May
1 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: May 1, 1932
I got on the road a little before 7:00 and took a route that I had not driven since 1996. It was slower and maybe a little longer than other choices but I had plenty of time. When I got into Douglas I stopped at Maná Bakery and Café which was serving take outs. I got a build your own veggie omelet with tortilla and coffee and sat outside in Desperado and ate it.
My route was only 127 miles but I am not listing the detour to Food City as part of it. AZ82, AZ 80, Davis Rd, Leslie Canyon Rd, 'A' Ave, AZ80 & NM 80.
Note: From near US191 in McNeal on Davis Rd to about 8 miles north of US80 in Douglas on Leslie Canyon Rd is graveled. It is dusty but good when dry, probably not so good when wet.
A block from the café was a gas station where Desperado got her fill also. Then I went to Food City and picked up a couple of things but wanted some Silk non-dairy yogurt which they did not have or any other brand on non-dairy yogurt. Avoiding dairy is difficult if not in a bigger town.
Arrived at the RV Park around 11:00 Arizona time which was noon here in New Mexico. I'm about a quarter of a mile from AZ and will be going back to AZ for my next camp so I'll stay on AZ time. Got into my space and started to distill my first gallon of water.
The distiller is the same as what I had in Bulgaria the best that I can tell with a few more plastic parts. The boiler is stainless steel and that is where all the distilling is started. I know my hearing is not what it was but I think the cooling fan runs quieter that what I had in Bulgaria.
Hot here with strong winds as well. The high temperature is expected to be a near record at 90° with more of the same to come tomorrow.
A Red Flag Fire Warning for this area but still no reported Coronavirus® cases. No cases in my next camp's ZIP Code either so looking good so far. Cochise County was up to 39 which is less than I thought they would be by the end of April, they may start opening businesses by mid May.
2 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Verizon data service is poor here and the Park host says that their voice service is just as bad. The Park has free WIFI that actually works. Probably the first Park that I have stayed at where the free WIFI was better than Verizon. I'll be using both of them with Verizon first and when a page times out I'll switch over to the Park WIFI.
Starting to find walking routes. There is a one mile path around the perimeter of the Park that I did this morning plus another half mile plus and return south on NM80 which has light traffic that has been VERY courteous. I walked about a half mile on it yesterday to the north, then took a dirt road to the west for a half mile and returned on the same route. It looks like there are a couple more possibilities although they will almost all be out and back routes.
The first gallon of water was distilled soon after we got back from the walk yesterday afternoon. I started a second gallon at about 4:00 and it finished sometime last night. I'll do a couple more gallons today and maybe one more tomorrow then probably will do a gallon every other day with occasional two gallon days.
Gov. Doug Ducey of AZ has partially reopened retail stores starting 4 May but from what I have read that does not include restaurants or barbers. Those are the two businesses that I would like to see back in business; many of them will not reopen. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of NM has issued a similar order which started yesterday.
The “reopenings” underway in 30 states in the US might be in words only just as the ballyhooed “open” Swedish economy is not open in fact and has been closed by non-participation...
In other words, whether an economy is open or not is not up to the government. In Sweden people self-isolated even though the economy was nominally open. Obviously, people in Sweden perceive the virus as a threat and are responding with caution to the threat. If Americans, or enough of them, perceive the virus as a threat, reopening the economy will not reopen it.
If Swedish behavior is a guide, reopening the economy is not going to result in any quick return to normal. We should begin thinking about the consequences in a country such as the US where personal, business, and government budgets are in deficit. - Reopening in Words Only?, Paul Craig Roberts
3 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Both Verizon and the Park WIFI are very slow this morning. The Park WIFI kept timing out when I tried to open my emails. Verizon opened them but slowly. I think getting a post up today is going to be frustrating.
We walked what I am going to name the 3 Mile Loop this morning. Did it clockwise but plan on doing it counterclockwise as well. It is great during the cool mornings but would not want to make it an afternoon walk. The forecast high for today is 88° cooler than the 94.1 we had yesterday. A nice cool breeze in the morning and strong hot winds in the afternoon.
I now have 4 gallons of distilled water which should last me for a week. Won't do any more distilling until I start using the last gallon. I am through buying bottled water but would not have had a problem getting all I wanted at Food City in Douglas, AZ. I can't help wondering why Fry's and Safeway in Sierra Vista have supply chain problems. Douglas is even more isolated, it has to be the companies different sources.
Cooked some canned chili beans with diced tomatoes and Baker chocolate. I now have two choices for 'linner' with enough to last me about two weeks. The Park is having a Cinco de Mayo potluck which I will not attend. I am curious how they are going to do that and maintain social distancing. I suspect they will not.
American Empire: Blood and Iron is the first book of the American Empire trilogy of alternate history fiction novels by Harry Turtledove. It is a sequel to the novel How Few Remain and the Great War trilogy, and is part of the Southern Victory series.Blood and Iron covers events directly following the closing events of The Great War: Breakthroughs. It takes the TL-191 Earth* from 1917 to 1924.
*The Southern Victory series or Timeline-191 are fan names given to a series of eleven alternate history novels by author Harry Turtledove, beginning with How Few Remain (1997) and published over a decade. - Wikipedia
It is just luck that I am not going to be going through Gallup to reach my next camp when I leave here.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Friday [1 May 2020] invoked the state’s Riot Control Act, closing roads leading into Gallup, the state’s hotspot of the Chinese coronavirus.I have been taking a vitamin D supplement for a few months now, long before Coronavirus® became popular. Maybe I am doing sometime right for the wrong reasons, I am taking it because there are claims that it helps control psoriasis.
Grisham invoked the Riot Control Act, effectively barring nonessential travel to the city as a means to slow the spread of the virus, per requests from both outgoing Gallup Mayor Jackie McKinney and incoming Mayor Louis Bonaguidi: Source
Preliminary results from a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study carried out by scientists from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation Trust and the University of East Anglia have linked low levels of the hormone vitamin D with COVID-19 mortality rates across Europe...
"The most vulnerable group of population for COVID-19 is also the one that has the most deficit in vitamin D," the researchers conclude in their preliminary report.
4 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I was at it all day yesterday but got the refrigerator defrosted. I need to do that more often. There was at least an inch of ice in some places which took forever to loosen from the side of the freezer compartment. I may get the A/C filter cleaned today or maybe not. That is all I am even considering doing other than trying to stay cool and reading a new book on Kindle Fire.
I think I have found all the available walking routes here. There are not many which is a disappointment. That and the distance to a grocery store are probably reasons for me not to come here again. The Park is very nice with a lot of room between neighbors except for one. Even that one is not too bad because we park tail to tail with a good distance offset. The weather this time of the year does not make me want to come back either but I knew that was going to be a downer. The months of May and October are difficult months for me to find a camp with 'good' weather.
I sent my senator an email congratulating her on supporting all the "trillions here, there, and everywhere" that she has voted for. She is really bringing home the bacon to Arizona in this election year where she is campaigning hard to keep her senate seat. I asked her who is going to repay all this borrowed money or is there no intent to ever repay it? I have received no reply, certainly no answer to the question.
Real capital is grounded in the production of real things of real value, of course, and when it’s detached from all that, it’s no longer real capital. Money represents capital, and when the capital isn’t real, the money represents…nothing! And ceases to be real money. Just now, America is producing almost nothing except money, money in quantities that stupefy the imagination — trillions here, there, and everywhere. The trouble is that money is vanishing as fast as it’s being created. That’s because it’s based on promises to be paid back into existence that will never be kept, on top of prior promises to pay back money that were broken or are in the process of breaking. The net result is that money is actually disappearing faster than it can be created, even in vast quantities. - When the Birdies Sing Like the Fat Lady, James Howard Kunstler
5 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I didn't get the A/C filter cleaned yesterday and probably won't do it today. What I have to do is dump tanks and take on water. That I can not put off any longer. I'll get out there and do that after breakfast before it gets too hot.
It has been over 90° everyday since we got here but the weather guessers continue to forecast highs in the upper 80s. Tomorrow and the next day they predict being 93 so I know it is going to get even hotter.
I have not quoted from Caitlin Johnstone's post but suggest that you read this The Sleeping Giant
I don't know who started this meme but they got it right!
When the State tells you it's safe to go to Home Depot to buy a sponge but dangerous to go and buy a flower, it's not about your health.
When the State shuts down millions of private businesses but doesn't lay off a single government employee, it's not about your health.
When the State bans dentists because its unsafe, but deems abortion visit is safe, it's not about your health.
When the State prevents you from buying cucumber seeds because it's dangerous, but allows in person lottery ticket sales, it's not about your health.
When the State tells you it's dangerous to go golf alone, fish alone or be in a motor boat alone, but the Governor can get his stage makeup done, and hair done for 5 TV appearances a week, it's not about your health.
WAKE UP PEOPLE — THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOUR HEALTH
6 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I walked past the Park's Cinco De Mayo potluck yesterday afternoon. They had a crowd, far more than 10, sitting together outside the Club House. No social distancing to be seen. I avoided the pot luck not because of Coronavirus® but because of my new diet restrictions. They are self imposed but I am doing my best to stick to them and have noticed some slight improvement in the psoriasis. No flares which is most important!
I have had a west side neighbor starting the day afterI got here. Yesterday while I was out doing my tank dumps we spoke for the first time. Said hello and goodbye, he was leaving. That did not last long, I had a Class "A" pull into that same space within a couple of hours.
Today and tomorrow are going to be the hot ones in the 10 Day Forecast. Both days are expected to reach 94 then the other 8 days will be in the lower 80s. I don't believe it but hope that it proves to be true. Already 73° at 8:00 so the 94 could be exceeded, the guess of 88 for the high yesterday was surpassed by a 95.7. We could see close to 100 today if that pattern continues.
I hesitate to recommend this book. To describe it as being "dark science fiction" is an understatement. Philip K. Dick liked it, liked it a lot and describes it correctly when he said it had "extreme violence and graphic sex". I can certainly see why no publisher wanted to touch it in 1972. There are two more books in the Dr. Adder series that I will read to see it they get better or worse.Dr. Adder is a dark science fiction novel by American writer K. W. Jeter, set in a future where the United States has largely broken down into reluctantly cooperating enclaves run by a wide variety of strongmen and warlords, with a veneer of government control that seems largely interested in controlling technology. Dr. Adder is an artist-surgeon, who modifies sexual organs of his patients to satisfy the weirdest of perversion; he is clearly depicted as a partly criminal, partly counter-cultural figure in a future Los Angeles which anticipates the cyberpunk idea of the Sprawl.
Dr. Adder is Jeter's debut novel. It was originally completed in 1972 and then published in 1984 by Bluejay Books — the first fictional work it ever published — with illustrations by Matt R. Howarth.
According to Philip K. Dick, the publication of this book was delayed for a decade due to the extreme violence and graphic sex, and but for this delay "its impact on the field would have been enormous." - Wikipedia
7 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I have walked past a wayside marker at the intersection of NM80 & NM9 three or four times. It describes the Rodeo Intermediate Field Civil Aeronautics Authority #57A but does not indicate where it is in the Rodeo area. There was a Border Patrol truck parked at the intersection this morning so I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask where it was.
My luck. The Border Patrol officer that was there has only been in this area for two days. He did not know as much as I did. He had not read the wayside marker and didn't know what or where the Field was.
I found a web page "Arrows Across America, Transcontinental Air Mail Routes" that gave me the lat/log data and I found that the Field was about 2 miles east of the intersection on the north side of NM 9. A lot of photos and information about the Field here & here.
Interesting factoids.
- Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil.
- Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace.
- It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
8 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: May 8, 1932
Verizon at this location is almost worthless. I have a difficult time opening my emails to do daily posting to my web pages is beyond frustrating. Thankfully I have a Park WIFI that works well - most of the time.
I don't have much going on in my life to write about but not being able to is not good. Tomorrow I'll go to Lordsburg and have no idea when I'll be able to get the post up. I suspect that Verizon will provide better service there so may try to get it done while in the 'city'.
I have quoted only one paragraph from "Uncola's" long article. He, and I, are skeptical of Bill Gates. I am mostly because of Gate's considerable financial control of WHO which is a propaganda tool for Gate's vaccinations ideology.
Which brings us back to Bill Gates: His digital fingerprints are all over the COVID-19 virus because, in the years prior, Gates worked to strategically monopolize global health including research, governance, and reporting. In addition, his dirty hands have reached into online data, U.S. intelligence, mainstream media, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, and Microsoft's ID2020 digital ID initiative. Plus, the Gates Foundation has donated the most private money to the World Health Organization (WHO), subsidized the October 2019 "Event 201" pandemic exercise, and even sponsored an event that was labeled communist propaganda - the globally televised "Together at Home" elitist infomercial; - Suspicion and Skepticism are Vaccines for Deception, Doug "Uncola" LynnDon't try to compare Coronavitus® to the SPanish Flu of 1916-18. Just go back to 1957 and compare it to the Asian Flu.
Here is the full summary from the Centers for Disease Control:
In February 1957, a new influenza A (H2N2) virus emerged in East Asia, triggering a pandemic (“Asian Flu”). This H2N2 virus was comprised of three different genes from an H2N2 virus that originated from an avian influenza A virus, including the H2 hemagglutinin and the N2 neuraminidase genes. It was first reported in Singapore in February 1957, Hong Kong in April 1957, and in coastal cities in the United States in summer 1957. The estimated number of deaths was 1.1 million worldwide and 116,000 in the United States.
What’s remarkable when we look back at this year, nothing was shut down. Restaurants, schools, theaters, sporting events, travel – everything continued without interruption. Without a 24-hour news cycle with thousands of news agencies and a billion websites hungry for traffic, mostly people paid no attention other than to keep basic hygiene. It was covered in the press as a medical problem. The notion that there was a political solution never occurred to anyone. - Source
9 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I could have stayed in Lordsburg and had a better Verizon signal but there were wind warning sign for high profile vehicles on I-10 so I thought it best to get in and out of town.
I arrived at Saucedo's Supermarket at 8:20 NM time and had a 10 minute wait for them to open. They don't get in any rush to start the day here in the Land of Enchantment. The Supermarket designation is more an encomium rather than being descriptive. The store is bigger than a convenience store but far short of a supermarket.
I did get most of everything that I needed although not all that I wanted. Their produce looked good but they either had a lot (russet potatoes) or not much of anything else. Frozen fruit was also disappointing, not much to choose from and not much of that. I did score a couple bottles of Molina, a Mexico brand, imitation vanilla that I like and rarely find. The most serious item on my list that was missing was dairy free yogurt. I don't think Douglas and Lordsburg are much of a market for non-dairy items.
Went to Kransberry's Family Restaurant and got a spinach and mushroom omelet with homefries, tortilla and coffee. It was a Take-out but they let me sit at a table on their patio where they served it to me and let me stay there and eat - Sierra Vista would not allow that.
That wraps up the excitement for my day. I'll now be back to Kindle Fire reading and web browsing. There is the afternoon walk to be done but the past few days have been very windy. A lot of dust in the air. Yesterday was cooler which was good but it was still over 90 at 92.7°. The forecast for today is cooler and then tomorrow cooler yet with an expected high of only 81. I doubt that either one of them will happen.
The Rockefeller Foundation and Global Business Network (GBN), joined together to explore the role of technology in international development through scenario planning. They then published a report in 2010 "Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development" that describes four scenarios for the future by 2030.
These are the four different future scenarios that they developed. They call these stories versus forecasts or predictions but they were formed by some high level 'thinkers'.
10 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
One more observation from the visit to the market in Lordsburg. The shelves were fully stocked for the most part with a few exceptions. I noticed that they had a good supply of paper products, toilet paper and paper towels. If they can stay stocked why is it that Fry's can not? The only thing that they were rationing was meat which I think is now becoming the new supply crisis. I am not eating any meat so really don't care.
I'll have the distiller doing its thing today and tomorrow. Two gallons per day and then give it a cleaning. The first four gallons left a lot of minerals so after four more it is going to need it.
That is about all I have planned. Of course there is reading to be done. Plus getting the "Scenarios" format from PDF to look the same on my web pages. That effort has taught me a couple of things and refreshed my memory for a few others.
A good article that claims the United States collapse began while Obama was president and Trump has simply steered the same course. I have quoted the closing.
So the collapse intensified, which is why America is now such a helpless giant. A crazy man is at the helm, yet the best Democrats can do is put up a candidate suffering from the early stages of senile dementia, who may be a rapist to boot. No one knows how things will play out from this point on. But two things are clear. One is thatI have formatted the PDF "Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development" but havent changed anything that was written for the LOCK STEP scenario. This is what they said in 2010:hile(sic) the process did not start under Trump, while the other is that it will undoubtedly continue regardless of who wins in November. Once collapse sets in, it’s impossible to stop. - From Overstretch to Collapse, Daniel Lazare
In 2012, the pandemic that the world had been anticipating for years finally hit. Unlike 2009's H1N1, this new influenza strain—originating from wild geese—was extremely virulent and deadly. Even the most pandemic-prepared nations were quickly overwhelmed when the virus streaked around the world, infecting nearly 20 percent of the global population and killing 8 million in just seven months, the majority of them healthy young adults. The pandemic also had a deadly effect on economies: international mobility of both people and goods screeched to a halt, debilitating industries like tourism and breaking global supply chains. Even locally,normally bustling shops and office buildings sat empty for months, devoid of both employees and customers.
The pandemic blanketed the planet—though disproportionate numbers died in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, where the virus spread like wildfire in the absence of official containment protocols. But even in developed countries, containment was a challenge. The United States's initial policy of "strongly" discouraging citizens from flying proved deadly in its leniency, accelerating the spread of the virus not just within the U.S. but across borders. However, a few countries did fare better—China in particular. The Chinese government's quick imposition and enforcement of mandatory quarantine for all citizens, as well as its instant and near-hermetic sealing off of all borders, saved millions of lives, stopping the spread of the virus far earlier than in other countries and enabling a swifter post pandemic recovery.
China's government was not the only one that took extreme measures to protect its citizens from risk and exposure. During the pandemic, national leaders around the world flexed their authority and imposed airtight rules and restrictions, from the mandatory wearing of face masks to body-temperature checks at the entries to communal spaces like train stations and supermarkets. Even after the pandemic faded, this more authoritarian control and oversight of citizens and their activities stuck and even intensified. In order to protect themselves from the spread of increasingly global problems—from pandemics and transnational terrorism to environmental crises and rising poverty—leaders around the world took a firmer grip on power.
At first, the notion of a more controlled world gained wide acceptance and approval. Citizens willingly gave up some of their sovereignty—and their privacy—to more paternalistic states in exchange for greater safety and stability. Citizens were more tolerant, and even eager, for top-down direction and oversight, and national leaders had more latitude to impose order in the ways they saw fit. In developed countries, this heightened oversight took many forms: biometric IDs for all citizens, for example, and tighter regulation of key industries whose stability was deemed vital to national interests. In many developed countries, enforced cooperation with a suite of new regulations and agreements slowly but steadily restored both order and, importantly, economic growth.
Across the developing world, however, the story was different—and much more variable. Top-down authority took different forms in different countries, hinging largely on the capacity, caliber, and intentions of their leaders. In countries with strong and thoughtful leaders, citizens' overall economic status and quality of life increased. In India, for example, air quality drastically improved after 2016, when the government outlawed high emitting vehicles. In Ghana, the introduction of ambitious government programs to improve basic infrastructure and ensure the availability of clean water for all her people led to a sharp decline in water-borne diseases. But more authoritarian leadership worked less well—and in some cases tragically—in countries run by irresponsible elites who used their increased power to pursue their own interests at the expense of their citizens.
There were other downsides, as the rise of virulent nationalism created new hazards: spectators at the 2018 World Cup, for example, wore bulletproof vests that sported a patch of their national flag. Strong technology regulations stifled innovation, kept costs high, and curbed adoption. In the developing world, access to "approved" technologies increased but beyond that remained limited: the locus of technology innovation was largely in the developed world, leaving many developing countries on the receiving end of technologies that others consider "best" for them. Some governments found this patronizing and refused to distribute computers and other technologies that they scoffed at as "second hand." Meanwhile, developing countries with more resources and better capacity began to innovate internally to fill these gaps on their own.
Meanwhile, in the developed world, the presence of so many top-down rules and norms greatly inhibited entrepreneurial activity. Scientists and innovators were often told by governments what research lines to pursue and were guided mostly toward projects that would make money (e.g., market-driven product development) or were "sure bets" (e.g., fundamental research), leaving more risky or innovative research areas largely untapped. Well-off countries and monopolistic companies with big research and development budgets still made significant advances, but the IP behind their breakthroughs remained locked behind strict national or corporate protection. Russia and India imposed stringent domestic standards for supervising and certifying encryption-related products and their suppliers—a category that in reality meant all IT innovations. The U.S. and EU struck back with retaliatory national standards, throwing a wrench in the development and diffusion of technology globally.
Especially in the developing world, acting in one's national self-interest often meant seeking practical alliances that fit with those interests—whether it was gaining access to needed resources or banding together in order to achieve economic growth. In South America and Africa, regional and sub-regional alliances became more structured. Kenya doubled its trade with southern and eastern Africa, as new partnerships grew within the continent. China's investment in Africa expanded as the bargain of new jobs and infrastructure in exchange for access to key minerals or food exports proved agreeable to many governments. Cross-border ties proliferated in the form of official security aid. While the deployment of foreign security teams was welcomed in some of the most dire failed states, one-size-fits-all solutions yielded few positive results.
By 2025, people seemed to be growing weary of so much top-down control and letting leaders and authorities make choices for them.
Wherever national interests clashed with individual interests, there was conflict. Sporadic pushback became increasingly organized and coordinated, as disaffected youth and people who had seen their status and opportunities slip away—largely in developing countries—incited civil unrest. In 2026, protestors in Nigeria brought down the government, fed up with the entrenched cronyism and corruption. Even those who liked the greater stability and predictability of this world began to grow uncomfortable and constrained by so many tight rules and by the strictness of national boundaries. The feeling lingered that sooner or later, something would inevitably upset the neat order that the world's governments had worked so hard to establish.
11 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
The good Coronavirus® news for Cochise County, there were only two new cases reported from 1 May to 10 May. The bad news is that at least one of those cases, maybe both, were in the Huachuca City Zip Code area. This is where I was so my leaving may also be good news. Still no reported cases in Hidalgo County, NM where I am now. There are also no reported cases in the next two camp Zip Code areas where I am going to camp. Dodging the bullet so far!
I distilled three gallons yesterday and will do two more today. I was going to just distill four gallons total but the fifth jug was almost empty this morning so going to fill it also. Cooked some hulled barley and oat groats yesterday and used some of them to 'extend' my non-dairy yogurt with fruit desserts. I will still run out of yogurt before I go shopping again but not as soon. I'll go to Douglas for my next grocery gathering and hope that Wal*Mart has some non-dairy yogurt.
For the CLEVER TOGETHER scenario, this is what they said in 2010:
The recession of 2008-10 did not turn into the decades-long global economic slide that many had feared. In fact, quite the opposite: strong global growth returned in force, with the world headed once again toward the demographic and economic projections forecasted before the downturn. India and China were on track to see their middle classes explode to 1 billion by 2020. Mega-cities like Sao Paulo and Jakarta expanded at a blistering pace as millions poured in from rural areas. Countries raced to industrialize by whatever means necessary; the global marketplace bustled.
But two big problems loomed. First, not all people and places benefited equally from this return to globalized growth: all boats were rising, but some were clearly rising more. Second, those hell-bent on development and expansion largely ignored the very real environmental consequences of their unrestricted growth. Undeniably, the planet's climate was becoming increasingly unstable. Sea levels were rising fast, even as countries continued to build-out coastal mega-cities. In 2014, the Hudson River overflowed into New York City during a storm surge, turning the World Trade Center site into a three-foot-deep lake. The image of motorboats navigating through lower Manhattan jarred the world's most powerful nations into realizing that climate change was not just a developing-world problem. That same year, new measurements showing that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were climbing precipitously created new urgency and pressure for governments (really, for everyone) to do something fast.
In such an interconnected world, where the behaviors of one country, company, or individual had potentially high-impact effects on all others, piecemeal attempts by one nation here, one small collective of environmental organizations there, would not be enough to stave off a climate disaster—or, for that matter, to effectively address a host of other planetary-scale problems. But highly coordinated worldwide strategies for addressing such urgent issues just might. What was needed was systems thinking—and systems acting—on a global scale.
International coordination started slowly, then accelerated faster than anyone had imagined. In 2015, a critical mass of middle income and developed countries with strong economic growth publicly committed to leveraging their resources against global-scale problems, beginning with climate change. Together, their governments hashed out plans for monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the short term and improving the absorptive capacity of the natural environment over the long term. In 2017, an international agreement was reached on carbon sequestration (by then, most multinational corporations had a chief carbon officer) and intellectual and financial resources were pooled to build out carbon capture processes that would best support the global ecosystem. A functioning global cap and trade system was also established. Worldwide, the pressure to reduce waste and increase efficiency in planet-friendly ways was enormous. New globally coordinated systems for monitoring energy use capacity—including smart grids and bottom-up pattern recognition technologies—were rolled out. These efforts produced real results: by 2022, new projections showed a significant slowing in the rise of atmospheric carbon levels.
Inspired by the success of this experiment in collective global action, large-scale coordinated initiatives intensified. Centralized global oversight and governance structures sprang up, not just for energy use but also for disease and technology standards. Such systems and structures required far greater levels of transparency, which in turn required more tech-enabled data collection, processing, and feedback. Enormous, benign "sousveillance" systems allowed citizens to access data—all publically available—in real time and react. Nation-states lost some of their power and importance as global architecture strengthened and regional governance structures emerged. International oversight entities like the UN took on new levels of authority, as did regional systems like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The worldwide spirit of collaboration also fostered new alliances and alignments among corporations, NGOs, and communities.
These strong alliances laid the groundwork for more global and participatory attempts to solve big problems and raise the standard of living of everyone. Coordinated efforts to tackle long entrenched problems like hunger, disease, and access to basic needs took hold. New inexpensive technologies like better medical diagnostics and more effective vaccines improved healthcare delivery and health outcomes. Companies, NGOs, and governments—often acting together—launched pilot programs and learning labs to figure out how to best meet the needs of particular communities, increasing the knowledge base of what worked and what didn't. Pharmaceuticals giants released thousands of drug compounds shown to be effective against diseases like malaria into the public domain as part of an "open innovation" agenda; they also opened their archives of R&D on neglected diseases deemed not commercially viable, offering seed funding to scientists who wanted to carry the research forward.
There was a push for major innovations in energy and water for the developing world, as those areas were thought to be the key to improving equity. Better food distribution was also high on the agenda, and more open markets and south-south trade helped make this a reality. In 2022, a consortium of nations, NGOs, and companies established the Global Technology Assessment Office, providing easily accessible, real-time information about the costs and benefits of various technology applications to developing and developed countries alike. All of these efforts translated into real progress on real problems, opening up new opportunities to address the needs of the bottom billion—and enabling developing countries to become engines of growth. In many parts of the developing world, economic growth rates increased due to a host of factors. Improved infrastructure accelerated the greater mobility of both people and goods, and urban and rural areas got better connected. In Africa, growth that started on the coasts spread inward along new transportation corridors. Increased trade drove the specialization of individual firms and the overall diversification of economies. In many places, traditional social barriers to overcoming poverty grew less relevant as more people gained access to a spectrum of useful technologies—from disposable computers to do-it-yourself (DIY) windmills.
Given the circumstances that forced these new heights of global cooperation and responsibility, it was no surprise that much of the growth in the developing world was achieved more cleanly and more "greenly." In Africa, there was a big push for solar energy, as the physical geography and low population density of much of the continent enabled the proliferation of solar farms. The Desertec initiative to create massive thermal electricity plants to supply both North Africa and, via undersea cable lines, Southern Europe was a huge success. By 2025, a majority of electricity in the Maghreb was coming from solar, with exports of that power earning valuable foreign currency. The switch to solar created new "sun" jobs, drastically cut CO2 emissions, and earned governments billions annually. India exploited its geography to create similar "solar valleys" while decentralized solar powered drip irrigation systems became popular in sub-Saharan Africa.
Reduced energy dependency enabled all of these countries and regions to better control and manage their own resources. In Africa, political architecture above the nation-state level, like the African Union, strengthened and contributed to a "good governance" drive. Regional integration through COMESA (the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) and other institutions allowed member nations to better organize to meet their collective needs as consumers and increasingly as producers.
Over the course of two decades, enormous strides were made to make the world less wasteful, more efficient, and more inclusive. But the world was far from perfect. There were still failed states and places with few resources. Moreover, such rapid progress had created new problems. Rising consumption standards unexpectedly ushered in a new set of pressures: the improved food distribution system, for example, generated a food production crisis due to greater demand. Indeed, demand for everything was growing exponentially. By 2028, despite ongoing efforts to guide "smart growth," it was becoming clear that the world could not support such rapid growth forever.
12 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I don't have much planned for today. Have all the Scenarios formated. Have all my water jugs filled with distilled water and the distiller is now heating with cleaner (citric acid and water). Yesterday I cooked some more garbonzos so I'm well set for about a week for food and water.
There have been three days now that the high temperature has been below 90° but in the upper 80s rather than the lower 80s as forecasted. With the clouds that have been rolling in during the afternoons it has been nice walking weather since there has also been a wind. I thought the wind blew all the time in Cochise County in what passed for spring. It is even worse here.
For the HACK ATTACK scenario, this is what they said in 2010:
Devastating shocks like September 11, the Southeast Asian tsunami of 2004, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake had certainly primed the world for sudden disasters. But no one was prepared for a world in which large-scale catastrophes would occur with such breathtaking frequency. The years 2010 to 2020 were dubbed the "doom decade" for good reason: the 2012 Olympic bombing, which killed 13,000, was followed closely by an earthquake in Indonesia killing 40,000, a tsunami that almost wiped out Nicaragua, and the onset of the West China Famine, caused by a once-in-a-millennium drought linked to climate change.
Not surprisingly, this opening series of deadly asynchronous catastrophes (there were more) put enormous pressure on an already overstressed global economy that had entered the decade still in recession. Massive humanitarian relief efforts cost vast sums of money, but the primary sources—from aid agencies to developed-world governments—had run out of funds to offer. Most nation-states could no longer afford their locked-in costs, let alone respond to increased citizen demands for more security, more healthcare coverage, more social programs and services, and more infrastructure repair. In 2014, when mudslides in Lima buried thousands, only minimal help trickled in, prompting the Economist headline: "Is the Planet Finally Bankrupt?" These dire circumstances forced tough trade offs. In 2015, the U.S. reallocated a large share of its defense spending to domestic concerns, pulling out of Afghanistan—where the resurgent Taliban seized power once again. In Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa, more and more nationstates lost control of their public finances, along with the capacity to help their citizens and retain stability and order. Resource scarcities and trade disputes, together with severe economic and climate stresses, pushed many alliances and partnerships to the breaking point; they also sparked proxy wars and low-level conflict in resource-rich parts of the developing world. Nations raised trade barriers in order to protect their domestic sectors against imports and—in the face of global food and resource shortages—to reduce exports of agricultural produce and other commodities. By 2016, the global coordination and interconnectedness that had marked the post-Berlin Wall world was tenuous at best.
With government power weakened, order rapidly disintegrating, and safety nets evaporating, violence and crime grew more rampant. Countries with ethnic, religious, or class divisions saw especially sharp spikes in hostility: Naxalite separatists dramatically expanded their guerrilla campaign in East India; Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed escalated; and across Africa, fights over resources erupted along ethnic or tribal lines. Meanwhile, overtaxed militaries and police forces could do little to stop growing communities of criminals and terrorists from gaining power. Technology-enabled gangs and networked criminal enterprises exploited both the weakness of states and the desperation of individuals. With increasing ease, these "global guerillas" moved illicit products through underground channels from poor producer countries to markets in the developed world. Using retired 727s and other rogue aircraft, they crisscrossed the Atlantic, from South America to Africa, transporting cocaine, weapons, and operatives. Drug and gun money became a common recruiting tool for the desperately poor.
Criminal networks also grew highly skilled at counterfeiting licit goods through reverse engineering. Many of these "rip-offs" and copycats were of poor quality or downright dangerous. In the context of weak health systems, corruption, and inattention to standards—either within countries or from global bodies like the World Health Organization—tainted vaccines entered the public health systems of several African countries. In 2021, 600 children in Cote d'Ivoire died from a bogus Hepatitis B vaccine, which paled in comparison to the scandal sparked by mass deaths from a tainted anti-malarial drug years later. The deaths and resulting scandals sharply affected public confidence in vaccine delivery; parents not just in Africa but elsewhere began to avoid vaccinating their children, and it wasn't long before infant and child mortality rates rose to levels not seen since the 1970s.
Technology hackers were also hard at work. Internet scams and pyramid schemes plagued inboxes. Meanwhile, more sophisticated hackers attempted to take down corporations, government systems, and banks via phishing scams and database information heists, and their many successes generated billions of dollars in losses. Desperate to protect themselves and their intellectual property, the few multinationals still thriving enacted strong, increasingly complex defensive measures. Patent applications skyrocketed and patent thickets proliferated, as companies fought to claim and control even the tiniest innovations. Security measures and screenings tightened.
This "wild west" environment had a profound impact on innovation. The threat of being hacked and the presence of so many thefts and fakes lowered the incentives to create "me first" rather than "me too" technologies. And so many patent thickets made the cross-pollination of ideas and research difficult at best. Blockbuster pharmaceuticals quickly became artifacts of the past, replaced by increased production of generics. Breakthrough innovations still happened in various industries, but they were focused more on technologies that could not be easily replicated or re-engineered. And once created, they were vigorously guarded by their inventors—or even by their nations. In 2022, a biofuel breakthrough in Brazil was protected as a national treasure and used as a bargaining chip in trade with other countries.
Verifying the authenticity of anything was increasingly difficult. The heroic efforts of several companies and NGOs to create recognized seals of safety and approval proved ineffective when even those seals were hacked. The positive effects of the mobile and internet revolutions were tempered by their increasing fragility as scamming and viruses proliferated, preventing these networks from achieving the reliability required to become the backbone of developing economies—or a source of trustworthy information for anybody.
Interestingly, not all of the "hacking" was bad. Genetically modified crops (GMOs) and do-it-yourself (DIY) biotech became backyard and garage activities, producing important advances. In 2017, a network of renegade African scientists who had returned to their home countries after working in Western multinationals unveiled the first of a range of new GMOs that boosted agricultural productivity on the continent.
But despite such efforts, the global have/have not gap grew wider than ever. The very rich still had the financial means to protect themselves; gated communities sprung up from New York to Lagos, providing safe havens surrounded by slums. In 2025, it was de rigueur to build not a house but a high-walled fortress, guarded by armed personnel. The wealthy also capitalized on the loose regulatory environment to experiment with advanced medical treatments and other under-the-radar activities.
Those who couldn't buy their way out of chaos—which was most people—retreated to whatever "safety" they could find. With opportunity frozen and global mobility at a near standstill—no place wanted more people, especially more poor people—it was often a retreat to the familiar: family ties, religious beliefs, or even national allegiance. Trust was afforded to those who guaranteed safety and survival—whether it was a warlord, an evangelical preacher, or a mother. In some places, the collapse of state capacity led to a resurgence of feudalism. In other areas, people managed to create more resilient communities operating as isolated micro versions of formerly large-scale systems. The weakening of national governments also enabled grassroots movements to form and grow, creating rays of hope amid the bleakness. By 2030, the distinction between "developed" and "developing" nations no longer seemed particularly descriptive or relevant.
13 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Today is my 10th year anniversary! I bought Desperado on 13 May 2010 and have lived in her everyday since then. It has been a great life and I only reget that I did not start this 'fulltimer' life sooner. Before & After pictures, the before are what Desperado looked like when I bought her and the after are what she looks like now.
I got out there early this morning before it got too hot and the wind was blowing too strong to do holding tank dumps. It was a very pleasant 74° with the expected high to reach only 83. But that is what was forecast yesterday and we got a 89.4°. The wind this morning was starting to pick up but still only around 10mph with gusts of 15mph. I'll probably have gusts over 30 by this afternoon.
For the SMART SCRAMBLE scenario, this is what they said in 2010:
The global recession that started in 2008 did not trail off in 2010 but dragged onward. Vigorous attempts to jumpstart markets and economies didn't work, or at least not fast enough to reverse the steady downward pull. The combined private and public debt burden hanging over the developed world continued to depress economic activity, both there and in developing countries with economies dependent on exporting to (formerly) rich markets. Without the ability to boost economic activity, many countries saw their debts deepen and civil unrest and crime rates climb. The United States, too, lost much of its presence and credibility on the international stage due to deepening debt, debilitated markets, and a distracted government. This, in turn, led to the fracturing or decoupling of many international collaborations started by or reliant on the U.S.'s continued strength.
Also in trouble was China, where social stability grew more precarious. Depressed economic activity, combined with the ecological consequences of China's rapid growth, started to take their toll, causing the shaky balance that had held since 1989 to finally break down. With their focus trained on managing the serious political and economic instability at home, the Chinese sharply curtailed their investments in Africa and other parts of the developing world. Indeed, nearly all foreign investment in Africa—as well as formal, institutional flows of aid and other support for the poorest countries—was cut back except in the gravest humanitarian emergencies. Overall, economic stability felt so shaky that the occurrence of a sudden climate shock or other disaster would likely send the world into a tailspin. Luckily, those big shocks didn't occur, though there was a lingering concern that they could in the future.
Not that anyone had time to think about the future—present challenges were too pressing. In the developed world, unemployment rates skyrocketed. So did xenophobia, as companies and industries gave the few available jobs to native-born citizens, shunning foreign-born applicants. Great numbers of immigrants who had resettled in the developed world suddenly found that the economic opportunities that had drawn them were now paltry at best. By 2018, London had been drained of immigrants, as they headed back to their home countries, taking their education and skills with them. Reverse migration left holes in the communities of departure—both socially and literally—as stores formerly owned by immigrants stood empty.
And their homelands needed them. Across the developing world and especially in Africa, economic survival was now firmly in local hands. With little help or aid coming through "official" and organized channels—and in the absence of strong trade and foreign currency earnings—most people and communities had no choice but to help themselves and, increasingly, one another. Yet "survival" and "success" varied greatly by location—not just by country, but by city and by community. Communities inside failed states suffered the most, their poor growing still poorer. In many places, the failures of political leadership and the stresses of economic weakness and social conflict stifled the ability of people to rise above their dire circumstances.
Not surprisingly, across much of the developing world the rural-urban divide gaped wider, as more limited availability and access to resources like IT and trade made survival and self-sufficiency much more challenging for non-urban dwellers. Communications and interactions that formerly served to bridge one family or one village or one student with their counterparts in other places—from emailing to phone calls to web postings—became less reliable. Internet access had not progressed far beyond its 2010 status, in part because the investment dollars needed to build out the necessary infrastructure simply weren't there. When cellphone towers or fiber optic cables broke down, repairs were often delayed by months or even years. As a result, only people in certain geographies had access to the latest communication and internet gadgets, while others became more isolated for lack of such connections.
But there were silver linings. Government capacity improved in more advanced parts of the developing world where economies had already begun to generate a self-sustaining dynamic before the 2008-2010 crisis, such as Indonesia, Rwanda, Turkey, and Vietnam. Areas with good access to natural resources, diverse skill sets, and a stronger set of overlapping institutions did far better than others; so did cities and communities where large numbers of "returnees" helped drive change and improvement. Most innovation in these better-off places involved modifying existing devices and technologies to be more adaptive to a specific context. But people also found or invented new ways—technological and non-technological—to improve their capacity to survive and, in some cases, to raise their overall living standards. In Accra, a returning Ghanaian MIT professor, working with resettled pharma researchers, helped invent a cheap edible vaccine against tuberculosis that dramatically reduced childhood mortality across the continent. In Nairobi, returnees launched a local "vocational education for all" project that proved wildly successful and was soon replicated in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Makeshift, "good enough" technology solutions—addressing everything from water purification and harnessing energy to improved crop yield and disease control—emerged to fill the gaps. Communities grew tighter. Micromanufacturing, communal gardens, and patchwork energy grids were created at the local level for local purposes. Many communities took on the aura of co-ops, some even launching currencies designed to boost local trade and bring communities closer together. Nowhere was this more true than in India, where localized experiments proliferated, and succeeded or failed, with little connection to or impact on other parts of the country—or the world.
These developments were encouraging, but also frustrating. In the absence of enduring trade and FDI channels, local experiments and innovations could neither scale nor boost overall growth. For those looking, it was difficult to find or access creative solutions. Scaling was further inhibited by the lack of compatible technology standards, making innovations difficult to replicate. Apps developed in rural China simply didn't work in urban India.
High-speed internet access—which gradually emerged in some areas despite weak government or philanthropic support—did help, enabling students in isolated pockets in the developing world to access knowledge and instruction through the written word and other media like video. But the development of tangible devices, products, and innovations continued to lag in places where local manufacturing skills and capacities had not yet scaled. More complex engineering solutions proved even more difficult to develop and diffuse.
By 2025, collaboration was finally improving, with ecosystems of research and sharing—many of them "virtual"—beginning to emerge. Yet without major progress in global economic integration and collaboration, many worried that good ideas would stay isolated, and survival and success would remain a local—not a global or national—phenomenon.
All the "Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development" have been quoted from the PDF found here.
14 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I have nothing planned for today, much like the past few days. Just trying to stay cool. The weather guessers continue to forecast high temperatures in the 80-84° range and we keep getting highs in the upper 80s. My next camp looks to be 5-10° cooler so I'm looking forward to that. There will be less wind also but soon the monsoons will come which will make it even cooler but more wind.
I'll also be trying to finish a long historical novel that I have on Kindle Fire. I won't finish it today but do have the end in sight.
Caitlin has posted about the Bicephalous Monoparty in the United States as has Fred Reed. I have quoted her first.
If we want real change, it cannot and will not come from either of the two mainstream political factions whose primary job is preventing real change. It’s going to have to come from the people; we’re going to have to find a way to punch through the propaganda brainwashing, wake up to reality, and use the power of our numbers to force the changes which will benefit us past all the oligarchic safeguards that have been placed in front of us to prevent us from doing so. - Why “Obamagate” Will Never Lead To Anything Of Significance, Caitlin JohnstoneFred Reed has put up another great post. I have quoted his four Pillars of Totalitarianism but you need to read the entire article - it is good!
...a sufficiency of totalitarianism, but not an excess, keeps the populace in adequate torpidity. Thus done astutely, totalitarianism is hardly noticed.
The founder of this philosophy was that rascal, Abe Lincoln. As we have all heard in what has become almost a cliche, he said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time." He wisely did not add, "…but you can fool enough of the people enough of the time."
Lincoln's Principle of Sufficiency is the First Pillar of Practical Totalitarianism. The Second Pillar is reliance on the private sector for effectuation. This gives the government plausible deniability...The Third pillar: A press not too noticeably controlled, with enough apparent difference of opinion to simulate savage debate of ideas–without touching on any important ones...Here we come to the Fourth Pillar of Sufficient Totalitarianism: Repetition, repetition, repetition. In Mein Kampf (now removed from Amazon) Adolf said that propaganda should not be entrusted to.intellectuals They are, he said, easily bored, like sophisticated ideas, and constantly want to change the message.
Instead, he said, keep it simple enough for the masses to understand, and say it over and over and over, and they will come to believe it. More precisely, enough will come to believe it. The rest don't matter. - A Bicephalous Monoparty and the Four Pillars, Fred Reed
15 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: May 15, 1932
My posting for the 14th was delayed. Maybe it was operator error, maybe web host server, maybe Verizon or maybe a combination of all those factors. Today there was some delay also because I was doing laundry first.
I don't like using RV Park laundry facilities because there are almost never enough machines for the number of RV spaces, and people, that are in the Park. This Park has 4 washers and two dryers for 40 spaces. I got lucky. There was another fellow doing his laundry also but had the courtesy to leave me two washers. My past experience has been that the first person there takes them all.
Every fourth morning I walk past the junction of NM80 & NM9. Everytime that I have gone by there has been a different Border Patrol officer sitting there in his pickup. This morning he had company - a Border Patrol van was there with him. I asked about the van and he told me that since Coronavirus® they were doing only Catch-n-Release and the van was to transport those that they catch back to the border.
That is all I have to say today and it looks like I may get this posted around my usual time.
While the stock market euphorically front-runs the Fed and a V-shaped recovery, the reality is the crash has only just begun. To understand why, look at income and debt. Income, earned and unearned, is in free-fall, while debt — which must be serviced by income — is exploding higher.
Bailouts are not a permanent substitute for income. In the short-term, bailouts are a necessary substitute for lost income. But longer term, subsidizing income with borrowed money weakens the currency and the economy, as productivity stagnates.
As for servicing debt — the unemployed working class is getting an extra $600 a week not out of kindness but to make sure these households can continue to service their debts: auto and truck loans, student loans, credit cards, etc. Absent a federal bailout, millions of unemployed would cease making loan payments, creating a financial crisis for lenders...
The crash has only just begun. Everything, including a rational, connected-to-reality, effective financial system, is on back-order and unlikely to ship any time soon.- This Isn’t Just Another Crash, Charles Hugh Smith
16 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I don't think there will be much happening here this weekend. If Patches is any indication of how it is going to be then it is going to be really laid back. She went back to her bed soon after breakfast and is now snoring - loudly.
I do have that long historical novel on Kindle Fire to finish. Maybe today but for sure by tomorrow. I have also downloaded a non-fiction book that I have read a few chapters and it is interesting. That will be my next mostly full time read.
It is probably not surprising that auto accident deaths have declined since Coronavirus® has come on the scene. I think this unatributed proposal has a lot of merit.
"No one should be allowed to drive again until there are no fatal accidents for 14 consecutive days. Then we can slowly begin to phase in certain classes of people who can begin driving again. But at only half the posted speed limit and wear a helmet."
To be clear, this is not a good thing. Trump has kept the bloodthirsty imperialism, corporate cronyism, Orwellian oppression, neoliberal exploitation and police militarization that holds the US empire together ticking along in basically the same way as his predecessors, in some ways more egregiously and in some ways less so. For all the evils he's helped inflict on our world he still hasn't done anything as bad as the two wars Bush launched during his first term, or arguably even Obama's destruction of Libya and attempted destruction of Syria during his...
Trump is a very normal president, the media just yell about this president a lot more than usual because he puts an ugly face on the horrific normal that was already there. Sure he makes rude tweets and says dumb things and has made a mess of the pandemic response, but by and large when you strip away the narrative overlay Trump has been a reliable establishment lapdog advancing more or less all the same status quo imperialist and oligarchic agendas as the presidents who came before him. There are just a lot of establishment loyalists with a vested interest in spinning the ugliness his oafishness is exposing as caused by and unique to him...
Trump is normal. If you don’t like your normal, America, then push for real change, not cosmetic change. It’s not going to come from any president. It’s going to have to come from you. Biden Can't Return Things To Normal, Because Trump Is A Normal US President. That's The Problem., Caitlin Johnstone
Covid-19 is now a big business for the pharmaceutical corporations, for bankruptcy lawyers, for fat cats who can buy up bankrupted businesses, and for labor service providers who will hire laid-off workers and lease them back to the firms that laid them off for a fee less than the cost to the firms of full-time employees. Many interests will be served but not that of the public. - Truth in America R.I.P., Paul Craig Roberts
17 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
More of the same here. We had great temperatures (53.4°) for our morning walk today. However, the forecast for the high temperature today and tomorrow are in the low 90s and then the remainder of the 10 day forecast will be in the upper 80s. That probably means in the 90s for the next 10 days. Not so great.
I cooked more hulled barley and oat groats. Using more of them with my beans that I had cooked up for 'linners' as well as for breakfast. I think I'll get some more beans with tomatoes and a little dark chocolate cook today. Then perhaps tomorrow a pot of pottage for my future 'linners'.
I haven't heard from C-A-L Ranch or from Apocalypse Arms. I had asked them to find me a Mossberg 500 Retrograde or a Remington 870 Home Defense shotgun. Both models are popular and out of stock everywhere That I have checked online.
It is just as well, the more I have considered it the less I want a shotgun which I will rarely shoot. Now shopping for a pistol caliber carbine with Ruger the leading contender.
At 863 pages in paperback this is another historical fiction tome. It is good but I did not think it was as good as some of his other books. I think I have one more of his remaining to be read.Princes of Ireland, the first volume of Edward Rutherfurd's magisterial epic of Irish history, ended with the disastrous Irish revolt of 1534 and the disappearance of the sacred Staff of Saint Patrick. The Rebels of Ireland opens with an Ireland transformed; plantation, the final step in the centuries-long English conquest of Ireland, is the order of the day, and the subjugation of the native Irish Catholic population has begun in earnest.
Edward Rutherfurd brings history to life through the tales of families whose fates rise and fall in each generation: Brothers who must choose between fidelity to their ancient faith or the security of their families; a wife whose passion for a charismatic Irish chieftain threatens her comfortable marriage to a prosperous merchant; a young scholar whose secret rebel sympathies are put to the test; men who risk their lives and their children's fortunes in the tragic pursuit of freedom, and those determined to root them out forever. Rutherfurd spins the saga of Ireland's 400-year path to independence in all its drama, tragedy, and glory through the stories of people from all strata of society--Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor, conniving and heroic.
His richly detailed narrative brings to life watershed moments and events, from the time of plantation settlements to the "Flight of the Earls," when the native aristocracy fled the island, to Cromwell's suppression of the population and the imposition of the harsh anti-Catholic penal laws. He describes the hardships of ordinary people and the romantic, doomed attempt to overthrow the Protestant oppressors, which ended in defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and the departure of the "Wild Geese." In vivid tones Rutherfurd re-creates Grattan's Parliament, Wolfe Tone's attempted French invasion of 1798, the tragic rising of Robert Emmet, the Catholic campaign of Daniel O'Connell, the catastrophic famine, the mass migration to America, and the glorious Irish Renaissance of Yeats and Joyce. And through the eyes of his characters, he captures the rise of Charles Stewart Parnell and the great Irish nationalists and the birth of an Ireland free of all ties to England.
A tale of fierce battles, hot-blooded romances, and family and political intrigues, The Rebels of Ireland brings the story begun in The Princes of Ireland to a stunning conclusion. - Book promo @ goodreads.com
A very good meme!
WE are NOT "all in this together"!!I like the way Caitlin thinks!
Politicians and state and local officials have not given up one paycheck. They have NOT plowed under their fields or slaughtered their livestock or dumped their milk. They have not lost their homes or businesses. They have not laid awake all night wondering how they will feed their families or pay their bills. As they continue to enforce some of their draconian restrictions, not one of of them is suffering from their own decisions.
They are not now....AND NEVER WILL BE...any part of the "WE" in this.
Water doesn’t gradually start boiling; it gets hotter and hotter then suddenly boils.
People don’t gradually leave abusive relationships; it gets worse and worse and then suddenly they run.
People don’t gradually attain self-realization; they look closer and closer at the nature of their experience and then suddenly there’s a radical shift in perspective.
You can’t tell it’s about to happen by appearance.
The revolution will be like this.
18 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I got the pot of beans with diced tomatoes, dark chocolate and powdered cayenne on the stove as I ate breakfast. That is done now and cooling. Later today I'll fill that pot with the makings for a pottage. This time it will be red cabbage, yellow split peas in a vegetable broth. Maybe throw in some potatoes as well, haven't decided.
That and reading the two books that I now have on Kindle Fire. I'll be switching back and forth reading them. Some people don't think this is 'proper' but I do it a lot when reading non-fiction.
"If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced. That's why people with no sense of humor have an increased sense of self-importance."
AH yes, steady improvement out of a deep depression. It took 10 years and WWII to get the United States out of the last one, is that what is planned?
Jerome Powell, Pope of the Church of the Federal Reserve went on the 60-Minutes show last night to reassure the nation that things will eventually get back to normal. "I think you'll see the economy recover steadily through the second half of this year."
Yessir, if you say so. Were his fingers crossed? You couldn't tell because the camera had him framed in a head-shot. Personally, I think the Fed Chairman was blowing smoke up the nation's wazoo. Spooky as it's been, the Covid-19 virus has also been a great cover-story for the natural collapse of a severally unbalanced, ecologically unsound, and dishonestly represented set of arrangements that are now unspooling at horrifying speed...
The big question about the Great Opening-up is when the recognition of all that turns to raw emotion. Covid-19 may still be with us then, but it will be the least of our problems. The masks will come off. The dance will commence. - Dance Macabre, James Howard Kunstler
19 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I got all the cooking done yesterday that I need to do for the next few days. Maybe boil up more potatoes, some more hulled barley and oat groats but all the 'linners' are ready.
Maybe finish one of the non-fiction books that I am reading today. That would be more probable if I don't switch back and forth with the second book. It doesn't matter, today of a couple days from now.
There was no Border Patrol vehicle at the junction of NM80 & NM9 this morning but there were a lot of them on the road driving past me. Maybe something was happening this morning?
Nice and cool this morning with a gentle breeze. The high temperatures for the past three days have been in the low 90s, yesterday at 95.7°. The weather guessers still keep forecasting the highs to be in the 80s however with their guess for today to be 85 - I think it will be 90 or more again.
This quote is the preface to a blog posting, On Viral Attacks by Benevolent Benefactors, by Doug “Uncola” Lynn. The quote and his article is so right - recommended!
I especially want you to read this Bizarre EU Funded Comic Book Predicted Pandemic, With Globalists As Saviours. Keep in mind that this comic book was published in 2012.
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.The Benevolent U. S. Congress has probably made the Coronavirus® inspired depression worse and will cause more small business bankruptcies than there would have been if they did nothing.
— C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)
Can anyone explain how we are going to motivate unemployed workers to go back to work when most of them can actually make more money camped on their sofas watching Netflix? Over the past couple of months, 36.5 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits, and Congress understandably wanted to do something to address this unprecedented spike in unemployment. But by giving all of these unemployed workers a repeating 600 dollar bonus on top of existing unemployment benefits, Congress has actually created a very powerful incentive for Americans to be unemployed and to stay unemployed for as long as the bonuses last. According to a group of prominent economists at the University of Chicago, 68 percent of those that are currently unemployed can now bring home more money than when they were actually employed.— 68% Of Unemployed Workers In The U.S. "Are Eligible For Payments That Are Greater Than Their Lost Earnings", Michael Snyder
20 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Distilling more water. Got two gallons yesterday and will do another two today. Tomorrow I go to town but when I get back to the Park I'll distill one more gallon and then clean the distiller. The Park water here has a lot of minerals in the water.
I'll be going to Douglas tomorrow and see if I can fill my shopping list at Wal*Mart.
Arizona has also entered Phase One of the opening up process so I am looking forward to finding a restaurant where I can sit down and eat breakfast; inside or outside. I don't expect to find one but I'm looking forward to that. As some wit said "If I had known that my last sitdown restaurant meal would be in March 2020 I would have ordered dessert."
This is an interesting book although I can not say it is all that well written. Futuristic in tone, could even be considered science fiction by some people. This made me think is there a difference between futuristic literature and science fiction?
Futuristic/Speculative fiction is considered a subset of science fiction. Robert A. Heinlein defined it as "[N]arratives concerned not so much with science or technology as with human actions in response to a new situation created by science or technology, speculative fiction highlights a human rather than technological problem." I am looking for more books of this genre.
Dr. Kai-Fu Lee—one of the world's most respected experts on AI and China—reveals that China has suddenly caught up to the US at an astonishingly rapid and unexpected pace. In AI Superpowers, Kai-fu Lee argues powerfully that because of these unprecedented developments in AI, dramatic changes will be happening much sooner than many of us expected. Indeed, as the US-Sino AI competition begins to heat up, Lee urges the US and China to both accept and to embrace the great responsibilities that come with significant technological power. Most experts already say that AI will have a devastating impact on blue-collar jobs. But Lee predicts that Chinese and American AI will have a strong impact on white-collar jobs as well. Is universal basic income the solution? In Lee's opinion, probably not. But he provides a clear description of which jobs will be affected and how soon, which jobs can be enhanced with AI, and most importantly, how we can provide solutions to some of the most profound changes in human history that are coming soon.—Book promo @ goodreads.comWhat most recipients of all this "free money" do not understand, but do not care, is that there is no intent to ever pay this borrowed money back. Also, whenever a new dollar, "free money", is introduced into the system, it erodes the value of all dollars that currently exist - inflation. This means it takes more "free money" and "old money" to buy the same things that could be bought before the helicopter dropped all that "free money".
"When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic." That is a direct quote from Benjamin Franklin, and it has turned out to be quite prophetic. Today, most of our politicians are socialists whether they accept that label or not, and the American people have come to expect the government "to do something for them" whenever any sort of a crisis comes along. In response to this COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has borrowed and spent trillions more dollars that we do not have, and most Americans have been quite thrilled to receive their "stimulus checks". But of course now a lot of people are insisting that those checks were not enough and they want more. In fact, one new survey just found that most Americans want the checks to keep coming. The idea of "free money" is so seductive, but unfortunately most of the population simply does not understand that eventually there is a great price to be paid for throwing "free money" around.—"Free Money": Most Americans Want The Government To Issue More Stimulus Check, Michael Snyder
21 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
We were up early this morning and out walking before the sun came up. This is about the time that Patches wants to go every morning. That let us leave the Park at 6:00 Arizona time and arrived at Wal*Mart a few minutes after they opened.
It took me sometime to find everything on my list except one item that I can live without. I did have to ask where something was twice but that is normal for me in a 'new' store. There was less of a crowd than any supermarket I have been in in years; certainly less than Fry's and Safeway in Sierra Vista and Food City in Douglas. I would say there were as many stockers filling up the shelves as there there were customers taking stuff off them.
Stopped at El Chef on the way out of town to get breakfast. That was a no go. They were closed with no indication that they offered Take Out nor posted any times that they were open. So, went to Maná again and got a spinach with mushrooms omelet plus some seasoned fries (not very good), tortilla and coffee to take out. Drove to the truck weigh station just out of town and parked in the shade of some trees to eat it.
Then back to the Park where I arrived at about 10:00 or four hours to go get groceries and have breakfast. That is not what I want to do very often therefore this camp is really not a keeper. There are other reasons such as Verizon but the long drive for groceries would be bad enough. I knew what I was getting into but wanted to give it a try. I have now done that and don't need to do it again.
A common sense idea that no politician would ever consider.
Worldwide, there are more deaths under the age 100 than under the age 30. Obviously, the number of people over the age 100 is massively lower than that of the under-thirties.I recommend this by AESOP for information about Coronavirus® written by a practicing medical caregiver. Long and informative!
But let’s definitely battle the virus by keeping schools closed and nursing homes open.
Also, if we took these 5 trillion in COVID handouts money and used them to put every nursing home patient in the Four Seasons, that would have been a more effective use of the money. It’s how the PA health secretary saved her elderly mom, after all.—Some Numbers, Clarissa
There was one politician, Florida Gov. DeSantis, that went against the gain and the media pounced on him while building up New York Gov. Cuomo. Was that because of their different policies to combat Coronavirus® or just different political parties?
An irony of the national coverage of the coronavirus crisis is that at the same time DeSantis was being made into a villain, New York governor Andrew Cuomo was being elevated as a hero, even though the DeSantis approach to nursing homes was obviously superior to that of Cuomo. Florida went out of its way to get COVID-19-positive people out of nursing homes, while New York went out of its way to get them in, a policy now widely acknowledged to have been a debacle.—Where Does Ron DeSantis Go to Get His Apology?, Rich Lowr
22 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: May 22, 1932
I'm getting about a dozen spam emails everyday these past 3-4 days. All of them wanting to sell me something having to do with Coronavirus®. I don't open any of them. If they are not sent to Junk because my host server sorts them out and they come to my regular email I add them to my filter list and any more from that IP will go to My Junk.
I wanted to get in and out of Douglas and Wal*Mart as early and as quickly as I could yesterday. There was a Coronavirus® testing blitz there last week and five new cases were confirmed. That brought the Duglas Zip code are up to 17 of the 51 cases in Cochise County. So that blitz added about half of all the new cases in the past 10 days. The other bad virus news was Hidalgo County has now reported a Coronavirus® case. It is time for me to leave—HA. Still no cases in the Zip Code area for my next camp.
I have not shopped for groceries at Wal*Mart in years. I didn't like the brands that they were carrying. Yesterday's shopping excursion was eye opening. They now are carrying most of the brands that I like. That also goes a long way in explaining why Fry's supply links are not working. They carry many of the same brands as Wal*Mart does now and guess which store will have priority? Interesting!
Here is something for you to contemplate. The homeless are outside, don't social distance, don't wear masks and have rather poor hygiene habits. The only reports that I have read that say they are experiencing high death rates from Coronavirus® is when forced into shelters. Somewhat the same as when old folks were forced into 'rest homes'.
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
23 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I did holding tank dumps yesterday after getting the daily post up on my host server. Taking on more water was the primary reason but dumping at the same time has become the routine. Got out there before the wind started to blow. It has been cooler these past 2-3 days but that has not stopped the wind from blowing.
During the Cold War the Soviets blocked Western media but the West didn't bother to block the Soviets. That has now been reversed which is a powerful indication of which media is telling the truth.
The character in this book could have been talking about the Leftist in the United States in 2020 versus some unstated time in the future.
"Intentions are the only thing they care about. They try to make you think they care about what you do, but they don’t. They don't want you to act a certain way. They want you to think a certain way. So you're easy to understand. So you won't pose a threat to them."—Divergent, Veronica RothI have quoted the first and last paragraphs from a good article by Mr. Kunstler. A recommended read.
It was only a few decades ago that Walmart entered the pantheon of American icons, joining motherhood, apple pie, and baseball on the highest tier of the altar. The people were entranced by this behemoth cornucopia of unbelievably cheap stuff packaged in gargantuan quantities. It was something like their participation trophy for the sheer luck of being born in this exceptional land, or having valiantly clawed their way in from wretched places near and far — where, increasingly, the mighty stream of magically cheap stuff was manufactured...Also a first and last paragraphs quote from Mr. Roberts. I recommend this post as well.
One thing remains constant: human beings are very adept and resourceful at supplying each other’s needs, which is what business amounts to. Young people, freed from the fate of becoming serfs to corporate giants, can start right now at least imagining what they can do to be useful to others in exchange for a livelihood. The earnest and energetic will find a way to do that at a scale that makes sense when a new order emerges from the wreckage. After a while, it won't matter much what any government thinks about it, either. Like all the other giants, it will fall, too. When Giants Fall, James Howard Kunstler
Exceptional America Believes That the Sovereignty of Other Countries Is Impermissible Unless It Serves Washington's Interests.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells us that despite the record of destroying in whole or part eight countries in recent years, the US is a "force for good." This is the Trump regime’s version of the neoconservative doctrine espoused by President Clinton's Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: "If we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future, and we see the danger here to all of us."
Washington is certainly exceptional, but not in a good way.—Whoever Is Elected War Is the Policy, Paul Craig Roberts
24 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I will not be doing much of anything today. Yesterday morning while on our walk I saw three large cylinders on Wide Load trailers. There were two of the tractors there with their drivers and we talked for a few minutes. These three tanks are being delivered to a brewery in the Phoenix area to join three that have been previously delivered with 34 more to come.
It is not a beer brewery but rather one that makes the tea drinks and other energy drinks that have become popular. They were sitting at the junction of NM80 & NM9 and will probably be there until Monday waiting for AZ permits and AZ Highway Patrol escorts.
This book may have targeted a young adult audience but I enjoyed it. I'll read the other two books in the series as well. I downloaded The Divergent Library which contained all three books in the Series plus four other stories told by Tobias aka Four.
Divergent is the debut novel of American novelist Veronica Roth, published by Harper Collins Children's Books in 2011. The novel is the first of the Divergent trilogy, a series of young adult dystopian novels set in a Divergent Universe. The novel Divergent features a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago and follows Beatrice "Tris" Prior as she explores her identity within a society that defines its citizens by their social and personality-related affiliation with five factions, which removes the threat of anyone exercising independent will and re-threatening the population's safety. Underlying the action and dystopian focused main plot is a romantic subplot between Tris and one of her instructors in the Dauntless faction, nicknamed Four.The novel has been compared to other young adult books such as The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner because of its similar themes and target audience. In particular, the novel explores the themes common to young adult fiction, such as adult authority and the transition from childhood to maturity, as well as such broader motifs as the place of violence and social structures within a post-apocalyptic society. Its major plot device, the division of society into personality types, is one used in other science fiction works. Beyond its literary context, Roth's open declaration of her religion as a Christian has brought commentary from Christian communities both endorsing and challenging the novel.
Roth wrote Divergent while working on a Creative Writing degree at Northwestern University, and it was quickly purchased for publication alongside the subsequent books in the trilogy (completed in October 2013). Summit Entertainment purchased the media rights to the book in 2011 and subsequently produced a film adaptation titled Divergent which was released March 21, 2014.—Wikipedia
Why do I have to stay home just because you are scared? How about you stay home....you stay in your house indefinitely, you wear a mask, you socially distance yourself from me, you avoid restaurants, you avoid baseball games, you stay off the roads, you avoid malls and beaches and parks, you believe the made up death numbers, you believe the media hype, you Get your toxic vaccine while avoiding vitamin C, sunshine and the things God gave us to actually heal, I'm done playing your dumb game. We are not "all in this together." I'm not wearing your dumb tin foil hat anymore. I'm no longer going to be a prisoner of your fear. I'm no longer staying in my house or catering to you because you are scared. I'm not wearing a mask and I'm not staying 6 feet away from you anymore because I'm not afraid of you. You are not my enemy and if I get sick, it's not because of you, it's because of me and my system, which not only have I been addressing for quite some time, but I also know how to treat if I get sick. This virus (or whatever it is) is already circulating. Millions of people have already encountered it, as it's been circulating around the world probably since last September. You WILL have to confront this thing, if you haven't already. There is no way around it, unless you lock yourself up in your house and it somehow doesn't manage to hop on some mail or some groceries that you ordered online. YOUR fear is not an excuse to destroy America. YOUR fear is not my fear and your fear does not have the right to interfere with my life, my job, my income or my future as a free American citizen. So if you're scared, you can just put your tin foil hat on, or even wrap foil all around your whole body - or around your whole house if you wish - but please keep your fear contained to your little corner of the world and don't contaminate me or my family or my Country. I copied & pasted this from Grey Havens' page it's perfect.—Posted on Ted Nugent's Facebook with attribution given to Gray Haven.
25 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
The non-fiction book that I started about the same time as I began Divergent has proved to be a disappointment. I read some of it off and on while reading Divergent and then read about a third of it yesterday. The more I read the less I like it. I'll finish it but have started the second book in the Divergent Library series. I'll get back to the non-fiction after this second book.
The big tanks were still there and were joined by a fourth one. I forgot that today was Memorial Day so they will not be leaving until tomorrow or maybe on Wednesday. One of the tractors has been gone since I first saw them so that driver has probably gone to Phoenix to arrange the arrival and unloading of the tanks - maybe.
I'm starting to think about me moving next week. Very undecided about what route to take because I don't know where there will be a restaurant open for breakfast. Arizona has relaxed the lockdown on restaurants but it is hard to tell which ones may be open for sit down meals or even for Take Out. I guess I just select a route that has more than one restaurant available and hope that I can get breakfast at one of them. Sort of like what I did when I went to Douglas.
That is about all I have going on this Memorial Day.
26 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Cochise county has recorded it's first death from Coronavirus® complications. This news article was written before the testing blitz was held in Douglas. There is another blitz scheduled for Bisbee, Tombstone and Benson next weekend. The number of confirmed cases will increase considerably after that. The more testing that is done the more confirmed cases there will be.
Still no confirmed cases in my next camp Zip Code area although there has been blitz testing in that part of the county. So far so good!
For the first time, a Cochise County resident has died due to complications from COVID-19.Our afternoon walk went past the four tanks at the junction of NM80 & NM9 yesterday. Stopped and had a chat with the drivers again and I guessed right. It will be Wednesday before they can continue on to Phoenix. The Memorial Day Weekend has them stuck waiting for an Arizona Highway Patrol escort.
County officials reported the death Wednesday, saying the patient was a man over the age of 65 who was hospitalized in Tucson. The county isn't releasing any other details about the patient to protect his privacy.
According to the latest data from the Arizona Department of Health Services, there are currently only 46 confirmed cases of the virus in Cochise County. That's a rate of 35.2 cases per 100,000 residents -- a relatively small number compared to other counties in Arizona. Source
The tanks were built in Germany and delivered by ship to the Port of Lake Charles in Lake Charles, LA. That is where the trucker picked them up so most of their trip has been across Texas and New Mexico. Now stuck at the border of Arizona to 3-4 days but they seemed to be not upset so I assume they are getting paid to sit here.
I cooked a batch of potage yesterday. This time it was a cup of yellow split peas in a vegetable broth. When the peas were done I threw in 18 small Brussel Sprouts that had been cut in half plus a big (3" in diameter) beet. The beet had been parboiled to make peeling easy then cut up into cubes.
I then let it cool down with the added vegetable getting slightly cooked leaving them with some crunch. I'll reheat some of it on top of potatoes that I have precooked and that will make a number of 'linners'.
I'll be cooking some canned beans with diced tomatoes and powdered cayenne today. Between those two prepared meals that just require reheating I am set for 'linners' again until I reach my next camp.
27 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
I went past the parked tanks again this morning. One of them was gone and the three remaining had their tractors hooked up to the trailers with tanks. They should all be gone by the end of today.
I'll be getting started on my month end routine in preparation for the move to my next camp. Today I think I'll work on the Will Rogers weekly articles for next month. Then tomorrow I'll get my route planned out on a 3x5 route card with possible restaurant stops.
Don't want to overload any day—HA. I have that non-fiction book still to read although I won't finish it. There is also the third book in the Divergent series that I want to get started reading.
I have hulled barley and oat groats on the stove this morning. Need more of that cooked because I'm eating it for breakfast and also for 'linners' when I reheat the beans that I have ready.
I did not like this second book in the series as much as the first one. What I did like about it is the author did not spend a lot of time retelling the story in the first book as do many authors when writing a series e.g. Jean M. Auel in her Earth's Children series.Insurgent is a 2012 science fiction young adult novel by American novelist Veronica Roth and the second book in the Divergent trilogy. As the sequel to the 2011 bestseller Divergent, it continues the story of Tris Prior and the dystopian post-apocalyptic version of Chicago. Following the events of the previous novel, a war now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. While trying to save the people that she loves, Tris faces questions of grief, forgiveness, identity, loyalty, politics, and love.
The book was first published on May 1, 2012, by the HarperCollins imprints Katherine Tegen Books in the U.S. and HarperCollins Children's Books in the UK, and a "Collector's Edition" was published on October 30 in the United States. Insurgent received mostly positive reviews from critics, with reviewers praising Roth's writing.
A film adaptation of the novel was released on March 20, 2015.—Wikipedia
Finally, remember that you and I - every single US taxpayer - is on the hook to repay that money [Federal borrowing], sooner or later. I don't think that's economically or mathematically feasible, which leaves only two options. Both may happen, separately or together.
1. The rate of inflation will be deliberately allowed to grow, rendering "current" dollars almost worthless in relation to "historical" dollars. Old debts can then be repaid with new dollars, a much less painful process. Unfortunately, that leads to hyperinflation. Just look what happened to Weimar Germany when it tried to do exactly that to repay war reparations.—The demon of inflation has lost more of the chains holding it back, Peter Grant
2. The US government will simply ignore fiscal reality and continue to borrow money to fund its expenditure. This will see the deficit climb, and climb, and climb, until eventually no-one will buy US bonds or securities any more, because the "debt overhang" has become so great as to threaten the stability of the world's economic system. At that point, the US government's ability to pay for all its programs will collapse - as will the US dollar as a world reserve currency, and the US economy as a whole.
28 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Our afternoon walk yesterday took us to the NM80 & NM9 junction again and three of the tanks were still there. I stopped and asked what happened that one tank was able to escape and they were still there. It seems that the tank that got away was 6" shorter in height and did not need an escort. The three that were still there were to get away this morning with AZ Highway Patrol escort.
I got the Will Rogers weekly article formated and loaded onto my host server. Just about finished with the 3x5 route card. Read all that I am going to of the non-fiction book at this time and have started book three of the Divergent series. So making progress on my month end preparations.
Tomorrow will be house cleaning day. It is covered with more dust than usual. Another reason for not coming back here again. The constant wind carries a good supply of dust that you only see when it is blowing really hard but there is dust in the air constantly. I see it on Desperado's dash and my settee, can feel in on the kitchen counters.
I keep saying that the more things change the more they remain the same; case in point, this was written in 1932.
The smarter a nation gets, the more wars it has. The dumb ones are too smart to fight. Our schools teach us what the other fellow knows, but it don’t teach us anything new for ourselves. Everybody is learning just one thing, not because they will know more, but because they have been taught that they won’t have to work if they are educated.The media will be water carriers for the government's attempt to blame all increases in food prices on greedy suppliers and Coronavirus®. There will be no finger pointing at the 'stimulus' voted for by Congress, signed by president Trump and then funded with money made out of the thin air. You think the lockdown and that Coronavirus® was bad? Watch this—hold my beer.
Well, we got so many educated now that there is not enough jobs for educated people. Most of our work is skilled and requires practice, and not education.—Will Rogers
And in the short-term, you should expect food prices to continue to rise. The federal government has been borrowing and spending trillions of dollars that we do not have during this pandemic, and the Federal Reserve has cranked up the money creation machine to absolutely absurd levels. What this means is that the value of our currency is rapidly being devalued, and eventually we will see very painful inflation.
I know that food prices seem really high right now, but they are only going to go up from here.—We Are Being Told To Prepare "To See High Prices At Grocery Stores" And "It's Likely That Shortages May Only Get Worse", Michael Snyder
29 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: May 29, 1932
We walked to the junction again this morning and the tanks were gone. I could see from the Park that there were gone yesterday afternoon and thought they were when we did our morning walk but was not sure.
Not much happening today. Maybe start doing the house cleaning but I have today and tomorrow to get it done. Don't want to put it off until the last day.—HA
Reading the third book in the Divergent series does not have priority but it is on the agenda.
I have also been doing some online browsing/research for "vellies", South Africa slang for veldskoen, a Southern African walking shoes made from vegetable-tanned leather or soft rawhide uppers attached to a leather footbed and rubber sole without tacks or nails. This is the original from which the desert boots and chukkas evolved. I have found some that use a Goodyear welt so they can be resoled and are at a very reasonable price before shipping (I'll be requesting more information).
Mr. Kunstler has written a good article and asks even better questions which I have quoted. I think there will be a lot of cities and towns renaming streets to George Floyd Boulevard by this November.
The New York Times, ran this headline today: "National Guard Called as Minneapolis Erupts in Solidarity for George Floyd". That sounds to me a bit like a stamp-of-approval for a lawlessly violent response to an act of official stupidity. Is The Times in solidarity with the mayhem? Which raises some questions: how much rioting, looting, and arson will be enough to satisfy that sense of solidarity in the quest for justice? Three nights Three weeks? Three months? Will it cease if and when Officer Chauvin is charged with murder or manslaughter? How much rioting, looting, and arson will the authorities in other cities allow to rip before they move to forcefully stop it? Does all this disorder amplify itself in a feedback loop as it plays out?—Ominous Convergence, James Howard KunstlerA reminder: If you don't agree with businesses reopening, you are not required to visit them. The Democrat governors of states that remain on lockdown do not understand this concept or perhaps they have some other motive.
Minnesota's businesses are mostly still on lockdown so those in Minneapolis are only open to looters which can then burn them down. "What a Country!"—Yakov Smirnoff
30 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
The past three day we have had high temperatures of 98.1, 101.1 and 97.5. We did our usual afternoon walk in the 98.1 but Patches was obstinate about walking in temperatures over 100 so we only did about 1.5 miles. Yesterday it was partly cloudy but we got no shade, it was HOT so we only did 1.6 Miles. My next camp has reported high temperatures that are 8-10 degrees cooler; I'm ready for that.
I got the bathroom and kitchen cleaned yesterday except for the counters and stove top. I get to that today as well as Desperado's cab area and the windows. I even cleaned the A/C filter that I said I was going to do a month ago.
Put the distiller back to work. I'll get at least four gallons distilled before I leave, maybe have all five of my gallon jugs full. Cooking some more garbonzos this morning. As hot as it has been I don't need to be adding heat by cooking and distilling water but you do what you have to do.
I doubt that this article in The New England Journal of Medicine will get much coverage by the mainstream media. It is not supportive of the narrative for control of the plebs. It is going to be a tough sell for them to claim that the article was written by a group of tin hat conspiracy nuts but they will most likely give it a try. Note: I have added the emphasis.
We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.—Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era, Michael Klompas, M.D., M.P.H., Charles A. Morris, M.D., M.P.H., Julia Sinclair, M.B.A., Madelyn Pearson, D.N.P., R.N., and Erica S. Shenoy, M.D., Ph.D.
31 May
Rusty's RV Ranch
Rodeo, NM
The days have been hot but so have been the nights. The low temperatures on the 29th was 70.7, yesterday morning 67.8 and this morning 63.3 which felt cold. I have been able to go to sleep with my small tower fan running and then in the early hours shut it off.
I now have four gallons of distilled water. Maybe distill one more today if it looks like I have an empty 5th jug available. I also cooked more potatoes yesterday so I have plenty of precooked food that just requires reheating for 'linner'. Got the kitchen counters and stove top to do today and then I am ready to get out of this heat. Early tomorrow morning.
There has been some good news come from the George Floyd riots. First, it has removed Coronavirus® from the headlines. Second, it led to an attack on the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. why they attacked CNN and not Fox puzzles me. My guess is that CNN will blame the attack on white supremist.
I liked this conclusion to the trilogy but was somewhat surprised at the ending. I won't give it away, just say I was surprised. I did not like the author switching the perspective back and forth between Beatrice (Tris) and Tobias (Four). I found it difficult to know who was telling the story at times. Maybe it is just me but I did not like this 'style'.Allegiant is a science fiction novel for young adults, written by the American author Veronica Roth and published by HarperCollins in October 2013. It completes the Divergent trilogy that Roth started with her debut novel Divergent in 2011. The book is written from the perspective of both Beatrice (Tris) and Tobias (Four). Following the revelations of the previous novel, they journey past the city's boundaries to discover what lies beyond.
Allegiant was published simultaneously by Katherine Tegen Books and HarperCollins Children's Books in the UK. Four weeks earlier, a free electronic companion book to the trilogy titled The World of Divergent: The Path to Allegiant was released online. The novel was to be adapted into a two-part film, the first part, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, was released on March 18, 2016, while the second part, called Ascendant, was planned to release in June 2017 but was ultimately cancelled.—Wikipedia