First Iris

My first iris is a new arilbred. I lost the original tag so I don't know what variety. I should be able to look it up. It doesn't have much of the aril shape or shading, just the beautiful blotch on the falls.

The arilbreds are new this year and so far they seem happy. My other iris, planted the first year hear have not been flowering. I blame the fact that I put them on the hill by the dry stream bed but made no provision to give them summer water. I do see some flower stalks this year.

I am hoping that the arils will like our weather without coddling.

First Roses

Rosa mutabilis.

My two bushes have just afew flowers open but are loaded with buds and will soon be covered with flowers.

This is the color of the flower when it opens. It turns a brick red before it matures and the petals fall so the bush appears covered with multicolor butterflies.

Orchids from the Show

I wasn't going to buy any orchids!

But feeling a bit cocky with three cymbidiums blooming this year, I got a deep red miniature and couldn't resist a beautiful epidendrum. I never really got the epidenrums to thrive for me in SoCal and they didn't last long up here but they look so great, I talked myself into another try. The cymbidium is small and I may winter it inside. I will definitely winter the epidendrum inside.

The orchid plants at the show were incredible and the prices were fantastic. I just wish I had better accommodations. I would have bought more.

Plumeria from the Show

I knew I shouldn't but I can't resist plumeria. Ever since my two year Army tour included Ft . Shafter Hawaii, I have longed to grow them along with other Hawaiian garden plants. I had two plants which I brought from LA when we moved. One was about four feet tall (not including pot) and the other about two. They were too big (and too ugly) to bring in the house so by the second year they died.
In LA it never got warm enough near the coast for the buds to open so when they first arrived in July I enjoyed seeing them flower but it was their swan song.
I was irresistably drawn to the hawaiian booth selling plumeria plants and cuttings. After several passes and hearing that the cuttings were only $10, I had to do it. The saleslady was encouraging about growing them in Sacramento but she told me something I never knew which sealed the deal. She said they need to be in a small pot to bloom. In a large pot, they would just grow. I always assumed that growing them big would encourage blooming and wondered how the nurseries managed to get flowers on the small ones they sell. If I bought two, she would even throw in the fertilizer (she insisted that they need to be well fertilized to match the volcanic soil in Hawaii).
So here are my cuttings ready to put out roots and start growing. If I keep them small, I can find someplace in the house for them in the winter. Really.

Succulents From the Show

I usually cannot resist succulents and the plants for sale were choice. I kept eying the displays as I prowled the vendor floors, finally deciding that I had to take some home. After waiting in line to purchase, I was told that my plants totaled $25 and the minimum credit card purchase was $40. They would take checks but, of course, my checkbook was in the car. I asked the lady if she could put them aside while I got it but I knew that if I lugged all my purchases back to the car, I would never return. Then I saw the atm. Normally I will never use a private atm but otherwise these cuties would never be mine. So, risking identity theft, I replenished my cash and bought. Actually, now that I have all the plants home, I think these were my best purchase. But then, that's what I think today. Tomorrow will be a different story.

My new plants are from bottom left, Echeveria afterglow, top Euphoribia sticks on fire and finally on the right Kalanchoe thyrsiflora. I don't yet know what I will do with them. The little guy needs repotting but beyond that I need to put them someplace where I can admire them.
And if I need more, I know where to get them.

Easter Flowers

Another narcisssus and a species tulip

Back Yard Easter Sunday

This is a view of my tiny flat backyard taken from the retaining wall and looking northeast. You can see two of my maple trees sporting birdfeeders and a birdhouse, the two rosa mutabilis against the fence ( they have buds and should be blooming in a week) and my beleaguered cymbidiums ,clustered under the tree to the right. You can see that I have plenty of space to fill. My problem is finding something that grows in the first place and then survives to come back the next year.

Behind (to the right and back ) is my slope. Maybe I will get some pictures of that next week.

Resolution Completed

All is well with my new water lily- or at least it is now residing in a spiffy new pot with genuine aquatic potting media. I had to order the tub from Michigan, not being able to determine a local source from the web. Wouldn't you know that as soon as it came, I found an equestrian supply store not too far from my local nursery with real stock tanks in the front display. Sometime I will check them out but for now my water lily has a home.

This is the pot. It looks like a felt bag but must be made out of some non-decomposing material.

























And here is the potting medium. It says you can mix it with loam but I used it straight. I still need the fertilizer tabs but lets see how helvola likes it's new home.

Monday Rosemary

Another beautiful Monday. The rosemary are beautiful trailing over the retaining wall at the foot of my hillside backyard.

Took care of some odds and ends. Cleaned the patio and set up the outdoor furniture. Repotted three of my cymbidiums using the coco chip bricks I got at the SFF&GS- I knew I should have bought more bricks. Most of the others need repotting but I would rather stagger the repotting so as not to discourage blooms next year.
While inspecting my plants, I discovered one more that has a bloom stalk.

Hurray!

Gardens in the Dark

I guess that the central area full of display gardens was supposed to be the high point of the show. They are impressive... and clearly the result of a lot of work but they are like model homes - flamboyant, eyecatching and empty. They aren't your backyard, or even your rich neighbor's. They don;t offer much to the down and dirty gardener. I guess they showcase designers and landscaping firms but I don't know that they provide much help if I were seeking a landscaper.

I circled the arena trying to get into the spirit of the displays but it just wouldn't come. First of all, what's with the darkness? I suppose it helps cover up the fabrication of these displays and maybe its all for the good. It made me feel like a con job, however.

I took a few pictures. These were the best of the lot and they don;t reveal much.

Still the gardens were merely an interlude at the show for me, a break in the intensity of the reall excitement - the shopping.

Show Stopper

They had more than plants at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. There was this show-stopping garden umbrella. Two sizes, several colors. It folds up...........and it has solar lights. I wanted it real bad but the county, state and feds have claimed all my assets and more so it is not to be.

They have a show special price but even that won't make it work this year. Maybe next year.

I could have waited

One of the plant vendors at the SFF&GS was selling water plants, particularly water lilies. They had my recently purchased hardy miniature, Helvola, all prepackaged in a nice planter for immediate use in a water garden. My helvola, which arrived last week, is a little plant with leaves and roots but badly in need of a pot and appropriate soil. Naturally, I should have realized that I would need soil and a pot but it never occurred to me so when the poor naked plant arrived, I went out to the web and ordered them. They are now on the way but meanwhile my helvola languishes in a saucer of water. I guess its no big deal because my tub isn't here year either.

The only revelation is that I could have gotten my water lily at SFF&GS had I waited and maybe saved a little money. One of the water plant purveyors at the show is from nearby Elk Grove. If I can't get the fertilizer tabs which I neglected to order with my soil and pots -and didn't buy at the show because I ran short of cash for small purchases- from my local nurseries, I can get them from him.

San Franciso Flower and Garden Show

First impressions

Walking from the non-preferred parking area toward the show you cross over the traffic entering the complex. Then you are there, the famous Cow Palace.



Inside is an incredible sight wonderland of vendors, exhibsition gardens and food. (I noticed one attendee complained about the limited fare but there seemed to me to be a wide range of food offerings). For me, a nondescript polish sausage was all I needed to keep me going for 5 hours of gawking and buying.


We drove down from Sacramento leaving at about 9:00 AM. I dropped my wife off at Union Square f or a day of browsing San Francisco art galleries and got to the Cow Palace at about 11:00 AM. Inside, I first passed quickly though the vendors to see what was available and plan later purchases. Then I looked at the display gardens and returned to the vendors for actual purchases. I quickly became very grateful for the check stands because some of my purchases were heavy and all were awkward to carry. By the time I was finished, my wife had left two messages on my cellphone wondering where I was (cellphone coverage in the Palace seems to be spotty). I left about 3:30 PM but with the very heavy traffic and my unfamiliarity with driving in San Francisco, it was 4:30 before I spotted her on the steps of Union Square opposite Macy's. Then to a nice restaurant on the Embarcadero and back to Sacramento.

More reactions and comments later.

If you're going to San Francisco

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

Oh, wait! That's not what I meant to say.

The only possible reason to go to San Francisco this week is to attend the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. OK it's really in Daley City, but back to the point.

If you are new to the show here are your assignments.

And One More

New kid that is.

This is tea rose Sofrano which arrived from the Antique Rose Emporium. I really didn't want it for another week or so, primarily because that is when my other roses are coming. They didn't ask when I wanted it and shipped right when I ordered. Their roses come in gallon pots and can wait nicely for me to hack a hole in the rock pile for it. It would be plenty fine to plant it this weekend which turned warm and sunny. The old roses are sprouting strongly and its the kind of day you want to visit the garden center and buy something. I am holding off for Friday when , at long last, I visit the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. I am hoping for inspiration and some new additions to my garden.

Meanwhile, Narcissus

The most spectacular displays right now in my garden are the narcissus. I have planted the hillside behind my house with bulbs each fall (except last year) and the result is clusters of flowers scattered over the slope. I thought I was planting many bulbs but clearly I could have multiplied my planting by 5 or maybe ten to get really spectacular results. Still what I have is beautiful.

Last year I was thinking of planting some whites. I am still thinking. When I see all the yellow flowers, it seems that white would detract. Maybe just a few.

I also planted lots of muscari, thinking how nice the blue flowers would be against the yellow. I don't know how they do it for the pictures but in my garden the muscari bloom after the narcissus and they are dinky little things. I probably need to read the fine print.

New Kids

I couldn't resist some new plants. I am a sucker for bromeliads despite a poor track record. Here (middle) is a Dyckia x 'Icicle seedling'. Beautiful color.

Next (bottom) Bilbergia nutans. It's not so spectacular but I think I can grow it and get some color on my patio during off season. And finally (top) Aloe lineata.

These little guys are my first order from Yucca Do and I am impressed. I have been browsing their online catalogue for a few years and finally succumbed.

I have long hoped to find a better landscape plan than agapanthus for my area. They look good in spring but in summer here they turn into crispy critters. Low growing aloes would give the same effect and survive the summers looking acceptable. I haven't yet determined if the dreaded landscape cops approve of aloes so, for now, my new guy will be in a pot.


Sorry for the strange labeling and layout. Who knew what blogger would do?

Cymbidiums

I had a large collection of cymbidium orchids which were easy to grow in coastal LA. Naturally I brought them all along with our move to the idyllic Sierra foothills along with rubber trees (ficus elastica), brugmansia, various cacti and miscellaneous other plants in pots which I had accumulated over the years in Southern California. I even rented a small truck to haul them up after their four month exile to my son’s San Pedro front yard.

I was not sure that they would survive the first winter even though I knew that cymbidiums can manage in nearby Sacramento. They all survived but not one bloomed the first year. Then I worried that they would not survive the summer. They did even though I had no shade in my newly landscaped yard.

I now was confident that I could keep them alive but the next challenge was could I persuade them to bloom. Blooming them had never been a trick in SoCal. I used the bloom and grow fertilizers in the appropriate seasons and the orchids responded appreciatively. I maintained this practice after the move but got no blooms in the first two years. This year was to be my final try. I would either have some blooms or give up on cymbidiums and focus on something more appropriate for my climate.

This year I had two plants bloom. The first was my miniature green flowers variety (Sweetheart 'King Arthur'). It has always grown like a weed and flowered like a champion so I was not surprised that it would be the first to step up. In addition it is an early flowering variety which sets buds up in the fall for winter flowering. As a result it had many bloom stalks formed before it got cold and the blooms actually opened in January despite some pretty cold weather. Those blooms are still on the plant but way past beauty.

The surprise was the second plant, another miniature, only red (If I knew the variety once, I don't any longer). This year the stalks popped up about December and just last week opened. The flowers are a bit stressed looking but much better than no flowers at all.

I can only speculate what might have made the difference but this encourages me to hope for even better results next year.

My first thought is that I moved the plants from an exposed location on the retaining wall to a more sheltered location under one of my maple trees and in front of the retaining wall. There they receive shelter from the hot summer sun and perhaps some protection from the winter cold. I will keep them where they are.

On another front, now that it seems that I am having success with them, I plan to repot a few of the most pot bound plants before the summer heat.

One final thought is that my normal month for beginning the bloom fertilizer is October. I plan to switch in September to see if I can get more blooms.

Descanso Gardens and deja vu

Day trip to LA to see the tax guy and the Hertz folks set me up with a convertible. OK it was a Toyota but still, tooling down the Hollywood Freeway from Bob Hope to Hollywood with the top down was a blast. The only thing missing was Randy Newman singing 'I Love LA'.

Anyway, I left the afternoon open to see something before flying back to Sacramento and decided on Descanso Gardens. In all my 30 years in LA, I only made it to Descanso once before. Yesterday was the perfect day. Camellias blooming everywhere, sunshine, what more could you want.

They have a corner devoted to California natives. None were blooming but just looking at the plants brought back memories of my bulldozed front yard at my old house. I had a huge ceanothus 'Concha' which was a spectacular blue background for the small brick patio which our son built for us. Next to it was a fremontadendron which was also a spectacular display in spring. I had lehua plants, good sized specimens of jade plant (crasula), some low growing aloes and a red banana screening the patio and french doors to my wife's office from the street. This was perhaps my best gardening effort at the old house. It wasn't really planned. I added things I liked from my frequent trips to the nursery and it gradually came together. Unfortunately when it was beginning to look its best, I had to take an out of town job which eventually led to our move.

Where I live now, there are plant police who continually look for forbidden plants in my landscaping. (Doesn't seem very American, does it?) Every thing the landscaper planted was approved but who knows about the things I pick. Nevertheless, I do add plants and think about how to make my new yard better despite the constraints. It's probably time for a post on the dredded homeowners association but not today. Maybe tomorrow.

Roses Present

Year 1

We moved into our house in July but did not get the rear yard landscaped until December so my first year to contribute to the garden was 2005. I mentioned earlier that I had asked the landscape designer for some roses. He allotted three spaces on the side of the yard behind the retaining wall that steps up from my level yard to that of my neighbor's. There were three holes hacked in the rocks with gallon pots as filler.

I had decided to be more adventurous with my new roses and ordered three Mutabilis to fill the holes. I was still trying to take the measure of the plantings and understanding what they might look like when mature so I was cautious about further ground planting. I wanted another rose, however, and decided to grow one in a pot. After considerable pondering, I selected an Austin rose, Symphony which was described as a yellow .

Mutabilis was an inspired choice. (I later found that it is one of the 10 best plants for the area selected by the UC Davis Botanical Gardens.) Two of the plants took off right away while the one in the center languished and eventually died. (Water from apparently natural sources bubbles up randomly in my new yard causing some drainage problems which I will document later but the central rose was planted right on top of one of them.) The survivors are always in bloom (except when I force dormancy) and are now about 6’ x 6’.

Symphony was disappointing; not very vigorous and bleached out to white in our scorching summer weather. It lasted two years then petered out.

Year 2

By this time it was clear to me that the beds around the level area of my back yard could stand some more plants and so why not some more roses. I added two roses, Mme. Cecile Brunner (the regular one – not the climber) and Midnight Blue. They are both small and I hoped would be complementary. I am still waiting for them to grow up.

I wanted climbing roses in my front courtyard where there is what we like to call the bell tower over the gate from the front yard. I planted Mermaid to grow up the north wall and out of the top of the bell tower into the front of the house and Ginger Syllabub to grow up the one freestanding pillar of the tower. Mermaid is incredibly vigorous but so far has not given a big show of blooms. GS is slower growing, not a vigorous bloomer and the promised yellow-apricot flowers wash out to white. She needs to step up this year or I will be looking for a replacement.

Finally, I ordered two Hot Cocoa’s late in the season and planted them in front of the Mutabilis. (I had really wanted Hot Cocoa and so I rationalized that the colors would go together. They don’t go well but I like them anyway). They have yet to really look good, partly because my maple trees have begun to actually provide some shade. When I planted them, the trees were only nine feet tall and the idea that there would ever be shade in the yard never crossed my mind. I am hoping that this year will see them vigorous and blooming up a storm in spite of the maple.

Year 3

I planted Graham Thomas. It is supposed to be tall and gorgeous. By this year it is tall and spindly. The few flowers I saw last year actually stayed yellow but beyond that, it hasn’t won my heart..

Year 4

Stay tuned.

A Great Idea

The Garden Wise Guy shows a clever idea about how to select plant companions.

This is Brilliant

You would think that a Missouri farmboy like me would have thought of this but thankfully Pam did. This is just what I need for my water lily. Now that I live in the sticks, I should have no trouble finding just the one.

I can relate.

Another transplanted gardener copes and prevails.

Rocks

I was prepared for differences when I moved to my new house. The yard is smaller. It has a steep slope for most of the backyard. The front yard belongs to the Homeowners Association. These were all issues that I recognized from the first. I may not have appreciated their full impact but they were not surprises.

What I failed to anticipate was that my entire yard is a rock pile. I do not mean that there are rocks embedded in the soil in my yard. There is no soil. I mean a rock pile. The first clue was the jackhammer the landscaper used when he installed my plantings.

Even recognizing the reality, it didn’t hit home until I decided to embellish the bones of my landscaping with some seasonal interest. In this case some narcissus. My slope was just begging for some splashes of spring color and I ordered an assortment of bulbs intended to provide a long season of color. In my enthusiasm, I must have ordered 100 bulbs, imagining that planting them would be easy.

In fact, it was a pain. First I had to pry out all the rocks where I wanted bulbs. (I don’t really mean all, just those in the first eight inches.) These rocks I stacked on the side of the bed for later disposal. When this was done, I had a hole for the bulbs but no soil to fill it. For this I used a compost mix from the nursery which I blended with the small amounts of clay holding the rocks together. Then I planted the bulbs. Needless to say it took a long time to get all 100 bulbs in the ground. I have to admit that part of the problem was that I did not have the wits to purchase some decent digging tools. I bought a shovel before I understood how useless it would be in my yard. I had a small garden trowel to pry up the rocks and I added a screwdriver to my tools early on but they were inadequate. Only this year did I purchase a pick which makes the task much easier.

The bulbs have done well, returning every year but last year I lost the will to add more, first because of the digging and second because I can’t remember where they are after the foliage dies. I feel inspired with my new pick to go back to the catalogues next fall to add some more.

maintenance

Sun today although it is still coldish and I finally got into some maintenance. First, the roses. I sprayed them all with a dormant spray. I need to spray again and then prune. I always seem to get into a competition with the gardener. He usually gets to them first. He did cut the Mutabilis' back which is what I would do anyway but I may shape a bit after the spraying.

Then I cut off a few lower branches from my three young maples. As they grow, I cut the lower branches each year. This is the third year and I may be finished.

My first narcissus are just about finished and it looks like it will be a while before the next group comes on. They are just breaking ground. I do have some crocuses popping. Spring is on the way.

Roses Past

When we moved into our last house nearly 30 years ago, I inherited a rose garden occupying half of the strip between our driveway and our neighbor’s yard. At that time the neighbors had a tall evergreen hedge which screened our view of their yard and provided a background for the roses. I had never really thought about growing roses because they seemed demanding, ugly as garden plants and not very exotic. (After all I was in Southern California after a Midwestern upbringing and education. You can grow roses in Missouri but not hibiscus.)
Anyway, we had other more important priorities and so the roses stayed. Eventually, I decided that since they were there; why not give them a little attention. I learned to prune them and provided some occasional fertilizer. They responded by not dying and providing a springtime show – some a better one than others and gradually I considered adding some more interesting varieties. I don’t remember the ones that either died on their own or were ripped out but two were with me until the bitter end after which the new owner ckeared every plant in the front yard and replaced them with a grass lawn livened up with one palm tree carefully placed in the center. Oh well….

Survivors

The roses that survived my reign at the old house were good credible varieties that I would never have selected. They kept being good enough that I hesitated to cull them. They were also hybrid teas (well I guess Queen Elizabeth is not really and HT but close enough) which I never even consider anymore.

Queen Elizabeth

In my garden it was a gangly teenager with ok but not beautiful flowers. It did keep blooming.

Chicago Peace

Just did enough to survive although it was on my list.

Additions

The Dark Lady

My first Austin. It had a nice deep red color and the flowers were attractive and full but it didn’t bloom a lot. I treated it like a hybrid tea which probably didn’t help. I was just getting to understand Austins when we moved.

Evelyn

My second Austin. Lovely flowers and a reputed wonderful smell although I can’t remember being overwhelmed. It was just getting going when we left.

Souvenir de Malmaison

My first old rose, a Bourbon. Slow growing and just coming into its own when we left but with beautiful flowers.

Mme Cecile Brunner

I mistakenly ordered climbing which because a huge rambling mound in my rose bed. Lots of blooms.

Scentimental

I was trying here to get some blooms. I also planted a grouping of three to get some mass. It worked well but made the overall look of the bed rather odd.

French Lace

Same planting as Scentimental. I loved the color and shape.

Things I learned

Over time I got better at pruning but only at the end did I begin to understand that not all roses are hybrid teas and since I kept eliminating the hybrid teas and replacing them with other types, I had to develop some sensitivity which is not a normal behavior for me. (I am still learning that as you will hear in my NorCal rose report sometime soon)

I also explored better fertilization adopting a four week cycle of fertilizers, Epsom salts and something else I don’t recall and a Spring tonics of alfalfa pellets. I got good growth but I think my pruning sabotaged the effort.

I never got to the point of thinking I was a rose expert but I was beginning to feel competent. So much so that when I was telling the landscape architect what to include in our new backyard plan, I told him I wanted some roses. He blocked out space for three.

How is it working out three years in to the new yard. I'll get back to you.

Water Lily

Some action on my resolutions. I ordered a dwarf hardy water lily for my courtyard. It is supposed to be an excellent variety for growing in a container. Knowing nothing about water lilies I take the word of the purveyor and purchase Helvola. Now all I need is a big pot.

History

We are beginning our fourth year in a new house located in a severely CC&Red community in the Sierra foothills. Before we lived 3 blocks from the ocean in a rural seeming suburb of Los Angeles. We enjoyed frequent fog and very temperate weather. It never froze and seldom got to the high 80's. My gardening was limited by time and budget (for two years I was working in Sacrmento during the week and driving home for the weekends) but I had a few roses, some cacti and succulents and a bunch of cymbidiums. I was growing a living hedge of lehua to enclose a front yard patio off my wife's home office.

Finally, we decided that a new house near Sacramento would make life better for us all and we selected our plan and lot and the builder started building. We selected a lot with an upward sloping back yard. There is a 15 foot level yard, then a retaining wall and maybe another 30 feet of slope. We selected the lot for the privacy and the idea of looking out to see a green slope from our house.

We found a landscape designer and he developed what is proving to be a very nice plan as it grows in. Three maple trees are just getting big enough to shield us from the incredibly hot setting sun in the summer but are bare and let light and warmth in for the winter. The hillside has Canary Island Pines and an African Sumac (the designer specified a Crepe Myrtle but I had never seen one that I thought was attractive and asked for something else). There are strips of pittosporum, raphiolepis and grevillea with manzanita filling in the bare spaces and rosemary billowing over the retaining wall. We have a dry creek bed meandering down the middle of the lot but ran out of money for a water feature.

On the flat area we have a crescent of lawn, a lemon tree and some small shrubs (mostly pittosporum. The beds surrounding the lawn were largely bare to begin with and four years later are not much better. I have tried to introduce some plants and had some success but more failure which I will recount at some later time along with some of my problems with the slope.

For now this will give you an idea of the kind of gardening I had leaned at my former house and some idea of what is coming as I relate my growth as a foothill gardener.

2008 Resolutions

For this year I am resolved to accomplish some goals set when we moved into our new house in 2004 and some new ones.

The old ones are:

1. Build the raised bed for vegetables on the side of the house- mostly tomatoes
2. Increase the substance for the flower beds on the level area of my backyard

The new ones are:

1. Grow a water lily in a pot in my courtyard
2. Create some ambiance in the afformentioned courtyard

New Direction

In my previous life as a blogger, I focused on politics with occasional detours into my garden. Having realized that I offer little in the way of new insight into the political follies and recognizing that rage is not attractive and seldom useful, I am redirecting my blog energy to the documentation of my steps and missteps as I learn how to garden in the rocky Sierra foothills.

Look for posts reprising the last three years interspersed with my plans for the next year and updates on my successes and failures.

Obscene Amenities

Amenities International produced this short video to showcase the luxurious accommodations enjoyed by US military personnel in Iraq.



read more | digg story

Garden Update: Freeze Dried

Tough love for my plants this month. I did not make any effort to shield them from night temperatures 32 degrees or below over the last two weeks. Time will tell the consequences of my neglect but my philosophy as I adjust my gardening skills from coastal southern California moderation in all things to foothill northern California expremes is " Survival of the fittest".

Right now, my favorite plant is narcissis. Rynveld's Early Sensation is just what it's name says. They started blooming in early January and are still going strong through the freeze. It is the second year for these bulbs so I know that they can handle our weather extremes. Other bulbs are coming up but not yet ready for prime time. I need to plant more of these guys next fall.

Next on my favorites list are my cymbidiums. One pot of my miniature green, King Arthur, was blooming before the freeze and now , to my amazement, a second pot has a bloom stalk. Only one pot looks like it might not survive the winter and it was marginal before. The plants seem largely unaffected by the temperatures. I did nothing to shield them but they do receive full sun during the day. Last year I did not get them to bloom. I am hoping that the others will follow King Arthur and flower this year. Now I know that they can survive here, my next challenge is persuading them to bloom.

Among the other plants, I can do nothing but wait and see what comes back. Because it has been so dry, I watered all the pots on Saturday after reading in the paper that the combination of cold and dry is very stressful, Now we will see what happens. Nights are staying above freezing so I think that the worst is over in terms of temperature. We do need rain.

Wife Beating in Islam - The Rules

Unblieveable wisdome from the religion of peace.

HT wizbang

John Kerry's Embarrassing Visit to Iraq

He's Ronry.

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Saturday Night Live: Nancy Pelosi

HT Betsy's Page Saturday Night Live does Pelosi.

Garden Update

In the continuing saga of adjusting my gardening skills and plant palette from coastal southern California to Sierra foothills, I have this observation. This year is cold. Algore notwithstanding, for me and my garden, global warming is a crock.

It has been just above freezing every night for over a week now. No frost in the morning and no snow yet (our last snow was in February and broke our African Sumac). Interestingly, one of my early cymbidiums is blooming. The poor things are so confused by the weather here but somehow this one pot got it right. This is exactly the time it would have bloomed in SoCal. Between the super hot summers and the super cold (relative to SoCal) winters, I probably should just give up and find something that will grow here but I am a stubborn cuss and will keep growing them so long as they continue to cope.

I continue to be surprized by my Brugmansia. I thought it would be among the first of my SoCal plants to succomb. Not so. In fact, there is a one which I see hanging over the fence down the hill that seems quite happy here. My plan is to plant my large potted brugmansia in the ground in my back yard. I rooted some cuttings from the big plant in late summer for backup. The ones from hard wood rooted nicely but the softwood cuttings failed to root. I have two small ones in reserve. The large one got infested with some bug or other. It amazes me that a poisonis plant can fall victim to bugs. The leaves got spotted and the new growth was covered with webs. Spraying with the stuff I use on my roses reduced it but did not eliminate it. I am not confident about planting it but intend to proceed. I missed the good planting time before it got cold so I will wait now until at least March.

My next project is to find a replacement for Agapanthis. Whey does anyone plant them here in hot Sacramento? They look awful in the Summer heat with their crispy brown leaves. I am thinking about a small Aloe of some sort or maybe Kniphofia.

The catalogues have started coming so I can begin my garden fantasies for 2007.

ZUCKER TAKES ON THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP AND JAMES BAKER

Those who don't srudy history are doomed to repeat it.

LA on My Mind - Continued

Lunada Bay

I always thought that we had done great by our kids raising them in a beautiful semi-rural ocean-side enclave in the great LA megalopolis. What I have learned about parenting is that, in my case at least, it was all about me. I wanted my kids to grow up in a tony neighborhood with college prep schools so different from my Missouri farmboy childhood. If I had thought more about my sons, we might never have come to LA.

Our old house, newly rejuvenated, stands naked and defenseless with only one small, newly planted palm tree. I would love to see the renovations inside, although I am sure that they are not to my taste. I can just see the plantings in the back yard around the side of the house and recognize that some of them survive. I drive on an notice that one by one the oldest of the houses in my neighborhood are replaced by ‘tuscan’ wedding cakes. When we moved to Lunada Bay, there was an interesting mix of ordinary middle class and wealthy housing. Now that land values have risen, only the very wealthy can afford even the ordinary houses which are disappearing. The vacant lot where the old Shell gas station used to be is now a park but the core of Lunada Bay retail remains. In addition to the walkable neighborhood schools, the hardware store, grocery store and drugstore were very persuasive in selecting our house. The drug store is now a bank but the market and hardware stores are still there. Over the last five years, the neighborhood schools have reopened bringing back the appeal we originally saw in the neighborhood.
It is a delightful community, still unpretentious and accessible (none of the gates which are so fashionable these days), even with million dollar home prices and tuscan wedding cakes sprouting like mushrooms. It's the only place on the hill with neighborhood shopping. I alwlays said that if you have to live in LA, Palos Verdes is the place to choose and Lunada Bay is the best of PV.

Getting it off My Chest

Maybe you have noticed my absence from blogging lately and maybe not. After the election, I tried to keep a stiff upper lip and controll my rage at the clowns that have coopted the Republican Party. Tonight, however, my wife asnswered an 'out of area' phone call (she has this needy streak) and said that they wanted to talk to me.

It was someone calling for Mike Reagan wanting money to put out negative ads on Hillary but he started by asking who I thought could beat her. Frankly, I think she will beat herself, but I rose to the bait and told him that all the Republican candidates were a pack of fools and loosers and that I wasn't prepared to throw any money to any of them. He came back manfully with names. Did I like Sam Brownback? Now all I know about Sam Brownback is that he is a Senator and from Kansas and those two facts alone are enough to convince me that he is not the man for the job. He tried Gingrich, Guliani and on. I told him that I didn't really care because even if you elect a Republican, he turns Democrat as soon as elected so I might as well vote for Hillary because then I really would get what I voted for.
He seemed surprised by the hostility that came flowing out of my mouth and, to be truthfull, so was I. But it felt good to tell somebody that I was through trusting Republicans to stand on party principles. The Democrats may get me killed but at least I will always know where they stand.

LA on My Mind

I had a business meeting in Southern California. There was supposed to be a social event Friday night which was cancelled due to household illness so everything got turned around. As a result, I left Sacramento mid-morning and drove to LA with less urgency. I usually prefer 99 to I-5 because there is more going on. Little did I know that the new bond money is already at work rebuilding the non-freeway portion south of Merced. It was about 5:00 when I reached Valencia when I would have preferred an earlier, or later, entry to LA traffic. With KJAZZ on the radio I was ready for the traffic and my next choice was the route to my hotel in Torrance. I picked the Hollywood and Harbor Freeway route through downtown LA over the San Diego and it was a good choice. The traffic never stopped although it slowed at times and it was good to see LA again and relive the commute that had been my daily experience for twenty-some years. There didn’t seem to be any new buildings other that construction of something near Staples Center but what I found amazing was that the names at the top of the buildings were difference in many cases from those I remembered just 5 years ago. Rush hour on the Harbor Freeway is not a good time for sightseeing so I was not able to make a complete survey. I guess that putting your name on a building is a more tasteful kind of advertising that buying a billboard. There were new buildings crowding the freeway at USC which seemed to be some sort of concert hall complex from the decorations on the slab facing me. After USC, the traffic gradually lightened and I got to my hotel by 7:00.

Saturday morning I was free so I slept until I wanted to get up. I returned to the Harbor Freeway and continued the path of my old commute to the house where I lived until two years ago in Palos Verdes. We sold it when we moved to Sacramento and the buyer had done some needed improvements before selling it nine months later. Part of his improvements includeed a complete clearing of 40 year-old trees which had sheltered the studio we built for my wife from the street. Now the new owner has curtains on the French doors which open onto a grass lawn and the street. It’s no longer our house – in more ways than the legal sense – but it is still a lodestone for me every time I get back to the area.

The drive through San Pedro to Palos Verdes Drive South was much the same but The Donald’s golf course had caused some improvements on the Drive. There are now several parks along the road which overlook the golf course and the ocean. The slide area is still sliding but from the condition Saturday, the last road renovation must have been recent. I noticed a new sign for the ocean side neighborhood just past Abalone Cove. I never knew it had a name in all my years in Palos Verdes. If I had to tell anyone how to find it , I would tell them to look for the Fire Station. Now there is a sign proudly proclaiming the Neighborhood of Abalone Cove. Who knew?

Next I passed the apartment complex where my wife and son lived for the six months between selling our old house and moving to our new one in Sacramento. It looked the same. I did not have much emotional attachment to the apartment but I did love the ocean and Catalina view from our third floor balcony. When we lived there, goats grazed on the open field between the complex and the Marineland site and the exteriors for the Movie, Fun with Dick and Jane were being filmed at a false front residential street over the fence. I had heard that construction was finally started on a resort hotel on the old Marineland site but I saw nothing different.

On to Golden Cove where the ocean view Starbucks has been joined by a Subway. The Starbucks represents an upgrade from 25 years ago but the Subway is a step down from the old Golden Cove Deli. The Starbucks was there before we moved but its neighbors were still under construction. Not an improvement from my perspective.

Then on to Lunada Bay, my old neighborhood and the place my kids call home. When we moved in, I was living my dream. When I first came to California, I stayed with an Army buddy in Gardena and he first showed me Palos Verdes and I began to dream about someday living there. It took me eight years and a detour to Manhattan Beach but we purchased a home three blocks from the cliffs (no view). Number one son was nine months old and number two came along 6 years later. They have never lived anywhere else while they were growing up.

LA's the Place

Nearly everyone has forgotten but LA used to have a slogan. LA City Nerd says bring it back.

News You Can Use

Nearly every lock you have is worthless.

Global Warming Update

Bill has been very good at identifying the flaws in the studies that claim to prove global warming.



Now, some anecdotal data on record cold temperatures this year starting in Florida.

Bush Channels David

W and the Democrats

Some Advice for Democrats

From the 'Conservatives' at LA Weekly.

So Democrats better hurry in coming up with some immediately stirring proposals for both the economy and the war. Better start searching, as well, for at least one or two compelling national leaders who can articulate those ideas in some way other than Kerry-speak. A small raise in the minimum wage, and the obfuscation built into the very word “redeployment,” aren’t nearly enough. The mood of the American electorate revealed on Tuesday is one of angry impatience, an intense distrust of the establishment, which just happened to be recently occupied by Republicans. Democrats, take a few days off to savor your victory. And then take good notice of the way the electorate shook off such reprobates as Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum and Kurt Weldon, Montana Senator Conrad Burns, Arizona Senator J.D. Hayworth, and a few dozen others as if they were nothing but a bad case of fleas. That they were Republicans was only serendipitous.

Republican Post Mortem from Rhode Island

By putting forth a candidate like Steve Laffey, Republicans could have guaranteed a race in Rhode Island where issues like the economy could have been discussed. The fact that we currently have a great economy, and the way we got to it, was lost to Rhode Islanders this election cycle. The fact that our goal in Iraq and the Middle East is noble, and the fact that in wartime sometimes mistakes are made and things take longer than we would like, was lost in the battle between who was more anti-war and anti-Bush – Chafee or Whitehouse. Talking about these things in the Senate race would have given us the opportunity for those ideas to have trickled down to other candidates – and blunted the effect of the "I hate Bush – No, I hate him more" mantra from both parties a little bit.

Read it all.

My Name is Ralph.....

And I am a recovering Republican enabler.

I have read many commentators following the Democrat’s takeover of congress, but Rush comes closest to expressing my feelings. He said that he feels liberated.

Now I'm liberated from having to constantly come in here every day and try to buck up a bunch of people who don't deserve it, to try to carry the water and make excuses for people who don't deserve it. I did not want to sit here and participate, willingly, in the victory of the libs, in the victory of the Democrat Party by sabotaging my own. But now with what has happened yesterday and today, it is an entirely liberating thing.

I can relate. How many times in the past year alone have I been furious with the failure of my party to rule. It is criminal that a Republican senate could not approve more conservative judges. I don’t claim to understand Bill Frist but he clearly had no interest in disciplining his troops and pushing the Republican agenda. The fact that he could imagine a future as a Presidential candidate is further evidence that the world looks different inside the beltway. I felt bad about hating Frist, helpless about doing anything to change him, and demeaned about giving an impression of confidence and support for his leadership when I am frustrated and angry.

I seethed with every email from Senator Dole asking for money to shore up floundering RINO Lincoln Chaffee in his battle to win the primary against a real republican and then, to add further insult, the RNSC threw even more money down a rat hole trying to get him re-elected.

I bit my tongue when the President never vetoed any of the over-the-top spending bills or even attempted to draw a line in the sand over anything. Then he established a huge new entitlement which didn’t even earn him anyone’s respect and wanted to give away citizenship to invaders.

The house frittered away their majority on non-essentials and only the threat of voter revolt stirred them to action on illegal immigration before they abandoned their posts to seek re-election. The speaker was more motivated to protect a corrupt Democrat than to eliminating pork. Unfortunately, he survived the massacre. But at least he has withdrawn from consideration.

Now all I have left to defend is the President. I never trusted his conservatism and so it is difficult to maintain that he disappointed me. I have, however, always trusted his leadership on defense. Now, the only issue I expect him to fight the Democrats about is the war. I always feared that he was his father’s son. Bush1 got rolled on taxes. Will Bush2 get rolled on the war?

For years I have carried the burden of justifying the Republican quislings in Congress. I am known to my friends as a Republican and therefore the traitors are mine. I am forced to somehow rationalize their betrayal of the voters that elected them as behavior which, in the long run, will accomplish the Republican mission. This rationalization is tiring and demoralizing and now, with the Democrat triumph, I have a whole new perspective. The Republicans I trusted to support my conservative principles abandoned me. They still claim the Republican Party and claim to represent the principles which I thought I shared with them. If they are the Republican party then I am not a Republican.

After their betrayal, they can no longer count on my automatic support. I demand accomplishment first. I don’t know how they can manage this as minority party but it’s no longer my problem. I am not claiming them until I see something worth claiming.

Finding the Soul of the Republican Party

In their rush to select new leadership, the Republican congress runs the risk of alienating further what remains of it's loyal supporters. Each of us needs to contact our congressman (those of us who still have republicans) to urge their serious attention to this task and to select the best candidates. I sent this letter to my congressman today.

The Honorable John Doolittle
2410 Rayburn HOB
Washington D.C. 20515


Dear Congressman:

Congratulations on surviving the recent election. Despite un-proven allegations about your relationship with Jack Abromoff and reservations on my part about your commitment to a solution for the Social Security problem, I was happy to give you my vote on Tuesday.

Now I ask your commitment to electing strong, new leadership to the house. It is clear that current leadership failed us badly and must be replaced. It is equally clear that the new leadership must have strong commitment to Republican principles and be committed to knocking heads when necessary to keep members in line. I am dismayed that there is a rush to elect the new leadership and fear that this rush will do nothing but produce a leadership which differs from the old one only in the faces. I frankly distrust current leadership and ask you to search diligently for strong candidates that can lead the party back to majority status.

Your experience in Congress should provide a good background to identify and support strong candidates and I expect you to do nothing less. Please resist the rush to a decision. Use your influence to delay the election to allow more time to find and research candidates for the new house republican leadership. And finally, identify candidates which, from your experience, will be able to lead the party back to Republican principles and the hearts and minds of the voters.

You and the remaining Republicans in the house will have challenges in the next two years. I have higher expectations from you now because so much is depending on how Republicans manage their minority status. It has to start now with strong new leadership. Take your time and find the right people. There is great interest from Republicans and a focal point to examine dandidates positions in the blogging community, I encourage you explore the questions posed to candidates by voters and their responses here.


Sincerely,

Why I voted for...

RIght Wing Duck finds a reason to vote for Tom

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High on Believing

If you have voted today then indulge yourself with David.
I believe!

Jihadists Support Democrats

Get yourself over to Powerline and read the details.

Europe is Pelosi's America

Americans can already see what their country’s future will be if they vote for Pelosi and her band. They only need to watch Europe. That is what America will be like 20 years from now if the Liberals succeed

Brussells Journal says that Europe is way beyond the US, but even as their world falls apart around them they pull an Alfred E. Newman.

In this scenario Europe has more to lose than America. That makes it all the more surprising that Europe’s politicians refuse to support America. They seem to be hoping that the Muslims, although they despise the Europeans, will leave them alone so they can carry on paying the taxes that the immigrants live off. I fear it will not turn out this way. Moreover, the funds are running dry because the welfare state hampers wealth creation.

New York Times Proves Saddam Had WMDs, WMD Programs!!!

In an attempt to discredit the Bush Administration, the Times acts like Karl Rove's house paper...

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I Don't Vote for Democrats

because they are going to get me killed!
HT Wizbang

This is why I hate Chaffee

And how many of your contribution dollars to Republican committees have been wasted on this RINO?

More from Missouri

Claire McCaskill- a woman of the people for Missouri.

Study or else..

Get stuck in Iraq. Thank heaven he never made Commander in Chief.

Voter Fraud in Missouri

Kansas City officials say this is the most irresponsible and extensive voter registration abuse in Missouri in the twenty five years they have been on the job with the Kansas City Board of Elections.

More.

Brazil Achieves Energy Independence

But it's not from their ethanol.

....Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva didn't celebrate the oil independence milestone out in an Amazon sugar field.

No, he smashed a champagne bottle on the spaceship-like deck of Brazil's vast P-50 oil rig in the Albacora Leste field in the deep blue Atlantic. Why? Brazil's oil independence had virtually nothing to do with its ethanol development. It came from drilling oil.

Who is your least Favorite Supreme?

Vote Here.

Got your shot?

There isn't enough proof that flu vaccine is effective to support public programs advocating widespread use of flu shots,

At least that is the opinion of the British Medical Journal.

South Korea Responds to NoKo Nuclear Test

Making love, not war.

The Proposition Song

Short and seet summary of the California ballot initiatives.

ZUCKER UNCENSORED TAXMAN AD

Zucker does it again. What we can expect from a Democrat congress.

How Reagan Would Handle Islamism

From Brussells Journal a lesson about dealing with evil from Ronald Reagan.

In dealing with Islamism in the present day, we make the very error that Reagan eschewed with the Communists. We proceed from Islamist premises — namely, that Islam is inherently peaceful; that it is inherently sane; that it is inherently just; and that it is a welcome and benign participant in our post-modern public square.

Read the rest.

Mexico is America's Enemy

John writes a letter to incumbants and challengers. Here is a sample.

The influx of illegal aliens is mostly from Mexico, a third world Socialist nation. Because of corruption, greed, and incompetence, Mexico is unable to feed, house, educate, and provide minimal health care to its citizens.

Rather than reforming the political and economic policies that make Mexico a failure, the elitist socialists there encourage their poor, uneducated peasants to migrate illegally to America.

They do so with the expectation that American wealth, provided by U.S.taxpayers, will be redistributed to the invading aliens who, in turn, will send billions of dollars back to Mexico each year.

Mexico's corrupt leaders also count on U.S. taxpayers to provide health care, education and other public services to millions of Mexican criminals that have been dumped illegally on the U.S. side of the border.

The rest here.

Don't you wish that politicians would face up to the truth here. Why is it that only the potbangers and kooks raise these issues.

What Can America learn from Bangladesh?

Ask Nobel Peace Prize winner MUHAMMAD YUNUS. He knows how to give a hand up.. not a hand out.

So at the risk of sounding presumptuous: What can the U.S. learn from Bangladesh about post-disaster economic recovery? Like many other countries, even Bangladeshis were quick with a handout after Katrina, giving the U.S. $1 million for the victims. But Americans might be surprised to learn that one of our most successful tools for rebuilding businesses is not government handouts, but rather, small loans packaged with practical business and social advice.

If, like me, you are sick of our government's policy of bailing out anyone and everyone when a disaster happens and hearing endless complaints from the recipients of these handouts for being too little, too late, you will find his suggestion appealing. Too bad our politicians wouldn't dream of handing out our money in a more responsible way.

Let me open a beer for you

Seems like overkill but when you need a beer, you use what you have.

Porker

Big Daddy Byrd brags about pork.

Shrillery

Duane says,

I want you to put the headphones on, close your eyes, maybe turn the lights out, and imagine the beautiful Rose Garden with a podium set up. Imagine President Hillary giving a press conference from this serene, historic backdrop, and have her sound like this.

Listen

This Just In From Londinistan

British Bag Ladies

Boycott Indonesia--Stop Murdering Christians Now!

Civil war is in the air in Indonesia. Christians are daily being slaughtered and the government does little to protect them. Two of our longtime blog-friends, Stan the Infidel and Big White Infidel, are furious over the treatment of Christians...

Dr Rusty urges action.

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Act Blue

Democrats must be losing hope, if this is how they rally the troops. The real President out of context and a lame impersonator acting stupid.

I never knew that there was a vast media filter keeping the Democrat story from the public. For more, venture into the fever swamp.

Campaign Fraud in Missouri

My home state of Missouri was solidly Democrat when I lived there. Now it tends Republican. The Democrats of my youth were not the 'cut and run', 'soft on crime' Democrate of today, e.g. Claire McCaskill.

They were Truman Democrats nursed on the mother's milk of the Pendergast machine. McCaskill must be in trouble because she is stooping to lies.....and amazingly enough the media caught her. The ad was pulled but you can still see it here.

Social Security's Incredible Shrinking Return

Will Franklin says,

Simply put, Social Security is an increasingly terrible investment for Americans of all income levels. Let's take a look at the rates of return for middle income Americans:

Check out the whole post.

Army Strong

There is strong
... and then there is ARMY Strong!

Serpent's Tooth Gets Sharper

Lincoln Chaffee campaigns in Rhode Island as the anti-Bush.

... he reminds voters he was "the lone Republican vote against the war in Iraq...the deciding vote to protect clean air standards...for stem cell research" and the one who "stood up to the President on Iraq."

Too Hot for the GOP

The David Zucker Albright Ad


Drudge reports that this paean to the diplomcy of Madeleine Albright is too hot to use. It is timely, however.

How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth

Chaffee shows his gratitude for Republican Party support.

More on the Politically Correct Battle

It's ok because the city will set aside a First Amendment area.

Good Green Livin'

From the October issue of Wired:

Turns out, it's better to drink your latte out of a polystyrene cup than a paper one and forget the ceramic mug. A ceramic mug has an energy and pollution debt equal to 294 paper cups or 1,800 polystyrene cups.

Politically Correct Battle

The Mayor of Franklin Tennessee decrees that no Confederate Flags will be part of a commemeoration of the Battle of Franklin.

HT Instapundit

A Different Kind of Children's Book

Why Mommy is a Democrat brings to life the core values of the Democratic party in ways that young children will easily understand and thoroughly enjoy. Using plain and non-judgmental language, along with warm and whimsical illustrations, this colorful 28-page paperback depicts the Democratic principles of fairness, tolerance, peace, and concern for the well-being of others. It's a great way for parents to gently communicate their commitment to these principles and explain their support for the party.

Squirrelly, to be sure, but kids always need some new books.

Oh, and Daddy seems not to be involved. Perhaps he is a Republican or otherwise irrelevant. Jeff Emanuel has the details.

FAQ Torture

I think I agree with Dean here.

1) Let’s get right to it. Do you support torture?

Let me say what I do support: When it comes to high value targets in the war on terror, wannabe evil-doers who possess or might possess important information, I support any measures necessary to extract that information.

............

15) How do you see the politics of this playing out?

The Democrats hate this issue.

Check out the rest.

In Case You Doubted That LA Is A Union Town

The Police have been facilitating todays civil disobediance by hotel workers near LAX intended to disrupt traffic. Police have pre-booked 400 potential arrestees and will provide parking. Your tax dollars at work.

The Los Angeles Police Department has been involved at nearly every stage, advising organizers on how to proceed without endangering public safety. Experts say the close cooperation with law enforcement reflects a more powerful and mature labor movement, and a city government that is far friendlier to labor than its predecessors.

More at LA Observed.

Dilemma for Rhode Island Republicans

The victory of the RINO Lincoln Chaffee in the Republican primary campaign leaves Rhode Island republicans with unpleasant options particularly after the National Republican Committee applied artificial respiration to the listless Chaffee campaign. Some Rhode Island perspective here and here

And, of course, Hugh has his opinion with a little help from his friends.

Sharia Fine for the Netherlands

Netherlands should go into the netherworld of Sharia law if that is what the majority wants says the Dutch Justice Minister

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Remembering Robert R. Ploger III

Robert R. Ploger III of Annandale Virginia died on September 11, 2001 whien American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. He had lived a good life but was in no way ready to die. He was flying to Hawaii with his new bride of four months to celebrate a belated honeymoon.

Lincoln Loses a Vote

The flier ... which arrived at my house within the past week (fittingly, on garbage day), will stand as the final motivation for me to actually take the time to go out on primary day and actively vote against Linc Chafee.

To see what the Republican National Committee has done to help Lincoln go here.

Conservation and Efficiency - A State Religion

We have been bludgeoned for at least 30 years with the idea that it is wrong to use energy. The California Energy Commission has insisted that conservation will solve all problems. They prevented electric utilities from building power plants until the energy crisis four years ago demonstrated how foolish was their mission. They told us that we were saving money because we weren't building expensive power plants- and we were. What they didn't tell us and won't now is that those power plants would have been far cheaper than the incredible bills the state ran up to supply energy we needed from those 'unnecessary' power plants.

A similar issue is the quest for energy efficiency - one of the tools of conservation. We are constantly urged to invest in more efficient equipment to save energy. And what is the result of our increased efficiency? Has it solved all our supply problems? Not hardly, and not just because of continued population growth. There is also the efficiency paradox.

The true cost of anything has nothing to do with money. Instead, the true cost of any action is the opportunity cost. Increasing the energy efficiency of any technology lowers the opportunity cost and raises the marginal utility of the technology. Increasing the marginal utility leads to a wider use of the technology, which eventually swamps the initial energy savings.

Not that there is anything wrong with efficiency - particularly if it is cost-effective. It is just contrary to economic principles to expect that it will reduce energy use.

The Coming Democrat Majority

Democrats: In Charge and Charged Up Back From Break, Dem Majority Ready to Roll

America Weakly takes us forward to the coming democrat majority. And don't miss the video.

Not Monty Python

It's almost more than I can do to hold my comments. Michael's are much better anyway.

Chaffee Campaign Recap

I have been following the republican primary campaign of Lincoln Chaffee, the most odious of the Senate RINO's all summer. Now the primary approaches and it appears that Republicans in Rhode Island may turn him out. His opponent, Steve Laffey, would have an uphill battle to be elected given the very large proponderance of democrats in RI. National republican support has been strong to re-elect Chaffee to defend the current majority status. Many mere voters are fed up with a republican senate that can't, or won't act. My feeling is that if Chaffee is the only senator standing between a republican majority and a democrat majority, there is no republican majority.

For those of you that haven't personalized the Chaffee campaign, Anchor Rising has compiled a comprehensive roundup of comments and issues so far. It is worth your attention. This is a critical race. A win for Chaffee means a continuing wimpy republican senate. A loss may give the national party some second thoughts about their failure to lead.

Sweden - One Party Rule

Sweden's social democrats have ruled for 72 years. They do not constitute a majority and yet despite a declining economy they maintain control without an agenda or any program to make reforms. What is the secret?

Since Sweden is generally known to be a well-functioning democracy, the seemingly endless rule of Social Democrats poses something of a riddle. Why is there no shift in power to other parties? Can this merely be attributed to the management and campaign skills of the Social Democrats and the lack thereof in the opposition?

It's really simple.

The phenomenon that a party after many years in power becomes one with the state, and creates an election machinery which is paid off in policy, is not unique to Sweden. It is probably one consequence of a lack of restrictions - by a Constitution, for example - on political power. Now it has gone too far.

Seems kind of like California.

It's Miller Time in Chicago

But not at my house. Miller Brewing Company sponsored illegal immigrant marches. More at Wizbang.

AB 32, Some Call it Eco-Suicide

California is about to commit eco-suicide and wants the rest of the nation to join it. The business and industry that will flee the Golden State is incalculable. The danger of these anti-energy policies to the future of the nation is beyond comprehension.

Details here.

AB 32 Unaccountable Regulation

AB 32 which makes California the first state to regulate Carabon dioxide and other substances believed to be the cause of global warming. Most distressing about this bill is the total control of the fees charged for violation of the standards to the California Air Resources Board which is accountable to no one.

Republican Assemblymember Keith Richman voted against the global warming bill Thursday because it gives the California Air Resources Board the authority to charge fees to all emitters of greenhouse as needed to support programs to achieve the reduction goals.

Some details here and here.

What issue or group will Arnold pander to next?

And what choice do California republicans have?

Meanwhile Russian studies based upon solar emmissions data suggest that we may want all the greenhouse gasses we can get. Global cooling in 50 years.

Laffey Ahead in Poll

Rather than merely prognosticating, Victor Profughi of Rhode Island College has been asking Rhode Island voters what they think (OK, that is his job). The most recent RIC poll conducted between August 28 and August 30 has Mayor Laffey leading Senator Chafee, 51%-34% (15% undecided).

More at Anchor Rising