A probable pyrrhic victory

The employees of the Market Basket chain celebrated the return of open handed CEO Arthur T Demoulas as a victory for the working man.  Demoulas had been ousted by his cousin in a move that was widely seen as a prelude to benefit cuts for employees of the chain who have been compensated at a much higher rate than similar worker in other chains.  However, I have been told by someone on the Boston produce market who has done business with Market Basket for many years there is far more to the story than what the press has covered.  In his take on the saga, the whole family is a little dotty, although shrewd business people.  Arthur T's side, while on the worker's side has also been taking advantage of some business dealings to the detriment of his cousin's interests.  In order to buy his way back to CEO, Arthur T has now brought in outside investors who will expect a high return on their investment.  The days of wine and roses for employees may be short lived, and if Demoulas has trouble servicing the new debt, there are suitors waiting in the wings.  Unfortunately for the workers, Kroger is not in business to look after their interests.

Post Racial Racism

Without even reading the columns themselves, the titles of Nicholas Kristof's and Charles Blow's articles in today's NYT offer affirmation of my own speculation regarding racism in the US.  White privilege over the course of centuries is so ingrained that people like Bill O'Reilly refuse to acknowledge the built-in bias which allows them to slide through life on rails greased by prejudice.  Meanwhile, on the black side of the equation, the same centuries of injustice have caused an underlying hatred of whites which bubbles to the surface after such egregious incidents as the killing of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson Mo. two weeks ago.  The refusal of white America to confront the institutionalized nature of racism would seem to doom any possibility of comity between the races.  I think the passing of each generation is breaking down the barriers, but the final solution will be the reduction of white America to a minority group in the near future as migration of large numbers of brown people changes us to a truly multi-racial society.

Chasing Papa's ghost

An American was killed on a battlefield in Syria last week.  This would ordinarily not be news, as we have been getting killed on battlefields in almost every year since the Revolutionary War.  The difference is this is a civilian who made his way to Syria to take part in the civil war.  The last time this sort of thing happened was the Spanish civil war in the 30s.  This conflict was immortalized by Ernest Hemingway in "For Whom the Bell Tolls".  That war was seen as a just fight against the fascist dictator Franco and by extension a battle against fascism everywhere.  The war in Syria is a fight against a dictator whose only goal is to preserve his power at any cost, including the commission of atrocities against his own people.  Unfortunately, the forces arrayed against Assad include some scary Islamic terrorists whose ultimate goal is the creation of a theocratic Islamic state with less freedom than what it would replace.  The murky motives of many of the other groups appear no better.  What idealists such as this fallen "freedom fighter" need is an organization which will promote justice for all people.  The UN could be such a  force for freedom, but we need to get over our petty nationalism and promote the welfare of all the world's people.  Right!

Late summer surge

Finally, a week of sunshine and warm temps will hasten maturity on many lagging crops.  the winter squash has had a tough time of it as well as my later plantings of corn.  Both were planted on a section of the garden with heavier clay soil which has been too wet for most of the summer.  Coupled with cooler than normal temps and cloudy days, it has been hard for these crops and the sweet potatoes in the same area.  The warm, dry regime will help, if powdery mildew doesn't get to the plants.  The early blight in tomatoes is advancing and the cool nights and heavy dew isn't helping on that front.  What fruit is on the plants will continue to ripen, but  blossoming has virtually stopped and the smaller fruit will probably never size up.  The cole crops continue to look good and I continue to plant spinach for our own use.  Anything planted now will mature long after the farmer's market is a hazy memory. 

Go south old man, go south

Paul Krugman's column in the NYT this morning is definitely food for thought.   He opines the reason the South has experienced much higher population growth than more northern cities and regions is the high cost of northern and western housing, not the pro business polices pursued by the Rick Perry's of the South.  He may be correct up to a point.  What I think he fails to understand is the continuing demographic shift the baby boom generation has initiated.  Many if not most of the increase in population in many southern states is driven by older people who are shedding their high priced, highly taxed houses in favor of cheaper living and better climate in the south.  So what if they work the last few years before retirement at lower paying jobs.  It is more than made up for by the lower cost of living.  Besides, many 55 plus boomers are already retired from well paying jobs with great retirement benefits.  That is a boost for southern economies.  Until cheap housing stocks in the south start getting scarce this cycle will continue with high productivity in northern areas and a graying retirement population driving a low wage, low productivity economy in the south.  If that is the economic miracle Perry hopes will drive his presidential campaign, I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.

Social media and protest

Thanks mainly to social media, the situation in Ferguson, Mo. nearly spiraled out of control last week.   Images of a highly militarized police and their reaction to a seemingly justified protest of the death of an unarmed black teenager fanned the flames.  Looters took advantage of the situation and outside agitators were drawn to the chaos, but the use of cellphone videos and twitter allowed a much more nuanced view of the rioting than the mainstream media and the police would have had us believe.  In an era where anyone with a smart phone is a reporter and recorder of real time images it has become much harder for the authorities to whitewash what was essentially criminal behavior by police.  While it may contribute to racial polarization, it also gives both sides images and information which may change minds regarding what life is like in America's ghettoes, circa 2014.   Policy makers especially must take heed.  If Ferguson is a microcosm of this situation, we can expect more of the same later this year if the economy continues to leave large swaths of the population behind.

Weather or not

I may have used that title on previous postings, but it is irresistible at certain points in the season.   A little light rain is falling as I write and it is probably necessary to germinate a late spinach planting and work the fertilizer into some lettuce plantings, but other plantings will suffer as a result of too much water.  The heavier soils are balanced on a knife edge at this point and the winter squash and tomato plants don't need any rain at this point.  Besides, I need clear weather to mow, weed and harvest.  the forecast for next week looks good in that respect, so I'll hope we dodge the heaviest showers today and have clear sailing for a couple of weeks.  I doubt I'll complain about dry weather for the balance of the season.