Disney/Pixar Bride

Went to see it last night at the Jax Jr.  Enjoyable.  The tale is set in McBeth-land with a touch of Viking (sort of medieval Scotland with Scandinavian touches).  Gloomy stone castle on a commanding height, deep woods.  Beautiful tomboy daughter of the local king is being groomed for a dynastic marriage by her mother.  She has very impressive long red wavy hair which the computers lovingly render strand by strand and frame by frame.  Needless to say she is deeply into archery and horseback riding, and given the set of clods for suitors that Pixar gives her, no wonder. 
   The Pixar animation is up to it's usual standards.  Sound is good.  It's in 3-D which is something of a pain and doesn't help the movie at all.  There are some holes in the plot and the characterizations, but it remains a good flick.  Go see it if you haven't already. 

So how much per truck?

Fox News reports that the US and Pakistan have patched up some differences.  In return for some kind of regrets about blowing a Paki border post away (with 20 odd troops inside it at the time) the Pakis will open up the Kyber Pass to US supply trucks, hauling supplies to US troops in Afghanistan.  Sounds good.  Fox failed to tell us about the baksheeh (money) involved.
  Before the Paki's shut down the Kyber Pass, about 6 months ago, they had been getting $100 a truck in bribes, tolls, squeeze, and payoffs.  We heard demands of $1000 a truck after the pass was to reopen.  The Fox piece made no mention whatsoever of baksheesh. How much are we paying the Pakis to get supplies thru to our men in Afghanistan?  Somebody knows, but they aren't telling us.

Care for the small lawn

The small lawn, what you get with a starter house, or perhaps a condo. Say 8000 square feet or less.  Actually, grass is easy to grow, tolerates sun, shade, cruddy soil, drought, benign neglect.  It will start from grass seed and be tall enough to mow in 4-5 weeks.  Unless you want that hayfield look, it does need to be mowed 'bout once a week during grass season.  If the mower whacks off too much it shocks the grass.  Cutting it down an inch or so is fine, whacking off a foot a a time will make the grass dizzy. I set the mower high, 3 of 4 inches up, to allow the grass a decent length of green to do the photosynthesis thing and feed the roots.  Let the clippings just fall into the lawn, they sift in and disappear, they help hold moisture, and help hold the soil against the rain.  Plus the grass takes something out of the soil to do all that growing; if you bag the clippings and haul 'em away, the soil will run out of that something.
    There is a lot to be said for a hand mower over a power mower.  The power mover is as hard to push as the hand type, it requires hearing protection, it will fling rocks out the discharge chute at bullet speeds.  Power mowers never start after wintering in the garage.  Remember, we are talking small lawns here, not the five acre spread.
    Normal grass grows so fast that it will crowd out the average low powered weed.  Hand pluckery will control the higher powered dandelions and plantains.  Plucking is easiest the day after a rain, the soil will be soft and the weeds will come up by the roots. I don't use herbicide or "weed & feed", 'cause the active ingredient is Agent Orange which has a nasty rep going back to the Viet Nam war. 
   For fertilizing, I rely upon the contents of my cat box.  Just walk about and spread the stuff widely,  That evil odor is ammonia (fixed nitrogen) which plants find tasty.  The Kitty Litter is fine and light and will improve  the quality of your soil.  If you don't have a pet, commercial nitrogen fertilizer works too.  Up here in New England, the soil is acid, pretty much everywhere, so a light spread of powdered lime will help sweeten it, which makes grass happy.  Fireplace ashes are good too, but make sure they are finely and  thinly spread.  A concentrated clump will burn the grass.

Creepy, Your ebook is reading you.

The Kindles and Nooks report back to their makers, things like what books you buy, how fast you read them, any marginal notes you might make.  All this goes to the publishers for data mining to help discover (or make) the next best seller.  And all this data can be used against you in court.  For instance, was I prosecuting an Islamic terrorist, I'd be sure the jury knows he reads about explosives and weapons. Used to be, libraries refused to divulge what books a person checked out.  Kindles and Nooks just squeal on you.
  I wonder if the "read-kindle-ebook-on-your-laptop" programs are as nosy.  

News Domination

That Roberts court sure knows how to take over the news.  It's been nothing but talk about the Obamacare decision since Thursday.  Needless to say, I was disappointed that we are still stuck with Obamacare with just a slight watering down.  I had been hoping the Supremes would save us from our own folly.  No such luck.
  We will have to do it the old fashioned way, at the ballot box in November.  If that doesn't work, the US of A goes down the same drain Greece is going down today.  So far Obama care has jacked up everyone's insurance costs and  has kept un employment high thru classic FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt) tactics.
   All I can figure is Roberts feared the uproar that Obamacare repeal would cause, and rather than be subjected to the storm of criticism, he found a face saving out that leaves Obamacare still at large in the land.  Good courageous lawyering at work.

Inconspicuous Consumption vs Great Depression 2.0

They used to rave on and on about unchecked consumerism. Vance Packard with The Wastemakers.  My mother used to grumble about how commercial Christmas had become. Keeping up with the Joneses.  Buying a new Detroit car every three years.  Well, that unchecked consumerism used to provide 70% of the American  Gross National Product.
    Fast forward to the 2010's.  That new Detroit car will last to 150,000 miles and is still looking pretty nice and new after 6 years on the road.  My father used to trade every 3 years just before the rust came thru the rocker panels.  I can remember all of those family cars after all these years.  Me, I still bought new, but kept them for 6 years.  Modern galvanized rocker panels don't rust out.  Yearly auto sales peaked at 17 million back in '05 and have dropped off to 10 million today.   Not even teenagers buy new clothes anymore.  Take a look at your high school students.  Urban grunge is the style today.  The baggy layered look helps conceal the muffin tops.  Two of my three children don't even own cars. 
    In short, Americans are consuming less, durable goods are more durable,  the hot new electronic toys are fairly cheap and as consumer demand drops off,  so does employment. 

Winter's Bone

After seeing  Hunger Games, I  netflixed this one 'cause it had Jennifer Lawrence starring in it.  I watched the first half hour or so and then I couldn't take anymore.  The poverty and misery in which Ree is living is just too deep for me to suffer thru it.  I couldn't watch another hour or so of this kind of misery.  I turned it off and went to bed.
   I'm sure Jennifer did a fine job of acting but I watch movies for entertainment and relaxation, not to have all the misery of the world played out in my living room.  That is neither entertaining nor relaxing.