Rural Thoughts

I haven't posted anything for over two weeks. It's not unprecedented, but it is unusual. But it has been an unusual two plus weeks. The best thing is that I got a new job that I like. But it hasn't been all good. There have been deaths of people that are in my circle of life that I liked. There is a horrible drought here, and a heat wave on top of that.

I have heard some great live music, and seen an interesting theater production. All in all, it's been a very positive two weeks. But even though I have pretty dominated by immediate concerns, I still have kept track of the news the best I can.

I actually, by accident, saw a few minutes of Fox News this afternoon. Tucker Carlson was saying that his number one recommendation for the economy is to extend the Bush tax cuts. Is he serious? It's like Billy Crystal and his partner on Saturday night live complaining about all the terrible things they did to themselves - each one pointing out worse and worse things that they have done to themselves and how they hate it when that happens. It blows my mind that these guys have the nerve to keep saying it. Greed has no end.

Romney has John McCain campaigning with him. Maybe Sarah Palin will join them. She could give Mitt advice on what kind of VP candidate he should choose.

The European media likes to focus on Syria. Some bad stuff is happening there, but who has a real clue as to what is going on? I'm not defending the government - no doubt they are bad. But, the simplistic thinking that this is all the doings of the Assad government harkens back to a time in Iraq where the entire "Bathe" party was banned. The problem was, that was most of the country, including the most skilled people. There's definitely some kind of big-time power play going on there, and the news is being used. But who is doing what for what reason is still beyond me.

Spain is going to take upwards of 20 billion dollars to pay off it's banks' debts. Ouch. But what currencies is it going to take down in the process? If it takes down too many currencies too quickly, it's going to play havoc with our paper money system, and the politicians fear that like the plague - and a plague it will be. But whether they can stop this particular plague, (along with a number of other plagues facing us) I'm not sure.

I keep up as best I can with major league baseball. I'm a big time Cards fan - have been my whole life. They are doing ok - better than average - but, like many teams, they are inconsistent. If they can get decent pitching to keep them in the race until the end of the season, their hitting will give them a chance. That's the Cardinal's way. At the end of the season, when the pitchers are really getting tired, you hammer the hell out of them.

I hope we get some rain soon. If we don't, you are going to see a lot of bad crops of many types around here. I think we will get rain. Dreamer?