July 31

It looks like we might have a nice fairly cool and sunny day. I hope so because I really need to get some trimming done on some of the plants and perhaps some watering. Have to check that out. I collected the first three ripe peppers yesterday. My lavender, petunias, and rosemary especially need pruning and shaping. A couple of other plants need to have spend blossoms cut.

Jan In SanFran has a good post this morning which I think tells the truth about politics today. I have been perplexed for some time about the utter lack of conviction in too many Republicans especially--at least those that seem to command the news cycle. But the notion of an election-industrial complex makes a lot of sense--and not in a good way.

Gizmodo/Earther has a slide show that is astounding--and somewhat troubling. We hear a lot about the fires in our western states but go just a little north into Canada to see another large fire; or head over the Mediterranean and see fires burning all around from Sardinia to Lebanon; or go further east to Siberia and see the same. For the last couple of weeks I noticed that I can't really tell if we have clear skies until the sun if well up because of the haze. On some days what should have been clear blue is marred by a dirty, rusty tinge. Note--I live over 1000 miles away from the big fires making the news.

I found this WiskeyandGunpowder post by way of Naked Capitalism. There is a saying that generals prepare to fight the last war and this analysis of a failed war game confirms it. If you want a fictional demonstration read the first half of John Michael Greer's Twilight's Last Gleaming. 

This CNBC story also came by way of Naked Capitalism and my only comment is "Ouch." Even though we are fully vaccinated here we still keep our masks with us.