Life under communism sucks unless you’re part of the communist elite. Even then it’s not that great. A substantial part of the Venezuelan population probably hopes that Trump will regime-change Maduro’s government. Nevertheless, a military exercise could easily turn into another Vietnam, and a big issue is whether the U.S. should interfer in another country’s affairs regardless. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine haven’t worked out the best.
From Amir Taheri
In the case of Machado, a case could be made to support her brave campaign to force an authoritarian regime to respect its own constitution by allowing free and fair elections according to the law of the land.
“There is no need for anyone to be poor in a country as rich as ours,” Hugo Chávez asserted. “Give me four years, just give me four years!”
Well, Chávez had three times as many years and left Venezuela as poor, if not poorer, and certainly more divided than ever under Maduro, whom he called “my bus driver.”
Venezuela has headed the list of Latin American nations as far as capital flight is concerned. Over the years, something like $170 billion has been transferred by Venezuelans to foreign, mostly American, banks. The “Bolivarians” also spent billions helping Cuba and distributing free or cut-price oil to several countries, including some areas of the United States.
Venezuela ended up with a shortage of gasoline, seeking emergency imports from far-away Iran.
Bolivar wanted Latin America to seek allies among Western democracies, not the potentates of the Orient.
Simón Bolívar wanted Latin America to compete with the United States by enhancing its own freedoms, improving its educational system, achieving economic growth, and developing its culture. Bolívar did not believe that seeking the destruction of the United States was a worthy goal for any sane person, let alone a nation.
Being successful in gardening is the ability to observe and when necessary take appropriate action.
A good memory or a gardening diary are also an advantage so that you are aware of things that happen at certain times and can prevent problems or know when it is the best time to take action.
Although I have never kept a gardening diary I understand the great advantage of doing so, especially for people that are not ‘old hands’ in gardening.
Gardening problems of pests and diseases are seasonal and they start in the spring, become worse as we head though summer and if not sorted out before autumn, can be devastating.
In winter the only real problems are wet soils that can rot plants roots and frosts on tender plants.
Insect pests start in the spring when the weather warms and daylight hours extend; and if there is a week or two of nice weather the pests will come out and start breeding.
Sometimes after this happens there is a sudden cold snap which kills those early pests and we are fairly trouble free till about January. If that does not happen we need to get on top of potential problems before they escalate.
Check your garden plants once or twice a week for any early signs of insect populations by looking under the leaves and look for black sooty mould on the leaves which is caused by the pee of sap sucking pests.
Ant activity on plants is another indication, but may not be if the ants are only after the nectar of flowers. Even if you dont see any sign of problems you can always take preventive steps.
Sprinkling a few of Wally Neem Tree Granules over the soil under plants has proved very effective in stopping pests from colonising plants. I believe it is the smell of the granules that overrides the smell of the plants so that insects looking to find where to set up home cant easily find their host plants.
A number of landscapers who care for gardens use the Neem Granules under trees, shrubs and around gardens report much fewer pest problems as a result.
But if the insects are already on the plants that is not going to work so a control spray of Wallys Super Neem Oil and Super Pyrethrum mixed together and sprayed just before dark under and over plants foliage will take care of those early insects.
The time of the day to do so is important; late afternoon or early evening is best as the sun needs to be off the plants so the Neem Oil will not cause burning of the foliage.
The pyrethrum is very quickly broken down by UV (withing two hours of sunlight it is gone) but during night it will be active till the sun comes up next day.
Many pest insects are active at night because their predator enemy, the birds, are not active so it is safe at night and then they hide during the day.
Insects that come in contact with the pyrethrum at night will be affected: their nervous system breaks down and they die.
The Neem Oil is an anti-feedent and when pests feed on the foliage that has Wallys Super Neem Oil, they stop eating and starve to death over the next few days.
Like the Neem Granules on the soil, the smell of the oil also hides the plant from pest’s ability to find it.
The Neem oil lasts for a few days on foliage exposed to sunlight but for a long time under the leaves where there is no direct sunlight.
The current weather with rain and wind has slowed down pests from getting established except in glasshouses where they are not affected by the elements.
Outside plants and ones in glasshouses should be sprayed with those two Wallys products as soon as possible. In glass houses repeated again 3 days later till under control then a further preventive spray every couple of weeks or so.
If you have read and acted upon my article on hanging gauze bags with Wallys Cat Repellent crystals from the ceiling of your glasshouse along with Wallys Yellow Sticky White Fly Traps then you are likely to be free of the dreaded white fly problem all season.
These have to be done right at the beginning time of planting tomatoes or if not done so yet you need to spray the tomatoes planted to kill all white fly on them and also hang the two controls.
The controls hide the smell of the tomatoes so whitefly outside do not know there are any in the glasshouse. But once they are in the glasshouse you have to eradicate them first before the controls have the effect of keeping them out and catching any that happen to venture in.
Spray outside plants now and again in a couple of weeks time unless problem infestations are noticed, then treat as soon as possible.
Once whitefly get established for the season they are near impossible to control.
Now in regards to fungus diseases on plants, it can be good a good plan to spray Wallys Liquid Copper with potassium permanganate and Raingard added, now.
Gardeners who do this at this time of the year often find they have less disease problems during the season. A further spray of the same a couple of months later in summer and again another in autumn are good preventive controls.
You may like to use the new Wallys Copper Nutrient spray as it is systemic and works from inside the plant helping to prevent diseases establishing, and you could add aspirin to this spray as discussed in last week’s article.
No Raingard is used in this combination spray, as it is not needed.
So the program could be: spray plants with the Neem oil/pyrethrum first then about a week later the Liquid copper, potassium permanganate and Raingard.
Then if you want to be sure two weeks later use the Copper Nutrient and aspirin.
That’s the prevention program taken care of and only further control if a problem happens.
Two diseases which are very difficult for the home gardener to control are curly leaf on grafted stone fruit trees and rust on garlic.
I have a peach tree that has set a good crop of fruit this season and about 20% of the leaves have curly leaf; the rest are looking good. Last year I used, diligently, the Copper Nutrient but have done no preventive control this season.
So either the Copper Nutrient inside the tree has helped still or the weather has not favored the disease which is unlikely as it’s been fairly wet.
Instead I have used every few days the Liquid Sunshine spray of molasses and Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) and things are looking good. I will continue with Liquid Sunshine till I am sure I have lots of peaches to harvest later on.
I use the same spray every few days on my garlic before there is any sign of rust. I will continue the treatment till harvest time and even if they do get the rust later on I am sure to get reasonable size bulbs and cloves for my efforts.
“My message is use your voice in every way you can, because a republic and a democracy needs constructive questioning, and together we can shape a new republic that values everybody.” – President-Elect Catherine Connolly. pic.twitter.com/Go6D2SIdzm
Irish voters have delivered a stunning rebuke to Brussels and NATO by electing outspoken independent Catherine Connolly as president in a landslide victory that signals deepening resistance to foreign influence over Ireland’s sovereignty.
Connolly, a lifelong defender of Irish neutrality, trounced pro-EU candidate Heather Humphreys by a margin of more than two to one, with preliminary results showing 63% to 29%.
The 68-year-old former Galway mayor campaigned on restoring Ireland’s independence from what she called the “militarist drift” of both the EU and NATO, accusing Brussels of sacrificing peace and prosperity to fuel an arms race. Her warnings about Europe’s “military industrial complex” resonated with younger voters frustrated by rising costs and what many see as blind obedience to EU and NATO agendas.
Connolly, backed by Sinn Féin and Labour, has long condemned NATO’s provocations in Eastern Europe and said the alliance bears part of the blame for the Ukraine conflict. She has also compared Germany’s rearmament and Brussels’ defense push to “the dangerous path of the 1930s.”
Although Ireland’s presidency is largely ceremonial, Connolly’s landslide victory sends a clear message of defiance to Brussels and Washington alike — that Irish voters are weary of foreign entanglements and want their country to stand proudly neutral once more.
