New Additions

The Divine Mrs. M and I will be welcoming a new addition to the family tomorrow.  Our middle child is marrying and preparing to welcome an addition of her own in a couple of months.  The hoary old cliché that "It only seems like yesterday" when we were on the same trajectory seems poignant and true all of a sudden.  The natural progression of generations and the passing of the torch from one to the next always seems to happen to everyone else.  Now it is us.  With our eldest settled down and our youngest waiting to do so, it is definitely time to polish the grandparenting skills.

UHH!

Farmers in the Midwest are probably looking for the application forms for Cheech and Chong's organization, United Heads for Hemp!  As federal restrictions on the crop have eased, there is high demand for hemp seed.  Growers are looking to capitalize on the fairly easy to grow plant, which can reach 20 feet or more in height and is used for everything from rope making to clothing.  Hemp is a relative of the marijuana plant, but without the THC which gives users the high.  I'm not sure why hemp growing was banned in the US, but it probably has to do with reefer madness.  I guess the plants look similar enough that marijuana growers could mix their plants in with the hemp crop.  It sounds like a stretch, but with the war on drugs, sanity is in short supply.  As attitudes change and more and more states legalize marijuana, there will be more pressure from farmers to be allowed to grow and process hemp. 

More of the same

Cool and wet conditions continue on the NCR with increasingly dire forecasts.   The single largest garden area remains too wet to work, and it is almost time to plant the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and other heat lovers.  There remains plenty to do in other areas, but if the major crops don't get in, it will be a long, not so hot summer.  Many corn and soybean growers must be getting worried also, as the heavy soils in much of the Champlain valley continue to be too wet to work.  It is still May, but the weather doesn't seem to be changing and we are starting to run out of time.

Memorials

I probably knew at one time the origin of Memorial Day, but had forgotten it.  The first Memorial Days were organized by veterans of the Civil War.  Many of the survivors on both sides of the war felt the only people who really understood them were others who had fought on both sides.  So small get togethers were organized and the custom gradually spread and was finally recognized by Congress and now encompasses veterans of all our wars.  While an enthusiastic supporter of this tradition as a youngster; after all, what kid would fight against a day off?  I have come to a more nuanced view in my latter years.  We should not be celebrating wars.  Most of ours had more to do with conquest than freedom.  The warriors are another story.  In the days of the citizen army, right through the Vietnam war, most young men did not have a choice.  If the army drafted you, there was little argument aside from those who objected to war.  You served your term and if there was fighting, you took part.  As we have come to a more professional army, those who serve are generally those who want to fight.  Is this service, or merely a chosen occupation.  Maybe we should honor used car salesmen too.  Of course, many who are in the army genuinely believe they are serving a higher cause.  However, when you realize the idiots who got us involved in Iraq did so to advance an Imperial America, you also must admit they could not have done it without an army.  Thus my ambivalence regarding our latter day grunts and Memorial Day.  The only way we will ever stop losing the youth of our country to the meat grinder of war is to question the very premise of this service.  Something to think about this Memorial Day.

Big brother redux

The renewed bi-partisan agreement that we need to rein in the NSA looks like a classic case of too little, too late.  In the aftermath of 9-11, Congress ceded virtually all of its oversight functions to the executive branch as it looked for a way to appear patriotic and at the same time avoid the time consuming and potentially politically unpopular actions which are a necessary adjunct to democracy.   Letting terrorists walk was anathema to both parties, so they decided to let Bush, Cheney and company drag what was left of America's reputation through the muck of Abu Ghraib and the rendition and torture gambits.  Little recognized at the time was that infamous administrations bulk collection of virtually all of out private conversations.  Done under the guise of anti-terrorism, we have snooped through ordinary people's affairs as well as those of foreign companies and heads of state.   So far, all of this B&E has not proven to have stopped any terrorists, but has inflamed the populations of many nations against us.  Of course, most of us are constantly being snooped by private companies who use our information to sell us everything from breakfast cereal to cars.  We have little expectation of privacy, but now it seems we have none.  Can we put the genie back in the bottle? 

Feeding the mosquitoes

I spent last evening developing resistance to mosquito bites.  The little bloodsuckers were swarming as I transplanted several hundred onion seedlings, but remarkably I was bitten only occasionally.  As I have mansplained to the Divine Mrs. M, obviously there is something in my blood mosquitoes find distasteful.  Nonetheless, it is no fun to inhale them as you try to work.  Finished as the light failed at 9 p.m. and retreated to the house, just in time to hear more about the latest V.A. scandal.  Like any bureaucracy, the V.A. is going to try to appear in the best light.  Having been married to a dedicated Federal worker, I have heard countless horror stories of budget cuts, increased pressure to do more with less and harassment of workers who try to serve the public with care and dedication.   I have no doubt the investigation will turn up memos from mid level managers asking for more resources, specifically more people to deal with the increased caseloads of returning veterans.  I will also bet their requests were turned down due to budgetary pressure.  Congress is probably willing to throw more money to the V.A., but will not approve additional hires.  The congressmen who are demanding accountability should be looking in the mirror.

Primary colors

The primaries decided last night were supposedly a big win for the republican "establishment" as opposed to the far right tea party.  What it really shows is the influence of the astro turf groups spawned by the Koch brothers and their ilk.   Most of these moderate republicans would have been labeled as far right fringe candidates in the 80s and early 90s.  Now, in order to please the bible thumping, gun toting homophobes who make up much of the base of today's republican party, candidates have to take these extreme positions.  So the party veers further and further down the rabbit hole.

Earnestly Springing

Light blogging until tomorrow as I am on the road.  The weekend was glorious after the rain on Friday, so the gardening is starting to feel as if something may result from all the efforts so far.  The flea beetles are already feasting on my bok choy transplants and waiting eagerly for broccoli and brussels sprouts.  While most people have very little problem with these pests, I must have ideal habitat for them.  Fortunately, if I can get the transplants past a certain point they can handle a little damage.  The organic pesticide I use seems to hold them off, but it's another distraction from all the seeding and transplanting that needs to get done in a very short window. 

Minority rules

Rachel Maddow spent the first 15 minutes of her show last night gently mocking the right wing idiots who plot massive demonstrations to "take back the country" and find a couple of dozen die hards in attendance.  Today, for instance, some group has vowed that somewhere between 10 and 30 million people will descend on Washington and refuse to leave until the President is jailed and Congress disbanded.  I doubt the business infrastructure in D.C. stocked up to handle the influx, because the 50 or 60 people who do show up will probably be well supplied with pop tarts and Gatorade.  The point of these demonstrations is to show the power of the tiny minority who seem to be driving the right wing and by extension the Republican party.  They make announcements and show up at Bundy's ranch in Nevada in camo with their assault rifles, but these nut-jobs are given encouragement by craven politicians who fear the supposed electoral power of the tea party.  Their power is all out of proportion to their numbers.  It is a mirror of Nixon's "silent majority" of the 1970s.  At that time, a small activist left wing drove the debate regarding the government's policy but was ignored at election time.  Now, the fringe on the right is driving the Republican into desperate contortions to please them.  With the new social media, the public megaphone is many times more powerful than what the Chicago 7 had to work with.   The new, not so silent majority of people of good will need to respond at the ballot box and deal a fatal blow to the gun nuts and bigots who have camouflaged their hateful ideology with appeals to "constitutional" solutions which are thinly disguised dog whistles to the ignorant and intolerant.  We are better than that.

The whiff of desperation

The pundits were all agog at the temerity of Karl Rove to plant the "brain damage" meme regarding Hilary's candidacy.  Right leaning media types quietly applauded his audacity, while lefties decried the obvious stupidity of the attack.  Surely, he has started a conversation.  Unfortunately for him, it will be carried on mostly in the fever swamps of Republican imagination.  The same believers who would repeat tales of lesbian (or alien) lovers, the murder of Vince Foster (who was he anyway) and of course, BENGHAZI will happily speculate on the loss of Ms. Clinton's biggest asset.  Since she has appeared at multiple speaking opportunities and delivered without drooling on her notes, it would seem the whole argument will fall flat with the thinking members of the electorate.  The very fact her first name is all she needs for identification is enough to make the Rove's of the GOP apoplectic.  Her approval ratings will survive virtually any attack and since the opposition have run out of plausible memes it is time to scrape the bottom of the barrel (what about that alien lover).   The simple fact is if she chooses to run, the only person who can beat her is herself.  That is Rove's nightmare.

Chocolate cake and weather

There are very few feelings like plunging your hand into soil the consistency of chocolate cake and planting seedlings you know will thrive.  I had the experience last night as I planted shallots, onions and potatoes in newly turned earth.  Showers are promised for Friday (more like torrential rain I'm afraid), so I should have at least one more chance to plant.  It is somewhat addictive, but I guess it is better than many other choices I could make. 

Time to build the Ark

A new report from Antarctica predicts the imminent demise of the west Antarctic ice sheet.  This complex of glaciers  sits on a depressed bowl beneath sea level.  As warm water upwells beneath the ice it will slide into the sea at a faster pace.  Although it is thought to be irreversible at this point, it will probably take several centuries before it all melts with a resulting sea level rise of 4 to 12 feet.  That much water will make most coastal cities around the world uninhabitable.  The melting of the Greenland ice cap is also proceeding.  That will make the devastation even greater.  The other climate change we are all experiencing now is the frequent heavy deluges of rain.  Many farmers I know have said over the past few years that heavy rains are now the rule, rather than the exception.  Where we once had gentle spring rains in the northeast, we now have torrential downpours.  These heavy rains increase erosion, overwhelm storm drains and beat down crops.  Many growers are starting to rethink the kinds of crops they will plant and the kind of land that can handle the greater rainfall.   Meanwhile, the climate deniers will probably be the first onto the lifeboats when they finally admit man made climate change is reality.   Of course, they will probably blame it  on Benghazi.

Change and Climate deniers

Marco Rubio  appeared on one of the Sunday shows to enhance his stature with the crazy wing of the GOP in the runup to the 2016 Presidential derby.  Specifically, he denied the science of climate change, saying he didn't agree with scientific assessments of the pace at which the weather is affecting the world.  While I didn't see the interview, the précis I did hear confirms my belief the republicans are bereft of leadership and have ceded control of their party to the latest iteration of the know-nothings.  It is a scary thought that one of the two major political parties is now out of control and is a breeding ground for the fever dreams of a minority who feel disenfranchised by the knowledge economy which is leaving them further and further behind.  Feeding on the propaganda of the NRA, the anti immigrant and science hating groups, these people will vote against their own best interests if they perceive liberals getting a black eye in the process.  Since we all know facts have an inherent liberal bias, these folks must fall back to the position of total ignorance.  Thus Rubio's fact free assertion of dissent.   On the gardening front, the weather has taken a positive turn toward summer and seeding, weeding and transplanting are the orders of the day--every day from now on.

Market time

Tomorrow is the first Farmer's Market here on the NCR, and like most farmers in the North Country I will be standing on the sidelines (probably in the rain) with nothing to offer the public except the promise of a few bunches of asparagus next week.  The weather is drying out and warming up slowly but surely.  However, there will be no early spinach this year and my lettuce transplants are still only mouse ears in a cold frame.  It looks like mid to late June before any volume of veg becomes available in this area.   Meanwhile, I'll continue planting and enjoying the growth of my garlic patch.

Hot air and politics

After listening to bloviating pundits, politicians and news anchors for more than 50 years I think I am finally getting tired of it.  I have noticed over the years the descent of news into a sort of stew consisting of minimal facts and maximum opinion regarding said facts.  When Walter Cronkite or Chet Huntley read the news, you could be pretty sure they were reporting facts.   True, they withheld some information from their viewers, whether the salacious details of JFK's numerous affairs or the inner workings of the FBI.  What they did report, however was straight up and verifiable.  Similarly, the Sunday morning news programs like Meet the Press, etc. dealt in facts.  Over time, this emphasis on facts has eroded to the extent news is more like speculation than reportage of facts.  The news cycle is continuously pre-empted by the story or scandal du jour.   So we spend 2 weeks speculating about Malaysian flight 367 to the exclusion of virtually all other news.  Meanwhile, FOX News (sic) is all Benghazi, all the time.  What does this mean to the next generation of consumers of news.  To me it seems that most of our children are either turned off by the balkanization of news or actively pursue the particular bubble which coincides with their world view.  The advent of the internet makes this process easier than ever.  It has famously been said that facts have a notoriously liberal bias, but for somewhere around 30% of the population, this is an inconvenient truth to be avoided at all costs.

Sustainability and healthy eating

Marc Bittman of the NYT has become my new favorite food writer.  Of course that is partly because in today's column he totally agrees with my own views on organics, sustainability and changing the system.   While organic is very good and I wholeheartedly embrace the ideal in my garden, it is not a deal breaker when it comes to healthy eating.  A non organic apple is still better than a twinkie or a bag of potato chips any day of the week.  Organic might be better, but if it costs $3.00 per apple, most of us will think twice.  Similarly, GMOs or genetically modified organisms at least at the level they are being pursued today have less to do with eating wisely and more to do with Monsanto's quarterly profit.  Indeed, the most pernicious effect of GMOs may be to devalue the hard won knowledge of generations of farmers by introducing crops which require little ag smarts to grow.  However, as the climate changes drastically, we can't wait to patiently breed into our crops the new characteristics they will need to survive droughts, floods, blistering heat and early frost.   GMOs may offer the respite we will need to deal with the coming apocalypse.  As Bittman also points out, eating locally, whether organic or conventional will enhance the sustainability of local food production.  As I know only too well, we have been on track to import much of our vegetable needs from far away sources.  As a kid growing up on Long Island, most of our food was grown on nearby farms.  Now, most of those fertile farms are under asphalt and tract housing.  If we want to change the system, we need to eat less processed foods, support local agriculture and nudge the whole industrial agriculture system toward a more sustainable future.

Stranger than Fiction

Nothing illustrates the dysfunction of today's Republican party and its media arm like Fox News commentator Dana Perino telling her audience that the nation's leading climatologists should not talk to the President at his meeting with them, unless it is about BENGAZI.   What kind of world do these people inhabit!

Ersatz holidays

I don't know too much about other countries' holidays, but here in America we seem to have a genius for celebrating the ridiculous.  A case in point is Cinco De Mayo.  Most Americans suppose it is a big Mexican holiday we are helping to celebrate with sombreros and margaritas.  In reality, very few people in Mexico celebrate an obscure victory in that country's losing war against Napoleon the 3rd.  Columbus Day is another ethnic celebration with few takers in Columbus' native Italy.  Why do we do it.   My guess is in the giant melting pot which is American culture, homesick immigrants seized moments in their parent country's history and transferred them to their new homeland in an effort to feel at once part of and distinct from the US.  So we celebrate the banishment of serpents from Ireland on March 17 each year with green beer.   Only in America...

The ugly side of class warfare

Tired of listening to the nice polite republicans on NPR, I sampled another network of talkers with an obvious lean toward the GOP.  The talking head was spouting about America's out of control welfare state.    He presumed it was self evident that a minimum wage worker with an absent spouse and three kids could be living the life of Riley with all the government welfare state programs available to her.  Medicaid and food stamps are rotting the fiber of American society.  Meanwhile the example he cited of the hapless middle class paying for this welfare was a poor orthopedist who did indentured servitude as an intern for many years and his $500,000/year salary which is being stripped by state and local taxes to pay for the idle poor.  If just one of these idiots tried to live on a $9.00/hr. salary for a year, they would come away with a new respect for their fellows on the low end of society.  The government subsidies he howls about make life somewhat more bearable for Walmart type workers, but we are actually subsidizing Walmart, McDonalds and other low wage payers.  If the minimum wage was hiked to $15.00/hr and the myth of "health care is a privilege" instead of a basic human right was exploded for the pernicious lie that it is, we might start to see a more just society take the place of the present farce.  Meanwhile, down on the farm, I was able to get a little planting and yard work done among the weekend rain showers.  It looks like we are at least a couple of weeks behind schedule at this point, but the weather appears to want to turn to a more springlike regime.   Last year, the plantings were more advanced, but heavy rains in late May and June decimated many areas of the gardens, so on balance I think we are ahead of the game....so far.

Our new overlords

Much is being made of the President's efforts to keep the Russians out of Ukraine.   Aside from the fact the Russkies have a better case for invading than we ever did with Iraq, there is another development which bodes ill for the future of western democracies.   With armed intervention off the table, economic sanctions are the only weapons available to the West.   Unfortunately, corporations with ties to Russia have an effective veto over how onerous these sanctions can be.   Exxon-Mobil, Mercedes, and a bevy of other transnational corporations are now the arbiters of nation state foreign policy.   They can ignore or re-direct the actors in this drama, including the President if their interests are at stake.   In the case of Exxon, its internal economy exceeds the GDP of all but a handful of nations.  It cannot be ignored or effectively disciplined by the US if it goes off the foreign policy reservation.  The Congress has been bought by corporations and billionaires, and will offer little resistance to the coup which is now taking place.  In the near future, America will be held hostage by these corporate interests unless our representatives rebel and reassert their authority.  Nationalizing a few of the largest offenders would be one way to regain the initiative.  However, with the Americans for Prosperity party holding the balance of power in Congress, it would seem the game is up for representative democracy.  I for one intend to keep voting and participating in the process, but with little hope for our democratic future.

Vanishing spring

More rain and temps in the 40s this morning.   It doesn't feel like May.   While there is still time to make up for the slow start to the farming season, the press of business will become greater as time passes.  Even 18 hr. days will not suffice to get everything planted in a timely fashion.  So choices will have to be made.  Transplant the flowers or get the corn in.  Should I even bother with the sweet potato transplants or will time run out before they mature.  For the commercial growers, the stakes are higher.  Planting extra lettuce because the land is available may be a foolish gamble if everyone does it.  Harvesting lettuce for $2.00/box is not a happy thought.  Planting onions, carrots or other storage crops is an option, but if too many people do the same thing it could lead to a winter of discontent.  Decisions will have to be made soon, and Mother Nature is not making it easier for anyone.