matter of law. First, I think the student loan program was flawed from the beginning. Those who created hoped to do in the 1980s and beyond what was done in the 1950s and 1960s with the GI Bill--use an educated work force to fuel economic expansion in an age where the specter of a renewed depression scaring the crap out of them. And at the same time they thought to reward (at least some)of the veterans who won the war. The GI Bill plus the pent up demand from almost 20 years marked by depression and wartime rationing and plus the costs or rebuilding Europe and Japan did usher in economic expansion. By the 1980s that expansion was slowing down. But two of the three conditions the made the earlier economic boom were mission. Second, the program was fraudulent to begin with. It was sold to "customers" on the notion that they were acquiring "good" debt because the loans carried a low interest rate and they would get good jobs that would provide the income to pay it off easily with that would be cheaper because of inflation. There is no such thing as good debt. Third, those pushing the loans emphasized the "good jobs" that supposedly awaited the graduates when they graduated. But that future disappeared quickly as the economy changed radically between 1990 and now. Third, unlike other debt, student loan debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. In other words student loan debtors don't get second chances. They are in debt peonage for decades. Fourth, there was no accountability except on the part of the borrower who was accountable to pay the loan back to whoever the government designated servicer. The schools were not under any constraint to honestly advise their "customers" and were under pressure to enlist as many borrowers as they could because they weren't providing the money themselves. And the "services" weren't really responsible for dealing with the borrowers with any honesty and compassion.

All of that is why I think the student loan program should be entirely cancelled and all the debts cancelled. To those who bleat about how they paid off their loans, or never got them and it isn't fair for them to pay someones debt with their taxes. That is crap. We pay taxes all the time that fund things we might not use or like.

Question for the justices on the affirmative action matter: why is racial categories now verboten but legacy and athletic admissions not? 

June 28

 Sunny today--well sort of sunny. I am not sure if we have clouds or smoke from Canada. We still have an air quality alert and the possibility of stray showers/thunderstorms.

Improve the News writes that the CDC is warning about an increase in malaria cases that are not related to foreign travel--in other words are locally acquired. There are only two vaccines being tested for malaria so the only strategy available to prevent the disease is "vector control," that is taking out the mosquitoes. That might be difficult given the weather--high heat and heavy rains causing flooding--which is ideal for mosquito breeding. One of the serious problems for Europeans colonizing the U.S. south from Virginia was malaria. It was especially devastating for pregnant women.

I have seen a lot of vaccine skeptics (to be polite) demanding that one or another scientist on the other side "debate" them. I put debate in quotes because the two sides don't agree on what constitutes evidence. I noted this yesterday when I wrote a bit about one such skeptic. They wouldn't be debating so much as talking past each other one presenting data and the other presenting anecdotes, or the skeptic criticizes data which answers one question while the critic thinks another question, which the study wasn't designed to answer,  is more important and refuses accept the scientist's explanation. No study answers all questions and a good study generates more questions than it answers. The scientists know this so why bother.

Bill Astore put an amusing post on his substack today. Over the last ten years or so I have really wished for some younger politicians with new ideas but I haven's seen them. Most of the younger ones haven't come up with any original thoughts at all. I am looking at ANOTHER election where I don't have any real viable choice except the lesser disaster.

And here is another amusing story from a Kentucky outlet. Kentucky and Indiana allow medical but not recreational marijuana but a newly opened cannabis outlet in a southern Illinois has more Indiana customers than Illinois customers and the third place goes to --Kentucky. 

June 26, 27

 It looks cloudy this morning but with all the smoke that has been blowing down from Canada it is often hard to tell. With the amount of rain we have had over the last two days I don't have to water again today. We have errands today.

I found this Robert Reich post that expresses some of the thoughts I have had about the Putin-Prigozhin situation. Who has lost and who has gained? Underneath the the notion the pundits have been pushing that Putin has been seriously weakened is the fact that his military command has been far more damaged. We'll see if Shoigu and/or Gerasimov resign or are fired (or suffer a fall from a high window). The Russian army has been incredibly ineffective which has been a blow to Putin's and Russia's reputation. The Wagner Group, on the other hand, has been effective. Prigozhin's rhetoric was focused squarely on the military command and said absolutely nothing about Putin. That criticism provides Putin an out on the military debacle by putting the blame on his generals for giving him tragically flawed advice and information which led him to agree to the adventure in Ukraine. It also eliminates two potential threats to his own power. Putin and his supporters win on this count. And Prigozhin may still be available to play hatchet man.

27**********************************************************************

Well, we did our errands yesterday which mainly involved grocery shopping and visiting our landlord to fix a problem with our last rent check. The latter wasn't really urgent because we are well ahead of our deadline. We had a long shopping list and got a couple of items I forgot to put on the list. As usual we seemed to be low on or out of a lot of things. By the time we finished everything, including putting the groceries away, we were pretty wasted and spent the rest of the day chilling out. We have had cycles of rain for the last few days and expect more over the next few days. Maybe I will get a dry period when I can clip some herbs for drying without getting drenched. A couple of the spates of rain were quite heavy.

I will try to ignore the so-called news today. I have heard way too much of the situation in Russia (about which no one actually knows any thing concrete) and the circus in Washington where certain RepTHUGlicans are trying to make the past conform to their preferred version of the past by "expunging" The Former Guy's impeachments.

Doomberg has an interesting article (partially available--the rest is behind a pay wall) about some of the challenges of processing the metals needed for a high tech economy. I remember reading a book on the history of technology a very long time ago and the author claimed that technology makes the process (and the cost) invisible. He used the notion of lighting our homes. Today we flip a switch and get light. But we never see the wires connecting us to the plant which generates the electricity or the trucks, pipelines, or rail cars which bring the fuel the plants use to generate the electricity that we access by flipping a switch. Nor do we see all of the processes that get the fuel out of the earth and converted to a form that can be transported to the plant which uses to..... . And so it goes. The boosters of electric vehicles tout the reduction in carbon generation but none of the ever take into account all of the pollution and waste generated in the processes of getting the materials those vehicles require. The same goes for every kind of "green" technology. Nor are very many pundits talking about the waste that comes at the end of the cycle when the items are no longer useable. What happens to the depleted lithium batteries, the wind turbines vanes, or other parts?

I just read an interesting argument on a post from a blogger who has been accused of spreading misinformation about the dangers/ineffectiveness of COVID vaccines. He suggests several ways his critics can "prove" their case against him. However, the first technique he cites strikes me as problematic if not actually fallacious. He note a friend of his who has collected the stories of his friends and family who had bad reactions to the vaccine and wonders why there aren't any countering anecdotes from those who had spectacular success stories. Problem #1) anecdote does not equal data whether for either side. Problem #2) when a particular outcome is expected we don't usually notice individual successes whereas the failures become glaringly apparent. Failure is the dog that doesn't bark in the night when it should bark. If the dog barks it is doing what it should and isn't note worthy. Problem #3) the suggestion ignores actual data.

The Free Press has a good piece on the possible end of "affirmative action" ahead of a possible negative ruling by the Supreme Court. It raises a question in my mind: is there any way to devise a truly "fair" admissions program for colleges and universities--or for hiring at companies and government for that matter? I have been asking myself that question since the Bakke case in 1978. Though the Court ruled then that race and other such factors could be used in the admission process quotas could not. When I was 28 I was finishing a BA in Biology and considering what to do next. I thought veterinary school might be a good idea but my advisor gave me the clue that my age would be against me. I wasn't yet 30 and I was "over the hill." I entered a MS program in Zoology instead. Ten years later a colleague finished his PhD and applied for both postdoc positions AND medical school, and was accepted at both in spite of being over 30. He opted for med school. Things do change but I wonder what a truly "fair" system would look like.

Stan Cox provides a few new thoughts about climate change and what we might see as it goes from bad to worse.

When I went out to get our mail I thought I saw a low lying haze. I didn't think too much about it because we were expecting periods of light rain. However, we aren't too far from Lake and McHenry counties in Illinois and that is where the haze shown in the pictures here. Yep, the Canadian fires are still burning.

June 24, 25

 Sunny and with a clearer blue sky than we had seen for some time.

Watching the coverage of the situation in Russia. We'll follow that for today. The situation is very fluid with so many possible paths and outcomes.

25******************************************************************

As I said yesterday--we have been watching the coverage of the Russia "crisis." So far what is sure is that the Wagner ended its rebellion and turned back to their previous positions. It had been surprisingly effective and revealed some weaknesses in the conventional military. For Prigozhin's  forces to take over Rostov and the military command for the Ukraine operation without firing a shot says nothing good about the Russian military. To have a "agreement" negotiated by Belorus's President Lukashenko that ended the criminal case against Prigozhin and his mercenaries AND to allow Prigozhin to go into "exile" in Beloruss AND to fold the members of Wagner Group who didn't participate into the regular military is mind boggling. Some comments by the various analysts stand out. Putin's "management style" has been to pit rival groups against each other while he remains above the fray and in charge. That, like anything else in human affairs, works--until it doesn't. The experts say there are rumors that the heads of the military, Shoigu and Gerasamov, will resign soon. I would expect that given their poor performance both in Ukraine and in meeting an armed insurrection. If that is the case, I would say that Putin has neutralized two potential threats: the military hierarchy and Wagner. A question I have asked myself is: what if Putin and Prigozhin planned this outcome together? Only time will reveal the consequences of these last two days.

Now to shift gears--We have had nice sunny days with temps in the mid 80s(F). Last night we had a round of thunderstorms thunder in with heavy rain that sounded like hail. However, I looked out and saw only rain. At least I don't have to water anything today. 

Update: it is just after noon and we have more rain. 

June 23

We got a bit of rain--a very little bit, but welcome. I got the sage, mojito mint, and lemon balm ground and in jars yesterday. I had dried them the day before. The stevia, spearmint, and peppermint are on the list for harvesting and drying today. I should also refill the bird feeder and sweep up the hulls and seed they scattered.

I loved this cartoon I found on JaninSanFran's post today. She has a long quote from the New York Times which questions how much affirmative action has helped level the field for women and minorities in all phases of life. I grew up before affirmative action and experienced both affirmative mentorship and negative bias throughout without affirmative action. We are a society that has enshrined the idol of the conquering individual who advances SOLELY by his/her own merit. And we have forgotten that no one really succeeds without lucky breaks, helpful and supportive  people, as well as individual pluck, intelligence and ability. I remember the first woman who was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship which had been reserved for men only before. She insisted that she wasn't a "feminist" and had achieved thee award on her own merit. Yeah, but how many women before her were equally accomplished but were denied because of her sex? And a question for the Times writers: do the "downsides" of affirmative action (for whom) really outweigh the benefits (and again for whom)? I think the jury is out on that and anecdotes are NOT data.

GZero notes some "gaps in our empathy" in the wake of the OceanGate Titan tragedy. Somehow a "adventure" goes tragically wrong but involves five wealthy people who paid a quarter of a million dollars per person, gets a lot of attention and a swarm of rescuers but a rickety boat overloaded with refugees sinks in the Mediterranean with hardy a mention and a single boat responding to their call for help. Improve the News makes much the same point in its "Cynical Narrative"

The submersible's implosion and the death of its occupants is undoubtedly tragic. At the same time, it's telling that the world rallied to find a missing sub while giving minimal coverage to the shipwrecked migrants that went missing off the coast of Greece last week. As the global media and the international marine agencies try to investigate Titan's loss, they must also give more sympathy and attention to the hundreds of migrants that remain missing.

I wonder how many RepTHUGlican candidates will actually "qualify" for the first debate. One of the demands from the national committed is that they sign a 'loyalty' pledge to support whoever the eventual candidate might be. Christie said he would make the pledge as sincerely as The Former Guy did in the last election cycle. De Santas has refused. TFG has also refused (so far). And I think a couple of others have also. The party now has a gaggle of contenders setting up the same pattern from 2016 where they split the vote so that someone with less that 30% of any vote could win.

A lot of press attention has been focused on the Blinken trip to China which culminated in a brief "audience" with Xi. Robert Reich has an interesting post exploring the behind the scenes activity where "greed and money" converge. I have said for some time that big financial/industrial organizations (Tesla, JP Morgan Chase, etc.) are not really American companies any more. They have no roots in the American economy or society. The only allegiance they pledge is to profit and they go where they think they can get the most profit.

The Census Bureau published an interesting study on the aging of our population. They say that the average now is 38.9. I wonder how many of my generation is looking at their children or, as in my case, nieces and nephews and noting they are all over 40. A couple of mine are pushing 50.

This cartoon from Caitlin Johnstone's blog this morning sums up my feelings about our political system. I am still looking for the lesser of the evils. 

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism has posted at she calls a "public service" piece concerning a rise in fungal diseases that are often going undiagnosed because of "doctor ignorance" because medical schools aren't teaching their students to diagnose them. Climate change has spread the organisms to new areas and increased their ability to infect people. COVID has also left a population of survivors whose weakened immune systems make them vulnerable. It is a long piece but worth reading.

June 22

 Looks like another warm and sunny day. And another with a dirty blue sky. I am really very tired of that. I would rather have rain. I didn't do much at all yesterday. One of those days when my get-up-and-go got up and went, as the old saying goes. I have a bunch of things to do today so we'll see how far I get.

I am getting very tired of another term/word: misinformation. It seems to cover everything from innocuous beliefs someone else doesn't share to outright provable lies. Robert Reich posts today on the matter focusing on big tech companies like Twitter and Facebook. A lot of ink (electronic and physical) has been spilt expressing outrage on all sides of issues which has resulted in much heat (and hate) with no resolution. The issue involves several nested problems but the most basic problem is we no longer have any authority that is widely accepted. 

To illustrate: vaccines and COVID vaccines in particular. My mother grew up at a time before vaccines became a normal part of childhood life. Polio, measles, mumps, diphtheria, whooping cough, smallpox, chicken pox, flu were also a normal part and all took a large number of lives, especially children's lives, each year. And in some cases left life long health problems for the survivors. I grew in a transition time as the first vaccines were rolled out. By the time I was a young adult they were so widely accepted that recruits in my boot camp class were lined up and given the full range of available vaccines. No one protested. When COVID came along Mom and I got the shot after considering carefully all of the available information--including some from very skeptical sources. One of my nephews refused both the shot and the advice to mask and his mother, my sister, told him not to visit until he was vaccinated and agreed to wear a mask. She and her partner both had health problems which made getting a COVID infection very risky. All of our formerly trusted institutions have suffered from a loss of trust and increase of skepticism, if not outright hostility.

Big tech/social media provides a new (to us) forum for a wide range of opinions/beliefs/whatever ranging from rational to whack-a-doodle insane. But we always had forums for that same range of "information." When I was a child I found a lot of books on all kinds of things: hollow earth, flat earth, ancient astronauts etc., etc., etc. I read a lot of other books as well that debunked all of those ideas. Our Constitution promises us a "free press" not a fair press, or even a truthful press. Our system depends on US doing our part and intelligently examining issues AND respecting those who don't agree with our conclusions. My sister respected her son's decisions concerning COVID but she didn't have to risk her life and health because of those decisions. I never saw the utility of Twitter and never signed up on it. I do use Facebook but very selectively. I play some games, keep up with family and a couple of real friends whom I have known for a long time before Facebook, and visit some crafting pages. And I think our politicians will find it difficult to regulate those companies as to the content they allow and most of their efforts will be ineffective in a global system where users can migrate to new sites that give them the information they seek.

Well, the USDA has approved lab grown chicken produced by two companies. I am always skeptical of these developments. I noticed the boosters for this technology noted how much water and how much land is devoted to raise meat animals. And I noticed the appeal to those who object (often rightly) to the treatment of the animals that feed us. However, let's also ask what the creating lab grown mean actually costs. How about the electricity and other power inputs? What about the components of the nutrient broth? And what will be done with the waste and does it involve any risks to the environment or people? And consider that animal waste is a problem for the concentrated animal feeding operations simply because there is so much of it. If the companies that intend to grow meat in a lab bring it up to industrial production (as the animal feeding operations have) how much waste will they generate? None of that is even considered by those who are blinded by the dollar signs in their eyes.

Rhyd Wildermuth has a post that explores the close relationship between religion and war. As I read that piece I thought of a classic story by Mark Twain, THE WAR PRAYER.

On the climate front, this was posted on Naked Capitalism today. Spoiler: not at all good.

And another interesting story from Naked Capitalism about our medical supply chains. This story notes a couple of weaknesses in our Medical Industry. First, we rely too heavily on foreign sources, often only one foreign source, for many of our drugs or drug components. When that supply line shuts down shortages happen. As occurred when that baby formula maker who shut down a contaminated interrupting the supply of a large percentage of the formula on the market. Second, this is one of many situations in which the market cannot be trusted to provide the best service to people. Generic drugs don't provide enough profit so companies stop producing them. Name brand drugs are profitable but large numbers of the customers can't afford them, and the insurance companies and drug program managers associated with them don't want to because that would cut into profits.

June 21

 Welcome to Summer. The equinox means astronomical summer has arrived though some count June 1 as the beginning. This is when my patio gets the maximum amount of light because the shadow of the house is its smallest. From now on that shadow creeps back to cover the entire patio space by the autumnal solstice. All of the plants are doing very well. I am already thinking about what I will plant where next season.

The "news" is full of Hunter Biden's plea deal and I really have to ask "why the hell is THAT news"? If the man wasn't named Biden it would not have taken FIVE years to come to the deal. And, if what I have heard is true, the deal was one Hunter Biden himself proposed 18 months ago. On the morning show the commentator teased a segment that would show the RepTHUGlicans response to which I yelled "Who the F**k cares?" And yeah, I do yell at the TV. Throwing something through the TV to hit a couple of people is impossible so yelling is the only outlet I have.

June 20

 Well another sunny day. I have several herbs that need cutting so the dehydrator will be busy. I already have dinner ready since it is mostly left overs from yesterday so I will do up some barbecue beef for sandwiches tomorrow. The sky still has that orangish tinge to mar the blue. It is interesting that we seem to have gotten use to--sorta. Although when I look at the Weather Channel they have a persistent air quality warning posted. Fox Weather has a "smoke tracker" showing where the weather systems will push the smoke from the Canadian fires which are still burning. I don't expect those will really end until snow flies and may not then if the snow is scanty this year.

I have been reading a history of the Tea Pot Dome scandal during the Harding Administration and I have to take it in small doses. It rhymes too well with our last few years. I think this quote from El Gato Malo expresses the situation very well.

gato’s law:

“as soon as you allow politicians to determine that which is bought or sold, the first thing bought and sold will always be politicians.”

The major difference between that time and The Former Guy's term is they were so much more organized in their pillaging than TFG. It is also obvious that those who are much closer to the decision on what is bought and sold, businessmen for instance, are no more trustworthy. And when "businessmen" become politicians we get the worst of both.

I think I have wondered on this blog how long insurance would be affordable and for whom. GZero has a post that summarizes the situation very neatly. No one has said anything about insurance in Tornado Alley. Over the years I have heard about rising rates in hurricane prone areas. How long before most people can't afford any kind of insurance.

June 19

 Welcome to Juneteenth. That is one of the details my history classes in high school never talked about. One of the many. For example, The Emancipation Proclamation never freed all slaves in the United States. It was directed at the states "in rebellion" at the time the proclamation was issued. At that time the Federal government had no power to enforce it. And it didn't affect any slaves held outside those areas. That issue was taken care of in the 13th, 14, and 15th amendments passed after the war was over. And those were never covered either. I didn't learn about any of that until I was working on my second bachelor's degree--in history. It is a shame that, for some reason, certain (especially some prominent politicians and others) unpleasant facts about our history can't be acknowledged or examined. I thought that when Princeton University decided to drop (long-dead) President Woodrow Wilson's name from a building. A lot of people  held the same racial views. Why not note that and leave the name alone. I could continue but I will let you think about the matter.

We had a quiet weekend with visit from a nephew and his wife. We hadn't seen them for quite a while so it was nice to reconnect. They are soon to become grandparents. I remember when they got married and the birth of the oldest son who is the soon to be father. My how the generations fly by.

We haven't seen a clear blue sky for some time. Today isn't any better except it is sunny. I walked out on the patio and saw something I hadn't ever seen here. After a rain, and we have seen several days of good rain lately, the plants usually are nice and clean. Not lately. Instead I saw where the rain deposited dirt/dust/whatever on the leaves.

So, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has owned the libs again. I wonder how many construction workers will die or his "win."

I have listened to the news reports at the "critics" denouncing The Former Guy and all I can say is where the hell were you at the beginning of his administration. Bill Barr dutifully worked for the retiree in Florida until just after the 2020 election and then quietly left. Not a word until now. Most of the RepTHUGlicans on the campaign trail content themselves with wishy-washy pseudo-critical expressions hoping they don't alienate TFG's base of support. Or those who recognize hypocrisy.

I just finished reading the Becker Hospital Review article on where its experts saw medical care going in the next hundred years. I was drawn in by the contention in the headline that "hospitals will be a 'rare exception.'" I noticed several things about all the prognostications. First, they all predict a medical establishment dominated by AI. Second, they all expect the expansion of high tech, advanced medical devices and techniques. Third, they all see the pervasive presence of "tele-medicine." Fourth, NONE mentioned the COST. My take: all of the trends the experts described depend on an infrastructure that may or may not be available, like high speed internet extending to all parts of the country, a supply chain that delivers what they need when they need it, and people or institutions that have the wherewithal to pay for it. I am very skeptical about all of that. 

June 15

 Supposed to be mostly dry today with possible showers later. And it should be warmer--in the mid 80s.

This is amusing. What does a high tech operation do when their high tech toys are not available? Evidently CNN got around the prohibition of electronics in the courthouse where The Former Guy was to appear for arraignment. They went old school. I have often felt that we are much too reliant on our high tech toys. Especially this morning when my computer's battery decided it didn't want to charge fully and one of my cats walked across the keyboard and sent everything into oblivion.

Robert Reich writes a good, concise essay on five traits of fascism and relates it to our current political environment. I have noticed sometime that all too many of our political leaders and their supporters are busily trying to narrow our definition of "democracy" to exclude people who might not vote the "right way" according to their lights.

June 14

 Here we are--half way past the sixth month of the year. We got a nice bit of rain yesterday. Monday when we did our shopping I noticed how dry the grass was. I bet it is coming back with the cooler, wetter weather. The rain suits me because I don't have to water plants. I will, however, have to harvest some herbs when we get a dry period.

Heather Cox Richardson has some very good observations on our current political situation and some of the historical antecedents of it. I am old enough to remember Nixon's resignation and my reaction at the time was disappointment that Tricky Dicky wasn't tried for the alleged crimes. Maybe he would have been convicted, maybe not. But Ford brushing the dirt under the rug didn't get rid of the dirt. He said he hoped that the pardon would help heal deep divisions in the nation. Now, with fifty years of water under the bridge, I understand Ford's reasoning but I don't agree with it. Nixon never acknowledged his responsibility (not necessarily criminal responsibility) for what happened. He insisted that he resigned only because he lost the support of the legislative branch. In a later interview he famously contended that "When a President does it, it isn't illegal." And The Former Guy has often voiced his major grievance: they paid Nixon $18million dollars for the records he took and no one is paying him anything. Ford left a festering lesion which has only become worse over time and a lumpy rug that has only become lumpier with all the dirt added since. Note that the same trend followed after the Confederate leaders escaped prosecution after the Civil War. It left a festering wound that has tainted our history since.

I am getting even more sick the both-sides-ism. Every time some RepTHUGlican politician is asked to opine on TFG's collection of sensitive documents they immediately say what about Hillary or what about Biden. That is trying to redefine an apple as an orange. The similarity between the cases ends at that point because Clinton, Pence, and Biden cooperated with the Feds and corrected the problem while TFG did not cooperate and actively tried to impede the investigation. No matter what mental and linguistic gymnastics TFG and his supporters twist themselves into, the situation remains the same: the Clinton, Pence, and Biden apples are not the same as the TFG orange.

I like to try to read contrary opinions on most things. Sometimes that gives me some ideas to think about often it just irritates. Aurelian has a good piece on his substack today about Ukraine. The only firm opinion I have is that Russia's invasion is WRONG. However, that invasion basically indicates that the world order which kept aggressive governments from redrawing national boundaries unilaterally is breaking down (if not already broken.) I don't doubt that if Russia succeeds (when?) other countries will be on the march. Would China taking over Taiwan be next? I don't think anyone ever dreamed that Russia's military would be so inept. But the only thing that keeps both sides going has been aid from outside. How long can that situation continue? I read an interesting bit in a novel where one character discussed his country's military philosophy: We don't have to beat you. We just have to bankrupt you. I don't know if Ukraine will really have a second act or if Russia will collapse first or if the supporters on both sides will not be able to continue the very expensive support. What will the international situation be after is also a big question.

Well, Punchbowl is writing about the new budget discussions in Congress. The article mentions that we have only 108 days before the government may run out of money. I expected another battle during and after the debt ceiling head butting. The recent actions of the MAGA crowd only reinforced that expectation. Evidently they want to renege on the agreement they made. I guess "what's old is new again" holds in politics. Buckle up.

June 13

 We did get sun for part of yesterday. We had rain overnight which is continuing and pretty cool temperatures. My plants are loving that. With the wind we have had over the last couple of days forced my trellis to lean badly. I took it apart yesterday and rebuilt it. Thankfully that wasn't a long process because it was a bit cool to be out in just a t-shirt and jeans. So far it is holding steady and the beans that are beginning to clime it.

Every time Kevin McCarthy opens his mouth he demonstrates how brain damaged he is. A reporter asked him about The Former Guy storing those document boxes in various places including a bathroom. Ole Spineless McCarthy flippantly mentioned that he thinks bathrooms have locks on the doors. A commentator this morning noted that bathroom locks are locked from the INSIDE not the outside. My own comments were a bit saltier. So someone (anyone) could have visited the loo that has been "designated" a "secure facility" because it has a door with a lock and peruse the documents while they take a shit.

Bill Astore makes the observation that "Education Is About Social Control." He is absolutely right. Education has always about social control. The Puritan settlers in Massachusetts insisted that parents had a duty to educate their children so they could read the Bible and be productive citizens. In the 1830s Catherine Beecher advocated public education with young women teachers because they were cheaper than the men and were thought to be the "civilizers" of the young. Beecher especially focused on the needs of the frontier to inculcate into the children of the untamed wilderness fit for good middle class, Victorian society. The education pundits of the late 19th century viewed a country over run with immigrants many straight off Eastern European farms and migrants from our own farms, and a growing industrial system that needed obedient, reasonably literate, punctual and sober workers. The notion that education should open minds to new ideas that would allow them to question and, perhaps, challenge the status quo was the last thing on their minds. That concept had a hey day during the 1960s and 1970s and the results elicited a speedy backlash. Instead education was recast as a utilitarian necessity for those who wanted to get ahead in the society as it is. The attitude was summed up by a politician at the time (can't remember who exactly) that students "should kick the tires." Astore is right in noting that our education is not geared to train students to think about future problems creativity. We are like generals--preparing of for the last war.

June 12

 Well, we did get rain yesterday. It was an all day, on-and-off event without the pounding monsoonal rain of the last rain we had. I think the plants in the gardens are happy with the cooler and moister conditions. The spicy oregano I was afraid was not going to make it after the last really hot spell is coming back nicely as is the common sage. A couple of the plants will need a cutting soon.

Listening to the comments of RepTHUGlican apologists for The Former Guy and am totally disgusted by the both-sides-ism. Every time they are asked about TFG the bring up Hillary Clinton, or Hunter Biden, or the whole Biden family and their alleged but never proven (never even indicted ) crimes. I thought back to my childhood and facing my dad taking off his belt preparing to deliver a bit of punishment. First, pointing out that someone else did the same thing did NOT forestall the punishment. The fact that that someone might escape did not excuse me. The fact that I did whatever was the important fact. I am content to let the court system play out. TFG might or might not be convicted. I will accept either outcome. It is too bad that our RepThuglican "leaders" can't do the same. I have that word in quotes because they are followers won't do or say anything that will cost them a smidgen of support from fanatics worshiping at the alter of their hero.

Denise Donaldson has a post that, in part, reflects some of my thinking. I agree with her that the word "unprecedented" is much over used. TFG's situation is unprecedented only in a very narrow sense that no President has ever been criminally indicted. I have been reading up on the Tea Pot Dome scandal and Warren G. Harding only missed indictment because he died first. Several of his cabinet members were convicted and served time for corruption. I haven't read in depth on the scandals of the U.S. Grant administration but, as I remember from my general U.S. history courses, Grant himself was not indicted with his cronies. Their crimes couldn't be directly linked to the President himself. However, Grant did something TFG hasn't done in all his financial frauds. Though he wasn't guilty himself he made restitution to the people harmed by his associates bankrupting himself in the process. He spent the last months of his live while dying of throat cancer writing his autobiography hoping to provide his wife with some financial support. I heard a number of those RepTHUGlican idiots claiming that prosecuting TFG somehow makes us like the "banana republics" where the incoming political leader prosecutes his predecessor. No country is a banana republic if it holds its leaders accountable for following the law and maintaining certain moral standards.

Crooks & Liars posted this piece about a mass alcohol poisoning in Moscow (32 dead and more than a hundred hospitalized of whom several are now blind.) I wouldn't have thought much about the story except the it appears someone added METHANOL to the cider to "give an added kick." And it isn't exactly uncommon in Russia especially in the poorer areas where cheap alcohol "substitutes" are more common. (I thought I would check out what the stats are for alcohol poisoning in the U.S.--around 2500 per year. No idea of how many were because of intentional spiking with wood alcohol.)

Just this morning someone in one of the news/opinion shows talked about foreign leaders who have been arrested, indicted, tried, or booted from power by other means and mentioned Silvio Berlusconi who played hell in Italian politics for quite a long time in spite of some juicy scandals. Well, he won't be doing that any more that any more--he just died. Reuters has the story here. The Former guy before The Former Guy, or so the morning commentators said.

June 11

We have some rain right now. I stepped out for a moment intending to water the gardens a bit but discovered it was raining more than I thought. How much we will get I have no idea. The weather people thought less than half an inch.

We have already turned off the broadcast tv. I am sick and tired of The Former Guy and his legal problems. I will watch the news coverage when the verdict for any of the trials come in but otherwise--no. I selected a stack of our own movie re-runs. They will be far more entertaining.

Thomas Zimmer at his Democracy Americana substack has a really good analysis of the current American political dilemma. He asks a very good question: What are we fighting over? He presents a complex story which demands more thought. There are a couple of trends I have read about over the last few years that may complicate things further. First, a rise in the number of people who describe themselves as not affiliated with any religious establishment. And the concomitant decline in those describing themselves as Christian--a decline especially marked among the so called evangelicals. Second, a large number of people are no longer describing themselves with a single racial/ethnic descriptor. The old "black/white/hispanic/Asian/Native American" boxes don't fit people whose parents may be Asian/Black and Hispanic/White or any other combination. Defining both conservatism (what exactly is being conserved) and democracy (who should have a say in the political/economic/social life of the country) will be even more difficult.

June 10

Goodness, it's already a third of the way through this month. The sky is just beginning to get lighter. The forecast was for another sunny day. We'll see. We have one errand--a trip to the seasonal market. I would call it a "farmer's market" and farmer's do sell there but more are local small businesses selling foods and craft goods.

Denise Donaldson at the Ponderments substack has an interesting piece I can definitely relate to: R.I.P. Customer Service. Since most of us have had experiences like the ones she describes I don't think I need to comment further.

Heather Cox Richardson posted this concise and thorough account of the last two days in The Former Guy's legal soap opera drama. "Soap opera" is too trivial a description for a serious matter. And, as Richardson notes, the saga is far from over because Special Consul Smith still is looking at the January 6 insurrection.

JaninSanFran put up this item today. She has been down with a mild case of COVID and her doctor prescribed Paxlovid. The packaging is interesting because it is in rip open, color-coded foil pouches which have instructions for how to take the pills. That makes it easier to keep track of whether you have actually taken your pills when you were supposed to take them.

John Feffer examines the "Mineral Rush" and its implications for the push toward "green energy." It isn't pretty. It make me very skeptical of the insistence of our political and other elites that high technology to save us.

Infidel753 lives in a state with some serious political divisions that mimic some I have seen in other states. I think that those divisions are going to become even more evident in the future. For years I have heard grumbles about the Northwest corner of Indiana from people down state. Downstate Illinois has been very unhappy with the large influence that Chicago and it surrounding suburbs have and Chicago has been very unhappy about how little of the tax revenue it generates comes back to the northeast. There was a proposal I saw over last winter to trade the Northwest four or six counties of Indiana in return for a segment of southern Illinois with equivalent population and economic resources. To do that the swap would have to chop off about 40% of Illinois. Texas has a bill in its legislature that is specifically drawn to allow the Secretary of State (presumably a Republican) to nullify the outcome of an election in the county containing Houston (largely Democratic). The state government in Mississippi has been making moves to cut the power of elected officials in city of Jackson (the state capital) because the state government is dominated by Republicans and Jackson is a Democratic stronghold (and majority black.)

June 9

Another nice sunny day. The haze is still muting the blue of the sky but it isn't as noticeable today. Nothing pressing today. We have a pasta salad I made up yesterday for supper. I got the last plant, a chives, planted and everything watered yesterday and I don't think I need to worry today.

So The Former Guy has been indicted--again. One of the commentators said that some RepTHUGlicans who are, of course, claiming the poor little (allegedly) rich boy is being persecuted and offering prayers for him. I am sure those prayers are more sincere than those offered for the victims of gun violence and I hope they are no more effective.

A bit of good news was the death, after a 93 year misspent life, of Pat Robertson. He won't be missed in my corner of the universe. I am not a fan of any of the "evangelicals" who have encouraged intolerance, bigotry, and somehow missed all the "red words" in the New Testament.

Joe Perticone, writing on the Presspass at the Bulwark, sums up the situation in the House today:

Dysfunction seems to have become a hallmark of Congress when Republicans are in charge. In the early to mid-2010s, Tea Party insurgents regularly disrupted the regular order, prompting House Speaker John Boehner to abruptly quit in 2015. The Trump-era GOP majority brought about multiple government shutdowns, including one that lasted 35 days just before Christmas in 2018—the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history. Now that Republicans have returned to power in the House, the dysfunction has gotten so bad that business—even bad business—can’t get done.

I have two new books on my "night stand" (my reading queue on my iPad): Presidential Payola about presidential financial scandals from Tea Pot Dome foreword and one on Tea Pot Dome specifically. I seem to remember some historian saying that the only reason Warren G. Harding, whose scandal plagued administration set the low bar before The Former Guy, wasn't indicted was he died first.

I agree with Bill Astore on the point of voting for someone who reflects your values and that, at this point, none of the candidates really do reflect those values. I have complained for years that the two parties are only slightly different wings of a "Wall Street" party. Both are beholden to the financial and big business interests. The Democrats do support some policies that favor the people on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale but when push comes to shove they always quietly shove those policies in favor of finance. Actually I should describe the dominant interest both parties serve first and foremost is the finance/big business/"defense"/energy axis. Note how quietly the Biden administration approved controversial energy permitting. I don't think much of what I have seen of RFK, Jr. or most of the lesser knowns. I don't know who I would vote for and I don't know who will survive the pre-election period to be listed on the ballots in the general election.

June 8

 It has been noticeably hazy for the last couple of days. Thankfully it isn't as bad as the pictures from the east coast. Those remind me of pictures of Beijing during the dust storms coming out of Mongolia. We have an air quality alert for the third day, that I remember, for my area but are still under only moderate levels of pollutants. One good think in the weather forecast is that the temps will be in the low 70s. One interesting item on a news show yesterday is that the wildfires this year, so far, and last have spewed more CO2 and particulates have exceeded all the pollution human burning of fossil fuels over that time. Interesting, and depressing. The fires are expected to continue unabated for months, we dug out the face masks. We haven't carried them with us because even the medical offices have made them optional unless conditions change.

Watching and listening the accounts of the destruction of the dam in Ukraine. Since the explosion occurred within the dam and the facility has been under Russian control for weeks if not months, it is likely the Russians did it. A thought occurs to me: the Russian mind set seems to be if we can't get Ukraine we will cause such devastation that no one else will want it.

Homeowners in California are going to face a more complicated insurance crunch. Gizmodo has this summary of what has been happening on that front. I wonder if our future is one where you don't buy a house unless you can pay cash (because banks insist on insurance or mortgage) and pay the costs of any disaster yourself. Not many can.

June 7

We did have a nice day yesterday with moderate temperatures and a modest bit of rain we hardly noticed until it was over. I didn't have to water yesterday. We have errands so my reading will be a bit sporadic today. I don't think I will have to water today but I will check later. Ground the dried herbs yesterday as well.

 The surprising announcement yesterday was the "merger" of the PGA and LIV golf associations. One of the commentators this morning wondered if it was really a merger and not a multi billion dollar buyout. I am somewhat amused by the reactions to it. The PGA's moral out rage over the various alleged sins of the Saudi government which is the financial power behind LIV is revealed as a response to an economic threat to its monopoly. But it should remind all of us that sport, any sport, at this level is all about business. It isn't about morals; it isn't about roles models. It is all about, as Rupert Murdoch said in regard to the fall out from the defamation suits, it is all about "the green."

This little story on Al Jazeera raises a question: is the new mural in the Indian parliament building simply a piece of art depicting an heroic era of Indian history or is it a statement of India's future aims? China has been vigorous about pushing itself into areas they claim are their "traditional" territory. Russia is pushing into Ukraine claiming that Ukraine isn't really a "sovereign" country but simply an errant Russian territory. Israel's hard religious right parties  have always touted a goal of reestablishing "Greater Israel" which takes in a very much larger part of the eastern Mediterranean. It isn't beyond belief that India might like to follow that line.

I have thought for some time that in another few years we won't really have a public school system in this country--at least not in the sense that we have been used to for several generations. This article is one indication why? For the last 30 years or so Americans have become more and more dissatisfied with the education system. We have complained about the costs and the results. No one likes to pay taxes and most public systems are supported by property taxes which are especially hated. The efforts to use lotteries to raise revenue. I don't know how often over those same 30 years I and people I worked with have wondered what the schools are teaching the kids because they seem to be abysmally ignorant of basic history, English usage, math and other basic subjects. Charter schools have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain storm. They siphon off both tax dollars that used to support the public system and the most affluent and most promising children. Public education becomes increasing a poverty program. And nobody likes poverty programs either. Combine loss of revenue with the loss of confidence in the education industry (and it has become an industry) and it is a recipe for a system collapse. 

June 6

Feels like it might be another moderate day temperature wise. It has been dry for the last few days and the forecast is for another several dry days. I will have to water the gardens early. I also have the herbs I dried yesterday to grind today. It is early so I won't have a lot of such work for now.

I wondered early in the pandemic what might have happened if we pursued a different strategy. This article describing the results of a Johns Hopkins/Lund University study of the effectiveness of the first lockdown in the UK indicates that the costs of the lockdown outweighed the benefits. Right now the supporters of the more restrictive measures are heavily invested in shooting holes in this critique while the other side is more invested in criticizing their political rivals. What would have happened if we encouraged, but not mandated, masks; encouraged, but not mandated, mass gatherings; encouraged, but not mandated, vaccination when it became available; encouraged, but not mandated, businesses to limit the number of customers entering their stores at any one time. I would like to see more studies like this one.

Saudi decision to cut their oil output by 1 million barrels per day has been a major topic for news pundits since last Friday. Everyone wonders what their aim is in doing so and are trying to read the tea leaves, or crystal ball, to see what it means for gas prices in this country. We noticed the gas has been creeping up of the last month. Part of that is the change to the summer blend which always provides the gas companies an excuse to raise prices. However, yesterday and today the prices range from $3.58 to $4.00. The lowest prices are $0.25 higher than last week. I also checked the price of oil on MarketWatch to see what is going on there. The prices about a month ago were, if I remember rightly, in the low $60s and were up to about $73 and a bit yesterday. However it has fallen since then. The same happened after the last time Opec+ did a similar production cut. The Saudi aim may not succeed. The market strikes again.

Bill Astore has a good primer on American history and what I learned in my history classes as the American Civil Religion. 

June 5

It look like a slow start today. The temperature is cooler that overnights recently by about ten degrees. The high should only be about 80F. 

Given how cool the morning was I decided to do some major cooking. I am now finished after getting barbecued short ribs, a "loaded potato bake", asparagus for two+ meals, and cheese sauce done. That takes care of today and tomorrow. Cooking is the best strategy going into summer. I also harvested stevia, mojito mint, spearmint and peppermint all of which is now in the dehydrator.

Jane Braxton Little, who wrote a series of article about her experiences surviving a wildfire that destroyed her town in California, provides this piece on Tomdispatch. A lot of people might just be "Looking for Home in an Overheating World" in the near future and in this country as well as in foreign places. Almost all of the movements of peoples we have seen over the last couple of decades involved some form of environmental disaster which often was exacerbated by political responses. I will let you drill down into what has driven people from homes in east Africa, the Middle East, Central America and other places. The story did present some evidence for my gut feeling that the real solutions for the problem of how we adapt to a warming world will be found locally and individually. We won't find them at the national and world level. Too many disparate values and interests butting up against each other.

This post by Chris Hedges was cross posted by Bill Astore where I found it. I would love to see a third party throw the RepTHUGlicans and DAMNocrats into enough of a tizzy to make them rethink what they are doing and to whom they owe their jobs. I don't expect it but we have had insurgent parties displace established parties before--not often but it has happened.

June 4

I have five new plants to put in pots today. The market had the replacements for the rosemary and chives. I also found an interesting hibiscus. The beans are coming up which will need a trellis soon. It is supposed to be a bit cooler so I should be able get it up today. I need to get the dehydrator set up because several plants including several mints and the stevia needed cutting.

Reading a good article on the Indian train crash. Some of the numbers (beyond the dead and injured) are amazing. Twenty-two million riders per day. More than 40,000 miles of rail most built during the British colonial era. The article has more interesting tidbits. It is only amazing until you remember the most amazing bit of data behind the rest: India's population has recently surpassed China's. India, with 1.4billion  people, is the most populous nation on earth. They are trying to modernize the system but that is a lot of system to modernize.

An amusing post on BoingBoing about the "idle rich complaining about poor people." You know the song and dance: those poors simply don't want to work. I have heard that all my life. Usually the advice was to just take any job for any amount for whatever hours and (sometime in some distant future) you would work yourself into better situations. It never happened. It seemed to me that we were expected to work ourselves to death to make a living (a living we would never really live.) Then about 20 years ago I realized that wasn't really the case. We were working ourselves to death to not make a living. The epiphany came when I needed a new pair of jeans and realized I would have to work almost an entire week to afford it. And I realized that none of the jobs I worked at would ever allow me to live on my own in a basic apartment, own a car, and afford basic utilities. Even when I worked two jobs, and at one time three, that life was out of reach.

Well, we decided to go to the garden shop and get the two plants I needed to fill the last two spots in the gardens. I decided to get two medium to large sized flowering plants that could take heat and plenty of sun. I found two nice white diplodenias. I potted them immediately and got everything watered. The air temperature must only be in the low 80s because the temperature on the patio didn't go above 100. And the dehydrator is set up.

June 2, 3

We had heavy, monsoonal type, rain yesterday. Given the heat over the last week the thunderstorm wasn't unexpected. The heat is giving my plants a problem. I lost the rosemary and I have to bring the lavender inside. I have never had a problem with either plant before but the high temperatures have come earlier and higher that usual. The hibiscus is also showing some damage but I hope they will recover. I am thinking about how I might rearrange the pots so that the plants will be in cooler spots on the patio. The Temperature on the patio has already reached 80 and it is only a few minutes after 8am. No work outside today.

Caitlin Johnstone has an interesting take on The Former Guy and his possible reelection. To a certain extent she is right: TFG isn't awful because he is so different and extreme but because he is so much like previous presidents. There are times when I wish time travel were a reality so I could go fifty years into the future and, if we still have a literate society, read a couple of history books analyzing our times. How many of the policies TFG's administration pursued actually did come from previous administrations. However, his administration was far more extreme in the application of those policies and amending them to be more heartless, brutal, and cruel. But a theme runs through her account which I think most of us don't recognize: there is an inertia in human societies just as there is in physics. Trends continue in their direction until something influences a change of direction. The more powerful the trend the more powerful the influence must be to change it. Many of the writers I read identify trends they think they see and where they think the stresses in our economy/politics/society will move the trend. Whether they are right (and they all can't be right because often their prognostications aren't compatible) only time will tell.

03********************************************************************

We won't be going to the seasonal market today as we had planned. Instead I am rearranging my patio gardens to hopefully make it more friendly to my plants. I hope the local predictions are right and we stay in the 80s. That would give us and the plants a reprieve. I started really early and have a part of the work done with the table that functions as a potting bench moved out and the area swept.

Well, I guess we will be able to make the opening day of the market. I just finished with the rearrangement, sweeping, cutting some grass poking up under the fence and culling my collection of pots. I have a long habit of keeping the plastic pots the transplants come in. Every now and again I get so many that they exceed my space to store them. I arranged the buckets in a "key hole" formation so I can reach all of the plants. Have to go out and water things now.

June 1

 We had rain last night and were on the edge of thunderstorms. However, we still expect temperatures in the mid to high 80s. I hope to get my the last of my pots filled and ready to be planted. It depends on how warm it gets and how fast. I also want to get my dehydrator set up because a couple of the herbs are about ready for a clipping.

First thing I saw this morning was this MSN story. I hadn't really thought about the possibility of big chunks of Russia detaching (or being detached) because aggrieved nations on its periphery (e.g., Japan and China) or groups within who want to exert their own sovereignty. The Russia that crushed Chechnya isn't the Russia today. Also, Russia's alliances may not be as deep as they would like. One of the best things about the Post-WWII order was the insistence that national borders shouldn't be changed unilaterally by force.

This sounds very familiar. I spent a lot of time in reading history. Beginning in the 1880s the dominant political/social class in the U.S. (read white, male, Northern European in ancestry) starting clutching their  pearls over the fear that they would be "out bred" by inferior peoples. Good white women weren't doing their reproductive duty while black people, brown people, eastern and southern European mongrels were producing more babies threatening to swamp their "betters" with numbers. There was a strong push against "Uranianism" or lesbianism or what ever caused women to remain unmarried. (Interesting that there was a similar push against male homosexuality during the 1950s because of the poor performance--or perceived poor performance--of the American military in Korea. The new generation was perceived as effeminate and unsuitable for the rigors of military life.) Interestingly, one of the responses was a push to make homemaking a career. Colleges started programs in "Home Economics." Most of that was to make women's activities in the home appear more scientific, more interesting, more challenging and valuable. It didn't really change the economic trajectory which had for about three centuries removed productive activities from the home and relocated them in the commercial (male) sphere. One of the worst aspects of this era was the rise of eugenics. The devastation of WWII and the Nazi effort to eliminate those they perceived as "lesser peoples" (Jews, gypsies, slavs, and "useless eaters"--the mentally ill, intellectually challenged, frail elderly) buried eugenics under an extreme moral disapproval. However, the modern political controversies prove that ideas, however nasty, are like vampires and zombies--they always rise again.

I have often had some very pungent comments about "trickle down" economics; like, everything we, at the lower end, get is passed though the kidneys or bowels of someone higher up. Infidel753 posted this 

which sums up in one cartoon what I have been saying.

Yves Smith has an interesting post on Naked Capitalism "The Loss of Executive Function in the West." Explains some of the dysfunction in our political/economic affairs today.

The news about the Davenport building collapse has been very strange. The city declared they were going to demolish the building the day after the collapse while family and friends of residents were saying their people were still missing. The demolition was postponed after a woman was rescued who had been missed in the original sweep of the building. And then as people reported seeing pet cats in the windows that had also been missed. Reading this article had me asking "how many way can authorities f-up a disaster response?"

I found this article and only read about half of it. Now, I would think that the purpose of pre-positioning equipment is to speed and facilitate a rapid deployment if something happened. Just imagine if we were responding to an attack on our own people and we had to try use this kind of equipment. I wonder how much equipment in the U.S. has been similarly maintained. I think I mentioned recently that people who are chortling over the debacle of the Russian invasion of Ukraine should be wondering if the U.S. military would perform any better. Although, the U.S. has been involved in various armed actions since the Soviet Union collapsed none were very successful. We haven't won a war since WWII.