May 31

 Good morning on this last day of May. I imagine that a lot of people, especially in the South will be glad to see the calendar page turn. Thankfully, we haven't had the same level of severe weather they have had but it has been somewhat odd. Mid summer heat alternating with early spring (or late fall) chill. So far the gardens have been doing pretty well. The Emerald Tower basil is a bit sickly but I hope it will revive. The farm market will open tomorrow for the Tuesdays and Saturdays of the coming season. Several vendors usually sell seedlings and I hope to find several for the remaining open spaces. We hope to visit the market more regularly and get more fresh veggies from the market this year. The pandemic thoroughly screwed up the pre-pandemic patterns and it hasn't been easy to get back in the groove.

Well, the jury in the hush money/fraudulent business records case convicted Trump on ALL 34 charges. I was somewhat surprised. I thought he was guilty as sin from what I heard but I knew we didn't hear everything. And others might view the evidence differently. Of course, Trump is playing the victim card proclaiming how persecuted he is by a "corrupt" system, a "conflicted" judge, and "liberal" jurors. Crap. Even the juror who claimed he/she got news from Truth Social and FOX voted to convict. It wasn't even a split decision (guilty of some, acquitted of others).

BBC, this morning, featured a new "personalized" cancer treatment entering trials in Britain. This article gives the details. It involves another use of mRNA techniques to create antigens using proteins from the tumors that may trigger the body's immune system to produce antibodies that may kill the cancer. Right now the technique is experimental and a lot of testing lies ahead.

Stray thought--Trump has continued his losing streak. Right now the tally stands 5-0. Bragg won twice (against the corporation and against Trump). Letitia James won once (tax evasion and fraud). E. Jean Carrol won twice (defamation with the judge telling Trump that by any normal definition of rape he had raped her). Three were civil court cases and two were criminal.

Another stray thought--several news anchors made a great deal about the fact that Trump is the FIRST former president to be charged and convicted of a felony. My take--we have been damned lucky that it hasn't happened before. But for Gerald Ford Nixon might have taken that dubious honor. If he hadn't died before the Tea Pot Dome scandal culminated Warren Harding might have had that record first place. We haven't had perfect presidents. We have had slave holders, presidents that sent in motion Native American genocide, authorized the incarceration without trial of American born people of Japanese ancestry, were failed businessmen. None have been quite as sleazy as the Donald. Though, now that I think about it, one vice-president (Spiro Agnew) comes close.