November 2

 It is nice and sunny today. Wouldn't you know--all the kids who went out trick-or-treating did so in the rain. We had rain all day with times when it came down heavily. Thankfully the temperature was high enough for comfort. We didn't get any kids coming by that I saw but we don't put on our light and don't give out candy. I think most parents here take kids to some collective party where they can be sure the treats aren't adulterated in any way. We stopped giving out treats several years ago when we had a couple of years in a row with nasty incidents of that kind.

Robert Reich continued his series of posts with THE GREAT POWER SHIFT (PART II) today. I have said for the last several election cycles that we don't really have two political parties. We have one with the Corporate Republicans contending with the Wall Street Democrats to see who will redistribute power and financial goodies to their prized donors. The ones left out are the bottom 90% of the economy. I have read some pundits who think we should have a third party. I have thought so at times but have since reconsidered for two reasons. First, we have had a couple of alternatives that got strong enough to scare the Dems and Reps out of their britches but the best they have been able to do is play spoiler--usually of Democrat chances. Second, we don't have a good way, at the national level and perhaps at the level of some states, of dealing with a split electorate whose votes don't give a clear winner. We had something like that in 1860 when the southern wing of the Democratic Party nominated a pro-slavery candidate, the northern wing nominated a status quo candidate and the Republicans nominated Lincoln. Lincoln wasn't even on the ballot in the most southern states but the Democratic vote split between the two slates giving Lincoln the win. The Progressive movement of the late 19th century fizzled out when the Republicans peeled off the votes of western farmers while the Democrats brought in the urban working class.

Naked Capitalism has a post today which includes a piece originally posted on THE OIL PRICE. We haven't seen much in the "mainstream press" but the shortage doesn't surprise me. About 10 or 12 years ago we were driving somewhere and passed a gas station sign that stunned me. I mentioned it to Mom because the price of diesel had crossed and gone higher than the price for gasoline. It hasn't dipped below since though the gap fluctuates somewhat every now and then. I remember when the lower cost of diesel was a major selling point for diesel cars. And I remember the push for biodiesel which is almost off the radar now.