Henry Kissinger is dead

      As one pundit put it, Henry Kissinger's death may be the only redeeming event in 2023.   A monster who was responsible for the deaths of millions,  directly or indirectly.   From Laos and Cambodia to East Timor, Bangladesh and Chile, Kissinger's policies of propping up authoritarian dictators who would bow to the American Empire led to incalculable suffering around the world.

     Detente with the Soviet Union, arms reduction and the opening with China were relatively bloodless achievements on his watch, but hardly compare with the death and destruction he caused or facilitated.  Ironically, Kissinger's family got out  of Germany just before Hitler began the Holocaust.  You would think such an experience would cause him to be cautious in wielding power over the defenseless.  You would also be wrong.

      History will not be kind to Henry Kissinger.

The political silly season

       We are still 11 months away from election day.   The primaries have not yet started.  There is a need to fill news outlets and cable news with content.  Time to drag the fringes of the American political scene to center stage and give them their 15 minutes of fame.   

      Today was "No Labels" turn in the spotlight.  Ever since Joe Lieberman and a couple of Republican operatives dreamed up this supposedly non-partisan, non political party, it has been seen as a haven and a grift for those who are not welcome in the two major parties.  It has about $70 million on hand.  This may seem like a lot, but even with deep pocketed donors, the salaries and bonuses for hangers on will suck up most of the money before it can be used to actually do any political damage.   The worry is No Labels will gain ballot access in enough states and endorse a ticket that will siphon votes away from Biden and throw the election to tRump.   Personally, aside from the votes of Harlan Crow and a few other donors, i doubt  a No Labels ticket will draw enough votes to do anything except line the pockets of its principals.s

Water and the American way of life

      The story of the Aral sea in the former Soviet province of Uzbekistan should be a wakeup call for everyone.  By diverting most of the rivers which fed the fresh water lake which was 15% larger than lake Michigan, Soviet planners unwittingly caused the demise of the lake and with it the ecosystem it anchored.   Now a vast desert with a few increasingly saline lakes left behind, it is a tourist draw for those interested in seeing an ecological disaster.

     Halfway across the world, in Arizona, a similar disaster may be playing out as foreign and domestic companies are pumping the underground aquifer dry while the state's other major source of water, the Colorado River, also dries up.  

     You may ask what these far flung disaster stories have to do with those of us  in the water rich Northeastern US?   Thirsty people will do desperate things to secure water supplies.   There is already talk of transcontinental pipelines stretching from the Great lakes to the arid west.   As water supplies dwindle, the talk will become more serious.  People will not give up the American way of life without a life and death struggle.   

American obsessions

       A quick scan of the my usual blogs and newsfeeds this morning reveals America's various obsessions, namely and not necessarily in order to be, aging in America, wealth disparity and Israel's war with Hamas.  Nothing today about climate change or tRump, the two most existential threats to the nation's continuation as a liberal democracy.  No, what caught my eye was a plug for the "Golden Bachelor", wherein a 72 year old age defying geezer choses the love of the rest of his life from a bevy of spray tanned, botox toned boomer women who make jokes about replaced knees and the perils of midnight bathroom runs.  Meanwhile, the Washington Post editorial board makes the case that young, liberal women need to get over themselves and marry politically conservative men in order to satisfy some longing for an idealized country by the EB at the Post.  Just a small sample about what some of us are obsessing about.

Thanksgiving reduux

        Thanksgiving has meant many things to me over the years.   As a school child in the 1950s, I happily swallowed the Pilgrim fantasy of hanging out with the native americans who would shortly be dispossessed of their lands by said Pilgrims.

      Moving on to the late 60s and 70s, the holiday seemed to serve as a cynical marketing ploy to bridge the gap between Halloween and Christmas.  It still serves that purpose today.  I think many of us would like to derive some spiritual benefit from Thanksgiving, myself included.  As we pause from the hectic work of preparing the feast and look forward to seeing family and friends around the table (even a crazy uncle or two) we should remember to actually give thanks for the bounty most of us have access to.  

      The flip side of course is that many do not have access to abundant healthy foods.   What can be done for them?  Something to ponder as dessert is served.

indoor Agriculture

        Ever since the first farmer planted seeds and endured the weather dependent waiting period before harvest, there have been dreams of better ways of farming.  Indoor agriculture with its promise of foolproof weather control and an ability to eliminate all but a benign input from Mother nature has been the holy grail of farmers for thousands of years.

      It was with some trepidation that I read a story in Louisville Public Media via the blog Lawyers, Guns and Money.  The article traced the hype, boom and bust of Appharvest a startup greenhouse which promised well paying jobs to people displaced by the demise of the coal industry.   The company raised over $700 million from investors who should have questioned the bona fides of the 32 year old CEO with no agricultural experience.

    I know a little about greenhouse growing and its challenges.  The most successful operations in the world are located in the Netherlands and Canada.  Both are located hundreds of miles north of Kentucky, where summertime temperatures routinely climb into the mid 90s.  This makes ventilation to lower temperatures a nightmare if you are using technology developed in Northern Europe where summertime temperatures are much lower.   I am fairly certain this maladaptation of ventilation and growing methods doomed the venture from the start.  

    Labor was also an issue.   The LPM article treats the worker complaints regarding working conditions sympathetically.   The bottom line in Kentucky and most other areas of the US is native labor is unlikely to thrive under the conditions and culture which most ag businesses employ.   The ignorance of management regarding working conditions in the greenhouses and its gross violations of pledges it made to workers eventually led the company to use hundreds of hispanic workers in an effort to boost productivity.

     The entire operation was sold to new owners who supposedly know something about greenhouse production.  Whether they can correct the technology is, I think, an open question.   Until climate change wreaks havoc on outdoor agriculture, companies like Appharvest will remain niche operations which will be hard pressed to compete with outdoor production of fruits and vegetables.

Rosalyn, we hardly knew ye

      I am struck by the outpouring of grief for and praise of Rosalyn Carter, who passed away after a brief time in hospice care.  She was 96.   She is being characterized by many as an equal partner with her husband, Jimmy Carter, before, during and after his tumultuous presidency.      

     The Carters were possibly the first couple to allow for the wife of the president to wield power in her husband's name.   George H W Bush and Barbara and Bill and Hilary Clinton took this model and broadened the First Lady's executive power.  Rosalyn was the original model.   I'm not saying it is good or bad, but perhaps vetting potential First Ladies should be something we may all be interested in doing.

Don't know much about AI

           Is Skynet coming for you in Terminator scenario, or will AI solve all the problem mankind  is too stupid, greedy or vicious to tackle.   That seems to me to be at the heart of the departure of Sam Altman from Open AI, the startup he founded with another expert in artificial intelligence.   The board at the company seems to think Altman treats the whole concept too cavalierly.  Obviously, Microsoft does not seem to feel the same way as it immediately hired Altman to lead a new team of Ai scientists to the promised land.

          I don't know much about artificial intelligence, except I think it's more hype than reality at this point.   However, deep pocketed tech giants like Microsoft and Google are betting billions of dollars on the promise of AI and with their track records off achievements, I wouldn't bet against them.

      That leads to the question of what a world augmented or ruled by AI would look like.  I would prefer a world much like the Jetsons with flying cars and intelligent domestic robots.  What we'll probably get is closer to James Cameron's vision of robots run amuck.  Just a Monday morning thought...

Partisan reality

        I'm probably enough of a liberal to qualify as vermin by tRump's definition.   However, besides watching way too much MSNBC in my daughter's estimation, I also subscribe to the NYT and WaPo as well as reading several center-left blogs on a daily basis.  So, I consider myself an open minded person as opposed to the average Fox news viewer who eschews any other news source except more right wing outlets.

        The skewed views on the economy is a case in point.   Inflation is down, wages are up, employment is at a 50 year high and consumer spending continues to power the economy, yet a majority of Americans have a dismal opinion on said economy.   Partisan affiliation has much to do with it and GOP partisans are far more likely than Dems to blame the Biden administration for their perceived woes by up to a 30% margin.  Despite their expressed dismay, these same Republican consumers continue to spend like drunken sailors which keeps the economy humming.  Fox news says the economy is terrible, ergo to the average viewer it must be so.   Some people need to get out more.

      

time for a timeout

        Referring to your political opponents as "vermin" and threatening to commit them to mental institutions if elected to the presidency next year would seem to be ample evidence of malign intent.  One of the judges presiding over tRump's numerous trials should take the logical step of revoking his bail and sending him to prison for a cooling off period.

      Virtually no one who has observed the disgraced former president (aside from the MAGA horde) would argue his increasingly unhinged campaign rhetoric will not lead to violence against his enemies in the short term.   In his mind, anyone seeking to hold him accountable for his numerous crimes is an enemy needing extermination.   It is only a matter of time before someone with an AR-15 acts on tRump's implication of someone as a persecutor of the ex-president and takes the law into their hands.  Commission to jail, or better yet a psychiatric institution would help calm the body politic.

Close Encounters of any kind

      Ross Douthat in today's NYT trumpets the conversion of a secular Islamic atheist to Christianity.  He discounts her reasoning that led to her conversion which is simply that she was looking for a worldview she was not finding in atheism, not that she found Christianity to be the one, true religion.

     In the wake of my mother's and sister-in-law's recent deaths, I have had occasion to examine my own relationship to the Catholicism of my youth.  I would love to be able to believe in choirs of angels escorting my loved ones to an eternity of bliss in an otherworldly Heaven.  Unfortunately, the Catholic church has squandered any moral authority it may once have wielded in my life and the evangelical brand of christianity favored by many with its emphasis on a personal relationship with the divine does not appeal to me.  

     Douthat's reasoning is mankind needs the comfort and civilization building power of organized religion, preferably his brand of conservative Catholicism.  As far as I can see his vision is the same as the first cave dweller who convinced his fellows that lightning was the hand of god.   Thank Dog, most of us are over that brand of snake oil.

The new Know Nothings

        Anti-immigrant hysteria is a staple of American history.  Except for brief interludes, Americans have railed against immigrants since the early years of the republic.  Even while celebrating immigrants as does the Statue of Liberty, most people would prefer the "huddled masses" look like white, northern Europeans.   

     Now, tRump and his minions are floating plans for massive "camps" where immigrants will be concentrated before expulsion from the country.  The capacity of these concentration camps is purportedly in the millions.   The disgraced, indicted former president has ratcheted up his rhetoric to rile up his base with predictable results.

     The truth is, immigrants are more law abiding than native born Americans, pay taxes and start businesses at higher rates than citizens.  If you think about it, immigrants in general have made huge sacrifices to come here and are willing to work harder to make their dreams of a better life come true.  The truth is, we need these immigrants to make up the labor shortage caused by a falling birth rate.   Stephen Miller, tRump's latter day Goebbels, would have us believe employers will willingly raise wages to attract increasingly scarce workers in the absence of immigrants.  Good luck with that.

     tRump and his enablers want to make this country into a pale imitation of Nazi Germany in the 1930s instead of the vibrant multicultural democracy it can be.   We can choose either model next year.

Last call for gardening

     It was 23 degrees this morning as the sun came up in the north country this morning.   That means game over in the garden except for the hardiest vegetables.  The kale will be fine, as will be the beets and carrots.  The swiss chard is a frozen rictus of itself and the last turnips will need a shower and some temps in the 40s to thaw out.  I harvested the last of the lettuces yesterday for a celebration of birthdays.  The fall salad included fennel, peppers, golden beets, carrots and turnips as well as the aforementioned lettuce.  If that was the last hurrah for the garden, it went out on a high note.

Love the veterans, hate the wars

       Veterans' Day and Memorial Day are two holidays I have a hard time wrapping my head around.  I respect the brave men and women who served their countries in the many wars since the Armistice was signed in 1918.  I also hate the conflicts they were involved with.  In most cases these young women and men were sent to their deaths by the decisions of old white men who should have known better.  After all, hate is a lot easier to foment than understanding.   The war between Hamas and Israel is a perfect illustration of this point.

     The world is poised on the existential crisis of climate change and the need for cooperation has never been greater.  Instead we are creating more veterans of more senseless wars.  As the refrain goes, "When will they ever learn".

Weddings and Funerals

        After a brief stop at home following a remembrance gathering for my mother, the Divine Mrs. M and I will be making another road trip to Long Island to attend the funeral of her older sister.   That makes 2 weddings and 2 deaths in our extended families during the latter half of 2023.   As my sister remarked at Mom's remembrance, we are now the old folks and as evidenced by my sister-in-law's death on Saturday, we will be passing from this mortal coil in all too few years.

      I refuse to go on a rant about how ours and previous generations have screwed the environment and created an existential dread overtaking our descendants as they try to deal with the mess we have left to them.   There are solutions to every crisis if we will only work together to find them.

     The passing of older generations and the ascendance of youth has been going on since the our ancestors buried their parents with tools and decorations to accompany them on their journey to what they hoped would be better place than the short, brutish existence most of them had known.  We participate in the ceremonies associated with weddings and funerals to affirm our collective spirit.  To the newly married, I wish you a long and happy life.  To those recently deceased, may you rest in peace.   To the rest of us, may we carry on for as long as we are able.

A sorry week for Americans

       In the aftermath of a failed attempt to rid the House of the indicted serial liar, George Santos it's a good time to take stock of the country which has spawned a political party so craven it elected a christian nationalist to the most powerful position in Congress.  Mike Johnson, an election denier who is also against LGBTQ rights, marriage equality and women's health care, was elected, much as Dennis Hastert in an earlier era,  because he is without powerful enemies.  

     His unanimous selection is further evidence there are no moderates in the GOP at this point.   It has surrendered to the forces of intolerance and hatred.   Johnson's first bill would eviscerate the IRS' ability to audit rich tax cheats.   In return, the House would authorize $14 billion in aid for Israel.  Not a dime for Ukraine.   This is how the Trumpist Republican party rolls these days.   It pitches its appeal to a slice of the electorate which  holds the same hateful views as the Know Nothings and the Ku Klux Klan.  Without these foot soldiers, the GOP cannot carry out its program of destroying the social safety net and further empowering the 1% at the expense of the rest of us.

All the opionions

      Between a vacation in Italy and lack of inspiration, this is the first post on the blog since October 10.   I'm still lacking motivation to bloviate on policy issues such as the war between Israel and Hamas or the latest mendacities perpetrated by Republicans in the House, but I'll give it the old school try in coming days.