Towers of veg and manure, a rant

The hens and chicks normally clump really close to the ground in a nice cluster. Then suddenly a giant stalk appears, thrusting upwards. In previous years it's up and then it droops over again fairly quickly. I'm not sure when these first appeared, but it's been several months, I think.

These guys are beside the garage, under the protection of the Dread Alberta Rose. These photos are from a little while ago. If you look carefully at Tuesday's State of Green post, you can see them in the first photo. Last time they had the big bright blossom at the end of the stalk, but I don't remember the other blossoms along the stalk itself.

It will be interesting to see how much longer they will last. As of today (the evening of Sept 12 as I write this, it's getting cold out. It's supposed to rain, and maybe snow. Linda has wrapped up all the plants as best she can, but it won't be nice enough to unwrap them till Friday. Who knows if any of them will still be with us? I suspect this is it for bee season, and I hope they are all tucked away in their hives with lots of food to last till spring.

As of the 16th, it still hasn't been nice enough to unwrap them. I don't think it's actually frosted, but it's been hovering around the zero mark for a while. The towers are still up, perhaps drooping a little more. No idea how the dahlias are doing.

At least we don't have a hurricane bearing down on us. I feel for the poor people in the Carolinas. The rich people can easily go somewhere else. The poor people have a lot fewer choices.

Right now I just have a big orange cat bearing down on me because he thinks it's suppertime. It isn't. His tummy runs fast. Which reminds me, I think some of you missed yesterdays cat panorama.

Another 5K run today, just under 36 minutes.

I finished up Fantasyland yesterday and it's back to the library. It ended up being depressing reading. Just power-mongering politicians pandering to their base by spouting fear, and building the towers of manure even higher. I was hoping at the end there'd be some suggestions about how to get on track, but there wasn't.

So you get mine:

• Get out and vote for the grownups on the slate, especially the female candidates. Generally that means not voting for the parties much to the right of centre. Note that what used to be moderate right is now considered centre, and the right fringe has moved substantially rightward and become substantially louder.
• Avoid one issue candidates, they tend to have forceful and probably simplistic opinions on that issue, which closes their minds on alternative opinions. 
• Non-grownups tend to have an old fashioned view of the world, with simplistic solutions that usually involve scapegoating some identifiable group and pushing them out. Note that it' never them or their buddies. It might be Muslims, or First Nations, or LBGTQ people, but it doesn't matter. They are generating divisions in society, and that's the last thing we need.
• Encourage grownups to run for office, preferably female ones. Encourage your grownup friends to vote. It's important.
• Push for a replacement of the first past the post voting system. We need some form of proportional representation, so that a minority of votes (the right 37% of votes is enough) to give one party a majority government. Yes it's possible to have a stable country with such a system. Remember the first rule, vote for the grownups.
• Reject sloganeering and sound bite policy. Push for details, and the facts to back up those details. Call  out the candidates when they lie. This means doing some research and being prepared. 
• Beware the candidate that talks about rights for a group, as in parent's rights, or responsible gun owner's rights, or taxpayer rights. This translates to that group getting a free pass on the rights front, and other people getting their rights restricted or removed. It's a tricky issue to balance rights (free speech vs hate speech, or private property vs public good, and many other issues) and we need to openly discuss the choices without demonizing anyone.
• Most issues are considerably more nuanced than they first appear. It is very possible for reasonable people to disagree, and they should be able to discuss the issues without losing their cool. Anyone trying to tell you an issue is simple, and they have the solution, and is saying so loudly, is trying to hustle you. Hold firmly onto your wallet.