Sunday Morning Coming Down

The board game of Monopoly is being lived out in real time these days or so it seems.  Affordable housing is being crowded out of my neighborhood.  Normal three bedroom homes with 2 or 2 1/2 bathrooms built after WWII are being knocked down to build for instance: home with a chef's kitchen, a lap pool and 6 bedrooms and 6 1/ 2 bathrooms.  Built in 2017, it last sold in 2021 for about $3.2 million dollars.  

 There has been a lot written about the effect of tariffs on farmers and their soybeans and corn crops.  These commodities had been bought by China.   According to the latest reports China has stopped buying from farmers in the United States. The latest reports are that farmers in Brazil and Argentina have moved into that market and are now exporting to China.  The earlier trade war with China cost farmers in the United States in terms of losing a market for their crops. Actually this is what I thought free markets and trading was all about.  Instead of trade now our taxes are being given to farmers while they figure out what with all those soybeans and corn crops. Who knows what the future will bring.  Maybe some kind of a deal will happen.  I know this seems crazy but who's to say that some trader will be able to figure out a way to sell our corn and soybeans to China, make a crap load of money and then figure out a way to avoid taxes on that wi...

       This picture is of a fatter me and a puppy named Nini. She was the runt of the litter but always wanted to sit in your lap, get her belly rubbed and vibrated happily when I returned from the store or friends visited. I still have the WV t-shirt but Nini passed away on June 30, 2025.  Canine Menegitis/Encphelitis of unknown origin was the diagnosis.  The Vet called and said it was time to come and say good bye to our little girl.  Nini came to my house in 2021.  The Pandemic came and went, Caroline my older sister died, I had a bad case of shingles, got my Covid Shots and Nini and I became an "item" I guess.  She was small and I could carry her up and down the stairs.  She never really got properly socialized with other dogs, maybe she was scared of other dogs or thought she was my protector.  We did a lot of walking, and I pretty much cut back to an occasional beer, I lost about 50 lbs. in total.  I bought some steps so ...

 Most law-abiding citizens should get a free pass from the new administration.  They should be cause they live within the guide lines.  Who sets the guidelines has generally been a form of consensus based on the "rule of law", which has been, been part of our idea of what self government and democracy has always been about. Again most people understand this. I understand the ideas regarding the need for change within institutions. There are aspects of "bureaucracy that need reform. There are many reasons for a progressive tax system. Even the idea of a Department on Government Efficiency is a good idea. Unfortunately, the three branches of our democracy are running a muck.   There are certain ethical requirements regarding self government which don't seem to apply any more to those that are elected.  Self interest is one aspect of life but when you hold public office or work in government you should make efforts to serve the public in a manner that approach...

 A high school classmate shared on FB, something from a 64 year old commercial pilot who had passed a exam to fly on of the latest jets in their fleet of aircraft.  I was also aware of an FAA rule about retirement at age 65 for commercial pilots.    In the U.S.,  there are no  FAA  age limits for pilots except for commercial airline pilots employed by airlines certificated under 14 CFR Part 121 . These airlines cannot employ pilots after they reach the age of 65. However, these pilots may stay on with a Part 121 carrier in some other role, such as flight engineers. I then went on a digression about the retirement of folks in professions like law or accounting.  From my own experience 30 years at a job or working for an employer is a very good time to start serious planning for the next chapter in your life.   And for my efforts at explaining my work history, working with folks who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.  I wa...

Early voting and mail in voting will take place before November 5, 2024. And on a related front I hope people will notice that it does not take four years of partisan snark and sniping for the voting public to make a decision about who the next president will be.  I voted  in the Florida primary for the November Election on August 20, 2024. Locally, the mood of the electorate in Miami has changed.  A few weeks ago I just couldn't imagine a person born in 1942 running for reelection as president or a person with as much baggage as an ex-president running for office, who could legitimately be understood to be running for office as a strategy for not going to prison.  Assuming he would win, he could, stop any prosecutions and if he lost he could further question what democracy is.  And it is no surprise that the former president has started complaining about an election that hasn't happened and claiming that the opposition will have stolen the election if he does n...

 A cursory review of today's Miami Herald spotlights an editorial from the Chicago Tribune regarding the 2018 Farm Bill.  Food assistance and farm production are combined in this legislation.  At one time it was a simple way to compromise two good ideas. Encourage farmers to produce for domestic and foreign markets and at the same time make sure that folks in this country are fed and not hungry. The SNAP program distributes food to those who face food insecurity and the remaining Farm Aid Bill supports farmers and agribusiness that provide food for people on a world wide basis. The farm bill can also promote conservation of soil, water and livestock.  If we were all closer to the land and had a better understanding of where our food comes from I can think of many benefits.  I'm not a farmer but a cursory review of the literature on the subject of "better farming", the following subjects keep showing up. 1) Better soil preparation 2) Crop rotation 3) More bio-div...