The Nexus of Public and Private

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Tuesday October 07, 2014 · 2:44 PM PDT

2014/10/07 · 14:44

Am I wrong to be upset? I must be because I seem to be the only one.

My community has a lovely botanical garden and arboretum. McCrory Gardens was established by South Dakota State University in 1966 as a teaching and research facility.

The Gardens have grown to 70 acres of trees and flowers and since the first have been completely open to the public.

draghnfly

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Thursday May 08, 2014 · 5:52 PM PDT

2014/05/08 · 17:52

No, not a diary about Abe. Or even Walt.

We broke the planet. I notice it more each spring. Or, rather, the time of year we used to call spring.

draghnfly

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Saturday January 19, 2013 · 2:25 PM PST

2013/01/19 · 14:25

Have you ever browsed through a Federal Depository library?

The Federal Depository Library Program was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government’s information. GPO administers the FDLP on behalf of the participating libraries and the public. Information products from the Federal Government are disseminated to these nationwide libraries that, in turn, ensure the American public has free access to the materials, both in print and online.

Your local Federal Depository Library (Every state has at least one.) holds primary source historical documents generated by Federal agencies and departments. Follow below for a sample. It's worth the read. Read More

Who among us?

draghnfly

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Tuesday December 18, 2012 · 9:19 PM PST

2012/12/18 · 21:19

Who among us has not loved a child? Our child? Grandchild? Niece, nephew, or neighbor?

The Sandy Hook massacre has impacted me viscerally. Far more than 9/11. Maybe it's because my granddaughter, who is the most precious thing in the world to me, is that age. I see her in the faces of those precious slain children and my heart screams in anguish and primal fear. Ancient superstitious terror.

I don't have it in me to comprehend that kind of loss. The Sandy Hook community will not recover from this until the last person with memory or connection is gone. Generations from now.

I spent much of Friday crying and have fought back the tears each waking hour since then. Of course, Sandy Hook was a major topic of conversation at work today. My coworkers had the same feelings. Mass shootings have become so common in this country that they scarcely register. We don't know the people. If happened far from our town. Et cetera. News for a day or two and then it melds in with the other mass shootings.

But the children. We know them. We love the little girl who draws a purple dragon for grandma and who insists on chicken and pasta when she spends the night.

The pundits keep asking, "Will this time be different?" It has to be for if it is not we are a doomed society.

Who among us has not loved a child? We are all Sandy Hook parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors and we all know it.

Benefit for ...

draghnfly

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Sunday December 09, 2012 · 11:27 AM PST

2012/12/09 · 11:27

I don't know about you all from the big cities, but in my small town we have a weekly advertising tabloid that's delivered to everyone.

The Town & Country Shopper carries business advertisements and classified ads for services, rummage sales, pets, real estate, etc. Of course, this time of year there are lots of bake sales and craft fairs. Usually, I toss the "yellow sheet" in the recycle bin, but this week I needed to line up some snow removal for the season.

Reading through the issue, I noticed something that seems to have become more prominent. Announcements of benefit activities.

draghnfly

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Sunday October 28, 2012 · 2:40 PM PDT

2012/10/28 · 14:40

In computer talk, it's like an IF/THEN statement. IF such happens, THEN thus happens. We're familiar with the classic.

All humans die. (major premise)
I'm human. (minor premise)
I will die. (conclusion)

Both premises and the conclusion are solid.

draghnfly

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Friday August 17, 2012 · 11:13 PM PDT

2012/08/17 · 23:13

These days it's all genetic engineering and cloning and gene splicing and recombinant DNA. Our friends at Monsanto market the herbicide Roundup and, quelle surprise, have blanketed the nation's bread basket with fields of corn and soybeans genetically engineered to resist Roundup.

Weed plants, on their own through natural selection, are evolving to resist Roundup. Science Daily, in a 2009 article, discusses a Purdue study of Roundup resistance in weeds. The story's links examine some other pesticide resistances and the evolution of super weeds.

Let me repeat that. The weed plants are doing it on their own. Through sheer chance. Can't we do something like that? Methodically. Breed and crossbreed our plants for the traits and characteristics we want.

Whatever happened to good old-fashioned plant breeding and hybridization?

draghnfly

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Sunday August 12, 2012 · 11:11 AM PDT

2012/08/12 · 11:11

We've just come off the hottest July in modern times and I sit here pondering on this mid-August morning that feels more like late September. The seasons have gone screwy. The climate has changed. As "isolated" incidents pile up into hard evidence it doesn't take Einstein to see the pattern and suss out the trajectory.

Growing up on the farm we watched the weather. Our livelihood, after all, depended on rain and warm and dry at the right times. We watched the sky. And we watched the animals.

My grandmother said it meant rain was coming when the dog ate grass. The Farmer's Almanac debunks that one. While that may be a myth I believe animals do react to conditions that we don't perceive. How Stuff Works explores possible scientific explanations.

draghnfly

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Sunday March 25, 2012 · 8:49 AM PDT

2012/03/25 · 08:49

And my brother-in-law died last night because he didn't. The bravest, strongest person I've ever known is gone and Darth Vader goes on.

No, I don't blame Dick Cheney for John's death. I know his family is happy and relieved. But I'm railing against the unfairness of life.

draghnfly

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Saturday July 30, 2011 · 10:25 AM PDT

2011/07/30 · 10:25

Do it! Do it like it's been done dozens of times before with no fuss and little fanfare. Mr. Reid, Mr. Boehner, do it now.

The time for "negotiation" has ended. There can be no compromise. The only legislation other than a clean debt ceiling bill that can emerge from this toxic process is worse, worser, or worst.

Relax though, boys. You'll still have plenty of time for a "grand bargain" and "bipartisanship." You can still lay waste to the middle class and let poor people die. But right now. Pass the debt ceiling bill.

draghnfly

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Tuesday July 12, 2011 · 5:41 AM PDT

2011/07/12 · 05:41

It occurred to me last night while listening to a discussion of what might not be paid in the event of a default. Among the suggestions were Social Security, etc.

We know they don't care about the people who depend on SS to live. But are they made enough to default on ALL bonds in order to kill Social Security entirely? Or can they default on specific sectors of debt while still paying others?

The Social Security Trust Fund is counted as part of the deficit so defaulting on it would not only kill the program but reduce the deficit by (according to wikipedia) $2.5 trillion.

This diary is just a quick hit before I go to work. I apologize for the scarcity of research but don't have time for more at the moment.

draghnfly

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Friday March 04, 2011 · 5:35 PM PST

2011/03/04 · 17:35

I'm watching Lawrence O'Donnell. Austin Goolsbee is the interviewee. I don't know how to interpret what I heard.

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The Nexus of Public and Private

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

What Is the "American Way?"

Who among us?

Benefit for ...

Syllogism, thou cruel mistress

Gimme some of that old-time GMO

Has the insect world gone buggy?

So Dick Cheney got a heart

Only bill is a clean bill

Is default the end game?

Social "insurance" programs?