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June 28, 2010 Newsletter
Garden "Wrap-up." Plus: More on the US-Israel-Gaza Flotilla Dog and Pony Show, and More on the BP "Polooza"
If Billy Mays was alive and/or "the Sham-Wow guy" was out of jail, then I could sell them another one of my ideas for protecting garden veggies from grasshoppers or birds or other funny looking bugs. First it was the "Plain of Jars." Then the "Greenhouse in a Bag," and now: the Garden Wrap-Up! I'd patent the ideas, but I may not have the money to try to get these things patented (for one thing, I'd have to hire a patent lawyer), and I don't have the time to do a patent search if I do not hire a lawyer. And besides, I am sure I am not the first one to think of this idea. It just so happens, however, that I had the materials to do this, and I did something similar a couple of years ago to another set of veggies. More.
Events Reaching Conclusions?
I know I've said before or implied in other posts that world events appear to be reaching their conclusions. Many national economies seem to be going under; the US seems to be headed for more war; the Gulf of Mexico appears to be "America's Chernobyl"; ObamaCare will be a nightmare especially for seniors...earthquakes, tsunamis, Icelandic volcanoes, and as a neighbor said recently with the "Gulf Oil Spill" that it seemed like the end times with oceans of blood--from all the dead marine life--as prophesied in Revelation. I still think, "the time is not yet," to use the phrase that Christ used. But still... More.
Back For Another Year. Plus: Memorial Day: When Patriots Work Under Ruling Criminals
This domain was set to expire June 8, 2010, but I renewed it just in time, yet not without getting messages to the effect that this site was dead in the water. Are you kidding? If this site is dead in the water either it got smothered by Deepwater Horizon spilled oil or I killed it myself. (But I am no longer posting links to articles for comment purposes on the "comments" site...even though I have requested folks comment on posts on the comment site--the Wordpress site--folks would rather send e-mails and are no longer posting there so from now on, send e-mails instead! I'm not wasting my time posting on the Wordpress site if no one is posting comments there. So I'm no longer posting the link to it and will remove the site at some point.) Now, why would I kill this site? Because it costs money, for one thing, which I don't have a huge amount of--yet it doesn't cost a lot of money, soooo....And, oh yeah, I've been really busy lately and that's why my last post was the beginning of May, which was about a month after the post before that. But, finally I got some time. Not only that, I have some actual news: the effect of using the semaspore organic biological agent that we used to control grasshoppers last year (you can get it from Planet Natural or perhaps you local nursery) has carried over to this year as well. More.
The Two Pitfalls of High School Home Schooling. Plus: Why I am NOT a Tea Party Person...Yet.
A month since the previous post! Well, when visiting colleges, including our son's science project fair at A & M Galveston, dealing with ill relatives, and being ill myself with a cold I picked up on one of those college visits, I have neglected this site. Sorry. But now the garden is going along well--never mind that here it is, the beginning of May, and it SNOWED this morning! And it will freeze sometime between midnight Sunday and 6 am! But the vegetables planted already will survive: they are early spring plants (bok choy, spinach, and collards, with a couple of chards thrown in). More.
Five Questions About ObamaCare. Plus: COINTELPRO is Back, So Beware of "Resistance" Groups Near You, Including "Tea Party" Groups
Well, the vegetable garden for 2010 is sprouting, and more are on the way. However, with the criminal passage of ObamaCare still fresh in everyone's mind, I have five questions I am asking myself, and answering, in light of what's in the Constitution which, until Obama repeals it outright (and if he didn't hypocritically swear to uphold it during his inauguration, he might have already accomplished...but criminals who are also hypocrites don't need to bother with such formalities, do they?). More.
Issues and Distractions
This post, the first since the end of February, will be about various topics, beginning with the fact that I have been busy with two major things that meant I didn't have a lot of time to update this site: doing what is necessary (as a home school mom-teacher) to get our daughter into college, and the fact that a close relative had a serious health crisis over the past few weeks, and overnight visits meant away-from-computer time. But in the meantime I've kept up with "the issues" over the internet and talk radio...meaning I've had to sift through a lot of BS and distractions. More.
Cover Your Ass(ets). PLus: What a Week In The News!
As usual, I offer up this caveat: "let the buyer...okay, reader...beware" of anything you read on this site and try doing without thinking about it just because you think I'm some sort of genius. Hahahahahaha! Genius? Me? Heck, most of what we have done for over 25 years preparing for God knows what was my husband's idea. If anyone is a genius, it is him! More.
Who Said A Woman Can't Chop Wood? Plus: Don't Get Mad, Get Even.
Since my daughter and I are by ourselves with my husband working on an extended basis, and have been left with insufficient fire wood--it was not his choice to leave us that way, for sure--I have had to try to do what I did not think possible for me to do. I have had to chop wood myself! With an axe. On a chopping block. More.
Ten Pounds of Brussel Sprouts? What Would You Do? Plus: Events Are Reaching Their Logical Conclusions (One), and More
The other day my husband came home from food shopping with about a ten pound bag of fresh brussel sprouts for $0.59. First of all, we tend to buy bagged-up fresh produce that may not exactly be "fresh," that is put into a shopping cart and severely marked down for quick sale. More.
Is It Winter, Yet? Plus: Various Observations
It seems as if God indeed has a sense of humor, or at least irony. Just as He created the camel and the duck-billed platypus (or caused to evolve for all evolutionist readers...but keep in mind I am not saying Creation is science! It most certainly is not...and if someone out there could prove that evolution actually happened, maybe I'd believe in it. You can start by proving man really did evolve from apes.)...well anyway, just as the armidillo was created, so has God brought much of the northern hemisphere winter. In spades! More.
The 2009 Something Happening Here "Nothing Happening Here" Awards
For a while there with our son being here and taking various fun trips as well as Christmas goings-on, I wasn't sure I'd get the "2009 Something Happening Here 'Nothing Happening Here'" Awards completed and posted. But somehow I managed to get it all together in the nick of time. And to be extra creative, I tried to name some of the awards based on song titles. The envelopes please... More.
Who Says We're Not In Kansas Anymore? Plus: "'Illuminati,' We Have A Problem"
Yeah, yeah, yeah...more political BS! But folks, it's winter. There is no longer a garden to worry about. There is so much dead wood around here that it simply isn't very interesting writing about collecting it all, from kindling to tree stumps, about cutting it all up with a chain saw, and as far as I'm concerned, one chain saw brand is as good as another. I think we use a Poulon...but I'm sure other brands are fine, as well. And do you really expect me to write an article about what to buy for Christmas? Don't ask. Buy what you think you might need for the proverbial "sh*t hits the fan" scenario, whether it happens or not. Or gold and silver. Or food. Or chickens. I think I will leave that up to the reader. More.
It's Thanksgiving! A Couple O' Things To Be Thankful About
We're going to a nearby town...nearby is about 40 miles...for a Thanksgiving dinner at a local church. It's in a town my hubby works in, and we want to be by him this Thanksgiving. Still, our own church is giving its own community Thanksgiving dinner for those who are by themselves or older couples without family in the area or those who can't afford a big ol' turkey and the rest of it. I suspect that quite a few churches and other charity groups will be doing this sorta thing this year and even more next year. For instance, there's a city government which used to give out free turkeys to all of its employees; this year, however, the city council is only giving its employees an "employee dinner." Budget crunch, you know...however, they aren't saying why they aren't giving out the turkeys. Who knows? Maybe this city government gets its turkeys from some federal government turkey farm contractor whose been told by the feds that from now on, all the turkeys have to go to China. For free. Instead of paying them worthless fiat currency we owe them on our national debt, they want something of value instead. The Chinese ain't stupid, you know! More.
Obama Care Passes...and Other Interesting Items Found Perusing the Internet
ObamaCare. Funny, but I really am not that concerned about this! Maybe it's the water (which is clean and pure from the aquifer, but has a lot of minerals in it...bad for plumbing). I am uninsured, and no one could pay me for signing up for most health insurance policies written in the US. Folks, if the policy doesn't have catastrophic insurance covering everything, and no deductible, for under $1,000 a year, I don't want it. None of this pay $150 a month, $5000 deductible, and it doesn't cover squat BS. That ain't health insurance. That is highway robbery! And yet most folks who pay for "individual health insurance" get this kind of "policy" (which, of course, they lose when they actually do use it! Thanks, Assurant Health!) I would rather go uninsured and exercise, take vitamins and minerals, eat healthful foods, and pray to God for good health, thank you! More.
On Going Solar, and A Whole Lot More Just For the Fun of It
Remember I said last time that NOT going solar was NOT an option? Wrong! It is just an option, because going solar is: one, expensive, and two, something that needs a huge amount of planning, with, IMHO, someone who has either done it or knows enough about it to help you do it, probably for a hefty fee. Without going into all the details of what I have seen regarding using solar energy (suffice to say though I have been to experimental solar houses and know a couple of families out here who use it), the fact is that if one is going to go exclusively solar it is going to cost well over one-hundred-thousand-dollars just to get one's feet wet in the process. In fact, aside from this one family I know out here who is completely off the grid with solar--and are doing it panel by panel, that is, not having the funds to go full scale running appliances and a computer 24/7--going completely off the grid (unless you are a multi-millionaire like perhaps that ex-ambassador to Mongolia I mentioned recently who is moving out here) absolutely makes no sense. Sorry to burst the bubble I may have created for you. More.
"They Pretend to Govern Us, and We Pretend To Obey Them"
This title is based on a well-known saying from the old Soviet Union: "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work." Really I can't think of a better way to put it. Why should Congress take anything We the People, or, as some might put it, "Tea Party" or "Angry Mob"-type folks, do or say seriously when it is so easy for them to ignore us? Easy, since they have many secret service folks making sure that we have no direct access to them (except for Town Hall meetings, where they have ACORN and SEIU instead). Fun, because it is really really cool to know that you are above the law. Profitable, because while taxpayers pay the salary it is a drop in the bucket compared to what they make from lobbyists and think tanks. They listen to their owners. Period. More.
All I have to say is this: Prepare
For the past few months, you may have noticed I have not posted every week, the way I used to. For one, I have vowed, sort of, to stop commenting on every last political notion that has come up--unlike the last two years when I commented on all the doings of the 2008 Presidential race--because how many times does one have to say the same thing over and over again (the system is rigged, therefore, disregard or get out of it as much as you can)? And how many times do I have to warn about a group I called THEM, but now can safely say "them" because "they" have already lost "their" control over when "they" will institute their stupid "new world order"? Illuminati? Folks, we are beyond worrying about those critters (but let Alex Jones and his ilk keep making big bucks keeping us fearing this crew...I mean, Hal "FBI" Turner was exposed; Alex "control the opposition" Jones is right around the corner). Every time I think about the validity and reliability of their "one world" everything I have to laugh. The corruption they are sowing is so all encompassing that the seeds of its own destruction are already built in. Since God creates evil (Isaiah 45), He controls it, not some idiot "illuminists"! What we really need to worry about is how we are going to deal with neighbors when what we ought to be preparing for what comes down, first, and then concern ourselves with BS local bureaucrats and petty Hitlers, second. Then again, the other reason I haven't posted as much as I would like (and vowed I would) is because in the last two months, I have had headaches almost continually. It is very hard for me to work on the computer when headaches strike. But now I know why I've had three times the headaches I've had before, as I will explain. More.
The Limits of Trusting Your Neighbor: Plus: You Either Seek the Truth, or You Don't
In the previous newsletter I made a case for practical "community action" with your neighbors, even if you have to resolve conflicts to do it. If there is a crisis, folks you don't want your neighbors against you as well the rest of the world (you can read "the authorities" into this if you want). But that doesn't mean giving him the key to your house, meaning your stored food, water, crisis supplies, and giving him license to take as much stored gasoline as he wants! Or letting him use your computer! It means being in a position to work with neighbors to get through whatever crisis hits. More.
Out Here, ACORNs Fall From the Oak Trees, and More...
We don't have ACORN (or HCAN or the SEIU) out here. Instead we have lots and lots of acorns falling out of oak trees. So what if it's still summer? Seasons are weird in West Texas. We have the Dry Season and the Rainy Season (from July4 until sometime usually in September), with the rest of the year being in the Dry Season...except in certain El Nino years NOT followed by a La Nina! In 2004, for instance, it rained from May until the following February! We got 60 inches! Our main creek ran from June until the following April! But, back to why I brought up ACORN... More.
Healthcare Plan? I Don't Need No Stinkin' Healthcare Plan! Plus: Do Not Fall for the Divide and Conquer
I will get into discussion of ObamaCare in just a few paragraphs, because my take is just a wee bit different than what "most analysts" are saying about it. First, because I am trying to offer practical solutions here, I would say that the best healthcare plan you can have is to watch what food and drink you put into your body, get off the couch or computer chair and get out there and tend to your garden or take a nice long walk (bring water!) or do various low-impact exercises, or go swimming. Believe it or not, your body just might be able to tell you what it needs. More.
"I Think I'll Just Move to the Country...Become a 'Survivalist'...Shouldn't Be Too Difficult," and Other Stuff
Just in case the reader hasn't read this yet, I have nothing else better to do than to restate my case: DO NOT move to the rural remote unless you are prepared to work your butt off! More.
Rats! Plus: We Are Now Winning the "War on Grasshoppers," and Other Stuff
Within the last three weeks I learned that Washington, D.C. isn't the only place with rats. More.
"Green Shoots"
Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke uses the term "green shoots" to describe how the US economy is "bouncing back" and the "worst is over." Does anyone reading this know why he calls it "green shoots"? Am I the only one who thinks this term is worthless (kinda like our fiat currency)? I must say that when the power eltes of this country come up with a good propaganda phrase they come up with doozies. Examples: "winning hearts and minds of the Iraqi people," to justify war there for six or seven years (must be a very long courtship!); "fighting terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them over here," (actually, they would prefer we didn't "fight them over here," because we would be fighting THEM instead of a bunch of Arabs); "change we can believe in," (meaning we can believe that Obama really is trying to institute socialism)... "Green Shoots." These destroyers of our economy really do know how to coin a phrase! But I got news for them: around here, we really do have "green shoots." More.
Home Schooling: Why We Did It
I had already taught high school and junior high mathematics for six years when I quit my job in the border town of Presidio, Texas, on the reason that (having had a son two years before) I simply wanted to stay home with him, and perhaps pursue some sort of Master's Degree (which I did at the local college, in Counseling). There was a "hidden" agenda, however; I was bound and determined to home school him and any other children we had. More.
Teach a Man to Fish, and.... Plus: Every Gardening Year is Different
Well, this past week I got another lesson in catching more fish on our annual (?) camping fishing trip. Folks, if you have the survival mindset without all the bunkers, barrels, and barbed wire, then you can live in the best of both worlds, sneaking in and out of the system pretty much whenever you want to. More.
"We Were Frugal, When Frugal Wasn't Cool"
I don't like country music unless it's old timey (think, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?") or bluegrass (ditto). But I have no problem borrowing the title of a 70s or 80s country music song to title this post. The fact is this: when I married my husband in 1982, I married frugal. Period. More.
A House Divided Against itself Will Not Stand. PLus: Announcements and Other Stuff
Happy Easter or Passover or whatever. I have been sick for two weeks and am just getting over the "crud," which I have not had since the winter of 2006...that's what happens when you have to go to the big city every few months: if you aren't careful you just might pick up some nasty germs. The only explanation I can think of is that, when we went bowling (one of our family outing-to-the-big-city activities), I changed balls frequently and one of the bowling balls had been used by someone who was infected. Anyway, while not being inclined to post a newsletter during this time, I have been reading a lot of news articles about the so-called "G-20 meeting" in some town around London. Well, if Brit PM Gordon Brown is saying the "new world order" (there's a line from a Who song that immediately comes to mind) has arrived and the Big O concurrs with that, well then I guess we are...it's only been about 20 years since Bush I "proclaimed" its harbinger! What took 'em so long? More.
Child-Rearing: A Root Cause for a Lot of What Ails US. PLus: Just Say No (to the CIA)
I think it goes without saying that while THEY are the first and foremost root cause of what ails various aspects of our society (regardless of what country you are from), we need to take responsibility for our part in this degredation. Being only human we will make mistakes and will believe those who ought not to be believed, and will do that which we ought not to do. This applies even to those who have "gotten out of the system." Much of the wrong-headed stuff we believe and do stems from our upbringing. I don't have "the solution" to this because I am as guilty as anyone else is, in not being "the perfect" parent. In fact, when I realized I was pregnant I vowed NOT to make the same mistakes my mother made with me, and, sure enough, I did make some of the same mistakes! So, my purpose here is not to chastise parents, but show why the following attributes to proper child-rearing just might make your children/grandchildren able to resist whatever evil comes down the road. So, here goes. More.
Deja Vu, All Over Again: As With the 1990s, the Left Again Demonizes Lovers of Liberty. And Other Stuff
I think, like myself, most of the subscribers and regular readers of this site knew what was coming when Barack Obama was elected President and began to put Clintonistas in Cabinet and other Administrative positions. More.
"Revolution"? Not When Its "Leaders" Do Nothing But Divide the People. Plus: Chinese "Eminent Domain" Issue Solved, Mexico on the Verge
I keep saying (in too many articles to link to here...go back and read a few recent previous posts if you don't believe me) that those who are calling for "revolt" or "revolution" are acting like CIA agents, if they aren't in fact. More.
Revolting Developments! Plus: More BS Conspiracy-izing Leads to a Defining Squatter's Right Moment
Folks around the world want to know why "idiot" Americans aren't "revolting" against what THEY are doing to the American economy and to the American taxpayer. You know, why we aren't tearing the country apart as they are doing in Greece or Iceland or Latvia or that most "revolting" country on Earth, France! I mean, come on you idiots, a a Taxpayer Tea Party Revolt? What kind of revolt is that??? More.
Who Wants to Be a System Heir? (With Apologies to Regis Philbin)
Sorry for trying to be clever with punning a pretty good game show of recent vintage. But "Who Wants to Be a System-aire?" just didn't cut it and isn't imaginative enough for me, sooo... Since I have been writing about getting out of the system for the past year-and-a-half, I now pose the question, "Why wouldn't you want to get out of it?" More.
You Are Out of Debt with 10,000 Dollars in the Bank and Want to Spend Most of It to Prepare: What to Buy?
Note: If you are still in debt, pay off your debts, then come back to read the rest of this. If you are out of debt... Well, you could just leave all that money in the bank. The thing is, is anyone at that bank going to tell you "Oh! This bank is about to become totally insolvent and we don't want a run on it, so before everyone panics take your money out now, $3,000 at a time." Or, is someone going to tell you "We are closing our doors next Monday, so get your money out now." More.
January 31: "A Solution": a summation for getting out of the system
By the Time You Read This, Obama Will Be President...
I have a had "something" this past week which prevented me from getting up the incentive to post a newsletter...a cold with no sniffles, or a "crud" with no fever, no bronchitis, and no sickness, or a "strep throat" without the strep...mainly a sore throat made sore by a "cold sore" or some other white sore thingy on my uvula which at first sight caused the fear of God in me (thinking, "Could this be cancer?"), but no, it's just the usual cold sore or canker sore or something. It is now gone and my throat feels fine, enabling me to write this post. Sorry for the delay. Just in time for the inauguration of Barack Obama to be our 44th President. More.
"We're Practically Giving Them Away!" Plus: So You REALLY Want Socialized Medicine? And More
Billy Mays and "the Sham-Wow Guy," eat your hearts out: Ron Popiel is still the greatest TV saleman ever with the best ad slogan ever. Thanks to Mr. Popiel, I got my newsletter title for this week! And, thanks to the #%@*&! US government, I have my cause celebre for this week, HR 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvment Act of 2008, which Bush signed last August. So, who wouldn't want consumers to be "safe"? More.
The 2008 Something Happening Here "Nothing Happening Here" Awards
Far be it for me, the non-conformist, to do what every other blogger-alternative-news and especially opinion person does, assign completely made up awards for usually the most absurd and satiracal spins on events and people, usually for a humorous reason. So I'll tell you what...I'll leave the spin out of it! The envelopes, please... More.
Black Cohosh, and Who Says Rural Living Limits Ones Aspirations? Plus: The next thing you know, we'll need a license to barter! On the SWAT raid of an Ohio private co-op, and more.
In the last newsletter, I wrote about how a horse ride helped my back problems. More.
Greenhouse-In-A-Bag! PLus: A Whole Lotta Whatever
Brought to you by: the "Plain of Jars" Lady--"Greenhouse in a bag"! Hi, Billy Mays here... Just kidding! And don't get me started on the "Sham-Wow" guy! Anyway, with winter knocking on the garden gate--and not a javelina in sight so I don't have to secure the gate with the old mattress bed spring apparatus we used last fall--and our collards, bok choy, and chard still doing just fine except for the remaining remnants of grasshoppers still a threat because they refuse to get killed off by nights that hover in the upper 20s and lower 30s (because they like to hide out in nooks and crannies of rocks to keep out of the cold singing, I imagine, that old song "The World Owes Me A Livin'"). More.
Obama or McCain...But Will It Make A Difference?
We will have elected a new president in the next few days...or not...or a new president will have "stolen" the election...or Bush will declare the elections kaput and institute martial law. Or, for those who can't or won't spell correctly, "marshall law." Or something! So we will have either Obama or McCain. More.
Out-Rising, Part 3
This newsletter on getting out of the system spiritually will be the hardest post yet, but I have put it off long enough. More.
Out-Rising, Part 2
Folks, I want to apologize. I may not have to apologize and there is probably nothing to apologize for, but I'm going to do it anyway. I apologize for not posting newsletters on what I had originally intended to post newsletters on, almost exclusively. I had intended to almost exclusively post letters on how my husband and I have dealt with life's little problems in living in the rural remote (mountains) of far West Texas, gardening, dealing with the few neighbors we have, dealing with running errands into town about 25 or 50 miles away, and promoting the idea of moving out of the cities and suburbs for what I SUSPECTED might be coming a few years down the road, and also to support an independent-from-"the system", self-sufficient-oriented group of individuals and families I call "the remnant." More.
Out-Rising, Part 1
So, what can I say? The weather here is still great and it's warm during the day and cool at night; the grasshoppers seem to be more pliant as for me pulling their heads off before they can damage the garden as much as they would like to...it's almost as if they are remaining calm as I pluck them up and grab their heads and pull. Further, aphids, as many as there are on our collards, bok choy, radishes, etc., are easily dealt with: either smoosh them off the underside of the leaf, or spray some "dish-soap water" (a capfull at most of dish soap per spray bottle of water) on the plants, especially underneath, and also on the ground where the little buggers are walking around almost unseen. And I am alert for the snorting of little tusked, musky-smelling javelinas--peccaries to you all in more eastern and northern climes--who better not even think about crashing under the gate and fence of our garden! And, oh yeah, Congress just passed the "Wall Street bailout" Friday morning. More.
From the Sane Asylum: On the Outside Looking In, and Hope You Are Too. Plus: Inspiration and More Videos
The weather is great out here: mostly sunny, temperatures in the 60s and 70s; there's water in the rain barrels for the garden and the grasshoppers are fewer this year...but it's just as tricky catching them. I've had to keep the collards covered with gallon jars...grasshoppers love collards for some reason. Our mother cat and kitten help out there, though. If I had a digital camera I'd upload a picture of Sassy and Neko. (Neko is Japanese for "cat"). And at night it gets a wee bit chilly. You could say I'm "chillin' out" here up in the mountains while the denizens of Wall Street get burned...oh yeah, that's right. They are getting "bailed out," and "Main Street" is getting burned. More.
Credit Derivatives? Gee Wiz, Calculus Derivatives Were Easier to Understand than This! Plus: "Must See" Videos on the Economy and More
First Bear Stearns, then Ambac, then IndyMac, then Fannie and Freddie, then Lehman, now AIG. Credit derivatives...that's the problem. But what in the blue blazes are credit derivatives? More.
Y-Ike-s!
It is still raining again after one day--Saturday, September 13--of sunshine... I am fine but my disposition is not the best, what with my son "the Sea Aggie" now, for the duration, being just "the Aggie" as Ike's destruction of much of Galveston sent him and the 1400 or so other Sea Aggies to continue their 2008 Fall semesters up to College Station. As a matter of fact, the main campus of Texas A & M Galveston is relatively undamaged at the first assessment, compared to, say, the likely condition of Galveston Community College a few blocks north of the Seawall Blvd. which got ravaged. Sorry for the whining-- More.
When it Rains it Pours
It has done almost nothing but rain since the beginning of September; on Monday, September 1, we had 2 1/2 inches in a little over an hour, which washed out our lower driveway. Read about how we maintain our dirt driveway here, but when the rain is that intense there is little you can do with that volume of water except do your best. Tropical storm Lowell is off the west coast of Mexico and headed our way, as Hurricane Ike is headed toward Sea Aggie-land, Galveston, in what is looking more and more like a reprise of Hurricane Rita in 2005. My son has already evacuated. Looks like Ireland here. In fact we've had so much rain that a few of our garden vegetable plants look as if they are beginning to get root rot from too much water, not enough sun. Since we don't have a clothes dryer (and I don't want one, either), hanging up the laundry has also become problematic. But I'm not complaining! More.
Too Bad Palin is Such a Tool
When I said in my last newsletter that Daily Kos found out the Palin was a "Dominionist" well it made my blood boil. Kos himself, of course, is not the most reliable news source on the planet, and I truly believe he's into CIA type psy-ops (as are the majority of alternative news aggregators and bloggers). Perhaps I over-reacted, but I think not, and, until I find out conclusively Sara Palin is not a Dominionist, I have seen nothing to make me believe she isn't. More.
Higher Ground, Physically and Spiritually
This post is going to be the short form...a more rigorous piece will appear probably later in the week and I had every intention of getting this one up the final day of August. Sorry about that. There has been some turmoil around here, and as everyone who has read the Resiliency in Katrinaland post knows there is a reprise of cause for concern in the Lagarde household over Hurricane Gustav... More.
"But, I Can't Move to the Country Right Now!" So Here's a Few Things You Can Do In The Meantime. Plus: Can THEY Get Any Dumber Than This? Double Plus: Nadia vs. Nastia, and Announcements
I realize that not everyone who subscribes to Something Happening Here or reads these newsletters can get "out of the system" to the extent that I have or would want to (that is, completely). I realize that having to work in or near the big city is a must for some. I realize that some have elderly patents or disabled children or loved ones in Iraq or they are "unequally yoked" (as the Apostle Paul put it) to a spouse who loves Bush or the system or who works at a munitions plant or for the Feds. Some even might be almost completely dependent on government largesse...though I am opposed to government welfare, food stamps, Medicaid and the like, I DO UNDERSTAND! More.
My Sane Asylum. Plus: What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander: more on the "Beginning of World War III"
The smallest "political subdivision" considered to be a "nation" is 44 hectares (108 acres) large: Vatican City. Well, our piece of land is about a fourth as large. And, while it may not be a "country", it is smaller than a nation but bigger than an insane asylum. It is my "sane asylum". Let me give you a tour of the "country". More.
Totally Random, II
Sorry about the overuse of the title "Totally Random" but I have no idea what else to call this hodgepodge of which I post today. More.
More About Secession
I realize the notion that around one-fifth of Americans could favor secession of their state from the United States might have been a bit heavy even for my readers! Folks, this is a heavy topic! More.
What Does "Get Out of the System" Mean? Plus: Eleven Years after ROT: This One is BIG
I have recommended in several posts that in order to remain free, to keep yourself from the forces of evil and overcome these, and resist these forces and those who wittingly or not assist these forces (THEM and their spiritual malevelance), the thing was not to engage in armed struggle, but to either hunker down and defend yourself, or, better, get out of the system. Most think that means buy some rural remote land (debt-free), put up some solar panels, get off the grid, throw out the TV, become an "army of one" (or two or three), set booby traps for "the man" and store ten years supply of food (such as MREs--meals refuse to expel). More.
We Interrupt the Senate Furthering the Police State Agenda with These Important Announcements. Plus: This Isn't a News Aggregator Site, But...In case You Missed It
In the spirit of all that is Orwellian, the Committee of 100, a.k.a. the US Senate, has passed the Telecom Immunity Bill which will make it a whole lot easier for ATT and its friends to spy on every phone call, web page, email and so on that you make because now you can't sue them for violating your privacy. You may remember that Presidential stooge, er, candidate, Barack Obama, was being excoriated by his leftie supporters because it was rumored or something that he was going to vote for the bill as is...now we find out that he was one of the 32 or so that wanted the immunity part cut out of the bill. Very cagey, that Obama... More.
The Antidote to Our "Orwellian" World
In case you've never read George Orwell's "1984," it goes like this. The protagonist, Winston Smith, an outer member of "The Party" which controls "Oceania" (that is, Britain and other places), employed as someone who puts news reports together for the media by "placing in the memory hole" stories and pictures to be replaced by stories and pictures deemed "politically correct" by the Inner Party and "Big Brother," remembers back to when the world was freer and less conforming, and, in the process, becomes an "enemy of the State" both in his longing-for-love relationship with Julia, another outer Party operative, and in his acquisition of a document by "Emmanuel Goldstein" who was to the power structure what Osama bin Laden is for the elites today--a bogus "tool" for brainwashing the masses and especially the outer Party members (though Osama, according to the late Benazir Bhutto, is dead as of December, 2001 due to kidney/lung failure--which has been corroborated by FOX News, Goldstein of course is something "the State" made up as the object of "two minutes Hate" meetings). In the end, of course, Smith and Julia are found out, and undergo brainwashing torture by "O'Brien" (who, of course, gave Smith the Goldstein document in the first place!), and "learn to love Big Brother". Does this scenario sound familiar? More.
Resiliency in Katrinaland. Plus: Where There's A Will, There's A Way in the "Plain of Jars"
This past weekend my husband's clan...several hundred strong...made their way to eastern Lousiana for a reunion, and we joined them (minus our daughter who had a more fun-filled previous engagement for an extended period). Drove to El Paso and spent Thursday night there, then early in the morning on Friday hopped a plane to Houston where we picked up our son, the Sea Aggie, and took a rental car to relatives just east of Baton Rouge, then the following day worked our way with these relatives to a plantation-luxury hostelry northeast of Katrinaville, aka New Orleans, for a fun filled and "I haven't seen you in fifteen years! How y'all doin?!?" day...and, having spent that Saturday night with said relatives, drove back to Houston, dropped off our son to his own pickup truck, then flew back to El Paso, and drove home on Monday to a garden which, but for the grace of God, would have been dried up mince meat...or bird fodder, whichever you prefer. More.
Gardening: for the Birds? Plus: "Amazing Stories"
May in far west Texas (and the American Southwest in general) can be a problematic time for making gardens grow--ESPECIALLY when "La Nina" is about, and, according to the Christian Science Monitor, "La Ninas" are going to be a consistent feature in the climate around here for the next few years. (Here is what "la Ninas" do to the weather in the Southwest: rains we normally get in the summer wind up being pushed northward. The rain we do get is usually from the high temps in the air forcing air to rise, meeting cooler air, bringing moisture over the mountains. So, while we do get some rain, we tend to get more lightning.) Just think, four years ago, far west Texas got NEARLY FIVE FEET of rain from May, 2004, until February, 2005! So, now you know it: El Ninos actaully bring lots of rain to Big Bend Country...BUT El Ninos followed by La Ninas bring draught. And this year--as of 1:15 pm, May 31, 2008, it is already 101 degrees up here in the mountains!--is going to be a doozy. More.
Freedom: What is It and Who Gets to Define It? PLus: The Clueless Masses DO Have a Point!
Well, the planting of our garden proceeds apace. We are using five gallon buckets as always, hauling them by hand up to the garden and fighting the spring-mattress-as-gate to water it. Now, if we could keep the birds from pecking at the baby plants to get at the insects on them... Warding off javelinas, deer, and rabbits is one thing! To foil the birdies, one would have to chicken wire the "roof" of the garden as well...which might not be practical when one of the garden tenders is over six feet tall! Perhaps someone reading this out there can offer up a few suggestions. And it is very nice to know--or hope, anyway--that millions of Americans are digging out of the cold of winter now and are beginning to plant their back yard or front yard gardens..or, if city dwellers, putting in a few seeds for "box gardens" in their windows. Unfortunately, many Americans are digging out from under conditions other than cold. Tornadoes, for one. Earthquakes, for another. Floods, for a third...in fact, never in this country have weather conditions provided such an ample opportunity for the "end times" crowd (rapture or no rapture..put me in with the latter folks) to make their case, and when you factor in what's happening in other places (Burma, for instance) one feels one is sure that Christ is "coming" soon! But folks, I have to look at the bright side: More.
Oh My God! Wake Up Americans! We Gotta Do Something--NOT! Plus: Bashing McCain, because somebody has to when the MSM won't
I often post comments on comment boards where a password is not required...for one thing, this allows me to also post the URL for this website, and to my utter amazement subscribers have told me they found my site by reading the comments on a comment board! Now, I don't have thousands of subscribers. But who needs Google AdSense?!? Anyway, I don't sell stuff here and this site, at least at this point, is completely free with no ads of any kind, no affiliate links, no sponsored by links. But, back to the comments... More.
Getting the Garden Going with Garden Recycling. Plus: It's 10:30 pm, and I know where my commentary is
Out here in far west Texas one can start one's garden in March or April, due to the warmer weather, and, not only that, but this winter was so much warmer than normal so we actually kept our fall garden from last year going! And, if you are reading this, Al Gore, I forbid you to use this example to back your nutjob theory of "global warming"! I will sue the pants off you if you do!More.
Ten Very Useful Web Sites You Probably Never Heard Of. Plus: Is Hillary a Racist, How the US CorporoGov Helps Our "Enemy" Iran, and Is the US Still a British Colony?
Having perused the following web sites over the last year or so and found them to be loaded with very useful links to other very useful pieces of information, I now present my readers with these sites for your enjoyment, entertainment, and mostly, for important information and orginial documents. There is also a great chance that you have never heard of these sites.More.
Totally Random
This week I explain why far west Texas is the place to be when TSHTF (or even if it doesn't). Plus, the worst movie remake ever, the FDLS vs. the State of Texas, why Canadians need to look in the mirror when they dis Americans, why more and more Americans mistrust the MSM, and why so little that the Bush Administration does (and what our bought-and-paid-for "presidential" candidates plan to do) actually means anything to the rest of the world...unlike the rest of us, THEY make their own reality. More.
"Backbreaking Labor?" Yep! And Thank God for It! PLus: "yuppie survivalism," and random acts of civil disobedience
This is what I wrote in my last post: "get your rural remote land, do the back breaking labor it takes to plant your garden, spend your rapidly depreciating dollars on chickens and other livestock (just a few animals that you can afford to feed or grow feed for), build your animal enclosures and fences, grow your fruits and veggies, and grow enough so you can trade your extras for what you need, such as cow's milk, goat cheese, eggs, whatever." And I stand by it. More.
Peak Food? Plus: "Heaven's Tibet-sy!"
We have "Peak Oil." Do we also have "Peak Food"? Is "Peak Food" like "Peak Oil"? I've looked at about 100 articles on all sorts of sites about "the worldwide food shortage"--the blame usually goes to the production of biofuels for western consumption (thus, tying "peak food" to "peak oil"), or China and India are eating like "rich" nations, or "global warming." More.
What I Learned This Spring Break
I shouldn't even be writing this post though I am overdue (taking the week off for Spring Break) because just when I thought I had nearly conquered death (or at least a broken neck), this past Sunday evening--the final hours of Spring Break--a sore throat came upon me...the harbinger of a cold. I hadn't had a cold since late 2006! In fact my throat was so sore I thought I had picked up "strep thorat," which I used to get several times a year due to teaching in public school...if my students had even the slightest infect they'd pass it on to me (chicken pox, for example--and I was pregnant!). But, alas, it is just a typical cold. More.
True Wealth
Believe it or not, but you just might be wealthy! Even if you don't have a ton of money, and even if you do have a little bit of debt. A little credit card debt you are paying down. Perhaps in the final stage of paying off a mortgage you took out 28 or 29 years ago. You might have an "emergency fund" of cash, or gold and/or silver coins. Or other commodity assets that are relatively liquid. In this day and age when (it seems) most Americans have quite of bit of time left to pay off the mortgage, have auto loans, have medical bills that insurance won't cover (or they don't have insurance, and are too "rich" they don't qualify for medical assistance from Uncle Sam or their State), are facing foreclosure, are generally swimming in debt and are torn between saving to pay their debts off and wanting to have the latest gadget and are not truly mentally and emotionally prepared to delay gratification, if one has little or no debt, has little or no mortgage, owes nothing on the vehicle(s), owns a rural remote "refuge" (even if one isn't living on it yet), and has cash stashed away and has the means to defend same, then as far as I'm concerned, this one just might be wealthy. More.
Kosovo and its Lessons
As promised to subscribers, I will get into the Kosovo issue, and, after a long drawn out explanation of the history of this region and why this issue is important to THEM, I will explain why Kosovo is important to us. The Kosovo issue may not seem like much. So what if this predominantly Albanian section of Serbia breaks off and becomes independent? More.
Making Your Move Out of the City: The Spiritual Dimension
I have not really discussed religion and spiritual issues on this site (but I do on my "religion blog" here), but I confess they are not separate issues. More.
"Politically Incorrect" Recycling. And "Wanta" Hear an Incredible Story which Just Might Be (somewhat) True?
I will get to "recycling" in a minute. However, over the past week I have been engaged in research that I, who takes little credence with "conspiracy theory" but when it comes to "conspiracy fact" suspends disbelief, couldn't help but be involved in: "wantagate", which is a cutsey name for what (if it really is true and there is little reason to believe it isn't true) could very well be the biggest bank/oligarch fraud since the creation in 1694 of the modern fiat-money banking system, and involves the Bush/Cheney, Clinton, and Bush I Administrations, among others. As I said, if this story is true, while the positive ramifications of the resolution of this might be too good to be true (and, since it involves NESARA, it just might be too good to be true), I have no doubt at all that those involved in perpetrating this fraud are perfectly capable of having pulled it off and covered it up, at least until now. But I digress: back to "how to really recycle." More.
Forget McClintobama! If you want to defeat THEM, you have to know how THEY think!
And here is what's really cool--you don't even have to be a psychopath to know how THEY think. Here is what you need. More.
Dear John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama : Good Grief! You Folks Really Want to Be President? Now?? Are You Nuts??? If You Had Any Sanity You'd Just Let Ron Paul Do It!
WARNING: I AM NOT MAKING ANY SORT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL OR PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS IN THIS ARTICLE! THIS IS FOR OPNION PURPOSES ONLY! It now appears at long last that Rudy Giuliani has acquired some sanity, for he is bowing out of the Presidential race, having come in third, not first, in Florida, about the only place he did serious campaigning; last I heard he was endorsing McCain, who is almost on par with the serial cross-dresser psychopathologically. That is, the Bomber wants to blow up the rest of the planet almost as much as Rudy does, and I often wonder if McCain has any clue as to how he's gonna nuke Iran without sending an environmental holocaust onto his beloved Israel. Geez, John, don't you think the Jews have suffered enough?More.
Does It Even Matter Who Wins the 2008 Presidential Race? Why Now Is The Time To Get Out Of The System
It is very clear now that the MSM is pushing hard for McCain to be seen as the "most viable" candidate for the Republican nomination. Now, before you get all upset that this hyper-warmonger who, just six months ago, was running out of money, is now looking more and more like the elephant-most-likely "because it's his turn" (yes, I've actually heard this explanation as to why Repub primary goers are giving him the nod! As if any vote on Diebold machines is actually a legitimate vote!), consider that in 2004 after New Hampshire the mad bomber was in good shape then as well, and ditto in 2000. And if you are concerned about McCain's desire for some kind of national "greatness" or "renewal" program in a day and age when this country can't even afford to fix its infrastructure, give our wounded veterans the care they need, when Bernanke is cutting the prime rate another 75 basis points and the stock market is STILL plunging, and when traitor Bush and traitor Pelosi are seen on TV with their ridiculous "stimulus" package of giving every American family a few hundred bucks to "go shopping" with...get a life, Bomber McCain! More.
Truly Optimistic, Truly Without Fear, but Burned Out on Politics, and Besides, That Game Needs to be Spanked Upside the Head (We Need a New Game).
First: Truly OptimisticYou know all those fascist laws Congress has been passing since 9-11, such as the Patriot Act and the recent "Violent Radicalisation and Homegrown Terrorism Act" (HR 1955 and S 1959)? Very possibly, all these acts are just to scare the living daylights out of the openly dissident, and very possibly no one will ever actually use any of these laws to their full effect. Or even to any effect, unless an actual terrorist group is running about. Naturally, that doesn't mean these laws are a good idea. These laws are terrible because they clearly violate some part of the Constitution. More.
I'd Really Like to Get Off Politics, But...
Right now I can't. I know what you are thinking--this is a site for those who are thinking about moving out into the country, aka the rural remote, not politics. But here is the way I see it: like it or not, the person who becomes our next President does matter, even if you have managed to convice yourself that it doesn't. More
Dear America: Will Things Have to Get A Whole Lot Worse Before You Vote for Liberty?
Maybe it's just me. I am happy as a clam but at the same time thoroughly pissed at the gullibility--the continuous, stomach-churning naivitee--of Americans, who--if the latest polls can be believed, and, I'm sorry, but until someone proves to me that the so-called "scientific" polls are horse-doo-doo beyond a shadow of a doubt, I will continue to believe that the land-line phone polls are accurate enough--are coming around to the peridy of a Guiliani and even a Clinton...but at the same time are now starting to support Mike "John Hagee and the CFR have endorsed me" Huckabee! Huckabee??? HUCKABEE!?! More
Hello, Suburbia! How're You Doing Financially? Not Too Good? We're Fine!
Dear Suburbia: Writing to say we folks out here in rural remote far west Texas in our mountain redoubt are doing great! My husband doesn't have a great income and I barely make any money on the occasional jobber--after all I need to stay home where I want to be to homeschool my teenaged daughter--but I make enough to pay my bills and get to save most of it because unlike you I don't go out and spend it on "stuff" like you do! My husband makes enough not only to pay all the household bills, buy more than enough food, buy gas for two vehicles (and, as you probably guessed, Suburbia, gas out in the country is way higher than it is where you live! Our "country store" sells it for $3.50 a gallon!), send our son, the Aggie, to college WITHOUT HAVING TO PURCHASE A LOAN! (I heard many of your kids were taking out loans from some college loan company advertised on television. Nothing like putting them into a lifetime of debt early!) Plus, we send our daughter to Girl Scout Camp every year for two weeks or more without having to use a credit card, and much much more. Did I tell you about the new mattress my husband bought for me for my 55th birthday? A brand new Serta, the ones with the comfort foam pillow pad. Paid cash for it! More
Thanksgiving Days of Future Past
I haven't posted in quite a while...in longer time than I had planned, but that's the way things work out sometimes...Thanksgiving is almost upon us! Happy Thanksgiving, and GO AGGIES!
But I got to thinking about the US economic crisis...downward heading dollar, sub-prime mortgage crash, volatile stock market, price of gas, prices of food, price of everything...and thinking that what kind of Thanksgiving will folks have next year if the worst fears of some bear fruit? Will there be 20-pound turkeys abounding for those who want one at a reasonable price? Twelve-pound, a more reasonable weight? Will they be GM-free? And the folks who want turkey for Thanksgiving--will they have a place to live? Will they have anything to be thankful for?...
(This story could conceivably happen anywhere in rural America) More
Why the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) Must Be Stopped
So, what is the big deal about putting RFID chipped-ID tags through the ears of all your cattle, horses and pigs, or around the necks or legs of all your chickens? That way, if one gets lost you can easily find it. Kind of like why some dog or cat owners RFID chip their pets. No big deal, right? What's the big deal about the federal Department of Agriculture knowing exactly how many livestock units you have? That way, when Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis breaks out, the Feds will know where it came from and which cows to kill, so they don't have kill them all. You know, "Mad Cow Disease." Certainly that is a good enough reason to put these ID tags mandated by the "voluntary" National Animal Identification System (NAIS) into your animals. Everyone is doing it, even corporate owners of those abominations known as factory farms. Ridiculously, even kids who want to present their pet animal projects at county fairs and 4-H project fairs must NAIS their heifers and piglets and bunnies and pullets and the rest. Well, certainly--right?--the only hassle is the fee and the paperwork... More
This and That: After you move, buy new stuff locally
Let's suppose you are moving from the city or suburbs into a rural area outside of one or more small country towns. Let's suppose too that one of these small towns has an appliance store or two, at least one of them locally owned and operated (in other words, I'm not talking Wal-Mart, Sears, or any other large chain outfit). Let's call this "Joe's Appliances" (of course you know I am just making up this name!). Now, "Joe's Appliances" will likely sell things like washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, ovens, stoves, stovetops, TVs, air conditioners/swamp coolers, DVD players and the like. Or perhaps the local "rural electric co-op" or "local electric utility" sells appliances. Either way, buy from a local dealer who is not affiliated with some large chain. Why? With a large chain you'll save money, right? More
This and That: The Only Way to Deal with Spider Bites
As Richard Nixon used to say, let me make one thing perfectly clear. Most spider bites don't need anything more than a little first aid, such as alcohol or witch hazel, possibly some antihistimine (you can buy this stuff at a pharmacy...I don't need to mention any brand names. For one thing, I am too lazy to try to figure out what to do to make that "registered trademark" symbol, and, anyway, would it turn out that way without using the "html code" for that symbol? Unlike most people who create their own web pages nowadays, I don't use style sheets.) Some spider bites resemble insect bites, and, likelihood is you couldn't tell the difference unless it was the dead of winter. That's because late fall tend to kill the insects; spiders, on the other hand, tend to live in your house. They live under floor boards. They live in any crack you happen to not have caulked. They live in exposed attics, unfinished sections of your house, in the insulation between your wall and the outer wall. Still, if the spider bite doesn't go away, there may be more to it than meets the eye. More
It's the REALITY-you who lack wisdom thinking you are wise
In other words--but I hate using cliches--"It's the Reality, Stupid!" In this piece I will defend reality against all comers, even alternative bloggers and commentators who think, hands wringing, that reality is "doom and gloom" or "happy and wonderful."
Reality, first of all, is where you live and how you live it. It is not a TV show. It is not a talk-show rant. It is not your government, state, local, federal, super-national-organization, world body, or alliance. It's possible that it isn't even your job. It is not "how" you "see the world." It just is! You, the individual, interact with reality. If you live in the rural remote, wildlife--some of which could be harmful to you--are part of your reality whether you want it to be that way or not. Dirt roads, usually in bad shape, are part of your reality and the reality of the condition of your vehicle. Relative isolation is part of your reality. Running out of gas, vehicle break-downs and no help in sight, being lucky to have kids the age of your kids so they can develop "socialization skills," dialup internet, suddenly realizing you forgot to put something vital on the shopping list but really not wanting to use the gas to go back to town to get it, being forced to live off the grid because the utility company has other priorities besides restoring services to a community of only 50 people, sudden wild fires, either no rain for months or so much rain the creek just might wash out your house... This just might be your reality. On the other hand if you live in the city your reality is probably unwanted noise, air polution, treated water that tastes like either a swimming pool or sewage, lots and lots and lots of friends for your kids, total convenience, air conditioning, the fastest DSL around, a wide array of ethnic foods... That might be your reality. In the suburbs it is pretty much the same thing, but with sprawl. So what I am saying is reality IS. Although I love to speculate, I am tired of speculating: reality is NOT speculation! NO matter how much alternative news and commentary websites would have you believe reality is speculation. More
Loving Nature Means Not Having To Say You're Sorry...
I have warned the reader of this site about what wildlife can do to their garden. Build your fence too low and deer will jump over it and devour your garden in an hour or less. Build your fence too high off the ground and wake up one morning to find rabbits eating whatever the javelinas didn't root up two hours ago! Okay, you don't have "javelinas"...you have "peccaries" instead! You know, wild pigs. Some of you might even have "pigzilla" types of wild hogs. Or maybe you thought the chickens you put into your garden to eat the grasshoppers could distinguish between a grasshopper and your greens! Now don't tell me you put goats in your garden! And then again, some of you might have thought that oahdad (an import from Africa that has become a major nuisance to ranchers out here in Big Bend country) was really a harmless sheep-herding dog. Think of an antelope with ram horns. (Sorry...just trying to be clever. If you are considering moving to the remote you obviously aren't that stupid!). More
Preparing for Winter in the Country
First, let me mention the fact that if you are heating your home using any sort of natural gas such as propane, or are heating your home with electricity or electricity HVAC combination (central heating, that is) or use some sort of oil burner, then I hope you have plenty of money to spend and I hope your mortgage is nearly paid off. These things remind me of growing up in the 50s on Long Island. We had an oil burner, as most people do who live in the Northeast. One winter, the thing just hiccupped up a storm of black smoke which enveloped nearly every wall of the house. We couldn?t go into the basement (that?s where the TV was!) for days. So, while we kept the same tank, we had to get a new oil burner and (not remembering just how cold the house got?just that we had no TV) several days later the smokiness had been washed off the walls and the smell subsided. Then, several years later, I remember that somehow we ran out of oil. A day or so later, the oil delivery arrived. Don?t ask me why we ran out of oil, because my folks always paid the oil bill on time. But, anyway? More
The Antidote for Fear and Loathing in America: Love and Reality
I am a writer. I create stories, that is, I write fiction. But I also write non-fiction, blog posts, e-zine articles, informed comments, pontifications, and this newsletter. In this newsletter I try to make sense of what I see as reality, the actual reality I live and the broad reality that is out there, far away and seemingly hidden but nevertheless discernable, if only one does not look to closely at the mainstream media and most of the alternative media but looks at the "big picture" from "outside the box" (or the "matrix" or the "machine" or whatever you want to call it). But also, in order to discern the broad reality one must live in actual reality and be so connected with real, actual, personal reality to the point where anything outside that reality is only a distraction. Thus, for me, Larry Craig's recently reported indiscretions are a distraction. Everything you read about the war in Iraq, that is not eyewitness, is propaganda, pro-war or anti-war, and thus is a distraction. (In fact, if I didn't know someone who actually was a soldier in Iraq and actually showed me photos he'd taken that were on his laptop, I just might believe that there was no war in Iraq and it was just "wag the dog." That is how distrustful I am of the mainstream media! Further, I don't have much more trust in the alternative media. A reader here might think I am some "9-11 truther" because I link to Alex Jones's Infowars.com, but I am neither a believer in the "official" 9-11 story nor the "truther" version. While the truthers claim that it is the US government behind the attack, they can't seem to get their story straight on whether al-Qaida was involved or not. [My position, if you must know, is this: al Qaida did it, but, on the other hand, al Qaida has from its inception been a tool of the CIA/Pakistani ISI. Thus, as with everything else, I've said it before and I'll say it again: the truth is somewhere in the middle. If the truthers don't like it and think Deborah Lagarde is some kind of stooge for "them", then they do not know my history and can believe what they want. If it turns out they were right, then they can gloat, because by the time that happens, I'll be dead.]). More
Test Yourself: Are you ready to move out of the "rat race" into the remote?
Depending on whether you answer "yes" or "no" to the following questions could be a rough indicator on whether or not you will be able to handle life outside "the matrix". These questions test your ability to think independently and for yourself, but at the same time, test your ability to get along with neighbors the likes of whom you may never have experienced before and might never experience otherwise. The question that should be answered is: can you ADAPT to life in a remote area, where there are more wild animals than people?
Here is a list of questions, based on questions I have had to ask myself in the process of adapting to rural living. Record your answer to each as "yes" or "no" on a separate sheet of paper or text file. Then check below for what each response means regarding your afaptibility to live remotely. Above all, be honest with yourself! More
Thinking "inside the box"? Then you'll never escape it!
Before I get to the gist of today's newsletter let me say that the oligarchs and their Bushian lackeys are definitely getting careless. Last week (and I apologize for the lateness of this newsletter, it couldn't be helped) I, along with many others no doubt, was pointed to a particularly sickening web page at the Family Security Matters site. In an article (since removed from the site) by Philip Atkinson, he calls for Bush to become "President for Life" in calling for an out and out dictatorship (let's face it, we already are except in name only), as well as for the nuking of all Arabs and Persians in the Middle East under the rubric that "the only good Arab is a dead Arab". The article has been archived on Google here. It has been referenced on many of the alternative news sites I list on the left, and just recently Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com discussed it in his August 20 post, as well as the political connections of this publication: Family Security Matters is the publication of the Family Security Foundation, which is controlled by the neocon think tank Center for Security Policy, headed by none other than the likes of Dick Cheney, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, Frank Gaffney, and R. James Woolsey. One of its members is radio talkshow hostess Laura Ingram, who I couldn't stand because of her whiney voice and her attack of Ron Paul. Now I have an even better reason! And what group of people does this Family Security Matters cater to? "Security Moms" (a subset of "soccer moms" no doubt), who, if they aren't careful, will wind up with all the "security" they could ever hope for behind the wires of their nearest concentration camp! More
On Ron Paul: Playing Devil's Advocate
As I have claimed in several newsletters, and what with posting a link to his presidential campaign website, Ron Paul, 10-term Congressman from the Texas 14th district covering Galveston to Victoria, is my choice to be America's next President. His voting record speaks for itself....
(Though I intend to vote for him in the Texas primary, there is perhaps a cause for concern--is Ron Paul too good to be true? I try here to address issues that some bloggers raise.) More
More Archived Newsletter Articles
Click here to read the sample newsletter about how to deal with grasshoppers taking over your garden. Click here to read the first newsletter about how we fix out dirt driveway after rains washed them out, dealing with mice, and more. Click here to find out how to I used herbs and natural products to help with allergies, cold, and other respiratory ailments. Click here to read Part 1 of the "Gloom and Doom" scenario and here to read Part 2. Click here to learn the ten essential items you must have to begin your new life on your rural homestead. Click here to stop worrying about what we cannot change and change only what we can. Click here to find out how I dealt with culture shock after I moved from the big city.
