this is the dawning of the age of Gaillardia

The perennial bed is going full force, and leading the charge is the Gaillardia (Gaillardia grandiflora.)
Gaillardias, or blanket flowers, are daisies with serrated tips on the ray petals. These plants are very tough and cheerful. Downy green leaves grow in low rosettes and have a hairy texture. The plants thrive in sunny gardens and even on sand dunes. Most types grow two feet tall with daisies about three inches wide. It's a no brainer for the LipsYard because it blooms continuously throughout summer and fall without deadheading.

Is this the dawning of another incursion into the Middle East?

The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh thinks the United States is conducting clandestine operations within Iran, and reports in this week's issue that Congress agreed to a request from President Bush last year to fund a major escalation of covert activity against Iran -- aimed at destabilizing the country's regime by backing minority groups like the Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi.

The story was knocked down quickly by the administration and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. Hersh dismissed the denial, arguing that "when you run secret operations ... sometimes it's better not to have the ambassador know."

Hersh believes that President Bush and Vice President Cheney "do not want to leave Iran in place with a nuclear program.... They believe that their mission is to make sure that before they get out of offices next year, either Iran is attacked or it stops its weapons program."

If this story is indeed true, then we are clearly encroaching on the sovereignty of a nation. Moreover, what if US soldiers are captured by the Iranians? Then either we will get embarrassed by the Iranians or worse, things will escalate to an all out war involving Iran, Syria, Hizbuallah, Hamas, and Israel.

Not to mention that this kind of information drives the commodities market speculators crazy, driving up the price of oil even further.