We expect good weather today--if the forecast holds. I hope so. The gardens need a chance to dry out a bit. And I really should do some pruning and clipping. We have errands planned early.
However, I still have a bit of time to read what is in my e-mail. And this piece was interesting. I saw the original reports that Greece was introducing a 6-day work week. That was surprising but there wasn't much detail in that piece. The one I linked to gives some of those details. I grew up in the time when unions had won the battle for an 8-hour day with a five-day work week and overtime pay. At least for most workers. That seems normal though various elements in our society, including some employers and very conservative politicians, have been chipping away at that "normal." The Greek law is voluntary and mandates a bonus of 40% of regular pay for the extra day and other protections for workers. The government's argument for the law rests on the declining population and the lack of skilled workers. I wonder if it might induce some of the younger workers who left Greece during the prolonged economic slump.
And I wonder how this will work out. I had to look up where the three countries are. I could place them in Africa but not precisely. They haven't been on our news lately. I think I remember that Mali kicked the French "peace keepers" out a few weeks ago or so.
Richard Haas has a post on the current "debate" on whether Biden should stay in the campaign. He correctly notes that this has been a bad year for incumbents and Biden is an incumbent. Trump is an incumbent once removed. But Biden is the candidate promising continuity while Trump is the arsonist pledging to burn it all down (or with the help of the Heritage Foundation try to turn the clock back to some imaginary Eden of a century or more ago). People want change. Haas also notes that "Trump-proofing" NATO is probably not very realistic. My guess (and I am not an expert) Trump-proofing would mean restructuring to manage without the U.S. And would go well beyond NATO to our alliances and economic relationships in the Pacific and with the E.U. As far as finding a stronger candidate to challenge Trump, I don't see any such emerging. Haley made a good effort but lost the primaries and is now urging her delegates to vote for him. I haven't seen a Democrat who is likely to both unite the party behind him/her or strip off many Republicans.
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Sunny again and the temperature is on the rise--heat indices in the 90°s. Needless to say I won't get any gardening done today. I have been too lazy drinking my coffee and reading.
I noticed that Biden's speech, quite a good speech actually, last night has done nothing to shut up the media and politico chorus trying to push him out. During our grocery shopping yesterday the cashier at the dairy expressed the same disgust I feel about the whole mess: what do we have to vote for between a party determined to undermine our Constitutional government (on the grounds that they are actually returning it to its original purity (self-serving crap)) and another party which by its actions is betraying the very democracy they are claiming to protect by subverting it in the effort to prevent something worse (also self-serving crap because they are actually protecting their own butts). Looks more like our choice is between "damned if you do" and "damned if you don't.
Stray thought: I a very glad that Biden took on Trump and Project 2025 (which Trump is trying to distance himself from) directly and vigorously. It is about damn time. Now if only the rest of the party will follow suit instead of wetting their pants.
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