Peregrinating
2020

August

1 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Another trip to town. This time it was my usually scheduled shopping day with breakfast at Booga Red's. I keep hoping that the Trail Riders Restaurant will open but not yet.

I thought they had simply taken the opportunity of the Coronavirus® lockdown to do some remodeling. Went to their Facebook page and found that they had a fire in April so it is more than a remodel that they have been doing.

The stop at Safeway did not take long. I did not notice that there were many people not wearing masks there this morning but did notice that there were far fewer people. I would say there were as many stockers as shoppers. The $600 weekly unemployment checks have stopped so maybe there are people that are dead broke and can not shop?

The high temperature forecast of 88° yesterday and the wunderground claim that it would be MUCH COOLER was just wishful thinking. The high was 93.5° but that has not caused the experts to rethink, they are forecasting the high for today to be 86 — COOLER than yesterday.
A country gets what it asks for, and deserves what it tolerates. Most of the social problems engendering chaos result from the failure or collusion of government. Other countries have good national medical care. America does not. Student loans are a calculated scam, just as credit card companies deliberately entice people to buy what they cannot afford and then charge them usurious interest. Retirement plans exist elsewhere. European countries have them. But the Pentagon and Wall Street get America's money.

It's gonna blow. Short of a miracle.—It's Gonna Blow, Fred Reed
I have added the link, and bold emphasis, to the song lyrics that JHK references.
The result would be an election that can't be resolved even by the supreme court. What will happen then?

I'll tell you how it goes: Donald Trump will stand aside and yield to the military, to some general or committee of generals, and the country will be under martial law until the election is sorted out or re-run. And by then, the election may be the least of our problems, with tens of millions out-of-work, out-of-business, penniless, homeless, and hungry. That's when they'll truly be selling postcards of the hanging, as the old song goes. Then comes America's Bonaparte moment. Yes, things can get that weird.—When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Get Punked, James Howard Kunstler

2 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Nothing much happening here except weather. It was raining when we would have been out for our afternoon walk yesterday. We did go out for a potty walk much later when it seemed to have quit but looked like it could come down again any minute. Soon after we got back it did.

A genuine Thor storm. He was wielding his hammer which sent lightning sparks flashing followed by the ringing sound of the thunder of hammer on anvil. Then rain at a 5.88" rate for a few minutes with 0.49" total for the day. Woke up around 3:00 this morning to the sound of another hard rain on Desperado's roof. The wunderground station did not record any rain at all.

In my opinion this was the birth of the Deep State within the federal government. The ADA (Americans for Democratic Action) has just 'infiltrated' more and more of its members into more areas of the government as the years have gone by. I also think it is the underlying reason for so much hate for President Trump; he took away their opportunity to do great things during a President Hillary administration.
Alert Washington newsmen identified at least three dozen important officials, from Cabinet rank down, as past or present members of Americans for Democratic Action. Professor Brock, a friendly witness, not only confirmed the tally; but added that the number of ADA members serving in government posts, high and low, under the Kennedy-Johnson Administration was in reality much larger than even some of its keener critics knew. "The extent of 'infiltration'," crowed Brock, "is greater than Senator Goldwater dreams." Just as every key post in the British Labour Party Government from 1945 to 1951 was admittedly held for some time at least by a member of the Fabian Society, American Fabian Socialists seemed to have achieved somewhat similar status under the Kennedy-Johnson Administration.—Fabian Freeway - High Road to Socialism in the USA, Rose L. Martin
leftpic This is a well-documented book that describes the rise to power in Britain of the Fabian Socialists through the British Labour Party. With ties that reach back to Karl Marx himself, the fabled Fabian Society achieved what no foreign power could - they systematically and methodically crumbled the British Empire from within.

Named after the famous Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus (whose tactical 'war of attrition' defeated Hannibal), the Fabians mimicked their namesake's methods by slowly picking away at their enemy - British Capitalism - first through the colleges, then through Parliament, and finally right into the Prime Minister's office itself! Who would have ever guessed that the once-great British Empire could be brought to its knees by a bunch of very clever communist Socialist bureaucrats. Unfortunately, by the time that the British citizens figured out what was happening, it was already too late. The socialist country known as the British Commonwealth was here to stay, and the sun finally set on the British Empire.

Rose L Martin should have won a Pulitzer Prize for this book. Heck with the Pulitzer, if there were some kind of 'Nostradamus' Award, she would have won it hands down! Though she wrote the book in the mid-1960's, one would swear that they were reading about current events in today's American political arena. If you don't think that the Fabians could "Change" America like they did in Britain, think again. They are already here, and they already have.—Customer review @ Amazon

3 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I opened Calibre in Linux on my Chromebook a few days ago and was notified that there was an update available, When I tried to install it I could not get the Linux Terminal to accept my password. Tried a few things and gave up.

Yesterday I repeated all those actions with the same result but did not give up. I'm not sure what I did or why what I did worked but I got the Calibre update installed. Why do the software gurus make it so complicated? Job security? Showing off? Stupidity?

There was a little more rain yesterday around 2:30 in the afternoon. Not so different from what we have been getting except there was about as much hail as there was rain. Neither the heavy rain or hail lasted very long but there was light rain through our usual walking time.

We got out about an hour later than usual and there were enough sprinkles and threat of rain that I thought I had made another mistake. But we continued on and the sprinkles stopped. The only mistake I made was thinking that I had made a mistake.

I got the second set of hinges Brassoed and the door hung. Some of the hinges are cleaning up well whereas others not so well. I have one other door under the drawers to get hung — maybe today. I'll then be back to painting the drawer faces and a couple more cabinet doors.

If the author of this book is right, I tend to believe he is, then what the West is now struggling with is the loss of its political ideology. Russia and China have both moved past their loss of Communism ideology and have a 'leg up' on the search for The Fourth Political Theory.
Humanity under liberalism, comprised entirely of individuals, is naturally drawn toward universality and seeks to become global and unified. Thus, the projects of 'world government' or globalism are born.

A new level of technological development makes it possible to achieve independence from the class structuralisation of industrial societies, in other words, post-industrialism.

The values of rationalism, scientism, and positivism are recognised as 'veiled forms of repressive, totalitarian policies', or the grand narrative, and are criticised. At the same time, this is accompanied by the glorification of total freedom and the independence of the individual from any kind of limits, including reason, morality, identity (social, ethnic, or even gender), discipline, and so on. This is the condition of postmodernity.

At this stage, liberalism ceases to be the first political theory and becomes the only post-political practice. Fukuyama's 'End of History' arrives, economics in the form of the global capitalist market, replaces politics, and states and nations are dissolved in the melting pot of world globalisation.

Having triumphed, liberalism disappears and turns into a different entity — into postliberalism. It no longer has political dimensions, nor does it represent free choice, but instead becomes a kind of historically deterministic 'destiny'. This is the source of the thesis about post-industrial society: 'economics as destiny'.—The Fourth Political Theory, Aleksandr Dugin

4 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I was going to dump tanks and add water yesterday morning. Was forced to fill the water tank Monday night when the pump was sucking air rather than water. All is well once again; tanks are empty or full as needed. Didn't get to the hinges yesterday - maybe today.

I did cook up another batch of succotash. This time I used the pinto beans that I cooked about a week ago with a couple cans of hominy, three yellow squash and a couple bullion cubes. Just had a taste yesterday but will have a first serving for 'linner' today.

The contention that there is 'systemic racism' in the United States may be true. However, if this author is correct then racism is everywhere that holds an ideology of progress. Both of the political parties in the USA are advocates of progress; they just define it differently. In fact the Democrats now wish to be identified as the 'Progressives' and want to lay the blame for 'systemic racism' at the feet of the Republicans.
The very ideology of progress is racist in its structure. The assertion that the present is better and more fulfilling than the past, and continual assurances that the future will be even better than the present, are discriminations against the past and the present, as well as the humiliation of all those who lived in the past.…

Undoubtedly racist is the idea of unipolar globalisation. It is based on the idea that the history and values of Western, and especially American, society are equivalent to universal laws, and artificially tries to construct a global society based on what are actually local and historically specific values — democracy, the market, parliamentarianism, capitalism, individualism, human rights, and unlimited technological development. These values are local ones, emerging from the particular development of a single culture, and globalisation is trying to impose them onto all of humanity as something that is universal and taken for granted. This attempt implicitly argues that the values of all other peoples and cultures are imperfect, underdeveloped, and should be subject to modernisation and standardisation in imitation of the Western model.—The Fourth Political Theory, Aleksandr Dugin
I think this explains the 'culture wars' that are now being fought in the United States. The New Left (Socialist) in the Democrat Party are fighting for control of the culture and I think they are winning. They think they are winning as well and are now striving to gain power.
Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) was an Italian Communist who was imprisoned by the Fascists. He developed the theory of cultural hegemony, which (in brief) holds that a political group cannot maintain power without first persuading the members of a society that the ideas it propagates are the normal state of affairs, thus giving itself legitimacy. Therefore, control over the cultural apparatus of a society is a prerequisite for holding power, rather than being something which follows a revolution…A footnote in The Fourth Political Theory, Aleksandr Dugin

5 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Somehow, sometime I lost Calibre. I went to open it yesterday and it was no longer pinned to my dashboard or could I find it anyplace in my apps. So I installed it anew. It is back and seems to be the latest version that I upgraded a few days ago. All the data is stored out in the Cloud in Google Drive My Drive so there was not data that needed to be recovered.

leftpic I had a lot of problems getting this picture of what my cabinet painting project looks like. The camera died after I got one shot loaded up into my Chromebook and then would not turn on. That first picture was poor, not saying this one is good. Replaced batteries and got this shot.

The two brown drawer doors are above the horizontal door on the bottom just above the floor. They are to be painted next then two more regular cabinet doors to the left in the picture. I will then start on the upper cabinets that also have 5 doors but are smaller.

Follow the money. In September 2020, three Russian companies are to begin industrial production of the first COVID-19 vaccine in Russia, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in an interview with TASS. The vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

The United States and other Western powers are frantically throwing money at developing a vaccine and/or drugs for Coronavitus® while the Russians have done it. So obviously the propaganda narrative is they had to have hacked the US, Canada and the UK. Then they were able to ramp up their own research to the point that they can start production of a vaccine all within two weeks. If you belive that then you probably believe Jeffrey Epstein comitted suicide.
(CNN, 19 July 2020) Last Thursday [16 July 2020], security officials from three countries told us that Russian hackers were targeting organizations involved in Covid-19 vaccine research in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

(MOSCOW/TASS, August 3, 2020 ) On July 31st, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said that the vaccine against COVID-19 developed by Russian scientists, has created immunity in 100% of volunteers who took part in its trials.… "More than 20 countries approached us on our vaccine," he said, adding that five nations were planning to take part in the production of the Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine.

(Mayo Clinic, 3 July 2020) Although there is no product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many medications are being tested. One investigational drug called remdesivir has been authorized by the FDA for emergency use… for people who are hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Researchers are studying other potential treatments for COVID-19.

(MOSCOW/TASS, August 3,2020) Russia currently supplies the Avifavir anti-coronavirus drug to more than 15 countries, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Liberalism is the political ideology of the West, lead by the United States, in Dugin's book. The other two ideologies that have died and been replaced being Communism and Fascism although there are remnants of both still in existence.
After defeating its rivals, liberalism brought back a monopoly on ideological thinking; it became the sole ideology, not allowing any other alongside itself. One could say that it switched over from the level of a programme to the level of an operating system, having become something common. Notice, coming to a store and selecting a computer, we more often than not do not say, 'Give me a computer that runs Microsoft.' We simply say, 'Give me a computer.' And in accordance with our silence, we are sold a computer with a Microsoft operating system. So it is with liberalism: it is implanted in us by itself, like something standard, which it would be absurd and pointless to contest.…
The West is a local and historical phenomenon. It is a very acute civilisation, very particular, very arrogant, and very smart. But it is just one civilisation among many others. The West has history, and is because of its history. The attempt to abdicate this history in favour of pure universalism and in favour of meta-culture and meta-language is doomed. There are two possible outcomes of this:
1)either the West will lose its own identity and will turn into an automaton;
2)or it will try to impose its own history, conceived by itself as being universal, on all the other existing civilisations, destroying them in the process, and creating a new kind of global concentration camp for their cultures.
The first outcome implies a struggle of automatons with humanity. The second implies an inevitable global liberation movement struggling against this neo-imperialism. It is for the West to decide how to manage the consequences of its proper history and its implications. The West can try to close its history, but it is unlikely that it will succeed in closing the history of all the others.—The Fourth Political Theory, Aleksandr Dugin

6 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I got the first coat of paint on the first cabinet drawer yesterday. Maybe get the second coat on it today. It is rather awkward painting it while the drawer is in place but I don't want to take it out either. It would be awkward to have it sitting on top of the counter as well having to do with dripping paint.

Cooked more hulled barley and oat groats for future breakfasts yesterday. Ate some of them this morning. I also have the distiller working again. That is all that is happening here. It has been hot, well hot for here, over 80 everyday so far this month. The forecast is for COOLER the next few days but still in the low 80s. Running the A/C a lot because it gets hotter inside Desperado that it is outside.

The first third to half of this book I could generally understand. But the author was just getting warmed up and the rest of the book was written using language and concepts that were well above my pay grade. It would have helped a lot if I had at least an undergraduate degree in philosophy. I give this book a subjective recommendation.

leftpic The Fourth Political Theory is the first book by the famed Russian political theorist to appear in the English language. It presents a summary of his basic ideas considering the development of a new political theory transcending the old categories of liberalism, Marxism and fascism. All the political systems of the modern age have been the products of three distinct ideologies: the first, and oldest, is liberal democracy; the second is Marxism; and the third is fascism. The latter two have long since failed and passed out of the pages of history, and the first no longer operates as an ideology, but rather as something taken for granted. The world today finds itself on the brink of a post-political reality - one in which the values of liberalism are so deeply embedded that the average person is not aware that there is an ideology at work around him. As a result, liberalism is threatening to monopolise political discourse and drown the world in a universal sameness, destroying everything that makes the various cultures and peoples unique. According to Alexander Dugin, what is needed to break through this morass is a fourth ideology - one that will sift through the debris of the first three to look for elements that might be useful, but that remains innovative and unique in itself. Dugin does not offer a point-by-point program for this new theory, but rather outlines the parameters within which it might develop and the issues which it must address. Dugin foresees that the Fourth Political Theory will use the tools and concepts of modernity against itself, to bring about a return of cultural diversity against commercialisation, as well as the traditional worldview of all the peoples of the world - albeit within an entirely new context. Written by a scholar who is actively influencing the direction of Russian geopolitical strategy today, The Fourth Political Theory is an introduction to an idea that may well shape the course of the world's political future.—Book promo @ goodreads.com

7 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: August 7, 1932

Shopping day that did not take long. I had breakfast at Safire and was at Safeway by about 7:15. The grocery gathering went quickly and I then got to stand behind two other shoppers that were checking out before me at the one open cashier. Took me almost as long to check out as it did to gather groceries.

There are times when Caitlin gets it so right.
In Hollywood people pretend to be other people saying words that other people wrote telling stories about things which never happened and we base our entire culture on this.—In Hollywood, Caitlin Johnstone
I received an email from Verizon that I have quoted in part.

My reply was "Why not just close all the retail stores? They are not going to serve much purpose."
Touch Less, Get More — An Important Update on our In-store Experience

Staying connected has never been more important. That's why our network teams work tirelessly day in and day out to deliver you the best network. As Coronavirus continues to impact our personal lives, it's also changing the way we do business on your behalf.

I'm writing you today to let you know about the work we've done to make things better, safer, and more streamlined. So when you visit us, you can be confident you'll get what you want, when and how you want it in the quickest, safest way possible.

A new approach to retail

We call our new approach Touchless Retail, and we've reinvented the way customers access our stores.…
Almost anything you can do in a retail store you can do in the My Verizon app or on verizon.com, and we encourage you to make this your primary resource for all of your needs.

8 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
We got a little damp yesterday afternoon. It started raining at noon and continued off and on until about 2:30. We went out at our usual time and went a little over a quarter mile before it started sprinkling. By the time we got to the AZ Highway Patrol office we were getting wet so took shelter under their awning. Waited there about 10 minutes and was able to finish our usual walk. Scattered showers are in the forecast today but then the next nine days are all to be partly sunny with no chance of rain. I expect that forecast to change.

leftpic I like Flashman. He reminds me of Brigadier Etienne Gerard, as told by Arthur Conan Doyle. The Brigadier was a Hussars in Napoleon's Grande Armée with imperturbable self-confidence and unabashed assessment of the many roles he filled with gallantry. Whereas Captain (to become a brigadier-general) Harry Flashman was commissioned in the British 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons and although a coward, a scoundrel, a drunk, a liar, a cheat, a braggart, and an unrepentant old cad that tries to run away from any danger he ends up a hero in spite of himself.

In volume 2 of The Flashman Papers, Flashman tangles with femme fatale Lola Montez and the dastardly Otto Von Bismarck in a battle of wits which will decide the destiny of a continent.

Flashman, the arch-cad and toady, matches his wits, his talents for deceit and malice, and above all his speed in evasion against the most brilliant European statesman and against the most beautiful and unscrupulous adventuress of the era.

From London gaming halls and English hunting fields to European dungeons and throne rooms, he is involved in a desperate succession of escapes, disguises, amours, and (when he cannot avoid them) hand-to-hand combats. All the while the destiny of a continent rests on his broad and failing shoulders.

On 17 June 2020 I wrote about Vigilance Committees. There are now others that are starting to write about that theme as well. Peter Grant is one such writer and he references Why the Rule of Law Is Vanishing in the Age of COVID-19 which is a good article.
When the enforcement of laws is selective, depending on the political views of those charged with their enforcement, then the rule of law no longer applies. That's one of the primary reasons why the USA is in such turmoil today. The law is not being equally or fairly applied in far too many jurisdictions.… Tragically, such policies and incidents can have only one outcome. People will take the law into their own hands, because they can't trust the authorities to administer it fairly and even-handedly.

I fear vigilantism and "lynch law" are about to make a comeback, because in the absence of the even-handed, objective rule of law, there's little alternative.—When the "rule of law" makes no sense, vigilante law takes over, Peter Grant
So this brings up an interesting question. Who really benefits from this Mandatory Mask nonsense? Political power-junkies and Mass Media sensationalists do; but they're pawns in something larger. These people don't act without permission from their financial overlords; and the fact that the big box-stores are in on the act shows that there's some really Big Money behind this whole scam.…there's no shortage of sharpers ready to cash in on the hoax crisis. The money's not really in masks---that's more of a symbol of conformity and control. The Big Bucks are in enforcement.—What's Behind The Mask?

9 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I got the second coat of paint on that first cabinet drawer. A also glued the cabinet door that has been falling apart for years and I never fixed it. It is now almost ready to paint when I get the second drawer painted. I do not like to paint but if I go at it 'slooowly' I'll eventually get it done.

If you don't think propaganda works what caused China sentiment to change so much over the past couple of years. It seems that the Establishment media has done an excellent job.
Americans' views of China have continued to sour, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Today, 73% of U.S. adults say they have an unfavorable view of the country, up 26 percentage points since 2018. Since March alone, negative views of China have increased 7 points, and there is a widespread sense that China mishandled the initial outbreak and subsequent spread of COVID-19.—Americans Fault China for Its Role in the Spread of COVID-19, Laura Silver, Kat Devlin AND Christine Huang
A great meme.
So a burglar broke into the house…
I put a red dot on his chest and the cat did the rest.

leftpic These letters brought back many memories for me. They sound so much like what my mother wrote as well as the emails that I received from a cousin that stopped ( I think she has died). The snowflakes of today could not begin to do what Hilda did. Note: There was a Hilda Rose that was an illustrator of children's books; she was not the author of these letters.

This collection of letters was written by Hilda Rose to several friends between 1919 and 1927, which were published first in Atlantic Monthly. Mrs. Rose was married to a man twenty-eight years older, who she calls "Daddy," and they had a young boy whom she calls "Boy." The letters outline her struggles on a hardscrabble farm in Montana, which paled in comparison to the challenges they faced when they decided to move farther north and homesteaded near Fort Vermilion, Alberta. The book has a foreword by Samuel A. Eliot and eight black-and-white photographs.—Book promo @ goodreads.com

10 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
There is not much happening here today. We did our usual morning walk with some scattered clouds. One of them was very black and overhead. Sure enough that one sprinkled on us, not for long and we stayed almost dry. Why do I feel like Joe Btfsplk with a small, dark rain cloud perpetually hovering over my head?

I might get some prepainting work done on the second cabinet drawer today. Then again I may not, just can not get motivated. I will Brasso the handle that has been taken off, perhaps doing that will get me in the mood. HA

I have not quoted from this long article, Who Profits from the Beirut Tragedy by Pepe Escobar, but it provides a different view of the Beirut explosion than you get from the US Establishment media. A recommended read.

This quote is from a good article defending all government's response to Coronavirus®. Much the same was said, War Without Casualties?, by a friend of mine at the start of the 'war' on the virus. Both are well worth reading.
I don't know what people expected from our modern digitised world in our first-ever response to a pandemic, but judging from the criticism of civil servants it's clear that many people were expecting way too much. No state worker could make unfat all the Americans who have perished prematurely; no state worker had a fountain of youth for the over-80s who compose the bulk of Sweden's dearly departed. The Western "Karen's" babyish "war on dying" was always setting up governments to fail and for faith in political institutions – any institution – to be incorrectly lessened.—Covid Candide: Isn't this the best of all possible worlds… and pandemic responses?, Ramin Mazaheri

11 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
The forecast for high temperatures in the lower 80s was wishful thinking. Yesterday it was 85.6° and the ten day forecast now is showing highs in the mid to upper 80s. More rain is now also expected just as I thought there would be.

Nothing on my agenda for today. I have a couple nonfiction books that I am reading by switching back and forth. One of them is a rather poor PDF but fortunately it is not very long and it loads much faster than this last PDF that I finished.

leftpic The book that I downloaded from archive.org was in PDF format, was missing a few pages and loaded very slowly when turning a page in ReadEra. It was translated by W. H. G. Kingston and is certainly not one of Verne's best. The ebook that I got included a short story The Mutineers of The "Bounty" also translated by W. H. G. Kingston.

The Begum's Fortune was published in 1879 with some utopian elements and other elements that seem clearly dystopian. It is noteworthy as the first published book in which Verne was cautionary, and somewhat pessimistic about the development of science and technology.

Long after The Begum's Fortune was published, it came out that its story is based on a manuscript by Paschal Grousset, a Corsican revolutionary who had participated in the Paris Commune and was at the time living in exile in the United States and London. It was bought by Pierre-Jules Hetzel, the publisher of most of Verne's books. The attribution of plot elements between Grousset's original text and Verne's work on it has not been completely defined.

Later, Verne worked similarly on two more books by Grousset and published them under his name, before the revolutionary finally got a pardon and was able to return to France and resume publication in his own name.

The book first appeared in a hasty and poorly done English translation soon after its publication in French—one of the bad translations considered to have damaged Verne's reputation in the English-speaking world. W. H. G. Kingston was near death and deeply in debt at the time. His wife, Mrs. A. K. Kingston, who did the translation for him, was certainly otherwise preoccupied than with the accuracy of the text and may have had to rely on outside help.—Edited Wikipedia

Bill Gates must be mad as hell; let the sanctions begin. Not only have the Russian's stole the march on him but they are already lining up sales. "Moreover, we have received preliminary applications for over 1 billion doses of the vaccine from 20 countries,"‐Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)
Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the approval of a coronavirus vaccine for use on Tuesday, claiming it as a "world first," amid continued concern and unanswered questions over its safety and effectiveness.

"A vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning," Putin said on state TV. "I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity."

Putin added that one of his daughters had already taken it; he said she had a slightly higher temperature after each dose, but that: "Now she feels well."

Developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, the vaccine has been named Sputnik-V, a reference to the surprise 1957 launch of the world's first satellite by the Soviet Union. It has yet to go through crucial Phase 3 trials where it would be administered to thousands of people.—Putin says Russia has approved 'world first' Covid-19 vaccine. But questions over its safety remain

12 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I'm not going to put off the tank dumps and fill the fresh water tank this time. I'll get out there and get it done this morning.

I might even get a first coat of paint on that second cabinet drawer. I did get it cleaned up and sanded yesterday so it is ready for paint. The first drawer looks good so there should be no reaseason for me to delay but that is what I do.

'Sleepy Joe' sort of painted himself into a corner by restricting his VP choice to be based on gender and skin pigmentation. As I saw it he had only three choices: California Sen. Kamala Harris, California Rep. Karen Bass or Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. I don't want Biden to win in November but if he does I hope he can stave off a 25th Amendment attack because I don't want Harris as my president.

I think 'Sleepy Joe' has selected the least objectionable one of the three. Bass is a communist, Harris a socialist with Abrams self promotion being her strongest qualification for any public office. He will be the Left's sock puppet president but even so probably not nearly as destructive as Bass or Harris.

13 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
We had to delay our afternoon walk by a little over half an hour yesterday afternoon. More rain that started just about the time we were going to go out. It didn't rain much but we would have been wet if we had been out there.

Shopping day again that started with breakfast at Booga Red's. The usual waitress there almost has my order memorised and knows to bring me Cholla without my asking for it.

I got the first coat of paint on that second cabinet drawer. Maybe get the second coat on it tomorrow. Then take the two other doors off and finish painting the lower cabinet base. Making progress slowly.

I don't think the memo was necessary but it does show what kind of people are supporters.
Media organizations have just been warned by the Democratic Party machine that they better be very, very careful with how they cover Joe Biden's vice presidential choice — just revealed to be Kamala Harris. Any criticism of the expected woman will be considered racist and sexist, we are told. Oh, they wrap up that threat in a word salad, but that's the bottom line: There should be second and even third thoughts about any criticism of Mr. Biden's VP pick.

An actual memo went out from an ad hoc group of Democratic operatives (pretending to be advocates for women) to media organizations with orders on how to proceed with their coverage. The fact that they expected this partisan missive to be accepted and adhered to by media entities tells you all you need to know about the problem with today's legacy media.…

Conservative women know how to handle personal and unfair coverage because that's what they mostly receive. What's absurd here is the Democratic gang that treated Sarah Palin like a piece of meat on the Serengeti is now lecturing about the importance of treating women in the arena fairly. But only for those who conform and obey no matter how bad their policy.—Democratic Party sets rules for criticizing Biden's VP pick Kamala Harris, Tammy Bruce

14 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: August 14, 1932

I received my yellow split peas order from Woodland Foods yesterday. They look just like what I had before that were given to me by the Park host here at this Park last year. I'll know how they taste soon when I cook up a pot of potage.

I was going to order them from a business here in Arizona but when I tried to place the order their order robot said that the shipping address that I provided could not be found by UPS. I sent them an email asking why and never received a reply. That same address was used with the order at Woodland Foods and UPS found me easily.

Painted the second cabinet drawer with a second coat this morning. Maybe remove the doors this afternoon and get masking tape applied by tomorrow. Then it will be cabinet base painting for a few days before painting the doors. Brasso hinges, replace the doors and the bottom cabinets will be done, not soon but done.

This is something else on the Left's agenda if/when they gain power. A drug induced morality, as they define it of course.
Big Pharma is a major player behind the Insurrection, and they hope that they can do for Americans what they once did for Germany. We'll see only what the Deep State wants us to see; we'll hear only what they want us to hear; we'll say only what they want us to say. The mandatory face mask is symbolic on an occult psychological level of the muzzle; mad-scientist Fauci wants goggles too (symbolic of the blindfold); no doubt earmuffs will be next. I wonder if all those who laughed a decade ago at the suggestion that Obamacare would become a means of control are laughing now?—The Morality Pill, Night Wind
A recommended book be you an environmental climate change 'believer' or what the believers call a 'denier'. I am probably a 'denier' because I don't subscribe to the believe that climate change is caused by man or that more taxes are going to stop the changes.

leftpic An environmental expert unleashes a scientific, fact-based broadside against eco-alarmism and the excesses of the left, arguing that climate change and other environmental problems are real but not apocalyptic and require practical, not radical, solutions.

Many environmentalists claim the world as we know it will soon come to an end unless we radically change how we live our lives. They demand we stop eating meat, ban plastics, and significantly reduce how much we drive and fly.

Climate change is real, says Michael Shellenberger in Apocalypse Never, but it's not the end of the world. It is not even our most serious environmental problem. Most environmental trends, including population, pollution, and resource use, are all going in the right direction.

The left profits from hyping climate change as an apocalypse while opposing obvious solutions. Schemes like "The Green New Deal" would transfer wealth to well-connected elites, raise energy costs, and hurt wildlife.

Poverty, not prosperity, is the real enemy of the environment. We use can produce more food using less land and water, move from wood to coal to natural gas to nuclear, and safely capture and contain plastic waste. But all of that will require standing up to the eco-alarmism in the way of environmental protection.—Book promo @ goodreads.com

This is the takeaway from the book in my opinion.
Environmentalism today is the dominant secular religion of the educated, upper-middle-class elite in most developed and many developing nations. It provides a new story about our collective and individual purpose. It designates good guys and bad guys, heroes and villains. And it does so in the language of science, which provides it with legitimacy.…

Most environmentalists are unaware that they are repeating Judeo-Christian myths, concludes a scholar who studied the phenomenon closely. Because Judeo-Christian myths and morals are prevalent in our culture, environmentalists know them subconsciously and repeat them unintentionally, albeit in the ostensibly secular language of science and nature.—Apocalypse Never, Michael Shellenberger

15 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I didn't get the cabinet doors removed yesterday. Got distracted for some time working on my Blogger Workbench. I have been playing with a Google blogspot that I set up years ago and have never developed it as a functioning blog. I may never have a 'real' blogspot blog but am learning how to use Blogger so will see.

I also cooked a pot of pinto beans yesterday. This will be one of the ingredients for another batch of succatach that I put together later this week. Today I'm cooking a pot of garbonzos that will be the start of a potage that will include some of the yellow split peas that I received.

That is about all that I have going on. There is more book reading of course but that is not news.

The headline:
U.S. seizes Iranian oil from four tankers en route to Venezuela By Joshua Goodman The Associated Press
In the body of the story, third paragraph:
A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that no military force was used in the seizures and that the ships weren't physically confiscated. Rather, U.S. officials threatened ship owners, insurers and captains with sanction to force them to hand over their cargo, which now becomes U.S. property, the official said. It is not clear where the vessels or their cargoes currently are.
Is it just me but I don't understand how the U. S. seizes Iranian oil when 'the ships weren't physically confiscated' and 'it is not clear where the vessels or their cargo are'. The Iranians are claiming the fuel was delivered and this is all simply more propaganda with the intent to discourage other shippers. I think the Iranians are probably right and the AP is just a U. S. government scribe.

Kunstler has written a good article about what he thinks the Democrat Party national convention is going to be like next week. I have quoted the two paragraphs that are classic Kunstler – enjoy.
Meanwhile, the Dems will have to get their Antifa warriors to stand down after Labor Day. Anymore riots and looting will surely be blamed on them — especially now that the Black Lives Matter org has declared that looting officially amounts to reparations for slavery and its associated indignities.

But will they stand down? There's hardly any other way for the boys and girls to socialize in this year of no jobs, no cafes, no bars, no clubs, no parties allowed, no music festivals or concerts, ridiculous social distancing rules on campus, even if they attempt re-opening the colleges. Here's something you may not realize about riots as social venues: they enable fabulous alpha-male display opportunities for young men that would never be permitted under the more usual refined social parameters. Actions like smashing things up, burning things down, hurling projectiles and bombs, dashing valiantly around in the darkness garbed in black spandex like superheroes in the movies… acting out really primitive warrior stuff. Don't underestimate the sheer romance of all that. It must have considerable appeal to the ladies, who have their own primitive promptings, let's face it.—Chaos Theory, James Howard Kunstler

16 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
There was more time wasted yesterday taking lessons on what 'Themes' not to use in Blogger. The one that I had first selected allowed me to 'customize' almost enough that I liked it. However, it was not small screen friendly and I could find no way to make it be friendly.

So, I chose a Theme that Google claimed to be good for small screens. The move from one theme to another was easy, I will give Google credit for that, but all my prior customization was wiped out and I could noy find a way to put it back. Could not change font family or the font size either although there appeared to be interactive boxed that would do that. It was small screen friendly.

My takeaway on Blogger is 'What You See Is What You Get'. There is not a lot of flexibility as I see it or as I have attempted to get what I want rather than what Google is willing to give me. I'll experiment more with my current website and maybe look into what Bubble and Wix are offering.

I spent some time looking at Bubble yesterday and it appeared to have a long learning curve. Tried Wix this morning for about an hour and have created a bog there to some degree. It seems to be easier to work with than Bubble would be and with about the same problems as Blogger. It is not easy to configure but I think it may be more flexible than Blogger. Haven't tried to see if it is small screen friendly.

17 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I did some work on setting up a blog at Wix and it was a mess when I stopped. Like with Blogger there were things that I wanted to edit and couldn't find a way to do it. They offer to host a free account but everytime you click on anything there is some kind of prompt to Upgrade. I threw in the towel when I checked to see if it was small screen friendly and it was not.

Did some more experimenting with my existing Home Page on the website and found a couple new to me things that I may start using which will change the appearance. Even with those 'enhancements' my home page will still be readable on very small screens and will look great if the screen is held horizontal. HA

I have a pot of hulled barley and oat groats on the stove this morning. When they are done I think I'll get the yellow split peas cooking today as well.

The distiller is back in operation. I hope it is cooler than it has been, forecast to be 84°, because it adds heat inside Desperado. It has been 90.6°, 93.0° and 91.6° the past few days which is too hot to be adding to it.

The closing two paragraphs from an article that makes a good case for what Tom Luongo used as his headline.
We've seen so far in 2020 is the ultimate form of political blackmail from the elites through their mouthpieces in the media and the Democratic Party's election strategy. They are telling voters to dump Trump and restore them to power or they will tear down the United States and burn down your homes.

I don't think that's a winning strategy, nor do I think Kamala Harris can make a dent in Trump's rising approval ratings with black and Hispanic voters. Everything I'm seeing from them tells me they know they are going to lose but they have to put up a fight because the future of the party depends on it.—With Harris Pick, Democrats Cede Election to Trump, Tom Luongo

18 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
What a surprise, I didn’t get those yellow split peas cooked yesterday. What I did was boil some fresh beets and then peel them. They were not cooked thoroughly, I like them crunchy. The canned beets are so much easier to prepare, just opening the can. Also boiled some potatoes. These were thoroughly cooked but still firm. I don’t want them so well done as they would need to be for mashed potatoes.

Finally got motivated to take the cabinet doors off, sanded the cabinet base and masked it off. The rest of the base is ready to paint. Maybe today or maybe not. It was rather hot, 88°, when I was down there on the floor. The forecast today is again for a high of 84° so I can expect it to be near 90 again - too hot.

I resemble this remark.
While my preference for a hermit’s life, far from the vexing encounters of everyday society, might be an innate component of my nature, the tendency has been reinforced over the years by my fellow man’s unexcelled ability to annoy me.—George Dower speaking in Fiendish Schemes by K. W. Jeter
Julian Lee has got it exactly right in this article. The U. S. government is not only an international bully but has now resorted to piracy.
Just like the British back then [16th & 17th century], the U.S. has given itself the right to seize property on the high seas that it believes to be owned by entities it considers foreign terrorist organizations. The methods have certainly changed though.

The U.S. isn’t licensing acts of piracy by private individuals. Nor, in this case, has it resorted to military action. A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that no military force was used in the seizures. Instead, threats of potentially crippling sanctions against the owners, insurers and captains of the vessels persuaded them to hand over the cargoes.

But the concept has altered little in 440 years — we still have one of the world’s preeminent naval powers passing its own laws allowing it to seize treasure from its enemies in the ocean.—The U.S. Brings State-Sponsored Piracy Into the 21st Century, Julian Lee

19 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I got the first coat of paint on the remaining lower cabinet base yesterday morning. It was starting to get hot by the time I finished so it was best that I did it early. Maybe put the second coat on tomorrow.

The high yesterday was 89.3° which was not the 90 I expected but far above the 84 that was forecast. The weather gurus have decided to follow the trend versus bucking it and have forecast the next two days to have a high of 88. I‘m expecting a couple days of over 90. We cut the afternoon’s walk short when it started to sprinkle but the storm turned out to be all lightning and thunder.

Today was a shopping day so it was too hot by the time I got back to the Park to think about painting. The breakfast stop this morning was at Safire. When I left there I went to the laundromat where I was able to do some of the writing for this post. Groceries at Safeway and gas for Desperado at Circle K.

I have continued to mess with a different Home Page “Theme” for my website and think I have found what I want — for now. I’ll not make the change yet. I’m still trying to find out how to type up a posting in Google Doc that I can copy and post to my host that will appear how I want it to when you open the Home Page.

The paragraph above is a good example. This is how I need to type it in Google Doc for it to appear as you see it:
I have continued to mess with a different Home Page “Theme” for my website and think I have found what I want — for now. I’ll not make the change yet. I’m still trying to find out how to type up a posting in Google Doc that I can copy and post to my host that will appear how I want it to when you open the Home Page. ( I will not show you what I had to do to show this paragraph correctly - it is ludicrous.)

20 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
A couple days ago Patches was not feeling well. When we finished the morning walk she waited until getting back into Desperado before throwing up. She then did not take her morning goclosomine ‘treat’ with her normal enthusiasm so I thought it prudent to not serve her breakfast. When it came time for her dinner she did not want it. The day before yesterday I gave her a half ration for breakfast and she kept it down so I gave her the other half for lunch and a normal dinner serving. Yesterday she seemed to be back to normal.

We cut our walk short again just like we did on Tuesday. This time we did get a little wet but the light rain stopped soon after we got into Desperado. The real storm came a little after sundown with strong winds and hard rain for a short while. The Weather Underground station claimed we received 0.07" but it seemed like more than that.

I bought squash while shopping yesterday so put them to use. I had pre-cooked the pinto beans and the hominy was in cans so all I needed to do to make a batch of succatach was get the three ingredients into a pot and cook until the squash was done.That made 8-10 servings that will last be a couple of weeks when I get the yellow pea and garbanzo potage cooked - maybe tomorrow.

I put the second coat of paint on the bottom cabinet base this morning while it was still cool. It was 76° outside when I finished and hotter inside. Yesterday the high was 90.8°, over 90 as I expected, but the forecasters have increased their guess to only 89° for today and 88 for tomorrow. That means we will probably get two more days of 90 and above. No rain in the forecast until Sunday.

Please read this article if you think voting in November is going to make any real difference other than what the culture in the United States will be like after 2020.
I would submit that corporations are the primary vehicle that the elite use to control our lives. In fact, many global corporations are now larger and more powerful than most national governments, and collectively the network of global corporations that dominates the planet is far larger and far more powerful than any single national government.—The Global Elite Have Far More Control Over Us Than Most People Would Dare To Imagine , Michael Snyder


21 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: August 21, 1932

I have had two electrical problems for almost a month now that I was hoping could wait to be fixed in October. I now don’t think either of them can wait that long. There is a battery replacement for my Acer Chromebook that needs to be done.

Then the more important fix is to replace the Magnetek 6345 power converter that came as original equipment in Desperado. It is running very hot and the circuit breakers are tripping when I run the A/C for very long on these hot days. Both of those fixes are probably going to require a trip to Show Low.
“We’ve already had a bunch of riots, all over London. There’s nothing like throwing a brick through a shop window to get the blood pumping. No wonder it’s getting so popular. Who doesn’t like to set stuff on fire? ’Long as it’s somebody’s else stuff, that is. And it’s spreading—that’s the cool part. It’s spreading all across the country.” - Scape speaking in Fiendish Schemes by K. W. Jeter

leftpic This is the second book in Jeter’s George Dower trilogy. I think it is even more steampunk, than the first one in the series that merited being included in “The Nine Novels That Defined Steampunk.” In my opinion, if you want an introduction to steampunk then the George Dower series seems to be the place to start. In 1986 K. W. Jeter coined the term “steampunk,” applying it to his first Victorian-era science fiction alternate-history adventure. At last he has returned with Fiendish Schemes, a tale of George Dower, son of the inventor of Infernal Devices, who has been in new self-imposed exile…accumulating debts.

The world Dower left when he went into hiding was significantly simpler than the new, steam-powered Victorian London, a mad whirl of civilization filled with gadgets and gears in the least expected places. After accepting congratulations for his late father’s grandest invention—a walking, steam-powered lighthouse—Dower is enticed by the prospect of financial gain into a web of intrigue with ominously mysterious players who have nefarious plans of which he can only guess.

If he can locate and make his father’s Vox Universalis work as it was intended, his future, he is promised, is assured. But his efforts are confounded by the strange Vicar Stonebrake, who promises him aid, but is more interested in converting sentient whales to Christianity—and making money—than in helping George. Drugged, arrested, and interrogated by men, women, and the steam-powered Prime Minister, Dower is trapped in a maelstrom of secrets, corruption, and schemes that threaten to drown him in the chaos of this mad new world.- Book promo @ goodreads.com

22 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I did holding tank dumps yesterday morning and also filled the fresh water tank. Also replaced the Dometic flush ball seal in the toilet and it leaks more now than the old seal did. I guess that is something else that I need to have fixed by someone that knows more about what they are doing than I.

I do know how to cook yellow split peas and I did that yesterday as well. They were boiled with broth cubes, and a teaspoon each of turmeric and ginger then precooked garbonzos added when done. I had my first serving for ‘linner’ and found that it was good but the next batch needs more tumeric and ginger.
The converter in Desperado has died. I no longer have 110v electricity and don't think the battery is being charged so will soon run out of 12v.

I talked to my neighbor on the west side yesterday morning about my problem with it and asked if he would telephone Show Low for me if the RV ‘repair service’ shop there did not reply to my email. He said he would and offered to take me into Springerville to a auto repair shop where I was going to stop on Tuesday and ask if they could help.

After the converter died I went back and asked him if he could take me in there today. That is where I have been this morning. We went to Springerville Automotive Service where all I could do today is leave the make and model of the replacement converter that I want installed. The boss will have to do the ordering on Monday if they can do the work. Maybe I'll get an email reply from them on Monday; the Show Low shop has not yet replied.
This is what you can expect is Biden-Harris win the election in November.
By March 2021, it will be like the virus, the riots, and the serial crypto-coups against President Trump never happened.

You will be shocked at how much they never happened.-The Democrats’ Grand Strategy Is Now Clear: ‘It Never Happened’, Clint Fargeau

A great meme.
People keep telling me “If you don’t wear a mask, you don’t care about other people”; I thought I had already made that pretty clear.

Speaking of memes, I suggest that you read The “Try-Hard” Club: Limp-Wristed Marxists Need Not Apply by Brandon Smith.

23 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
We are suffering in the heat as best as we can with no A/C. The past two days have had high temperatures of 90.7° & 91° . The 90s began on the 14th and it has been over 90 all but two days since then and those two days were at 88 and 89. It has been hot, uncomfortable and more so without any A/C. The 10 day forecast expects today to be in the mid 80s then cooling down to the upper 70s by the beginning of September — already 81° at 9:30.
I remasked the cabinet base in a few places a couple days ago. This morning I did some spot touch up along those areas and now consider the base painting to be done. The painting of the two doors is next which I’ll get to as time permits while dealing with the converter replacement which I hope happens soon.
My 110v situation is under control except for no A/C. I remembered that I had a ‘power strip’ that has four outlets on it. That allows me to plug in my small fan, the laptop, the MIFI and Kindle Fire all at the same time if I need to. The 12v battery seems to be holding up IF I can believe the idiot light; it proved to be accurate some years ago when it showed that the battery was discharged.
For the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with different ‘looks’ for my website postings. They are mostly cosmetic, putting lipstick on a pig, with only one structural change. I will most likely regress to the prior appearance of only one column in the content area.

In the next week I want to see if I can embed a custom font and that will be the end, for now, of cosmetic changes. I have also started testing different page ‘structures’, the grid that defines the different area on the page. This is going to take some time the way it has been going so far.

24 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I have nothing on the agenda for today. There is the hope that I will receive an email from the Springerville mechanic that he has ordered a replacement converter and it will be received tomorrow and I should come in and get the replacement done. Hope? No that is probably fantasy!
I spent too much time yesterday and this morning working on the structural layout for my contemplated Home Page. It is not appearing on the screen as I have it in my mind‘s eye. I’ll get there but it is going to be a fight.
This is a CNN headline:
Oh, great: NASA says an asteroid is headed our way right before Election Day
By Jay Croft and Melissa Alonso, CNN
This is what they finally say in paragraph four and six and it took two of their reporters to file the story—DUH:
“Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approximately 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth. If it were to enter our planet’s atmosphere, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size,” NASA said in a statement. “NASA has been directed by Congress to discover 90% of the near-Earth asteroids larger than 140 meters (459 feet) in size and reports on asteroids of any size.”… The chance of it hitting us is just 0.41%, data show.
25 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Shopping day plus trying to get things fixed. Breakfast was at Booga Red’s where everything was the same except a new to me waitress. She had to be trained in what I wanted but it went very well.
A quick stop at Safeway where I had a short list. Then to Springerville Automotive Service where the ‘boss’ gave no indication that he saw anything the the employee wrote down on Saturday. Discussed what I needed done and he said that he could do it. I tried to order the replacement converter from Amazon and they would not accept the shop address. Went to BestRVSupply and bought it there at a price that was a couple dollars more with shipping compared to Amazon with Free Shipping.
Then went to Springerville Electronics where I had a two hour wait. Sat in their parking lot and got this written. With a dying battery in the laptop I don't get much time on it before it needs recharging and I can not do that when disconnected from 110V.
This is the closing paragraph to the article.
And this leads us to the seventh and most dangerous paradox of all: The same qualities (and lack of them) that will make Kamala Harris such a lethally effective attack campaigner for the Democrats over the next three months will make her a menace to the world as President of the United States.–The Seven Dangerous Paradoxes of Kamala Harris, Martin Sieff

Onís was the Mexican Ambassador to the United States from 29 June 1809 when he was appointed minister plenipotentiary by Mexico but not recognized by the United States until December 1815. It was during his time as ambassador that he formed the opinion expressed in this quote.
“They [Americans] consider themselves superior to the rest of mankind and look upon their Republic as the only establishment upon earth, founded upon a grand and solid basis, embellished by wisdom, and destined one day to become the most sublime colossus of human power, and the wonder of the universe ” (Lowrie, Culture Conflict, 96, quoting Onís’s memoirs).

26 August
Springerville RV
Springerville, AZ
no pic
This is the first day that the Home Page has been posted with it’s makeup on. There are a couple things that you need to remember when trying to put lipstick on a pig. First, the pig does not hold still. Second, you are going to make a mess. That is what I have done somewhat. There are changes that worked in the test and now that I have moved the coding to the Home Page they do not. Maybe find out why later.
I have the problem with my converter under some control but the laptop battery replacement has not progressed at all. The repair shop here in Springerville never opened while I was there so I left a note in the door after 10:00. The shop in Show Low has never responded to my proposal that I buy a battery, have it delivered to him, he emails me upon receipt, I drive to Show Low and he replaces the battery while I wait.
There are now two more problems that have come up. Some months ago I requested a reservation for a space for Oct at one Park and for Nov and a second one. They both said to check back with them in August, so here it is August and I checked back - they have both responded that they are full. I am now trying to find a place to live; then when I do I’ll have to cancel one dentist appointment and make another one.
We had a big thunderstorm last night about sundown. The lightning was flashing very close which upset Patches a little as it did me. The lightning flash and the thunder were simultaneous with no time to do the one thousand one one thousand two count to determine how far away it was. The rain lasted about an hour with a reported 0.38" total.
That is all there is going one here. I have been spending too much time with the website experiments and ignoring my books on Kindle Fire. I need to take a break; starting to make errors, some stupid errors, that require even more time to correct.

27 August 2020
Springerville RV Park
Springerville, AZ
no pic
I created a new css file with a new name which cleared up most, maybe all, of the cosmetic problems that I had when I posted yesterday morning. Went back during the afternoon and linked to that new css file and the Home Page looks like what I thought it should look like.

I then did the same thing for the month of August 2020 archived page and added my cosmetics to all the days starting with 21 August through the 26th. I will not be going back and changing all the prior postings although I will have to go back and change the css file link unless I can find a work around or it fixes itself. I have a suspicion that the server has not compiled all the changes I made to the old css file.
What message is being sent by destroying a dinosaur statue? The only message that I’m receiving is that the mob has gone berserk and much like a mad dog must be put down.
Two days ago, BLM protestors managed to pull down the statue of a dinosaur which was gracing the area outside the Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum.

The Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum was one of many municipal buildings that were damaged, including the public library, the Harborside Academy charter school, the US Postal Service building and the county register of deeds.–BLM rioters tear down statue of dinosaur in the name of social justice, James Anthony

Caitlin has written another good article.
When it first rose to power with the Bush administration the neoconservative ideology of doing whatever it takes to ensure continued US unipolar hegemony was widely criticized. Now it’s the bipartisan beltway consensus, and if you question it you’re smeared as freakish and suspicious. You never even hear the word neoconservative or neocon anymore in mainstream US discourse, not because it went away but because it became the normalized default mainstream worldview.–The Modern US War Machine Kills More Like A Python Than A Tiger, Caitlin Johnstone

Interesting memes:

Have you noticed how the media has stopped calling AR-15’s assault weapons since Antifa and BLM started carrying them?

Question: Hey Joe… boxers or briefs?
Joe Biden’s Answer: Depends.

Job Interviewer: How would you write “I changed a light bulb” on your resume?
Applicant: “Single-handedly managed the successful upgrade and deployment of new environmental illumination system with zero cost overruns and zero safety incidents.”

People who worry about what kind of planet we’re leaving for our kids might want to consider what kind of kids we’re leaving for our planet.

28 August 2020
Springerville RV Park
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: August 28, 1932

It is fast approaching month end and time for me to get started on the routine. I’ll start by doing the house cleaning today then Desperado’s cab and windows tomorrow. Will get holding tanks dumped this morning and take on water. That gives me one more day to finish up the routine before a shopping day on the last day of the month.

I received an email from the laptop repair shop in Show Low that accepted my proposed battery replacement scenario. I have ordered the battery to be delivered to him, he is then to email me a date and time to arrive and expects that he can have it done in an hour. There is a long delivery time for the battery so I’ll have to see how this works out.

Cooking some pinto beans this morning. That will be the first step in making some more succotash. Need to cook some more potatoes today as well. They go with the yellow split peas and garbanzos when I reheat a serving of that. More beets to peel, I’m really liking them raw.
What were the Democratic Party higher-ups thinking as all this rolled out? That they could keep posing people of color as victims while they ran amok, beat people up, robbed stores, jacked cars, and set buildings on fire? That the mayhem would continue until the nation’s morale improved? If that was actually their campaign strategy, then they’ve successfully burned down their national campaign before it even got underway. Having allowed all this havoc to be set in motion, can they stop it now? I guess we’ll see. Thursday was the first night that rioters failed to turn out in Portland after their epic 93-night siege of public buildings and once-quiet neighborhoods there. Perhaps someone told them they better knock it off in case voters connected the dots between these orchestrated antics and something Mr. Trump might point out in his nationally broadcast acceptance speech.–The Duration of What?, James Howard Kunstler

29 August 2020
Springerville RV Park
Springerville, AZ
no pic
What I did a few days ago that was called adding cosmetics to my Home Page was mostly HTML changes within the ‘context’. What you see today is similar to having plastic surgery and botox injections which changed the overall appearance of the Home Page. Now to move on and see what I can do to/with the Archived Pages.

I had already found that just changing the coding within the external css style page is not changing the pages like I want. I think I can put that same coding in a new css file and then link to it from the pages and it will work but that means changing the css link on every page - lots of them. I was lucky; I cleared Cache in my Chromebook and fixed that problem.
I’ll be cleaning up Desperado’s cab this morning which will complete the month end house cleaning except for the stove top. Will get started on the monthly Will Rogers weekly article formatting; maybe do it all to today but certainly by tomorrow. The distiller is back in operation but that does not require much work.
A very good article by Caitlin once more.
And that is indeed why the Democrats saw no need to mention it [impeachment] at their own four-day convention despite dominating news cycles with it for years. Russiagate and Ukrainegate were never the cataclysmic scandals that the Democrats and their allied media factions portrayed them as. They weren’t even actually about getting rid of Trump.…
The cold warriors wanted their escalations, and they got them. From beginning to the end, that’s all this was ever about. They pushed the narratives, the media joined in because it was great for ratings, and the Democrats joined in because it took the focus off their 2016 scandals and gave them a kayfabe phantom to punch instead of pushing for actual progressive changes.–Dem Convention Made No Mention Of Russiagate Or Impeachment, Because Those Were Fake Things, Caitlin Johnstone

I have added the bold to the Hill’s statement. “Any” means “any”. The direct implications of that is that the Dems should retake the White House by any and all means and under any and all circumstances. The Dems will never accept a Trump victory so if he does win the Hill is encouraging four more years of riots, a coup and she is guilty of sedition. Read this article, at least the Conclusion, that says it better than I have.
“Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances, because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don't give an inch, and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is,” Clinton said in an interview with her former communications director Jennifer Palmieri for Showtime’s “The Circus,” which released a clip Tuesday [25 August 2020].–Will Hillary and the Dems get the civil war they are trying to provoke?, The Saker


30 August 2020
Springerville RV Park
Springerville, AZ
no pic
The Archive Pages conversion to the new style was surprisingly easy. I was able to make the changes in the external css file and they worked just like I wanted them to. The only thing that took much time was rewriting the code for a couple DIV Tables. I made some HTML Tables years ago that I am going to leave alone. They look fine as they are. I may make additional tweaks here and there but I think I can say that the move to a website with a simpler, lighter, fresher appearance is now complete.
I got all the Will Rogers weekly articles prepared yesterday so I only have the stove top to clean up and the month end chores are finished one more time. The distiller has me supplied with drinking water again for about 10 days. The homestead is set for another month IF it gets shore power re-established. My work around is working for the 110v but I have no idea how long the 12v might last.
Fred has got it exactly right in this posting. I have selected only a couple paragraphs from it. What he has said supports everything I have read so far in Empire in Retreat: The Past, Present, and Future of the United States by Victor Bulmer-Thomas.
If you control a country’s sources of energy, you control the country. We see that around the world America is going for the oil: Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE. Too much of the world tolerates this, but Europe is worse. When Trump tells England to confiscate (“steal,” in plain English) Venezuela’s gold, it does. Yass, Bwana. And when Trump tells Germany—Germany, for God’s sake, the country of Frederick the Great, Bismark, Guderian—to recognize Guaido, Germany rolls over and spreads.

Everything you do seems to be for America’s benefit, not your own. Bojo docilely bans Huawei’s Five G, which sets back Europe’s adoption of an important technology by years—for the sole benefit of America.–Questions for the European Dependencies, Fred Reed

31 August 2020
Springerville RV Park
Springerville, AZ
no pic
Another day in town that started with breakfast at Safire. Then gathered groceries at Safeway and when I left there I stopped at Springerville Automotive Service to talk about a day and time to replace the converter. FedEx tracking claims it will be delivered by the end of the day 2 September. However, it was in Chandler, AZ at 9:02 am yesterday, was in transit and had only 212 miles to get here. I think it could be here today or tomorrow.

Right across the street is Sierra Propane where I parked and also had them fill Desperado’s propane tank. I think I put more in to fill it than ever before. Usually I’m filling it in warmer climes than it was here this morning and it does not hold as much when it is warm.

That took care of everything that I had planned to do in town. Not planning on doing much of anything now that I am back in the Park. There is a book on Kindle Fire that needs to be finished. It has taken longer than usual because I was so wrapped up in making changes to my website.
Much has been made of the differences among post –Cold War administrations in relation to foreign policy. Yet these can be exaggerated. It is true that President Barack Obama (2019–17)—unlike President George W. Bush (2001–9)—would not have invaded Iraq in 2003 if he had been in power at the time. However, Presidents Bill Clinton (1993–2001), George H. W. Bush (1989–93), and Donald Trump (2017–) probably would have. And on the principle of the use of force against America’s enemies without the backing of international law, there has been no divergence among the five heads of state. All administrations have been committed to the preservation of American empire, although they may have differed over tactics in relation to particular issues.–Empire in Retreat: The Past, Present, and Future of the United States by Victor Bulmer-Thomas