Good morning to you all. A bit foggy with the possibility of a few more showers this morning before the sun moves in this afternoon. We will be going out to see what is at our city farmer's market a bit later. Our favorite one hasn't opened yet but, if I remember rightly, it opened later toward the first of July. They usually have the first local corn. I saw a couple of plants in the gardens that will need to be moved. They simply aren't happy where they are. But most plants are doing very well.

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As ou can see, I didn't get back to the blog yesterday. It is now Sunday and we now have some cloud cover that moved in after a brief appearance of the sun. We are on the edge of the clouds as usual. It should burn off or move off later today. The entire week is supposed to stay in the 70s. We can handle that. I am getting some of the little gardening chores done a bit at a time. It is too cool to spend much time out there at the moment but the temperature is rising and should move into the 70 in the next couple of hours. I found several little tomatoes on three of the plants. I have pruned and tied up only about one-third of my plants so far. The have grown so much over the last few days. All of the plants have.

We did visit the farmers' market yesterday. It has grown over the years and should get bigger as the season progresses and after the downtown park that will be its final home is finished in August. I was looking for some new plants to replace the roses in the fence holders but I didn't find anything really suitable. I will go back to Home Depot Tuesday.

I have been avoiding most of the broadcast news lately. Yesterday after the second repeat of the asinine coverage of the Weiner 'story' and the idiocy of the spectators at the Casey Anthony trial I put on Syfy even though we had seen everything at least once. My complaints: the constant repetition without any new information, the hyping of rather mundane stories, the uncritical presentation of political opinion, and the spotlighting of sanctimonious political whores who adopt what ever position they think will benefit them at the time.

I agree, Lois. Nature has been and is giving us a beating. How long? If this is a shift from a normal, cyclical warm spell to a normal, cyclical cold spell it can last several hundred years. The last shift came around 1300 and lasted to the early decades of the 1800s. Thanks to a combination of famine (due to crop failures), epidemics (primarily bubonic plague but including other diseases), and warfare (the Hundred Years' War began around 1345 and lasted till 1453) the population of Europe dropped by about 50% in 100 years. If it is something even more catastrophic thanks to the effects of human action--no one knows. I remember an interesting statement from the PBS film 'Black Blizzard' about the Dust Bowl. Agricultural practices introduced in the 1870s which quickly spread across the Great Plains changed the weather patterns over the area deepening the drought. In other words, man's economic activity had a detrimental effect for the weather humans living in the area depended on. Those who claim that puny man cannot affect something like weather, or climate, or the atmosphere, or the oceans because they are simply too big simply have a selective acquaintance with history.

Chris Martensen has an interesting essay this morning. The first item that attracted my attention was his description of our modern economy as requiring infinitely expanding credit. Nothing can expand infinitely except in pure mathematics. The physical world has limits. The second item I found fascinating was his graph of the growth of the U.S. credit market since 1970. It has doubled 5 times in 40 years. The pattern is a nice parabola that mirrors the ideal exponential curve. As I looked at it I was reminded of the problem of trying to accelerate past the speed of light. As you get closer to that limit the energy you put into the effort produces less and less result. I would guess, as Martensen concludes, that all of the efforts made to increase the amount of cash available to lend has bumped up against the same phenomenon--no matter how much we put in the result will be disappointingly small. And something else comes to mind: if business and industry has no real expectation of resumed growth on the scale of the recent past, will they have any real interest in increasing payrolls? I think not. And all of the talk of reduced regulation and reduced taxes is just that--talk. I am quite sure that all of the industries and businesses lobbying for those 'reforms' are quite honest on one level: such measures would improve their bottom lines. But their promises of new jobs is nothing more than self-serving hot air.

Good morning to you all on this rainy Thursday morning. The thunderstorms moved in overnight with a major drop in temperature. The high for today arrived sometime very early this morning and the temp is supposed to settle around 60 for the day. I will enjoy the relief from the heat while I can. Given how wet it is I won't be doing anything in the gardens today. I was relieved to see that all of the plants on the fence are still on the fence. Considering how the wind howled last night I wasn't sure they would be. The only ones I really worried about were the roses. They are in small, lighter pots. I think I will put something else on the fence and keep the roses down where they will have more protection. After nursing two back to health and blooming I don't want to lose them to a wind driven topple out of the fence racks. Oh, I almost forgot--almost all of my tomatoes are blooming and one actually has a little tomato growing. I noticed that the acorn squash has gotten big enough that I need to put the low rungs of my trellis in so I can start training the plants to grow up the trellis. Also I have to trim a couple of low branches off the tomatoes. They resemble little trees now but trimming away the lower branches leaves some space and sun for lower growing plants.

I just had an interesting thought (to me anyway). I see a strong resemblance between some of the arguments on the economy and those on the issue of climate change. Consider this item from Huffington Post which quotes Austan Goolsbee saying that we have no economic crisis and one months' down data doesn't mean anything. Then think of the number of times climate change critics insist that the latest nasty weather event doesn't mean anything and there is no climate change (with which climate change proponents would agree). What is the parallel you ask? Well, each is rejecting the selected event (a monthly worsening in the labor statistics or a sudden severe weather incident) and then proceeding to use it to reject the broader trend. I could agree that each item by itself is no indicator of a trend. That would be like trying to describe a line by a single point--a meaningless exercise in futility. However, a large number of similar incidents (or points) starts to describe a meaningful trend (or line). I don't think there have been many years over the last twenty when I (and others) haven't commented on how very odd the weather was. Most of those twenty years recorded average temps among the highest in history as well as other weather anomalies. Twenty points are much better indicators of the direction of a line than one. The situation is a bit messier with the economy but there are interesting indicators. We have the second recession in a decade that has been described as 'jobless.' We have thirty years of statistics showing that wages have basically stagnated. We have thirty years of statistics showing the concentration of wealth in the top 10% and even more strikingly in the top 1%. The talking heads tell us that inflation is low or non-existent and we shake our heads and wonder who is doing their shopping. We have a bunch of Pollyannas telling us "don't worry and be happy" because this or that piddling little data point doesn't mean anything and that we don't have to do anything because there simply is no crisis out there. There is an old saying that describes a committee as the only living organism with six or more legs and no brain. That makes a society the largest committee around and ours is worst of all.

CNN just had a news flash that the Federal Government is going to withhold a subsidy from three banks, including Wells Fargo and JP Morgan, because of their poor performance in the mortgage modification program. That is nice--maybe even a good start. But the talking heads asked a question that I would like to know the answer to--how much of a hit is this really?

I think the kids had this one right and it is really too bad the parents had to get bent out of shape.

I just approved a comment by Timothy on my post for sometime back in January of this year on the best politics money can buy.  It was simply a notice that the early/absentee voting systems' deadlines is approaching.  I have a general policy that I will approve any comments unless they are abusive.  However, I decided to re-read the post because I had forgotten what I wrote.  It was interesting how much remains the same just ratcheted up a notch or two.

The news this morning noted that an oil company is 'suffering' because the price of oil has dropped by about 50% since about July so it is cutting its work force.  Our comment over coffee this morning?  'Great!! (sarcasm here)  People can now buy gas but they are unemployed.'  We also noticed that this is an industry that had record 'profits' over the first two quarters this year.  (Sorry, I didn't hear which company was mentioned or if the situation is industry wide. I may find out later.

In the wake of the debates and Joe the 'Plumber,' Senator McCain has been trying to make some headway on the issue of 'spread the wealth.'  That is, he is trying to paint Obama as one who would take the hard earned money from the middle class and distribute it to those who don't deserve it (remember the 'undeserving' poor I have mentioned before?).  This post by Dean Baker on TPM Cafe notes that the lions' share of the redistribution to date has been from those lower on the economic food chain to those higher up.  And the bail out package just continues that pattern.

I caught an interesting few minutes of a discussion on CNBC yesterday.  The topic for that segment of the Sunday morning talk show was 'Who was to blame for the mortgage mess?  Greedy bankers or Greedy loan applicants?'  Of course, this is the kind of question which will never get answered to any one's satisfaction.  It implies an either/or answer when the real situation is much more complicated.  I don't doubt that there were greedy bankers AND greedy loan applicants some of whom were moved by their greed make fraudulent or nearly fraudulent loan deals.  However, the commentators moved away from the greed angle to another which was, to my mind, a more fruitful discussion of how much the ordinary consumer really knows about the ins and outs of mortgages loans.  Two of them recounted their own experiences shopping for loans.  One remembered how much pressure the person she was negotiating with put on her to accept an adjustable rate loan with a very low teaser interest.  She managed to reject it for a fixed rate loan.  Another recalled how he was cajoled into an adjustable rate loan which he was able to convert to a thirty year fixed rate when he realized what had happened.  They both noted that if this could happen to them, seasoned financial professionals, what could happen to those who were not so knowledgeable.  

I wasn't going to post anything today but I found this little piece.  

Poor Senator McCain found himself in an uncomfortable spot on last night's news sound bite.  The ABC news reporter asked him specifically how the experience of being shot down and held prisoner enhanced his qualifications to be President.  That seems to be a good question since he has made it such a central issue in his campaign.  And I thought the reporter was very respectful and polite in asking it.  Unfortunately all we got, at least in the sound bites, was an interjection from Senator McCain to the effect of 'Oh, my God!!' (paraphrased because I can't remember the exact phrase) followed a few minutes later, after the candidate regained his composure, with the oh-so-revealing comment that the experience taught the Senator to 'love' his country.  Did he not love his country before being shot down?  And how would his love of country affect his decision making?  His love of country is just about as  pertinent to his qualifications to be President as his war time experiences.  Not very.

grousing

Well, it's raining again here in northern Indiana. Our area wasn't too badly hit this last week. However, Gary to the northwest and Kouts to the southeast were. Large areas lost electricity. Three days later tens of thousands were still without service. We had a dry hot spring and now that the dry period is here we are getting the rain. Go figure.

I am about two weeks away from finishing my sister-in-laws quilt. The anniversary was celebrated two weeks ago. I just told her that her quilt needed a bit more work. At least they could enjoy the sheets and pillowcases on which mom put a crocheted edging.

We have both been grousing lately about not being able to find what we want in our local stores. We have wonderful shopping generally; but, more and more when we go looking for something particular we have a hard time finding it. When she looked for the sheet/pillowcase set to edge (and when she looked for earlier sets for a couple of my other siblings) what she found did not satisfy her at all. She couldn't find the colors she wanted and had to settle for something other than what she wanted. The hems were shoddily done and the pillowcases had mismatched seams. These would once have been sold at a cut rate as seconds but not any more. Then she couldn't find the color of crochet thread she wanted and again had to settle for something else.

I tried to find an afghan hook in a smaller size than I had on hand. The Hancock Fabrics we once had has closed and Walmart is getting out of the needlecraft and fabric business. Target and K-mart did that a long time ago. That leaves Michaels as the only chain store for needlework but they have reduced their crochet thread and shifted their stocks of yarn to emphasize the new 'funky' yarns (you know--the eyelash, and fur lines) that I really don't like to crochet with. The only afghan hood available was in a set of hooks for beginning crocheters and was the same size as the ones I already have. Once some many years ago I stopped shopping at Michaels because they shifted to a fad needlework I didn't like. I guess I will have to stop shopping there again. Luckily we have a local yarn shop, Sheep's Clothing, that did carry what I needed. I love their yarns but they are pricey.

Many, many years ago I read economists who thought that the trends toward automation and computerization would create a commercial world in which anyone could easily get anything almost custom made for them. What a crock. What has happened is we have an economy dominated by chain stores in which only those items which will sell zillions of units are carried. A recent guest poster on the Time Goes By blog noted the difficulty finding shampoo for her gray hair. She finally found one brand on the bottom shelf and bought both of the bottles that were left. Anyone who colors her hair or is blond, brunette, or red-headed can find all kinds of products. But not someone who refuses to buy into the youth orientation which demands that the gray haired cover the gray and pretend the years haven't passed.

What we have is an economy that serves the young and has no interest in anyone else. TV is dominated by the 18 to 34 crowd. We have complained for sometime about how uninteresting the offerings are. We either saw it and don't want to see it again, never wanted to see it in the first place, or liked it so well we can watch our own copy without commercial interruption. And we have been doing a lot of that last option lately.

I guess I am really very tired of an economy which doesn't meet my needs, doesn't see any profit in meeting my needs and doesn't even provide suitable alternatives. I don't want to settle for what those overpaid bastards in the corporate offices offer and be grateful for it. I am not in the least grateful. Most of the time I am pretty damn pissed.