WATCHING AND WAITING

Today we have some pictures of Rockpicker and Oldensoul’s fall garden. Killer frost evidently has not hit their area yet. Our garden is about done except for the onions and garlic to yet be fully harvested for the winter.

Rockpickers fall garden, look how it has grown!

Rockpicker and Oldensoul's end of season rock planter with ripening tomatoes.

Squash fest from our garden, an no, we didn't grow all of them. Frost killed off many fruit that were started.

Squash custard with resberries


WATCHING AND WAITING
From Murph

I’ve got to admit that I feel like I am reaching an overload on information. Among all the web sites on the internet and various books and periodicals we try and stay up with, I feel saturated right now. Most of the subjects I am concerned with and some new approaches and ideas I read about are written so well that I wonder what I can talk about on the blog nowadays. One thing that sprang out at me was a new post at the Archdruid blog. He has been on an extensive examination of all sorts of perspectives on the current economic situation and economics in general. Very scholarly stuff and well written.

By now I am sure you frequenters of this campfire are aware that Freeacre and I have unending contempt for most of what our society, government and civilization is and has been doing as long as we have been alive, and before, if our reading of history has any validity at all. We have been anticipating a fall/collapse/revolution so long and have been preparing so long for something along this line to happen that we are sick of the waiting. Let’s get with it on is our frequent mantra.

However, the universe seems rather perverse in its determination to thwart our projections of events. Charles H. Smith recently put up a post that examined the possibility that the dollar will not collapse. Oh darn! The PTB aren’t going to allow that, bad for business. I have a lot of respect for Smith and his perspectives on what is happening financially and socially in this society. His 110 page e-book that nicely condenses his analysis is an excellent read. This can be found at: http://www.oftwominds.com/survival-plus1.html

When we picture what a collapse would be like, we are mostly projecting fantasy into it. Our fantasies around this determine what we do in preparations. Inevitably, collapse/revolution will be different than what we fantasize. It might just be so different that what we do in preparation has no significance at all. And, that conundrum is what I am continually scratching my head over. For the most part, I realize humans are damned poor at future projections. That is not even assuming how many unforeseen consequences can and will happen for any scenario we dream up.

Without some drastic change in thinking, I have little faith in humanity’s ability to make decisions for the good of those living or to be born yet. It sure seems to me that a very large proportion of decisions have these niggling unforeseen consequences that are harmful. Cripes, look at what the indigenous people did on this continent when the white man came, they helped them overcome starvation and look at those consequences.

Among my favorite conspiracy theories is the one of shadow governments; some elite PTB that is controlling events throughout the world for their own nefarious purposes. Unless they aren’t human, are they subject to the same problems in future projections as the rest of us? Are all of their plans going to have consequences they haven’t planned for? I’m sure the elites were not planning to have to deal with a national uprising during the French revolution. Will we have something similar in our case? I am also reasonably sure that the English aristocracies were not figuring on the surety of an American revolution since the Americans were facing such an overwhelming force, nor took into account the tenacity of the rebellion.

So what I am banking on is that the PTB have done a magnitude of overreach, and are doomed to ultimate failure. But then again, maybe not. Much science fiction from the 70’s dealt with the ultimate takeover by some elite group and the consequences. What these novels did not take into account for was the need for vast amounts of non renewable energy to do so. Will that apply today? Does the shadow government have technology that we can only dream of in SF novels? Are they indeed at a point that their ultimate control of the world is at hand? If so, what do we do about it? Bend our knees and pay homage to the bastards? Even so, would humanity be better off or not? It sure seems to me that a vast majority of people are willing to live that way since societies have been doing so for most of recorded history. If freedom from autocratic control by a few is not desirable, when are we going to do what is good for us on an individual and group basis and end autocratic control? Again, without some serious and drastic mind shifts, it is not likely. My observation is that most people want that control, and in some cases, feel it is necessary. Considering the emotional/education level/mental states of the population they might be right.

Whether humanity is ultimately destined to be ruled by an elite few or live in some other manner, I think it would behoove us to carefully examine what we really want and the ultimate consequences of it. I am reminded of the million moron march recently on Washington. What I heard in interviews and read on the signs they were carrying, my impression is that they had no idea about what they were advocating. A very large proportion of the idiot marchers were against socialism and sure looked like they were either in or near retirement age and able to collect social security (a socialist agenda). Didn’t see one sign that advocated ending that or Medicare or ADC or end taxes to support public schools, or military expansion overseas or any or a hundred other “socialist” programs. All they seemed to be concerned with is government control over who their health care providers were. Geez! Don’t they realize that is the case now, except instead of government control it is controlled by the insurance industry? I guess they figure that big corporations know better what is good for us better than the government. Frankly, I don’t buy into either concept.

I reckon we will just have to watch and wait to see how this all works out.
For Belgium from Freeacre

THOUGHTS ON THE NATURE OF EVIL

First some pics of gardens and produce

Rockpicker and Oldensoul garden in Montana

Stone planter by Rockpicker

Freeacre's latest, Orange zest wheat bread

Our latest garden produce, onions and carrots


Thoughts on the Nature of Evil

This is a guest post kindly sent to us from Belgium (abridged due to length, but e-mail us and we could send you the entire essay as an e-mail attachment)

From Belgium

I have had some problems writing this piece because even after researching the internet, I still do not know where the answer lies and therefore offer it up as a discussion document with some initial meanderings to point your thoughts along the lines that I have traveled. You may have an entirely different response which I consider all to the good since such discussions will only put flesh on the bones of this effort.

There are two initial thoughts which occur to me, the first is a question regarding its nature. Is it a tangible concept say like friendship or is it more amorphous say like hope? Whatever it is, its manifestation is subjective in that my worst example may be trumped by your worst example so that its true extent may be only guessed at.

Wikipedia regards views on the nature of evil to fall into one of four
opposed camps:

Moral absolutism holds that good and evil are fixed concepts
established by a deity or deities, nature, morality, common sense, or some other source.

Amoralism claims that good and evil are meaningless, as there are no deities, no moral ingredient in nature.

Moral relativism holds that standards of good and evil are only products of local culture, custom, or prejudice.

Moral universalism is the attempt to find a compromise between the absolutist sense of morality, and the relativist view; universalism claims that morality is only flexible to a degree, and that what is truly good or evil can be determined by examining what is commonly considered to be evil amongst all humans.

Author and moral philosopher Sam Harris notes that universal morality
can be understood using measurable (i.e. quantifiable) metrics of happiness and suffering, both physical and mental, rooted in how the biology of the brain processes stimuli.

A more practical view states that all human life is sacred and any attempt to end another’s life deliberately is evil. In the interests of space I am going to leave the subject of euthanasia out of this discussion entirely. Any attempt to make another believe his life may be ended prematurely by torture is also evil as is torture of the mind as opposed to the body.
I am not going to choose one of these above the others but dip into them freely and to see where that takes us.

Hannah Aret wrote a book titled The Banality of Evil. This centered on the trial of Adolph Eichmann, which happened to take place in Jerusalem. She argued that rather than being a crazy fanatic (would probably now be called a fascist fundamentalist) he was an ordinary bureaucrat who accepted his place in the hierarchy and just got on with his job, which by chance happened to be the running of the death camps. For him it was clear that the heads of state set the policy; his roll was to implement it. Eichmann was trapped by having access to the ears of the true decision makers whilst being above the rank and file myriad bureaucrats who were just doing a job of work for the government. The banality comes from the fact that evil intent can be passed off down an organization by making it so routine it is never questioned.

There are a number of techniques for engaging the public in morally questionable acts. One is to split the work on a project between a number of locations as is common in the automotive industry for instance and distance the component plants from the assembly plant so the connection is not at the forefront of peoples minds. Another is to make the work production line mind numbing so people think “Anything this boring can’t be evil”.

Dual functional components are a way of sanitizing the product. A trip switch used in a missile may also be used in a domestic central heating installation for instance. Yet another is to wrap the project up in jargon so that WMD become as benign as SUV, sure they both kill people now and again but that is not their real purpose.

In the 1960’s MIT’s head of research argued that their concern was the development of technology, not its use. Making more adhesive longer burning napalm was just another interesting problem to be solved during the working day. That it gave innocent villagers an ugly death was not their concern as it was not the concern of the air crew who, distanced from the killing could also take a detached view.

The largest employer in the town where Columbine High School massacre took place is Lockheed Martin. When Michael Moore asked one of the directors the obvious question of isn’t what their company doing just the same as what the rogue kids had done only on a bigger scale, his reply was “No. The missiles which their company made were for the defense of the USA on American soil and not for offense against second or third states”. Of course not and history doesn’t bear it out either.

Sometimes people are head hunted for certain positions where they will be culpable in the continuance or development of some aspect of evil. Overt flattery is a way of bringing them on board by describing exciting aspects of the work and saying that the applicant could do this. It is very difficult technique to resist. Here is one person who did just this from the film Good Will Hunting. For those not familiar with the film Will is a janitor in a University until it is discovered that he is a mathematical genius able to solve problems that tie the professors up in knots. He is sent for a job with the NSA where he is interviewed by its head. After some initial sparing Will is asked why he shouldn’t want to join the NSA. Here is his answer:

Will: “Why shouldn’t I work for the N.S.A.? That’s a tough one, but I’ll give it a shot. Say I’m working at N.S.A. somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I’m real happy with myself, ‘cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are saying’, “Send in the marines to secure the area” ‘cause they don’t give a shit. It won’t be their kid over there, getting’ shot. Just like it wasn’t them when their number was called, ‘cause they were pulling’ a tour in the National Guard. It’ll be some guy from Southie takin’ shrapnel in the
ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, ‘cause he’ll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain’t helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally
they’re takin’ their sweet time bringing’ the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain’t too long ‘til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy’s out of work and he can’t afford to drive, so he’s got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks ‘cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin’ him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he’s starvin’ ‘cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they’re servin’ is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I’m holdin’ out for somethin’ better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.”

9/11 is too big a subject to get bogged down in here except to make a brief comment on Iraq. Whether Iraq was the reason behind 9/11 or was a reprisal for it, this country was chosen as a target when the CIA knew it had no connection with the events of that day. In fact since they invented Al Qaeda they knew from the beginning there was no connection. So why did the USA decide to kill tens of thousands of innocents in a country halfway around the world? There are two answers to this; the first is because they could (they had done it before and they knew they could do it again) and the second reason is because they deserved it. Saddam for good or bad had not unrolled his prayer mat and genuflected before the American God. It should be noted that both of these answers are good ones. Former friend had angered those who matter and life was forfeited as hubris won the day.


Sometimes the Universal Soldier can have ethical reservations over his or her allotted task. It takes more courage to make a stand and say no than to simply accept your lot and go with the flow. One such was Ehren Watada, an officer in the Stryker Brigade who refused to go with his group to Iraq. To combat foreseen accusations of cowardice his mother sent this open letter to explain her son’s actions.

“I am the mother of Lt. Ehren Watada, an officer stationed at Ft. Lewis. He is part of a Stryker brigade unit that deployed today to Iraq. Despite an unflinching commitment to his men and to democratic ideals, he chose not to accompany his men. His decision came through much soul-searching and through research and consultation with experts Dear Fellow Americans, across disciplines, inside and outside of the military and the government. After weighing the evidence, he came to the conclusion that he could no longer be silent while atrocities were committed in the name of democracy. He could no longer be a tool of an administration that used deception and lies to make the case for pre-emptive war. As a member of the armed forces, sworn to uphold the US Constitution, he refuses to blindly participate in a war of aggression, an illegal war that undermines who we are as a nation and violates international law. Implicit in his oath as an officer is the duty to disobey all unlawful orders for to carry out these orders renders him an accomplice to a criminal act. Furthermore, to order his men to participate in a war of aggression multiplies his guilt a thousand fold. His conscience will not permit him to do so. He believes that he can best serve them by taking a stand against the war. In so doing, he demonstrates that one does not relinquish the freedom to choose what is right, even in the military, and that the freedom to choose what is right transcends the allegiance to man and institutions.”

I think this just about puts good and evil in their respective positions.

Here is a story of someone who went with the flow and then regretted it afterwards. Even though as a result of his decision he was able to save many lives which would otherwise not have been the case. He regards himself personally responsible for “Loosing the World”. He was a chemical engineer and his story is related by Jacob Hornberger. His story relates to the general culpability theme but this time on a more conscious level. In 1935 Hitler’s Nationalist Socialist Movement was establishing its power and in order to unify the nation under one leadership, they wanted all citizens to take an oath of allegiance to the new party. Some like the engineer disagreed with the fundamental aspirations of the party and initially refused to sign. He later reconsidered and then regretted it for the rest of his life. Even though as a result of signing he later was able to save maybe 1000 lives he still thinks that if he and others like him had refused to sign then he could have saved all Eichmann’s victims plus the causalities of war. Because he accepted the lesser evil he fell victim to the greater evil. If in future times the American people are asked to sign an oath of allegiance to the American administration or the European citizens to the European Union how will we choose because there is no middle way with a Sophie’s choice?

”People often exhibit a visceral rejection of comparisons of our dire predicament to the rise of Nazi Germany.” Have you noticed how many Americans get upset over the comparisons that are increasingly being made between the United States and National socialist Germany? After all, it’s not as though we’re living in a police state, right? Well, if U.S. officials could somehow assure us that the U.S. government’s treatment of accused terrorists isn’t moving in the same direction in which Nazi Germany treated accused traitors, maybe that would help to put those comparisons to rest.

So, take the time to be sure to understand the momentous nature of the battle. Speak out about it, wherever and as often as you can. Make clear to everyone you know what is at stake, and convince them to fight, too.

For the present, we have the certainty of the Military Commissions Act—and the hope that we may still prevent its most ghastly eventualities. I pray that hope will be realized. The most terrible and terrifying thing of all, for those of you who will still be alive in forty or fifty years, will be to look back on this time, and to have to say, “Thus the world was lost”—and to know that, because you did not do everything you could, you helped to lose it.”

These discussions although centered on America do not except those on the other side of the pond. The EU as it is now known (haven’t we come a long way from the Common Market) first had Maastricht and now Lisbon as a way of trading freedom for security.

Incidentally it has been shown historically that the only purpose of torture is torture and it rarely if ever has any effective results. What about the ticking bomb scenario, is usually the next question? A nuke is set to explode somewhere in mainland USA within three hours and the only way to find its location is to torture the information out of someone. Is this not justified? Former President Clinton, ever one for an eye to a good public image, has rediscovered the judiciary as a way of passing the buck and has suggested the introduction of torture warrants in the same way as there used to be wire tap warrants (remember those).

The essential question we are coming around to is this, is it in a natural part of human nature to commit atrocities? The answer seems to be divided between those who would and those who would not. The biggest obstacle to overcome amongst military draftees is their resistance to kill another of their own species.

It was reported than in many instances, soldiers in the trenches during WW l never fired their weapon even when charged at. On the other side, in groups they seem to adopt a heard mentality especially when there is some personal gain to be had. To pick a few at random throughout history there were the Crusaders; the Conquistadors and the US soldiers who slaughtered the indigenous American peoples. Here the gains were souls; gold and land. Although these reasons are not excusable there was an identifiable end result but what about the early colonists who would shoot up an Aborigine village or an African village from the air for a bit of Saturday afternoon sport. There is obviously a level of superior/inferior mentality here but would any of these people consider themselves to be evil; probably not - would others judge them to be evil; probably? In some societies such people would not be punished for their acts but would be regarded as being out of balance and would be helped to have their complete being restored in balance. Are such attitudes wussy or enlightened? The difference in attitudes seems to be one of conscience.

Macbeth was a Scottish warrior with an impeccable record in battle but his down coming was an evil wife who had designs on becoming the power behind the throne. According to Scottish custom at that time succession could be passed down the family line but could also be awarded by the Royal Court to a person deemed to be a natural leader. Macbeth was a strong contender but this was not good enough for his wife who persuaded him to kill King Duncan and claim the crown. Eventually he was overcome with remorse and finished up going to pieces.

So the answer to the question of whether ordinary people can be made to act in an evil way appears to be yes, although we should not forget the soldiers in the trenches who would not shoot at the enemy.

Finally we come to two thorny questions: is it evil for one person or group to own another persons body and is it evil for one person or group to own another persons mind? Slavery has been with us for thousands of years and as such may be regarded as Custom and Practice. It is only in the last 150 – 200 years that it has become to be regarded as evil and only for the last forty or so years that former slaves had equal civil rights to other races in the USA. Certainly so far as the slaves were concerned, it was not a good deal to have their freedom taken away, although others would argue to the contrary. In order to provide good work for their owners the slaves had to be well housed, well fed and kept in better health than might otherwise be the case in order for the owner to protect his investment.

Some groups of Christians may not agree that former slaves and their families should be accorded any civil rights at all. We all know that the only time Jesus lost his temper was with the money changers at the Temple and even though slavery was rife at the time in the countries he traveled, he never spoke out against it once. God’s beloved Abraham, the Bible leads us to believe, with his wife’s permission, impregnated one of her slaves named Hagar. As time went by Hagar became insolent and as a result was severely beaten. When the opportunity presented itself she ran away but then met the angel of God on the road. Instead of guiding her towards her original land of Egypt, the angel advised her to “Return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hand.”

Saint Peter devotes a whole chapter in his testament in the defense of slavery. He exhorts slaves to be “subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward (tough and cruel)”. Peter also tells slaves “when you do well and suffer for it, yet take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.” If Peter was hard on slaves, Paul was worse. In addition to making obligatory calls for obedience “With fear and trembling”, Paul went so far as to return a runaway slave to his master.

According to Samuel Francis who wrote in a 1998 edition of the magazine
Southern Partisan, “Neither Jesus nor the apostles nor the early church condemned slavery, despite countless opportunities to do so and there is no indication that slavery is contrary to Christian ethics or that any serious theologian before modern times ever thought it was.”

So there we have it. The keeper of the Universe’s moral code reckons that owning another person’s body is right on with him, at least so far as his representatives can be relied on. It also follows from this that the God of universal love and mercy also has sympathies with the Klan. I sometimes wonder that if the Christian God has such obvious double standards why the PTB want to abandon him in favor of Lucifer. Still, that is not my concern.

Zombies and people on life support can exist without a mind but so far as I know, without going into the realms of the paranormal, a functioning mind cannot exist independent of a body to house it. If owning another’s body is morally acceptable then owning another’s mind must also be acceptable by the same token. This argument gives the moral green light to projects such as MKUltra. (The details of which can be had by e-mailing for the unabridged copy of this post.)

Susan’s story is evil by any standards but not according to theologians.

Let us recap on a few logical conclusions here.

We are told in the Bible by the representatives of God that he (or she) does not have a problem with slavery. If it is acceptable for one person or group to own another’s body then it must also be acceptable to own another’s mind since the two are not separable. It is then honorable or, at least, not dishonorable to take another’s mind away from them and replace it with a creation of your own for your own purposes. The problem here is that if the 300 or so people that represent the 12 bloodline families that control the world take the rest of the world’s citizenry into slavery, including the whole of Christendom, this then gets a pass from God but these families are supposedly representatives of Lucifer so God is on a hiding into nothing. Unless, that is, you take the Book of Revelations as an accurate document.

Notwithstanding any of this, evil exists but it one of those words or concepts which defy a dictionary definition and can only be understood by way of examples about which you must make up your OWN mind.

Sources
The Banality of Evil
http://musictravel.free.fr/political/political65.htm
Wikipedia – Evil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil
Good Will Hunting – NSA Speech
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=189834
The Terrorist – OPEC Meeting Attack
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841179/usercomments
Vietnam War was Lost – The Quiet Mutiny Documentary by John Pilger
http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=255
Ehren Watada – The soldier who refused a tour in Iraq
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/June/27%20o/A%20letter%20from%20Carolyn%20Ho,%20Mother%20of%20Ehren%20Watada%20Who%20Refuse%20to%20Fight%20in%20Iraq.htm
Universal Soldier Song Lyrics
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/sainte_marie_buffy/universal_soldier.html
Jacob Hornberger – Thus the World was Lost – Arthur Silber
http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2006/09/thus-world-was-lost.html
The Ticking Bomb Scenario to Justify Torture – Arthur Silber
http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2006/10/lies-in-service-of-evil.html
The Stanford Prison Experiment
http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/09/our-dark-hearts-stanford-prison.php
Slavery Condoned in Bible
Derek Jensen – The Culture of Make Believe pp 54 – 57
Mind Control – Bryce Taylor / Susan Ford – Thanks for the Memories
e-book download
http://www.box.net/shared/dx8i272e88

TIME TO MAN UP

from Freeacre

First, some photos of our simulated post collapse gustatory chemistry.

Homemade pizza with spinach and artichokes.


One of our garden salads


Some garden produce. Two kinds of carrots, a fennel root, white onion, and wax beans


Time to Man Up

As many of you know, Murph and I disconnected from the satellite TV a couple of years ago and now we just watch PBS and the local news with an antenna and order a bunch of movies from Netflix to watch in the evenings. We read and we blog in our time off from gardening, going to meetings, and preparing food, but we do watch a lot of movies. And, since we can, we often will get on some sort of tear and decide to watch All of the Quinton Tarantino Movies, for instance. Then, we’ll learn that his “Kill Bill” movies were based on his watching “The Lonewolf” series of Shogun Assassin movies and also the “Lady Snowblood” series of vengeance. So, we have watched all of those as well.

Not all the movies we watch are violent. We recently watched “Princess Bride” again. We love to watch “Secondhand Lion” over and over. We watch documentaries and quirky movies like “Lars and the Real Girl” or “Special.” But, many of the movies we watch depict characters who make a stand and fight for it or fight for their family or friends, like Clint Eastwood in “Gran Torino” or Bruce Willis in “Live Free or Die Hard.”

Last night we watched the third in a series of movies all based on the historic battle fought between the Spartans and Persians in the formative days of the Greek nation. The heroic King of Sparta, Leonidis, held off a force estimated to be between 300,000 and a million Persians with only 300 men at the pass of Thermopylae to protect his homeland. The 300 did die, but Greece was inspired by their heroism to unite as one country, and the Persians were demoralized and did not return to Europe. And, the battle was never forgotten. Tom Cruise refers to it in “The Last Samarai,” in fact, when he leads the fight against the evil arms dealers of the West and fights with the Samurai to the last man.

So, what is my point here? Is this a post on the history of film or something? No. It’s about gearing up for the struggle against those forces that have been kicking our collective ass. I understand that we need to balance our feminine and masculine sides of our natures. I think this forum, in fact, encourages the powerful love and nurturing that the feminine provides. I am devoted to Our Mother, the Earth. I turn toward the feminine face of God.

But, Buddies, it’s time to “Man Up.” Get a grip. Get balanced. And, this is coming from me, freeacre – the feminine part of the partnership of murph and freeacre. These movies help me to access my inner Klingon – the masculine side. Because we need it against the goon squads and shitstorm that is in front of us. Without it, we are going to get rolled and smoked like a Cuban cigar.

I’ll be watching with interest the speech that Pres. Obama gives this evening to the despicable congressional sell-outs regarding health care. I imagine that he is going to sound reasonable and in touch with people’s needs. He will be articulate and sympathetic and knowledgeable. And, afterward, the Republican goons like Limbaugh and Beck will stomp in and tear him to shreds. They’ll try to burn him like they did Jimmy Carter after his speech on oil depletion. They’ll say it’s not the “American Way” to think in terms of oil depletion – or real health care for all either. I’m not 100% in favor of the Democratic plan for health care. But, it is a good start, considering what factions Obama has to contend with. If we can get something going, it can be evaluated and tweaked later on as we see what works and what doesn’t. Any system can work if the people involved are truly motivated by an honest intention to help the citizenry. And, any system can and will be sabotaged if those in power are greedy bastards with no consequences for their misdeeds.

But, right now, It doesn’t matter whether the plan is good or not. They don’t care. They’d kick in his head or drag him behind a pick-up truck or lynch him if they could. Just because they are mean, spiteful, racist sons-of-bitches, who happen to also be bought off by Big Money. And, as George Carlin (God Rest His Soul) so aptly observed: “They don’t give a fuck about you!”. Even if Obama does, most of them (including the democrats) don’t. And, the bad side seems to have a lock in the balls department.

We have a collection of DVD’s on Peak Oil, financial collapse, and other anarchist or anti-war protest films, for instance. All of them present a very rational, well-thought out argument for organizing to make the changes necessary to survive the collapse of the civilization based on cheap oil. Or, they show the protests held in the Northern California rain forests to protect the Old Growth forests. They depict hand-cuffed college aged girls on their knees before cops. The cops then hold their eyelids open and spray them with mace, torturing them as punishment for their non-compliance to the logging industry.

Has this made anyone want to go out and join the struggle against the Evil Empire? Uh, no. Not that I have seen, anyway. Something is missing.

I remember one time while we still lived in Tahoe. Murph and I went to see “Signs,” the M. Night Shyamalian film about aliens who come down to take over the planet, produce crop circles, and raise havoc for awhile. We thought it was quite exciting. Our housemate, Steve, though, thought it was comical. Steve, a dear friend, is a white ghetto rat from Detroit.

“Boy, it’s a good thing those aliens didn’t land in Detroit, “he chortled after the movie. “My homeboys woulda had their ride stripped five minutes after they went around the corner. And, if they gave us any shit, we’d a put a cap in their ass.” Attitude. Balls – that’s what is missing.

I’ll tell you what, if that were my son or daughter maced while kneeling and handcuffed or my 74 year old mother tased by a highway patrol officer for not getting her license out fast enough – there would be hell to pay. Those motherfuckers should be maced or tased BACK. And their parents should be shunned for raising such a beast. And, their wife should be treated the same way for feeding and sleeping with the pig. (Their kids, however, should be left alone to lead lives that could possibly redeem the family.) I’m fat and I am old. But, if it took my last breath, I’d make those miscreants lives a living hell if that shit was done to my mom or kids. You aren’t going to turn them around by enrolling them in an anger management class. And, you aren’t going to re-direct congressmen with educational seminars on the issues. It’s going to take a dog fight.

I am all for peaceful organizing, cooperation, community, and all that. But, maybe it’s because we haven’t drunk any fluoridated water in five years. Or, maybe it’s because I’ve watched “Braveheart,” “The Postman,” “The Matrix,” “V for Vendetta,” and the “Terminator” series multiple times – but there is a point when we need to “man up”, fight for what we believe in, and protect each others back.. We need to figure out for ourselves where to draw the line on how much we are willing to put up with. Rather than denying our anger, we need to use it to protect ourselves and our communities. Martin Luther King said that unless one finds something he is willing to die for, he has never really lived.

Let’s face it, we are all going to die. But, how is it going to be? Fear-filled and miserable, exhausted, confident, satisfied, grateful or what? And, how do we live? Intimidated, herded like animals, bought and sold, or free, strong, and courageous.

It is looking like the “hard rain” is about to fall. We gotta get tougher if we are going to get through it with a shred of self-respect, honor, or sense of our place in history. I’m not advocating futile gestures of armed resistance that will only end up being an excuse for additional tyranny. We have to fight with our heads, first, as was taught in “Braveheart.” Money is the only vote that counts anymore. And, money can be a powerful determinant in the struggle to be taken seriously. That is why we advocate being very conscious of where every dollar goes. If you don’t like the lamestream media, don’t pay for it. If you are appalled by Frankenfood and the atrocities of Agrabusiness – don’t buy into it. If you don’t like the resource wars – use as little of them as possible. If you despise the financial overlords – cancel your credit cards (or pay them off each month so you pay no fees) and don’t invest in the rancid stock market (that means no 401K). Resist, resist, resist! Be united and coordinated like the Spartan phalanxes – each covering the other with their shields and swords. Our modern equivalent might be offering a spare room and food to someone who will help to defend the perimeter, or helping to ensure that a full-time activist gets enough to eat. Whatever it takes. It’s going to be a monumental task to dismantle the corporate class war machine. Our idealism and hope and empathy for each other is going to need to be balanced and strengthened by our discipline, commitment, and willingness to sacrifice for the greater good of our children and our planet.

On the domestic tranquility front – here is a picture of Brie surrounded by a bunch of young chickens playing and trying to get a rise out of her.

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

from Freeacre

Before I get on with my rambling thoughts, here are a few pictures of the projects we’ve been working on lately…

Tiny frog in a squash blossom looking for a meal to come in.

Ingredients for jerky

Glazed beets and carrots, fresh bread and tabuli salad


freeacre

Normally, I try to write a post from some sort of sense of clarity. But, when the comments begin to go beyond 60, and clarity still doesn’t happen on any topic, I just feel compelled to write something anyway. So, this is what’s been on my mind lately… questions, not answers.

Just where in the hell is the anti-war movement in this country?

How come Cryptogon can quote this article written by Glen Greenwald and taken from salon.com, and people aren’t in the streets, shutting down traffic in front of recruiting stations:

“The fact that we are not really bothered any more by taking helpless detainees in our custody and (a) threatening to blow their brains out, torture them with drills, rape their mothers, and murder their children; (b) choking them until they pass out; (c) pouring water down their throats to drown them; (d) hanging them by their arms until their shoulders are dislocated; (e) blowing smoke in their face until they vomit; (f) putting them in diapers, dousing them with cold water, and leaving them on a concrete floor to induce hypothermia; and (g) beating them with the butt of a rifle — all things that we have always condemned as “torture” and which our laws explicitly criminalize as felonies (”torture means. . . the threat of imminent death; or the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering . . .”) — reveals better than all the words in the world could how degraded, barbaric and depraved a society becomes when it lifts the taboo on torturing captives….”

When you read additional sources that give details on prisoners kept in shit-filled diapers for three days at a time, fathers threatened with being forced to watch while their young son’s testicles were being crushed, women prisoners begging their male counterparts to kill them to put them out of their misery, anal rape, despicable humiliations of all kinds to people who may have only been guilty of being in Iraq or Afghanistan and standing on the wrong corner, one wonders just what sort of monstrous people Americans have become. Finally, Attorney General Holder seems like he will be looking into at least some of these atrocities. Meanwhile, the Republican Party is contemplating running the man probably most responsible for the culture of torture, Dick Chaney, for President in 2012. Un-fucking-believable. If he were to win, we’d deserve that asteroid hit.

This is worse than Vietnam. Worse than Mei Lai. Condoned by the top echelon of the government on a people who didn’t even do anything to us. The 911 perps (if they even were perps) were all from Saudi Arabia, not Iraq or Afghanistan, after all. And, even if they weren’t … so what? Is this what we do?

What I find ironic is that every day, I get 3 or 4 e-mails from practically ecstatic Christian neighbors who let me know how filled with love they are, and what a difference their religion makes in their lives. Oh, how the angels are with them at every moment. Oh, what a comfort it is to know that they are all loved and cherished and assured a comfy place next to Jesus in heaven when they die. It just seems OK to them, I guess, that none of this celestial host seems to be whispering a word about the fact that they should be standing up for their fellow man and working to end the wars, the torture, and the profiteers. Where in the fuck is the Council of Churches? The ACLU is the only one doing anything. And, they are thought of as Godless communist Jewboys by the faux-news-reading- knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers.

Oh, shit, there I go again. Name calling and stereo-typing these miscreants as I read about the Mayan prophecies and how we are on the verge of a wonderful transition in consciousness. All we have to do is cultivate a sense of unity and unconditional love toward our fellow humans, and we will all transform into something wonderful. Which leads me to my second question:

What if aliens really exist and the world as we know it is really going to end?

I gotta admit that I’ve always been inspired by science fiction and visions of Star Trek and their world no longer based on the profit motive. Or the Star Wars movies and their idea of The Force that binds together the Universe. The amazing works of indigenous peoples from the Hopis to the Mayans and the Maoris, Sumerians, and the aborigines who say that they hearken from star stuff, and say that our real home is in outer space or the fourth dimension. But, now that even NASA scientists are telling us that our planet is approaching the plane of the galactic center (“Hanab Ku” to the Mayans), and measurable waves of energy are washing over us emanating from it, the tangible reality is starting to set in. The magnetosphere is wildly fluctuating, the pole shift might actually be in process. As our galaxy bobs up into the plane of the center, our chances of getting hit with a bunch of big rocks or the Planet X go way up. It wouldn’t be the first time. (see http://projectavalon.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8441 )

On the one hand, I’d like to see Tim Geithner, Ben Bernake, the entire staff of Goldman Sachs, the Federal Reserve, and Dick Chaney put in stocks and set out on Wall St. as targets for rotten vegetables before they get frog-marched to prison. Then, I’d move on to the executives and scientists at Monsanto Corp., creators of the Frankenfood that is poisoning us, Big Pharma, and the Council of Foreign Relations. And, that’s just for openers. I’m not even going to go into the Health Care fiasco.

But, then I remember a line from “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” “You can be mad as hell and rail against everything, but in the end, you have to let it all go” (or words to that effect). Maybe it’s a case of working out the timing. I want to react in real time with real emotions and all I can bring to the table to the outrageous insults to our humanity while I am here and functioning. But, at the same time, I want to be cultivating a sense of wonder as to What Else Is Out There.

I don’t want my reality to be confined or defined by what suits the corporations and the overlords. I am sure that they would love us all to feel like powerless pawns on a chessboard that they own. It is great for them if the best thing that we can imagine is a trip to Disneyland and all we can feel is impotent anger
.
Maybe instead, I’ll start to imagine that we ARE all star stuff. . . that they, too, are changing frequency and are unable to continue to be the miserable scumbags that they have been. I’ll imagine that they won’t be able to lie anymore. I’ll imagine that employees will walk away from factories making pain rays and depleted uranium anti-personnel weaponry. I’ll imagine that people come to their senses and stop doing jobs and making decisions that ruin people’s lives and make us sick. What if the opening bell in the stock market stopped ringing because nobody showed up to ring it? Maybe I’ll open the door of my mind that has been closed to accepting that alien beings really do exist, and that some of them might actually be attempting to help at least some us survive the cataclysm that is to come.

I refuse to believe that this twisted, sick and wrong culture of crap is the best we can come up with. Nope – unacceptable. I’m going to make a peach streusel and contemplate a better world.
peach streusel, oh yummmm

AN OVERVIEW

Now the gardening is really getting tough in this area. Here it is in August and we are getting frosts in the early morning. Now the challenge is to keep the sensitive plants alive long enough to produce some goodies. Even with our frost blankets we are getting damage it is so cold. Had one early morning registered 22 degrees, in August for cripes sake

Squash plants with lots of blossoms and showing frost damage. I have pruned a lot of the totally black dead leaves.


Young squash bulbs. Now if we can just keep them alive to maturity


All the gardeners in this area we have talked with (including us) are complaining that the tomatoes are maturing late and not very much production. Probably has to do with the cold wet spring, but I’m guessing on that.

Bush wax beans and really healthy brussel sprouts.

Cardoons are doing very well, haven't tried harvesting yet. Supposed to get really big if you let them go.


So far we’ve harvested bush wax beans, peas, chard, some carrots, kale, lettuce of course, a few cucumbers, a few beets, all the potatoes, and some onions. The walking onions are doing superb, as well as the red and white onions and garlic. Won’t be harvesting them until later in the season, should have a good return. The cardoons and Brussel sprouts and carrots also come later.

We are having to purposely concentrate on getting older food out of the freezer to make way for new stuff. Butchering rabbits today also. More jerky and a couple for the freezer.

TODAYS POST. AN OVERVIEW

Reading list for those interested or have not seen these articles.

Charles Smiths 100 page book for an analysis of how economics, government and the agenda of the PTB work, called: Survival+: Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation. This is available as a free PDF download from http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html This is well worth the time to read.

The final chapter from; http://survivalacres.com/wordpress/

Plus, all the side reading and press releases found on Cryptogon and LATOC and numerous other sources.


In Smith’s book, one of the subjects he talks about class warfare. He puts the economic middle class in the middle of it, battling with the PTB and the underclass. He further postulates that this is a direct result of the PTB fomenting this warfare. In this argument, he postulates that the underclass is siding with the PTB because of the entitlements the PTB hand out to the underclass at the expense of the middle class productive people. While I think this is happening, I think it is not the whole scene. In the first place, I’m never really sure just who comprises the economic middle class. Is the middle class anything above the average income level, which I think is right around $45K per year now? Or is the middle class everything above average income and below $100K per year?

( From; http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/testimony/2007test/051007testew.pdf)

$45 K to $100K is a really big disparity in income and purchasing power. So, I want to know just what income level is middle class. Or is it legitimate to divide up the middle class into low, medium and high. Smith further maintains that the middle economic class and the economic underclass haven’t the political clout to change much of anything, even if they wanted to. With this I agree whole heartedly.

If that analysis is true, it further points out that not only isn’t there any long range effective planning or vision for the future not available at any economic level, but that for the long term, all efforts are counter to survival. I would postulate that until the underclass and middle class understand what their long term interests really are, this artificial division on who is fighting who will continue. One of my contentions is that slapping all of the middle class into a compartment called productivity is tired and flat out not true. Most of the middle class is engaged in pushing paper, which is no production at all. Most production we can point to is from the underclass, the blue collar, the working class. Historically, the actual productivity of a society is always the working class; it is not predominantly the middle or upper economic class. I assert that in the final analysis, it is the working class that supports a society, not the PTB which are just leeches on the productive part of a society, but also the merchant class or middle class that has for the most part, dissolved into paper pushers and yes men for the PTB along with the working class.

What should be taking place is a battle of 99% of the population against the 1% elites. But, I suspect that Smith is correct in that the vast majority of the financial underclass will not rebel as long as they can keep the goodies emanating out of the PTB governing class.

In all the discussions I am reading, but for a few exceptions, the mirage of problems that society is experiencing and concerned with are treated as discreet entities. http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/ is one of the few sites that attempts to really integrate how all of our ills are interconnected. Charles Smith’s book mentioned above, also strives for this integration.

For example, liquidity in the market place is treated all by itself by throwing more money into the hands of the people that control most of the money already, further separating the wealthy from everybody else. Liquidity is not a discreet problem, but is a symptom of a vast and underlying attitude concerning prosperity, business, personal happiness and all the other attitudes and paradigms that permeate our society. Our debt ridden society and government is not going to recover by more debt, and particularly at the levels the state and federal governments are attempting to use. Obama’s attempt to get the working class folks back into jobs is so woefully inadequate that, IMO, is a sad, sick, silly joke. You do not create prosperity by ‘make work’ projects, you create prosperity by producing goods and services that people actually need for a life that is worth living. Latest figures I have seen indicate that there are about 39 million unemployed right now. Obama bragging about creating 3 million jobs with the stimulus package to the states is a farce for the overall health of the society. So, one in 13 people get jobs. Big deal. Supposedly there is about 155 million people who compromise the work force in this country and right now, today, if the stats are correct, 1/4 + have no means of income to support themselves or a family, that’s around 25% of the workforce and Greenspan long time ago said 4.1% unemployment indicated a healthy economy.

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=total+amount+of+people+who+work+in+u.s.
&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%
2FPress-Release%2Fwww%2Freleases%2Farchives%2F
facts_for_features_special_editions%2F012085.html

The fact is, that with the restrictions on resources, focusing more and more wealth into the 1% of the population (which garner 45% of the total wages paid out in this country) there cannot be an economic recovery. Until the population unites as a whole (minus the 1% of course) and demands significant changes (not just more feeding off the trough of federal budget) there will only be more degradation of the society as a whole, until this evil mess that has been created comes apart at the seams and something new takes its place. I’m not holding my breath in anticipation of that coming about in the near future.

Of course the question is still in my mind whether this is just pure greed and incompetence at work, or whether this is a planned fall down. The super wealthy just can’t seem to be satisfied with enough, it has to be more and more. I assert that this drive for more is gonna kill the goose with the golden eggs, the middle and working class parts of the society, and when it is realized just what has been done to them, I expect all violent hell to break loose, at least if the majority of citizens in this country haven’t been castrated.

I recently was sent a big report drafted in August this year by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery Alabama. It is a blatant apology for the crack down on ‘terrorists’ by the government and a straight forward attack on what they call ‘right wing extremists’. It claims that the militia movement is back in full force. It puts down harshly all the stuff that questions 9-11 government involvement, Ruby Ridge, Okalahoma bombing, Waco Texas and dozens of other “conspiracy” theories out there. From my position, the report sucks big time. And that is admitting that a lot of the right wing conservative movement is composed of nuts and people that don’t think much about anything but guns and violence against those they don’t like, you know, anyone who is not just like them. I also know that a lot of the militia movement is made of hate groups that must have had their brains scrambled at birth by being dropped on the floor. Instead of the burlap bag and the closest pond, they were raised up to be what they now are.

Before any readers that are sympathetic with these movements want to get on my case, know that I think that civilian militia are important and a good thing. It is the principle and thinking that drives a lot of them that worries me. I am sympathetic with the idea of going back to constitutional intention and law and being armed to take on forces that would take it all away. But railing against blacks, gays, Muslims and the godless among us is going to get my dander up real quick, the attitude that if you ain’t a Jesus lover, I am an enemy of the state. Besides, IMO it misses the point entirely and only foments more divisions and antagonism when we should be uniting against the PTB.

To top it off, instead of creating some sense out of the health care problems, there seems to be just more sucking at the tit of the citizenry’s pocketbook. What I think I understand about the health care reform that just might pass into law, it sucks. Not only that, but the health care industry, including drug manufactures, have swarmed into Washington with lobbyists, to the tune of 6 lobbyists to each lawmaker. And we are putting up with this. I hear the old saw “they will figure something out to our benefit”. Get real, those folks don’t give a shit about us. Live with it. If you have access, Matt Taibbi has a new article on the health care reform in Rolling Stone September Issue. Remember, that is the guy who raged over the financial institutions. You can read it also at, http://www.rollingstone.com/

Everything, and I mean everything, is being monetized, Every single thing that humans need for survival is being put into a category of how much it is worth in dollars and there is someone out there that is going to make a fortune from doing this. I expect a breathing tax, or breath tax to show up at any time, or some giant corporation to declare ownership of the atmosphere. The government and corporations are already doing it with water. For christs sake, in some states it is now illegal to collect rain water off of your roof or to have water storage of any kind that is not sold to you by a corporation. States are now declaring that they own the aquifers and surface water within their borders so they can tax usage. In many areas now, the state can put meters on private home wells and tax that usage.

Went to the Grange meeting last Tuesday. One of our state reps came. We got to talking about the taxes being proposed in the state legislature. I asked if the proposed tax on bird seed was approved. He smiled and said no, that they considered that one of the dumb things submitted to the legislature. We got interrupted when I was about to ask him about some of the other 150 taxes proposed.

Aww nuts folks, sorry to get off on a tirade like this. I guess I had one too many cups of coffee this morning. I need to get back to the serenity of gardening and talking with the chickens.

Some pickings from the garden




Brother Earth, Sister Moon
A guest post by Baz, from New Zealand

We depart today from our usual format. Baz has kindly responded for my call for someone out there to fill in for me, as I have temporarily run out of ideas for a post, and the number of comments on the last one has gotten somewhat unwieldy.

Now, for the newbies to this site, we run a sort of cyber campfire, loosely based on the sacred circle or native American campfires that have been such a powerful process for communication and healing proven through time. We imagine that we have a talking stick. When a person takes the stick, he or she is listened to with respect and little evaluation. Then the stick is passed and the next person is extended the same attention and courtesy. None of us has the whole truth. But each of us has our own part of it. And, together, we can combine our perspectives and perhaps be able to synthesize a wiser overall stance. Personally, I have blurted out my own truth, then heard someone else’s perspective, and suddenly changed my mind about whatever it was that I had been thinking. I have found that it is much easier to be flexible in thought when it is of your own making, not in response to someone trying to change your mind.
Over the years ( I was a member of a sacred drumming circle for eight years in Tahoe), I have come to know and respect the supportive and healing aspects of this form of council, and have been amazed that much of the same benefits have been experienced here in cyber-space.

So, one of the things that is different at our site from most others, is that the more or less weekly post is not the most important aspect of the site. It is the impetus for the rest of the conversation in the comments section. Lately, the conversation seems to be very introspective on the part of the tribe. Watching and living in this train wreck of a culture can be exhausting. Sometimes we hit the wall. Sometimes we need a break, Sometimes we celebrate victories. Sometimes we just have to laugh. Sometimes we cry.

Survival Acres just wrote an explanation of why he is not posting anymore. I can understand his frustration. He is right – we can’t change the world with just blogging. But, on the other hand, we seem to be able to support each other and the very real and tangible changes we are living day to day. I find this effort inspiring and helpful. I don’t know how long it will last. One big electro-magnetic pulse from a solar flare or from a nuclear devise, or government interference, or act of war or whatever could take us out at any time. And, if it does, I will be happy that we have at least had this time together to create the sense of belonging and safety that our campfire has established. Anyway, I am blabbing on…

First, we’d like to share some of our progress this week in pictures. Then, we hand the stick to Baz. He is a somewhat new member of our tribe who brings a unique “Wild Man” element to the circle, as he lives in the wilds of New Zealand in rather primitive, or should I say “natural” conditions. Anyway, thank you, Baz, for responding to my request for some help here.
Pictures of our garden produce
–
Peruvian potatoes from 12 plants

garden pickings

Post collapse meal

Blueberry crisp

Ok, on to the post from Baz –
For the 1 who believes not only night-vision is a possibility .. but an instinct reality .. that yes, indeed, we can be like the animals, for in truth, is all we are, and all we'll ever be — now, more than ever, need to cultivate this lost ability — to see in the dark — for whatever it's worth, pilgrim :

Civilization is paralysis ~ Paul Gauguin

Spiritual food :— There is nothing spiritual about obtaining your food wrapped in cellophane from a Supermarket, purchasing food that comes all the way from China, or Amerika. Even I most spiritual of food-seekers have sucumbed to this most vile of consumerist temptations, on occasion—aargh, and repented immediately forthwith afterward with much flagellation and vexation of recognition of damage to soul.

No ~ never-the-less, This is truly how I feel about the aforementioned. The idealistic principle I hold in my minds-eye, so to speak, to which I aspire. Toward which I aim, a target. Without goals we can wander/wonder aimlessly, a rudderless ship, tossed—lost in a vast ocean directionless, without compass and bearing, and without a clue?

You are what you eat ~ Socrates? [Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are].

"Tell me what you want, what you really really want?" ~ Spice girls

I liked what Caroline said, baz, it's learning new things that keep you engaged in life's processes, or words to that affect. I concur (hah, I just wanted to say that). Nothing new about shopping in FoodMart, week after mind-numbing week. OK, so you can stick a finger in your neighbors ribs, in the produce section and say, "Give me all your carrots." Yes, I did it!

I like to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Obtaining food to nourish the body, and cohabitating/communing with nature—forest/animal spirit, simultaneously. And it is a very spiritual matter taking the life-force of another creature—you partake of the essence of that creature, and in the process it becomes you. Whatever the forest creature is, you choose. Even fish or eel. They all have their own unique spiritual taste. Truly the garden, of 'earthly delights'. Why wait? Heaven/Nirvana or whatever is truly on earth! F#c% the naysayers—whoever and whatever, they are. F#c%en aliens from Uranus, down to steal our souls.

I have a saying—My own: 'Waste no part of the animal.'—even fish head, or pig head. Eyes are the nicest part of fish. White people, I have noticed do not know this—or even significance or benefit of eating them. Buddhist koan: 'Can a fish see the ocean?'. Where others might discard, I seek to respect the life which sustains and gives me life—no waste. It is my attitude, and will visibly cringe if I am with someone, if he says, "leave it", for whatever reason. It is not my way. I prefer to hunt alone for this reason. Not everyone has this reverence for life and death. Properly understood—same thing.

Hunger, great spiritual teacher: Sharpens the senses and instinct, and hones the spirit. After days, one becomes one with all of nature: life—death, all one country. No difference. Spirit and body become one, for really they are. No need for distinction . It is only our modern consumer lifestyle which seperates the one from the other, for money—what else? And really bad health—yours. More money—yours. Who else's?— just not for you—hahaha

No entertainment, or superfluous distraction. Meaning of life become crystal-clear. Experience illuminates abundantly obvious what is useless mumbo-jumbo superstition, regardless of religion and culture and what is necessary .. for life. That's all. The rest is extraneous horsesh*t and really only good for growing food which doesn't move. Prey tale, it ain't you.

There is nothing more spiritual under heaven on earth than this : this is the path my ancestors walked — the Irish, and the path I walk, to Kilkenny :—)
blarney, which means Top'of'the'mornin'to~yah!



Pictures from Baz and latest addition to his diet

cooking the catch

Lunatics or I’ll See your Conspiracy Theory, and Raise You Mine….

freeacre

Steve Pizzo has a couple of really good posts up on his site, “News for Real” (see the link to his site to the right). He is basically railing against the Republican’s tactic of disruption of the town hall gatherings to give feedback to politicians. The meetings have apparently been turned into screaming right wing goonsquad fests objecting to Pres. Obama’s, or the Democrats’ health care plan. It seems there is a conspiracy. Hatched in the red-hued nests of the hated evil ones – Rep. John Boner, er, Boehner, former Bush speech writers and holy rollers, maybe even Darth Cheney himself – the too stupid to vote in their own self-interest crowd of grey haired, slack-jawed Republicans are outdoing themselves… all in the name of “We the People.”

I told you in a previous post that the WWII generation would be all over this one because it hinted at some fairness in the distribution of health care services instead of just benefiting THEM, didn’t I? So, now it seems that the hysterical oldsters are screaming that Obama is out to kill Old People because the bill supports patients going over a Living Will with their doctors every five years or something. And the corporate insurance lobby is feeding them full of lies.

From Pizzo, “….Kiss your granny and grandpa goodbye if the administration gets it's way with health care reform.

Because, even though America can afford a trillion bucks to fight two wars halfway around the world, we can't afford to keep geezers alive past their sell-by dates. (A date, by the way, which will be determined by groups of heartless, and apparently granny-less, government bureaucrats.)

I know this because I heard it from a GOP member of congress:
On the House floor yesterday, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) became the latest conservative to claim reform would kill people. “Last week Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America’s seniors: drop dead,” said Waite. Watch it:

For those of you guys out there hoping they are talking about your mother-in-law, sorry. There's not a syllable of truth in the charge. What the GOP has done is to glom onto a single clause in one of the bills that would simply allow Medicare (which largely covers the elderly) to pay for a once-every-five-year consultation with their doctor on end of life care issues, such as a living will and advance medical directives. Both of which anyone with half a brain has -- which might be a clue.

When confronted by this fact, GOP fear-mongers have a comeback:
“Yeah, they'll advise them alright. They'll advise them to die and stop costing their children and society money and bother.”

Oh, brother. God forbid that this country would be forced to extend health care to it’s citizenry like every other developed country in the world. OUR corporations aren’t going to stand for that crap – and their smug, pig-ignorant minions aren’t either. So there!

The problem is that with this kind of senseless “debate,” any opposition to the Healthcare Bill is lumped in with the message of the mindless ones and seen as part of the right wing conspiracy. So, what I consider legitimate objections to the plan, like that it will enrich insurance companies, as yet does not have a single-payer cost reduction element, and doesn’t negotiate cheaper drugs from the pharmaceutical companies, all fall by the wayside and are discounted by the Democratic “progressive” brain trust.

SO, WHOM DOES THIS SERVE? Is this another conspiracy? Hummm…

Pizzo identifies several more fear-mongering theories concocted from the Right – that of the scary terrorists from Gitmo who we should be afraid to put in our domestic prisons, as if these poor souls are (or ever were) a threat to any of us. Oh, then there’s “Satan’s right hand” – the Environmentalists who are trying to convince us of climate change or resource depletion or any other thing that might keep corporations from making a few billion extra bucks. Who cares if your kids are eating jellyfish when they grow up instead of Red Snapper? And, of course, there is always President Obama himself – the “anti-Christ, “ Muslim, non-American (read That Black Guy) who Hates Whites (despite the fact that his beloved mother and grandparents who raised him were white and he is half white). What is this? South Africa? No, it’s the good ol’ white supremist USA rearing its ugly head again.

. . . I sense a disturbance in the Force – yes, it is Carl Rove that I am sensing – the Evil Emperor and Darth Cheney behind all of this. . . .or is it the Bilderbergers or the Illuminati or the Knights Templar, the British Royal Family, or the Nazi Hitler clones? …. Pizzo, you see, is a nice and sensible guy. He doesn’t even believe that 911 was an inside job. He’s probably scoffs at the notion of an engineered Die Off, the FEMA Internment Camps, or the Bird (or is it Swine?) Flu gimmick to reduce the population and further enrich Big Pharma.

He’s no dummy however. He saw right through the complicated Keating Five scandal of the Savings and Loan banks back in the 80’s. Even got nominated for a Pulitzer with the investigative reporting and book he wrote about it.

So, why doesn’t he climb on board the conspiracy train? Are there no conspiracies? Was Kennedy actually killed by a loan gunman? Did those pristine terrorist passports really appear as if by magic at the foot of the Twin Towers?

Let’s define the term. What is a conspiracy? Webster’s Dictionary defines conspire – as to “join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or to use such means to accomplish a lawful end.”

Well, that doesn’t sound so unusual, now, does it? Hasn’t there been one atrocity after another committed by the landowners and power-mongers against the peasants and indigenous tribes generation after generation throughout history? Weren’t diseased blankets given to the Indians in order to wipe them out? Yes, they were. Weren’t women burned at the stake by the thousands for non-compliance and heresy by the Catholic Church? Yes, they were. Haven’t horrific radioactive and other poisonous medical misadventurers used unsuspecting citizens as guinea pigs? We know they have.

And, wouldn’t all these examples of misdeeds and countless more over time be legitimately called conspiracies? I think so. So why is “conspiracy theorist” used as a pejorative and dismissed in most cases today? I can think of a few reasons:

1) So that we don’t have to look into the matter. It’s a bucket of worms. Too time consuming or embarrassing to deal with.
2) Too dangerous to whomever is looking.
3) Too appalling to those who would discover the truth. We’d rather not know.
4) Too guilt inducing to those who would learn of and live with the knowledge of the atrocities.
5) Too frightening to think that things could be this bad. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch to live with.
6) Impossible to assess with accuracy whether the “conspiracy theory” is true or false.
Or,
7) The scenario itself is delusional, paranoid, or insane. Supported with a lack of verifiable information, it becomes a projection of our own hopes, hatreds, or fears.

The challenge, of course, is to know which it is. Almost impossible these days. That’s probably why Pizzo doesn’t support these ideas. He’s the old-fashioned journalist who likes to verify his facts before he sees them in print.

Now, back to those angry and unruly Republicans and insurance and medical industry shills confronting their elected officials and being so discourteous. I find myself thinking, “Good for them!” I don’t agree with their reasoning on health care at all. But, at least they are expressing their outrage, fear, and distrust of the government.

I wish the citizen Democrats were expressing outrage at the financiers, Blackwater, the banks, Wall St. criminals, FEMA, and the bought-off Congress. If the Democrats would grow a pair, they might be able to find some common ground with their brethren on the Right. We all need to eat, keep a roof over the heads of our families, and we’d like our children to have a chance to be healthy and happy.

With our false choices today of “left” vs. “right,” we may choose the brown collar fascist white supremist goons of the right, or the white collar fascist ruling class overlords running things on the “left”. Either way, the global corporatists, arms dealers, Big Pharma, Agra Business, and international banking cartel wins. This system doesn’t need to be reformed. It needs to be rejected.

If we listened to each other, we might figure out together that secrecy and misinformation from the corporate and government staffs have made us too suspicious and angry and frightened of each other. We might note that our culture and the neighbors in it have been damaged and driven insane because we have been systematically lied to for so long and the truth seems nowhere to be had. That can make one crazy. Sometimes I find myself seeking comfort or answers off world. I look for an alien connection or answers from Spirit or the Earth Herself. Is that crazy? I honestly don’t know.

The antidote to much of this is localizing as much as you can. Get centered in your mind, your home, your town. Grow food. Disconnect from the bullshit artists and propagandists on both sides. Get real. Recognize that grave mistakes have been made, but stop thinking the worst about your fellow man or woman. Be able to confront evil. Be ready to forgive those who sincerely repent. Put together some sort of alternative health plan of your own, like growing herbs or bartering with a naturopath. Make something better happen.

Hopefully to that end, I am including pictures of the celebratory moon/campfire gathering we had last week. We paused to be grateful to the plants in the garden and the flowers and animals at home. I know that some of you joined in as well. It felt really good.

Flowers from the yard


The campfire with neighbor friends

Custard pie with Rhubarb topping

Pasta salad with home grown fennel, basil, beans, peas, onion, garlic and pesto