Hi. Haven't forgotten you. Delighted so many are still here.
My repeated attempts to blog more frequently have not succeeded, as we all know. Many, many reasons; one of them possibly being a "natural lifecycle" for bloggers and blogs. I take some comfort from the fact that both Sharon Astyk, who was a hyper-maxi-turbo blogger for years, and Crunchy Chicken, likewise, both of whom became my good friends as we all blogged- have gone through this exact process- Crunch first, then me, then Sharon.
We're not any of us dead yet- but no question we've slowed down. Have we run out of things to say?
I don't think so; I think it's more a matter of "iceberg fatigue" with the blogs. I think the blogs make a difference- and help us all - but eventually it starts to feel like "this isn't enough"... and the energy necessary to keep going flags.
I am, of course, still pushing on icebergs; as are Sharon and Crunch. That's part of the problem; for me and I know for them- the other icebergs have loomed up on us, and are taking more of our available time and energy. My "other life" has gotten really busy, in my case.
And, as we accumulate a body of writing here, there's a desire to not repeat ourselves. And, in my 350 posts here, I did talk about a bunch of different stuff. Lots of it could use updating, etc.; but the fact is that kind of writing is just not as much fun for us writers; it's careful work; instead just ripping off a good rant.
But! Still here. Still interested in Life, the Universe, and Everything (which hopefully won't just all vanish on us too soon). And still cruising the internet sometimes, trying to track down things that interest me.
I found one, recently; which I can share with you. A blogger much younger in the lifecycle, so hopefully she won't disappear on us soon. She has two blogs; one is simply her dream journal (she has incredibly lucid and detailed dreams) which you can find at Dreampan (she works in the movie business; pretty sure that's a camera pan reference.)
And the other is her photographic journal of Life- and she has a wonderful eye, a good camera- and a genius for whimsy. That would be at Thistrinket; and here is the specific post which cracked me up so thoroughly that I wanted to share her with you:
Not everyone who headed out West made it.
Brilliant, Shandra. :-) Thanks.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Sunday, October 6, 2013
The Shut Down- from Antares...
As old readers here know, I have a team of visiting anthropologists - from Antares - camping out in my attic. Periodically they offer insights into human behavior, from their very uninvolved perspective. A bit baffling sometimes, but sometimes, perhaps, useful. When I can understand them, through their guffaws and giggles. Just the word "economics" for example, tends to make them start choking on their own tentacles.
The USA is currently "shut down", as virtually every human on the planet is sharply aware. In remote villages in India, the community hunkers in front of their one satellite TV, and watches the latest noise from our politicians, who have locked antlers.
Looks exciting, of course, but when the antlers actually lock (which does happen) the inevitable result is death, for both combatants. Either via predators, or starvation. And we are, currently - locked.
One of the primary results of this political deadlock is a vast irruption of "explanations", via all media. A veritable pundit super-volcano has appeared, drowning the media in lucid, logical lists - of each pundit's pre-existing beliefs. My Antarean friends have actually reached saturation in their normally insatiable sense of humor- they're getting tired of it. And not that this will make any difference to H. sap, of course, (since we never listen), but they decided to take pity on me, at least, and explain it all.
So here it is; in case you want to understand. Warning: the outlook isn't good.
"History!!" the Antarean leader chortles. "Humans are almost the only species in the known Universe that keeps track of their past; and then not only ignores it- but constantly talks about ignoring it! You even have a running contest in smart sayings by smart thinkers on how humans ignore it!"
The Antareans, however, dissect human history, constantly. You have a breakdown in "democratic government"? Maybe- it would be good to look at the entire history of "democracy" - how it came about, how it has failed before- and what preceded it, in human history.
Any good academic could turn this discussion into a 5,000 page tome. None of us really have time for that, though; so I'm going to cut to the chase.
The Antarean anthropologists point out that before "democracy", there were two competitive forms of human government; monarchy or some authoritarian variant; and tribal councils. Authoritarian governments quickly began to dominate the world stage, since it's quite easy for a King to say "Your sons will fight in my army; now." and enforce that; but it's rather difficult for tribal council governments to sustain armies and wars.
Tribes often require that large decisions be made by - unanimous consent. They talk; until all tribe members publicly agree- "Ok; we'll do that." It's understood that some members do not like this action, spoke against it, and still think it's a bad idea- but nonetheless, agree that the tribe will take this action- because no decision, and no action, and deadlock; would all be far more destructive. If the disagreement is too deep- the safety valve is understood to be that the tribe will split. You're free to go do it your way- on the other side of the mountains.
Authoritarian governments forbid splitting, and punish it with death. No, you may not leave; we're all in this together. Great way to keep your army working.
As the human population increased, however, the tribal groups simply ran out of places to go to; nearly all government by unanimous consent was replaced by authoritarian governments- which became intolerably abusive. Power corrupts, etc. So "democracy" was born- able to make decisions by "majority" vote, with modest variations on how you define majority.
Now, all you have to do to get a workable decision is convince a majority. 49% don't agree this is a good idea? Tough. We're doing it anyway. So very much faster than weeks of discussion. When true democracy became too slow, "representative republics" were developed; a kind of hybrid authoritarian-democracy; still involving a periodic vote.
Segue to "the tyranny of the majority"; followed by "checks and balances" as in the USA Constitution, designed to ensure "minority rights".
It's taken a while for the revised system to hit the wall - but that's what it's done. Because in all cases, "majority rule" requires that the minority acquiesce to decisions they disagree with. For 200 years; that was our tradition; you lost the election? Win the next one; meanwhile, we're one country.
But what we stopped doing was the long tribal councils- where all voices were truly listened to, and respected- and the acquiescence of the minority was formally sought, and acknowledged. Little by little, the resentment has built- until we now have a minority that refuses to be governed; and also refuses to even listen to the majority's arguments- truly; locked antlers.
All governments require the consent of the governed. That is what we have lost.
And what sobers my Antarean friends up is, they don't see how we're going to get it back.
The USA is currently "shut down", as virtually every human on the planet is sharply aware. In remote villages in India, the community hunkers in front of their one satellite TV, and watches the latest noise from our politicians, who have locked antlers.
Looks exciting, of course, but when the antlers actually lock (which does happen) the inevitable result is death, for both combatants. Either via predators, or starvation. And we are, currently - locked.
One of the primary results of this political deadlock is a vast irruption of "explanations", via all media. A veritable pundit super-volcano has appeared, drowning the media in lucid, logical lists - of each pundit's pre-existing beliefs. My Antarean friends have actually reached saturation in their normally insatiable sense of humor- they're getting tired of it. And not that this will make any difference to H. sap, of course, (since we never listen), but they decided to take pity on me, at least, and explain it all.
So here it is; in case you want to understand. Warning: the outlook isn't good.
"History!!" the Antarean leader chortles. "Humans are almost the only species in the known Universe that keeps track of their past; and then not only ignores it- but constantly talks about ignoring it! You even have a running contest in smart sayings by smart thinkers on how humans ignore it!"
The Antareans, however, dissect human history, constantly. You have a breakdown in "democratic government"? Maybe- it would be good to look at the entire history of "democracy" - how it came about, how it has failed before- and what preceded it, in human history.
Any good academic could turn this discussion into a 5,000 page tome. None of us really have time for that, though; so I'm going to cut to the chase.
The Antarean anthropologists point out that before "democracy", there were two competitive forms of human government; monarchy or some authoritarian variant; and tribal councils. Authoritarian governments quickly began to dominate the world stage, since it's quite easy for a King to say "Your sons will fight in my army; now." and enforce that; but it's rather difficult for tribal council governments to sustain armies and wars.
Tribes often require that large decisions be made by - unanimous consent. They talk; until all tribe members publicly agree- "Ok; we'll do that." It's understood that some members do not like this action, spoke against it, and still think it's a bad idea- but nonetheless, agree that the tribe will take this action- because no decision, and no action, and deadlock; would all be far more destructive. If the disagreement is too deep- the safety valve is understood to be that the tribe will split. You're free to go do it your way- on the other side of the mountains.
Authoritarian governments forbid splitting, and punish it with death. No, you may not leave; we're all in this together. Great way to keep your army working.
As the human population increased, however, the tribal groups simply ran out of places to go to; nearly all government by unanimous consent was replaced by authoritarian governments- which became intolerably abusive. Power corrupts, etc. So "democracy" was born- able to make decisions by "majority" vote, with modest variations on how you define majority.
Now, all you have to do to get a workable decision is convince a majority. 49% don't agree this is a good idea? Tough. We're doing it anyway. So very much faster than weeks of discussion. When true democracy became too slow, "representative republics" were developed; a kind of hybrid authoritarian-democracy; still involving a periodic vote.
Segue to "the tyranny of the majority"; followed by "checks and balances" as in the USA Constitution, designed to ensure "minority rights".
It's taken a while for the revised system to hit the wall - but that's what it's done. Because in all cases, "majority rule" requires that the minority acquiesce to decisions they disagree with. For 200 years; that was our tradition; you lost the election? Win the next one; meanwhile, we're one country.
But what we stopped doing was the long tribal councils- where all voices were truly listened to, and respected- and the acquiescence of the minority was formally sought, and acknowledged. Little by little, the resentment has built- until we now have a minority that refuses to be governed; and also refuses to even listen to the majority's arguments- truly; locked antlers.
All governments require the consent of the governed. That is what we have lost.
And what sobers my Antarean friends up is, they don't see how we're going to get it back.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Autumn Fires
I lit the fire in the wood cookstove today. Almost certainly, it will stay lit, until some time next May.
It's our third cookstove; I'm getting around to writing a review about it; soon; now that we've lived with if for 2 full winters and all the rest of the seasons.
This has been a very strange weather year. Cold, dry, then floods, then over-hot and drought- now we've shifted into- normal weather for the Autumnal Equinox; cool, windy, cloudy- rainy. Looks consistent enough to move the propane stove out, and we need the heat for comfort, when each night is dropping into the 40s°F.
I found poetry running through my brain, as it tends to when seasons shift. In this case, a bit that used to be part of all children's education in the English speaking world: Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall!
Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses. I looked it up, thinking to comment on how spectacularly short he'd made that lovely poem; and discovered- it wasn't quite that short. Of course. At least one of my poetry professors would have railed at RLS for not chopping everything but that last bit; it works on its own. Here in its entirety:
Autumn Fires
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
It still made sense when I was a kid- we raked up the leaves, and everyone on the block burned them, in the street. Not exactly bonfires- but still community- the fires were tended carefully; children watched; parents watched, talked; a marshmallow or two would get toasted.
Now of course leaf burning is banned- everywhere I know of. Yes, it made a lot of smoke. But. Something else now gone. And for me, the "fires in the fall" now are in the stove. Still a rite of passage; but changed.
Changes. We've lost two very dear people this past week; both unexpected; both far too soon.
Here's one of my own- for them.
Forty eight 9/28/96
Walking my paths
alone
There was one last
blueberry
dangling
ready to drop
fat and sweet
as any blueberry ever
simple to pick it
simple to savor
rain cleared blue sky above
wind, bright leaves
so why was it so painful
just knowing
that you love blueberries
can you comprehend
the pleasure it would have been
for me to share
one blueberry
with you?
It's our third cookstove; I'm getting around to writing a review about it; soon; now that we've lived with if for 2 full winters and all the rest of the seasons.
This has been a very strange weather year. Cold, dry, then floods, then over-hot and drought- now we've shifted into- normal weather for the Autumnal Equinox; cool, windy, cloudy- rainy. Looks consistent enough to move the propane stove out, and we need the heat for comfort, when each night is dropping into the 40s°F.
I found poetry running through my brain, as it tends to when seasons shift. In this case, a bit that used to be part of all children's education in the English speaking world: Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall!
Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses. I looked it up, thinking to comment on how spectacularly short he'd made that lovely poem; and discovered- it wasn't quite that short. Of course. At least one of my poetry professors would have railed at RLS for not chopping everything but that last bit; it works on its own. Here in its entirety:
Autumn Fires
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
It still made sense when I was a kid- we raked up the leaves, and everyone on the block burned them, in the street. Not exactly bonfires- but still community- the fires were tended carefully; children watched; parents watched, talked; a marshmallow or two would get toasted.
Now of course leaf burning is banned- everywhere I know of. Yes, it made a lot of smoke. But. Something else now gone. And for me, the "fires in the fall" now are in the stove. Still a rite of passage; but changed.
Changes. We've lost two very dear people this past week; both unexpected; both far too soon.
Here's one of my own- for them.
Forty eight 9/28/96
Walking my paths
alone
There was one last
blueberry
dangling
ready to drop
fat and sweet
as any blueberry ever
simple to pick it
simple to savor
rain cleared blue sky above
wind, bright leaves
so why was it so painful
just knowing
that you love blueberries
can you comprehend
the pleasure it would have been
for me to share
one blueberry
with you?
Thursday, August 15, 2013
A small lesson from the climate change front.
My tongue hurts.
Because? Well, because blackberries (the berry kind) don't grow in Minnesota; it's too cold. We have black raspberries, red raspberries, lotsa other berries, but the true blackberry- nope. They're all over Wisconsin (the southern half) and Iowa (the southern half) - but - none of my neighbors know what a blackberry is.
Which I've usually been very thankful for. Raspberry vines/canes are thorny- but blackberry vines will tear your shirt, your jeans, and your skin, bigtime. I've fought through blackberry tangles enough in other places that I'd rather not have them around.
But. Now- they're here. Seed dropped by birds, most likely- and they've been getting established near the Little House for a couple of years. Almost fruited last year- but the drought really kept anything from happening. This year is wet- and so-
Looks yummy, huh? And there are tons of them. Could be making two pies a day.
They're wild- but they're big. Like 3 times as big as our wild black raspberries ever get- so; very tempting. My hand, which takes an XL glove.
I've been feeling fatalistic about it- if the birds are dropping seed- they'll drop more next year. If the plants are surviving - then, they'll survive. So. Might as well enjoy this luscious free wild fruit, right? Of course! Going to lose the fight to keep them out anyway. I go out in the morning, pick 5 or 6 handfuls and inhale them for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. Why wouldn't you?
Now it's been years since I've eaten many blackberries. They are a bit seedy- but you just crunch up the seeds, and it becomes part of the whole "sweet/sour/juicy/crunchy/wild berry" mouth experience.
And, I'm sure I knew this as a kid, in Indiana and Ohio- but I'd forgotten.
If you eat fast- NOT ALL THE CRUNCHY BITS ARE SEEDS.
I know this for a fact; because- one of the crunchies got to me before I crunched it- and bit me on the tip of my tongue- hard.
I spit him out- but not fast enough, and my tongue still hurts.
I'm still shoveling them in. But I do now, usually, give the various critters also enjoying the berries just a little time to scurry out and away, before inhaling.
Because? Well, because blackberries (the berry kind) don't grow in Minnesota; it's too cold. We have black raspberries, red raspberries, lotsa other berries, but the true blackberry- nope. They're all over Wisconsin (the southern half) and Iowa (the southern half) - but - none of my neighbors know what a blackberry is.
Which I've usually been very thankful for. Raspberry vines/canes are thorny- but blackberry vines will tear your shirt, your jeans, and your skin, bigtime. I've fought through blackberry tangles enough in other places that I'd rather not have them around.
But. Now- they're here. Seed dropped by birds, most likely- and they've been getting established near the Little House for a couple of years. Almost fruited last year- but the drought really kept anything from happening. This year is wet- and so-
Looks yummy, huh? And there are tons of them. Could be making two pies a day.
They're wild- but they're big. Like 3 times as big as our wild black raspberries ever get- so; very tempting. My hand, which takes an XL glove.
I've been feeling fatalistic about it- if the birds are dropping seed- they'll drop more next year. If the plants are surviving - then, they'll survive. So. Might as well enjoy this luscious free wild fruit, right? Of course! Going to lose the fight to keep them out anyway. I go out in the morning, pick 5 or 6 handfuls and inhale them for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. Why wouldn't you?
Now it's been years since I've eaten many blackberries. They are a bit seedy- but you just crunch up the seeds, and it becomes part of the whole "sweet/sour/juicy/crunchy/wild berry" mouth experience.
And, I'm sure I knew this as a kid, in Indiana and Ohio- but I'd forgotten.
If you eat fast- NOT ALL THE CRUNCHY BITS ARE SEEDS.
I know this for a fact; because- one of the crunchies got to me before I crunched it- and bit me on the tip of my tongue- hard.
I spit him out- but not fast enough, and my tongue still hurts.
I'm still shoveling them in. But I do now, usually, give the various critters also enjoying the berries just a little time to scurry out and away, before inhaling.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Yep, they knew.
TEPCO knew about water flow two years ago
That's the headline today on NHK."A spokesperson for Tokyo Electric Power Company says the company has known for the past 2 years that a massive amount of groundwater was flowing beneath the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
"Masayuki Ono said on Friday that TEPCO experts estimated hundreds of tons of the water could reach the ocean daily.
"Ono said the estimate was based on rough records of groundwater that TEPCO workers had collected.
"Until last month, TEPCO officials had denied the possibility that contaminated groundwater was leaking into the ocean.
"Ono said he is unable to explain why it took two years to disclose this fact.
Aug. 10, 2013 - Updated 07:48 UTC"
The URL, which will only work for a few hours:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130810_99.html
-------------------------------------------
In case you missed it- I told you here I knew this- 2 years ago. How? Based on published information about where what kinds of radioactive materials were found. Tinkerbelle does not go about creating Cesium 137 just for the fun of it- it had to come from someplace. There is no "well, we're not sure" possible.
The greater question, still unasked by the media- why are our own nuclear scientists silent on this point? I'm not one; I'm an evolutionary ecologist, which means with some training in chemistry and geology and weather. But- the physicist in your university has to have known this- or is an idiot, take your pick.
What else do we know? Three reactors have melted entirely through their containers, and are likely to be still melting their way to the earth's core- or will as soon as they quit pumping sea water in to cool - and leak.
And? "Plausible deniability" is obsolete. "Implausible deniability" is now quite adequate for government purposes. Other world governments will back you up.
Monday, July 8, 2013
You've got to tell them... Soylent is made from... FOOD!!
Hi everybody. Still here; still intending to blog more; but reality is against us. Our part of Minnesota is officially a "disaster area", because of the stuck jet streams; 20 inches of rain in May and June, much of it torrential. We have secondary bridges and roads out in many places- and no idea when, or even if, they'll be repaired. We're doing better than many of our neighbors, though. If they took the risks and planted their crops very early, they may be ok; if they decided to wait- they may get no crop at all; too wet to work the fields for too long.
Besides being overwhelmed with regular work, which is always late and difficult, blogging requires some kind of enthusiasm on my part. And it's not that there's a lack of things to talk about- it's that there are too many. And too often, discussion of things like the situation in Egypt just seems futile. Nothing we say here will have any useful point to it. It seems.
What finally got me off my figurative fanny today was this stunning bit of insanity. Watch the video first; and beware of the Golem-Sucks advertising:
Ok, got that? The 24 year old software engineer has figured out a way to rid the food system of waste, and help out with hunger in the impoverished regions of the world. It's easy! Just put it all into powder with a 20 year shelf life! Why didn't we think of this before??
The stunningly insane part is- how easily he has the entire world press going right along with him. Not surprisingly, they have a nice, logical set of arguments in favor of powdered food; take a look at them here on their crowdfunding site (the project has ended- alas you can no longer contribute here; but they did raise just under $800,000...) An end to waste! No more shopping, or cooking, or washing dishes! Cool- has to save tons of energy, right?
Well, no. How did we get to a place were NONE of the journalists covering this (so far as I can see) are familiar with the concept of "embodied energy"? You have powdered protein here? Um- where did it come from? The store, obviously!
This is typical of the "answers" to global problems offered by "young software engineers". The mind boggles. It's the kind of analysis any systems thinker - um - thinks about, instantly. Doing some digging, it did not really take me too long to find a reliable list of Soylent ingredients. (Incidentally- many of us already know the name, "soylent"- hm; is there a trademark/copyright/IP conflict here? Already contentious. You never know what the courts will say, but personally- I would bet that name is "occupied".)
Ok; the list of ingredients:
Maltodextrin (carbs) (made from - corn, or wheat!)
Oat Powder (carbs, fiber, protein, fat) (made from- oats!)
Whey Isolate (protein) (made from - milk!)
Grapeseed Oil (fat) (made from - grapes!)
Potassium Gluconate (made from - sugar!)
Salt (sodium)
Magnesium Gluconate (made from - sugar!)
Monosodium Phosphate
Calcium Carbonate (limestone!)
Methylsulfonylmethane (Sulfur) (actually; sulfur added to - natural gas?)
Creatine (made from - meat!)
Powdered Soy Lecithin (made from - soybeans!)
Choline Bitartrate (made from - something like sugar!)
Ferrous Gluconate (Iron) (made from - sugar!)
Various vitamin and mineral supplements
Do you begin to understand? Leaving aside the glaring suppositions that a) we truly know all our nutritional requirements, and b) this is all of them; exactly where are the energy savings; if instead of humans directly consuming corn, wheat, oats, milk, meat, etc, etc, etc, - we still have to grow all those crops; then reduce the simple components to powder? Powdering, I assure you, requires a great deal of energy input; as do all separation/ purification processes. And- are we going to now grow grapes for their seed oils? What do we do with the rest of the grape? I'll bet they start using palm oil soon; much more available.
The kid is able to buy the powdered ingredients for cheap right now- because they are indeed all manufactured as part of industrial food processes, and "by products" of animal feed or brewing or cheese making. So- ask yourself; how does it scale up? Way, way, up: in order to make any difference to anything, according to their own arguments. Demand for the powdered components would skyrocket- and so would the prices.
Soon - just as is the case right now with quinoa, the farmers growing the crops would be selling them to the wealthy for their powders, and be unable to afford, once again, to feed themselves from their own crops.
I have to say; this is obvious; and we know this. And yet- the Polka Dot Gallows paths we're on continue to thrive.
Besides being overwhelmed with regular work, which is always late and difficult, blogging requires some kind of enthusiasm on my part. And it's not that there's a lack of things to talk about- it's that there are too many. And too often, discussion of things like the situation in Egypt just seems futile. Nothing we say here will have any useful point to it. It seems.
What finally got me off my figurative fanny today was this stunning bit of insanity. Watch the video first; and beware of the Golem-Sucks advertising:
Ok, got that? The 24 year old software engineer has figured out a way to rid the food system of waste, and help out with hunger in the impoverished regions of the world. It's easy! Just put it all into powder with a 20 year shelf life! Why didn't we think of this before??
The stunningly insane part is- how easily he has the entire world press going right along with him. Not surprisingly, they have a nice, logical set of arguments in favor of powdered food; take a look at them here on their crowdfunding site (the project has ended- alas you can no longer contribute here; but they did raise just under $800,000...) An end to waste! No more shopping, or cooking, or washing dishes! Cool- has to save tons of energy, right?
Well, no. How did we get to a place were NONE of the journalists covering this (so far as I can see) are familiar with the concept of "embodied energy"? You have powdered protein here? Um- where did it come from? The store, obviously!
This is typical of the "answers" to global problems offered by "young software engineers". The mind boggles. It's the kind of analysis any systems thinker - um - thinks about, instantly. Doing some digging, it did not really take me too long to find a reliable list of Soylent ingredients. (Incidentally- many of us already know the name, "soylent"- hm; is there a trademark/copyright/IP conflict here? Already contentious. You never know what the courts will say, but personally- I would bet that name is "occupied".)
Ok; the list of ingredients:
Maltodextrin (carbs) (made from - corn, or wheat!)
Oat Powder (carbs, fiber, protein, fat) (made from- oats!)
Whey Isolate (protein) (made from - milk!)
Grapeseed Oil (fat) (made from - grapes!)
Potassium Gluconate (made from - sugar!)
Salt (sodium)
Magnesium Gluconate (made from - sugar!)
Monosodium Phosphate
Calcium Carbonate (limestone!)
Methylsulfonylmethane (Sulfur) (actually; sulfur added to - natural gas?)
Creatine (made from - meat!)
Powdered Soy Lecithin (made from - soybeans!)
Choline Bitartrate (made from - something like sugar!)
Ferrous Gluconate (Iron) (made from - sugar!)
Various vitamin and mineral supplements
Do you begin to understand? Leaving aside the glaring suppositions that a) we truly know all our nutritional requirements, and b) this is all of them; exactly where are the energy savings; if instead of humans directly consuming corn, wheat, oats, milk, meat, etc, etc, etc, - we still have to grow all those crops; then reduce the simple components to powder? Powdering, I assure you, requires a great deal of energy input; as do all separation/ purification processes. And- are we going to now grow grapes for their seed oils? What do we do with the rest of the grape? I'll bet they start using palm oil soon; much more available.
The kid is able to buy the powdered ingredients for cheap right now- because they are indeed all manufactured as part of industrial food processes, and "by products" of animal feed or brewing or cheese making. So- ask yourself; how does it scale up? Way, way, up: in order to make any difference to anything, according to their own arguments. Demand for the powdered components would skyrocket- and so would the prices.
Soon - just as is the case right now with quinoa, the farmers growing the crops would be selling them to the wealthy for their powders, and be unable to afford, once again, to feed themselves from their own crops.
I have to say; this is obvious; and we know this. And yet- the Polka Dot Gallows paths we're on continue to thrive.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Polka Dot Feet.
Crazy year. Like you weren't aware. This is just to add to your list of how crazy.
Mom And Son Accused Of Stealing Gopher Feet.
Well. Ok, nearly $5,000.00 worth of frozen gopher feet. Pocket gophers, to be exact; if you ever wondered where the pockets are; they're right there in the photo- and they use them to carry seeds and roots back to the tunnels; seriously destructive.
This, incidentally, is right in my backyard; no, I don't know these folks (whew!) but it would easily be possible; Preston is a town we are in and out of all the time.
And, I have to sympathize with the victim- we have gopher wars here constantly; they're tree killers. The bounty on their front claws is a slight remuneration for the trouble of catching them.
On the other hand, I've got personal experience with professional gopher trappers; we tried to get some to help us out. But. They like to leave a few untrapped; for seed. Gophers are their crop- no, they don't want them wiped out. The bounty can help when it pays the local kids a few extra bucks for going after them- but the pros just give the illusion of control. And cost money.
Still here; in between downpours; the work year on the farm is goofed up by the late, late winter, followed immediately by summer; spring lasted about 3 days, I think. Overworked.
Oh, and- are you aware- they year is half over, this Friday? Summer solstice. Yep, we'll have the bonfire/picnic, and I'd love it if you join us on your own places around the world. But it's all kind of last minute/out of breath/ on the fly this year.
I'll be back!
Mom And Son Accused Of Stealing Gopher Feet.
Well. Ok, nearly $5,000.00 worth of frozen gopher feet. Pocket gophers, to be exact; if you ever wondered where the pockets are; they're right there in the photo- and they use them to carry seeds and roots back to the tunnels; seriously destructive.
This, incidentally, is right in my backyard; no, I don't know these folks (whew!) but it would easily be possible; Preston is a town we are in and out of all the time.
And, I have to sympathize with the victim- we have gopher wars here constantly; they're tree killers. The bounty on their front claws is a slight remuneration for the trouble of catching them.
On the other hand, I've got personal experience with professional gopher trappers; we tried to get some to help us out. But. They like to leave a few untrapped; for seed. Gophers are their crop- no, they don't want them wiped out. The bounty can help when it pays the local kids a few extra bucks for going after them- but the pros just give the illusion of control. And cost money.
Still here; in between downpours; the work year on the farm is goofed up by the late, late winter, followed immediately by summer; spring lasted about 3 days, I think. Overworked.
Oh, and- are you aware- they year is half over, this Friday? Summer solstice. Yep, we'll have the bonfire/picnic, and I'd love it if you join us on your own places around the world. But it's all kind of last minute/out of breath/ on the fly this year.
I'll be back!
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