You've got to be kidding me!!

Well, this was supposed to be the big day.  The day people on both sides of the political spectrum were waiting for.  The question on everyone's mind was:  will the Republican American Health Care Act (AHCA) pass the House of Representatives and head on to the Senate, or will it die?  Your perspective on the bill, and the Affordable Care Act's (ACA, or Obamacare for easier recognition) 'repeal and replace' fight will determine how you view the result, which was the bill being pulled because there wasn't enough support for passage.  Now both sides are going into full spin mode, trying to make the lack of a vote be a good thing.

On my way in to work, I was listening to the news (yes I'm old, I've become that person who listens to radio news instead of music.  Not that I don't like music, but listening to the news at least lets me feel somewhat in touch with the world around me).  The host was talking about the potential fallout if the bill didn't pass.  One point he brought up was how many times the House of Representatives voted to defund or repeal the ACA during the Obama administration (the number he quoted was 40).  A quick look across the internet shows it to be six repeal attempts, with numerous other efforts to delay, defund, or otherwise limit the ACA.  The main point the host made was:  they had no problems passing something when they knew it had no chance of making it (either the Senate wouldn't let it through, or President Obama would veto), but when they actually have the chance of doing something, they can't.

I thought about that point for a moment (I didn't believe the 40 number immediately, but I do remember the House of Representatives had done the delay and defund tactic every budget at the very least).  And it suddenly struck me: the government was shut down in 2013 over a defund attempt (which affected me personally).  I know our government had pretty much turned into kabuki theater (making big shows in order to placate the masses), but if people couldn't remember this and call BS on their representatives for this, then we truly have no one but ourselves to blame for the result. I thought to myself 'I should actually be upset about that.'  But I wasn't, because I already believed all of those attempts were kabuki theater, and had nothing of substance behind them.

I know there's a difference between just stopping something from happening and actually trying to create legislation and laws (I did pass civics class).  However, I believe there's a bigger point to be made here and I'm going to make it by asking a question:  did the Republican party EVER have a plan to put in place when they got the opportunity to get rid of the ACA?  Simply looking at what's happened since January, my answer would have to be 'no'.  They just wanted the ACA and what they felt it represented (a step towards socialized medicine) gone.  I won't ascribe any other motives, as I have no evidence.

I've said in the past I believe the American health care system needs to be 'blown up' and restructured from scratch.  I've also said that shouldn't be done until we as a country agree on what we want health care to do and be.  I haven't moved from that.  A moment from the health care debate between Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders in February summarized the foundational question that needs to be answered:  is healthcare a right?  Whatever your answer to this question is, and it should be backed up by logical arguments, this needs to have a definitive answer one way or the other.  If the answer is 'yes' then the system put in place needs to reflect that.  If the answer is 'no', then people need to stop expecting healthcare as if it's a right.  Our current problem is the fact the system is an amalgamation of yes and no, and the one thing everyone agrees on is that it needs to change.

End of the year, and I haven't said much...

It’s the end of the year, and this will be the second post I’ve done in 2016. Yeah, life took over again. However, with this year being an election year, I made a conscious decision to keep my thoughts and opinions to myself because it was just getting too messy and there were a lot of angry and upset people. I’m not going to quit being someone’s friend simply because I don’t ascribe to their political viewpoint. While I believe my vote is my business, I have no illusion my vote is secret. My county knows which ballot is mine and I’m sure it would take them less than an hour to find it. At the same time, I don’t believe in screaming from the rooftops who I voted for. If who I voted for is going to be a point of contention between us, then for your sake I’ll say I voted for your favorite candidate. And we’ll leave it at that. In my estimation, life is far too short to have something so transient come between me and someone I like.

So: In about a month, we will have a new President. Someone who has held no prior elected office, and in some respects appears to be a blank slate (perhaps he’s kept his true opinions to himself, but I think Twitter shows otherwise). His choices for different cabinet posts run the gamut from political professionals to business leaders. There’s one thing I’ve noticed though. If you look at some of his choices (we’ll take the EPA and Education in particular) you see an interesting phenomenon. Allow me to give some information on those people, and then discuss what I see.

His choice for the EPA is Scott Pruitt. Mr. Pruitt made his mark as the Oklahoma Attorney General fighting the EPA on its regulations, particularly in regards to oil and gas drilling. On the surface, this looks like a ‘fox in the henhouse’ type of choice. And this same observation could also be applied to Trump’s pick for Education, Betsy DeVos. She is an education activist from Michigan. Her perspective on education is one of ‘school choice’, providing vouchers for parents to send their children to private education, if they so choose. Which could result in a mass exodus from public education, and/or significant defunding of school districts.

In thinking about these, and some other choices (I’m thinking Housing and Urban Development and Labor in particular), I’ve come to a conclusion. Using business as a baseline of understanding instead of government, these people were nominated for these positions not as a ‘fox in the henhouse’ but rather to reduce the size of that department, or perhaps to even shut them down.

There are examples of businesses sending people into problematic organizations or departments for this purpose. Whether it’s simply to ‘trim the fat’ or to close it down, they have no other purpose. Those people tend to be categorized as ‘hatchet men’, since they're doing a lot of cutting.

Something else to keep in mind is, when you look at these two departments, they are fairly recent cabinet creations. The EPA was created in 1970 by President Richard Nixon (it was originally put in place by Executive Order, but the order was ratified by Congress). The Department of Education was created in 1979 by law and signed by President Jimmy Carter. Neither of these departments have a long history, and both tend to be controversial in their activities. This makes them preferred targets for elimination by those who do not like government departments and the like.

Looking at this a little further, this fits well into Conservative views on government. For those in the Republican Party who ascribe to the quote by President Ronald Reagan in his first inaugural address: “Government is not the solution to our problem, it is the problem.” These choices match well with this view. Get rid of the bureaucracy and overreach by the Federal Government by cleaning out the bureaucrats and closing down the unnecessary departments.

Whether or not this is what Trump is trying to do has yet to be seen, as well as what the result will be. I am not ‘cautiously optimistic’ at this point. I am simply cautious. I cannot remember there ever being this much acrimony and divisiveness in the changing of administrations. I’m not talking about just the Republicans and what they potentially are implementing, but also the Democrats and their reactions. The election is over, and if we believe in our system of government, then, in a paraphrase of the late Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock in ‘The Undiscovered Country’ “we must have faith that things will unfold as they should.” I say this for myself first and foremost.

There is one other darker element to this, and it is a concern for the country at large regarding the acrimony and divisiveness: If things do not significantly change, and if both sides continue to refuse to discuss and work together to solve the problems and issues our country has, and resolve to do only those things you want to do, the resulting polarization may leave us in an ungovernable situation. Now please keep in mind, I would hope that I’ve proven throughout all of this that I’m not one of those screaming Trump is not my President, or otherwise having a meltdown over the election result. I’m someone who has some serious concerns that the person we elected is going to do more harm than good in the long run. Now, what does that make me? A liberal? A ‘loony leftist’? No. That makes me someone who is more concerned about my country than about what half-baked political party is in charge of the government.

Spring has sprung! Fruits and nuts galore!

I try.  I really do.  I keep thinking I need to sit down and write posts, if for no other reason, than to ensure people I’m still alive, doing well, and at least paying minimal attention to the world around me.  However, life rears its ugly head and then it’s another 2-3 weeks before I think about posting again.

I looked back on my post from last year about this year’s beauty contest (otherwise known as an election).  On the Democratic side, I don’t seem to have been too far off base.  Bernie Sanders has turned into a somewhat effective opponent for Hilary Clinton.  He’s honestly done better than I thought, and while the nomination appears at this point to be Hilary’s to lose, it’s not over yet.  More surprises may be in store for us, and I think it will be interesting to see the final result.

The Republicans?  I was way off base.  My only thought at this point is:  Are you freaking kidding me?  Each primary and caucus causes my mind to revert to the old DOS command line saying ‘error:  abort, retry, fail?’  I sit, with my mind spinning as it tries to reconcile what I’m seeing with what my mind tells me should be reality.  I keep trying to say different things, but nothing coherent or complete seems to come out of my mouth.

Donald Trump a year ago seemed to be the comic relief for this election.  Now, he’s the lead candidate for the nomination.  I’ve sat there on many nights, trying to listen to him speak on his ‘positions’ and what he believes needs to be done.  I just can’t do it.  Usually, I can MST3K candidates, or just shake my head.  However, when he speaks, it’s as if someone is drilling and I need to move away to make it stop.  Even reading his statements in print doesn’t help.  I keep seeing where he makes statements that would cause other candidates to go down in flames, and he just keeps on going sometimes even better than before.

Now, I’m seeing comments and statements where if Trump does win the nomination, it could fracture or even destroy the Republican Party.  I am not someone who delights in the misfortune of others (in German, it’s known as schadenfreude).  However, when the party leaders and the pundits conduct their post mortem on this election season, there are some significant questions that need to be answered.

I don’t want to see the Republican Party disappear.  Competition is necessary in this country, if we are to continue growing and improving.  If one of the political parties disappears, there will be a vacuum.  What would take their place?  It may be a case where the replacement is worse than the original.

It’s not the first time a major political party has disappeared in this country.  The record of their replacements, however, is mixed at best.  The first to go were the Federalists, who all but disappeared in the 1810s.  It took until the 1830s for the Whig party to emerge in its place.  You can look up the Whigs to see their history.  They only lasted until the 1850s, when the Republican Party moved into prominence.

So, we’ve had two major parties who’ve managed (for the most part) to change with the times from the 1850s until now.  Has the Republican Party lost that ability?  Will we see a new party rise out of their demise?  Or, will the GOP once again make the necessary changes to remain relevant to the American electorate?  I guess, as the saying goes, only time will tell.

End of the Garden Year 2015

I know, I was supposed to keep everyone up to date and appraised on how the garden was going this year. Life, of course got in the way every time I thought about sitting down and writing. So now, it's November and the gardening year is past done. I can at least give a look back and provide an overview of how the year went.

For the year overall, the higher than usual heat and lower rains made things difficult. It was a constant struggle to keep the garden from completely drying out and getting absolutely nothing. As it was, if I missed a day or two of watering, the plants started to wither and I would have to try and get them back to something resembling normal. The rains finally came in September, but it was really too late to do any good. And it was a good thing I decided to leave a portion of the garden 'fallow' as they did finally come out to paint the house. They were able to do what they needed to do without endangering the plants.

For specific plants and results I'll start with the seeds. Green beans did well again, I think they seem to be the most adaptable of the plants. We were able to get a fair amount, and it was a nice compliment to our meals. Peas? Again, we got some but not a lot. It may have been the weather, or some other factor that seems to limit the yield. It was enough to add variety to our meals. The carrots were somewhat of a disappointment. They never really got going and so it was a continuing struggle to just keep them from dying. Onions? They also never really got going. I'm not sure what the issue was with them, but I think we can try those again the next time around.

Now for the plants. Tomatoes did fairly well this year, considering they generally do not do well in this part of the country. We got a number of tomatoes to add to our salads. The peppers actually produced a couple, but due to the constant fight for moisture, the flavor was not the best. Lemon cucumbers were the best producers of the bunch, and it was an interesting change from traditional cucumbers. We were only able to get one decent sized spaghetti squash, with two other tiny ones. It is waiting right now for a final decision as the vine it was on died before it was really ready. It may ripen, or it may rot.

As a final bit, this year was a mixed bag. We didn't get as much as I hoped, but that was more due to the weather causing problems than anything else. However, it wasn't so bad that I want to give up on it completely. Some different plants next year, and maybe even changing the direction of the rows of seeds might make a difference. Who knows?

A Short Note for Veterans Day

    Yes, it's me.  I'm back.  No, I don't want to talk about the national beauty contest we call an election.  If you can't figure out why, read the previous sentence.  My garden?  I've got a garden year in review post working and should have that up in the next couple of days.  In the meantime, I will break my blogging silence and provide a short history on today's federal holiday:  Veterans Day.

     Veterans Day wasn't always known as that.  According to History.com (I'll pretend it's a little more reliable than Wikipedia.  Not that I have anything against that site), the day was originally known as Armistice Day.  It was first commemorated in 1919, the year after the end of the First World War (It was known as 'The Great War' then).  It was made a Federal Holiday in 1938.  In 1954, after lobbying by veterans organizations (from the Second World War and the Korean War) the name of the holiday changed from Armistice Day to Veterans Day, and is to commemorate veterans of all wars. 

     There are some other items about the history of the day I was not aware of (even though I apparently lived through some of it) – such as the Federal observation of Veterans Day being changed to the fourth Monday in October in order to ensure three day weekends and encourage tourism from 1971 to 1978, it certainly would have made a difference this year, with the holiday in the middle of the week.

     So, if you know someone who is a military veteran of a past (or even current) war, take a moment and remember their service.  It's a solemn remembrance of the sacrifices others have made so we can enjoy what we have today.

Going to my happy place

Well, even though there are any number of things I could talk about, and waste everyone's electrons on my opinions (and who really cares about my opinions at this point when it's so much after the fact?) about those things, I'd rather spend my time talking about my garden. It's probably better for my blood pressure and health at this point to talk about that rather than politics or government. Besides, my opinions on both would probably shock people, and I don't want to deal with that. So, it's off to the garden we go.

And how are things growing right now? I'll start with the seeds I planted. As far as the beans go, they seem to be growing really well right now. The peas and onions are not doing quite as well as far as their amount and rate of growth, but the peas are at the point where they are beginning to produce pods. I was able to pick three pods the other day. So it looks like I will be able to at least get some peas to eat the same day. The onions appear to be at least holding their own. We'll get at least a few, and we should be able to enjoy them. The weather (which has been hotter and drier than other years) seems to have negatively affected them, at least in the growth department. The carrots are spotty, as usual. One of these times, I'm going to get a better turn out from them, but not this year. Still, some fresh carrots will be good in the fall.

Plants? The tomatoes seem to be holding their own, and given how what seems to be the conventional wisdom regarding growing tomatoes I'm very happy. We've got about 8-12 small tomatoes and they seem to be ripening. Again, not really enough to do much with, but enough we can enjoy them in a salad or something similar. The lemon cucumbers seem to be growing well, and they've started producing. I think I should have read up on them more. The consensus seems to be that they are very prolific in their fruit development, and I've got three plants. I guess I should be happy I didn't buy more than that. And finally the spaghetti squash. They seem to be quite content in spreading out. They appear to be attacking the lemon cucumbers, at least in this picture they seem to be. I've seen a few flowers, but no fruit yet.

With the dry weather, I've been going out on a fairly regular basis and watering the entire garden. This year, it's really been a requirement to water the garden, with the heat and lack of precipitation in order to prevent them from drying up and dying. It would be nice for some rain to come and help, but in the meantime I guess will continue on and see what comes.

Oh, no. The crazy man's at it again!

What do I mean by this? Well, specifically I mean that I've started up the garden again. I know, they are supposed to come and paint our house (it's a rental), but I've heard nothing, seen nothing, so as they say 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!'

I did play it a little cautious, as I decided to expand the area of the garden to allow for more items but at the same time I decided to leave the area closest to the house empty in case they do decide to show up and paint. Here is a picture of the current garden area after finishing planting, and one of the garden from two years ago (when I did this the last time) to show the difference.

I worked the ground up as follows: I tilled, then raked to remove the grass and moss. Then I went over it a second time with the tiller and again raked to complete the moss and grass removal (along with quite a few rocks. I think I found where they put all the rocks from when they built the house). I then went over it a final time with the tiller and raking to complete the rock removal (ha! I should know better. Growing up, I worked the same area for over 13 years and still came up with rocks). After that, I then put in the seeds and plants for this year. It ended up being a bit later than last time (by almost a month), but the soil was warmer, which I think will help in the long run.

What is on the agenda for this year's crops? It's going to be a mixed bag as usual. I've stuck to some of the standard vegetables (carrots, peas, green beans) for seeds. I've added some onions. They're 'super sweet' onions (not Walla-Wallas, and not Mayans as best I can tell) for some additional fun. And what about the plants? I've stuck to tomatoes and bell peppers. I'm hoping the additional space (both in the garden itself and between the plants) will allow the plants to do better than before. I'm cautiously optimistic about those. I've got some cucumbers (lemon? Never heard of them, but we'll see what happens) and spaghetti squash. The zucchini were gone by the time I got to buying plants, and the spaghetti squash will be helpful to me, as I can cook them and use them instead of pasta.

As with two years ago, I'll try and update you periodically so you can see how my garden grows. (wait, wasn't that a verse in a nursery rhyme?)