O Canada

If President Obama is looking for a second act after he steps down next year, I would say he has a future in Canada.  After a his final meeting as on of the "three amigos" with Justin Trudeau and President Pinoneta  of Mexico, he addressed the Canadian Parliament regarding the success of NAFTA and the prospects of continued cooperation in the free trade zone in the Americas.  After a thunderous ovation, the Members began chanting "four more years".   Obama seemed surprised by the acclamation, but tempermentally, "no drama Obama" is a much better fit  north of the border than he is at home. 

Rinse and repeat

Another day, another terrorist bombing, this time by some suicidal maniacs at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey.  We then have our presumptive presidential candidates' take on this latest atrocity.  On the one hand, a calm, measured response emphasizing our shared values and having each other's back as we fight the extremists.  On the other, waterboarding is not enough, we need to fight fire with fire.  I guess that means we need to recruit our own reverse terrorists.  Or maybe we need to behead a few "detainees", just to show the other side we aren't "soft" on radical Islamic terrorism.  The scary part is the latter prescription resonates with a not inconsiderable portion of the electorate.  Once upon a time, we turned to our leaders to appeal to the better angels of our nature.   Then, the Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys and other opinion leaders on the right told us that hate and fear were priority responses to whatever bothered us and leaders of one political party agreed with this nihilistic view of society.  I hope we firmly reject this in November.

Rain Post

We received a little less than an inch of needed rain yesterday as well as a little hail, so I checked the garden as the sun came up this morning and was heartened when I saw very little damage.  A few cut leaves here and there, but the damage was outweighed by the moisture.  The soil was so dry before the rain that it was all absorbed.  Another tenth or two is predicted for later today, and even that will be welcome.  Common gardening wisdom is crops require an inch of rain per week during the summer months, but on my soils it is more like an inch every two weeks, so I should be good until nearly the middle of July.   The first cauliflower should be ready this weekend as well as some nappa cabbage.  Of course, the flip side of this bountiful rain is the incipient weed invasion which will be well underway by the weekend.  Ugh.

Supreme Court previews

Not counting chickens before the election egg is hatched, but the latest Supreme court decisions provide a preview of what the court could be capable of when President Clinton appoints at least one and possibly as many as three justices due to death or retirement.  By slicing and dicing the Texas abortion law, the court signaled that without the late unlamented Antonin Scalia to bully his conservative faction into agreement with his warped world view, Justice Kennedy slipped the leash and injected some sanity into the abortion debate.  With a new infusion of younger blood over the next four years, the court could start to remake itself in the image of a diverse and evolving nation, instead of the cranky old white men it has traditionally resembled.

Dry and warm

The difference between this year's garden and last year's were in stark relief over the weekend.  From dawn Saturday until dusk on Sunday the sun held sway and temperatures never dipped below 65 degrees.  I pressed the Divine Mrs. M into service to water tomato, cucumber and melon transplants.  Areas of the secret garden which resembled a fetid swamp last year are dusty dry and for the most part, the weed population is greatly reduced.  The forecast is for showers and thunder today and tomorrow, but as contrary as the weather has been so far, I am not counting on help from the skies.  We will keep watering and hoping.  The silver lining is the lawns have dried up except for a few hardy weeds.  That will reduce mowing chores.  Meanwhile the roster of crops keeps increasing.  The asparagus is starting to play out, but strawberries, peas, beets and chard are coming on.  Cabbage will be ready next week and the second planting of lettuce will be ready if the rabbits give it a break.  The summer squash needs a shower to start producing and the potatoes are flowering.  Most of the garlic has been scaped and we are in the final countdown to harvest late next month.   All in all, there is very little to complain about on the gardening front.

Brexit and the politics of ignorance

Thanks to a combination of fear mongering, racism and nationalism, Great Britain will withdraw from the European Union.  Even assuming an agnostic stance as to the benefits or drawbacks of leaving, it seems like a stupid, retrograde policy.   Soon to be ex Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to this referendum to quiet the Tory base voters, assuming an overwhelming majority of Britons would see the long term interests of the country being served by remaining part of the EU.  Republicans in the US made a similar calculation and are now dealing with The Donald.  It is fashionable to say the voters who made these choices are worried about globalism or are raging against the elites running their countries.  From neo-Nazi skinheads in Germany to Marie LePen's nationalist party to Trump's republicans, I believe the real reason for these contrarian votes is plain old fashioned racism.   There are a lot of grumpy old whites who feel the world is passing them by and they are being overwhelmed by "those people".  If we only build walls, retreat to our national borders and shrink from engaging with the rest of the world our white privilege will be restored.  Those who sugar coat this naked appeal to prejudice are doing all of us a disservice.  Brexit and Trumpism must be called out for what they are; naked appeals to the basest motives.

Timing and gardening

One old saying about farming is " the footsteps of the farmer are the best manure".  The meaning is observation of the growing crops and intercession where necessary is probably the single most important thing a grower can do.  I do a short walkabout the garden each evening and adjust my schedule depending on what I see.  Last night that meant spending 45 minutes on hands and knees pulling hundreds of galinsoga seedlings which were rapidly overtaking the carrot plants in the bed.  It would have been much less painful to weed the winter squash or water some transplants, but by Saturday it would have been an exercise in futility to try weeding the carrots.  Choices in gardening as well as life have consequences and delaying or ignoring them usually leads to disaster.

Ignorance is not bliss

Both the US and Britain seem to be losing their collective minds over Donald Trump and Brexit, respectively.   On both sides of the Atlantic, voters, mostly working class and relatively uneducated, seem to prefer a policy of "stick it to the Man".  In the US, that means supporting an ignorant, narcissistic bully for the Presidency while in Britain it means turning your back on the European experiment.  In both cases, rage against the perceived indifference of the ruling elites to their economic plight is leading to an even more catastrophic outcome for them.  The polarization of the polity in both countries has contributed to this horror show, but in many cases these "low information" voters have elected republicans in America and conservatives in Britain who are actively crafting legislation that harms their economic interests.  This process could conceivably lead to a Trump presidency and Brexit.  Both would be short and long term disasters for the working class in both countries.

Poisonous Political Culture

Despite outrageous statements, total lack of campaign organization and continuing to double down on his misogynistic, religious and racial bigotry it is amazing that Donald Trump is still taken seriously as a candidate for the presidency.  Yet even with all his troubles, culminating yesterday with the sacking of his campaign manager, the shame of New York is still drawing 39% of the vote in some polls.  Who are these people and what are they thinking?  I realize we are living in a polarized era where party identification is very strong, but, really, how to justify supporting a narcissist, who usually spends most of his speeches citing other people praising him.  Hillary may be no angel, and she is not nearly as bad as 30 years of mud slinging would make her appear, but comparing her unfavorably to Trump is a fool's errand. 

Weekend garden update

Garlic scapes are in as well as strawberries.  I picked 5 quarts of berries from a bed of Sparkle variety during the course of the weekend.  I brought a couple to the Farmer's Market and we had the balance as part of Father's Day dinner last evening.  I planted basil, cilantro, dill, carrots and corn after a nice shower on Friday night settled the dust and got everything growing again.  What a change from last year!  The weather was dry and warm on Saturday and Sunday, so weed killing was in vogue also.  Most of the garden is reasonably weed free and aside from some rabbit damage on young lettuce transplants everything looks good for now.  Unfortunately, the grass keeps demanding attention, so I'll be putting on my greenskeepers hat each night this week.

Weekend of fathers

As we all know, Father's Day is a creation of the greeting card industry as much as a day of remembrance of our progenitors.  I am always grateful for the attention, but I sometimes wonder how much most of us deserve the plaudits of our progeny.   Most fathers of my generation participated more in their childrens' lives than our own fathers did in ours.  But our careers and the pressure of making enough money to keep the lights and heat on diverted many from focusing on our children. Still, even if only for a day it's good to know you are appreciated for your efforts.

Empty Acres

Motoring along I-87 this morning I was struck by the many acres of corn and soybeans lining the highway.  Large fields of monocrops taken care of by a handful of tractor operators.  I hesitate to call them farmers, since few of them have dirt on their knees at the end of the day and many are overweight and out of shape, victims of days in comfortable seats on tractors with climate controlled cabs.  The micro farm I grow and manage during evenings and weekends is less than one acre, yet requires 20 hours of work to keep it clean and growing.  One of the giant fields I pass is probably over 100 acres and requires less than 20 hours from planting to harvest.  The yeoman farmer of our historic past has been replaced by a commodity trader who drives a tractor occasionally.  At least on the NCR, some of these growers also manage a dairy herd and grow the forage for their cows.  Across most of the country the mixed livestock farm is a relic.  I don't know where I am going with this rant, because there is little interest among the population to revive a labor intensive agricultural economy, even if the financial rewards were equal to the toil and investment required.  Satellite controlled tractors are already being deployed in some areas.  These driverless automatons will be the final step in divorcing Americans from the soil which started us on our trajectory to becoming the strongest nation in the world.  I wonder how long we will survive this development.

Republicans and the gender gap

The absurdity of a woman appearing on Lawrence O'Donnell's cable show last night to defend semi automatic weapons and abortion restrictions in the same breath literally took mine away.  The verbal gymnastics involved in this painful display brought into sharp relief the inherent contradictions of being a woman in the republican party today.  Sure, there are arguments to be made for small government and more self reliance, but to make restrictions on woman's health care and gun nut freedom the issues to die for strikes me as standing against everything most women value.   This woman was the former campaign manager for Carly Fiorina, so I'm guessing she has drunk the republican kool-aid by the gallon.  It  still makes no sense.  The modern republican party is a virtual extension of corporate, militarist and social conservative causes.  How any woman can square support for this agenda is beyond me.

The assault rifle test

Thanks to the SAFE Act passed by the legislature in New York and signed by Governor Cuomo, it is illegal to purchase an assault rifle like the one used in the Orlando massacre.  Many other states have enacted similar laws and an entire nation, Australia, has outlawed the weapons entirely.  Not so amazingly, the frequency of mass shootings in that country has dropped to zero.  I read in the NYT that the families of the victims of the New Town shooting in Connecticut have advanced a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the AR-15 rifle used in the shooting based on the theory that it is a weapon of war and should never have been advertised and sold to civilians.  Thanks to the spineless reaction of republicans in congress to the NRA, this lawsuit may have more impact on the problem than legislation.  If gun manufacturers are on the hook for potentially billions of dollars in punitive damages for the conduct of those who buy their weapons, those weapons will not be sold.  Whether by legislation or judicial sanctions, it is time to restrict these weapons of mass destruction.  Their only function is to kill human beings.  How can our society not ban the sale and eventually confiscate these weapons in the name of common humanity?  The 2nd amendment is open to interpretation, and common sense gun control is easily deduced from the language of the framers.  We need to go there.

Lowering the bar

There are still 5 months to go before the election and The Donald has managed to lower the bar of reality further than ever.  At this rate, you'll have to be a champion limbo dancer to listen to Trump's speeches by September.  In his latest, he implies that the President is somehow an agent of "radical Islamic terrorism" because he won't use Trump's pet phrase to describe the tragedy in Orlando.  Also, he renewed his call for a ban on all Muslims entering the country.  This, after the shooter was identified as a US citizen born in the same borough in NYC as Donald Trump.   The stupidity implicit in such verbal vomit is unlikely to register with the 20-30% of voters who identify with the authoritarian policies Trump would likely initiate if elected.  It would seem many of our fellow citizens will be happy to allow the abrogation of many of our most cherished rights if a "strong" candidate requires the sacrifice.  By banning the Washington Post from his campaign events because he doesn't like their coverage, the presumptive republican nominee has shown his disdain for the 1st amendment.  In the Trump universe, it would seem the only inviolate article of the Bill of Rights is the 2nd Amendment.

Gardening in Gethsemane

 Now I understand how Christ could say "Why me" to his heavenly father in the garden of Gethsemane.   In the Garden of Almena, I feel more like saying "WTF" as we head into summer.  After a weekend of fitful drizzle, 30 MPH winds and temps hovering in the low 50s, it's hard to get excited about the prospects of harvesting what little is even close to ready.  The warm weather crops are on strike and the cool season veggies (yes, I wrote that, dear) think this weather is a cruel joke.  The only plants that continue to soldier on are the weeds.  The galinsoga is making its annual appearance.  The only good thing so far this season is the failure of the June deluge to make an appearance and turn my somewhat heavy soil into a sloppy mudpack which would slowly harden to the consistency of concrete in July.   Instead, the fitful nature of precipitation has made planting dependent on constant watering.  Of course, complaining about the difficulties of my chosen hobby/obsession is one of the highlights of each day. 

Vignale Monferrato and history

I have been reading a biography of Napoleon and noticed that tomorrow is the 216th anniversary of the Battle of Marengo.   What you are saying is the significance of said battle.  Well, aside from the apocryphal story of the recipe for Chicken Marengo, supposedly created by Napoleon's chef after the battle, the site of the actual military action is not to far from my family's hometown of Vignale Monferrat in the Piedmont region of Italy.  Not much of a connection, but interesting nonetheless.

The Weekend of Our Discontent

Discontent is not a strong enough word for what occurred over the weekend.  The shocking carnage at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida was a tragedy of immense proportions and deserves the attention and mourning of the nation.  Unfortunately, what appears to be a hate crime will now be dressed up as an instance of "radical Islamic terrorism" and the 50 dead people and 53 injured by a madman will be reduced to straw men and burned by both the left and right as they ride the hobby horses of gun control and terrorism to inflame their bases.  To be fair, the president and the presumptive Democratic nominee have condemned the act and lamented the ease with which the gunman obtained what many would qualify as weapons of mass destruction, while the republican nominee bragged about how right he was that Islamic terrorism is a thing and Muslims must be banned from entering the US.  This is meme which this loathsome individual will continue to use each time someone of the Islamic faith kills anyone.  This, while professing to be a "unifier".   Meanwhile, it is up to the rest of us to mourn the lives cut short by an obvious madman.   The windy, cool weather was the perfect accompaniment to this tragedy, amplifying the somber nature of the shooting.

They are at the starting line!

The media pundits are practically wetting themselves with anticipation.  The Democratic and Republican parties have picked their candidates and the horse race is about to begin.  For most of the talking heads, it means the next six months will include many extra paydays as they get to appear on cable news multiple days each week to expound their latest theory on the changing polls and strategies the candidates are employing.  This time around, they may have to stretch to keep viewer interest.  With President Obama's endorsement, Elizabeth Warren's blistering attacks on Trump and the historic nature of Hillary's candidacy, The Donald will likely be buried by the time the party conventions confirm the candidates.  Bernie will also be on the stump exhorting the Bernie Bros and their republican cousins to vote for the best progressive they will get this cycle.  Meanwhile, with no coherent message, no campaign and very little fundraising, Trump looks dead in the water.  But, no matter, even good liberals like Rachel Maddow will flog these horses to the finish line in November.

April in June

I heard someone ask this morning if summer was over already.  We actually have a week and a half to go before the summer solstice, but it feels like the winds of autumn are blowing this morning on the NCR.  At 48 degrees with a stiff breeze from the Northwest, fleece and long sleeves are the fashion statement today.  As I killed weed and hilled potato plants last night, the soil temp was much higher than the air.  It seems we can't have all the ingredients for good growing conditions.  Before last Sunday it was too dry, but warm enough.  Now we have adequate moisture, but cool/cold conditions.  Unfortunately for those who make their living in agriculture in the North Country, it is almost impossible to make up the loss of good growing conditions in a short growing season.  Most crops (grass excepted) will slow down or stop growing until the weather warms again by the middle of next week. 

One for the ladies

As I looked at my granddaughter, Hannah, last night, it occurred to me she might grow up to be president some day.   Of course to me she is the most beautiful, brightest and most talented little girl ever.  That wouldn't have been  enough to enable her to run for the presidency.  Until now.  Last night, on her second try, Hillary Clinton broke through the glass ceiling and is now the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party for President of the United States.   As a liberal and progressive, I have had my differences with Hillary, but if there was going to be a female candidate for the world's most powerful office, she is clearly the most qualified.  Regardless of the outcome of the election, Hannah's future and that of millions of other little girls has forever been changed by the grit and determination of a woman who would not be denied.  Good on you Hillary Clinton.

Speaker Ryan is Trumped...again

Say what you will about Hillary.  There is no "scandal" associated with her that hasn't seen the light of day thanks to untiring efforts by generations of republicans.  Unless they start mining the front page of the National Enquirer for her recent lesbian dalliance with space aliens, there is nothing the GOP can do except recycle stories with equally hazy provenance.  Not so for the democrats.  The Donald looks like a gift that will keep on giving.  Aside from his continuing racist rants against the judge in the Trump U case,  they now have plausible evidence of a quid pro quo tying contributions to the attorneys general of Florida and Texas to dismissal of investigations of the aforementioned "University".   Meanwhile Trump has been caught on tape saying he makes contributions to politicians because he expects favors in return.    As the press begins its long delayed vetting of the republican nominee, expect a steady stream of this kind of corruption to spread through the party.  Meanwhile, Paul Ryan managed to make his long delayed approval of Trump, the candidate, the day before the storm over the racist slander of the judge in the Trump University litigation broke.  Now he has to deal with the looming bribery allegations against Pam Bondi and Greg Abbott.  What a pity!

Berned

AP and NBC called Hillary the presumptive nominee for the Democratic nomination last night.  The crickets heard shortly after that was the sound of Bernie's supporters putting their credit cards back in their wallets.  Clinton's victory was inevitable after the New York primary when she opened an insurmountable pledged delegate lead.  Besides that, before the final six states vote, she has 3 million more votes than Bernie.  However, instead of celebrating how far he has come, the grim curmudgeon continues to say he has a chance to win over enough superdelegates to overturn the manifest will of the individual voters.  I know Clinton looked similarly overbearing 8 years ago, but at least she was in a virtual dead heat in the popular vote and closer in pledged delegates.  She had a considerably better claim to the nomination than Sanders does now.  Maybe Bernie will take a couple of days and rethink his vow to make this a "contested convention" and help unite the party.  I'm a little doubtful about this, since Bernie has never had much use for the establishment and at 74 years of age, he won't be waiting until 2024 for another shot at the White House.  The specter of a Trump presidency is about the only thing which will eventually motivate him to endorse Hillary.  Let's hope he doesn't wait too long.

Rainy Sundays

After a warm and sunny Saturday facilitated weed killing and the final push to plant winter squash, carrots, spinach and corn, Sunday provided the drought relief we have been looking for.  It rained off and on most of the day with late day thundershowers pushing our totals to 1 1/2  inches.  Unfortunately, as an amateur farmer, I partake of the fraternity's obsessive belief that someone is out to get us.  The long range forecast for the next ten days is virtually the opposite of the previous five weeks in that showers are predicted nearly every day.  So, no drying weather and crops like strawberries which need warm, sunny weather to finish the fruit will likely taste like sour water if they don't rot on the plant.  I'm going to try and maintain a positive attitude toward the weather, but if the forecast is borne out by the actual rains  it will be tough. 

Battle lines being drawn

We can now see the contours of the upcoming presidential campaign.  Hillary will drag up every preposterous thing The Donald has said and contrast it with the truth.  Meanwhile, Trump will react with schoolyard taunts and denigration while dragging up every "scandal" republicans have ginned up against the Clintons over the last 30 years.   Yesterday, Clinton gave a speech on foreign policy which basically made the case that the presumptive Republican nominee is either incredibly stupid or mendacious to a degree unparalleled in modern history.  The thought of allowing Trump anywhere within touching distance of the nuclear codes should give even the most rabid follower of the The Donald pause.  However, Clinton's speech is probably designed to motivate the base to support her in November.  This could be a replay of LBJ's campaign against Goldwater in 1964.   The Dems famously used scare tactics to imply Goldwater would start a nuclear war with the Soviets.  We all know how that election turned out.  Of course, Johnson also had an immense reservoir of good will after JFK's assassination.  Clinton can't count on that, but she will have the campaign power of a popular incumbent who knows how to work the base and plenty of surrogates who will spread the gospel.  Trump, on the other hand will have at best the lukewarm support of the establishment, most of whom will be happy to see him go down in flames.

Social Insecurity

President Obama, during a speech in Indiana, advocated for an increase in Social Security benefits and an overall strengthening of the system.  Most liberal pundits approved of the sentiment, but some offered to tweak the pronouncement in well meaning but potentially disastrous ways.  Kevin Drum at Mother Jones says we should drag out the dreaded "means test" to benefit only the seniors at or near the poverty line.  I'm sure he offers this as a cost saving measure which will benefit those who need an increase the most.  However, means testing may be progressive, but due to the nature of the program and its hallowed place in American society, tampering with the benefits distribution could lead to a delegitimization of the concept.  Instead of another entitlement program, people have always felt it is an earned stipend which depended on how much you contributed over the years.  Everyone is treated the same, whether millionaires or those contributing the minimum.  If you expand the program, expand it for everyone.  Raise the amount being taxed from its present max of $118,000 to at least $1,000.000.  That would put the system back on firm financial ground for the next 75 years.  Then raise the percentage of  taxes and raise benefits immediately for everyone.  That will preserve support for the program from all stakeholders.

The Ties That Bind

While the media endures endless insults at the (rather small) hands of The Donald it is interesting to speculate when they may start asking him about some of his business dealings with various New York mobsters when he began his career.  David Cay Johnston, who has reported on Trump's relationships with Fat Tony Castellano and other crime families says Trump paid far above market value for the concrete used to build Trump Tower and other apartment buildings during the 1980s.  He considered it the price to be paid for labor peace.  There is evidence he met with various members of New York mob families during that period.  Imagine if right wing media found out Bill Clinton or Hillary had similar meetings?   The Congressional investigations would make Benghazi pale.  So far, Trump University is the focus of nascent media investigation.  I would speculate that is only the tip of a huge iceberg that even climate change can't melt in time to save The Donald.

Universal Basic Income

I have long advocated for a basic income for every citizen over 18 years of age.  It was interesting to see the NYT do a takedown of the idea, although it was more a criticism of the logistics and cost than a straight forward disavowal of the concept.  The writer first assumes every man, woman and child will receive the stipend, which based on a $10,000/year per person payment would cost the government 3 trillion dollars per year.  Of course there are 75 million people under 18, so that cuts quite a bit off the cost.  If you also subtract Social Security recipients and confine the benefit to those between 18 and 64 years of age the cost problem becomes much smaller.  The reporter then goes on to opine about the wonderful benefits of work.  In the next sentence he speculates the government payment will be a disincentive for workers.  You can't have it both ways.  If work is so fulfilling, surely a $10,000 payment wouldn't discourage people.  Clean toilets for a living and then tell me of the glories of work!  Certainly workers with a little bargaining power won't be cleaning your toilets for minimum wage anymore.  There should certainly be some experimentation with a basic income program.   At least it will yield real data instead of speculation on the effects of such a policy.

Trumpworld

If you consume any type of media at all for more than a few minutes per day, you are now living in Trumpworld.  Screenshots of empty podiums pre-empt real time speeches from other politicians as the media breathlessly awaits the next pronouncements from The Donald.  Even when he calls a press conference to chastise the media, the courts or anyone who contradicts his preferred narrative the reporters listen to and comment on the proceedings.  After calling one reporter "a sleaze", you would have thought the appropriate reaction would have been the entire press contingent getting up and leaving the room.  You would have been wrong.  Instead they dutifully listened to the rest of the tantrum and seemingly begged for more.  On the execrable Morning Joe, the consensus was this was just Donald being Donald.  Nothing to see here.  That Trump has basically turned the media into his lapdog is a given.  Where do we go from here?