There is a cheese crisis in France as a result of the collapse of micro diversity, which puts the whole French cheese industry at risk. Having recently traveled to France along the Rhone River, we experienced a wide variety of French cheeses as we passed through various regions of the French countryside. Of course, we also had a sampling of a few wines, as well. Let’s hope that those French cheeses find the right microbes and keep on producing.
The Senate has moved a funding bill for Ukraine and Israel forward while the House threatens to either defeat it or not bring it to a vote. There is something of a breakdown between Republicans in the House and Senate, although it is a bit unclear whether or not the Senators are moving the bill forward and voting for it simply as a show since they know that the House is likely to defeat it. I recognize this is somewhat of a cynical view, but I think it as an inescapable option to be considered. It reminds me much of Ms. Stefanik’s early voting record where she appeared to be voting with Democrats on a regular basis, but if one looked carefully at the outcome of these votes, in the vast majority of the cases the Senate never either acted on it or defeated it, so she was taking very little actual political risk, and again, cynically setting herself up to appear to be bipartisan, when in fact, she was just biding her time to display her right leaning tendencies.
Chaos continues in congress as Speaker Johnson suffered several failed votes in recent weeks. This is very problematic, not just for Republicans, but for the entire country.
In a nod to Valentine’s Day, archeologists have determined when the first kiss occurred which is portrayed on a clay tablet of a nude couple in Babylonia circa 1800 b. c. According to archeologists that makes kissing 1,000 years older than anticipated. Hope you had a good Valentine’s Day.
Scientists are indicating that the east coast is sinking - obviously not the entire coast, but significant portions of it is slumping into the ocean which is compounded by the global sea level rise. The suspected culprit, along with global warming is, of course, over pumping of ground water, which is, in fact, causing the land to actually sink while the sea level rise is a direct result of global warming. Looks like flood insurance may be increasing in many areas along the east coast, and you may want to think carefully about where you buy.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
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