October
1 October
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
A few problems but I’m in my new home and it is HOT. It was 93° when I got here and probably will get hotter before the day is done.
The first problem I had was finding a restaurant that was open for breakfast. The planned stop was at Adobe Café near Reserve, NM but they are only open three days a week and today was not one of those days. Then stopped at The Alma Grill and they were also closed with no hours of operation shown — maybe never open. Drove through Glenwood, NM and did not see any restaurants open. Pulled off the road a few miles south of there and cooked my usual breakfast in Desperado.
Second problem was getting my credit card to work at the new Park. They tried three times and were having telephone line host computer connection problems and received a Decline all three times. They said to come back later and they will try again or take my check.
The mail situation is probably going to require me to go to the Post Office to pick up a package because it will not fit in the Park mailbox. I’ll place the orders and see what happens.
The route today was only 213 miles but a lot os slow mountain driving with 15, 20 and 25 mpg curves. The route: US60, US191/180, US180, NM78, AZ78, US191, US70/US191, US191, I-10 (8 miles) & Haskell Av.
In this major new work - the result of a lifetime of intellectual engagement - one of the developing world’s most famous thinkers reflects on the times we live in. He argues that US hegemony has reached a dangerous new level under George Bush Jr, and that the US President’s hubristic militarism will both lead to a never-ending cycle of wars and block all hopes of social and democratic progress, not just in developing countries, but in the North as well.So far as I am concerned, that long-term perspective is one of a long transition to world socialism, for only then can the goal of a genuinely multipolar world be attained.–Samin AminHe was an old time Communist that sees the US hegemony replaced by world wide socialism with the UN as the ruling body. The individual socialist countries of the world will play much the same part as the individual ‘Republics’ did in the USSR
In the body of the book, Amin provides a perspicacious analysis of tendencies within the rich countries - the US, Europe and Japan; the rising powers - China and India; the likely future trajectory of post-Soviet Russia; and the developing world. The central question he pursues is whether there are other hegemonic blocs that may emerge in time to circumscribe American power, and constrain free market capitalism and force it to adjust to demands other than its narrow central economic logic.
This important and thought-provoking book identifies the key global campaigns Samir feels progressives should launch around the world. ‘Another world is possible.’ But, he warns, the diverse citizens’ movements loosely gathered together in the World Social Forum must bite the political bullet and recognise that they can only transform the world if they seek political power.–Book promo @ goodreads.com
2 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 2, 1932
The afternoon walk yesterday was HOT. We were not out there during the high of 95.5° but it was only a degree of two less than that. Still did our two miles but may cut that back a little as long as the temperatures are in the 90s. This morning we were walking during the 46° low and I could have had my ear warmer on.
Not a lot of different walking routes available here. It will be much like what I was doing while in Springerville but with a little more traffic and a little less road shoulder.
The Park had their Credit Card connection problem sorted out by the time we finished our afternoon walk and I paid for my space and made a deposit for electricity. On the way back to Desperado I stopped to talk to a couple women that were out on the patio. One woman had a pit bull and a blue heeler and she showed pictures. Would really like to have a blue heeler.
With the laptop problems that I am having it is time to start thinking about what my next ‘computer’ might be. I am seriously looking to have the Chromebook converted to a Linux OS and get a Kindle Fire HD 10 to use for my daily Internet browsing. There are some problems in doing that but looking at ways to overcome them — having a lot of problems finding solutions to some of them.
3 Oct 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I wasted a couple hours, or more, yesterday trying to get an app for the Kindle Fire to install. Most of that time was wasted while on Chat with 3-4 Indians that provide ‘support’ for Amazon. Never did get an install and the Chat died when my laptop shut down for lack of battery, wasn’t paying attention to the time and did not have it plugged in.
I did have one success however. I got the structure for a SQL database table set up. This will hold all the data that I want for a ‘library’ of almost all the books I have read since living in Desperado.
I did not keep records at the very start of my RV fulltiming and when I started I put the basic information on a spreadsheet. I later discovered Caliber and started loading them onto it as an ebook manager. I’ll now go back to something much simpler that I can access from a Kindle Fire. Can not do that with Caliber and I do not need all the data that Caliber collects.
I am now in a place at a time where the difference between the high and low temperatures is 50°. In meteorological circles this is spoken of as the diurnal temperature variation and is most common when there is a cold air mass move in especially in the Great Plains states of the US. The high here yesterday was 95.2 with a low of 46. The low this morning was 45.7 so there is a chance that we will see a 50° difference.
Caitlin says it all when she says “The responses to Trump’s diagnosis from the liberal political/media class show that they’ve never actually been afraid of Trump. In fact, what they have been afraid of is you.”
Would you stop fighting someone who was trying to kill you with every weapon at your disposal just because they got sick? If you actually believed they truly pose an existential threat to you, would a positive Covid test cause you to let up at all?
Of course not.
It turns out all that unprecedented hysterical shrieking about a Russian Nazi in the White House was just political hyperbole. It was an act. They’ve never seen Trump as a uniquely menacing threat, they see him as what he is: a garden variety corrupt American president who is evil in more or less the same ways the other corrupt American presidents are evil. They see him as a part of the establishment they serve, advancing more or less the same agendas. They see him as a part of the club, just covered by a thin layer of narrative to the contrary.
If you ever had any doubt that Democrats will one day regard Trump the way they now regard George W Bush, you can set that doubt aside.–Response To Trump Covid Diagnosis Shows His ‘Opposition’ Always Saw Him As Part Of The Club , Caitlin Johnstone
What I have quoted is claimed to have been a Facebook posting.
If you go to the southwest desert and catch 100 red fire ants as well as 100 large black ants and put them in a jar, at first, nothing will happen.
However, if you violently shake the jar and dump them back on the ground the ants will fight until they eventually kill each other.
The thing is, the red ants think the black ants are the enemy and vice versa, when in reality, the real enemy is the person who shook the jar.
This is exactly what’s happening in society today:
Liberal vs Conservative.
Black vs White.
Pro Mask vs Anti Mask.
The real question we need to be asking ourselves is who is shaking the jar and why??–Netflix’s “Social Dilemma” is Pure Deflection Because the Best Lies Always Contain Some Truth , Doug “Uncola” Lynn
A heads-up, if you like satire then you may like CONSENT FACTORY, INC., manufacturing consent for private and public sector clients for over 250 years
4 Oct 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
After giving up on Amazon I tried to install another word processing app from a site I had tried before and received an error message. Got that same message again. However, yesterday the app was installed on my Kindle Fire.
I tried to move a Google Doc onto the Kindle and edit it using the app which I had been led to believe could be done. Maybe so but I could not do it. I then copied and pasted the text of the document that I was going to try and edit. That worked somewhat but needed a lot of formatting and the copy and paste did not include everything. Trying to edit using the on screen keyboard is also not something I want to do although using a Bluetooth keyboard it should be possible.
Overall I think I can use this word processing on a Kindle Fire HD 10 with a Bluetooth keyboard as well as my current Chromebook. Only using it will prove that to be true of not.
The SQL table build is going to take some time. It should keep me out of mischief and maybe make me want to do some cabinet painting. I have entered 44 books so far and have only 502 more to go; that is not counting the books that I read between now and when I finally reach the end of this project. Sometimes I question my sanity after starting some of these computer ‘enhancements’.
This isn’t a joke, folks. The New Normals are serious. If you cannot see where their movement is headed, you do not understand totalitarianism. Once it starts, and reaches this stage, it does not stop, not without a fight. It continues to its logical conclusion. The way that usually happens is, people tell themselves it isn’t happening, it can’t be happening, not to us. They tell themselves this as the totalitarian program is implemented, step by step, one seemingly harmless step at a time. They conform, because, at first, the stakes aren’t so high, and their conformity leads to more conformity, and the next thing they know they’re telling their grandchildren that they had no idea where the trains were going.–Invasion of the New Normals , CJ Hopkins
5 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I didn’t make much progress on building the SQL table yesterday. I did make a lot of progress in PHP coding a page that displays what has been entered in the table so far. Click here to see what I have wrought. While building this page I destroyed one that I had coded before—need to recode that one but it can wait.
We came so very close to the 50° difference between the high and low on 3 October that I thought we might see. The low was 45.7 as I said but the high failed by 0.3° reaching only 95.4. Yesterday morning it was 44.6° and I was glad that I was wearing my wool shirt/jacket and gloves. The high temperature cooled somewhat to 90.3 so no big diurnal temperature variation. The forecast expects the highs to remain in the 90s for this next week then moving down into the upper 80s with lows in the 50s — I can hope they are right.
This morning the low was 45° but probably a degree or two warmer than that when we were out there. I had on my windbreaker and wished that I had worn the wool shirt/jacket. Those 50s that are being forecast for the lows played me for a sucker again. The weather gurus continue to forecast mid 50s as the lows for the next six day but I’m not going to buy it.
I have the distiller running again. That will be about all that I’ll do that is constructive today. There will be more time spent adding books to the SQL table and maybe some more progress on the page that shows what is in the table. Getting lessons in PHP coding as I try to make that page do what I have in my mind. I’ll also be reading the nonfiction book that I have started on Kindle Fire.
A so true meme;
I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong. Like that one time I got married.
6 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I had an exciting shopping day. The plan was to stop and do laundry first but when I got to the laundromat door it was locked with a sign that the hours of operation were 8am to 8pm. So I went to Country Pride for breakfast which was good but very slow service with only one waitress. The second and a third come in about the time I was leaving.
I then went to Walker Family Medical Service to see if they might offer better service than what I’m getting through the VA. The cost would be significantly more which I expected but they do not correspond using email. So that was a waste of time.
Almost across the street was an Ace Hardware which I went to and got another quart of base color paint for the cabinets. On the way into the store I tripped on their curb and hit the ground with no serious damage done to my body. However, a few minutes later I discovered that I had destroyed the crystal in my wristwatch. Something else to get fixed with no place in Willcox to do it.
Then back to the laundromat to get my laundry done. Started this post while I was there.
I wasted a lot of time yesterday trying to build a web page to search the Books I’ve Read SQL database. I have something but it is not what I have in my mind. I don’t think I can get what I want using HTML and PHP. I now think I need Javascript which I don’t know and only able to use PHP by cutting, pasting and modifying. I’ll keep building the database and maybe by the time I complete it I’ll have obtained more knowledge.
It was over 80° at 10:00 with the forecast high to be 94. With a low of 45.9 this morning there is a chance that there will be a 50 degree spread between the high and low. We may also be doing a slightly shorter afternoon walk. Patches had a front paw that was bothering her this morning so that may require a shorter walk also.
7 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
There is a roadrunner here in the Park that I have seen almost everyday. A couple days ago he/she came to visit. I was sitting in my chair closest to Desperado’s cab and saw the roadrunner jump up onto the hood and walk across it to the passenger side mirror bar. That was an observation point for 3-4 minutes and then walked across the hood to the driver side mirror bar for another 4-5 minutes. Jumped down and went in search of Wile E. Coyote.
Speaking of searching. I have PHP code on a page that with a HTML search box will find and show all the books that I have read by an author when their name is entered in the search box. It is not quite what I want but it works.
I thought it would be a simple copy, change a couple words and I could search by date as well. WRONG! In the coding world there is nothing simple. It will search, however if there is only one book read in a year it can not find it. Or, any other year that has more than one book read it can not find the first one. I’ll be trying to fix that in the days to come.
Some household duties today. Went out early this morning while it was still cool and did the dumping of holding tanks and filled the fresh water tank. I cooked more succotash yesterday and this morning have garbonzos on the stove. I’ll get the yellow split peas cooking when the beans are done and have another batch of pottage for future ‘linners’.
I might get started preparing the lower cabinets by the entry door for painting today but might not. There is the nonfiction book on Kindle Fire that needs to be read and right now I don’t much feel like doing paint prep.
On all issues that most severely affect real people on mass scale, these two political factions are in emphatic agreement. They just pour a whole lot of sound and fury into the tiny one percent of the spectrum wherein they have some disagreement.
They do not allow for any mainstream discussion of if the oligarchic empire should continue to exist; all their issues, arguments and histrionics revolve around how it should exist.–US Politics Isn’t ‘Polarized’; It’s In Almost Universal Agreement , Caitlin Johnstone
8 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I finally made some progress with the coding for the Books Read page that I want. The first attempt that I showed a few days ago was a good start but I did not want to list every book when the page opened and then have the search results show at the bottom. When I get the SQL database completed it will have about 550 books in it with 4-5 added every month going forward.
Having all of them listed when the page opened would be bad enough but even worse was the search was not correct. It did search and it did show books by author but it did not show all of the books; it did not show the book with the oldest date (i.e. the first book in the list).
I think I have now fixed both of those problems. I’ll do some cosmetic work on the page and it should be good to put up for all to use. To be honest I have created this more for my use than for anyone else. I also need to recode the page that I destroyed while trying to code this new one.
I have finished all the cooking that I need to do for the next week or 10 days. Yesterday I received the walnut pieces that I ordered the day that I got here. However, the coffee that I ordered the same day was only shipped today. Will finish reading the nonfiction book today and get started on one fiction and one nonfiction that I can switch back and forth reading. That is all that I plan on doing while it is still hot.
I didn’t watch the VP debate, didn’t watch the Presidential debate, for the reason expressed by Clarissa in her blog postings made during the debate. A running commentary with this observation being the one that I most agree with.
The mainstream media only wants to talk about the fly that landed on the VP’s head. It got far more ‘News’ coverage than the fly that landed on Obama’s lip during a news conference.
The reason why Republicans have lost every culture war was on full display at the debate yesterday. They simply don’t know how to discuss what people care about. What can possibly be easier given what’s going on? Lockdowns and riots — that’s what people care about. Instead, he [Pence] went on about ridiculous things that matter to a few deranged wonks and nobody else.–Extreme Cluelessness , Clarissa
9 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 9, 1932
I just thought I had the Books Read page search problems fixed. There is still the problem of all the books showing up prior to doing a search. I think the only way to fix that is with Javascript which I don’t know. Maybe I can find something to copy? Wasted more time this morning looking.
I need to have some toilet repairs done and have contacted a RV shop in Tucson, the nearest place that I can find. Received a prompt robot reply; now I’ll see if I get a response form a human. If I don’t I’ll send a couple more messages and then try another shop.
During his years as a scientist working for the British government in India, Sir Albert Howard conceived of and refined the principles of organic agriculture. Howard’s The Soil and Health became a seminal and inspirational text in the organic movement soon after its publication in 1945. The Soil and Health argues that industrial agriculture, emergent in Howard’s era and dominant today, disrupts the delicate balance of nature and irrevocably robs the soil of its fertility.10 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I spent some more time this morning trying to learn something about SQL, AJAX, PHP and how they might work to do the database search that I want for my Books I’ve Read. Accomplishing nothing worthwhile just becoming more confused.
The past couple of mornings when we went for our walks there was a husky roaming the Park that wanted very much to say hello to Patches. With her on a leash that does not work very well because she wants to protect me. The other problem was the husky wanted to come out onto the road with us and he was going to get run over. I asked the Park maintenance fellow about the dog and he said that he had called animal control and would call them again. No husky this morning, maybe they came and got him.
I have discovered that the destruction of Desperado’s converter was my fault. I thought it had simply reached its use by date but my using the distiller and the A/C at the same time was what brought about the failure. I found that using both the distiller and the A/C at the same time also causes the new converter to get hot also. I have stopped doing that!
Probably will finish reading the novel on Kindle Fire and look for the next book to read. I still have the nonfiction book on there that has plenty of pages remaining but I read it in small doses. I also have plenty of books read that need to be added to the SQL database.
11 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
On 27 June 2020 I wrote about how my psoriasis compared to what it was in October 2019. I was using a scale of 1 to 10 with October a year ago being a 10. In June I said that overall I would rate it a 6 or 7. Now I think an overall score would be a 2 or 3 with a couple places that are 5s.
A big improvement which I can only hope will continue. I attribute it to my change in diet, especially giving up all dairy. I guess the only way to prove/disprove that would be to include dairy products again but do not want to take the chance that I’m right.
The Steam House (1880) is a novel recounting the travels of a group of British colonists in the Raj in a wheeled house pulled by a steam-powered mechanical elephant. Verne uses the mechanical house as a plot device to have the reader travel in nineteenth-century India. The descriptions are interspersed with historical information and social commentary.Biden famously stated this election is for the soul of the Nation. In some respects, he is correct although his underlying basis for that statement (Charlottesville) is seriously flawed. The battle lines are not drawn over race, but over class: the entrenched, elite, establishment versus the “deplorables.” It is not about states rights or slavery this time. It is about the soul and the future of this country. By staking out these positions and this territory, anything less than victory on either side will not be accepted.–There Will Be Blood , davenj1
12 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
Into town on another shopping trip. Went to Safeway first and got groceries then to Adolfo’s Taco Shop for breakfast.
Got their Huevos Rancheros with rice and beans which was only so so. The flour tortilla that came with it was excellent however. Almost made up for the bad coffee. I’ll go back because there are not a lot of choices for an early in the day breakfast here which surprised me.
When I started using Caliber in my Chromebook I downloaded the data file to MyFiles which is in the computer versus in the Google Drive cloud. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time but found out that MyFiles can disappear just like with a hard drive.
The Chromebook is acting dicey with the battery not charging and it does not act like it is running off the charger power. So, this morning I was trying to copy that data file from My File to Google Drive before it dies.
I got the data file moved into the cloud but can’t get Calibre to open it. The Chromebook died about the time the move was completed; perhaps that has something to do with it? Got the Chromebook back up and working on charger power but don’t think it is charging. Moving right along.
13 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I didn’t get the Calibre data to work like I wanted but I have it backed up in the cloud as of yesterday. I also have it on my Toshiba where I can still use Calibre if the Chrombook dies.
I’m also still entering all that data in a SQL database. When that is complete I won’t need, or want, Calibre on either computer. Or have it in the Google Drive cloud. I did use a massive amount of Verizon data moving everything around but feel better now that I won’t lose it before getting everything in SQL.
The damage done to my wristwatch was more than just a shattered crystal. It quit running yesterday and I think it is down for the count. Probably cost me more to get it fixed than the cost of a new watch.
I think I’ll replace it with a pocket watch but can not find one that is wind up with a simple face. The manufacturers seem to think that everyone wants to see the watch movements in the face. I have found some that I do like but they are way out of my price range. Settled for a quartz movement although I was looking for a wind up. The price is right, cheaper than fixing the wristwatch.
Nothing much happening here today now that I have ordered a watch. I’ll be reading and adding more book data to the SQL database.
14 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I thought I was going to be making another trip to town to the Post Office to pick up a USPS package that was too large for the Park’s mailbox. I checked the tracking number around 10:15 and was very surprised to find that the package had been left on the saloon porch only a few minutes earlier.
The pocket watch that I ordered will be shipped today and with any luck I’ll get it by Friday. It should be a small package that will fit in the Park’s mailbox. When will someone retrieve it is unknown at this time but I hope to have it by the end of the day on Friday.
Still no luck receiving an email reply to those that I have sent to the RV repair shop in Tucson or the PC repair shop in Sierra Vista. They are either out of business or have so much work that they don’t need my business.
Making slow progress on adding books to the SQL database. I’ll be working on 2018 by the end of today and can now see an end to this project. Maybe another week?
I see and end to the novel that I have been reading on Kindle Fire as well. Maybe today but for sure by tomorrow. Maybe read some more of the nonfiction book I have on there before starting another book of fiction.
15 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I’m cooking more ‘linners’ the past couple of days. The same meals that I have been eating for a few months now. I have added some side dishes to provide some variety but have not grown tired of the same basic meals. They seem to be good for me so I’ll continue with them.
Coward, scoundrel, lover and cheat, but there is no better man to go into the jungle with. Join Flashman in his adventures as he survives fearful ordeals and outlandish perils across the four corners of the world.What follows is a deadly struggle that sees him scampering from the hallowed wicket of Lord’s to the jungle lairs of Borneo pirates; from a Newgate hanging to the torture pits of Madagascar, and from Chinatown’s vice dens to slavery in the palace of ‘the female Caligula’ herself, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar.
Had he known what lay ahead, Flashman would never have taken up cricket seriously.–Book promo @ Amazon
All this is why the Biden-Harris campaign is such a dispirited fiasco. They don’t matter. Their only “policy” is to front for a lawyer network aimed at protecting its members at any cost. Their aim is to hijack what’s left of America’s legal system in order to destroy it. They went public with the scheme in the so-called Transition Integrity Project and the “war game” it ran over the summer. That scenario seemed feasible up to the sudden death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court will change the odds of that scheme greatly against them… and they know it.–What’s Behind No-show Joe, James Howard Kunstler
I predict we’ll see violence (in the US). So far, Trump hints that (he will deem) the election “rigged” if he loses. Meanwhile, (opponents) say that if Trump wins again the coming years will witness the destruction of America. There are Democratic states that cannot bear to be ruled by Trump for another four years. They cannot bear it.
During the Corona (pandemic), these (states) began to disobey and rebel against Trump. How could they bear a second term of Trump, especially if this causes their destruction? They cannot bear (another 4 years of Trump), neither culturally, nor economically, nor politically.–Naqqash: I predict US civil war after 2020 Presidential Election, Anees Naqqash (senior Lebanese political analyst)
16 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 16, 1932
There is very little happening here today. I have nothing planned other than continuing to add books to the SQL database and reading another book that I will eventually add to it.
Still no response to the two emails I have sent to the RV repair shop in Tucson. So, I am trying another one. It is early in the morning but no reply from them either. This one offers up the web page Contact Us form box that I never expect a response any sooner than 2-3 days so I’m not surprised. I will be if I get a response today. Nothing from the PC repair shop in Sierra Vista either but I’m now not expecting one.
The pocket watch was shipped and arrived at the USPS Las Vegas distribution center yesterday morning at 2:09. Nothing on tracking since then. Maybe I get it today or maybe sometime next week?
As a reporter I just give the facts… and then, as I refuse to be a “useful idiot”, I also openly interpret the facts: the fact is, Americans have no idea what they are doing when it comes to politics. If you ask them whether the problem is either ignorance or apathy, they respond, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”…
But the bewildering lack of any 2nd stimulus for households so emphatically proves that the Democratic leadership does not care about the average Joe (Republicans only care about an average Joe if said Joe is willing to reject all government assistance in every form) that even CNN had to hold Nancy Pelosi’s feet to the fire for the first time since Trump won the Republican primaries in 2016. Pelosi accused Wolf Blitzer and CNN of – now get ready to laugh – being “apologists for Republicans” simply because he pressed her on the bewildering and poverty-fuelling lack of a 2nd household stimulus.
LOL – maybe the Russians have flipped Wolf, eh Nancy? Putin’s power is limitless!–3 weeks to election: No 2nd household stimulus? No mass protests? No pulse?, , Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker
While it is crucial to continue reporting the facts [about Coronavirus®] and sharing them with as many people as possible — which is becoming increasingly difficult due to the censorship of alternative and social media — it is important to accept what we are up against. What we are up against is not a misunderstanding or a rational argument over scientific facts. It is a fanatical ideological movement. A global totalitarian movement … the first of its kind in human history.
It isn’t national totalitarianism, because we’re living in a global capitalist empire, which isn’t ruled by nation-states, but rather, by supranational entities and the global capitalist system itself. And thus, the cult/culture paradigm has been inverted. Instead of the cult existing as an island within the dominant culture, the cult has become the dominant culture, and those of us who have not joined the cult have become the isolated islands within it.–The Covidian Cult, CJ Hopkins
17 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
There seems to be a problem everywhere on the Internet this morning. Some of my daily Bookmarks have worked and some have not. Two of the more important ones are my emails and my blog server. They are both at a server that was not serving.
I was able to read many of the blogs that I follow but the News related sites were almost all down. Since these are alt-news sites I wonder if there has been a cyber attack against them? Perhaps this is the October Surprise that we have been eagerly awaiting?
In this riveting real-life adventure, Mark and Delia Owens tell the dramatic story of their last years in Africa, fighting to save elephants, villagers, and – – in the end – – themselves. The award-winning zoologists and pioneering conservationists describe their work in the remote and ruggedly beautiful Luangwa Valley, in northeastern Zambia. A second term for President Trump will to some extent act as a safety valve for the Right. But it will also push the alt-left to become more violent. With the police in major cities neutered by the politicians, the Right will counter, if only to defend itself and its symbols. At that point, ol’ man river overflows his banks and everyone is caught up in the flood.
The flood may take the shape of Fourth Generation war, war fought by people who are not soldiers and whose primary loyalty is to something other than the state.…
Places such as Libya and Syria would be re-created on American soil. It is bizarre that we even have to think about this scenario. But the Left’s violence and the state’s weak response to it means such a disaster is conceivable. The state arose to establish and maintain order, safety of persons and property. A state that fails to do so will fall. If its people are fortunate, a new state that can do the job will arise quickly, although it may be an authoritarian state.–Stepping Back From The Brink, William Lind
18 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
My pocket watch was delivered to the Park mailbox yesterday morning. When I was able to bring up tracking I went to the Park office and asked if the mail had been picked up yet and since it had not I went out and got it for them. I like the look of the watch very much, now to see how carrying it is going to work out.
The pocket watch will probably be carried in the left front pocket of the pants that I wear when not doing our walks. That is where I had it this morning when we went to town on a shopping trip. When walking I wear a GPS wrist watch.
Breakfast was at Country Pride where I got a nice side dish of fruit with the veggie omelet and dry sourdough toast. I think they are going to get most of my breakfast trade while I’m here.
There was a flight of sandhill cranes flying over us as we finished our walk this morning. There were maybe 400 of them although not all together at one time. They were flying in flocks of a dozen or maybe 50 with a half mile or more between flocks. This was the second time that I have seen them flying to the northwest of Willcox where there are corn fields. Probably coming from around Willcox Dry Lake where they come for the winter - they are the ‘snowbirds’ with feathers .
Historical rhymes: French Revolution 1789, Bolshevik Revolution 1917, Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (China) 1966, The Khmer Rouge (Cambodia) 1975. It is now BLM and Antifa’s turn; all the previous anti-facist movements have been communist inspired and they have failed but they killed a lot of people along the way. Was it simply stagecraft in Portland when a guillotine was used to behead a Trump effigy or was it a sign of things to come?
Political terrorism is usually defined by its strategic objectives. Its first goal is normally to turn those domestic or international conditions terrorists perceive to be unjust into unstable revolutionary situations. To a wavering population, terrorist acts are intended to demonstrate that the monopoly of force exercised by incumbent authorities can be broken. The essential idea is to disorient that population “by demonstrating through apparently indiscriminate violence that the existing regime cannot protect the people nominally under its authority”.
A second strategic objective of revolutionary terrorism is to provoke ruling elites into a disastrous overreaction, thereby creating widespread resentment against them. This is a classic strategy, and when it works, the impact can be devastating.–Blowback: the costs and consequences of American empire by Chalmers A. Johnson
19 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I’m without 110v electricity again. The ‘new’ converter seems to be working, I think, and continuing to charge the house battery for the 12v circuits. I also still have 110v to power the refrigerator but nothing to any of the other 110v circuits.
I sent two emails to a RV service shop in Tucson during the weekend. Maybe I will get an answer and an appointment today. If not I send more emails for a couple more days and if I hear nothing I drive to Tucson and go to shops until I find someone to help me.
Willcox had a Trump vehicle parade yesterday afternoon. They were meeting and forming up in the CattleRest Saloon parking lot when we went out for our walk and the parade then began soon after we got back. There were probably 50 vehicles of various types; cars, trucks, motorcycles and UTVs.
There is no doubt in my mind that Trump will carry rural Arizona. The question is will that be enough to overcome the Democrat Party line vote on the Indian reservations and the Democrat majority in the metro areas.
That is about it for today. I cooked some more breakfast hulled barley and oat groats early this morning. I’ll be reading a novel on Kindle Fire that I borrowed from the Round Valley Library in Springerville/Eagar. It has a borrowed time limit so no switching back and forth with the nonfiction book that is on there as well.
20 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I sent an email to RV City in Huachuca City asking for their help with the converter and my electric problem. I don’t expect to receive a reply today so I will send another one later today and then send one everyday until whichever comes first; they respond or I go to Tucson.
Bolivia’s deplorables have undone all that hard work the CIA did last year to pull off the coup there. Elon Musk Tweeted at that time “We will coup whoever we want. Get used to it!” because of the lithium that was now going to be up for grabs. Twitter has taken down that Tweet but he was only expressing US government policy. Back to the drawing boards with sanctions to come very soon I’m sure.
I have set up my 110v work around again and have the distiller working. It is inconvenient and no chance that I can run the A/C but it is getting cooler and my small fan is adequate so far.
I’ll probably finish the novel that I borrowed from the Round Valley library today. It is not a very long book and the ebook version used a larger font than most ebooks which made for a quick read.
Then it will be back to the Harry Turtledove book that I had started plus the nonfiction book that is also on the Kindle Fire. Not much else happening.
21 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
The only effort that I am exerting now is to get someone to fix my 110v electric problem. Sent a second email to RV City which will probably be the last one I send to them. They are certainly not my first choice that is why I tried some shops in Tucson. Sent a first email to D & J and will probably send a second one today.
Have agreed to the appointment at the shop in Tucson for 9 November. If I can not get the electric problem fixed before then they can do it. But they will fix my leaking toilet then and give me an estimated cost of other work that I want done.
I am getting along with my 110v work around and with any luck it is going to be even easier in a few days. The forecast high temperatures are going to be in the 80s for the next four days and then get COLD. The high next Tuesday is expected to be only 58 and the low near freezing. I’ll be complaining about how cold I am within a week.
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life – until the unthinkable happens.Certainly, last spring, no average person could have predicted that, in just a few mere months, Americans would soon be policing each other in ways which would make the post-war, East German Stasi proud. But consider that for a moment: What is Marxism if not the subordination of the individual to the collective which, in turn, capitulates to the whims of a powerful few?
Now do this, Dear Reader: Replace the word “Marxism” in that last question with the term(s) “Coronavirus” or “COVID-19”.
See how that works?
Covid® has provided political correctness and virtue signaling with real teeth: If you comply, you can work and eat. And get a haircut. If you don’t, the mob Karens will eat you.–Sharing War Stories While Playing Tag With Flashlights in the Dark, Doug “Uncola” Lynn
22 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I have completed the SQL database for the Books I’ve Read. Now have added a link in the menu in the left column that will open a page showing them all. It is not exactly what I had in mind but as they say in Bulgaria “It is good enough”.
The local News; more sandhill crane overflights the past two mornings. They seem to be in flight as the sun comes up. Since they don’t have running lights that is probably a safety requirement. I can also hear them doing a lot of ‘talking’ while passing over me. Not sure what the conversation might be but the imagination can form a lot of them.
There was also a train heading west that was totally devoted to what looked to be enough tanks for a battalion. They were probably Army tanks because I have read that the Marine Corps is getting rid of their tanks. Where were they going? Why? Post election riot control in California?
Overdose deaths for the 12 months period ending March 2020 was 72,884. This article says that it has been much worse since March so the total for the 12 months ending in September could be about half what has been attributed to Coronavirus®. An article well worth reading.
In a sizable portion of America, COVID-19 is not the deadliest health crisis in town. Nearly 500 counties have yet to record a single death, and an additional 1700 have less than 20. Yet in many such communities —and even in COVID hotspots —the overdose crisis is taking its toll.
In Boone County, Missouri, COVID-19 killed 2 people through the first half of 2020. Pending confirmation from the medical examiner, overdoses killed between 9 and 43. In Washington County, Maryland, COVID-19 killed 26 people through the first half of the year. Overdoses killed a confirmed 57. In Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, COVID-19 is projected to kill 455 people by years’ end. If current trends hold, overdoses will kill 514.–Inside America’s Other Pandemic, Colin Martin
Another true meme:
And yall keep drinking the koolaid
In 1996, when Bill Clinton, visited Mt Rushmore during his re-election campaign, ABC news called it a place where American ingenuity and American creativity came together and formed an amazing American accomplishments…
In 2008, when Barrack Obama campaigned there, CNN called Mt Rushmore a majestic site and every president should visit…
In 2016, Bernie Sanders campaigned there and said he was humbled to be in the presence of 4 of the greatest American presidents… CNN describe the scene as awe-inspiring…
2020…Trump visits…CNN called it a celebration of white supremacy and Trump will stand before two former slave owners on land wrestled away from Native Americans…
If you think the media isn’t agenda-driven, you have your head in the sand…
23 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 23, 1932
I got the Books I’ve Read page to work almost like I want. Perhaps it is better the way it is now than what I have been trying to do. When the link is clicked it will show all the books that I have read since 2011 in a table format which can be searched using the browser Find.
Or, the Search Box that I have been struggling to make work will find and show all the books by the Author’s searched name at the bottom of the page.
The question now is can I use this new knowledge to code a replacement for the page that I destroyed trying to code this one for Books I’ve Read? Maybe it will be better than what I had before, certainly to be different.
The election pundits are predicting a win in Arizona for Biden and Kelly. That is for president and the race for senator not much media attention paid to the races for representatives. This article, A Look at the 2020 Election: Arizona , by davenj1 has Trump winning with Kelly beating McSally, my representative prior to her losing in 2018 and then getting appointed to fill McCain’s term, and the Republicans picking up one representative seat. It is too bad about McSally but she does not run a very good campaign. I see her moving on with a plush job in the military/industrial world or maybe a secondary position in Trump’s administration if he wins.
A couple memes that complement each other.
Total annual deaths in the US?
2018: 2,839,205
2019: 2,855,000
2020: 2,033,736 through Sep 24th.
2020’s overall death rate is on pace to be LESS than 2018 and 2019. I’m sure that’s the message we are all getting from the media.
Just remember that the ones selling the PANIC are the same ones selling the VACCINE.
24 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
We did an afternoon distance walk this morning so I could get into town and get back before it got hot. I can not have my work around 110v extension cord and the sewer hose hooked up at the same time so I have to move Desperado to dump tanks. Thought it would be easier to do the dumps when we got back from shopping.
That all worked out as planned except I got to Country Pride for breakfast about 10 minutes before they opened. Picked up groceries at Safeway, back to the Park, dumped tanks, added water, got the 110v work around connected and was sitting down with a cup of coffee by 9:00. “I love it when a plan comes together”.–Colonel John “Hannibal ” Smith,
I got a surprise this morning when I put my hearing aids in. They made a lot of beeps and squeaks and then I could hear better than I have for months. I don’t know what happened and don’t know if the improvement is going to stay but so far today my hearing is much better.
I spent some time rebuilding that PHP page for reporting my blood pressure that I accidently destroyed. Not there yet but did make some small progress. I found that I entered a couple readings out of date sequence and have no easy way of fixing the problem. In SQL I can sort the rows and everything looks good but when PHP selects it does so it the order that I entered them. Not a big issue but is a thorn in my side. I’ll worry about that when/if I can get the page finished.
According to the Joe Biden playbook, if elected everyone will have a job, health insurance will be an afterthought with everyone having it, the air will be clean, the waters pristine, and the earth will not shatter in a fireball in 8-10 years. Oh…and Social Security and Medicare will be made magically solvent and blacks, whites and every color in between will all join hands and sing happy songs as unicorns dance over the rainbows. Trump Nails It! “I Ran Because of You... ”, davenj1
25 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I wasted a lot of time this morning trying to rebuild that PHP blood pressure page. I did make some slight progress yesterday. I was able to show the rows of data that I have entered into the SQL database. I can also go to the SQL database and get a total of a column, or part of a column, but can not do it using PHP. I’ll give it a rest!
Nothing else going on other than reading my latest novel and occasionally the nonfiction book that I have started. We did have a few clouds this morning which made for a spectacular sunrise. I think the sandhill cranes were late getting up as well because of the clouds; I saw fewer of them this morning.
Foreign “election interference” is 9/11 minus 9/11. It gets all the same urgent media coverage of 9/11, all the same outrage and all the same demand for forceful retaliation; it just doesn’t have the fallen buildings that people can look at or the bereaved family members that you can talk to. It’s a 9/11 that is completely invisible to everyone, so we have to take the word of intelligence agencies with an extensive history of lying that they happened at all.
Meanwhile, as the US is being victimized by these attacks that only the CIA and NSA can see, the US government is harming the American people to an infinitely greater degree than Russia, China and Iran are. The US government is destroying untold millions of lives at home and abroad, but Americans are being told to worry about invisible attacks by foreign countries that have literally never done anything to them.‐Hmm… America Keeps Getting Attacked By Nations It Hates In Ways Only The CIA Can See, Caitlin Johnstone
26 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
We had strong winds during our afternoon walk yesterday but they got worse soon after we finished. A lot of dust in the air with most of the mountains hidden by blowing dirt. The forecast is for it to be worse today with winds in the 20-30 range and gust of 40mph.
It is blowing in some cold weather with the high tomorrow expected to be 50° and Wednesday a high of 64° after freezing in the morning. I think winter has come in with a vengeance.
I made a BIG breakthrough in the effort to write PHP code for the blood pressure page last night. I still have a long way to go but I think I’m now on the right track. The problem: how to write code that would select the data from a specified number of rows counting back from the most recent row entered. That seems rather simple but there is NOTHING simple in the coding world.
If there was any reason to NOT vote for Biden this is probably the best example I can present. The man does not understand the real world; he has lived his entire life in the Washington D C bubble. I am a reasonably intelligent, educated individual and I sure in hell can NOT learn to program easily. There are probably a few coal miners that could learn to program but there are not a lot of them and they certainly can NOT transition easily into programming jobs.
The former vice president told an audience in Derry, New Hampshire [30 December 2019], that coal miners could easily transition into programming jobs. “Anybody who can go down 300 to 3,000 feet in a mine, sure in hell can learn to program as well, but we don’t think of it that way,” he said.‐Biden Suggests Coal Miners Learn to Code To Be Prepared for ‘Jobs of the Future’ , James Crowley
Do you remember Jill Stein? She was the Green Party presidential candidate in 2016 and got a lot of national media coverage. Do you know who Howie Hawkins is? He is the Green Party’s 2020 presidential candidate and has received virtually no media coverage. In fact his media coverage is on par with the coverage that Jo Jorgensen the Libertarian Party presidential candidate has received. You don’t know who she is either? I’m surprised ‐ not.
The United States one party with two heads has had a lock on the media coverage this election cycle. Perhaps the lack of coverage for these two candidates that are not in the ‘club’ is for the reason that they will most likely take votes from Biden rather than Trump.
27 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I knew that with the PHP coding breakthrough that I had Sunday night that the completion of the blood pressure page was in sight. I finished it yesterday by 11:00
The most important improvement that I have made in coding this page versus the one that got destroyed is there is no ‘hard coding’ in it. By hard coding I mean that the previous page used the ‘id’ row numbers within the coding.
This new page does not do that. If I add more rows in the SQL database there is no need to change the page coding. It will still compute all the six week periods using the last row entered as the beginning of the periods. Take a look; I’m very satisfied with this and learned a lot while building it.
Our walk this morning was a long potty walk, a little less than half the usual distance. I knew it was going to be cold so I put on my wool capote with a wool cap. Was not expecting the mist that we stepped out into or the light rain that alternated with the mist. Patches started doing the ‘dog shake’ so I knew we were getting wet but not too bad. It was when the light rain turned to light snow that I called a halt. Within 15 minutes it was snowing big flakes, had the ground covered and visibility was cut to a couple hundred yards.
Yes, we now have winter and I have the Wave 6 back in operation. It did freeze this morning but only a light freeze with the low at 32°. The expected high for today is 47° which is a long way from the 90 that we had less than a week ago. The low tomorrow morning to be 27 but warming up to a high of 64.
I cooked some more garbanzos and yellow split peas yesterday. That will give me enough for ‘linners’ until I can shop for the ingredients for more succotash. Nothing much happening today now that I completed the blood pressure page coding. Maybe finish reading the novel on Kindle Fire. I did send off a couple emails to computer repair shops asking for help with my Chromebook. I’m doubtful that I’ll get replies; the shop in Sierra Vista never responded.
28 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
Iused some of what I just learned and made a slight change in the PHP coding for Books I’ve Read. The list of books is now shown with the most recently read book at the top. I didn’t know how to do that a week ago.
Return Engagement is the first book of Harry Turtledove’s Settling Accounts series of alternate history novels. An analog of World War II known as the Second Great War is being waged on American soil between the United States and the Confederate States.This four part series is part of a larger series of novels that for convenience’s sake is referred to as the Southern Victory series.‐Edited Wikipedia
I don’t know that it is going to happen this election cycle but do believe that more and more people will be making a decision much like Ron Dreher has. There will come a presidential election where the ‘winner’ receives less than a third of the popular vote. Then what happens?
Note: It has been longer than since 2004 that I have voted for a Republicrat. Didn’t even know there was a American Solidarity Party much less that it had a presidential candidate.
I haven’t voted in a presidential race since 2004, because I am so alienated from both parties. I am deeply on the right on social and cultural issues, but more to the left on economic policy, in the sense of wanting the government to do more for workers and ordinary people, and wishing that the GOP were not so much in thrall to its donor class. I’m a Tucker Carlson/J.D. Vance conservative. It’s easy for me to withhold my vote, living as I do in Louisiana, a red state that is going to go for Trump. But I am tired of not voting for president, and want to push myself to make a decision, and live with it.
Fortunately, when I looked recently at the Louisiana ballot, I discovered that the American Solidarity Party was on the presidential line —that is, its nominee Brian Carroll and his running mate Amar Patel. When I read the platform of the ASP, I found that I didn’t agree with everything, but the overwhelming majority of its pro-family, Christian Democratic (in the European sense) policies I could endorse. I realized that 2020 will be the first time in my life that I can cast a presidential vote for a candidate and his party, as opposed to against the greater of two Republicrat evils.‐The American Conservative 2020 Presidential Symposium, Rod Dreher
…All they [Russia] want is being taken seriously and treated with respect, not as a superpower, but simply as a major, but truly sovereign, power.
Compare that with the unique blend of stratospheric megalomania, narcissistic self-worship and crass ignorance of the leaders of the USA and you immediately see that the Empire is not dying anymore, it is already dead and has been dead for many months now.
What comes next?
Well, the election of course. I submit that under no scenario will the next administration be able to reverse that course and somehow miraculously resurrect the Empire. Empires don’t resurrect. It has been tried in the past (even by Napoleon), it never works. Once empires lose momentum and, especially, their ideological credibility, they are over. Oh sure, a dead body still can emit some heat for a while, some organs, or even cells, can work for a while longer, but dead is dead. Mostly dead bodies bloat and stink, which also applies to dead empires.‐When exactly did the AngloZionist Empire collapse?, The Saker
29 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I spent some time browsing the web looking for guidance to this question “Which should I learn first Javascript or PHP”? The answer seems to be “It all depends but learning one will make learning the other easier. “ Or as is said at another site “JavaScript is hugely useful, but you can get a lot done in WordPress without knowing it.”
I have decided to put learning Javascript on the shelf for now and have downloaded a book, PHP & MySQL: Novice to Ninja, that I hope will teach me what the title offers. The introduction has this to say:
You’ll learn more from making mistakes than you will from code that works right away. The time you spend planning your code should be proportional to your programming ability. If you’re just starting out, as long as you have a broad understanding of what you want the program to do, jump in and start writing code until it does what you want. You can get stuck and try a different approach without feeling like you’re doing it wrong.That is what I have been doing so I guess I’m on the right track.
Yesterday morning the low was 25° and luckily my water pipes didn’t freeze. It did not stay that low for long is the only reason. I’m using the extension cord for my 110v work around and it is a pain to disconnect from that to get the basement heater hooked up. This morning the low was 30.9° which was much better and the 10 day forecast shows no more morning below freezing — all mornings are in the 40s. Bet me.
I need to get busy with the month end house cleaning and Will Rogers weekly article preparation today. There is hulled barley and oat groats on the stove this morning. Those chores and reading the nonfiction book are all that is planned for today. Shopping and laundry are on the agenda for tomorrow.
The quote below is from an article in support of When exactly did the AngloZionist Empire collapse? by The Saker that I quoted yesterday.
I agree with The Saker that the Empire is finished.… No white American will fight for a government that has demonized him, torn down his statues, and erased his people’s history. An army of feminists, transgendered, Hispanic immigrants, disaffected blacks, and displaced Muslims will not fare well against Russian, Chinese, and Iranian forces. Such a collection is not imbued with pride of country, a requirement for a fighting force.
More than the empire is dead. The country itself is dead.–The Empire Has Collapsed, Paul Craig Roberts
30 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: October 30, 1932
I have sent a second confirming email to the RV shop in Tucson telling them that I will be there on 9 November. The first time I said that they needed to fix my toilet and maybe the 110v problem. This second one I said that they needed to fix the toilet and the 110v problem.
I sent a couple emails to a computer repair shop in Sierra Vista and never received a reply. Sent one to a Tucson shop, no reply. Sent two to a shop in Benson and got a response yesterday with an apology for not answering sooner - death in the family. I’ll try and stop there on my way back to Willcox on 9 November.
The trip to town today started with breakfast at Country Pride where I got the same thing that I have been getting. Then picked up groceries at Safeway before going to the laundromat. I would usually do laundry first but the laundromat does not open until 8:00 here.
When I got back to the Park I dumped tanks and added water because of needing to move Desperado to connect to electric or sewer. Can not be connected to both at the same time. That is about all for today. I should finish the nonfiction book that I have been reading and get started on another novel today. The novel will be by a new author to me although he has written a lot of books, fiction and nonfiction. If I like it I’ll try one of his nonfiction.
This second edition was published in 2004 and the quote is from a discussion about China. Mr. Johnson did not write that the United States was also a soft authoritarian nation with a state-corporate symbiosis where corporate is the soft authoritarian and the state turns a blind eye. He did see that there were private companies that were hired to do covert work that congress had tried to prohibit the CIA and military from doing.
…soft authoritarianism achieves its ends through peer pressure, bullying, fear of ostracism, giving priority to group norms, and eliciting conformity through social sanctions of various kinds. Under both types of regimes [hard and soft authoritarian], elections are usually to one degree or another only formalities, behind which permanent state officialdoms actually govern.–Blowback, Second Edition: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson
31 October 2020
CattleRest RV & Saloon
Willcox, AZ
I knew that the day would come during this billing cycle with Verizon. Early in the cycle I used a massive amount of data moving/copying my Calibre data. So the day has arrived where my Unlimited Data Plan with Verizon has been limited. Not limited to how much data I can use in total but how fast I can use it. I have been throttled back to ‘slow’ data usage for the remainder of this billing cycle.
There are pinto beans on the stove this morning that will become succatach by ‘linner’ time. Clean up the stove top later today and the month end routine will be complete once again. The past two mornings the low has been above freezing but about 5° below what the experts have forecast and below the 40s that I thought was wishful thinking. The high temperatures have been wonderful, in the 70s.
But if and when the stricken economies [East Asia 1997] recover, they will almost certainly start to seek leadership elsewhere than from the United States. At a bare minimum, they will try to protect themselves from ever again being smothered by the American embrace. In short, by refusing to reform its Cold War structures and instead insisting that other peoples emulate the American way, the United States gave itself an unnecessary, possibly terminal case of imperial overstretch. Instead of forestalling global instability, it helped make such instability inevitable.–Blowback, Second Edition: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson