WAR, GOOD GOD Y'ALL - WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

 

 

The two major super powers on earth are posturing.  Each with enough nuclear weaponry to destroy all life on earth.

 

If the world was energy independent, economic trade pressures could be brought against rogue countries that would somewhat negate wars.

 

Russia’s only economy is oil and gas.    The middle-east countries only economy is oil and gas.

 

Total energy independence is feasible; but capitalism makes it impossible.   The rich exploit to grow wealth; so, the movers and shakers of the world have no incentive to divest of energy control.

 

We have the technology to deploy a satellite telescope to orbit the sun and view time all the way back to creation.   If that same technology was deployed toward energy independence, we could be energy free within a decade.

 

Every home could be energy independent.  Heated and cooled from thermal heat pumps and energized by efficient solar arrays on rooftops and elevated structures.   Cars could be energy independent of fossil fuels; plugged in to home solar arrays for charging and equipped with solar collectors on all surfaces – along with wind-turbines and centrifugal force generators.  

 

Solar, wind, water and tidal collectors could supply all the power needed for economic and commercial purposes.  The tidal change in the Bay of Fundy alone could convert enough energy for North America to be free of the need for fossil fuel produced energy.

 

Total world energy independence would place rogue countries in a less powerful position – and economic sanctions from world organizations could carry more weight.  

 

This is all feasible, but buried in our DNA is a primitive strain that drives us to compete for power and wealth, with a willingness toward violence.     This drive is exploited through capitalism and greed; and I see no hope that that will ever change in our future.

 

Though we claim to be a sentient intelligent species, we share 97% of our DNA with our cousins, Chimpanzees.   And a good percent of the human population has not progressed far from our primitive ancestors most basic instincts.  

 

Add to that the zealotry of religions and there is little hope we will ever conquer war.

 

the Ol'Buzzard

TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS

 

News papers are expressing fear for the economy because stock values are falling due to the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

 

That just shows where the government’s economic priorities are.  Judging the economy by the fluctuations of the stock market reflect how well the rich are doing.   It ignores the economic plight of the middle and poorer classes where the real economy exists.

the Ol'Buzzard

 

LANGUAGE IS ALIVE

 

Janet enters the murder room.  Her husband is on the floor in a pool of blood. On the wall, written in blood, is the message, youre next.    She leans over, dips her finger in her husband’s blood, and on the wall puts an apostrophe: you’re.

 

I love language, though I often abuse it - too lazy to go back over what I have typed and put in the apostrophes, or just comfortable with the way I have expressed myself.

 

I am not a stickler on correct spelling and grammar (but thank you Microsoft for your spell checker).   To me, the purpose of language is to communicate.    

 

Communication is different in different cultures.   I was told by an Athabaskan Indian in a Native village that white men talk too much.    And he was right.   We can’t stand dead air space in a conversation. 

 

When we first arrived in the villages, we might have two Native women come to the house; we would greet them and they would nod their heads.   We would give them tea and they would sit on the couch silently drinking their tea.  Then at some point they would state what they had come over for; perhaps, My son not like go to school.   In the meantime, we had filled the room with rambling words and sentences in an attempt to fill the void.

 

An Inuit can often express a entire meaning with the rise of an eyebrow.    I am still furious when I think about standardized testing judging the children in these remote villages from a requirement they write essays in standard and correct grammar.    Their stories are rich when expressed in their own village language. 

 

We all misuse words; but their origins are interesting.  Here is some word rambling:

The word decimate literally means - to slaughter every tenth one.

The word dilemma, the di comes from the Greek for two; so the meaning is limited to two choices.    The dilemma of choosing the road ahead or the one less traveled. 

 

Thanks to computers we can modify grammar with bold or italic entries.  I love semicolons and dashes.   Again, language is all about communicating your thoughts. 

 

So a great fuck-you to the word police who would willingly destroy a thought in the name of inane rules. 

the Ol’Buzzard

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEYOND OUR PETTY PACE FROM DAY TO DAY

 

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The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed and is now 700,000 miles into its one-million mile destination: a gravity-neutral spot known as Lagrange Point – 2, where it will begin to orbit around the sun. 

The James Webb is the most powerful telescope ever built and will be capable of looking out to the very edge of the observable universe.   Astrophysicist and other scientist will be able to collect light from the first stars and galaxies that formed immediately after the Big Bang, 13.5 billion years ago.

 

The quest for knowledge is the one noble attribute of the human race.  Unfortunately, ignorance in the name of religions has always own the day and opposed any quest for enlightenment. (God forbid Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge.)  

 

What a duality the human race is.  There are complete morons willing to riot as cult members of a con-man looking to maintain political power; and on the opposite extreme there are scientist probing the very question of existence.  

the Ol’Buzzard

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BLOGGER IS FUCKING WITH US AGAIN

What happened to selecting a picture from a group on a blog I am reading and being able to scroll through the rest?   Now we have to view one picture at a time - select each one separately then use the back arrow to get back to the rest.

I hate updates..  why not leave everything alone when it is working just fine.  

the Ol'Buzzard

A REPLY TO 'JUST GAIL' ON RAISED BED GARDENING

You commented on my post about my plans for a spring container garden in Maine, that you wished you could have a raised bed garden.   

One of the YouTube videos I watched has an idea for a movable raised bed garden.   

I am posting the video here, and perhaps it can give you ideas.   

The video is rambling, but the basic idea is intriguing. 

A number of decades ago, here in Maine, sewer sludge was used as a fertilizer in gardens in one of the most productive areas of the state, and now they are finding that the soils and wells of the area are contaminated with heavy metals.   There are a lot of organic gardeners in this area, and of course, they are devastated.   

I do believe that food from home grown gardens is far superior to commercial vegetables we buy at the supermarket, and there is even more control on home grown vegetables than perhaps from organic growers. 

In this time and age of food shortages and rising food cost, going back to Victory Gardens makes sense to me.   Any small amount of our food consumption that I can home grow will make me feel productive, and I will know that the quality of the food is good. 

the Ol'Buzzard

THINKING OF SPRING IN A BLIZZARD

 

 

We received twelve inches of snow earlier in the week, and yesterday we had well over a foot with steady wind.   The snow blower could barely manage the depth and I had to shovel out our gas tanks that were buried. 

A year ago we moved from our cabin in the woods to a more manageable home.   

We loved our cabin, but heating with firewood, and the physical requirements of maintaining our place during the Maine winters, was getting a little much for an octogenarian.

 

The downside of living surrounded by woods was there was never enough sunlight to grow a garden.   I missed gardening. 

 

The place we now live in has a large open front yard with plenty of sunlight.   This spring I intend to plant a starter garden – something small, just a few plants.   Along with the prospect of fresh vegetables, a garden gives me something to plan during the dark days of winter.

 

For the first time in years, I am ordering seed catalogues and watching YouTube bits about gardening.   I am not planning to plant an extensive garden or build raised beds.   Just limited planting in containers and grow-bags.  Grow-bags are something new, and seem ideal for an urban gardener. 

 

 

Our yard is full of ants.   It is my belief that when man finally manages to bring total destruction of surface life on earth, it will be the ants, not the cockroaches that survive.  By using grow-bags, I can plant on our steps, in our parking area and avoid an ant problem.

 

I am thinking about planting one zucchini and one yellow squass (zucchini produce all summer), three tomato plants (one cherry, one determinant and one indeterminant), a cucumber plant, radishes and a large planter with herbs.   But in my mind, the garden keeps getting bigger.

 

Maine has a short growing season so I will buy tomato plants; but I am also thinking about purchasing a small greenhouse to start seeds and seedlings early.  When we lived subsistence, off-the-grid, while attending college, I started my plants in solar heated hot-boxes that I designed, and had plants producing weeks earlier that the locals.

$39.00 at Tractor Supply

 

Maybe I’ll grow some carrots.   Scallions are a necessity.   Then there are peppers - I like peppers; I understand potatoes grow well in grow-bags, and so does lettuce, eggplant, broccoli, beets, bush beans -  I have heard you can grow corn in grow bags -  broccoli and cauliflower…

 

the Ol’Buzzard