tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84778840324769415842024-03-14T04:38:28.258-07:00Hayman Road Farm
"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell." - Edward AbbeyDavid Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.comBlogger176125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-46753071777314065272022-10-22T18:33:00.015-07:002022-10-24T16:55:43.021-07:00Metastasis<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHkERV9-K4E8PPGwHlCoTzoU_Wsc-qaLyoDIE_6Bb2fwaIGaj4M9EhEaTlEbkZPPMIHlAcVRyTr3AgbL8k2dNaFRWbnBKP1PRMkhCymw3dGwEwe54h_qAUkD9SkSV-BXht7DH3X3Bc8WAjhckXi7ezqN5ofAvbtXJowENtm8uwMUpzc7MfWsc2FO9/s4000/IMG_20220724_203520791.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHkERV9-K4E8PPGwHlCoTzoU_Wsc-qaLyoDIE_6Bb2fwaIGaj4M9EhEaTlEbkZPPMIHlAcVRyTr3AgbL8k2dNaFRWbnBKP1PRMkhCymw3dGwEwe54h_qAUkD9SkSV-BXht7DH3X3Bc8WAjhckXi7ezqN5ofAvbtXJowENtm8uwMUpzc7MfWsc2FO9/s320/IMG_20220724_203520791.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thunderstorm over Wyoming rangeland near the Wind River Mountains, from a trip this summer.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>For most of my life, I've had unanswered questions about my maternal grandparents. Both Oma and Opa came of age in Hitler's Germany. I knew them both as good people, yet I also knew they had played significant roles in Germany's collective insanity leading to WWII. <p></p><p>They were both members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Youth">Hitler Youth</a>, of which my grandmother related some fond memories -- hiking through the woods in big groups, singing, and camping. They came to this country as part of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip">Operation Paperclip</a>, my grandfather as one of Werner Von Braun's V-2 rocket scientists, and my grandmother having worked as one of Von Braun's secretaries. How could such good people have been part of what happened in Germany? </p><p>Did they know Jewish people who had been taken away? </p><p>They did. But my grandmother says they were told that they had gone to "resorts".</p><p>Did they truly believe that? Did they know more than they were willing to share?</p><p>How does an entire country lose their moral and ethical compass and either support or acquiesce to some of the greatest atrocities of the last century? Nazis, after all, are the *<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ToEvz-7trY">gold standard of evil</a>* in most discussions. (unless they're <a href="https://www.zenger.news/2022/05/23/video-ink-redible-truth-russia-forces-captured-ukrainian-troops-to-show-off-their-nazi-tattoos/">Ukrainian Nazis</a>, in which case they're the new paragon of virtue). </p><p>Certainly there were some psychopathic individuals in Germany's leadership roles, but there were also some resistors (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose">such as the "white rose" group</a>). The vast majority of Germans, however, followed the psychopaths over the proverbial cliff of insanity. My grandparents were no exception.</p><p>Dutch psychologist Mattias Desmet has produced by far the most convincing explanation for what happened in Germany, as the same phenomena has happened many times throughout history. "Mass Formation" is his specialty, and is of special interest to me at the moment, because I believe I'm living through just such an event right now.</p><p>What is mass formation? Orwell called it "groupthink". Others have called it mass hypnosis, or mass psychosis. It's probably best to get the answer from Mattias himself. <a href="https://anchor.fm/rfkjr/episodes/Mob-Psychology-with-Dr-Mattias-Desmet-e1df0ud">RFK Jr's interview of him is excellent</a>. To summarize, mass formation only arises when very specific conditions are present. A collective fear, anxiety, and isolation are essential. People in such a state are looking for a way out of their misery. Someone offers a solution, and it's immediately embraced by the masses, who are unconcerned with critical thought at that stage. </p><p>The Solution gives them all a collective sense of meaning, of belonging, and a way out of their previously miserable state, and they will do everything to defend their new sense of salvation. Desmet provides a perfect example of what those under the influence of mass formation are capable of, where an Iranian mother reported her son to state authorities and proudly placed the noose around his neck on the gallows.</p><p>Anyone who questions or points out serious problems with <i>The Solution</i> is ridiculed, ostracized, and typically destroyed, as anyone who questions <i>The Solution</i> is viewed as a threat -- as someone who would return everyone to <i>The Problem</i>. This is exactly what happened to the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-secret-student-group-stood-up-nazis-180962250/">White Rose Society in Germany</a>.</p><p>Mass Formation is a sensitive subject for me, because I believe my entire family and most of my friends have, to varying degrees, taken up the current mass formation. I'm writing this not as a way to point fingers. I'm hoping I can help the people I love, in the same way that I might try to help a family member who had descended into alcoholism. As Desmet explains, the only way to break the spell of mass formation is to keep talking to its victims. Shunning only deepens the spell.</p><p>Just as Germany emerged from the mass formation of the WWII era, I've no doubt that the people I know will emerge from the current formation. I'm hoping that I can expedite this process, before the damage done to themselves and others continues further. Hopefully some of them have not developed an immunity to discussing the topic.</p><p>As with my past attempts, I expect that most will simply refuse the information I'm about to give here, or will search for "fact checking" articles that debunk them. There's certainly no shortage of those (most provided by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAkQlZgnbUQ">pharma-funded media</a> -- they're currently the source of 60% of all advertising money), including a great many that are now demonstrably false and misleading. </p><p>When confronted in court by the British Medical Journal, <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/facebook-admits-fact-checks-pure-opinion/">Facebook "fact checkers" claimed that their fact checks were "protected opinion"</a> rather than facts. Google search algorithms have been modified to make such "fact check" articles bubble up to the top while suppressing any truth. Paypal and Patreon regularly refuse payments to anyone not touting the pharma narrative. Speaking the truth while avoiding Youtube's censors has become a new sport. The increasing grip of censorship here in the "Freest country on earth" is not a comforting trend. </p><p>There's a reason we had to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/20/1093708316/julian-assange-extradition">imprison Assange</a> before this all started, as he would've revealed the truth just as he'd done before, pissing off Pharma just as he'd done with military industrial complex. Over the last 3 years, the US has grown uncomfortable parallels with the East Germany that my great grandmother lived in -- a state driven by surveillance and censorship.</p><p>Perhaps one of the best examples of the illogic of the covid mass formation is the oft repeated mantra, "Safe and Effective". The "effective" part of that is clearly not true, not when <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/cdc-director-rochelle-walensky-tests-positive-covid/story?id=91921153">Rochelle Walensky (head of the CDC) gets covid a month after publicly getting her new "bivalent" booster</a>. That's the same booster tested on exactly eight mice -- all of whom contracted covid during the trial. It's not effective when a family member's coworker dies of covid a few weeks after the vax, and not when the only family members I know to have been hospitalized by covid were also vaccinated. Then there's Canada's Justin Trudeau as well as our own president --- both fully vaxxed and boostered, both of whom have been infected twice. I can go on and on here with both personal as well as famous examples, but you get the point. </p><p>Safe? Well, that doesn't look to be the case either. The vast majority of people who are tested after receiving the purported vaccine are showing elevated troponin levels. <a href="https://cardiologyres.org/index.php/Cardiologyres/article/view/1412/1356">13 out of 17 teenage boys tested showed exactly this</a>. That's hardly a "rare' side effect. Troponin in the blood is an indicator of heart damage.</p><p>A <a href="chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=364941">rural BC doctor</a> had patients who were experiencing problems after the Moderna jab. He ran d-dimer tests on a number of them, and found 62% were positive -- indicating the formation of blood clots. He wrote of his concern to the provincial government, seeking guidance. They told him to shut up and pulled his license when he refused. </p><p><a href="https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/more-embalmers-report-bizarre-blood-clots-amid-covid-vax-campaign/">Funeral directors in the UK, US, and Australia have all reported finding massive "rubbery" blood clots</a> in bodies of the vaccinated deceased, which they find during the embalming process where they have to replace the blood. They all say this started when the vaccines rolled out.</p><p>Not surprisingly, these issues are manifesting in a very public manner. This news anchor suffered a stroke on live TV.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hvLfHndckz0" width="320" youtube-src-id="hvLfHndckz0"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>This one in Germany did the same. What's especially rich is the fact that she was promoting vaccine mandates for all Germans while her stroke occurred.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://odysee.com/@CameraMemes:7/Instant-Karma-German-Presenter-Passes-Out-While-Demanding-Forced-Injections:1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="693" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrNidQ6Rzg-6QN_zB4jj5P8a1AnZBp_5RFMkqstK07XdNXgYZtpOnagXtKDvLOGjgRGVDKenV-CLya6HP1SJSBgzBeVHex7hWlMIeRfKJrgqFFE1qVPLjXlbRVG7nRC0mNkQ2T-tO7rtI5UMTO57RRfpcE1PcBfsqCRa5mjCofmxPseDpJFTk5-CR4" width="320" /></a></div><br />Then there's US comedian Heather MacDonald. She was bragging about being fully vaxxed and boosted when she suffered a stroke on stage, fracturing her skull when she fell. That's what it took for her to think twice about the vaccines. She now says she's not likely to take another booster for some strange reason.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ctPViK3LK-o" width="320" youtube-src-id="ctPViK3LK-o"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>I could go on and on here too. There are video compilations of athletes all over the world collapsing on the field, at rates well beyond anything ever seen in history. There's Justin Bieber and his wife, who've both suffered significant damage from the vaccine. A young Canadian couple had it even worse after their boosters. The wife was hospitalized with myocarditis. The day she returned from the hospital, her husband had a major heart attack, slipped into a coma, and had to be resuscitated when his heart stopped later in the hospital.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps even more disconcerting than obvious health issues is the fact that <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/indiana/indiana-life-insurance-ceo-says-deaths-are-up-40-among-people-ages-18-64/article_71473b12-6b1e-11ec-8641-5b2c06725e2c.html">multiple US health insurers are reporting a 40% spike in mortality</a> -- beginning only in 2021 as the vaccine was rolled out. </div><div><br /></div><div>Australia is reporting a 17% rise in all cause mortality, <a href="https://expose-news.com/2022/10/16/covid-jab-killing-millions-gov-knew-it-would-happen/">as are most countries in Europe</a>. Those with the highest vaccination rates are experiencing the greatest rises.</div><div><p>Perhaps even more damning is the fact that <a href="https://merylnass.substack.com/p/fda-and-its-vax-advisory-committee?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2">Pfizer told the FDA -- <i><b>in December of 2020 </b>-- </i>that their vaccine did not stop transmission</a>. Considering how much vaccine mandates (many still in effect) have been pushed since then -- using arguments which were entirely at odds with this knowledge, I'd say that some officials have a little explaining to do.</p><p>I'm not the only one to think this. Holocaust survivor Vera Sharav gave a passionate speech recently at the 75th anniversary of the passing of the <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/doctors-trial/nuremberg-code">Nuremberg Code</a>, talking about the parallels between what she experienced and what is happening today. The rollout of the covid "vaccines" is a clear violation of this code in multiple ways. I couldn't agree with her more, and firmly believe that a 2nd round of Nuremberg trials is in order. Vera is currently working on a film, titled 'Never Again is Now" where she documents how Nazi ideology was imported to the US and is alive and well.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://rumble.com/v1gq25v-vera-sharav-75th-anniversary-of-nuremberg-code.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="689" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzT0_8wFWL_ZFkTTiMWg1ffpgQQPXFgxea1d6XYAkqDsuYAB9BixCEWni7FuwVW_ux4lWY2eSFvK5wj0JqLI5PWwr_x_qDF71BhEttanAiM8mON-z3J5sV1ub76ioKpaTYsEaIFMzaDTsOoL9MN41K8W9i6VGKuGIg7jzG5-lI_SgNNj28TFsP4mKT" width="320" /></a></div><br />One of Britian's most prominent cardiologists, Dr Aseem Malhotra, publicly promoted the vaccine on British TV earlier on in the pandemic, and recommended it to his father (also a doctor) along with everyone else. Shortly after receiving the vaccine, Dr Malhotra's father died, and Malhotra is convinced that the "vaccine" was the cause. This event caused him to question his support, and he began a period of intensive research into the jabs. Listen to what he has to say here:<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://thehighwire.com/videos/dr-aseem-malhotra-covid-jab-has-unprecedented-harms/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="789" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTjR6Ba7xRm5mibFJLYCfMfCwAe4lrZJxfljN1VFkR0zW9fFCEoESkcy5vX6ALrTHSlexCbE6BxEUZ53DFOSDbPZJywPRbppeHaok4sVAj629yPGPkIw7-giCJNaGHeByt7gPAYCdDBqzVVfwx2P_esXVDdkQsWph5I3_kQKmFz_UfCyBiQkGUHKkB" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Malhotra repeats something that I've long been pointing out -- that public corporations meet the clinical definition of a psychopath, and act accordingly. What's worse, is the fact that these psychopaths now control most governments.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I see it, we've created a veritable Frankenstein with our corporate legal structure. Placing shareholder return above all other considerations, and allowing corporations to become more powerful than governments the world over, we've created our own worst enemies. Pfizer is a repeat criminal offender, racking up fines in the billions of dollars -- just a cost of doing business, it would seem. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The military-industrial-complex has captured the US government to the point that we are constantly at war around the world, with our citizens continually fleeced to support this industry. Not only is that immoral and economically destructive, but it now clearly threatens our very existence. Working largely at the behest of the military industrial comples, <a href="https://www.cato.org/commentary/washington-helped-trigger-ukraine-war">our government overthrew Ukraine's democratically elected government in 2014</a>, and encouraged them to antagonize their Russian speaking citizens, ultimately killing 14,000 of them. Whose idea was this? A psychopathic corporation's idea, of course! In this case, the Rand Corporation. <a href="chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB10000/RB10014/RAND_RB10014.pdf">Read it for yourself</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not to be outdone by their MIC peers, the pharmaceutical industry has created their own racket, whereupon they've created both a disease as well as a "cure" that's actually worse. They've leveraged their power through the World Economic Forum such that they now own most major governments in the world, having installed their "Young Global Leaders" as presidents, prime ministers and high officials in dozens of countries including Canada (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2IP_LQ4A6A">they actually bragged about how they had "penetrated" the Canadian government</a>), the US, France, New Zealand, Australia, and even Russia. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Who is the World Economic Forum? Find out for yourself, <a href="https://www.weforum.org/partners/#search">on their own website</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The psychopathy of corporate power has overtaken the planet, and seeks to start war, spread disease, enslave, and fool the citizenry through a wholly owned media. They distort the truth, subvert democracy, cause extensive and irreparable harm -- all in the name of "shareholder return". As envisioned in the 1971 Powell Memo, corporations have overtaken not only nations but the entire planet. Corporate power has metastasized, and we will not survive unless we recognize this and dismantle it while we still can.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QaDj6OvOusRpXoHNJFqomZ6jOGxJrRnJnP0wxATFzYp16KdsrMpFBKUbWi2MwWNPegwJgkQUQuMn-diOrWpL8aS5MS4iOryxmjXNk9iaL6AntnI396omAwrl_x00JIz5H6eLCmC18rr2z-q4fo1ZttR-jkrPfsDXBVJDo5QwtFuY1Tg0MUODMIkp/s1600/IMG_20220724_134744442_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QaDj6OvOusRpXoHNJFqomZ6jOGxJrRnJnP0wxATFzYp16KdsrMpFBKUbWi2MwWNPegwJgkQUQuMn-diOrWpL8aS5MS4iOryxmjXNk9iaL6AntnI396omAwrl_x00JIz5H6eLCmC18rr2z-q4fo1ZttR-jkrPfsDXBVJDo5QwtFuY1Tg0MUODMIkp/s320/IMG_20220724_134744442_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alpine aster in the Wind River Mountains</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-45666824899643571582022-06-19T14:15:00.000-07:002022-06-19T14:15:11.696-07:00Two short videos well worth your time<p> First up is from Gonzalo Lira -- a Chilean film maker currently living in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He's been cranking out videos since the war started and has been spot on. Those who get their news from American TV will not believe him. Watch it.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZQB7uWuWpBw" width="320" youtube-src-id="ZQB7uWuWpBw"></iframe></div><br /><p>Second video was put together by Robert F Kennedy Jr's organization, regarding the WHO and their recent actions in Africa -- which will seem strangely familiar now that those operations have come to the rest of the world.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://infertilitymovie.org/a-diabolical-agenda/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="1192" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJ2CtXWOfW1ncS5eRIos1BXOz_46jQfQQSjIgUJf0cNUmE_Aa7VNSgJgxvDVTyCvMa8NlNna5iq_zrBx8mOVxfCS6tup-IOzzMEeghP70VyiQf-BKNoD_LxHyEvxrc9_UjdF8OX20wXpCmX6aOiiHTm5q8sUXmoitcj5A4KhNzZ5SBA9XvH-9N5TY/s320/infertility.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-60342935204892361702021-12-01T17:04:00.000-08:002021-12-01T17:04:12.077-08:00An industry and their purchased agencies, worthy of our trust?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YLYo-uSN6xA" width="320" youtube-src-id="YLYo-uSN6xA"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p>And her <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/brian-dressen-brianne-covid-pfizer-vaccine-risk-benefit-calculus-children/">scientist husband's testimony</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.bitchute.com/video/PruLGJZRaLsF/">A Pfizer victim -- Maddie De Garay.</a> Pfizer listed her trial results as "functional stomach discomfort" and forgot to mention that she was paralyzed. Like Brianne Dressen, neither has received the promised medical assistance.</p><p><br /></p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-5413924933044606992021-08-22T08:35:00.006-07:002021-08-22T10:50:28.056-07:00BWCA, Duluth, and northern Michigan<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9bJpCSASdcd0ugQMmhDFNcDmKBHgSAkFSGxN15ILpotVW6o6rttqdbAKdayq13MbgElR_muy0LPVjO3gPNidphRkibeF5v67jtIe8y4bPp-PCvbYG-Njb5t615PgcfwNV6BUGBmbJJQ/s4000/IMG_20210803_130512175_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9bJpCSASdcd0ugQMmhDFNcDmKBHgSAkFSGxN15ILpotVW6o6rttqdbAKdayq13MbgElR_muy0LPVjO3gPNidphRkibeF5v67jtIe8y4bPp-PCvbYG-Njb5t615PgcfwNV6BUGBmbJJQ/w400-h300/IMG_20210803_130512175_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jordan Lake, on our way to Ima Lake in the BWCA</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A week ago, Rachel and I got back from a trip to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. With over 13 years since our last real vacation, it was a welcome trip, and the BWCA did not disappoint. It's an amazingly beautiful place, a veritable network of island studded lakes, rocky outcrops, and stunted boreal forests. The fishing wasn't what I'd call fantastic, but it wasn't bad, either. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Though we've done some canoeing before, this was our first involving portages. In a typical day, we tried to be on the water by 7, often traversing 4-5 lakes and as many portages, anywhere from 5 to 220 rods in length (there are 320 rods to the mile). That way we could be looking for a camp by noon, which is something of a requirement due to the large number of visitors (BWCA is the single most visited wilderness area in the country). We'd usually meet 3-4 groups on a given day, typically at the portages. We found moose tracks and wolf scat, but saw none of their makers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Loons, beavers, and eagles were in abundance, as were the campsite chipmunks and red squirrels. One camp had an enterprising groundhog who announced his presence with a loud "thump!" as he hopped off a rock ledge and casually ambled over to our equipment, which he tried nibbling on before being scolded and running away. We had a family of river otters check us out, and also saw the biggest snapping turtle I've ever seen (by far) -- I'd guess a shell length of 30". </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqM_tqAoKEkoPfc9IELcynq4bXK_3QGo5IRIj0sj4d8afzbBEFCdFrWYdQMa3QgyR6M0_RaSVbCVvUosrTkboX4o_Y1reXzhFBsKn8mRFL_Ozmuk0g7X2qPUcwF7uvf6kMPyfJzKPiowk/s4000/IMG_20210803_074331123_HDR.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqM_tqAoKEkoPfc9IELcynq4bXK_3QGo5IRIj0sj4d8afzbBEFCdFrWYdQMa3QgyR6M0_RaSVbCVvUosrTkboX4o_Y1reXzhFBsKn8mRFL_Ozmuk0g7X2qPUcwF7uvf6kMPyfJzKPiowk/w150-h200/IMG_20210803_074331123_HDR.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Unfortunately, there was a campfire ban in place while we visited, and it was definitely not unjustified. Dead brown trees and bushes were everywhere. This year's blueberries were a complete no-show, causing some bears to become problematic at the many campsites. I chose not to share this fact with Rachel, who has sensitivity to bears resulting from a college backpacking trip and a friend who left peanut-butter-honey bagels in their tent while they slept. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wildfires just north of the border kept the skies filled with smoke, with the sun casting an orange light for the first few days of the trip. This weekend the USFS closed the entire BWCA to all uses for the first time since it was established. We're lucky we didn't schedule our trip for late August, as that was the timeframe I'd originally hoped for.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhLKW9N-iMeyYJsPVtNbeOQ-hE0Gc4Op0aYIbGZZBJyp35q4ch8Crca0L5eNY4dBapuAm02eJPhkY2QF5Y2eJLgl3Y2igBQJxLcjDI7vU9GK1I3PEE9X7I06XxVBu0LRNQxQ5bx-dCUk/s4000/IMG_20210805_073557685.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhLKW9N-iMeyYJsPVtNbeOQ-hE0Gc4Op0aYIbGZZBJyp35q4ch8Crca0L5eNY4dBapuAm02eJPhkY2QF5Y2eJLgl3Y2igBQJxLcjDI7vU9GK1I3PEE9X7I06XxVBu0LRNQxQ5bx-dCUk/w150-h200/IMG_20210805_073557685.jpg" title="Beginning of the portage from Ima to Hatchet Lake" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beginning of the portage from Ima<br /> to Hatchet lake</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For the trip home, we took a few days and came down through Michigan's upper peninsula, staying a night in Grand Marais (MN), Marquette, and Mackinaw City. The UP was surprisingly desolate, with long stretches of stunted northern forests occasionally punctuated by old mining downs in various states of decay or attempts at renewal. Marquette (a university town) seemed surprisingly vibrant; perhaps a little *too* vibrant with all of the newer big box stores on the edge of town. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxjYFwYIneQyWl9vIghlO1_TcNJm-HR0nnHDMgXZyO4Fg4wr6MLADmQ1JGP3kU0UQOE23WBtkbYEiztFYx93A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In Mackinaw city, we visited <a href="https://www.mackinacparks.com/parks-and-attractions/colonial-michilimackinac/">Fort Michilimackinac</a>, first established by the French in the 1700s. Really enjoyed the "living history" staff and presentations as well as the archaeological displays. On the morning of our last day, we stopped at the restored 1700s reciprocating sawmill, which I really liked. Many of the boards on our 1870 barn were milled on a similar mill (some also on the "new" circular blade mills), as evidenced by the straight saw marks. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwocb2MAj47TUQmMcFde6XdZjJWdi__fO4F4DeEqgQcQVCx-aVIDzxDXFZz54r6QoX5up0uh4B2RJaeJuCBvIuWdjIXQMlAohw1mpf4PQdXug8RW4lhthpRbeSUgwA3XMulNbsDFmbji8/s4000/IMG_20210808_170746781_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwocb2MAj47TUQmMcFde6XdZjJWdi__fO4F4DeEqgQcQVCx-aVIDzxDXFZz54r6QoX5up0uh4B2RJaeJuCBvIuWdjIXQMlAohw1mpf4PQdXug8RW4lhthpRbeSUgwA3XMulNbsDFmbji8/s320/IMG_20210808_170746781_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me demonstrating the use of Ojibwe <br />birchbark "sunglasses" I made <br />for Rachel to replace a pair she'd lost. <br /> She wasn't ready to adopt such high fashion,<br /> as it turns out<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We also stopped in Duluth on our way north, apparently a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbQQtOJvSkA">hot new destination for climate refugees from California</a>. It strikes me as a neat town, and I like the proximity to the BWCA and Lake Superior, but I fear their summers are only slightly cooler than those I'm ready to flee. On the plus side, jobs are available, and housing is quite affordable. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the moment, I'm interested in Juneau. No heat or smoke there yet. Their job market looks more promising than Sitka, but they're still relatively scarce and the cost of housing and living is atrocious. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">----------------------------------</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This looks to be a fantastic apple year in our orchard -- a great improvement from last year when we had just enough to make a single pie. The dry spring has given way to a relatively wet summer, with our pastures still growing well. On the downside, the lack of spring rain dried up most of the local ponds, eliminating the predatory mosquito eating insects. The summer rains have re-established the ponds where mosquito larvae now have free reign, resulting in the absolute worst mosquitos we've seen since living here. In a typical year, I would see a few dozen (mosquito eating) dragonflies patrolling our garden and orchard at any given time, but this year there are hardly any to be seen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPz7oGaPDGddmWpoHB8-T5t0P6BESSkDpGKanKsI87GUbZBTCIJoTR2t3PLHi6nSI5b9SS_KlsiO0Ml8oYhl40RmqjSqoDjnbIDDtHK7H7ekMDYOaeb3LayAeLC2FiPICsXOB0IyAPR-Q/s4000/IMG_20210724_200328653.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPz7oGaPDGddmWpoHB8-T5t0P6BESSkDpGKanKsI87GUbZBTCIJoTR2t3PLHi6nSI5b9SS_KlsiO0Ml8oYhl40RmqjSqoDjnbIDDtHK7H7ekMDYOaeb3LayAeLC2FiPICsXOB0IyAPR-Q/w300-h400/IMG_20210724_200328653.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br /> <p></p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-73963538383084138842021-07-13T18:47:00.006-07:002021-07-14T18:47:49.816-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivuVyKYNpquTR76uwYnkSbOltms6vmovLBupOQFEWILM9dFgl2Dp4998WTCOv-8-tnR60Ny6qcBy6JCJ7il9w6GS-pzIRd1x-dqa8MnXdhZUcokqTYVpPYhORT27iMudk9qB2lEDgnRiw/s4000/IMG_20210618_212711532.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivuVyKYNpquTR76uwYnkSbOltms6vmovLBupOQFEWILM9dFgl2Dp4998WTCOv-8-tnR60Ny6qcBy6JCJ7il9w6GS-pzIRd1x-dqa8MnXdhZUcokqTYVpPYhORT27iMudk9qB2lEDgnRiw/w400-h300/IMG_20210618_212711532.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The rains started up a few weeks ago, just as the grass was getting brown and crispy, and now we're getting pretty regular storms rolling through. I found 3/4 of an inch in the rain gauge when I got back from work this evening. </p><p></p><p>This is the first year since 2008 (when our hay was just being planted) that we haven't cut any hay. It's nice not to have to worry; there's always concern that the lack of rain is stunting growth, or that too much is keeping us out of overgrown fields, or that it's going to come down on fields already cut and drying. </p><p>Our hay fields have reverted largely to grass and are in need of replanting now. I'm not sure if it's worth it to replant them or not. There's a few thousand dollars in seed, lime, and potash required, not to mention the time spent prepping the soil, or the fact that it's always best to spread some manure on the fields before plowing to keep fertility up. </p><p>If we make the investments that need to be made, I'll feel the need to make use of them, which means working ourselves and the horses in the heat, when the flies are at their worst and the risk of a runaway goes up. Is it worth the effort?</p><p>For now we've decided that it isn't. Taking the time for our first real vacation in over a decade means that I don't have the time to put up hay anyway. Spending the money on hay (about $6k to see the three horses and 2.5 cows through the winter) is certainly easier on the back, but doesn't seem so easy on the pocketbook. Then again, I'm not so sure that growing our own hay is a whole lot easier on the pocketbook once all the planting, equipment, risk of injury, and time costs are factored in.</p><span></span><p style="text-align: center;">_____________________________________</p><p>While our son Henry was out visiting family in Washington a couple weeks ago, their temperatures exceeded anything we've yet experienced in Michigan. Places where a typical June high might be in the 70s broke 100 degrees, even hitting 110. BC's town of Lytton (which we've been through) hit 121F, promptly caught fire and burned to the ground the next day. </p><p>I read that walking along the beaches now, you can smell all the dead creatures rotting after being baked in the heat Perhaps it's for the best that I remember walking the beaches while things were still very much alive. Despite this, people are happy to resume flying again, and questioned Henry's decision to take the train instead of flying like a normal person. As if I needed any more confirmation that we're never going to rise to the challenge of keeping a livable planet. </p><p style="text-align: center;">_____________________________________</p><p>Many, if not most people, will reject any theory as ridiculous if the implications are too far from their lived experience, even when they know full well that history is full of such events. As such, I expect most people will discount what I'm about to suggest, and in all honesty, I hope they're right. I know this will make people uncomfortable, but I'd much rather endure derision a few years from now than ask myself why I stayed silent. I already have significant regrets for not speaking up sooner.</p><p>In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel" target="_blank">Elie Wiesel's </a>book about his experiences in being sent to a concentration camp where his family perished, he wrote about a man from his village who had been taken to such a camp and escaped, returning to his village to warn everyone of what the Germans were up to. Nobody listened, and discounted him as a crazed fool. Today we would refer to him as a conspiracy theorist, and point to fact checkers to debunk his claims as we step confidently into the "perfectly safe" cattle cars.</p><p>There is one terrifying glimmer of hope on the horizon when it comes to climate change. It seems to me that someone may in fact be trying to save our species. Considering that we've all demonstrated a collective ineptitude for the required behavioral change, I'm not sure I can blame them for resorting to the only possibility which remains -- that being a dramatic reduction in population. Granted, with the feedback loops we've already set in motion, I don't expect that they'll be successful in saving our species this late in the game, but I suppose they can't be blamed for trying. The super wealthy of our planet are nothing if not eternal optimists.</p><p>As the owners of controlling interests in industry, governments, media, and damn near everything else, there's nobody I can think of with better means or organization skills. Many of them are obsessively fascinated with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_extension#:~:text=Life%20extension%20is%20the%20concept,settled%20limit%20of%20125%20years.">extending their own lives</a> through the use of technology, so have certainly realized that this won't be possible if they don't have a place to live when their birthday candles hit the triple digits. Saving their own bacon certainly sounds to me like a good motivator.</p><p>Considering that their <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-wealth-reduces-compassion/" target="_blank">money almost invariably turns them into sociopaths</a> (though most, <a href="https://unlimitedhangout.com/2021/05/investigative-reports/the-cover-up-continues-the-truth-about-bill-gates-microsoft-and-jeffrey-epstein/" target="_blank">like Gates, probably started that way</a>) they're the perfect people to take the reins at this stage, to do the essential dirty work. Perhaps this is what really broke the Gate's marriage?</p><p>My first inkling came as Dr. Pierre Kory's senate testimony in early December was censored, demonstrating beyond a doubt that those in power were not interested in public health, but in pushing the vaccines. In fact, every single treatment before or since which has shown significant promise (HCQ, Ivermectin, Fluvoxamine, Prednisone, etc) has been poo-pooed or just plain censored. Why is that? I've heard numerous personal accounts of the efficacy of the first two, and have no reason to doubt any of them. All of them, strangely, are well past their patent expirations, and are decidedly unprofitable. </p><p>The simple explanation is that the emergency use authorization of any medication legally requires that there be no other effective treatments. So it's not unreasonable to think that the pharmaceutical corporations are simply acting to protect their investments in the vaccines (much of it taxpayer funded), by denying the existence of effective treatments. That would certainly be consistent with the state of regulatory capture of the FDA and CDC we've seen in recent decades, or the way these same companies have been willing to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insulin-price-increased-last-decade-chart-2019-9" target="_blank">jack the price of essential medications like insulin</a> to the point that people regularly die for going without. </p><p>Though covid-19 itself doesn't appear to be particularly lethal (granted, I still don't want it!), the vaccines created to fight it may very well be. <a href="https://www.openvaers.com/covid-data/mortality" target="_blank">Deaths recorded on the VAERS system just passed 9,000</a>. Considering that Harvard's study of the VAERS system found about a 1% reporting rate, it would not be unreasonable to think that the 9,000 reported deaths are potentially representative of 900,000 actual deaths -- thus surpassing the 607,000 attributed to covid, though the covid numbers are also <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/investigations/questions-over-the-accuracy-of-how-the-state-tracks-covid-deaths/283-0b1b7b6c-695e-4313-92cf-a4cfd7510721" target="_blank">quite suspect</a>. A number of <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/06/06/ca-county-cuts-death-toll-after-finding-fatalities-not-caused-by-covid/" target="_blank">California counties recently reviewed their covid death numbers and found them to be greatly inflated</a>. I see nothing to suggest that these are isolated cases.</p><p>Beyond the immediate effects of the covid vaccines, there are a number of other concerns. One FOIA request to the Japanese government obtained tissue deposition study results, showing that the vaccines had a particularly high affinity for ovarian tissue (which may have the greatest ultimate effect if it results in infertility). Former Pfizer VP Michael Yeadon warned of similar concerns, as has microbiologist Sucharit Bhakdi. There have also been numerous reports of miscarriages shortly after receiving the vaccines. Irish biochemist Dolores Cahill has stated plainly that most younger vaccine recipients will not survive the decade, or even a couple years for older recipients.</p><p>Other studies have shown that the spike protein itself (which your body manufactures after receiving the vaccine) is responsible for damage to endothelial cells (which line your circulatory system), as well as triggering blood clots (and no, it's not just the Astra Zeneca vaccine -- they all do this). </p><p>The spike proteins have also been demonstrated to open the critical blood-brain barrier, both for themselves and any other pathogen which might happen to be in the neighborhood. There are numerous accounts of strokes shortly after receiving the vaccine, and "brain fog", which is likely a result of numerous small clots -- much as what happens with covid itself.</p><p>Luc Montagnier, the nobel prize winning virologist who isolated HIV has expressed concern that the proteins in the vaccines are very similar to prions, and could ultimately develop into a prion like disease (think mad-cow or chronic wasting disease) over the course of a couple years. We really don't know just yet. I see that even his own Wiki page has been updated to label him as a crank despite his undeniable expertise and accomplishments. The censorship these days is really becoming complete.</p><p>Going down the rabbithole even further, I see now that the president of three nations -- Magufuli of Tanzania, Moise of Haiti, and Nkurunziza of Burundi -- all of whom rejected the covid narrative and associated vaccines, have now died or been killed -- after which, their replacements in each nation begged for vaccines asap. Interesting coincidence, I suppose. </p><p>Yet another interesting coincidence... A year ago, anyone reporting on the Wuhan Institute of Virology's bat-virus gain of function research was being censored and labeled a crazy conspiracy theorist. </p><p>Then, about a month ago, that all changed. Someone ran an analysis using artificial intelligence on the mysterious "vaping disease" that killed a number of people in the summer of 2019 near Fort Detrick, MD. Fort Detrick also worked with gain of function on bat coronaviruses, among other bio-weapons. </p><p>The AI diagnostic software apparently didn't have a functional political sensitivity algorithm, because it said "That's COVID!" when presented with the vaping disease symptoms. I think it was no more than a few days after this event that it became legal to discuss the Wuhan lab leak theory. Fascinating... both because Ft. Detrick was shut down because of (by their own documents) bio leaks averaging once every three days, and also because this mysterious disease completely disappeared despite the continued popularity of vaping. </p><p>In 2013, mRNA vaccines were tested for the original SARS virus. Like today's vaccines, they produced a decent immune response. As the study progressed, however, the participants developed antibody-dependent-enhancement, whereupon their immune responses to further viral challenges became overly responsive, killing some of them with cytokine storms if my memory serves. This problem has plagued all attempts at coronavirus vaccines thus far. Was it suddenly resolved? I've heard of no explanations as to how that might've been done. Perhaps someone with a different idea of what a vaccine should accomplish viewed this as a feature, rather than a bug.</p><p>Raul Illargi has done a fantastic job of compiling covid related news each day on his website, "<a href="http://www.theautomaticearth.com" target="_blank">The Automatic earth</a>", for any who have an interest in diving down the rabbit hole with me. Those who can handle the hard core may want to check out the podcasts at <a href="https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/" target="_blank">The Last American Vagabond</a>, whose <a href="https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/dr-robert-malone-interview-inventor-of-mrna-technology-censored-for-speaking-out-on-vaccine-risks/" target="_blank">interview of Robert Malone</a> (the inventor of MRNA vaccine technology) is excellent. For the most level headed and mainstream analysis, I highly recommend Bret Weinstein's <a href="https://odysee.com/@BretWeinstein:f" target="_blank">Dark Horse Podcast</a>, particularly his extensive <a href="https://odysee.com/@BretWeinstein:f/how-to-save-the-world,-in-three-easy:0" target="_blank">interview of Robert Malone and Steve Kirsch</a>.</p><p>I'm going to put my special tin hat on now, and step outside to see if there are any black helicopters hovering over our house. Or maybe UFOs...</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-52869833043747042612021-02-28T09:08:00.002-08:002021-03-14T04:51:29.440-07:00Motivation<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdw0kvLgpUJNRnEGrUI1EMqMwyOBVNLlCBNInX2G-EfgZtaluL6e8qndyxWztdFQQrV42qamOanF9_GWPX7oDPdevZXpMRuAi6dVte-q2xPOmD8PgKqXkzgrH5Tdr-kLkGyyQXt_i5-Q/s4032/IMG_20210109_122528.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdw0kvLgpUJNRnEGrUI1EMqMwyOBVNLlCBNInX2G-EfgZtaluL6e8qndyxWztdFQQrV42qamOanF9_GWPX7oDPdevZXpMRuAi6dVte-q2xPOmD8PgKqXkzgrH5Tdr-kLkGyyQXt_i5-Q/w480-h640/IMG_20210109_122528.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />I haven't had a whole lot to say lately, in large part because there are few things about which I've got any great deal of confidence nowadays. On the one issue where I do still have an (unfortunately) high level of confidence, the window of opportunity for positive change has passed such that it seems unproductive to try and educate anyone. Talking about climate change anymore feels like striking up a conversation on electric chairs and nooses with a death-row inmate. It seems better to let everyone maintain a state of blissful ignorance for as long as they can, as the ultimate outcome will be no different.<p></p><p>I spent a lot of money on hay to feed our small Jersey herd yesterday, as our own hay production last year was horrible due to the drought and the fact that our hayfields are overdue for replanting. Paid about 30% more than ever before. This was a reminder that our modest herd is not self-sustainable from our own acreage, at least not without a steady stream of purchased inputs (lime, potash, alfalfa seed, etc). We don't currently <i>need</i> the milk, and in fact I only milk about once a week now as I let the calf take all she wants. Rachel and Henry have stopped drinking milk, and I'm probably allergic to it (chances are it's one of the triggers for my <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eosinophilic-esophagitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20372197">eosinophillic esophagitis</a>, which makes it difficult to swallow food at times). </p><p>So keeping cows at the moment doesn't seem particularly smart, especially when the costs amortized over the milk we consume probably put it close to $30 a gallon. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls5BFzuxGw4">A Simpson's reference</a> comes to mind here.</p><p>On the other hand, we would likely be able to feed one or two cows for a while (we currently have 3 cows and a young bull) if things really go south -- and that milk would instantly become a whole lot more valuable to ourselves as well as our neighbors. Ditto for the manure to keep gardens producing well. </p><p>Such Chicken-Little thoughts get tiring after a while though, as does forking out a never ending supply of hay and the resulting manure. Then there's the never ending hoof-trimming and occasional veterinary issues, and the fact that on-farm butchers have all disappeared, or that it's no longer possible to schedule with any of the few remaining butchers (whom I'd have to deliver a live animal to, which is not always easy) with less than a year's notice now.</p><p>Another lesson from yesterday's hay purchase came from one of the farmers I bought it from. He was missing an arm. I presumed either a wartime injury or perhaps a farm related accident had cost him his limb, but it turns out that neither was the cause. He simply wore out his shoulder putting up so much hay over so many years that his arm ceased to remain attached, and his doctors suggested complete removal. </p><p>It's not that all farm work is drudgery -- far from it, in fact. I still love working with cows as well as the horses, and I also miss our old flock of sheep. It's just that all of this work, when added on to the requirement of a full-time job makes it nearly impossible to do other things that I would enjoy even more. Farms simply don't mesh well with a recreation filled life of canoeing, sailing, skiing, hunting, climbing, or a myriad of other things that I once enjoyed at every opportunity.</p><p>Granted, contemplating a life without the need for hard physical labor is a luxury afforded to only the last few generations in most families. My great grandparents, farming in southern Illinois exclusively with mules up through the early 50s, had no such option. In some ways it seems dishonorable for me to even consider it. At other times, I feel like the little piggy who built the brick house, looking longingly at the carefree lifestyle of his brother in the straw house and wondering if talk of the big-bad-wolf was just a bunch of nonsense. </p><p>Is there a big-bad wolf? Is he coming anytime soon? The lesson to be gleaned from the fable of the Three Little Pigs hinges upon this vital bit of information. The brick house, as it turns out, is NOT always better.</p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-84439996098072793222021-01-10T16:24:00.003-08:002021-01-10T16:24:43.063-08:00Well now, this ought to really fix our election process. <p> https://news.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/03/27/what-is-electionguard/</p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-48640307417696333572021-01-10T10:36:00.000-08:002021-01-10T10:36:43.119-08:00More food for thought from GHW Bush's HUD secretary<p> https://www.bitchute.com/video/CEJS0YX8wm4P/</p><p><br /></p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-16504537401389782772021-01-03T09:38:00.006-08:002021-01-21T17:58:27.614-08:00If you haven't yet lost faith in our government, here's a good reason<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQ9IhTibrKXjKl-vewaJxNTrM5ChLhQowU6s5-RQUSp9MdjX7LZXd0brBflK4LqIu3eV7ueIpd_xrGo_02t7IW_MGKUE_4IbJE6LLAuFZ1EtH4-WiWqRQ19IPsldNO3motlDm0ucJAZQ/s4032/IMG_20210103_083435063.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQ9IhTibrKXjKl-vewaJxNTrM5ChLhQowU6s5-RQUSp9MdjX7LZXd0brBflK4LqIu3eV7ueIpd_xrGo_02t7IW_MGKUE_4IbJE6LLAuFZ1EtH4-WiWqRQ19IPsldNO3motlDm0ucJAZQ/w400-h300/IMG_20210103_083435063.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>If you truly believe that our fully purchased government and media are anything more than the enforcement and propaganda department for large corporate interests who view us as sheep to be fleeced (or in this case slaughtered, because it's more profitable), here's a bit of evidence to shake your belief.</p><p>In early December, the US Senate held a hearing, at which Dr Pierre Kory, a frontline Wisconsin doctor who has treated <i>thousands of covid patients</i> gave <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgOAaLmoa68&feature=youtu.be">testimony</a> with regards to ivermectin as both a prophylaxis and treatment for covid. </p><p>Within it he notes the multitude of studies (most all performed in somewhat less corporate-beholden countries) that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that ivermectin is a "miracle drug" (his words) against covid. For instance, he cites an Argentine study where medical personnel were divided into two groups. 800 received ivermectin as a prophylaxis, and 400 received a placebo. The placebo group was infected at a rate of 56%, whereas the ivermectin group developed no infections whatsoever. </p><p>This doctor is not the only one touting this treatment. Someone I trust and have followed for years (with a degree in pathology specializing in viral toxicology) has been saying the same thing for months now -- and had his youtube video censored for his efforts. </p><p>What are we told in this country? To wait for our chance to be guinea pigs for a vaccine which has gone through minimal trials with questionable results, and which harbors the potential for serious side effects such as the triggering of serious auto-immune disorders (the FDA, to their credit, finally announced that people with severe allergies should not take it). </p><p>One <a href="https://2020news.de/en/dr-wodarg-and-dr-yeadon-request-a-stop-of-all-corona-vaccination-studies-and-call-for-co-signing-the-petition/">former Pfizer exec</a> -- who specialized in development of lung treatments -- has laid out his serious concerns for the vaccine, but you won't hear about him on TV in the US. </p><p>If you venture to the New York Times website, and do a search for ivermectin within the last month, you'll find two smear pieces suggesting that Dr. Pierre Kory's testimony to the senate, the first with a title, "A Senate hearing promoted unproven drugs and dubious claims about the coronavirus". If you actually review the testimony and the associated documentation, however, you'll quickly lose faith in the NYT if you hadn't already done so long ago.</p><p><span>Once you've seen the depths to which corporate entities will go to further their raison d'etre (which is most certainly <i>not </i> to do good in the world), it's much easier to believe what many will still label as tin-foil-hat territory. For me the tipping point was the book, "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" combined with conversations with a retired US Special forces coworker (retired after being shot 5 times). He described to me how he was regularly involved in activities -- mostly in Central and South America -- which Americans were never told about. His account meshed perfectly with <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/115545.Smedley_D_Butler">Smedley Butler's famous letter</a>, in which he states I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism"</span></p><p><span>The documentary "</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQYsk-8dWg">The Corporation</a><span>", (watch it for free on Youtube) lays out the clinical definitions for diagnosis of a psychopath -- and then steps through each one and provides numerous examples of why publicly owned corporations fit the diagnosis to a T. </span></p><p><span><span>My own experiences while employed at Zoetis -- a former division of Pfizer -- has also greatly altered my view of pharmaceutical corporations in particular. One co-worker who had been with the company since it was Upjohn Pharmaceuticals described how one of the blood pressure medications they had developed -- minoxodil -- had a noted side effect of growing small amounts of light fuzzy hair where it was topically applied. Upjohn thought nothing of it (the hair growth was not significant) and just noted it as a curiosity. When Pfizer purchased the company, however, they viewed it as a potential goldmine, and began to market it as Rogaine, despite the fact that their claims for the drug's effectiveness were fraudulent..</span></span></p><p>While employed at Zoetis, the company email announced a series of employee informational seminars on "How to talk to friends and family about antibiotics in food". Zoetis is the world's largest manufacturer of "medicinal feed additives" (i.e. sub-therapeutic antibiotics fed to livestock). I signed up and attended the seminar, where a hired PR consultant from Ketchum and Associates played a few carefully prepared propaganda pieces. They contained numerous falsehoods (which I knew because I raised cattle) about farming and the use of antibiotics, and completely avoided the central subject of antibiotic resistance -- which has been widely attributed to antibiotics in livestock feed. </p><p>I raised my hand afterwards to point out these errors and omissions, though they didn't really have a response beyond, "that's a really tough situation" when I mentioned a friend's daughter nearly dying from a mrsa (antibiotic resistant staph) infection. In retrospect, I think these "seminars" were likely intended to screen out people like myself who have a problem with corporate malfeasance.</p><p>So it's through this lens that I see what corporations are capable of. Many will still cling to the comforting idea that no person in a corporation would stoop to such levels as <i>deliberately killing</i> for profits, but it's hard to see their suppression of the information on ivermectin as anything but. According to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/december-was-deadliest-most-infectious-month-start-pandemic-n1252645">NBC news, 77 thousand people died from covid in the US in December</a>. I would suggest that the vast majority of these deaths were entirely preventable, considering that the efficacy of ivermectin has been known for months now.</p><p>Once you find yourself able to accept that reality that people -- and especially corporations are not inherently good, you may also be able to understand more of what is going on with the push to get us all to take Pfizer's new mRNA vaccine for covid. Here are some additional reasons for concern...</p><p>Dr Kary Mullis -- who invented the PCR test being used for covid testing, was adamant that it was unreliable when used at higher cycle counts, where he states you "could find anything" you wanted at the higher number of amplification cycles used in this test. Had he not died mysteriously last August, he would have undoubtedly had a lot to say about the WHO recommending up to 45 cycles for covid testing. He also had a lot to say about Dr. Fauci, with whom he was well acquainted and whom he considered a politician (and not a very bright one). The interview in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHeSesj8bQ">this video</a> goes into some of the details (the comments on Fauci start around 3:30). </p><p>We should also keep in mind that the PCR test -- which is what was used to demonstrate the efficacy of the new Pfizer vaccine is <a href="https://off-guardian.org/2020/12/18/who-finally-admits-pcr-tests-create-false-positives/">regularly used at 35-40 amplification cycles</a>. Court testimony, in the case of German tourists detained in Portugal for positive PCR test results, showed that at this number of cycles, the PCR test will give a 97%<i> false</i> positive rate.</p><p>Another interesting recent death (on December 8th) was that of Brandi Vaughan -- a former Merck sales rep. She worked for Merck in the early 2000s, selling Vioxx which Merck had just developed. Upon learning that Merck was well aware that it was killing people (with heart attacks) for <i>at least a year</i> before the FDA forced them to stop selling the drug, she quit the company. Her own research lead her to start the organization, "Know the Risk" about the dangers of vaccines. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzpdaJgjh8c">This video</a> is of one of her speeches -- where she makes some very good points that I was not previously aware of. One that I thought was particularly interesting, is the fact that European kids receive far fewer vaccines -- and the serious anaphylactic-reaction allergies to foods such as peanut butter -- which are rampant in the US to the point that many schools now *prohibit* peanut butter -- are virtually unknown in Europe. </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzpdaJgjh8c">In this video</a>, Brandi detailed exactly the intimidation tactics the pharmaceutical industry was using against her (her own account begins at 7:17). People repeatedly broke into her home (using the master key code for her security system, which nobody else knew) and stole nothing, but left several messages to intimidate her, and also clearly bugged her home. She knew she was undertaking serious risk, to the point that she felt compelled in what became her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/brandy.vaughan.98">last facebook post</a> to state that she *is not* suicidal and *is not* in poor health. She "died" a week after making that post, at the age of 48.</p><p>Conspiracy theory? Perhaps. Do people conspire? Do corporations? Absolutely. </p><p></p>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-36606759731330855752020-07-19T08:44:00.001-07:002020-07-19T08:51:14.187-07:00Flux<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDo1phwlCjBiX8IS7NTFR2c5DWMayPKQU8yZCPuUAi_AXpt4rpOq5V4-11RrVMYGKauLnZ_Hne2upC5wqErCxnGrclCL1p25dAOguQUYv8gop5q1On38QJXSK8jiNx0Dp8PyG5t3ukno/s1600/IMG_20200703_212911370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDo1phwlCjBiX8IS7NTFR2c5DWMayPKQU8yZCPuUAi_AXpt4rpOq5V4-11RrVMYGKauLnZ_Hne2upC5wqErCxnGrclCL1p25dAOguQUYv8gop5q1On38QJXSK8jiNx0Dp8PyG5t3ukno/s400/IMG_20200703_212911370.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The horses insist upon staying in the barn during the day, as the July heat and humidity put the horse and deerflies into overdrive. It was 80 degrees (this is the "cool" part of the day), with 80% humidity when I made it out the house this morning . The cows stay in a dark corner of the barn as well, against the cooler stone foundation and away from the biting flies. Evenings offer some relief, but the mosquitoes come out then. They're less annoying to the animals than the big 1" long horseflies, apparently.<br />
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Our second cutting of hay should be ready, but was stunted by weeks of 90 degree heat, a lack of rain, and a good infestation of leaf-hoppers such that it hardly looks to be worth cutting. Now we're getting some decent rain, but I can't cut it until the forecast clears up for a few days so it can dry. I'm not looking forward to working the horses in this heat -- hopefully that will subside as well.<br />
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As is now an annual summer tradition, I'm again fantasizing about someplace cooler than SW Michigan. This year it's the NE corner of Minnesota, up between the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and the north shore of Lake Superior. There are lots of little cabins along the "<a href="https://www.exploreminnesota.com/profile/gunflint-trail-national-scenic-byway/2341" target="_blank">Gunflint Trail</a>" (Hwy 12) that runs from Grand Marais up to the boundary waters. Looks like a neat area, at least so long as I ignore the many photos of people there wearing face-coverings to keep the clouds of mosquitoes and blackflies at bay. I've always felt that it's much easier to deal with cold weather than it is with heat, but maybe living at -30 F would change my mind about that. I do like the idea of snow sticking around for most of the winter and accumulating more than a few inches at a time.<br />
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I also like the idea of using a canoe for transporting things. Unlike horses, there's no need to shoe or feed them, and I've never heard of a canoe freaking out and running off for any of the reasons that horses seem to find in abundance. Better yet, they don't kick!<br />
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Now that I'm among the many covid-unemployed, it feels like we've done the right thing in remaining debt free and living where we can produce our own food and fuel. Aside from summer, it's even a nice place weather-wise.<br />
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I had a job interview last week which seemed to go well, but haven't heard anything back on it yet. I think the competition is pretty fierce these days. I'm by no means convinced that the "normal" economy is ever going to return, but I've been thinking that for many years now while it's been sputtering along to my amazement.<br />
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Despite an initial failed planting and lots of deer damage, our one acre field of open-pollinated corn (Krugs 90-day) seems to be doing alright. My two cultivations with the horses went very well, and with a couple passes of the hoe, the rows look pretty good now. The deer (despite soaking the seeds briefly in kerosene -- an old practice that was apparently common in the days before commercial seed) and birds like to pull up the young shoots to pluck the seed off. Lately, the deer have been breaking the stalks in half to eat the tender meristem, so I've been making evening visits to scare them off. There are definitely parts of the field which are more or less failed, but the majority is now head-high and thick enough to keep the weeds at bay.<br />
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I find myself stuck (particularly on the really hot days) in a state of flux; not quite sure where I should be focusing my efforts, so I continue as I've been doing, working a bit until the heat becomes too much, at which point I find myself retreating indoors to sit with a popsicle and a laptop checking out cooler places to live. Then when I get disgusted with myself for spending too much time online, I go back outside to tackle another project. Rinse and repeat...<br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-34329670655967521512020-03-24T13:32:00.000-07:002020-03-27T09:44:53.920-07:00About face<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJZGcHuywZmvS6mCw-yN1uNbpJC3fYGhKRIyv-3mOHCs3yalmZUQCUroQlSwUaOC3_wz6R5yeZ6TgnredqhR0b5RFpbkWN_s3fEIBTkE64KdOIE9-qskNwMhMIcCWN49TkxtGHWA0s70/s1600/IMG_20200115_144207156_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJZGcHuywZmvS6mCw-yN1uNbpJC3fYGhKRIyv-3mOHCs3yalmZUQCUroQlSwUaOC3_wz6R5yeZ6TgnredqhR0b5RFpbkWN_s3fEIBTkE64KdOIE9-qskNwMhMIcCWN49TkxtGHWA0s70/s400/IMG_20200115_144207156_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A campfire lunch in our woods overlooking the muskrat pond.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a dozen years of forking manure, weeding, putting up hay and firewood, squeezing teats, enduring mid-west heat and humidity, picking off lyme carrying ticks, killing cute animals, and having spooked horses run off to destroy yet another expensive piece of equipment... I was ready to give it a rest.<br />
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I was done waiting for Godot; peak oil, impending economic collapse... you name it. Come what may, I was ready to again assume the simple life of dependency that the vast majority have chosen. I was ready to fall into the arms of industrial civilization, sell my remaining life for an inflated west-coast mortgage, and endure insane Washington traffic.<br />
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On the plus side, we would again be near the mountains and ocean, so Henry would get to experience the wilderness that was so important to me for most of my life. We could go backpacking, skiing, sailing, kayaking, crabbing... all good things. More fun, less work -- at least on weekends anyway.<br />
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We put the farm up for sale late last year, and found an Amish family who wanted to buy it -- complete with all equipment and much of the livestock. A great situation for us, as we knew they appreciated what we've cobbled together, and also great because we didn't need to worry ourselves with selling off everything separately. Nobody would be bulldozing the barns and building a McMansion.<br />
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With this in mind, in January we placed an offer on an old Lopez Island farm house -- imho the nicest of the ferry-serviced islands in the San Juan archipelago at the north end of Puget Sound. As it turns out, the home inspection did not go well. When the sellers refused to make any concessions, we walked. Just about that time covid-19 started to make a few headlines.<br />
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Still looking for homes, I began to wonder if moving might not be such a good idea anymore. As the coronavirus spread continued, it soon became readily apparent that it wasn't. Though we hadn't seen much of interest come on the housing market, a "good" house came up a few weeks ago, but I simply couldn't see making an offer on it. I feel better about that now, because it just sold for $65k above the asking price. Yes, the Puget Sound region is still going insane. I'm hoping that things may calm down a bit once this virus has taken its toll. Prices here in Michigan will fall as well, but they don't have as much room to drop.<br />
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In the meantime, I'm awfully happy to be sitting where we are, on a farm where we can produce our own food, fuel, and hay. The current "lock-down" simply provides justification for all the things we've been doing for these many years. Rachel and Henry are both home now that schools are closed, though I'm still working for the time being. Michigan just announced lockdown yesterday, as the state reported 1300 cases. Being forced to "self-isolate" actually sounds pretty nice here.<br />
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As <a href="http://haymanfarm.blogspot.com/2020/02/covid-19-prepare-yourself.html" target="_blank">I suggested</a> in February, I think there will be significant economic repercussions from the virus, well beyond the shortage of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. I've seen modeling which suggests that the virus will be problematic for another 18-24 months. As a perennial pessimist (or realist, as I like to think), I see the economic mayhem lasting well beyond that, but I have a fantastic record of being wildly wrong on a lot of things. On the other hand, just like a stopped clock, I'm <i>bound</i> to be right, eventually.<br />
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So the window of opportunity for living as if it's still the 20th century may be riding off into the sunset. Buying a house on credit, or loading our possessions on a semi to haul them 2500 miles across the country may very well be a thing of the past. If so, we're about as well situated as we could ask to be. If I'm wrong (yet <i>again</i>!) and "<a href="https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/energy-superpower-saudi-america-has-been-the-worlds-largest-petroleum-producer-for-26-months-in-a-row/" target="_blank">Saudi America</a>" rides in to rescue us all from a return to civilizational sanity, I wouldn't mind sailing out to Patos Island one more time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNAJmLImti40CUhyU5_n7NKmmvrJxZDMbMN9jYzZr11EUjyxZRkUpDBujKbAiLaZfb550PFP9qi0uzWrN__fNrsz2nvZM5oaBaMyTzeDqFxAOM3oqbymIGk6hGY-zE7MT29YkebuKlsk/s1600/patos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="900" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNAJmLImti40CUhyU5_n7NKmmvrJxZDMbMN9jYzZr11EUjyxZRkUpDBujKbAiLaZfb550PFP9qi0uzWrN__fNrsz2nvZM5oaBaMyTzeDqFxAOM3oqbymIGk6hGY-zE7MT29YkebuKlsk/s400/patos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-15746394202206393832020-03-18T03:29:00.000-07:002020-03-18T03:46:22.815-07:00The best description of the Democratic party I've ever read..."Progressives assume that they have negotiating power because they assume, wrongly, that the Democratic Party exists to win elections. It doesn’t. The Democratic Party exists, first and foremost, to sabotage the left." -- Caitlin Johnstone's <a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/03/18/the-official-bad-guy-of-the-day-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/">blog update from 3/18/20</a><br />
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Now that the DNC has annointed Biden and altered primary results to ensure that their candidate is a dementia-addled do-nothing who is *guaranteed* to lose to Trump, I hope everyone can see them for who they are.David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-79637903655536506562020-02-28T07:03:00.000-08:002020-02-29T02:57:17.434-08:00Don't fret - we're in GOOD hands!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our fine reality-TV president tRump has returned to the saddle after <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-defends-cuts-cdc-budget-federal-government-hire-doctors-coronavirus-2020-2-1028946602" target="_blank">working hard to get the CDC defunded</a>, and is ready to make sure that covid-19 is brought under control. He's organized a new dream-team of clueless corruption to restore American confidence. Strangely enough, not one of them has any medical background whatsoever, unless we count Pence's proven ability to <i>create </i>epidemics.<br />
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Leading this valiant effort is the frat-boy turned evangelical lunatic and talk-show host -- Mike Pence. As the unfortunate governor of Indiana, he <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/27/mike-pence-hiv-indiana/" target="_blank">defunded the only clinic in the state which performed HIV testing, eliminated programs meant to restrict the spread of disease among drug addicts, and presided over the resulting HIV outbreak whereupon he bravely determined that "prayer" was the appropriate response</a>.<br />
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Supporting him is Steve Mnuchin -- a morally bankrupt uber-nerd whose primary qualifications seem to be doing "<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldmansachs-blankfein/goldman-sachs-boss-says-banks-do-gods-work-idUSTRE5A719520091108" target="_blank">God's Work</a>" for Goldman Sachs and using the proceeds to bribe an equally vapid and <a href="https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/louise-linton-steve-mnuchin-trump/" target="_blank">vain super-model</a> to pose as his wife.<br />
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Rounding out the team is Larry Kudlow -- a hard partying Wall-Street financial analyst with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Kudlow" target="_blank">fondness for cocaine</a> who has already <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/25/kudlow-white-house-coronavirus-117402" target="_blank">declared corona virus to be contained within the US</a>.<br />
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If I didn't know any better, I'd be inclined to think that someone views this virus as a golden opportunity.<br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-38124794793609501102020-02-24T10:10:00.000-08:002020-03-16T04:24:50.219-07:00Covid-19 - Prepare Yourself!Chances are, if you get the majority of your information from mainstream news sources, you're being told that the novel coronavirus (now dubbed covid-19) is basically "a bad flu" and not a big deal. Just wash your hands, or maybe buy some antiviral masks, right? Maybe you'll have to keep the kids home from school for a couple weeks. After all, we're much more knowledgeable about disease than we were in 1918 when the Spanish Flu broke out. We've successfully contained Ebola and Zika, so it's safe to assume that we can contain this virus as well... or so we're being told.<br />
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With a 90% mortality rate, Ebola is truly terrifying. SARS has a mortality rate of about 15% -- still scary, but certainly more survivable. If we're to believe the official numbers from the Chinese communist government (I don't), the death rate for covid-19 is about 2.5% -- certainly scary, but not the end of the world. If you get it, you have a 1 in 40 chance of dying from it. Not something I'd like to gamble my family's health on, but not apocalyptic in the way that Ebola's mortality rate is.<br />
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So what's the big deal then? The problem is that we cannot and will not be able to control the spread of this disease, but we will try, just as China is doing. It's the attempts being made to control the disease that are doing the most damage, and which will soon affect us all in a big way.<br />
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We can't control this disease for a number of reasons. First of all is that people have been shown to be contagious for <i>weeks</i> before displaying any symptoms -- and some people <i>never</i> develop any symptoms. That means that perfectly healthy people will be circulating and infecting people without knowing it. People are even contagious for a couple weeks *after* their symptoms have abated.<br />
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In addition to that, the virus appears to be transmissible over long distances through the air, as was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/world/asia/coronavirus-japan-cruise-ship.html" target="_blank">evidenced on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship</a>. Despite passengers being confined to their rooms and the staff taking great precautions, the infection rapidly spread throughout the ship. Apartment blocks in China appear to have suffered similar fates, as the virus spread through ventilation systems. Not only does it travel very well, but the virus can remain active on various surfaces for weeks.<br />
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Unlike the flu, getting sick with this virus doesn't necessarily make you immune to getting it again, as China is now documenting people who have been infected by it multiple times, with <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/chinese-doctors-coronavirus-can-reinfect-people-and-the-second-infection-can-lead-to-heart-failure" target="_blank">second infections often resulting in heart failure</a>. The fact that we do not produce sufficient antibodies to ward off recurring infections with this virus also suggests that developing a vaccine for it (which normally takes about a year) will be very difficult.<br />
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Another serious problem is that of testing. Test kits are not widely distributed and available. The entire state of Hawaii -- which is known to have been visited by people who later tested positive for the virus -- <a href="https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/02/21/schatz-calls-repeated-delays-coronavirus-test-kits-hawaii-totally-unacceptable/" target="_blank">still does not have any test kits</a> -- and won't until at least March. A reader comment in one article on the NY times website noted that she had recently returned from China, and that her husband soon fell ill as did their son. Despite this history, she claimed that the hospital they visited refused to test them for the virus. Even when the test kits are available and used, it appears as if false-negatives are very common. One doctor in China noted a patient who had been tested <i>six times</i>, with only the last test coming back positive.<br />
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Even when the best protective measures are followed, infection is still a regular occurrence. I cannot find the article now (I believe I came across it a week or two ago), but there were already 2000 medical staff infected with the virus in China. The director of Wuhan's main hospital <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/17/asia/coronavirus-covid-19-update-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">has already died</a> from it, as did <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/world/asia/chinese-doctor-Li-Wenliang-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">this doctor whom the Chinese government punished for warning of the virus early on</a>.<br />
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So even if we can't control the spread, the mortality rate is still pretty low. Yes, some people will die, and that's terrible, but unavoidable for now. Those deaths are not what concerns me nearly as much as the effects of our attempts to limit the spread of the virus.<br />
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As we can see now, the majority of China is in lock down. A figure I remember from a week ago (and now undoubtedly outdated) is that 710 million people are now on lockdown -- being confined to their homes by the military and police. Factories are largely shut down, and travel has been reduced to an absolute bare minimum (though still probably not reduced enough). Despite these apparently draconian measures, the virus is still spreading rapidly. In communist China, they're probably expected and thus easier to enforce. How will people react to them in the US?<br />
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So China appears to be coming to the realization that locking everyone in their homes is having a serious effect on their economy, and in some areas has authorized factories to reopen. In one such case, 210 employees reported to work. One of them was tested for the virus and found to be positive. The result? All 210 employees were moved to a quarantine camp, where they will likely be infected if they weren't already. New quarantine recommendations are that it should last for <i>at least</i> 24 days. So that factory will be down for a long time, unless they can replace and train an entirely new workforce who will likely suffer the same fate.<br />
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The Chinese government has also threatened citizens with jail time if they stay home after being ordered to return to work. Apparently, many are refusing to return to work despite this threat. I would not be surprised in the least if governments around the world give up on trying to control the virus, realizing that the cure is worse than the disease, and attempt to restart economic activity for better or worse.<br />
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So what happens when factories and businesses shut down for an extended period of time? All appearances are that this virus will be with us for months at the very least. Certainly some shut downs will not have a serious effect. In fact, we would probably <i>benefit</i> from fewer plastic toys and electronic gadgets. The shut-down of factories that manufacture or distribute medical supplies, however, could be a problem. What about food production? Will your local utility be able to keep natural gas flowing so you can heat your home? What about electricity to power the well pumps that feed your city or home water supply? What if an essential part breaks down and cannot be replaced because the factory that makes it is shut down? The wonderful efficiency of our modern economy is rife with inter-dependencies, each of which pose great risks in this situation. These direct effects of the virus could be very serious, but they will -- hopefully -- not be long term.<br />
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<b>My primary concern with the corona virus is not the direct effect of the disease nor the direct effect of the required industry shut-downs, but the long term effect upon our highly intertwined economies</b>.<br />
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There are serious concerns that global debt levels have grown dramatically in recent years, (especially since the 2008 financial crisis) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/15/how-much-global-debt-is-too-much/" target="_blank">making the global economy extremely vulnerable to shocks</a>. Covid-19 appears to not just be a potential "pin" that could prick this debt bubble, but rather a machine gun.<br />
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Globally, peak oil occurred just before the big financial crisis of 2008 (big surprise there!). Our central bank has patched the problem over by making sure that credit is available to many businesses, but especially to oil companies. That was key to the massive growth of the "Saudi America" fracking revolution that <a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/monthly-u-s-crude-oil-production-tops-11-million-barrels-per-day-for-first-time-ever/" target="_blank"><i>dramatically </i>improved oil production in the US </a>, which had previously peaked in 1971 and been in decline ever since. The problem is that fracked oil is too expensive to produce at a profit, and fracking companies have never made a penny -- even according to our own Energy Information Administration. Fracking now accounts for 60% of US oil production. With oil prices already well below their cost of production and heading lower as business and travel restrictions take effect for the corona virus -- how will these companies pay their debts? They won't. They'll go bankrupt -- or be bailed out by you and I. If our money printing can continue indefinitely without destroying the US Dollar, that is. If our fracking scheme does finally fall flat (and I should note that even our conventional oil production is now in a precarious financial state), US oil production will fall by 60%. Will they be able to rebuild it after such an economic shock? Would <i>you</i> invest in it? How do you think a sudden drop in 60% of our oil production will effect you? Will your local grocery store still be receiving food? Will your job survive?<br />
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So what's the take-away? I would prepare yourself to stay at home for at least one month (longer is better, as we have no idea how long this will last). Store up as much food and water as you can, and make contingencies for the potential loss of utility services. Better yet, start a garden or set up an alternate source of water if you can. If you require medications, make sure to fill your prescriptions asap and build up a longer term supply if possible. It may not happen, but I think it's safe to assume that supply chains -- even for essential goods -- will likely fail.<br />
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If the virus does strike your family, it would also be useful to have antiviral medications. Medicines containing elderberry have clinically proven antiviral effects, showing both a significant reduction in both duration and severity of symptoms. It might not be a bad idea to stock up on books as well. Prepare <i>before</i> the rush, if at all possible, because at some point soon it will become impossible. Italy went from having a small number of cases to putting entire regions in lockdown, complete with numerous medical staff infected, in just 3 days. With the Dow flirting with a 1,000 point drop today as the latest headlines slowly sink in, that point may come even sooner than <i>I</i> think.<br />
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<a href="https://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html" target="_blank">Here is a page</a> that explains much of what I've said here but is a bit more condensed and probably more readable.<br />
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Chris Martenson, (who has a PhD in pathology and understands the disease dynamics very well) has been producing daily videos which summarize the situation as it develops. He's also exceptionally energy-aware and puts the big picture together much better than most. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD2-QVBQi48RRQTD4Jhxu8w" target="_blank">Here's his youtube page</a>.<br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-31000996928250977952020-02-12T12:57:00.000-08:002020-02-12T13:02:34.642-08:00Morning Walks<br />
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I think it's been a little more than a year now, maybe two, since the dogs and I started taking regular morning walks the half mile down to the end of our road and back. Life without cows is different, and a bit more leisurely.<br />
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Sometimes we're walking in the dark, either with or without a headlamp if the moon is out. We regularly spook deer and turkeys from the adjacent field and woods, but it's been a while since I've seen them now, as they hunker down for the season.<br />
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I love looking over our homestead on the return leg. We've done a lot here, and it shows. The orchard, the garden, the new barn, tool shed, greenhouse, wood shed, the smithing shed... they all speak to what goes on here. It's a nice place to walk home to, guided by the familiar and comforting scent of wood smoke.<br />
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With the winter snow, we get to see a lot of tracks if not always their makers. There's <i>always</i> deer tracks. Coyote, squirrel, opossum, raccoon, fox, mouse... there's a lot happening here. Judging by the dogs' excitement, the smells tell quite a story.<br />
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Earlier in the week, in the pitch dark, I could smell a skunk. The dogs were too far ahead to tell if they'd just been visited by the "stinky kitty". Fortunately, they had not. The next morning (in the daylight), Bilbo "woofed!" out into the field, where I could see a black and white creature ambling out from the trees. Best not to encourage the dogs or get too close I thought. But then again, that's a boring way to live, so I walked out to investigate. Just a cat, this time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGkROsLtR6iW5plHMz4btK01Z1av0fIXFf5gZ9C5m83ASt4fbGfge3JFUvb2dl-2eDrfqdnoi5FnMmEws9bSlew8k5yYEjp74HTqM8qukX6gyw7RFcEfJANG8b1JvzuSbm2jddVontajI/s1600/IMG_20190509_140343023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGkROsLtR6iW5plHMz4btK01Z1av0fIXFf5gZ9C5m83ASt4fbGfge3JFUvb2dl-2eDrfqdnoi5FnMmEws9bSlew8k5yYEjp74HTqM8qukX6gyw7RFcEfJANG8b1JvzuSbm2jddVontajI/s320/IMG_20190509_140343023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The dogs know that the walks happen <i>after</i> morning chores. Clover loves the chores, since she gets to spend time watching horse or piggy TV, and that <i>never</i> gets old. If it's not too cold to come outside for chore-time, Bilbo likes to follow me into the horse barn (aka the "International House of Dumplings"), where he selects a frozen green treat or stinky hoof trimming to enjoy while nesting in the loose hay as I work.<br />
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If it <i>is</i> too cold, Bilbo waits in the house until chores are done. I don't dare go on the walk without him though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4J0YKuLv7HEZKQQC-dvPKWtlSk6nwzAvZujyOu1DiJv0H0qvGIqfgAc82KsT-Hg6o8Zz9oPMdjsgFiAHtw3d5nlHnla7JwzphK2fPfD41rLqusrDbJJyl9srfc60CONfOk5s-wxVZeVk/s1600/bellwort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4J0YKuLv7HEZKQQC-dvPKWtlSk6nwzAvZujyOu1DiJv0H0qvGIqfgAc82KsT-Hg6o8Zz9oPMdjsgFiAHtw3d5nlHnla7JwzphK2fPfD41rLqusrDbJJyl9srfc60CONfOk5s-wxVZeVk/s320/bellwort.jpg" width="320" /></a>The woods across the street have quite a bit more diversity than our own, as they've been established much longer. One morning I noticed an unfamiliar flower. Google Lens said it was "Bellwort", which appears to be correct. Google may have had to dispense with their "Don't be evil" motto now that they work closely with the US government, but helping me identify flowers makes it all better.<br />
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The walks aren't all full of wildlife and flowers though. The locals don't seem to have a problem with using our road as their personal dumpster. I've filled quite a few garbage cans worth -- initially enough to make it worth my while to drive down with the truck to pick it all up.<br />
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I regularly scheme about what I'd like to do if I were to catch someone throwing their trash on our road. I came up with an idea for a sign, reading <i>Free Rocks! (delivered through the windshield of anyone caught littering here)</i>. Life would be so much more <i>fun</i> without self restraint!<br />
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One morning I was especially excited to find a debit card amongst a pile of household garbage. I googled the name on it and found a nearby address, dreaming of how I'd like to confront the bastard. Should I return the garbage to his front doorstep? My anger subsided a bit when I finally drove past the address -- a microscopic house sided in disintegrating OSB, now vacant and for sale. I conceded that the person who lived there probably tossed their trash on our road simply because they couldn't afford garbage pickup. There's always more to the story, eh?<br />
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Another bag I found was filled with empty blister packs -- both for lithium batteries and Sudafed. Yup, the local meth cooker tosses their garbage here too. Maybe the same person whose debit card I found.<br />
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On one walk, Rachel noticed a shotgun tossed to the side of the road. Apparently a burglar decided that the additional sentencing for having a firearm wasn't worth it.<br />
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After a few months I had the road pretty well cleaned out, such that I know when something new arrives. This last summer there was a pile of clothing next to an empty suitcase sporting a greyhound bus tag from Chicago. Looked to be the clothing of a young woman (complete with lacy panties) and a young girl. I can only guess as to how their clothes ended up on the side of our road, but imagine the story is not a pleasant one.<br />
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When I'm lucky, our neighbor's cow is up at the fence, and I get to pick a little lush grass from the roadside (the cow only gets hay). He gets a treat, and I get to pet a cow again. Life is good.<br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-27933508145157556032020-02-06T06:18:00.002-08:002020-02-06T08:51:26.774-08:00The DNC -- preparing to enable the re-election of Trump, just like 2016Whether or not you're a Sanders supporter as I am, you have to admit that the subversion of democracy is again underway in the US, courtesy of the Democratic National Committee (aka Democracy Neutralization and Corruption). In Black Hawk county, they posted their results to facebook in order to ensure transparency. When the DNC reported their numbers for Black Hawk, they were significantly different. When genuine mistakes are made, they don't favor or disfavor any particular candidate, but that's not what's happening here. Caitlin covers the details you didn't hear about on NBC, CBS, or CNN...<br />
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<a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/06/the-myth-of-incompetence-dnc-scandals-are-a-feature-not-a-bug/">https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/06/the-myth-of-incompetence-dnc-scandals-are-a-feature-not-a-bug/</a><br />
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And from the NY Time's (a DNC aligned organization, no less) own <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/04/us/elections/results-iowa-caucus.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">Iowa primary tracking website</a>, another interesting point over in Polk County:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAcamAJN63iAYrKc9fsG5hQFUAhHoGCvsI-CnwsM1dLCvf6ZtpFnkPEwp5QMLqxxrJCvpnrOfVQxjSI83ACCZnYNDQJNZvI65pGICG9_rbnXuO23z9_Gjak4ezx-DmanxhGRJJKev9O4/s1600/polkiowa.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="149" data-original-width="360" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAcamAJN63iAYrKc9fsG5hQFUAhHoGCvsI-CnwsM1dLCvf6ZtpFnkPEwp5QMLqxxrJCvpnrOfVQxjSI83ACCZnYNDQJNZvI65pGICG9_rbnXuO23z9_Gjak4ezx-DmanxhGRJJKev9O4/s400/polkiowa.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Which leads me to the (still probably questionable) numbers for Polk County. Hmmm....<br />
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We live in a country that is openly persecuting (or simply killing, as with numerous Wikileaks staffers) the bravest among us who've chosen to reveal the actual truth that our elites have been hiding from us (Manning, Assange, Snowden, etc). Yet, a number of people <i>still</i> choose the comfort of denial, and continue to pretend that our government is both believable and truthful.<br />
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Fortunately for us, when someone lies, they have a *really* difficult time keeping their story straight and consistent. The evidence is there for anyone willing to look, but the knowledge you'll gain will not allow you to remain comfortably complacent.<br />
<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-31054717266959529782019-11-22T02:25:00.001-08:002019-11-22T02:25:28.929-08:00Ian Welsh hits it out of the parkNot that this is unusual for Ian, but I felt this one is especially good:<br />
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<a href="https://www.ianwelsh.net/accepting-and-using-climate-change/">https://www.ianwelsh.net/accepting-and-using-climate-change/</a>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-68924575107711141452019-11-22T02:16:00.000-08:002019-11-22T02:16:21.890-08:00Fool me once...Excellent and eye opening article on US politics...<br />
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<a href="http://www.alt-market.com/index.php/articles/4003-trump-vs-warren-and-the-fake-battle-against-the-elites">http://www.alt-market.com/index.php/articles/4003-trump-vs-warren-and-the-fake-battle-against-the-elites</a>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-21795833058803565392019-11-04T06:13:00.002-08:002019-11-04T06:13:32.762-08:00Caitlin JohnstoneFor those of you who may not have clicked on my link for Caitlin Johnstone on the right, here's a push in that direction. She's an Australian writer, married to (I think) an American ex-pat, and is brilliant in her ability to see through the facade of our corporate media. I highly recommend her in general, and today's column in particular. <br />
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<a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/11/04/the-incredible-shrinking-overton-window/">https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/11/04/the-incredible-shrinking-overton-window/</a>David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-70365099421860965992019-09-09T06:53:00.003-07:002019-09-09T11:06:24.506-07:00Stop Pretending<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0RE8RtIANxNMoopUo_4T906oK7mRwIULrBlayMkujjiZRT7327jf0PMIC1MpH7FdDH6kAuOYPCeAg_it4om2AWiFkZL5bab4sRE0lMLxRpvT-lXlZTpmsjnsVy3UkKrdWYjjXaVvlug/s1600/IMG_20190827_201421316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0RE8RtIANxNMoopUo_4T906oK7mRwIULrBlayMkujjiZRT7327jf0PMIC1MpH7FdDH6kAuOYPCeAg_it4om2AWiFkZL5bab4sRE0lMLxRpvT-lXlZTpmsjnsVy3UkKrdWYjjXaVvlug/s400/IMG_20190827_201421316.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=maxfield+parrish&safe=off&rlz=1C1AJZK_enUS776US776&sxsrf=ACYBGNQ-ypflC0PrVBKrwFPd93TbAA40pw:1568035513712&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvwai-68PkAhUEHqwKHZ0xAMAQ_AUIEigB&biw=1745&bih=852" target="_blank">Maxfield Parrish</a> clouds above the farm during evening chores</td></tr>
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It's always nice to know someone has thoughts which mirror my own, particularly when nobody that I personally know seems to share them. It's even better when these people have a far bigger bull-horn than I.<br />
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I've only read about it (at this point there isn't even a trailer available) but truth-teller Michael Moore has partnered with Jeff Gibbs to put out a new film, <i><a href="http://planetofthehumans.com/" target="_blank">Planet of the Humans</a></i>. As I understand it, the thesis of the film is that the push towards "renewable" energy is misdirected, since such energies are neither truly zero carbon, renewable, nor capable of supporting civilization in its current form. The film suggests that a reduction in expectations is far more important, and I agree.<br />
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I just learned of another opinion piece written by Jonathan Franzen in the <i>New Yorker</i> which mirrors my own thoughts as of late. <i><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-if-we-stopped-pretending" target="_blank">What if we stopped pretending?</a> </i>takes a look at the reality of our situation and our track record to-date, concluding that we have not and will not do what it takes to save our own lives.<br />
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It's especially prescient, as I now feel as if I've been<i> pretending</i> to do some good over the last decade with my attempt to eliminate fossil fuel dependency from my life. When everyone around me from my closest family members to casual acquaintances all seem to be enthusiastically embracing the benefits of fossil fuels, my own hard earned yet meager efforts are not going to have any significant impact beyond that of self-deprivation.<br />
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It brings me no comfort, but I think I've finally come to an understanding of why people are not going to do anything to save themselves. Sure -- some of us will do the usual protesting or nibbling around the edges with the purchase of a Tesla, or perhaps start farming with horses, but we will not strike at the core of the problem.<br />
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People like to focus on eliminating the frivolous use of fossil fuels (i.e. flying for vacations or powering mega-yachts), but that's not the bulk of what they're used for. The fact of the matter is that our lives are now 100% dependent upon fossil fuels, whether for food, shelter, clothing, water, or any of life's other essentials. Fossil fuels are what enabled our population to explode to nearly 8 billion from the pre-industrial level of about 1 billion. That's why I'm certain we will continue to embrace them as their extraction grows ever more harmful (fracking, tar sands, deep-water drilling, etc) and ever less profitable (fracking for oil in the US has never made a single penny).<br />
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If we're to eliminate fossil fuels in a very short time frame -- as is clearly the only action to offer even a slim chance of continued survival -- we will be killing our neighbors and ourselves. Nobody is willing to do that, so we continue our support of the status quo of their continued use. We can no more expect to sustain our inflated population with "green" energy than we could expect a vat of yeast to thrive in a solution of nutra-sweet. Yes, there are alternatives to our current way of life (they're what sustained us before the industrial era), but they're <i>not capable of supporting 8 billion people. </i><br />
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This is precisely why politicians are unable to enforce a top down change. It's also precisely why we do not make significant changes at the individual level. It's the reason that two cars still reside in my driveway despite my contempt for them and what their use is doing to our future. The decisions that doomed us were made centuries ago, when the lure of ease and convenience afforded by fossil fuels first took hold.<br />
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Though I will never be able to embrace what is now considered a "normal" American lifestyle in good conscience, I now wonder if it's possible for me to shrug it off and accept that fates are already sealed. "When in Rome...", as the saying goes.<br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-75504546981503702992019-08-04T12:48:00.002-07:002019-08-04T12:48:28.534-07:00The Tell-Tale Pump<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple weeks ago, Rachel and I visited an estate sale in one of the 1960-ish suburban neighborhoods on the edge of town. I find that they make a fantastic excuse for avoiding the work I should be doing. I've become quite a sucker for stuff I don't really need when it's at <i>rock-bottom</i> prices. It's even better when I find something I <i>do</i> actually need - or have suddenly decided that I need.<br />
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While walking from our parking spot over to the sale, I noticed an older gentleman trimming the four small bushes which made up the entirety of his landscaping. "How nice it would be to have so little to maintain!", I said.<br />
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The more infrastructure that exists on a farm, the easier most tasks become. Fencing around the yard means we can let our sheep mow the lawn. Additional barn space means our equipment is under cover and less likely to have bearings or bushings seize up, and also leaves space in the garage/shop for various projects with no need to first move equipment outside. A water line out to both barns, along with the orchard and garden, makes it easier to keep animals watered without dragging leaky hoses everwhere. Our mile of fencing means that I don't have to worry so much about one of the animals making a break for Canada.<br />
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But the more you have, the more you have to maintain. I haven't yet plotted out the maintenance to benefit ratio of our farm's infrastructure, but it feels as if it's fast approaching 1:1. <br />
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A case in point is the frost-free hydrant in the horse's barnyard. Being as they are clumsy 2,000lb beasts, they managed to bump into it and bend it last winter, despite the protective post on one side. "No way to dig it up now -- the ground's still frozen", I thought to myself. <br />
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I bent it back to a relatively upright position and all seemed okay... but something was causing it to leak underground, as evidenced by our well pump cycling every 5 minutes whenever the waterline that serves it wasn't shut off. <br />
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I managed to forget about it for a while, and suddenly it was spring (too busy to deal with it now!), and then summer (too damn hot and humid to be digging a big hole!). Rachel was clearly annoyed that I always had the waterline shut off (the valve is in a dark and spider-web filled corner of our cellar which she absolutely *loves* getting to), and I was growing ever more annoyed that she would leave it on after finishing her work in the garden. Whenever I sat down to relax in the living room, I could hear the well-pump -- a barely audible humming -- whenever the waterline was left turned on. That sound makes me crazy, no matter how hard I try to ignore it.<br />
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So I finally decided that today was the day, despite the morning's not-so-low of 66 and a forecast high of 84. Any time the night-time low stays above 60, the air holds humidity, and our days aren't so pleasant. But... there's no time like the present! (or in this case, 6 months after the fact)<br />
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With the hydrant placed right on the edge of the hog pen, I decided I could let the hogs out into the surrounding horse barnyard while I worked, as they seemed to be quite fascinated with the big hole I was digging. They're still at a relatively cute stage, especially the one we call Pinky. She's the first pig we've ever had that wants frequent tummy rubs. <br />
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The pigs quickly bore down on my dirt pile and started rooting around with their snouts. They came over and stood on the edge of the hole while I was in it., with one foot repeatedly slipping into the hole. Two of them fell into the hole with me. One got so scared that she pooped on my leg while squealing bloody murder as I lifted her back out. I could hear Bilbo barking at the commotion from inside the house.<br />
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As the hole reached 5' deep, getting the long shovel out became a real chore, but I was aided by one of the pigs repeatedly biting my elbow as I lifted the loaded shovel up above shoulder height so I could empty it above-ground. Later, while I was inspecting the fitting that attached the hydrant to the waterline, another of them pushed the shovel into the hole and down on to my head. When I climbed back out, yet another took great interest in the heel of my boot, and started biting it. <br />
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This hydrant isn't the only deferred maintenance on our farm, of course. Though the list is shorter now that I'm no longer spending hours each day to milk our cows, it's still pretty long, and seems to grow about as fast as I'm able to check off the various tasks.<br />
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I've not cleared beneath our electric fences for a couple years now, which causes them to short out and lose their potency as the brush grows up around them. Then again, I wasn't able to keep them on much until the last few weeks anyway, as they make fantastic antenna for catching our regular lightning. Our old Amish farrier told of working in a barn when lightning struck the fence. The charger exploded into a fountain of sparks and started a fire, so I keep our charger disconnected whenever there's lightning in the forecast. <br />
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There's still a lot of painting on my list, and I need to get up on the roof of our new barn, where the ridge cap leaks whenever we have a strong driving rain from the north. I also need to put some slide-stoppers on the roof to keep the snow from ripping the gutters off, and it would be really nice to install some gutter guards so I don't have to spend so much time on a ladder looking down from 27 feet in the air while cleaning the gutters twice a year. Oh, and the windows on the barn need some panes replaced, and painting after that...<br />
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Our tractor has always played second fiddle to our horse-drawn equipment, and I figured that since we don't use it much anyway it didn't need annual oil changes. Whether that was a factor or not I'll never know, but the engine began to suffer a heart attack recently, making a noise from somewhere deep inside that I was soon unable to ignore. Though I despise the coating of grease and oil I find myself bathing in whenever I work on it, I don't have too much trouble fixing the various external things that have gone wrong with it over the years. But... tearing apart the engine itself is more work than I'm interested in, so it's being sold to someone with less of an aversion than myself. <br />
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This means, of course, that I'm looking for a new tractor. I can't dream of affording the $30,000 of an actual <i>new</i> tractor, so new in my case means upgrading to a 1960's era tractor from our 1950's tractor, and hoping that the maintenance to benefit ratio of the tractor will remain below 1:1 for as long as possible. Perhaps a tractor with a loader (and more associated maintenance) would be useful...?<br />
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Sometimes, I really like the idea of having nothing to maintain. <br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-85212364758834282402019-05-07T07:00:00.000-07:002019-05-07T12:42:12.529-07:00Spring Rambling<br />
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The relative leisure of winter is giving way now, as our hay fields and pastures spring back to life and begin to call for our labor. For the first time ever, we were able to have all of our manure spread on field and garden, with nothing left over. It's nice when your farm isn't constipated. Everything grows better that way.<br />
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We had just started plowing the manure into our garden when one of the spring clips on the left line to the horses popped loose. Though I regularly practice verbal "Whoa!" commands with the team for just such an event, they're just not used often enough to respond to this situation in the way I'd like. As horses are wont to do when they sense something isn't right, they took off, and I no longer had control with only one line in hand. The newly renovated plow (all new handles) is now in need of another renovation, and the garden fence -- which stopped the horses -- didn't fare so well either. On the plus side, nobody was seriously injured, and the horses both survived with minor scratches. Never again will I allow snap-links in the lines! It's not the first time they've let me down, and I was dumb to allow a second time. It amazes me that they're "standard issue" on work harnesses.<br />
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At the recommendation of a friend, I recently read the book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Connections-Uncovering-Depression-Unexpected/dp/163286830X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lost+connections&qid=1556736663&s=gateway&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Lost Connections</a></i> by Johann Hari. While I've never personally endured chronic depression, it's been in my family, and depression is something <i>everyone</i> experiences to some degree. This book is a fascinating read, documenting the author's own battle with clinical depression and experience with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor" target="_blank">SSRIs</a>. His revelations into the drug trials and the means by which these medications were approved are real-eye openers. </div>
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Hoping to bolster his arguments, one of the biggest proponents of these medications looked in to how these trials were conducted and declared them to be completely useless. These trials showed SSRIs were only marginally better than placebos. Being told to get more sleep had a significantly greater impact on patients than SSRIs do, for instance. Drugs designed to have the *opposite* chemical effect had nearly identical results when tested in trials! </div>
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Close investigation proved that the pharmaceuticals cherry picked the data to achieve their "slightly beneficial" results by excluding test subjects who showed zero improvement. Even worse is the fact that such test subjects are typically low income and are financially motivated to both claim symptoms that the trial is looking for and to claim that the drug helped them. Those recording the results of such trials are similarly motivated to believe these people, as such results help to justify and sustain their jobs.</div>
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With Hari's damning revelations, we can hopefully look forward to the end of SSRIs. Perhaps we can look forward to a reduction in school shootings and suicides that these drugs have caused since their introduction. While their benefits are absolutely questionable, <a href="https://ssristories.org/" target="_blank">their significant and negative side effects are quite well documented</a>.</div>
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Hari's conclusion -- which closely mirrors that of Sebastian Junger's book <i>Tribe</i> -- suggests that depression is in fact a reasonable reaction to the detached lives our modern society has created. Community has all but been destroyed, as people bounce between different employers and residences every few years. As I've pointed out before, the automobile is in large part what enabled this destruction. That's precisely why those who greatly value their community -- such as the Amish -- refuse car ownership. Their views are absolutely not a "rejection of modern technology" that they're often portrayed to be. Not only are they quite insightful, but we're now proving them to be correct!</div>
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Despite spending massive amounts on plastic when I was into sailing and playing in the mountains (plastic boat, sails, lines, Gore-tex, cordura nylon, polyester fleece, etc), I've never really been a fan. Yeah, plastic enabled a lot of things that would otherwise be unaffordable or impossible, but there's a massive cost. We're just now learning how massive it is. It's all based upon fossil fuel feed-stock, produces loads of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26185164" target="_blank">long-lived toxins</a>, and now we're realizing that it's anything but inert. Our <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/9/19/17800654/clothes-plastic-pollution-polyester-washing-machine" target="_blank">sythetic-fibered clothing is among the worst offenders</a>. Most of it releases endocrine disrupting compounds, and degrades into micro-plastics which have been shown to cross the <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170925104730.htm" target="_blank">blood-brain barrier and lead to brain damage</a>. It's in our food and bodies, and it's <a href="https://www.albatrossthefilm.com/" target="_blank">destroying the natural world</a> we depend upon. This is just a hunch, but considering that many of the compounds it releases mimic estrogen and other hormones in the human body, I think it's quite likely at the root of much of the gender confusion that now permeates our society.<br />
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There's not a day that goes by now when I'm not exposed to some new revelation that tells me we're fundamentally screwed. It's one thing to be fascinated by a car wreck, and quite another to realize that you and everyone you love are<i> in</i> the wreck as it's happening. Though I'm rarely successful for very long, even <i>I</i> try to look away nowadays.<br />
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We've already released enough CO2 into the atmosphere to expect a 7 degree (c) rise in temperature based upon historical observations -- a temperature well above any which may still support human life. Despite much trumpeting that would make one think we're making progress, we're not. Global CO2 emissions have climbed steadily for my entire life, despite ballyhooed events like Kyoto or the Paris Accord. Not only have they steadily climbed, but the rate of climb is <i>accelerating, </i>particularly within the last few years. It's particularly disheartening to be met with fierce opposition from family members when I try to limit our energy consumption. Most people -- even those who know better -- don't even seem to try, and I can see why.<br />
<br />
Discussions of near-term human extinction are no longer the fringe concept they were just a few years ago. That's made movements like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYThdLKE6TDwBJh-qDC6ICA" target="_blank">Extinction Rebellion</a> possible. They're doing the right thing, regardless the ultimate outcome. They're calling for the UK to be completely carbon neutral by 2025. Is that possible? Yeah, anything is possible, but every action has consequences. There's little doubt in my mind that a large portion of the population will not survive such a change whether that's here or in the UK. Still, it's the only solution that *may* allow a small chance for continued human survival -- and that makes it a goal worth achieving.<br />
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The "Green New Deal" (GND) pushed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez probably sounds crazy to anyone who doesn't understand what's now happening, which I bet is still the majority of the population. As is often the case, the older generation often refuses to accept any change which will impact their remaining years, even if they know deep down that such change is the only chance their younger family members have.<br />
<br />
I think the GND is worthwhile, but not because the technology it promotes will actually reduce our carbon emissions. We've already demonstrated that building a bunch of solar panels, wind generators, and electric cars has the effect of *increasing* carbon emissions instead of lowering them. That should come as no surprise, since they're all being manufactured with massive amounts of fossil fuels, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. So what then is the value in the GND? I think it's exactly what needs to happen in order for society to come to this realization. Just as a smoker who switches to "light cigarettes" hasn't really improved anything at all, a switch to "green" energy won't help us at all. The salvation of human life -- if the possibility still exists -- lies with de-industrialization. Let's hope it doesn't take too much longer before that concept becomes widely accepted. At the rate the biosphere is currently collapsing (particularly in the oceans), we can't afford to be slow learners.<br />
<br />
A <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/05/06/the-reason-renewables-cant-power-modern-civilization-is-because-they-were-never-meant-to/#5d5be4a0ea2b" target="_blank">recent article in Der Spiegel</a> document's Germany's "energiewende" difficulties with introducing renewables to power their grid. Suffice it to say that they're not going to reach their goals, despite being more technologically advanced and more motivated than most any other country on the planet. The answer, as always, is to reduce consumption, reduce expectations, and live as we did before. Exceedingly few are willing to accept the obvious, but it's nice to see others coming to the same realization I've held for a while now. <a href="https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2019/05/renewables-are-dead/" target="_blank">The Automatic Earth has a recent discussion</a> of the subject which is worth checking out.<br />
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The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/07/business/energy-environment/climate-change-carbon-engineering.html" target="_blank">NY Times recently highlighted two companie</a>s who are planning to mine carbon from the atmosphere, which they claim will help with reducing our CO2 emissions. The articles then go on to explain that such carbon can be turned into fuels for sale (thus completely negating any carbon benefit and completely ignoring the laws of thermodynamics, but... well...).<br />
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The guys who produce the <a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/I5weece3tb67w32nj6ugci7hpku" target="_blank"><i>Crazy Town</i></a> podcast recently ran the numbers for the task that these companies are supposedly undertaking. Suffice it to say that *just the energy to run the fans* for such an operation, if it were to only cancel current emissions (but do nothing to actually reduce atmospheric carbon levels) would consume the entire electrical generating capacity of the United States. The energy required to actually turn the CO2 into something stable or usable as fuel, of course, would dwarf the energy required for running the fans. The episode which covers this subject is <i>They'll think of somethingisms, </i>and is worth a listen.<br />
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Instead of swatting at flies, whether that's mental health issues, peak oil, overpopulation, plastics pollution, CO2 emissions, species extinction, chemical & nuclear contamination, or the many diseases of our sedentary lifestyle, let's try chopping at the root of the problem. Time and time again, if we dig down far enough, we find that the root is industrialization, and it's fed by fossil fuels. The two are inseparable.<br />
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It's within this light that I find my environmental and recreational interests converging. My longtime interests in wild foods, foraging and hand-craft meshes very nicely with a reinforced disdain for plastic and all that it represents. A lack of plastic is a requirement for my other recently-revived interest revolving around historical trekking, black-powder, and primitive skills. I'm focusing on the late 18th century -- a period when industrialization was just starting to take hold. It's also prompted a renewed interest in my own family history from that period.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6rpldS6ODgJe9shBSvXf_gaBylDsXqbWHA3Qw7gFpZIaimdcnAidvtK29vtpGSE3FG6YiE7NGy0r3qiLo-ec1dBSWpxDk3ViPknQzcr7bmxNBTH5MFkyf5CwwWt38OJmR-HfsPEo0zc/s1600/IMG_20190426_142752440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6rpldS6ODgJe9shBSvXf_gaBylDsXqbWHA3Qw7gFpZIaimdcnAidvtK29vtpGSE3FG6YiE7NGy0r3qiLo-ec1dBSWpxDk3ViPknQzcr7bmxNBTH5MFkyf5CwwWt38OJmR-HfsPEo0zc/s320/IMG_20190426_142752440.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My latest non-plastic creation</td></tr>
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I haven't done a whole lot with it yet other than make a bunch of stuff (shirt, moccasins, axe, tomahawk, knife, turn-screw (i.e. screwdriver), shooting accouterments, haversack, etc), but I'm enjoying the research as well as the activities. I of course need to test my newly made equipment and newly acquired skills with frequent camping trips to the woods at the back of our farm. It feels a bit like camping in my backyard when I was a five year-old, only this time my Dad isn't outside the tent trying to scare us with simulated bigfoot noises.<br />
<br />
I'm getting very good at starting a fire with my home-made flint & steel, and am also getting better at cooking over a fire with my small reproduction trade kettle. I've been working on the use of a bow-drill as well, though I'm by no means proficient with starting fires that way.<br />
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If nothing else, playing 18th century woodsman is a nice way to pass the time while the world burns. It's a temporary respite from the stress that comes with reading the steady drumbeat of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/05/06/one-million-species-face-extinction-un-panel-says-humans-will-suffer-result/?utm_term=.385f855cb9a7" target="_blank">bad news</a> about our collective future.<br />
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Few things are as pleasant as time spent in the woods listening to the the song of a nearby <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxj0lWEw6xM&t=36s" target="_blank">oriole</a>, watching the wind on the pond, the flames of a campfire, or the busy activities of muskrats and turtles in the pond.<br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-32611582954127648072019-02-12T13:02:00.000-08:002019-02-14T03:21:02.644-08:00B. F. Artley<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our barn's granary. The newly discovered name is on the door behind the black cabinet.</td></tr>
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I made a discovery today, which has lead to some new and interesting revelations about our farm. While cleaning up so that I could close the door on the granary in our barn, I noticed a barely visible name stenciled in red paint (probably the same as was used on the outside of the barn), "B. F. Artley".<br />
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I'd long wondered about the history of our farm. We've dug up a few artifacts, most of which add to the mystery rather than answer it.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three artifacts from our farm museum: a broken clay pipe,<br />
a sleigh bell,and arrowhead. Unbeknownst to most people nowadays, sleigh<br />
bells were a required safety device used to warn pedestrians who might not<br />
otherwise hear them coming. Electric cars are known to be similarly quiet.<br />
Perhaps that new Tesla needs some sleigh bells? Tesla Bells?</td></tr>
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I found part of an old clay pipe manufactured by the Hendrix company in Montreal during the late 1800s. When putting in our well, I found a worn down grindstone, buried at a depth which suggests it was dumped into an old privy hole. A black straw woman's hat from the 1800's fell from the ceiling of the living room when we remodeled. </div>
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The fields and soil around the house have yielded old hand forged horse shoes, horse bits, a sleigh bell, and pieces of wagons and farm equipment. Cleaning the barn when we first moved in, I found an ancient tin of percussion caps, definitely pre-dating the modern resurgence of muzzle-loading firearms, and imagined it to have been left there by a farmer who used his civil-war surplus rifle for slaughtering livestock. </div>
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We knew this farm was homesteaded sometime between the 1858 and 1872, as it first appears on the 1872 map. The original barn is of a Pennsylvania Dutch (German) style, a two story bank barn. Had the person who built it come from Pennsylvania, I wondered? It's an excellent design, and a perfect fit for the type of farming I enjoy. You can drive into the hay loft upstairs for unloading via the overhead trolley, and then toss the hay downstairs to the livestock accommodations. An overhang on the downhill side provides a nice covered outdoor loafing area</div>
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I went online with the name I found on the granary door, and soon found a slew of information about the man and family who homesteaded our farm -- Benjamin Artley, originally from Hughesville, Pennsylvania. He was born on September 7th, 1840. Now I know how our Pennsylvania style barn came to Michigan.</div>
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The oldest of 12 children, Benjamin was a civil war veteran (perhaps lending credence to my theory of the tin of percussion caps found in our barn) who signed on with a Pennsylvania regiment. He was listed upon one military document as having the disability of "chronic diarrhea, and piles" (hemorroids). This was the dysentery which killed 95,000 of his fellow soldiers. Two of his younger brothers enlisted, one of whom survived the war and one whom was killed at Gettysburg. </div>
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After the war, he moved west to Michigan, where other family members from the same part of Pennsylvania had become well established. He married Eliza Artley in the nearby town of Constantine in 1870, whom had three daughters and was a widow of another civil war soldier killed in January of 1865 near the end of the war. Eliza's maiden name was Wilson, and it appears as if her first marriage was to one of Benjamin's Artley relatives, so she was already an Artley when they married. They had three boys together, all born while living in this house. Benjamin was listed as a carpenter as well as a farmer, and presumably built this house himself, likely with the aid of his younger brother George (also a carpenter) who also lived here at the time of the 1880 census.<br />
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The original home was 700 square feet, two stories, and four bedrooms for eight people. Though they built a fantastic barn, they skimped a bit on the house. I discovered that they only used sheathing on the west side of the house which faces the prevailing winds. The rest of the exterior had clap-boards nailed directly to the oak studs.</div>
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Benjamin died in 1908 of hepatitis at age 68. His wife appears to have moved in with her daughter Hattie in Kalamazoo, where she died in 1924 at age 84 of liver and stomach ailments. Hattie later died from smoke inhalation during a fire in that same home in 1940. The other two daughters appear to have moved to Iowa.</div>
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David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-67570864690764356702019-01-15T17:50:00.001-08:002019-01-29T06:47:26.129-08:00How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love John Bolton<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Savior?</td></tr>
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Those of you who know me and my political views will, upon seeing the title of this entry, assume it to be irony. While there may have been a slight smirk on my face when I wrote it, I can assure you that this is not an ironic title. There is, in fact, a good reason to support the views of people like our national security advisor, our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlz3-OzcExI" target="_blank">former secretary of state</a>, <a href="https://prospect.org/article/pastor-strangelove" target="_blank">pro-apocalypse megachurch pastors</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/feb/07/eu-us-diplomat-victoria-nuland-phonecall-leaked-video" target="_blank">neocon diplomats</a>, or similarly minded folks. Sometimes people are right for all the wrong reasons, or wrong for all the right reasons. Still more people, it would appear, are just plain confused.<br />
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I've never met Mr. Bolton, and I don't know his motivations. However, I do regularly read about his expressed opinions, which I've always found abhorrent until now. From what I can tell, he's of the opinion that projecting US military might around the world (primarily for the benefit of our corporate interests) is almost always the right thing to do, regardless of the cost in lives, reputation, or precious "taxpayer dollars". This article <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/15/john-bolton-wants-to-bomb-iran-and-he-may-get-what-he-wants/" target="_blank">here</a> is one that appears to be representative of his latest thoughts.<br />
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So how exactly did I fall in love with Mr. Bolton? Allow me to explain...<br />
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Depending upon where we set the "baseline" temperature for measuring climate change, we're now at about 1.5 degrees C above the pre-industrial global temperature, a feat achieved by cranking our atmospheric CO2 from 280 up to the present 413ppm. Our current global temperature is also being *reduced* by the effects of global dimming -- that being the shading effects of jet contrails and particulates from fires and industrial activity around the world. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_dimming" target="_blank">After 9/11, when air traffic over the US was halted, a 1.1 degree (C) rise in temperature was observed</a>, due to the loss of the shade from contrails alone. Considering that industrial activity -- and air travel in particular -- must stop if we're to have a fighting chance of controlling our carbon emissions, you could conclude that our measured 1.5 degree increase is actually 2.6 degrees as soon as we get our affairs in order.<br />
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It's long been argued that a two degree (C) rise in temperature is the absolute limit for continued human existence. It's not that two degrees itself is the problem, however. The problem is that two degrees is a "tipping point", beyond which various feedback loops kick in to create uncontrolled temperature increases that would soon kill most complex forms of life. <a href="https://climatecrocks.com/2015/05/05/james-hansen-2-degrees-is-a-recipe-for-disaster/" target="_blank">NASA scientist James Hansen thinks two degrees is well above the safe limit for triggering the feedback loops which we will be unable to control</a>. Based upon the feedback loops we're already seeing triggered at 1.5 degrees (like <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/30/siberian-craters-big-releases-of-methane-could-pose-broad-problems.html" target="_blank">this</a> or <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/tropical-forests-carbon-rise-oxygen-study-climate-change-emissions-a7974941.html" target="_blank">this</a> or <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/wildfire-smoke-about-to-inundate-western-washington-once-again" target="_blank">this one</a>), I'd have to say he's correct.<br />
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To sum it up, we're already losing control at 1.5 degrees, and we've already got a minimum of 2.6 degrees baked into our future. Things aren't looking good, to say the least. Suffice it to say that we need to stop all fossil fuel extraction asap, and additionally find new ways to sequester carbon, pronto!<br />
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Considering these facts, I'm sure everyone is completely on-board with eliminating the use of fossil fuels. We'll park our cars permanently, and <i>walk</i> to work (assuming our job can exist without fossil fuel use). We'll stop heating our homes and businesses. We'll give up fossil fueled electricity, stop maintaining roads with asphalt or concrete, and never again use anything made with metals mined/smelted/transported with fossil fuels. We'll no longer run diesel tractors, semi trucks, or shop at grocery stores supplied by these devices.<br />
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Does this sound likely? No, I don't think so either. It should be clear by now that we're never going to <i>voluntarily</i> skip down the one remaining path that *might* not end in human extinction.<br />
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But alas, this is no reason for despair. There are <i>other</i> ways to get there!<br />
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If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that the global economy started to stumble a bit around 1980, when per-capita energy peaked. The economic outlook stumbled a bit harder shortly after conventional (i.e. affordable) oil production peaked around 2006. Within the last few years, we've witnessed what now appear to be <a href="https://cassandralegacy.blogspot.com/2019/01/what-happened-in-2015-that-changed.html" target="_blank">peaks in the production of coal, concrete, diesel fuel, and quite possibly global GDP</a>. Chinese industrial production is sputtering, and stock markets are again swooning in ways reminiscent of 2007/2008.<br />
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Industrial civilization, it would seem, is growing weak and frail, as<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513003856" target="_blank"> energy sources become more difficult to extract</a>. It's having trouble growing, which means that it will soon have trouble servicing the debt that has filled in as life-support for countries around the globe over the last few decades. Just a push is all it needs to go over the edge from which it cannot possibly recover.<br />
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That push, it turns out, is where John Bolton comes in.<br />
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When resources grow scarce as they are now doing globally, humans have a long established habit of fighting over them. Thus, Bolton's warmongering ways are probably all but inevitable, and appear to be the most likely route to reaching de-industrialization. If Johnny gets his gun, of course, there could be some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_III" target="_blank">unpleasant side effects</a>, but maybe the some unicorns sprinkling magic rainbow fairy dust will neutralize those. We can never say for certain exactly what the future holds for us, so don't knock the unicorn possibility, eh?<br />
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I suspect that some of you may remain unconvinced of John Bolton's great merits despite my detailed argument in support of them. If that's the case, I have only this to offer...<br />
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Pause from your daily grind, and take the time to stop and smell the roses which still surround us. They won't be blooming here forever.<br />
<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477884032476941584.post-91654624859041115912018-11-08T13:28:00.001-08:002018-11-09T12:51:52.981-08:00Taking Stock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNELeHM8uGjBMrwf4TZBUtNdOdrRRmudo0m_cq2UwAEwHQmqy6SML3DC1ovUPZDbUHhocj5qcxfyHClqTQ7bQysZfP6i3Wm34YyNoiwhI1hhJqTZaqRsthrEG14KSG3b7EqjMnuFIFyo/s1600/IMG_20181024_164503006_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNELeHM8uGjBMrwf4TZBUtNdOdrRRmudo0m_cq2UwAEwHQmqy6SML3DC1ovUPZDbUHhocj5qcxfyHClqTQ7bQysZfP6i3Wm34YyNoiwhI1hhJqTZaqRsthrEG14KSG3b7EqjMnuFIFyo/s400/IMG_20181024_164503006_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
It turns out that I'm not alone in thinking that the chance for human survival within this century is slim. Even the idiot in chief, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-sees-a-7-degree-rise-in-global-temperatures-by-2100/2018/09/27/b9c6fada-bb45-11e8-bdc0-90f81cc58c5d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fa0fe0693e46" target="_blank">as an excuse to pander to industrial interests, has cited the fact that we're looking at a 7 degree rise by the end of the century</a>... which means nothing matters anymore, and means that we can get rid of all those pesky environmental regulations. That is more or less what's already happening now here in the US. <a href="http://www.ianwelsh.net/what-jair-bolsonaros-unfortunate-brazilian-victory-means/" target="_blank">Brazil's new president-elect has declared his intent to raze what remains of the Amazon rainforest</a>. Instead of a valiant final effort to save ourselves, we go collectively bonkers, flying off the cliff with the pedal to the metal, Thelma & Louise style.<br />
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At least one family member has cited our impending doom as reason to no longer take any shame in jetsetting around the world. Then again, I'm not sure they felt any shame or avoided flying back when it would've really been helpful. The do-nothing default wins yet again.<br />
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If the future is a football game, and human survival the home-team, we're down 49-0, with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. In theory, we <i>could</i> still win the game and get to see our kids lead full and enjoyable lives, but our chances grow slimmer by the second.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1A7mHEwYLkB1zJz0rek2_KbU51mQuujIgpNGceMyw42Wo4HF1-PqIG-17lsPT-LC025ciVEdPapnfvjThTukYv-MytS8wO77U13ilMp06EKfL8mCv6kLsi_ZIFqq5guDMuwXc5f3Ato/s1600/IMG_20181105_133634087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1A7mHEwYLkB1zJz0rek2_KbU51mQuujIgpNGceMyw42Wo4HF1-PqIG-17lsPT-LC025ciVEdPapnfvjThTukYv-MytS8wO77U13ilMp06EKfL8mCv6kLsi_ZIFqq5guDMuwXc5f3Ato/s400/IMG_20181105_133634087.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Room with a ewe: Our flock cleans up in the orchard & garden while<br />
Leo the ram fervently examines them all for signs of heat. His preferred<br />
testing method is, of course, tinkle-tasting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you live around Puget Sound, your summer air quality is now worse than Beijing's, due to the local forests going up in smoke, now an annual event.<br />
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If you regularly escape to the Cascades as I once did, <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/new-un-report-warns-of-impending-catastrophe-as-world-warms-glaciers-melt/" target="_blank">you see the shrinking glaciers and burned forests first hand, while trying not to damage your lungs in the smoke</a>.<br />
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If you live in Australia, you've watched your magical <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/04/19/half-of-the-great-barrier-reef-coral-has-died-since-2016/#136118415f9f" target="_blank">great barrier reef die</a>, most of it in the last two years. Europe has seen unprecedented fires as well, both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Sweden_wildfires" target="_blank">north</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/europe/greece-wildfires-missing-intl/index.html" target="_blank">south</a>. If you live on the gulf or east coast, you've seen unprecedented hurricanes roar through at rates and intensities never before seen. Ditto for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Pacific_typhoon_season" target="_blank">hyperactive western pacific</a>, where category 5 super-typhoons are now a dime a dozen (6 of them for 2018).<br />
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Here in the Midwest and New England, summers have become hellish, forcing everyone indoors to crank the AC, ultimately making the problem worse. While we may be able to escape, the natural world upon which we rely cannot.<br />
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The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report" target="_blank">UN / IPCC's latest report</a>, upon evaluating the latest scientific studies, says we meet with civilization destroying disaster by 2030 if we don't make a dramatic course change. Keep in mind that the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-science-predictions-prove-too-conservative/" target="_blank">IPCC has long history of understating trends and forecasts</a>, as a result of industrialized countries like the US, China, and India exerting undue influence on their reports in hopes of continuing with business as usual.<br />
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It should by this point be clear to anyone with an IQ north of 50 that things aren't looking good for us. Does that mean it's time throw in the towel? Should we just stop swimming against the current and mindlessly drift wherever it takes us? Good question. I don't have an answer for everyone, but I plan to continue swimming, even if my efforts are woefully inadequate.<br />
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As Chris Hedges has been saying in his recent speaking tour (which I highly recommend watching), "We fight not because we will win, but because it's right, and because it gives our lives meaning." He's referring more to the fight against corporate fascism that now dominates the US and much of the world, but it's really the same thing as fighting to preserve humanity.<br />
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Does it give my life meaning to eschew the tractor or car and use the horses instead? Does it give my life meaning to avoid air travel, and thus miss my grandmother's funeral in California? It's clear to me at this stage that the effects of such efforts will be drowned in the tsunami of our fossil fueled existence, so "giving my life meaning" is really the sole reason for doing what I hope is still the right thing.<br />
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If there's a bright side to all this knowledge, it's that it has intensified my appreciation for all the beauty still alive in the world.<br />
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<br />David Vealehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09663316407870238260noreply@blogger.com0