A Neighborhood, Perfidy and Weather

Today we drove over to Mercado San Augustin to see what was happening.  We used to ride our bikes through there before we quit riding on the road.  We're too old to get hit by a car, so we don't ride with them anymore.  We visited our favorite neighborhood, I first blogged about it years ago.

 Cactus on a small balcony.

A mural of Freida Kahlo on the side of a house. 
 

It's designed to be a walking neighborhood.  Now that I'm older, that translates to unless I have a unit with a garage I have to haul groceries a long way.  Apparently they are having issues with large photography groups coming through and plugging up the sidewalks.  One house has a sign up that it's a private residence and don't use a flash on your camera (so you can see in to the courtyard.)  It's a cool idea, but it's still to close to student housing.  UofA students are notorious for bad behavior. 

These are large apartment buildings about a block away, I'm not sure where they will all park their cars.  I suspect the hope is that the residents will use the modern street car.

The blue thing in the lane in front of us is the Modern Streetcar.  It's fun to ride, but it's in the traffic lane, so when the cars stop, it does, too.  Note the paint scheme on the overpass.

What is now being called SignalGate has been discussed mightily today.  The Press Secretary has been telling many lies.  She did not wear her cross today, maybe she's afraid it will go up in flames from the lying.

This is from twitter.

The New Republic has an interesting transcript of a discussion of the event.  It's a good read.

Seattle is getting weather.  The ferry service is warning that the rides across the sound may be bumpy.  Hail and a possible tornado are in the forecast.  This is not typical for the area, generally they just get months of gray skies and drizzle.

So, that is what I have to say about things.

This was the radar later on.

A Big Agave and the Usual Perfidy and Malfeasance

It was 95F today.  95!!!  We were out of the house at 9:30 on the bikes, it was a warm ride.  It's going to cool back down in the coming days and happy we are about that.  Apparently I have quit taking photos, I guess there is nothing interesting in my line of sight.  Here is an agave growing in the back yard.  He's different from the Paryii strain.  This strain is susceptible to Agave Snout Weevils.   Our old neighbor lost three large plants to the weevils.  They burrow in, lay eggs, and the off spring hollow out the plant.

By now, we all know about the Signal call that Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in Chief of Atlantic Magazine, sat in on.  Apart from the astonishing fact that he was added to a top-secret, need to know chat stream, is the fact that it was held AT ALL on Signal.  Talking about imminent bombing of a foreign country is supposed to occur in a SCIF.  We know that the people on the chat were using private cell phones, because Signal is never installed on government computers.  Witkoff was in Russia while on the call.  Russia!  The people who snoop everything.  An undercover CIA agent was on the call, and was referred to by name by Ratcliffe, the head of the CIA.  I hope this person is brought home, they're blown as an agent.  Europe now knows the degree to which the US government feels disdain for them.  I do hope they're smart enough, and efficient enough, to quit talking and start making weapons.  We can not be trusted.  A week before this call, the Pentagon put out a mass mailing that Signal is not secure, and don't use it.  They're using Signal because it self deletes in one to three weeks.  So much for the Official Records Act.

Greenland recently held elections.  Currently they have a caretaker government, and while they are forming new coalitions, they don't want visitors.  The US administration tried to say Usha Vance had been invited by the Greenland government, they posted on Facebook that no such thing happened.  Now JD Vance is going up on Friday, he says:  "We want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world.” “Unfortunately, leaders in both America and in Denmark, I think, ignored Greenland for far too long. That’s been bad for Greenland — it’s also been bad for the security of the entire world. We think we can take things in a different direction, so I’m going to check it out.”  I am so certain Greenland and Denmark are interested in Vance poking around in their defenses.  The Hill article is here.  The Greenlanders are planning to protest the visit.

47 has been writing executive orders.  The Constitution gives the states authority to run their elections.  47 has decided to ban mail in voting.  That will end up in court.   He's also going after law firms that he thinks were after him.  

So, same day, different shit from the nation's capitol.

 

Go Read This Now, Please.

This is a must read on how an Atlantic reporter got on a Signal chat group with Hegseth, JD Vance and others, discussing OPERATIONAL DETAILS of bombing the Houthis.  It's a gift article, I don't know how long it will be free.  It's worth your time to go read it.  Just the sheer stumbling incompetence of the whole exercise is amazing.

 

 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/?gift=J_CNpt7Ar1nKEXqJWVh1ulEUSzqbExa4Kxm41rX0EQA&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Desert, Deer and Cactus

Yesterday we hiked.  We went out the trail toward the big rocks.  There are two huge, deep, washes on the way.  The land rises and falls, the area is a foothill of the mountain.  It's interesting that once you cross the second wash, the desert changes.  It's greener and there is more plant life. 

On the way back, we passed by what we think is the exit if you have gone behind the rocks, up to the ridge, and back down the unpleasant descent.  We're going to start at the exit and walk it backwards, to see if there is a way off the trail, without going to the ridge.

The hike leaves the Tucson Estates trail when you see these.  There used to be three cacti there.

Now there are only two.  The arrows point at the stump of the dead one.

Coming back from the other direction, we used to see this cactus, indicating the walk was almost over.

Now he is this.  The drought has been difficult for the desert.

This morning, the deer came to visit.  She nibbled on the next door cactus flowers.  Then she headed in to our back yard.  After that, she went across the street and ate a large chunk out of their bougainvillea.  They do not have much fear of us.  

That red cactus she's standing by is about to bloom.  Fortunately, she has not yet nibbled on it.

I'm not talking about that man today.  Suffice it to say, today he signed an EO to close the Department of Education.  Hegseth is still removing women and POC men from websites, to include Colin Powell, and is now sending "compliance officers" around the US to make sure only white men are represented on the web sites. 

 

What Are We Outraged About Today?

This.

Here is the link to her bio.  It's a lot.

Clouds

It was a glorious day.  We rode, winds were light.  I think we're going to have to start getting out earlier.  It was in the mid-80s, and while it's not really hot, we were feeling it.  At this point, we're not acclimated to either end of the temperature spectrum.

There were clouds.

There was a sunset.  This is the first good one since we got here last November.  It has been so dry.

I promise, I did not hit the saturate button.

So, that's all I have to say.

Here's a photo Jim took - that's the house.