25 Cents Worth

Yesterday was the quarter-century mark for my flapper. I can only thank God that He worked things out the way He did. Spent the evening splitting more of that black locust firewood. Wow.

Dis'n'Dat

1. Granny is coming home Thursday
2. Planted onions, cabbage, broccoli, and some more lettuce in the greenhouse Saturday
3. Started soaking some of Dad's old (1992) pepper seeds in HOHO (that was Bruce's suggestion, that HOHO would possibly provide extra O to break dormancy); they have swelled up and I need to get them in potting soil

What a Turkey!

Yesterday (3-4-2010), by a 23-22 vote, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved sending House Resolution 252, "Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution" to the House floor for a vote by the full House.

As a result of this action, the government of Turkey has recalled its ambassador Turkey recalls envoy to U.S. over panel's 'genocide' vote. The Turks, who once went under the name "Ottoman Empire", and who butchered their way into the heart of Europe, are unhappy that their actions against the Armenians in the early 20th Century could possibly be censured by the Representatives of the American People.

So unhappy are they, that they have resorted to threats. It seems, however, that you have to read foreign newspapers to find out what is going on over there Ankara warns of 'consequences'

"Turkey warned the Obama administration on Friday of negative diplomatic consequences if it fails to impede a US resolution branding the World War I-era killing of Armenians as genocide.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his country, a key Muslim ally of the US, would assess what measures it would take, adding that the issue was a matter of "honor" for Ankara."

...

"Davutoglu said the Obama administration had not put sufficient weight behind efforts to block the vote and called on Washington to do more to prevent the measure from now going to the full House.

The measure was approved at a time when Washington is expected to press Turkey to back sanctions against Iran to be approved in the UN Security Council, where Turkey currently holds a rotating seat. Turkish cooperation is also important to US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also at stake are defense contracts. Turkey is an important market for US defense companies, many of which had lobbied against the measure."

News reports in this country have told of the Turkish unhappiness, but the JPost article was the first I had seen that contained the revelation that the Turks simply do not understand how the United States government works.

The President is the representative of the United States. The Congressman from each district is the representative of the people of his State. When an American points to a President and says, "He's not my President, in a certain sense of the phrase, he is correct. The President is simply one citizen among equals, not a king or dictator. Because of this, there is often a sense of anger when a President attempts to tell Congress what to do.

Maybe the Turks should get a history book and look up the "XYZ Affair". Ha! Maybe some Americans should do the same. We may not be the most diplomatic people in the world, as some nations consider diplomacy, but we do tend to react as Charles Pinckney is said to have done when the French tried to interfere in American policy by asking for a bribe to avoid war, "Millions for defense, sir, but not one cent for tribute."

It takes a Turkey to try to influence the representatives of the American people by threatening the President of the United States. The real question is whether this President is anything at all like John Adams.

Spring is Coming

Yesterday I was able to get into the greenhouse for the first time since the beginning of the year. Had to shovel away almost a foot of snow from in front of the door; in spite of the melting the snow is still piled around the sides from where it slid off, and the door had been blocked by several feet of snow that had accumulated through normal snowfall plus drifting.

Outside, it was barely above freezing. Inside, the temperature was a balmy 56 degrees. The lettuce I planted in the Fall with a hope of having fresh greens at Christmas seems to have survived. We shall see. In a day or so I maybe there will be some new growth, I hope, and then perhaps there will be home-grown salad for Easter.

The sweet basil and pepper plants that were left over the winter need to be cleaned out and the soil improved with some manure and lime in preparation for planting.

I need to get a thermometer with a probe in order to take the soil temperature a few inches down. It is March; time to seed onions, cabbage, broccoli, some more lettuce...

Any more suggestions as to what I should try to grow in there?