It's National Pig Day!

Today is National Pig Day - Take A Pig To Lunch!

Haven't written much, but not because I don't have anything to say, I have just lacked the motivation to put in down on cyber-paper.

So, lets catch up with what has been in the news lately...

Bush's poll numbers have been dropping lately and its not hard to see why - the guy is governing rudderless and some of his biggest and best laid plans have gone awry. He needs to stop listening to his yes men that have successfully kept separated from reality. First, its is the economy stupid. It was reported recently that the average income of the American family has dropped from 2001 -2005. No surprise there - they have been living on borrowed funds for years, and while some families may be sitting on a real estate bubble, Alan Greenspan and perhaps now Ben Beranke will do their utmost to tighten credit so hard, it is beginning to show up with mortgage rates to the extent that the air is leaking from the housing bubble. That's good news for buyers, if, (and I doubt it) they've been able to save enough from their diminishing paychecks to save (the US has been at a negative savings rate for a few years) to be able to afford the down payment on a home of their own. It's bad news for sellers, who, by now, are motgaged to the hilt, some of them taking out home equity loans to finance everything from their kid's college educations or for that new wide screen TV and other toys to put in the house. And what if the value of their investment does drop as the prices are now beginning to indicate? Panic in River City for some.

Where are the good jobs? Not here. There is a reason why Walmart is doing so well. More and more Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck and they are constantly looking out for a bargain, any bargain and that's one reason why dollar stores proliferate in my neighborhood. With the every rising price of gas, (okay, its gone down some, but anything below $2/gal is a thing of the past) is squeezing the middle class even more. But it is gratifying to know that the same study shows that income growth for millionaires, the chief beneficiaries of Bush's tax cuts, has gone up by double digits during the same time. I for one, am not optimisitic about my own economic future, in fact, its getting worse, since I've only worked for a few months during the last 3 years and cannot even collect unemployment due to a lack of not making enough in the first place. So, I am knocking out the final leg of my returment nest egg. The GOP wants you to take care of your own retiement, but you can't contribute to it unless you have a job that will help you build your portfolio. Bush says the the economy is strong, but only the wealthy are feeling it. Trickle down economics made the gaps between rich and poor widen during the Reagan years, why would Bush think anything would be different recycling a warmed over failed economic theory?

The Gulf Coast - Why are there so many people still in limbo here? Can anyone push this along? Where are the trailers promised by FEMA? Even the ones who are lucky enough to have one have no electricity. I can't imagine what these people are going through. I know what its like to lose a home in a 'normal' way and the consequences of not having an income, but having all that along with no place to go and no electricity and to be constantly reminded of the disaster by seeing piles of debris must take a devastating psychological toll on these people. Bush needs to intervene with a little more bravado, like he did on top of the mountain of rubble in at the site of the WTC on September 11. Where is the Gulf Coast Guiliani? Having a Mardi Gras is one way to take the edge off, but I don't think the tourists who visit have a cluw what went on there six months ago. And hurricane season is a mere 3 months away.

What's up with the Ports Deal? Even if it were true that the DPW is eminently qualified for this position, I have to ask why aren't Americans managing their own ports? Not to be a nativist, but are there no US firms who can do these tasks. But what is incredible is Bush's stance on the topic - he is truly the odd man out here. He's handed the Dems an issue where they can out 'national security' the Republicans and it gives Republican candidates an issue to show their independence from the politically weakened Bush, maybe that's his strategy - it allows GOP candidates to act like they are 'tougher' than Bush on terror. But let me ask you this - if this were September 12, 2001, would he be taking such a hard line? Imagine, he threatens a veto - a Republican President who has yet to use one.

Iraq - It is only a matter of time before this country devolves into Civil War now that the Shia and Shites are blowing up each other's holy shrines. Once the security forces supporting the American backed government fight among themselves, I would consider it official that the Civil War is on. Perhaps if we had sent in a half millionj troops in this Nation Building Project, we might have been able to keep a lid on things there. Besides, isn't Nation Building a utopian, liberal ideal? The way things are right now, the Civil War might break out in time for the 3rd anniversary of Bush's invasion on March 20th. And oh, by the way, where's Osama?

The direction that this country is headed is truly depressing and the polls are right - we are on the wrong track.

In an effort to improve my own spirits, in January, I planted some cacti seeds that sprouted a week later and are still quite tiny, but it made we joing the Cacti and Succulent Forum on Garden Web. It gave me the idea about selling cacti seeds and spreading these truly beautiful American plants during the next Pemi festival in August. I could load my entire inventory of seeds in a backpack. The crowd is generally a cross between a fundamentalist rally/hippie commune so maybe its doable. Along the way, I have found Cacti blogs and a few unexplored seed companies. If Scorched Pig Seeds, Succulents and Stuff is successful there, I could expand the offerings.

Visitors during February: Total hits so far: 960.

US States: AR, CO, DC, FL, GA, IN, IA, KS, MD, MN, NH (Welcome! - a first), NJ, NY, NV (from one of my favorite cities to visit - Virginia City), Ohio, OR, VA, WA (Redmond - hmm? Bill Gates?)

MA- Arlington, Chestnut Hill, Waltham, Lowell, Accord (where is Accord?)
CA - a regular from Sunnyvale, San Diego, Granite Bay, Los Angeles, Armona

Foreign: India, Malaysia (2), France, Netherlands, UK, Germany