Letter to the PS on Supreme Court

      I can understand the Republican Party being optimistic about taking back the White House. Confidence is important. They shouldn't be overly presumptuous, though. There is a chance that there will be no Trump presidency.

     

     Just to throw more cold water on their dreams, they might not hold the Senate come January. They have 24 seats they're defending and the Democrats have 10. I could be wrong, but I don't believe Trump's coattails are going to be long enough to hold their majority. Their best bet may be having the opportunity to vote on the nominee that President Obama puts up.

      Personally, I think it would be swell if the vote is held off. Roll the dice. My dream is of Bernie or Hillary nominating Barack Obama for the Supreme Court with a Democratic Senate. But then, one man's pipe dream is another's nightmare.

Upstate New York Confederate Sympathizers

Yes, I'm ashamed to say that I live in Washington County New York.

It’s hard to know where to start in criticizing the decision of the Washington County Fair Board to allow vendors to sell Confederate flags.

The board was asked to ban the sale of the flags by a couple of residents of Washington County and refused.

Yes, the South will rise again. Apparently in Greenwich, NY.

Giving Up New Books?

I really would love to.

Today marks the beginning of Lent, a time when, for the next 40 days, some Christians give up a small pleasure – such as chocolate or cake – as a way to strengthen spiritual resolve. But what about giving up new books for Lent? The idea comes from author Susan Hill, who once went for a whole year – not just 40 days – without buying new books for her home library. 

But the Crandall book sale is coming up. On the bright side, I just put together a lot more items to donate than what I'll likely buy.  It is reassuring that Ms. Hill also has books that she has never read. 

The title of Hill’s book was inspired by an autumn afternoon when she went looking for “Howards End” in her sprawling home library – not finding it at first, but coming across all sorts of other volumes on her shelves that she had never read, or forgotten she’d owned, or wanted to read for a second time. 

The idea of some sort of book diet does appeal to me after reading this article, though. Ironically, I may start by not reading her book, but a big thanks for the idea.

As a bonus temptation there is a link at the article to the 100 "best" books of all time.  

The End of the Bundy Gang with Bonus Law and Order

Apparently the four holdouts at the Malheur Refuge are due to surrender today if they can get God and Franklin Graham to escort them out or something.

Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, a high-profile supporter of the Bundy family, said she and Christian evangelist Franklin Graham are traveling to the refuge. Fiore's trip to Oregon is in apparent response to a call from Ammon Bundy, who asked elected officials from across the West to come to the aid of the occupiers.

So, God was busy, I guess. Why Franklin Graham? Why start asking sensible questions now? But, the really sweet news out of this is that Daddy Bundy has been arrested. Finally. 

Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who touched off one armed showdown with federal authorities and applauded another started in Oregon by his sons, was arrested late Wednesday at Portland International Airport and faces federal charges related to the 2014 standoff at his ranch.

Can you die from an overdose of schadenfreude?  I would probably test that if they found a good reason to arrest Michele Fiore as well. 

Fiore, a high-profile supporter of the Bundy family, represents their district in Clark County, Nevada. She spoke out in support of Cliven Bundy, Ammon Bundy's father, during a 2014 standoff with federal rangers at the elder Bundy's ranch near Bunkerville, Nev., over unpaid cattle grazing fees. Ammon Bundy also participated in the Nevada standoff.

Remaining occupiers livestream as FBI surrounds refugeA friend of occupier David Fry live streams on YouTube through an open phone line with the occupiers as authorities make what appeared to be a final push to end the 40-day old occupation. Michele Fiore, a Nevada legislator, also joins the conversation after flying to Oregon to help the occupiers.

She was among hundreds of Bundy supporters who attended a barbecue near the ranch celebrating after federal authorities retreated.

"When in the heck do we send our federal government with arms to collect a bill?" she said in an April 2014 interview with MSNBC from the barbecue.

She later said, "Lien the cows. Lien the property. Don't come here with guns and don't expect the American people to fire back."

Ain't she sweet?

Round 'em all up!

A Happy Story on Drought

I'm fortunate to live in an area that is blessed with lots of water. We have enough to piss away. Of course, there are areas of the country that don't have that luxury.

It’s official: the southwestern United States will likely never be the same again. A new analysis of the past 35 years of weather patterns concluded that what is now considered a normal year of rain and snow in the Southwest is one-quarter drier than it was before the 1970s.

Lucky for them, some folks have confronted this problem. 

Israel’s central Arava desert, where saline soils and dry climates are the norm, a thriving community creates up to 60% of Israel’s exported agricultural products.

The driest state in the United States (usually Wyoming) gets roughly double that, and is still classified as desert. Wyoming’s agricultural economy largely consists of some widely grazed pastures by undernourished cows, and yet, here in the Arava region of Israel, everything from eggplant to watermelon is grown, but mainly it’s tomatoes and peppers that dominate the landscape.

Is that great or what? And here's how another dry country coped.

 “The Australians learned that what got them through the drought was massive conservation but what sustains them going forward is that they implemented steps that make them resilient,” Feldman says.

Indeed, Australia’s innovations include no longer treating droughts as natural disasters and things, such as a national water market, that have never been successfully attempted in the US.

It's all too good for me to pick and choose from. Long story, short, we'll probably get pretty thirsty here before we do much about water shortages. 

Cletus

Watching Tim Scherbatskoy with rapt attention.

Cletus Lives

Watching Tim Scherbatskoy at ACC with rapt attention.