Slight Detour: Wednesday-Morning Mutterings

I was really surprised to see this scene on Center Valley Road yesterday afternoon. Almost unheard of that hay is harvested by June 17 in North Idaho.

But why not?

We've had July-like weather for at least two weeks.

Their timing is great because our July days will soon turn into typical June days---cooler and maybe even some rain. We could use it for a clean-off and especially to boost the growth of pasture and hay field grasses.

I took a quick trip around the neighborhood after mowing lawn for about four hours.

Upon returning, I knew Bill wasn't going fishing (he had done that the night before), so I told him that I'd probably take a short horseback ride after dinner.

It all worked out perfectly. Bill did his usual duty of showing up at the barn about the time I was ready to mount up. Heck, I felt so confident, I did that without his holding Lily.

Still, having his eyes and availability should something go wrong takes most of the worry off from the ride.

Lily was wonderful last night, and it even seemed like she wanted to go for a ride as much as I did.

We even went a ways down the road, which meant a couple of visits with friends and neighbors. Lily stood quietly while I visited.

Later, we rode around the yard, then down the lane and back before Bill came back to the mounting block, moved it into place and held Lily while I dismounted.

Hard to believe that after our short ride, Lily had broken a sweat. It was somewhat warm but still comfortable for riding.

Once again I felt on top of the world after that brief time atop my lovely old mare.

Horseback rides, no matter how long or how short, provide a boost for the soul and for one's outlook in general.

I'm glad that I can still enjoy them.

I love this saddle.

My friend Beth, who was working for Keokee Publishing at the time, sold me this saddle along with an Australian stock saddle.

This is a great saddle because it's light and easy for an old lady to throw over a tall horse's back.

Plus, it's pretty comfortable.

Meanwhile, I think Lily likes the paved road because it's not covered with rocks which are hard on her tender hooves.

I found this Q and A interview, interesting and important, especially when we're trying to sift out what the heck is happening in our crazy world.

Thankfully, topnotch journalists are trying their best to do their job to sort out facts from fiction for their readers.

I purposely enlarged, italicized and bold-faced two paragraphs in this interview which I thought were most important important for readers to know.

I wonder if all the stuff we read on Facebook and what gets spewed among the masses goes to these lengths to get the information as accurate as possible. Probably not.

from New York Times "The Morning"

Trump’s posture toward Iran keeps changing. I spoke with David Sanger, a White House correspondent who covers national security and has written extensively on Iran, about how he reports on this story. — Patrick Healy, assistant managing editor

We hear from readers regularly about how Trump veers around erratically with his positions. But he’s the president — his language can’t be dismissed. How do you deal with that as a reporter?

It’s always a challenge. Just two weeks ago, the president was saying he was confident in a diplomatic deal with Iran. That didn’t match our reporting. Of course, Trump thinks he is the master deal maker. So you report what he is saying and doing — he is the president, as you point out — but remind yourself that his views could change overnight. He ran for president as the man who avoided wars; now he seems on the cusp of a bombing campaign.

When Trump’s intentions and tactics are opaque, how do you sift through them? You’re a journalist who doesn’t jump to conclusions. So where you do start?

I’ve spent nearly half my reporting career at The Times — and I’ve been here more than 40 years — examining Iran’s capabilities. So you test the president’s comments against what we know. Trump doubted the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies and issued his own proclamations about how close Iran is to being able to produce a bomb. So we reminded readers of what intelligence reports say and what outside experts have concluded. (Inspectors were inside Iran’s nuclear facilities until last week, so we have a lot of data.)

Your colleagues help, too.

Yes, fortunately The Times has reporters who are expert on nuclear technology, on Iranian politics, on intelligence. It’s my job not only to sift what the president says, but to make sure we bring readers the totality of that expertise.

People can lose faith in journalism when we make assumptions and get ahead of the story, especially a fast-moving conflict. What goes into producing work that people can trust?

The first rule of journalism is “write what you know.” Not what you suspect. Not what partisans need for their own political narratives. Not what intelligence officials may tell you to fit the White House’s desire.

We use satellite photographs. We talk to nuclear inspectors. We talk to foreign intelligence agencies. And yes, when we can, we talk to the Iranians.

Of course, the hardest thing to assess is what’s going on inside a president’s head. Whatever one thinks of his rhetoric, Trump is in command of the world’s biggest and most powerful military. And the path he takes in the next few days may reshape the Middle East and our world.