"IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT THE MEANING OF THE WORD 'IS', IS"

MORNING SKY

ROSES, SPIREA AND VALERIAN (PURPLE)

Friday, 8:00 AM.  70 degrees F, wind WNW, calm at present.  Humidity is 63%, there are a few white clouds in the sky and the barometer predicts partly cloudy conditions.  It looks like it will be a seasonably warm day to work in the garden.
    The perennial garden is a green mess at present, the spring flowers over with and most of the mid summer things not yet in bloom, and everything overgrown and weedy.  But, I have begun to clean things up, and it won’t be long until it looks pretty decent again.  The roses, though, have been beautiful, and different roses, some Spirea  blooms and Valerian make an outstanding arrangement, not only beautiful but extremely fragrant.
    Valerian has a very distinctive odor, which not everyone finds pleasant, and is often used in aromatherapy (which I know little about).  But I do know something about medicinal herbs, and Valerian is a dependable sleep aid.  For many years I have used it  on occasion to induce a good night’s sleep.  As good or better than a shot of brandy, it is not a narcotic and is not habit forming as far as I know.  The dried root is usually  used in commercial formulations.  It is a powerful anti-spasmodic and was used in earlier times in the treatment of epilepsy and other nervous disorders.
    Commentary: I am mystified by the action of the Supreme Court re Obamacare, and particularly by the majority opinion rendered by the Chief Justice.  I will wait until the pundits analyze it all and I have a chance to think about it before commenting in depth. 
    I am, however, very concerned about one particular aspect of the Court’s actions; the fact that it took the Administration’s very specific use of the word “penalty” in the presentation of its case,and interpreted it to mean “tax,” thereby invoking the authority of Congress, under the Constitution, to enforce compliance of the single payer mandate. 
    Sounds like George Orwell’s long-dreaded “1984” has at last arrived and declared its “newspeak”  our official language  Pictrue this scenario in a trial; “We know the defendant said X, but what he really meant was Y.”   If the courts can interpret specific words in the English language to their own ends, our days as a free people are indeed numbered.
    Bill Clinton, that old scoundrel, evidently had it right all along: “It all depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’, is.