An Apple A Day

Today we turn the LipsYard camera to the East, to our neighbor's mini Apple (Malus domestica) orchard.

The tree originated from Central Asia, where its wild ancestor is still found today. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples resulting in range of desired characteristics. Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the same rootstock.

They've got a big crop this year, despite fears that there wouldn't be enough bees to pollinate the fruit.

In a case of Rotten Apples...

Evangelicals and social conservatives have embraced McCain's vice presidential pick for what they call her "pro-family," "pro-woman" values. But in Alaska, critics say Gov. Sarah Palin has not addressed the rampant sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence and murder that make her state one of the most dangerous places in the country for women and children. FBI statistics show Alaska leads the nation in these crimes with a rate two and a half times the national average, a ranking it has held for many years. Gov. Palin even agreed it is an "epidemic."

But all was not lost in Alaska. There were dedicated public servants who made the reduction and prevention of violence against women a priority. Officials in the Department of Public Safety were devising an ambitious, multi-million-dollar initiative to seriously tackle sex crimes in the state...but Palin's office put the plan on hold in July.

Days later, Palin fired its chief proponent, Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, after he declined to dismiss a state trooper Palin accused of threatening her own family members. Palin has said she fired Monegan because she wanted to move his department in a "new direction," and he was not being "a team player on budgeting issues." The dismissal is now at the center of a hotly-contested investigation by the state legislature. Now, under the umbrella of John McCain, Palin is refusing to cooperate, claiming the investigation is tainted by the Obama campaign.

Wait a minute, this has been going on in Alaska long before anyone ever even thought of her being Vice-President, plus there was a 12-0 vote to launch the investigation, and a majority vote in a Republican-led committee to authorize subpoenas.

Let's just toss this on the lie pile.

In the meantime, the victims of Alaska's absolutely scandalous rate of violence against women and children -- not to mention the one guy who actually cared -- are paying the price for a governor who puts her obsession with using the trappings of high office to settle personal scores ahead of protecting public safety.