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.