Where We Are In The 2016 Presidential Election?

I can't think of two worst choices, can you? On the one hand we have a pathological liar who spent the first half of her political life covering up for her philandering husband Bill the womanizer and the second half bungling almost everything she touched the state department. Even crazy Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, has been giving her a run for her money on the demoratic side of the ticket. On the other hand, we have we have one of the loosest of all loose cannons running for a job that requires diplomatic experience and a level-headed approach to the problems he will inherit from the bumbling Obama administration. Never has there been a more childish uncouth man running for the highest office in the land, never! Almost every word that comes out of this man's mouth is an embarrassment. Has he no handlers or is to just too stupid to take their advice? It's difficult or impossible to believe a single word that come out of Trump's mouth. Reminds you of Hillary, doesn't it? Will he really build the wall? I, for one, do not believe a word he says in this respect. Will he deport a single illegal? Again, I doubt it. In fact, I believe he will make it easier for low IQ South American illiterates to cross our boarder. After all the Donald is a business man and business men want an endless supply of cheap labor, the American worker be damned! No, we are left with two extremely unacceptable choices, a woman who has failed at everything she has tried from her first job at the State department (fired for lying and incompetence) to the Benghazi fiasco where she was responsible for sitting on her hands doing nothing while our ambassador and three others were murdered. She should be in prison, not in the White House. In Trump we have a blustering school boy bully who attempts to sell himself a successful business man but has filed for more bankruptcies than most dogs have fleas on their backs. How does this record of business failures qualify one to be president? After all, when you are dealing with China or Russia there is no bankruptcy court to bail your sorry ass out if Putin or some other foreign leader calls one of your unreasoned bluffs. The republican establishment ultimately will swallow hard and support the Donald. What other choice do they have if they want to maintain their Washington power base and their handsome life styles? They will do everything possible to make Trump look reasonable. More importantly, they will move heaven and earth to make us conservatives believe this 59 year old juvenile delinquent is the second coming of Christ. Well, I'm not buying it! As my mother used to say, "You can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but it's still a pig!" So what is one to do? Voting for the lying incompetent Hillary Clinton is not an option. Voting for the Trump the foul mouthed school yard bully is an unacceptable alternative. At this point in time, we can only hope that something unexpected will occur at the Republican convention and a more reasonable candidate will immerge that we conservatives can support. The chances of this happening are, admittedly, slim to none. So, I'll write in Ted Cruz's name and be done with it. America is in her last days as a prosperous viable national leader. I may not live to see the end but I bet my grandson will.

Gardening Tips- Growing Tomatoes.

It's time to plant tomatoes, actually it's a little past the ideal time in Northern California. I start my tomatoes from seed, usually in December of the previous year in a green house and transplant the seedling in April when they are 8 to 12 inches tall (the taller the better). First prepare the ground before planting tomato seedlings. I mix in earthworm castings, alfalfa pellets and a handful of ground oyster shells to each hole before inserting the tomato plants. The calcium in the oyster shells prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes and other vegetables. Ground up oyster shells only come in 50 pound bags; thus, oyster shells may not be a practical way to add calcium to the soil if you are only going to raise a few tomato plants. Egg shells also are a wonderful way to add calcium to the soil, but they take several months to break down and release the mineral into the soil. Other sources of calcium are bat guano, soft rock phosphate and Dolomite lime. Plant the tallest plants available for the best end result. To plant relatively tall plants, you have two choices. Either dig an appropriately deep hole or, better yet, dig a 4 to 6 inch trench and lay the plants on their sides. Pull off the lower leaves. Roots will form where the leaves were attached to the plants resulting in healthy strong plants. Make sure that only the top cluster of leaves are above the ground after the seedlings are planted. I plant only "indifferent" tomato plants which should be grown upward on a cage or trellis ("different" tomato plants are grown as bushes with their branches and leaves close to the ground). To encourage upward growth, and help prevent tomato viral diseases, after the plants have reached a height of about eight inches start removing the lower leaves from the plants. The lower leaves of a tomato plant should not be allowed to touch the ground to discourage viruses in the ground from reaching the upper branches of the tomato plant. At this stage of growth you also should begin removing the suckers from your tomato plants. Suckers form at the junction of a tomato plant's main stock, or stocks, and a leaf. If the suckers are not removed the plants will tend to grow sideways rather than upwards. When the plants are 1.5 to 2 feet tall selected suckers may be retained and attached to the wire cage or trellis in which you are growing them to achieve the desired form of your adult plants. If you are unsure about the appearance of a tomato sucker, go to the internet and watch a video on tomato suckers. I should also mention that the removed suckers may be placed in the ground to produce additional tomato plants. One final tip on growing delicious tomatoes. The tomato flower contains both female and male sex organs. To encourage tomato plants to produce fruit, shake the tomato blossom with your hand or the brush of a battery driven electric tooth brush, around noon each day. Earlier in the morning or later in the day this method of fertilization does not work as well. Shaking the blossoms not only increases the yield of a tomato plant but also increases the number of seeds in the tomato, which enhances its flavor. Happy gardening!

The Best Bread Recipe Ever!

How to make a good loaf of bread? That is a problem I had struggled with for many years. My mother could do this in her sleep. Unfortunately, she took all of her recipes, which were in her head, to the grave with her, so she was of no help to me in this endeavor. A few years ago I tumbled to this simple recipe for making a great loaf of bread and thought I would share it with you. Actually, it makes two loaves of fantastic bread, but who's counting. I can assure you that this recipe will work the first time you try it and every time thereafter. To make this wonderful bread you will need two large cast iron kettles with lids in which to bake the bread, other lighter weight baking dishes will not achieve the same results, so don't waste your time trying them. The ingredients for the recipe are simple and readily available. Six cups or bread or all purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon of dried yeast ( this is not a typing error, that's all you need); three teaspoons of salt; 3 and 1/4 cups of water. Simply mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir in the water. This will produce very, very wet bread dough. Spray the dough with Pam or olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 18 hours. Do not manipulate the dough in any way (you couldn't even if you tried because it is so wet to work with). At this point, line two medium sized bowls with parchment paper: divide the dough in two roughly equal parts: punch down the dough and place each of them in a bowl. Now spray again with Pam, cover with a dish towel and let them sit for another two to three hours. Note, the recipe is very time consuming but requires very little effort on your part. Now, preheat the oven, kettles and lids to 500 degrees F. After the kettles and lids are oven temperature remove them from the oven. Remove the lids and lift the parchment paper by its corners to place the dough in the preheated kettles. The original recipe did not employ parchment paper in the transfer process; however, if you do not use this trick the bread dough will fall during the transfer process. Replace the lids and bake at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove the lids and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes at 450 degree F, or until each loaf is golden brown. Remove the loaves from the baking kettles and let them cool on a rack. Anyone can make delicious bread using this simple foolproof recipe. One cautionary note, however, this bread is not for weight watchers.

Cinnamon and the Gardener

I use a lot of cinnamon, not on my food, but on my house plants and organic garden. Literally, I sprinkle it on everything! Let's begin by discussing its use to control the gardener's nightmare the, dreaded "dampening off" syndrome. Anyone who has attempted to get an early jump on spring by establishing plants from seeds in a green house, or in seed trays on an indoor window sill, is all too familiar with the dreaded "damping off." This term refers to an array of fungal diseases that attach your sprouting seeds and lead to their early demise. Starting plants from cuttings poses a similar problem. Cinnamon is a proven fungus exterminator, better yet its 100 percent organic and relatively cheap. Simply sprinkle a little cinnamon powder over the bedding in which you have plated your seeds at weekly intervals to decrease the chances that they will be killed by the offending fungi. Cinnamon also is a very powerful rooting hormone. When planting cuttings, dip the cuttings in cinnamon powder before inserting them into the starting soil. This simple maneuver greatly enhances your chances of growing plants from cuttings. After inserting the cuttings in the starting soil do not forget to sprinkle cinnamon powder over the cuttings and soil to inhibit the "damping off" fungi. In any case, you can save a lot of money by using cinnamon rather than more expensive, and often less effective, commercial rooting hormones to stimulate root growth. There are several other non-culinary uses for cinnamon powder. Ants do not like cinnamon powder and you can sprinkle it around the garden, or entrances into the house, to deter infestations of ants in either location. Cinnamon powder also can be sprinkled around house plants to rid your plants of various molds and mildew. Finally, cinnamon powder can be used to rid your plants of gnats and other similar pests. In summary, cinnamon powder is a natural and affordable way to keep your indoor and outdoor plants healthy and flourishing. Why not give it a try?

Changing Times

I am now in my 79th year, and during the time I have lived on this wondrous planet, America has changed from Ronald Regan's "Shining city on the hill " to a debt ridden, amoral country where sodomy and full-term abortion are OK; illegitimacy in the black community is the norm; and one third of the country's population is on food stamps.

I was aware that this transformation was occurring but, for a number of serf-serving reasons, did little or nothing to curtail the amorality and political corruption that was destroying my profession and the country of my birth. I hope in writing this book to atone, in part, for my indifference. In this respect, if ever a soul needed forgiveness and redemption, it is I! In writing this book, I relied heavily on the statistical evidence Richard J. Herrington and Charles Murray presented in their remarkable book, The Bell Curve, to support my contention that many, if not most of America's financial and moral problems are a direct result of the falling IQ of our citizens. Our intellectual decline results from the fact that the birthrate of smart white women has fallen sharply over the last 50 years while the birthrates of low IQ women, of all races, has steadily increasing during the same period. The illegal immigration of intellectually challenged Mexican women also has contributed greatly to our country's intellectual decline. The remedies I suggest in America In Decline, such as the introduction of a National Identification Card, without which a person cannot work or vote, and limiting voting rights to those who pay taxes, are simple straight forward measures that, if implemented, would go a long way towards righting our floundering ship of state. However, unlike Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, I do not believe significant political change can be achieved at the voting booth. No, I fear it will take a second American revolution to get our train back on the track to financial solvency and morality. Hopefully, our second revolution will not be as bloody as was the first!

Can Trump Be Stopped? Trump has been an enigma from the first day of his campaign. For many of us, this ego-maniac represents the least desirable aspects of our society, an unapologetic blow-hard who is intent on bringing out the worst aspects of humanity and, I might add, does so on a daily basis with no end in sight. Then, right before our eyes, he morphs into the most formable candidate in the republican field, the endorsement of Chris Christie almost makes him seem, somehow, normal. Well, when all is said and done, this guy is a lose canon of unparalleled equal and, in a normal sane world, wouldn't have a chance of ascending to the presidency. However, we live in an upside-down world where anything is possible. Who would have thought, fifty years ago, that Obama, who obviously hates everything American except for the life style we have given him, could be elected to the presidency not once, but twice? No reasonable conservative has the slightest idea what Trump would do as president. My guess is that Trump doesn't know either. Most likely, he is playing this game as another of his sit-coms throwing his chips in the air and letting them fall where they may, completely oblivious of the outcome. The question is, can Trump be stopped? I believe the endorsement of Christie makes this very unlikely. Christie didn't have "a snow ball's chance in hell" of becoming the republican presidential candidate," but his endorsement of Trump increases trumps conservative credentials tremendously. Meanwhile, Rubio continues to embarrass himself, at every opportunity, and Ted Cruz, the only true conservative in the race, can't get out from under Trump's shadow no matter how hard he tries. Supper Tuesday will tell the story, but it seems extremely unlikely that the New York dandy can be derailed from his real goal which is to destroy the republican party, which he will do come 2017, whether he wins or loses the general election. This is the way it most likely will play out. If trump wins both Florida and Texas the game is over. More likely, Trump will take Florida and lose to Cruz in Texas. If this is the case. both Cruz and Rubio will hang on to the bitter end and no one will have a majority of the votes at the convention. This is where the establishment takes over and Rubio, proud member of the gang of eight, is given the nomination. Cruz will crawl away and sulk in a corner crying foul all the way. Trump, on the other hand, will go ballistic and run as an independent carrying 30 to 40 percent of the conservative republican base, and a few independents and pissed-off democrats, over the cliff with him. One way or the other it is going to be a very interesting year.

Planting Tomatoes

Spring is in the air, well most days, and it's time to start thinking about the summer garden. Even when cramped for space, most of us will want to have a pot or two of tomatoes on the deck or patio. There are few "musts" about growing those delicious home grown tomatoes, here's one of them.

Blossom-end rot (BED) is a deformity that occurs at the blossom end of all fruiting vegetables and is particularly common in tomatoes. BED begins as a watery looking area adjacent to the blossom. In short order, the lesions enlarge, become brown or black in color and take on a leathery appearance which covers the bottom half of the fruit. While edible, the unaffected upper half of the fruit is small and not worth keeping. BED is not caused by a pest or parasite; rather, it is the result of a calcium deficiency in the plant. All plants require sufficient quantities of calcium to develop correctly and BED is a sure sign that your tomatoes are not absorbing enough calcium to develop correctly. As most often is the case, a pound or two of prevention is worth many pounds of cure. This is particularly true of BED because, once the plant is mature, it is difficult or impossible to reverse the situation. So, before planting your tomatoes make sure that the soil you plant them in is not deficient in calcium. I assume that the soil will be deficient in calcium and simply add a little calcium to each of the prepared beds in which the tomatoes will be planted. One can add lime, gypsum or egg shells to increase the calcium content in the soil. Egg shells take a long time to break down. Lime and gypsum must be used with caution because both materials may make the soil to alkaline for ideal plant growth. In any case, I add a small handful of ground-up oyster shells to each hole in which I plant a tomato seedling, mixing it in well with the other materials used to enrich the soil (worm castings, aged manure, coffee grounds and rotted oak leaves). One also can add four to six pounds of powdered oyster shells per one hundred square feet of soil to accomplish the same goal. By the way, it's not too early to plant those tomatoes if you live in the coastal regions of central California. If in doubt, cover the plants at night with something like a five gallon plastic bucket if there is a chance of frost. Happy gardening!