February
1 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: February 1, 1931
Today would have been the day that I arrived at this Park in my usual cycle. The past two months that I have been here were my response to the VA requiring a second opinion for cataract surgery. That will not happen but I wanted the extra time if it was to be done. The two months have reinforced my opinion that this is not where I want to be during December and January.
Doug "Uncola" Lynn post many articles that mirror Caitlin Johnstone's, or vice versa, attacks on the media and its 'narrative'. This posting, The Most Interesting Man in the World: Two Faces on the Same Coin does that and more. It is a long article but well worth reading. I have selected a quote that was in the article that I think is the basis for the two authors attacks against the 'narrative'.
To the sounds of mouse-clicks, once free people have “accepted” the “terms” of their surrender and have forfeited their liberty in the name of convenience. Like buzzing insects, the citizens of modern societies are caught in silicon honey traps mortgaged with plastic and electronically powered via USB cable nooses wrapped tightly around their collective throats.
The Technocratic Powers That Be wield weapons far more powerful than any time prior in history and soon, people will wake up to realize the electronic buzzing sound ringing in their ears was not emanating from their own wings, but rather, it was merely the sound of drones over their heads. - Huxley's "Brave New World" Vs. Orwell's "1984"
2 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
A collection of short stories as told by Henry the waiter. The customer review does a good job.The Observations of Henry is a delightful anthology of short stories. Some are witty. Some are downright humorous. Others have a touch of appealing pathos. And yet others just stir the imagination towards thinking of the more romantic side of life in 19th century Britain. The stories are cleverly linked as chapters from the reminiscences of a waiter who is analogous to the good old English butler. - Customer Review @ Amazon
Paul Craig Roberts has another good posting about the United States poking the bear and the tiger. President Trump is talking the talk about getting the United States out of the forever wars that it is engaged in and at the same time provoking Russia and China. Is this the 4 dimensional chess that the media keeps referring to?
Traditionally, an aggressor paves the way to war with constant propaganda against the country to be attacked. The propaganda creates public support and justifies the attack. The constant stream of provocative accusations out of Washington against Russia and China (and Iran) in order to justify treaty breaking and higher armaments spending sounds to Russia and China like they are being set up for attack. It is reckless and irresponsible to convince nuclear powers that they are going to be attacked. There is no more certain way of producing war. Russia and China are hearing what Saddam Hussein heard, what Gaddafi heard, what Assad heard, what Iran hears. Unlike these victims of Washington, Russia and China have substantial offensive capability. When a country is convinced it is targeted for attack, does the country just sit there and await the attack? Washington Resurrected the Arms Race
3 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
These are good Sherlock Holmes stories but the more I read of Doyle the better I like his short stories and novels that do not have Holmes as the protagonist. I think adaptations of Holmes short stories to TV are what built up his fame for crime fiction. Perhaps what he wrote was done on the shoulders of Edgar Allan Poe which I think I will add to my next reading list.The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 11 Sherlock Holmes stories originally published in 1893. Doyle had decided that these would be the last collection of Holmes's stories, and intended to kill him off in "The Final Problem". Reader demand stimulated him to write another Holmes adventure — The Hound of the Baskervilles. In The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes relates the aftermath of The Final Problem, and how he survived. - Edited Wikipedia
The past few mornings have been great with the low temperature in the 40s, almost 50 this morning. But the forecast for today is a high of 58 with a chance of rain. The same forecast for tomorrow which is shopping day so if it is going to rain let it be today.
I finished eating the lima beans with ham so needed something else for 'linners'. Made a chicken stew with a big package of frozen stew vegetables, canned chicken brought to a boil and then placed in my Thermal Cooker for the rest of the day. Good, but I think I'll make up my own stew vegetables for the next batch.
4 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
There are two scenes in this novel that are also found in The Man From Archangel, first published in 1885, and from The Hound Of The Baskervilles, sereilized in 1901-02. This is novel length as was Hound and was first published in 1888 in the Pall Mall Gazette. So Mr. Doyle was not above using some of his written material more than once. There are authors of today that publish books that are almost entirely made up from previous published works.An aside, "the dog that did not bark", has become a cliché. This observation is trotted out whenever there is a political or economic crisis to consider. Who was the dog and why was he silent? I had always thought that it came from The Hound Of The Baskervilles but it is from the short story The Adventure of Silver Blaze that was included in the collection of short stories that I featured yesterday.
We got a couple of rain showers yesterday during the day. Then soon after sundown I heard it raining hard for a short time. The local Weather Underground station claims we got 0.03" but from the puddles I saw in the Park this morning it looks like there was more than that.
Continues to be partly cloudy today with a 30% chance of more rain. I said yesterday that I would be shopping today. A retired person error, I didn't know what day it was, I thought it was Monday. That shows you how much interest I had in Super Bowl Sunday. I go shopping tomorrow.
America may be the first country in history to impose on itself a psychological dictatorship prior to establishing a full-fledged political one. Once the first is in place, the second isn’t as hard as you think. The people — the humorless sheep — are ready to submit. - No Humor in Super Bowl Commercials–A Sign of P.C. Dominance?, Michael J. Hurd
I'll let you know.
5 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Shopping day with no rain although it looks like it could start at any time. Breakfast stop at the Landmark restaurant where I got their California Omelet with very good home fries. Then a quick stop at Fry's for groceries even with my picking up a few things that have not been on my menu.
The last stop was at Wal*Mart where I picked up my glasses with the new prescription. I'm not sure how much better they are now versus the last prescription I had but they are far better than the prescription of 5-6 years ago that I have been wearing for the past two weeks. The glass department did not open until 9:00 am and I was about 10 minutes early but there was a woman there that was able to find my glasses and change the lenses back to shooting glasses in my second frames.
Good service that makes up for them not sending me an email telling me that the glasses were ready for pick up. The way our society is 'progressing' the United States population will be illiterate by 2100. Even today the vast majority of people do not read and write although they are generally able to, by 2100 that will no longer be true.
Amazon is also using self-driving trucks made by Embark on this same route, but neither company would comment on it. This all on I-10 from El Paso to Palm Springs.
Since early October, autonomous trucks built and operated by the startup Embark have been hauling Frigidaire refrigerators 650 miles along the I-10 freeway, from a warehouse in El Paso, Texas, to a distribution center in Palm Springs, California. A human driver rides in the cab to monitor the computer chauffeur for now, but the ultimate goal of this (auto) pilot program is to dump the fleshbag and let the trucks rumble solo down the highway. Source
6 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The forecast low this morning was 40° with the high for the day to be 45. Winter has us in its grip once more. The low tomorrow morning is expected to be 25 then warming back up into the 40s by the end of the 10 day forecast. We were able to do our morning walk with a cold wind but stayed dry. That wind was blowing in the storm that brought some showers by 8:00 am and looks like there will be rain as was forecast.
I need to get outside sometime today and plug in the basement heater. The low this morning was higher than the forecast but that is unusual. With the low forecast to be 25 tomorrow morning I'm expecting a hard freeze down near 20. The following two days will probably also have freezing temperatures so I'm going to add water today if I can do so and stay out of the rain. The Park water faucet will probably freeze again and I'll need to add water when it is frozen.
I made some good progress on the Japanese theme pixel art drawing and then moved on to the third in the four part series. I'll finish that one within the next 2-3 days. Go back to the Japanese theme one for a few days and then start the last in the series. They have been a long term drawing project but I'm very encouraged since they are looking really good.
I have another project as well. I am adding all the books that I have read since getting my Paperwhite to Calibre. That is the ebook management software that I installed last month on my Toshiba that is running the Ubuntu/Linux operating system. To add them I need to download them all again which is going impact my Verizon data usage but I'll get it done over the next few months.
7 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
There is snow on the peaks of the Whetstone and Huachuca Mountains but it did not get down very low. It did stay cold all day with the high reaching 48, a little above the forecast. This morning the low was 18.7 (per local Underground station) far below the forecast 25 and even colder than I thought it would be. I have my doubts that the Underground report is correct, NWS claims the low was 26.
The weather guessers are predicting a high of 54 today and a low of 29 tomorrow morning. After this morning I will be happy to see a 29 tomorrow. I had the Wave 6 on during most of the day yesterday. Will most likely have it on all morning with it still below freezing at 8:00 am. I didn't check the basement heater, too cold to be out there, but I have running water so the supply lines have not frozen.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D) officially joined the race for for president on Saturday afternoon, 2 February 2019, at a rally in her home state. Gabbard took aim at America's foreign policy establishment in her campaign announcement. I don't think she has any chance of getting the Democratic Party presidential nomination but her anti-war stance is certainly welcome. It is causing a lot of angst in the media that supports forever wars. It is also going to force shy warhawks to reveal their positions. This is good!
"We must stand against powerful politicians from both parties who sit in ivory towers thinking up new wars to wage & new places for people to die. Wasting trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, undermining our economy and security, and destroying our middle class," Gabbard said during her address. Source
8 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: February 8, 1931
I finished the third pixel art drawing in the series of four yesterday. Today I'll be back working on the one with a Japanese theme. The second half is easier than the first as I thought it would be but I still have a lot of work remaining.
This morning the local Underground weather station reported a low of 23.7 and the NWS claimed it was 27. It seems that the local station reports about 5 degrees lower than the NWS. I made an error yesterday when I said that the the NWS was reporting a low of 26; the correct low from them was 23. It warmed up enough for the dusting of snow on the Whetstone Mountains was all gone by the afternoon. Forecast to be back in the 60s today and above freezing tomorrow morning.
I'm not doing anything other than the routine. I did cook some beef, green bean, potato and mushrooms in a beef broth for a 'linner' soup. That and a salad for these cold days. Still have some of the chicken stew left that I can switch back and broth between the two for my 'linners' during the next few days.
The Calibre project is moving along slowly. I got my Kindle Paperwhite in March of 2016 and read about 50 books on it that year. So far I have added a little over half of them to Calibre. During the years 2017 and 2018 I read even more so this project is going to take some time as I said before.
9 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I think I'll finish reading the latest novel on my Paperwhite today. Need to get some more downloads for Jerome and Doyle from Gutenberg. These will be the first ones that I try to download to Calibre and then transfer them to my Paperwhite. The previous ones had been downloaded to Google Drive, downloaded to my Acer Chromebook and then copied to the Kindle. A new learning experience awaits me.
It was still cold this morning but not as cold as it has been. Not as cold as it is going to get either if the forecast is right. We will have a couple of warmer days during the weekend and then back below freezing in the mornings for a few days. The daytime highs should be in the pleasant 60s. A couple of days with a chance of showers and high temperatures in the upper 50s. We are approaching a normal southeastern Arizona Spring, oscillating between winter and summer from one day to the next.
Am I the only one that remembers the media narrative when former president Bush wanted war with Iraq? Did they not charge him with wanting the war only because of OIL? Why the sudden support for a war in Venezuela to get their OIL? I have copied a good article about what is going on there and what we can expect. The quote is the closing paragraph.
U.S. politicians are making the same mistakes with regards to Venezuela as they made with the regime change wars on Iraq and Syria. They believes that all people are as corrupt and nihilistic as they are. They believe that others will not fight for their own beliefs and their own style of life. They will again be proven wrong. - Venezuela - U.S. Aid Gambit Fails - War Plans Lack Support, @ Moon of Alabama
Freed Reed tell it like it is in his posting, Pussy John Bolton and His Codpiece Mustache: Examining the Freak Show. I have quoted his closing paragraph.
We have until recently never had government as aggressive, reckless, or psychiatrically fascinating as now. Again, it is not a matter of Republicans and Democrats. No administration of any party, stripe, or ideology has ever pushed so aggressively toward war with so many countries. These people are not right in the head.
10 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The two weather stations that I check came close to agreeing on the low temperature for this morning. They were each just a little on either side of 40° which is what I was guessing based of feel. Solid cloud cover and a slight chance of rain and colder for the next couple of days.
I will going to town tomorrow for my regular shopping. Then go to Big O to get Desperado an oil change and stop at the Post Office to send off an oil sample for analysis. That is all I can see that will be the least different from my usual routine. Maybe be able to stay warm.
This was the second in Turtledove's Colonization series. A mixture of alternative history and science fiction that I am enjoying.A spectacular tale of tyranny and freedom, destruction and hope, Colonization takes us into the tumultuous 1960s, as the reptilian Race ponders its uneasy future. But now a new, even deadlier war threatens. Though the clamoring tribes of Earth play dangerous games of diplomacy, the ultimate power broker will be the Race itself. For the colonists have one option no human can ignore. With a vast, ancient empire already in place, the Race has the power to annihilate every living being on planet Earth. - Book promo @ goodreads.com
Caitlin Johnstone has written another blog posting that makes a lot of sense but will be ignored by The Establishment. If too many people begin to agree with what she says I expect her to have a serious accident.
The way to prevent nuclear war with North Korea is to leave North Korea alone, stop sanctioning them and stop threatening them. The way to help the people of Venezuela is to end the sanctions which are starving them. The way to help the people of Iran is to end the CIA covert ops and starvation sanctions and stay the hell out of their country. The way to help Syrians is to stop arming and protecting the extremist militias who tried to topple Damascus, end the sanctions, end the illegal occupation, and respect the nation’s sovereignty. The way to advance peace is to oppose the institution that has done more to undermine peace than anyone else in the world, namely the US empire. - Why I Hope Maduro Wins And North Korea Keeps Its Nukes
11 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Breakfast stop on the way to town was at Sunny D's where I got their Chorizo Omelet. It was better than the last Huevos con Chorizo I got there so maybe I have another choice, I do like their Corned Beef Hash and Eggs.
i was going to stop at Fry's but changed my mind and went to Big O for Desperado's oil change first. I thought I might have made a poor decision when I saw that all the waiting room chairs where occupied. But Desperado went into the oil change bay soon after I arrived and I was out of there in less than a hour. Patches got to meet a lot of new people, got some attention and all those people that were waiting were still there. I guess they were all getting alignments and/or tires.
I downloaded Passing of The Third Floor Back by Jerome K. Jerome from Gutenberg as a book. It is a short story that was also a play that was probably much better than the book. There is also a later book with the same title that is a collection of short stories. No book cover for it and I do not recommend Third Floor unless you are reading everything of his from Gutenberg.
I also downloaded The New Revelation that was an essay written by Arthur Conan Doyle and first published in book form by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. on 29 april 1918. The book was sur-titled What Is Spiritualism?, and sub-titled: Can we, or can we not, speak with our beloved dead? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle answers YES. No book cover and I do not recommend it unless you are reading ALL of Doyle.
12 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I didn't do any pixel art drawing yesterday but the Japanese theme piece second half is easier. I have made much better progress than I ever did while drawing the first half. I'll work on it today and think I may reach the three fourths finished point. Where ever I'm at by the end of the day I'll move on to the last of the four part series and get it started.
It was COLD last night. The low temperature was 21.3 and that happened around 1:30 am. It then stayed near that temperature throughout the night with it at 22-23 when we were doing our walk. Not much colder that yesterday morning but it got cold earlier and stayed cold. I was even cold while in bed when I woke up around 5:00. With any luck the high today will be the forecast 63 and tomorrow morning will by 38. I have my doubts that it will be that warm in the morning but anything above freezing would be nice.
13 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Well, it was almost above freezing this morning. The local Underground station reported 31.7° although it felt warmer with no wind. The NWS was reporting 37 and two other nearby Weather Underground stations thought the low had been 32.9 and 33.9. We might get 4-5 days of warmer high and low temperatures and then back to winter conditions if the 10 Day forecast proves to be correct.
I have all of the books that I read on my Paperwhite during 2016 added to Calibre. Have started on 2017 which will be about twice as many books as there were in 2016. It is slow going and as I thought it will use up a lot of Verizon data but this being a short month it is a good time to to do it.
Not much else happening other than trying to find a place to camp during May.
14 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
In the semi-autobiographical novel Paul Kelver details the eponymous narrator's rocky road through life, including his stints as an actor, a few disastrous love affairs, and a chance meeting with an influential stranger, eventually leading to his decision to become a writer. - book promo
This customer review is a good one for a book that is rarely read as he points out. It is not only not light-hearted but he writes in the present voice and then suddenly moves forward or back which is confusing at times. Not an easy read.
This novel is presumed to be autobiographical and is not the light-hearted whimsy of Three Men in a Boat, although there is humor to be found. Jerome is at his best when writing humor. In this book, Jerome reveals (via Kelver) his sometimes reluctant reconciliation with his role as a humorist.
I imagine only fans of Jerome will be likely to give this book a read. It is more powerful and touching for being so clearly heartfelt, but may not be of much interest to those not interested in Jerome. - Customer review @ manybooks.net
The low temperature this morning was 50.3°! I was overdressed and had to take my gloves off soon after we started our walk. The high temperature yesterday was over 70 and the forecast is that we will have another 24 hours of the same. There is a chance of rain during the day however and almost a guarantee that it will rain tonight. Winter will then come back during the weekend and we will have high temperatures in the 40s and lows in the 20s next week.
15 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: February 15, 1931
Later in his life, Doyle become fascinated with spiritualism and the paranormal, even befriending Houdini in his later years. The two of them became good friends, despite their opposing views on the supernatural. Houdini was delighted to learn that there was at least one intelligent person who believed in Spiritualism, and he found that man in his friend Conan Doyle.
The Parasite is a short story and nice quick read. The protagonist is Austin Gilroy, a physiologist, who is a realist and believes that the paranormal is nonsense. That is until he meets a mysterious woman who mesmerizes people; he is not only hypnotized by this woman, but he slowly becomes completely obsessed with her. If you like Doyle in general, then you will like this book. - Edited Customer review @ Amazon
It was difficult for me to remember that I was reading a book written by Doyle. This story was a good science fiction as what Wells is known for. Doyle wrote with far more variety than Wells or other writers during the beginning of the 20th century.
The Poison Belt is the second science fiction novel that features Professor Challenger the first being The Lost World. Written in 1913, much of it takes place in a single room in Challenger's house in Sussex with the same characters that were with him in Lost World. This would be the last story written about Challenger until the 1920s, by which time Doyle's spiritualist beliefs had begun to influence his writing. - Edited Wikipedia
A couple weeks ago I filled out the Contact Form on a RV Park's web page requesting a reservation for the month of May. I did this 3 times during a 10 day period and never received a reply. Last week I contacted another Park and we exchanged 4-5 emails before they had all the information that they wanted and I finally got a reservation. I don't know why it is so difficult but I seem to go through this repeatedly.
Making America Great Again has taken a bitch slap. Everything is not great and no amount of financial reporting spin is going to make it great.
U.S. retail sales recorded their biggest drop in more than nine years in December as receipts fell across the board, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end of 2018.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday retail sales tumbled 1.2 percent, the largest decline since September 2009 when the economy was emerging from recession.
December online internet sales (non-store retailers) tumbled 3.9% MoM – the biggest drop ever.
More than 7 million Americans are 90 days or more behind on their vehicle loans as of the end of 2018, according to data released Tuesday by the New York Federal Reserve. That’s more than 1 million higher than the peak in 2010 as the country was recovering from its worst downturn since the Great Depression. - Source
16 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The morning low for the past couple of days has been in the 40s which has been great. That will change today with the high expected to be in the 50s and the low down to freezing again. Then starting Monday we get a week of winter with the high temperature in the 40s and down into the 20s at night. Maybe March will be warmer?
I'll be shopping tomorrow and then can hibernate for the week.
The idea that it’s fine and normal for America and its tight network of allies to use any force necessary to ensure world dominance and anyone who says otherwise is a Russian agent has been hammered into mainstream consciousness over the last two years, and it’s going to take a lot of work to extract it. - Hating Neocons Is Becoming Mainstream Again, And It Is Excellent, Caitlin Johnstone
17 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The forecast low was 31 and we got 26.7 which was about what I expected (5 degrees below the forecast). However, it felt like 21-22 with the wind chill. I added water a couple days ago knowing that I would have to do so sometime this coming week. With all the mornings forecast to be below freezing and a few cold days I am expecting the Park faucet to freeze at my space. I should be fine until it warms up again.
The first stop in town was at the laundromat where I got the washers going. Then fired up the Wave 6 in Desperado and sat down and started this blog posting. I won't get it finished and posted until I get back to the Park but will get it started. The next stop was at Café Olé for breakfast where I got my usual. Then a grocery gathering at Fry's and done for the day.
I finished about one third of the last pixel art drawing in the series of four. I'll be going back to work on the Japanese themed one but probably not today. There will be plenty of time to work on it during this next week when it is forecast to be cold and I will not want to be outside doing anything else.
Yes, Moscow Boosts Western Anti-Imperialist Voices. So What? by Caitlin Johnstone has written a good article. She points out that “Russia opposes western interventionism, therefore anyone who opposes western interventionism is basically Russian.” This means that I am probably on the governments list due to what I write and what I quote. Read her article, it is worth your time.
18 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Eastern Cochise County (that is here) effective tomorrow morning. They are expecting snow accumulations of 2" with limited visibility and slippery roads. Forecasting the low to be 24° so my local Weather Underground station could be reporting a low in the teens. It is going to be cold and not a good day for man or beast.
Caitlin Johnstone is on a roll. Today she posted a great allegory Johnny Versus The News Man. It is a recommended read!
Gary Montez Martin the shooter, using a S & W .40 cal handgun not an AR-15 rifle, was an African-American/Negro/Black that killed 5 white men in Aurora, IL. If he had been a white man and killed 5 African-American/Negro/Black men that would have been the News headline. However, you do not find the victims race mentioned in any of the mainstream news media stories. Why is that?
19 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I downloaded this book from Gutenberg but you can also get the Kindle edition free from Amazon. A good historical fiction adventure story in which Doyle uses some of his Sherlock 'twists' to get his characters out of repeated tight spots.
Well researched, excellently written historical fiction. This book is quite lengthy for a Conan Doyle novel. The first two-thirds of the book is set primarily in the Versailles court of Louis XIV. The first part of the book ends with Louie's revocation of the Edict of Nance, which had assured French Huguenots of political and religious freedom. The second part of the book takes place primarily on the French Canadian frontier, with the three Huguenots in the company of their American friend having fled France barely ahead of French military authorities. The story ends a bit abruptly for my taste, but the author includes interesting and informative historical after-notes that bring the whole to a satisfying conclusion. - Edited Customer review @ Amazon
I cut our afternoon walk just a little short yesterday afternoon. When I saw in snowing on the Whetstone Mountains and it was blowing right toward me I turned about and headed for Desperado. We got just a dusting during the night and there were a few flakes falling during our morning walk but the mountains looked like they were still getting more snow. The high temperature yesterday was 52 with an expected 45 today and down to 22 tomorrow morning. I made an error when I said that this low would be this morning, the forecast was always that it would be tomorrow. If we don't get some sun there will be lots of ice tomorrow.
What in the hell is President Trump thinking? He wants the United States out of Afghanistan and Syria but wants a war with Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela?
“We seek a peaceful transition of power, but all options are open,” Trump said of the US-led Venezuela coup agenda. “We want to restore Venezuelan democracy, and we believe that the Venezuelan military and its leadership have a vital role to play in this process. If you choose this path, you have an opportunity to help forge a safe and prosperous future for all of the people of Venezuela. Or you can choose the second path: continuing to support Maduro. If you choose this path, you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit, and no way out. You will lose everything.”..
This same man who is outraged about an attempt to oust him early on in his administration using laws and bureaucracy has no qualms about ousting the government of a sovereign nation using starvation sanctions, CIA ops, an aggressive campaign to delegitimize Maduro, and now outright threats to the nation’s military personnel. - Trump Administration Threatens Families Of Venezuelan Military, Caitlin Johnstone
20 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
There was some sun yesterday afternoon which dried up the roads so no ice this morning. Almost all the snow was melted from the Whetstone Mountains as well. The Huachucas are higher so their peaks have retained a good snow cover.
I was right when I guessed that the low temperature this morning would be in the teens. The local Underground station reported 19.8°. I expected even lower but it was in the teens HA. That happened while we were out there doing our morning walk but I was dressed for it with thermals top and bottom, I need the thermals when it gets down into the low 20s and below.
The high temperature yesterday was 46 with wind. It was cold. The high today may be 53 which is not much of an improvement but better than the forecast of 46 with rain tomorrow. Then even colder during the weekend with a chance of more snow. I don't believe it but the 10 Day forecast is now expecting 1 March to reach a high of 70.
I have made some good progress on the Japanese theme pixel art and now see that I could finish it in just a few days. I'll draw some more of it today and then move to the last in the four drawing series. The idea is to finish both of those drawing projects within a day or two of each other.
The only other thing that I have accomplished is to cook some beef stew. It is more vegetables than beef but has an essence of beef in there. I may get a salmon fillet into the roaster today or tomorrow and between the two menu items my 'linners' will be provided for the next week.
My latest Paperwhite book came from The Cochise County Library - Sierra Vista branch where I have a card and can download ebooks. I read one of the authors books, in paperback, some years ago and happened to see some of his books as I was searching for something to read. The library does not have many of his books in ebook format and they do a VERY poor job of getting all the books in a series from any author. But the price is right and I have as good of a selection as I did when I was trading paperbacks at RV Park exchange libraries.
21 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Because this is a short billing cycle month for Verizon usage I am doing well. I think I'll use some of that available data to do some more work on the Calibre Library project. I have now added all the books read up to the end of June 2017 so I'm halfway to completion. All the books read in 2019 have been added as I was reading them.
Fred Reed has an excellent blog posting, The Empire: Now or Never that explains why "Other people are simply puzzled, seeing no pattern in America’s international behavior. Really, the explanation is simple. The reason of course is empire.."
The first rule of empire is, “Don’t let your enemies unite.” Instead, Washington has pushed Russia, China, and Iran into a coalition against the Empire. It might have been brighter to have integrated Iran tightly into the Euro-American econosphere, but Israel would not have let America do this. The same approach would have worked with Russia, racially closer to Europe than China and acutely aware of having vast empty Siberia bordering an overpopulated China. By imposing sanctions of adversaries and allies alike, Washington promotes de-dollarization and recognition that America is not an ally but a master.
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
22 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: February 22, 1931
I went shopping this morning which was a day early and not such a good idea. The earlier trip was planned so that I could go to the Cochise Gun Club Workshop tomorrow. The not such a good idea was because I got caught in a snow storm while in Sierra Vista. Drove in falling snow, visibility about a quarter mile, and increasingly slushy roads all the way back to the Park. At the Park entrance the highway patrol was turning people around and not allowing westbound AZ82 traffic.
I stopped at the Landmark for breakfast where I got slightly damp. That was true also when I went into Fry's but when I came out it was snowing horizontally. The wind died down but the snow fall increased by the time I stopped at my UPS store to pick up Leapknot Coffee plus Mulberry Lane Farm hulled barley and oat groats. Then it was still coming down hard while I was connecting to electric and getting power to my basement heater.
The way things look now and the forecast for tomorrow morning is for the low to be 19° there will be ice, lots of ice. I will not be on the road to the range. I may not even try to do our usual morning walk, I'll see how the rest of the day plays out.
Bernard Cornwell is known as a historical fiction writer and I read one of his books years ago. Found some of his books available in Kindle format at the Cochise County Library. Among them was this book which was his first non-fiction book. The book promo does a good job in telling what to expect from the book. A good read!
This is the chronicle of the four days leading up to the actual battle and a thrilling hour-by-hour account of that fateful day. Cornwell combines his storytelling skills with a meticulously researched history to give a riveting account of every dramatic moment, from Napoleon's escape from Elba to the smoke and gore of the battlefields. Through letters and diaries he also sheds new light on the private thoughts of Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, as well as the ordinary officers and soldiers. Published to coincide with the bicentenary in 2015, Waterloo is a tense and gripping story of heroism and tragedy - and of the final battle that determined the fate of Europe. - Edited book promo
Can Maduro Emulate Castro and Assad to Keep NATO’s Imperialist Hands Off Venezuela?, by Gilbert Mercier is an article that you will not find published anywhere in the mainstream media. His two opening paragraphs will show you why.
Empires with internal problems tend to create external crises to distract the public opinion and unite their political and economical ruling class in a fictitious nationalistic fervor. The current United States policy of overt regime change in Venezuela, backed entirely by its NATO vassals, follows an evergreen imperial playbook of creating new crises to obscure failures and divisions.
In addition to the administration’s overall incompetence, the legal investigations through the Mueller inquiry, and the failure to deliver to its MAGA sycophants their big wall, it has passed unnoticed, and it will never be admitted by US officials or media that the US imperial wars in Afghanistan and Syria are in fact lost. Assad will remain in power, and the US administration has publicly admitted that it was negotiating with the Taliban. The temptation for the empire’s ideologues is too strong not to follow the precept: when you have lost a war, you declare victory and you leave. And next time around, you try to pick a weaker target.
23 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
It continued to snow until about 3:00 in the afternoon. We went out and did a walk on the Park roads when it quit. Some of them were slush where there had been traffic and others were still covered with 3-4 inches of snow. Not too long after we got back to Desperado there was another snow shower that left a dusting on my steps by this morning.
I knew there was going to be ice this morning. The low at my local Underground station was 17.9 with the NWS reporting 20. We did a slow careful potty walk and got back inside Desperado were the Wave 6 was fired up. I had frozen condensation in my door latch but got is open and the screen door was frozen to the frame. Also had frozen condensation on the inside of the windows. It was COLD. If the forecast proves to be correct the high on Tuesday will be 73 and the morning lows will be back in the 40s. It is Spring in southeastern Arizona!
24 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I thought the forecast low was 29 for this morning. However, I woke up around 3:00 am and was cold so got up and put on my thermal bottoms. Was glad that I had them on when we went for our walk. When we went out a few minutes later than usual, I wanted to be able to see the ice, it was almost 30 after setting the low or 24.4 around 4:00 am. The weather guessers expect it to be above freezing tomorrow morning with the rest of the 10 day forecast to have lows in the 40s. It will be great if that happens.
I'm making slow but sure progress on the last pixel art drawing in the four drawing series. I think I will also finish the book that I'm currently reading on my Paperwhite today or tomorrow. I'll then read a short book that I got from Amazon. It was one of the FREE books.
I think I have found a website that will let me search Amazon's Free Books. If you just go to Amazon it is like going to a RV Park free book exchange library, you just have to look through all the shelves/pages of books until you see something that looks good. The website that I found lets you select various genre which reduces the number of books that you need to consider. That can eliminate a lot of the bodice rippers.
Mapping the American War on Terror – Now in 80 Countries, It Couldn’t Be More Global by Stephanie Savell is an article that has been republished in many alt-news sites but you will not find it published by any of the mainstream media. The United States has gone completely insane in its imperialism. I think its reach has far exceeded its grasp.
25 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
I read two bloggers that both posted their most current with an Oscar's theme. I didn't even realize that the Academy Awards were being presented until I read their postings. Oscar Bytes by James Howard Kunstler does a play-by-play while he was watching. It has a Sunday dateline, I hope he posts his usual for Monday and this was a bonus.
Oscar Who? by The kaBLOOnie boonster comments on "hype and hoopla over the Academy Awards, when the movie industry is sinking into irrelevancy". I guess that is why I did not realize that the Oscars were being handed out.
I think Michael Snyder's prediction will come true, I have quoted it. What he does not point out in his posting is that Russia and China both have 'vital interests' in Venezuela. Does President Trump need to start a war that he can claim to be his and win it? That would be good sell in a re-election bid. He could brag that I won the war and got the United States out of two other wars that the United States was loosing. Sadly, I don't think it will work out that way.
It looks like the war in Venezuela could begin as soon as next month, and it doesn’t appear that there will initially be much opposition to the conflict in the United States.There are private schools in Saudi Arabia that teach English much like the private school that I worked for in Japan. But there are consequences to the anti-Saudi feelings in the current Congress. Congress is doing their best to strengthen China and Saudi relations and sever them from the United States.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) met with Chinese President Xi Jinping hours after finalizing a $10 billion deal for Saudi Aramco to establish a refining and petrochemical complex in China. This was only one of 35 economic cooperation agreements with China worth $28bn. In addition The Foreign Ministry announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will now include "Chinese language instruction as part the educational curriculum in ALL schools and universities."
26 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
This was the last book, #6, in The War That Came Early series. I was able to get the first 5 from the Cochise County Library but like most of their ebook series it was not completed. I finally found a free copy but this last book was disappointing. It reads more like the prequel to his next series rather than the closing of this one. The customer review that I have selected is one that was more kind than many of the others. Read the book if you are reading the series but do not expect much.I feel Turtledove ran out of ideas at the end... The final chapters seem disconnected and it seemed to me they were a missed opportunity. Without spoilers, let me just say that the fate of Japan is left unfinished, and that the style of telling the story through their protagonist seriously limited the story. Turtledove painted himself into a corner. Although he made the most of it - a good story, but it did not reach its full potential. Edited Customer Review @ goodreads.com
On 24 Feb the weather guessers thought it was going to be above freezing on the 25th and the in the 40s for the rest of the 10 day forecast. That did not happen, it was below freezing and was just below again this morning. Certainly not as cold as when it was in the 20s but freezing is freezing. They are not giving up, the next 10 day lows will be in the 40s - IF their forecast is right.
27 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
What a difference a few days make. It was only four days ago that was in a snowstorm with freezing temperatures at night and the high was only 40°. Yesterday afternoon we did our walk when the high temperature was 73 and this morning the low was 44. If the weather were to stay like this the area would not be fit to live in because of all the people that would be here.
I won't get as much pixel drawing done during the next couple of days. It is end of the month and house chores need to be done. I got the bathroom cleaned up this morning and will get the bathroom and kitchen floors washed soon after posting this. Then before the day is over the living room floor vacuumed and maybe the cab windows washed and dash wiped down. Tomorrow will be the day to do another month of Will Rogers weekly articles. Friday another shopping day.
So busy, so busy. HA!
I have now added all the books to Calibre that I have read on my Paperwhite thru January 2018. I have also discovered how to add the Dead Tree books that I read prior to getting into ebooks. I started showing the book covers for those in August 2013. When I get all these ebooks added I'll be adding them to Calibre also. There are some authors that I enjoyed which I will try to find ebooks to continue reading more of their books.
The website that I found that I thought would help me find free books at Amazon is better that what is available for searching at Amazon but still not great. If you are searching for a title or an author either of them is fine but if you want to browse by genre neither of them is very good. I have found another free ebook source that looks to be promising. It is the Digital Arizona Library, but is restricted to people that have a library card from some library in Arizona.
28 February
Quail Ridge RV Resort
Huachuca City, AZ
The customer review expresses my thought fairly well. This is the first book that I have 'bought' from the Kindle Store. The price was $0.00 but I wanted to see how the buying process worked and how easy/difficult finding a free book would be on Amazon. It is not easy.The author either has an odd combination of naivety and extraordinary good luck; or the good fortune to continually just bumble through foreign countries (and life) with impunity. If actually true: I marveled at his ability to land in a country without being able to speak the language, blithely commuting on public transport and locating accommodation seemingly without communication, a GPS, or other assistance. Having also traveled through (and worked in) the Asian countries mentioned - I found his comments and observations interesting. - Edited Customer Review @ Amazon
I didn't get Desperado's cab cleaned yesterday but will get that done today. There is also the Will Rogers weekly articles to be done. I thought I might have another hurdle to doing those articles when I saw that the Park had no power when we went for our morning walk. It came back on just as we were finishing our walk. But, when I went to the Park restrooms to take a shower I found them locked. I don't know if the two things were related or not but I was not happy to find them locked.