May 11--Almost half past another month

Nice sun today though it is a bit cool. The plants I have put out already are doing well in the gardens. The valerian is blooming. I need to cut back some of the tall spikes of lavender and let the new growth have some more space. The other lavender is recovering well from winter also. Pretty soon I will start putting seeds in the planters. A friend of mind posted pictures of the snow that fell in Colorado. Other western areas are also getting snow and rain. They need it given the latest drought monitor map. We had a couple of days with really nice long lasting rain which we needed.

Gail Tverberg at Our Finite World has an interesting article centered on energy primarily but she makes some observations that apply more broadly. She makes the point that much of the energy problems we face and will be facing are papered over with rhetoric designed to soften or even completely hide the reality of declining energy supplies. She also observes that our various crises  are interrelated: shortages of potable water mean shortages of food and we are already seeing that in many areas of the world including here in the us. Notice her discussion of wages/energy/economic activity.

 May 12

It is much too early to see what the weather is like. The Weather Channel predicts sun and mid-to-high 50s today. I still resist doing much planting because it is still just a bit too cool to do much. So far the most tender of my transplants (tomatoes and peppers)s  are doing fairly well. They are in the warmest area of the patio and the pot keep some of the heat the acquire during the day over the cool nights.

Watching the Liz Chaney saga a thought connection came to me. One of the "man-on-the-street" interviewees from Utah on the matter expressed a sentiment that was also expressed by a Republican Party officer in a Pennsylvania county on a representative who voted against overturning the counting of the Electoral College votes for that state: we didn't send them to congress to vote their consciences but to do what we tell them to do. What the hell makes those people so sure that theirs is the only votes that matter? What the hell makes them so sure that everyone who voted for any given representative did so for the same reason?

I have had an increasing sense of unease with our dependence on high tech. The hacking of Solarwinds that had been going on for some months but only came to light a few weeks ago and the ransomware attack on the Colonial pipeline company are only the latest two high tech assaults on our infrastructure. Similar attacks have been directed against towns and cities, against health care conglomerates, and almost every sector of our economy. Yet we find ourselves unable to counter them effectively. Most of the affected entities are privately own for-profit companies and aren't willing to invest the money in good security, and no government has the authority to mandate they do so. Interesting catch-22.

Just when you think the electoral saga can't bet any stranger---it does. By the time this year ends we will be as glad to see the end of it as we were to see the end of 2020.

 Sometimes the courts see scams for what they are--scams. The bankruptcy court has ruled against the NRA and its attempt to escape the reach of the NY Attorney General by declaring bankruptcy and re-incorporating in Texas.