July
1 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: July 1, 1934
I spent more time than was necessary to achieve very little in getting the WordPress homepage to look like what I want. It is going to be a painful learning experience I'm afraid.
The afternoon walk yesterday was rained out. Or should I say blown out. The little rain that we got came down almost horizontal because of the wind. It is clear of any clouds this morning but I expect thunderstorms every afternoon for the next six weeks or more. With them it is just the luck of the draw that you will get rained on or not — very scattered.
The novel that I have started to read is one that I read in 2013. It was only after about 100 pages that I thought I remembered reading it before. I'm going to finish it because it is very appropriate for our time and what is happening now.
I spent more time with WordPress this morning. It is certainly a time killer. I did accomplish a couple of things and destroyed a couple others. It is a good thing that I have set a long term goal to get this looking the way I want. It is going to take me some time!
2 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
Today was a shopping day because Honey's Marketplace is closed on Sunday which would have been my usual day to go to town. Unfortunately Saturday is the day that they stock shelves but I was lucky and got almost everything I wanted on my short list. It was also not crowded so the congestion in the aisles was not that bad,
Just a couple blocks away was a convenience store/gas station that also sold propane. I stopped and got Desperado's tank filled at a price that surprised me. I thought propane had increased in price much like gasoline but I paid less than what I did in Sierra Vista when I last filled up.
Breakfast was the same thing but I had to send it back because the kitchen put cheese on the omelet. The waitress knew right away what was wrong when I pointed at it when she set the plate in front of me. Habits are difficult to overcome; if you always put cheese on the omelets it is then work to not put it on.
3 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
It was very cool this morning with a low just below 60 but felt colder than that. The afternoon highs are continuing to be in the 90s. Therefore we have been doing only half the distance unless we get some cloud shade. There is no rain forecast for the next 10 days but it sure looks like it could every afternoon when we go out there.
I wasted a lot of time this morning trying to get WordPress customized to look like something I want to show to the world. The Headers that are offered by WordPress don't match what I want and I can't find a way to customize them. I'll keep at it but it is frustrating.
I know that I will be changing the navigation. That will require writing some pages in WordPress that the navigation ‘buttons’ will link. I haven't even started to put a page together yet so that is going to be a challenge as well. All will get done in time but this project is cutting into my reading.
4 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
The News from here is I have another psoriasis flare going on. Yesterday around noon I started experiencing the usual symptoms and didn't feel up to doing an afternoon walk.
Started my usual ibuprofen course and the low level fever is gone this morning but I still have a mild headache and slightly upset stomach. This is the first flare since March 2020 so I guess I should count myself lucky although I was hoping that the diet would keep me from ever having another one.
I'll finish the novel that I have read a second time today. Then get started reading the nonfiction books that I have stacked up awaiting. I have hulled barley and oat groats in the Thermal Cooker this morning for more breakfast meals. Need to dump holding tanks and more importantly add water. Maybe do the noon and afternoon walks and maybe not depending on how I feel.
5 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
The psoriasis inflammation flash continues to do its thing. I don't remember having the night sweats like I did last night. The low grade fever comes and goes along with a general feeling of lassitude.
It was that feeling that kept me from doing the noon walk with Erik yesterday. Then it was that combined with it being hot and blowing dirt that restricted the afternoon walk to just that part with Patches and Erik; no Erik alone.
I'm feeling better this morning but as I said these flash symptoms come and go. We will see how today goes.
I have made some small progress with designing a customized theme on Wordpress. Not there yet and disappointed with what customizing options that they give me.
The hype is “With the advent of Full Site Editing and Global Styles, themes are changing structurally and functionally to enable far more avenues for customization than users have come to expect in the past.” This might be true since I don't know what prior releases of Wordpress were like. However my homegrown site had far more flexibility; the blocks that are used to build the pages can be moved around easily but the appearance of the block is somewhat restricted.
The focus seems be on making it very easy to add images and videos, which is what the ‘market’ wants, but make the written word a secondary concern. These are my impressions so far, I may change my opinion as I work more with it.
I posted about reading this Dead Tree book for the first time on 30 November 2013. I haven't changed my opinion after reading it a second time.
In her 12th book, the British author of the two series featuring Adam Dalgleish and Cordelia Gray ( Devices and Desires and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, respectively) poses a premise that chills and darkens its setting in the year 2021. Near the end of the 20th century, for reasons beyond the grasp of modern science, human sperm count went to zero.
F3 for First, Fast, and Forceful is how you controll the narrative. A segment titled, “Controlling the Strategic Narrative,” from a US Army operational manual dispensed from Fort Benning, is an example:
With the instantaneous nature of global communications via ICT [Information and communications technology], the importance of rapid and credible perception management is growing at an exponential rate. In the past, if an event could not be hidden from sight, the actors involved could reveal information slowly and in the manner of their choosing. With mounting transparency and actor empowerment, it is no longer the party that explains his case best that wins the argument, but the one who explains it first. The ability to decide on a narrative and get it out into public view in a timely fashion is paramount: the first narrative presented is seen as authoritative, and those holding other views are automatically put in defensive mode—they must hope to persuade their intended audience of the correctness of their view and the wrongness of the other, whereas the holders of the first narrative have no such difficulties. This has strong implications for both the political and military variables, as modern governments and militaries are usually constrained by some form of approval chain that limits their ability to rapidly respond to events, whereas their opponents have no such constraints. ～ Human Rights: the United States and Western Style, Mansoureh Tajik for the Saker Blog
6 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
I have spent way too much time this morning placing and trying to place orders with various vendors. Chewy would not accept the Shipping address. That is because their shipping robot expects a set syntax for addresses and I was not able to guess what it was. Had a couple Chats to cancel one order with the wrong address and find out what I needed to do to enter an address that gets the order delivered.
PayPal has now made it a requirement that you have a telephone to gain access to an account with them. I have sent a couple of messages to them saying that if there is no alternative then they are to delete my account. If I can not access the account I can not change addresses. That is what got me in the mess with Chewy.
Another vendor's order robot would not take my order claiming there were errors that I could not see or correct. Sent an email asking what to do since I wanted to buy their product and was willing to pay for it.
I felt better yesterday and did the noon walk with Erik although it felt much hotter than was reported. The afternoon walk was a repeat of the day before. I still had the feeling of lassitude plus it looked like we could get wet. As it worked out there were only a few sprinkles after we quit with the 0.05-0.10'' rain coming around 7:00 pm. I have a package waiting for me at the Post Office so we will be doing a noon walk today to get that barring more rain.
Making some slow but sure progress with the WordPress project. However it is cutting into the reading time for a very long nonfiction book.
7 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
I did almost the full distance on all three walks yesterday. Not quite back to doing the old normal but approaching it. The noon walk was just to the Post Office which is maybe a quarter mile less than normal. There I picked up the VA prescriptions that had been delivered on 2 July but I thought the notice I received from the VA was that it had been shipped. I forgot that they don't send a notice until it has been delivered.
The distiller has been hard at work again and with one more gallon that should last me for a week or more. Using a lot more during these hot days. Did nothing more with WordPress yesterday, maybe tinker some today. The psoriasis flare inflammation in some areas is disappearing and in other areas it seems to be expanding and getting redder. The ibuprofen treatment course continues.
Some memes are obviously true.
Feminist: A woman can do anything a man can do!
Old Man: Try pissing on a campfire.
8 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: July 8, 1934
The continuing saga with PayPal and Chewy. I placed an order with Chewy and selected PayPal to make payment. PayPal used the credit card billing address which overroad what I had entered as a shipping address so I canceled the order with Chewy and reordered.
Today I found that Chewy had canceled the reorder as well. I had a Chat with Chewy this morning and their “system” did the cancellations; to resolve the issue I needed to telephone a representative to provide verification information. I explained that I could not telephone them and asked what information was required. The Chat representative after a long pause said sorry but the ONLY way was to telephone. My reply was that the machines have taken control of the company and have caused the loss of a customer.
I then spent a lot of time trying to find alternative sellers of the two products that I wanted. I have now placed two more orders with two suppliers to get what I wanted from Chewy. At less cost. HA
The other vendor that had an order robot that would not take my order responded to my email saying that I needed to contact PayPal. Their website claimed that I could pay with a Credit Card but that didn't work and the email responder ignored my offer to pay with a Credit Card. I'll go somewhere else to buy a similar product. The machines have taken control; HAL 9000 is no longer fiction!
I felt bad yesterday after completing our usual noon walk. Laid down for the afternoon and didn't know that the UPS driver had left a package at my steps. This was more chopped walnuts and cranberry beans; I'm now probably supplied with enough of both to last until my next camp.
I felt much better this morning after a night that included more heavy night sweats. We will see what the noon walk brings.
A good article by PCR, I have added the bolding.
People only know what they are born into. American young have no experience of the past, and they do not read. They have no sense of what has been lost. They only know what they are born into, and they are born into anti-white indoctrination. The loss of the youth is the way countries decline and are lost. To the young, free speech is presented as white racism. The young don't know privacy. They are accustomed to exposing themselves and their activities on social media. Free speech is offensive. It offends blacks, sexual perverts, transgendered, feminists. A new aristocracy is rising. It consists of those protected against feeling offended. The offenders are white heterosexual males, and the narrative is that these offenders are being justly suppressed. ～ America Is Being Eradicated, Paul Craig Roberts
This is what the Great Reset wants to bring back. “You Will Own Nothing And Be Happy.”
‘My grandmother used to say that there are only two families in the world: the haves and the have-nots.’ When Cervantes wrote, the village of Navalmoral de Toledo, in central Spain, had a population of around 250 families, of which 50 were ‘have-nots’ who owned no property. Instead they lived in shacks, sometimes without a single piece of furniture — the inventory of their property when they died recorded no chair, no table, no bed — and survived on what they earned from working for the ‘haves’. ～ That was Sancho speaking in Don Quixote
9 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
I am feeling better today than I have in a week. The flash redness appears to be fading, the night sweats have lessened and the lassitude improved. All that was not enough to have us doing the afternoon walk with Eri alone on 97.8°s.
We may shorten the noon walk today also with a forecast high of 100° and it was already at 90 by 9:30. Certainly not a second walk with Erik in the afternoon and maybe no walk with Patches and Erik together.
The shipping at Honey's Marketplace went well with less stocking going on that last Saturday. I was a little later which may account for that. That had me arriving at the restaurant a little later also but they were still not open. Another waiting customer said that they were now opening at 8:30. They got the order right this week and had the biggest breakfast crowd that I can remember seeing.
Maybe tinker with WordPress more today while reading more of the long nonfiction history book that I'm working my way through.
We are not there yet but the Covid-19 pandemic and associated vaxxes made a good start. There need not be a 50 % rise in the death rate for there to be a reduction in the population. A lesser percent every year for many years and Bill Gates will have achieved his population goals.
Creating depleted cohorts.
Any short term crisis that significantly reduces the size of an age cohort, whether through human or natural catastrophe, automatically reduces the ability of that cohort to reproduce itself. A rise of 50 per cent in the prevailing death rate means that those under 15 at the time of the crisis will lack the numbers to restore the previous population level. ～ Global Crisis by Geoffrey Parker
10 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
I canceled the afternoon walk yesterday. This was after doing a noon walk that was about 0.75 miles shorter than usual in 95-96° heat. I think the dogs can handle these hot days better than I can, especially when I'm not up to par.
The low grade fever has gone away as well as the night sweats; that is very positive. I do have most of my energy back; that is not saying I was extremely energetic before. The redness is still with me but I do think it is fading.
The walks will probably be curtained again today with the expected high of 99° after the 100 yesterday. A lot more A/C and simply trying to stay cool while reading and tinkering with WordPress.
This is what the USSR did during Cold War 1.0 now it is the United States turn. The quote is from blogspot.com; how long that may stay up is unknown. There can NOT be any criticism of the United States on the web that is a ‘rules-based international order’.
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2022
The Saker Blog is under attack
Dear friends,
The Saker Blog is under attack and is currently down. The Saker team is working on restoring service, but I ask you for your patience!
Also, if they attack us, it must mean that we are threatening them.
So I consider this as a compliment of sorts for the superb work the Saker Team has been doing, especially since my leave of absence for health reasons.
So I ask for your patience and understanding.
Kind regards
Andrei
Europe and the United States are ruled by an elite who have never seen the reality of total war. They have become complacent about the relative power of NATO and the West against the Eurasian axis. They are drowning in debt and socialist unfunded liabilities they'll never be able to pay. They take their economic supremacy for granted even while the basic commodities and manufactured goods global commerce relies upon are withdrawn from markets by the very nations they're going to war with.…
Our rulers have a shared, mad vision of a one-world government they can impose upon the other great powers of the planet. They've had unquestioned power now for so long and they're so out of touch they won't see their destruction until it is upon them. The leftist NPCs who run this globohomo empire for them think they can just push the button and the people will obey. The mood has changed though. The people are revolting. ～ Western Governments Are Mobilising For World War III, Prepper Anon
I have not quoted from It's Time We ‘ants’ Stopped Feeding The Grasshoppers! by Howell Woltz just providing a link to a good article. I do wish you would look at the picture above the caption “Zero carbon includes ‘us’ — and Bill Gates said so back in 2011”.
An example of why English is a funny language.
I just found out that the company that produces yardsticks won't be making them any longer.
11 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
The walking routine yesterday was almost the same as the day before. We did increase the noon walk by about a quarter of a mile because it was 1-2°s cooler. Didn't do any afternoon walk with the high at 98.9° just missing the forecast. There is another 100° high expected today and the lowest high in the 10 day forecast is 95 but that is 10 days out. We are in for some HOT days.
That is almost all the News that I have. I have made slight progress on the WordPress project. The makers of WordPress for 2022 describe their efforts as follows.
‘WordPress Block Themes allow you to build out the entire site using blocks, meaning the theme's responsibility is mostly design guidelines, and less about controlling the pages and the content on them. This is referred to as Full-Site Editing in WordPress and the themes that are built for this are called Block Themes, because you build out everything with blocks.’
I describe it as arranging the deckchairs on a cruise ship. You can put each chair wherever you may want, change the color, sometimes change its size but it never becomes yours. The makers of the chairs are the ones in control.
This quote is just the first two paragraphs of a good article by PCR. Does this mean that no gasoline powered cars from other states will be allowed to enter California? I think Newsom has adopted the German plan and enhanced it.
California Democrat Governor Newsom intends to phase out gasoline powered cars by 2035 and replace them with battery powered cars that have to be continually recharged with electricity. Currently, there is insufficient electricity available to California to safeguard California from brownouts at current usage. In the meantime California's last nuclear energy electricity plant faces closure. It is completely unclear how California is going to have enough clean electricity for its electric-only cars. A safe conclusion is that California is headed for an unmanageable energy crisis.
Currently California relies on electricity produced in other states. Is California's plan to make itself “clean” by confining the production of electricity to California's suppliers in other states? Does California get “clean” by dirtying other states? ～ The Latest News Foretells American Collapse, Paul Craig Roberts
12 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
We did a full distance noon walk yesterday with the first half very nice but it was about 94° when we finished. The afternoon walk was canceled as it probably will be for the rest of the week. The high yesterday was 102.5° which came around the time we usually do the afternoon walk. We will resume them when the temperature gets down to 95 or lower; that is about all I can tolerate now.
It didn't cool down all that much during the night the low this morning was 75.4°. It was back up over 80° and over 30% humidity by 8:00 am. That is midwest weather not suitable for us desert rats.
With the hot afternoon I did a refrigerator defrost. I have been putting it off for too long because when I defrost I need to do a good cleaning as well. That chore is done now, maybe for another year if I can put it off. HA
This morning it was dumping the holding tanks and adding water time. I got done before 8:00 am but I was sweating like I had been working hard by the time I finished. I don't like it hot but sure hate humidity.
13 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
We got a slight shower yesterday around 4:00 in the afternoon. Just enough to show in the dust that some rain did fall. No rain at the reporting station. The high yesterday was cooler than the day before with the high moving down to 101.8°. HA I guess I could have stayed in Benson where they have had highs over 100 for the past 6 days with the highest at 105.6°
I need to be fair(?) to President Biden. This last trip to town I saw that there were gas stations that had reduced their prices by 30¢. Here in Fredonia there is only one station that I saw yesterday that had reduced their prices by 40¢. So the president's threats may have worked; or maybe the drop in the price of crude oil has worked its way through the market to the retail level.
Nothing is going to happen here today except for me trying to stay cool.
Please note that the weapons smuggling route cuts through Bulgaria from east to west. Bulgaria is part of NATO and a great US ally. They are making me so proud of my Peace Corps service in that country.
The protracted conflict in Donbass has long been one of the main sources of weapons for numerous European extremists and Islamic terrorists, but now the sale of arms has become completely uncontrolled. On the very first day of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian authorities were already offering machine guns and rifles to just about everyone. Some of these weapons immediately ended up on the black market. Soon, there were also offers for the sale of body armor, night vision devices, grenade launchers and MANPADS. Amid total corruption, which, despite all its efforts to bring Ukraine into the EU, Europe has not been able to defeat, Ukrainian military supply officers are selling everything. The Russians recently announced that several new French and German self-propelled howitzers, delivered in perfect condition to Russian design bureaus for study, were not seized in battle, but bought at a big discount at the frontlines. This is not new, however, as some of the volunteer units of the Donbass separatists have long been active buying loads of weapons and equipment from across the frontline. Besides, the Europeans really don't care much about who will be firing the Javelins, Zelensky's soldiers or Donetsk separatists, as long as this weapon stays on the battlefield. European, and US, supplied weapons are up for grabs by anyone. “Stingers” can be had for a price ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars, paid in cryptocurrency. With some patience, you can find reliable suppliers. ～ Arms for victory over Russia? No, for their resale!, Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci tested positive for Covid on 15 June 2022. He had been vaxxed and boostered to the max yet still contracted Covid. He then took a 5 day course of Paxlovid, made by Pfizer, which he says did what it was supposed to do — keep him out of the hospital. What it did not do is keep him from testing positive again after the Paxlovid treatment.
Now I have read some more good News; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has tested positive for Covid. He was also vaxxed and boostered to the max.
“As I recently said, the United States is a geographical location, not a nation. We should keep in mind our riven state of being before we get ourselves in a war with a united country like Russia.” ～ Paul Craig Roberts
14 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
I Have been messing with the WordPress Post background color for three days now and have yet to get it the way I want it. I'm almost there but have a gap in the color that I can not fill. This has been an ongoing issue with WordPress for years. There is probably a css fix for it but I have not found that yet.
That has cut into my reading time a lot. I think I'll let WordPress stew for a while and get back to reading the very long nonfiction book that I have started. That and try to stay cool.
They should have understood that they have already lost from the very beginning of our special military operation, because its beginning means the beginning of a radical breakdown of the World Order in the American way. This is the beginning of the transition from liberal-globalist American egocentrism to a truly multipolar world — a world based not on selfish rules invented by someone for themselves, behind which there is nothing but the desire for hegemony, not on hypocritical double-standards, but on international law, on the true sovereignty of peoples and civilizations, on their will to live their historical destiny, their values and traditions and build cooperation on the basis of democracy, justice and equality. And we must understand that this process can no longer be stopped. ～ President Putin address to the meeting with State Duma leaders and party faction heads
“It's quite interesting that in American discourse, it is almost obligatory to refer to the invasion as the ‘unprovoked invasion of Ukraine’. Look it up on Google, you will find hundreds of thousands of hits. Of course, it was provoked. Otherwise they wouldn't refer to it all the time as an unprovoked invasion.” ～ Noam Chomsky
15 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: July 15, 1934
I thought we were going to get a hard rain yesterday afternoon. I was watching a wall of water moving toward me from the south but it rained mostly there in the south. I got 0.05'' per the reporting station but probably less than that from the look of puddles. All it has done is raise the humidity to a level that is very uncomfortable.
There has been a scant selection of non-dairy yogurt at Honey's Marketplace every week since I have been here. This morning there was NONE. The only breakfast restaurant, per my definition, was not open for breakfast at 8:30. This was purported to be their opening time as of last week; however I think they open when they feel like it. They will not get a lot of my business if they continue that policy.
I spent a lot more time this morning ‘working’ on WordPress. All I managed to do is change the background color in one part of the Homepage and destroyed what I had done before on the Post Pages. I don't get WordPress Twenty Twenty-Two. It makes no sense to me.
It continues HOT with the high at 99° yesterday. Weather Underground is expecting much cooler today with the high to be only 96. I'll have the A/C on almost all day since it was turned on early this morning.
16 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
You win some and you lose some. I gave up on the default WordPress Twenty Twenty-Two theme and installed the FREE version of Astra. I was able to build in an afternoon as much, if not more, of a WordPress website than I had been able to do with Twenty Twenty-Two in a couple of weeks. I have also been able to add customizing css code this morning that worked. I was never able to get any custom css coding to work with the Twenty Twenty-Two theme.
That does not mean that I have been able to do everything that I want. However, I might be able to get there on my own or I can spring for a few $ and buy the Pro version of the theme. The theme developers don't give everything away for FREE. HA
The high yesterday was only 93.8° but it was already at 95.5 this morning at 10:45. I'm not so sure that we will be doing a noon walk in that temperature and a forecast high of 99.
A good day to work some more on the WordPress theme and to read the very long nonfiction book that is a rather slow read.
17 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
It was another HOT day yesterday with a high of 100.9°. It was 95-96° at noon so we skipped that walk as well as the afternoon one. Ir was already 87 this morning at 9:00 with an expected high of 100 so we may not be doing much walking today other than the one this morning.
I have had some limited success with the Astra WordPress. Was able to add custom code that made the blockquotes' look almost like I wanted. However, I have spent a lot of time trying to get the aside HTML tag to work on WordPress as it does on my homegrown site.
Later today I will try to put together a Page rather than a Post. There shouldn't be all that much difference but I'm sure there will be surprises. That and more reading will most likely fill my day.
18 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
We were still on our morning walk only routine yesterday. The noon temperature was again in the 95-96° range with the high for the day at 101.2. If the weather guessers are right today will be cooler with a chance of rain. We may get to do a noon and afternoon walk; we may also get wet.
I continue to make progress with the Astra WordPress theme. I have asked them for help with the aside formatting and have not received a reply. Since I'm using their FREE theme there is a good chance that I will not get much support but I did ask.
I wasted a lot of time this morning trying to get the hr tag customized in Astra Wordpress. Finally I did a work around where I inserted the image I wanted and then made that a Reusable Block. It is not the solution that I wanted but will work for now until I do find the customization solution. It does look good.
I was able to change the font globally to one that now shows my quotes as “smart quotes” if I enter the text in WordPress using the HTML edit. It all about learning how to work with the system or working around it.
19 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
We did the morning and noon walks yesterday but skipped the afternoon one. The temperature was borderline acceptable, a high around 96°, but I was being held hostage by a UPS delivery that I needed to sign for. Probably no afternoon walk today with a forecast high of 99 and a sore arthritic foot (a lasting reminder from the psoriasis flare).
That delivery was from System 76 with the package containing my new toy. A Galago Pro 14” with Pop! OS (System 76's Linux distribution) similar to Ubuntu and Debian. I have used both of those other distribution OS so it does not appear there will be a steep learning curve.
I unpacked it and did all the setup in about an hour. Then I had some problems installing Brave as my browser. When I did get it installed it did not open as a full screen which has been a reported problem. It wasn't for Ubuntu or on my Fire 8. I will now try to install Vivaldi as my default browser and see how that goes; I couldn't get it to install on Ubuntu.
Received a reply from Astra concerning aside. What they suggested as a fix didn't work so I sent another email. I don't think they have a fix that will do what I want.
It was so simple to do in my homegrown coding I can't understand why WordPress has made it so complicated. Other than WordPress does not want the user to be adding code; that is reserved for ‘developers’ which I think are also the people that put WordPress together.
This author makes the same points about China that Fred Reed has in some of his posts during the past 3-5 years.
The West, and I mean the terror states of America and Europe, are the most censorious and domineering parties on earth. They make sure you will never hear or read anything Russian, anything Indian, anything Chinese (with the exception of pro-Western dissidents, of course).
The Forum [The Chinese Academy of Social Science or CASS] is just one of many thousands of such top-tier gatherings the West cannot ever report on because if the slave people in the West knew about how far China is ahead of them, we would see regime changes in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels. Western people are now caged people. They are the last world people, denied reality. In fact, they are now outside of humanity. — The Xin-Civilization — What The Chinese Can And Cannot Do, Thorsten J. Pattberg for the Saker Blog
President Putin has learned this lesson well.
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
20 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
The high yesterday was a little less than the 99° that was forecast but still above my 95 limit for an afternoon walk. Today the weather guessers expect it to reach 101. They usually miss their guesses on the low side so I'm expecting a very HOT day. It is already 80 at 8:00am.
That dictated my getting out there and doing the holding tank dumps and adding water before it got even hotter. The water pump was sucking air as I filled the distiller so I knew that adding water was a top priority.
I noticed that my Garmin watch was having its software updated yesterday. When that was completed everything seemed to be working. However, this morning when I selected the GPS the watch froze up. Nothing was working. I found a fix on the Garmin site which actually did fix it, I was surprised, so back to tracking my walking.
I wish the solution for getting my Bookmarks from the Brave browser on the old Toshiba running Ubuntu imported to the Vivaldi browser on the Galago with Pop! was as simple. I spent at least two hours yesterday and accomplished nothing. I'll be back at it again today and try something different. I think yesterday I was doing the same things and expecting different results — insane.
I have a lot on my plate now with the WordPress project and a new computer. It does help keep the mind active but is also frustrating.
You don't read or hear much about the protest all around the world in the Lame stream Media. There was some coverage of the truckers in Canada but I didn't know that there were protest in Panama. The Panamerican Highway blockage can not be a good thing for the supply chain. Is it also causing a problem with Panama Canal shipping and the supply chain there as well? People want to know. Will this be coming to the United States next?
Large trucks and banner-waving demonstrators blocked the Panamerican Highway and other roads in Panama on Friday as two weeks of revolt against high prices and corruption showed no signs of abating. — Highway blocked as Panama protests persist, Santiago (Panama) (AFP)
21 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
The trip into town was a downer for the most part today. Well, maybe not for the most part. The Grocery gathering went well and I was able to donate clothes and shoes to the Hospital Auxiliary. So those two stops worked well.
It was the laundry that cost me double because the machine took my money and then did not wash. It was also the restaurant that charged me more than usual and gave me no local/senior discount. I can not afford those prices; they are going to become an every two weeks stop rather than every week.
I made good progress with the look of WordPress yesterday. I now need to concentrate on getting a Camp Maps written. That will be relatively easy, I think. The more difficult Page is going to be the one I have in mind for the Books I've Read.
The high yesterday was only 99.8° not the 101 that was forecast. The weather gurus are not giving up however they think that the high today will be 101. They could be right since it was 98 at 11:00 am. It is already HOT just forecast to get hotter. We will not be doing a noon or afternoon walk.
This is the first Post that I have typed up and copied to the site page at my host using the new System 76 Galago Pro computer. It is going to take a week or so for me to get comfortable with it but so far so good.
22 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: July 22, 1934
We didn't do a noon or afternoon walk. The high yesterday was 103.7° but the forecast is expecting cooler today; they think it will be only 102.
What I did do was get started on coding a page for the Camp Maps. On my site now they are available from a dropdown menu but I have never liked how they dropped down. I don't even want to try doing something similar in WordPress.
A couple days ago I said “Received a reply from Astra concerning aside. What they suggested as a fix didn't work so I sent another email. I don't think they have a fix that will do what I want.” Well, I was wrong. I got an email reply from their Support yesterday that did provide a solution to adding an aside within the text body of a Post. They provided a video that explained how to do it but with my poor hearing a video How To doesn't help much. I had been reading and studying what my next effort would be and what Support said confirmed that I was on the right track. Got 'er Done.
I was also up later than usual last night cleaning up after Patches again. She started throwing up her dinner around 7:00 and continued leaving a mess, off and on, until 11:00. She seemed to be in fine fettle this morning but I put her on a half ration breakfast.
I did get lucky that when she first started she got out of her bed and selected a nice clear spot on the floor. She didn't mess up her bed and blankie this time and I cleared the floor promptly of all the beds and rugs.
That is how it goes with us here. Just trying to stay cool, learn to use the new computer, work on WordPress and read.
23 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
The high yesterday was 103.2° which had the A/C working almost all day. This morning the temperature was wonderful with lower humidity. If it would stay like that that all day there would be so many people here that I wouldn't have room to walk. The forecast high for today is 98 so we might get to do a noon walk before it reaches that.
I got the Camp Maps page written up and coded yesterday. It has now been added to the Old Site Menu in WordPress. I thought it would be easily done and it was except for a couple of stupid mistakes.
The more difficult one is going to be the Books I've Read. I have been reading about how to do it in the pages of my homegrown site. There will be a learning curve but I think I can do it. I have also been reading about how to do it in WordPress and haven't understood much of what I read. The learning curve to do it in WordPress is far too steep at this time since I am just learning how to do the very simple stuff in it.
Today I'll finish distilling water. Also have more hulled barley and oat groats cooking in the Thermal Cooker. Need to get back to reading that long nonfiction book on Fire 8 plus reading about AJAX, PHP and MySQL online. A busy day is on tap.
Pretty soon, it's going to be every country for itself in this main event of the fourth turning (a.k.a. the long emergency). Global unity is a mirage, along with all the preposterous narratives of a world government. And in every country for itself, it's going to be every community, every family, every person for itself until, emergently and painfully, everyday life can be reorganized from the ground up. People, get Ready. — People, Get Ready, James Howard Kunstler
24 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
It sure looked like there was rain coming from the south again yesterday afternoon so we did not walk. The temperature being 96.8° was another reason for not walking but the threat of rain was most pressing. However, we got only a few sprinkles and like that last big rain I saw coming it never got here. The forecast is that it will be much cooler today so we may get to do all three walks.
I continue to read about how to use AJAX, PHP & MySQL but the more I read the more confused I get. Probably not today but maybe tomorrow I'll try to do some coding and see what happens.
This is just one of the great points that ‘The Saker’ makes in this long analysis. If you want the otherside of the Ukraine story this article is a very good place to start.
[Sidebar: most people in the West think of military operations as something similar to US football: there are “lines/fronts” which are defended and most forces are facing each other along these lines. This is not so. Modern warfare is much more similar to European soccer, where each player is “attached” to an opposing player and these players constantly maneuver and regularly engage each other. For example, modern warfare does not really have a “front” and a “rear” as we can see from the Russian strikes deep inside the western Ukraine. Finally, modern warfare deeply relies on coordinated actions. That is to say that even if side A has, say, five subunits (say companies) you cannot add them up and count them as a regiment or brigade because they lack the ability for coordinated operations (nevermind joint or combined ones). Think of your hand, it has five fingers, but these five fingers only become a powerful fist if the five fingers act in unison and become one fist. So when somebody write about, say, 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the eastern Ukraine, this describes a X number of platoons, companies, regiments or even “brigades” (I put quotation marks because these are not real brigades with a full table of organization and equipment), these subunits are not capable of coordinating their actions like the Russian military does. There is a lot of talk about “network centric warfare” which is nothing but combined arms operations on steroids, where the level of integration includes a full fusion of all C4ISR [Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] data into one common real time picture of the battlefield and a full coordination of all military forces/means. By the way, only Russia has fully developed such a capability (though the US has also made some serious progress in this field)]. — Five months into the Special Military Operation — a summary, AndreiAlso by Andrei: “In a small village, a local discovers a bottle and when he opens it, a genie comes out and says: since you have liberated me, I will grant you one wish, the only condition is that your next door neighbor will get double of what you will. Then the man thought for a while and replied: please poke one of my eyes out!”. This is the current mental state of western ”leaders”… Yes, the West is so soaked in rabid hatred and fear of Russia that it prefers to commit collective suicide rather than accept any type of coexistence with a sovereign Russia.
I think these are three of the better quotes from Sen. John Kennedy (R) Louisiana:
I believe exercise makes you look better naked. but so does alcohol.
I believe the water won't clear till you get the pigs out of the creek.
I believe love is the answer, but you should own a gun just 'n case.
25 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
The high yesterday was 93.2°; the lowest high since 7 July 2022. We were able to do all three of our walks for their entire planned distances for the first time in a long time; maybe since 7 July. The forecast for today is for it to be even cooler however there is rain in the forecast for every afternoon during this next week. So the afternoon walks are subject to being rained out.
I installed Brave and Vivaldi on my new System 76 Galago laptop and have been using Vivaldi for about 5 days and don't like it compared to Brave. I have just the opposite opinion with the two browsers installed on my Fire 8. So I guess I use the one I like best on the laptop or tablet and not try to use just one on both.
I have hominy cooking in the Thermal Cooker today and will bring it to a boil again before going to bed and let it cook overnight as well. The red hominy takes a long time to cook. Then sometime tomorrow I'll add the cranberry beans, bring to a boil and cook that. The cranberry beans cook quickly, much faster than pinto beans and I like the flavor much more. That will be the base for more succotash in the ‘linners’ to come.
Maybe try some coding for the Books I've Read page today. Or, maybe not. There is that long nonfiction book that I have been slowly reading that I would like to finish.
26 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
We were able to do all of our walks again yesterday although the afternoon walk was done with scattered showers at a distance all around us. I think the monsoons that come from the south release their rain on the Kaibab National Forest/Grand Canyon and we here are in the rain shadow. However, the monsoon has been rather weak in this area with not much rain at the North Rim either.
Yesterday I tried three times to get a button onclick to activate the PHP coding that generates a list of my books read from MySQL data. This was three different ‘solutions’ that I found online. None of them worked. I'm giving up on trying to find a solution online and have downloaded a book that I will use as a text book. Maybe with it I can learn enough to do the coding and understand what I'm doing. Then again maybe not.
I expect the National Bureau of Economic Research to NOT declare the United States has entered a recession after the numbers show a decline in GDP for a second quarter. The Biden administration does not want there to be a recession so the ‘folks’ at the Bureau will not declare one. However, there is an old rule of thumb: A recession is when your neighbor is out of work; a depression is when you are. I think most ‘deplorables’ live by that rule of thumb rather that what the Bureau might say.
They are trying to do it to us again. Over the past two years, they have lied to us over and over again, and now they are going back to the same old playbook one more time. Everyone is anticipating that Thursday's GDP number will show that the U.S. economy has now contracted for two quarters in a row, and when that happens that will mean that we have fallen into an economic recession. In fact, if you go to Google and type in “recession definition”, this is what you will find: “a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters.” But the Biden administration doesn't like that definition for obvious reasons. If everyone starts throwing around the word “recession” to describe what is going on, the outlook for the Democrats in the midterm elections is likely to get even bleaker. — The Gaslighting Has Escalated To Extremely Absurd Levels As The Biden Administration Desperately Attempts To Move The Goalposts, Michael Snyder
27 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
Today was shopping day. For the first time the shelf where they stock the non dairy yogurt was completely full. Got everything on my list, back to the Park and breakfast started all by the time that the only restaurant in Kanab opens for breakfast at 8:30 (sometimes). I won't be waiting for them to open anymore while I'm here and will save a lot of money at the same time.
The cranberry beans and red hominy are in the Thermal Cooker this morning. I'll bring them up to a boil again before I go to bed and cook them overnight and they should be ready for ‘linners’ tomorrow.
We got the most rain since I have been here last night after I went to bed. The reporting station claims 0.40'' which is probably more than I got but it was still the most rain however much. The event started with a lightning strike that was right upon us that knocked out power for about an hour. Then came a light drizzle with the female rain following later in the night. High humidity today!
If you will pay attention to the News I think you will discover that “unknown causes” have overtaken “natural causes” as a reason for death. All the well known reasons for dying have been called natural but now there is a serious increase in the unknown. This has been occurring in first class athletes that you would not expect to be dying young. Might that be because of the “jab”?
“ There has now been research published in Sweden that found that the mRNA “vaccines” do change the vaccinated person's DNA.” — Paul Craig Roberts
A great meme.
I read some exciting news that Amazon is bringing drone deliveries to our city.
I can't wait — skeet shooting with prizes!
28 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
My closest Weather Underground reporting station says that it got 0.05'' of rain yesterday afternoon. I don't think I got even that much but there was enough that I canceled the afternoon walk. Very cool and humid this morning.
Most of my day is now taken up with reading that long nonfiction book that has taken me forever to finish and the new book Learning PHP, MySQL, and Javascript by Robin Nixon. Just getting through the introduction of that later book where he tells you how good it is ‘going to be’ (there is an old programmer joke about this).
However, “time and tide wait for no man” and it is now time for me to do some more Will Rogers weekly article formatting. Then for the next couple of days it is month end household chores that take priority. Doing all that and staying cool will take up my time.
Speaking of time, Dr. Hossam Matar in an interview thinks that the United States may be running out of it.
The United States announced in June or at the end of May, in a speech made by Blinken (, the US Secretary of State,), the American approach to confronting China. (Blinken) said four times in his speech “this decisive decade”, which is from 2020 to 2030. All American literature today uses the term: “the decisive decade”. (The US) says that it has the next 10 years (until the end of 2030) to resolve the conflict with China. If it can reverse the trajectories in this time period… In other words, if (the US) can transform the rise of China into a decline, and the decline of the United States into a rise, it has a chance of reclaiming or maintaining its leadership (over the world). However, if it does not succeed to accomplish its goal before 2030, and China continues to rise at the current level and pattern, and America is not able to regain the initiative, (the US) will reach the point of no return and China will become the strongest in the international system. Consequently, all American thinking (today) looks at the world, including the Middle East, with its conflicts and forces, from a Chinese perspective, at the first, second, third and fourth stage, before it gets into any other issues. — Today Asia feels it can regain its civilizational weight lost for 500 years, Dr. Hossam Matar in an interview on Al-Manar TV
Russia: Don't cross our red lines in Ukraine or we'll take action.
US politicians: They're bluffing. Cross those red lines.
*Russia invades.*
China: Don't cross our red lines in Taiwan or we'll take action.
US politicians: They're bluffing. Cross those red lines. — Caitlin Johnstone
We wait to see the outcome and it will be China's national reunification with its recalcitrant province on China's terms, not imposed terms. Bear in mind that Taiwan is not a candidate currently for independence. The current government does not dare to call for a referendum as 75% roughly of Taiwanese will vote for remaining with the Chinese mainland. China Daily reports: For National Reunification we are willing to go to war. Taiwan is a distraction, Amarynth for the Saker Blog
29 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: July 29, 1934
Not much happening here today. The weather is forecast to be a repeat of the past couple of days. Maybe rain in the afternoon, not as hot as last week but just as uncomfortable because of the increased humidity.
Today I got the holding tanks dumped and more water added soon after breakfast while it was still cool. I'll be doing the household chores with the A/C running and will be doing them slowly. Doing a little in between getting this posting done and some reading.
“Well the government had never thought of that, but they had some Congressmen there reminding 'em of it. That's what a Congressman or Senator is for, is to see that too much money don't accumulate in the National Treasury.” — Will Rogers
If you know George Carlin you know that he used some ‘strong’ language so you are warned. But this is so good and so timely; thirty years later!
Thank you… I appreciate it… I appreciate that [has a sip of water]… good to have a little sip of this, the water, I assume, is still safe to drink in New York huh? [Audience reacts negatively] Actually, I gotta be fair with you; I'm only setting you up a little bit. It's just… it's not a trick question but it's just a set-up cause I don't really care about the water, to tell you the truth, I just love to hear the answer to that question. I ask that question everywhere I go. Everywhere I go, I say: “How's the water?”… Haven't got a positive answer yet… not one. Last year, I was in 40 states, 100 cities. Not one audience was able to say to me: “Yes, enjoy some of our fine local water! It is pure and it is good!” Of course, I know a lot of people don't talk that way anymore but nobody trusts the local water supply. Nobody! And that amuses me, I like that, I admit I'm a bit perverted but it amuses me that no one can really trust the water anymore and the thing I like about it the most is: it means the system is beginning to collapse and everything is slowly breaking down.To be continued
I enjoy chaos and disorder — not just because they help me professionally — they're also my hobby. You see, I'm an entropy fan. When I first heard of entropy in high school science, I was attracted to it immediately. When they told me that in nature, all systems are breaking down, I thought: “What a good thing! What a good thing! Perhaps I can make some small contribution in this area myself.” And of course, it's not just in nature, in this country, the whole social structure… just beginning to collapse, you watch; just beginning now to come apart at the edges and the seams and the thing I like about that is that it means it makes the news on television more interesting, makes the television news more exciting, makes it more fun. I watch television news for one thing and one thing only: entertainment! That's all I want from the news: entertainment! You know my favorite thing on television? Bad news! Bad news and disasters and accidents and catastrophes. I wanna see some explosions and fires! I wanna see shit blowing up and bodies flying around! I'm not interested in the budget; I don't care about tax negotiations; I don't wanna know what country the fucking Pope is in! But you show me a hospital that's on fire and people on crutches are jumping off the roof and I'M A HAPPY GUY!!! I'M A HAPPY GUY!!! I'M A HAPPY GUY!!! I wanna see a paint factory blowing up! I wanna see an oil refinery explode! I wanna see a tornado hit a church on Sunday! I wanna see people — I wanna know there's some guy running through the K-Mart with an automatic weapon firing at the clerks! I wanna see thousands of people in the street killing policemen! I wanna hear about a nuclear meltdown! I wanna know the stock market dropped 2000 points in one day! I wanna see people under pressure! Sirens, flames, smoke, bodies, graves being filled, parents weeping… exciting shit! My kind of TV! I just want some entertainment! It's just the kind of guy I am! It's the kind of guy I am! You know what I love the most? When big chunks of concrete and fiery wood are falling out the sky and people are running around trying to get out of the way!
Exciting shit! That's why I watch auto-racing. That's the only reason I watch auto-racing: I'm waiting for some ACCIDENTS man!!! I wanna see some cars on fire! I don't care about a bunch of redneck jackoffs driving 500 miles in a circle! 500 miles in a circle? Children can do that for Christ sakes! Doesn't impress me! I wanna see some schmuck with his hair on fire running around punching his own head trying to put it out! I wanna see the pits explode! I wanna see a car doing a 200mph cartwheel! Hey, where else besides auto-racing am I gonna see a 23 car collision and not be in the son of a bitch?! And if a car flies out of control, lands in the stands and kills 50 spectators, FINE, FUCK 'EM!!! Serves 'em right; they paid to get in, let 'em take their chances with everybody else! Just means more fun for me! More fun for me!
Hey, at least I admit it. At least I admit it. Most people won't admit to those feelings. Most people see something like that on television, they'll say: “Oh isn't that awful? Isn't that too bad?” Pbbt! Lying asshole! Lying assholes! You love it and you KNOW it! EXPLOSIONS ARE FUN!!! And hey, the closer the explosion is to your house, the more fun it is! Did you ever notice that? Sometimes, you have the TV on and you're working around the house, some guy comes on television and says: “6,000 people were killed in an explosion today”… You say: “Where?! Where?!” He says: “…in Pakistan.” You say: “Aww fuck Pakistan! Too far away to be any fun!” But if he says it happened in your hometown, you'll say: “WHOA!!! HOT SHIT!!! COME ON DAVE; LET'S GO LOOK AT THE BODIES!!! LET'S GO LOOK AT THE BODIES!!!” I love bad news! I love bad news! Hey, the more bad news there is, the faster this system collapses. Fine by me! Fine by me! Don't bother my ass! Don't bother my ass none! I'm glad the water sucks. I'm glad it sucks. You know what I do about it? I drink it! Unless… unless it really smells, if it really smells a lot like sulfur, then I might buy a soda. But it's gotta be a soda loaded with chemical additives! I like a lot of chemical additives in the things I eat and drink! — George Carlin: Jamming In New York (1992)
30 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
I got another 0.14'' of rain last night starting around sundown and continuing a slow drizzle until 9:00 pm. More is expected today and tomorrow and then maybe we dry out for a few days until more rain is in the forecast.
So far the timing has been good and we have been getting in three walks each day. I doubt that our luck will hold and the chances that we will get wet are pretty good.
I'm on a Verizon data diet again so trying to install a code editor has not been very successful. The recommended editor in the book that I am reading has been a total bust and the highly touted alternative that is available on the Pop! Store has not been installed after downloading for a long, long time. I'll continue to try to get that one installed since it is in the Pop! Store, I assume that it is Pop! OS compatible.
Finished most of the household chores yesterday. Desperado's cab windows are relatively clean. Patches dosn't seem to do much drawing on them when we just do short trips to town. I do need to vacuum the cab area and I can then say I'm finished for another month.
This is the continuation from yesterday.
See, I'm not one of these people who's worried about everything. You got people like this around you? Countries full of them now: people walking around all day long, every minute of the day, worried… about everything! Worried about the air; worried about the water; worried about the soil; worried about insecticides, pesticides, food additives, carcinogens; worried about radon gas; worried about asbestos; worried about saving endangered species. Let me tell you about endangered species all right? Saving endangered species is just one more arrogant attempt by humans to control nature. It's arrogant meddling; it's what got us in trouble in the first place. Doesn't anybody understand that? Interfering with nature. Over 90% — over, WAY over — 90% of all the species that have ever lived on this planet, ever lived, are gone! Pwwt! They're extinct! We didn't kill them all, they just disappeared. That's what nature does. They disappear these days at the rate of 25 a day and I mean regardless of our behavior. Irrespective of how we act on this planet, 25 species that were here today will be gone tomorrow. Let them go gracefully. Leave nature alone. Haven't we done enough?
We're so self-important, so self-important. Everybody's gonna save something now: “Save the trees! Save the bees! Save the whales! Save those snails!” and the greatest arrogance of all: “Save the planet!” What?! Are these fucking people kidding me?! Save the planet?! We don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet! We haven't learned how to care for one another and we're gonna save the fucking planet?! I'm getting tired of that shit! I'm getting tired of that shit! I'm tired of fucking Earth Day! I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists; these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths! People trying to make the world safe for their Volvo's! Besides, environmentalists don't give a shit about the planet. They don't care about the planet; not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live; their own habitat. They're worried that someday in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn't impress me.
Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet… nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine' the people are fucked! Difference! The planet is fine! Compared to the people, THE PLANET IS DOING GREAT: Been here four and a half billion years! Do you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years, we've been here what? 100,000? Maybe 200,000? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over 200 years. 200 years versus four and a half billion and we have the conceit to think that somehow, we're a threat? That somehow, we're going to put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun? The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us: been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drifts, solar flares, sunspots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles, hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages, and we think some plastic bags and aluminum cans are going to make a difference?
The planet isn't going anywhere… we are! We're going away! Pack your shit folks! We're going away and we won't leave much of a trace either, thank God for that… maybe a little styrofoam… maybe… little styrofoam. The planet will be here, we'll be long gone; just another failed mutation; just another closed-end biological mistake; an evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas, a surface nuisance. You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people in Pompeii who are frozen into position from volcanic ash how the planet's doing. Wanna know if the planet's all right? Ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. How about those people in Kilauea, Hawaii who build their homes right next to an active volcano and then wonder why they have lava in the living room?
The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: The Earth plus Plastic. The Earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the Earth! The Earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the Earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place: it wanted plastic for itself, didn't know how to make it, needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old philosophical question: “Why are we here?” PLASTIC!!! ASSHOLES!!!
So the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now, and I think that's really started already, don't you? I mean, to be fair, the planet probably sees us as a mild threat; something to be dealt with, and I'm sure the planet will defend itself in the manner of a large organism. Like a beehive or an ant colony can muster a defense, I'm sure the planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet trying to defend against this pesky, troublesome species? Let's see… what might… hmm… viruses! Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And uh' viruses are tricky; always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps this first virus could be one that-that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along and maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.
Well that's a poetic note and it's a start and I can dream can I? See, I don't worry about the little things' bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we're part of a greater wisdom that we won't ever understand, a higher order. Call it what you want. You know what I call it? The big electron… the big electron. [Imitates electronic hum] It doesn't punish, it doesn't reward, it doesn't judge at all. It just is and so are we… for a little while' — George Carlin: Jamming In New York (1992)
31 July 2022
Wheel Inn RV Park
Fredonia, AZ
There was no more rain last night and I heard no thunder storm. However, when I got up around 2:00 am to let Erik out for a potty break I found that the electricity was off. I don't know how long it was off and can only guess that the power company was doing a permanent fix to the damage done by the lightning strike a few days ago.
I finally got Visual Studio Code, a programming editor, installed yesterday. I think it took so long to download because of the Verizon data diet throttle that I'm now on. So, now I not only need to be Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript but I also need to be learning how to use Visual Studio Code. I may have bit off more than I can chew.
I'll be chewing on both of those learning efforts today and for the days to come. I have some month-end webpages to get formatted today and that nonfiction book to read. I can see the end of it now but won't finish it today even if I did nothing but read.
There are a lot of people in Europe that have the same views as this author. I think the time that the United States has ruled Europe is coming to a close. Yankee go home is also becoming a strong sentiment in Mexico City; with over a million Americans there the natives have become tired of them and are starting to get vocal.
Castle Europe is the Europe which is occupied by ruins, the castles of its ruined mind. Denazification is the opportunity for all the peoples of Castle Europe so stop being imitation Americans and become themselves again, as they were before Neo-Feudal Europe was imported from the New World in the last century. It is the opportunity for Europeans to throw the US Viking-invaders out back across the Ocean and begin the DeMacdonaldisation and DeDisneyisation of Europe. — The End of Castle Europe and the First Day of Freedom, Batiushka for The Saker