Lindheimer’s morning glory

Let’s welcome a new native wildflower to these pages: Lindheimer’s morning glory, Ipomoea lindheimeri. I found a bunch of these at Inks Lake State Park on May 6th. (In contrast, a different species, Ipomoea cordatotriloba, is common in Austin and has appeared here from time to time.)

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The other day you heard about some farmers who are suing the American government for violating their rights by refusing to let them apply for debt relief that farmers of any skin color other than white are eligible to apply for. Yesterday I learned about a similar case involving a federal program called the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which is administered by the Small Business Association (SBA). “The SBA, which is deciding among applicants, announced that it would accept applications from all eligible applicants but only process those from a ‘priority group’ in the first 21 days.” The term “priority group” is a euphemism for ‘anyone but a white male.’ A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that the plaintiffs are “experiencing race and sex discrimination at the hand of government officials” and has imposed a temporary restraining order on the SBA. The judge wrote that “[t]he evidence submitted by plaintiffs indicates that the entire $28.6 billion in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund may be depleted before plaintiffs’ application can be considered for relief under the program….”

It appalls me—and I hope you—that the American government would flout the law by treating people differently based on their race or ethnicity or sex. This is 2021, after all, not 1821.

© 2021 Steven Schwartzman

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