Friday Clearance On Pics & Links

Dark Reflections

The system just isn't working for us any more.  Tension, frustration - people take action or just run away.  A Washington State University student hacks into computers with a call to action like V For Vendetta.  A man beats the crap out of a priest who molested him as a child.  More power to him, take it all the way to the top.  Half the population of a small town turns out to stop those Westboro Baptist Church idiots from disrupting a fallen soldier's funeral with their "God Hates Fags" nonsense.  I would love to see a veterans group or some patriotic bikers do whatever it takes to "educate" those jackasses to show proper respect to a family mourning a flag-draped coffin.

Yup, that's our old bar in the background of the picture above.  It went on the sheriff's auction block last week.  The appraised value was less than half what we paid for the whole business less than 5 years ago.

A groundswell of discontent is growing like...well, like mold on yogurt.  "Revolt Against TSA" has become a top search term on Google this week.  Flyers' are forced to choose between a scanner that shows you naked or an intimate grope, and that's just too intrusive.  Pilots say that being fondled in public while in uniform is an affront to their precious dignity, but the do have a good point when they say the scanner is a dangerous additional radiation exposure, which is already high due to all that time they spend at high altitude.  It's true - us folks who worked at Fernald learned that in radiation training.  But that's a labor union vs. government "security" thing so we'll see how that flies, haha.  I wouldn't fly on a commercial airline even if I could afford it.  Are y'all gonna put up with it?  Some people are talking about putting up some resistance during the big upcoming Thanksgiving travel period.

And away they all flew like the down on a thistle.  Maybe somebody is laying the groundwork for selling airline stock short, the way it happened just before 9/11.  The Fat Cats feel entitled to "make a killing" using insider trading info.  We can pool our resources and make them feel our influence as well.  Max Keiser says "Buy a silver coin, destroy J.P Morgan."  One commenter suggested maxing out your credit card buying silver and then not paying the (unsecured) credit card bill, a double whammy.  Another person devised a plan for the people to take direct action against the banksters in "How To Destroy A Bank."

Once you get started on such a path, don't turn back because everything is pointed against you.  You may feel small and lonely, but you are not alone.  We have strength in numbers.  But some people are ready to play rougher still.  On the right, a Republican Congressional chief of staff threatens to use bullets if ballots don't work.  On the left, a political cartoonist says to prepare for revolution and has a book about it.  But regular folks like us have to remember that right/left/black/white/brown/male/female are just ways we get divided and conquered by the 1% elite who own the plantation that we are forced to toil upon like a banana republic.   Many realize that the left-right paradigm is over: it's you vs. corporations.  The Second American Revolution could be an all-out class war.

I don't expect a soft landing.  But come on, senator Mitch McConnell's admitted goal is for Obama to be a one-term prez - inaction is the best we can hope for.  Let things fall to crap and blame Obama.  But like I always say, the republicrats are like two pro wrestlers who roar and throw each other around then retreat backstage and take their cut of our money and pass the lion's share to their masters.  Sometimes it even reminds me of Battle at Kruger, two species of predator squabbling over who gets to eat our babies.

Light at the end of the tunnel?  Yes, maybe scuffed and dirty but we'll make it.

Wild Greens For Dinner

This is broadleaf dock, a weed that I let grow all over my back yard.  We'll take the larger leaves that aren't too beat-up or bug-bit and we'll base our dish on that.

A few leaves of Garlic Mustard in the mix will make the flavor more interesting.

I've got so much lemon balm it actually serves as ground cover in parts of the yard.  Might as well add some to the greens pot.  It should balance the garlic mustard nicely.

We'll leave the dandelions out this time.  Been there already.  I might go back and dig out the taproot next time.

Chives are another flavor boost in the greens pot.  I actually pulled several wild onions from the middle of the yard, cut off the little fibrous root and chopped up the rest into the mix.  Yum!

I got caught up in foraging and forgot to take pics of the Poke and Long Lettuce that I also found.  Gotta eat that Poke when it's young or it will poison you.  I only plucked a few partially open leaves on some shoots only about 6 inches tall.  It's taller than me when it's grown.  I don't take chances.

Here's how you cook this bunch of yard trimmings:  After you wash the greens, roll them all up like a big cigar on your cutting board and cut slices about 1/4 inch wide.  Get your (cast iron) skillet medium hot with some extra virgin olive oil covering the bottom.  Toss those strips of greens around in there so it all gets a little oil and then stir occaisionally as the heat collapses it all down.  No salt, no pepper, no vinegar.  Just wild plants and a little olive oil.  We ate it with beef tenderized with an overnight marinade of wine and onions, slow-baked in the juice.  So there were some big strong flavors jumping up and saying howdy to each other but they complemented well.

Garden Patch Update

Time to thin the radishes.  Radical radishes, they share the same "root."

Better thin those lettuces too.

Chives will soon be blooming.

I need to find a good use for lemon balm.  It's taking over!

How do you like my drainage tile planters?  A stripped strand of copper electrical wire keeps them bundled around the apricot tree.  I planted coriander, basil and dill in the central space, no sprouts yet.

The redbud has volunteered in several spots in the back yard.

I wish we had this mossy carpet in the house.

Spring's Bounty

The apricot tree is in full bloom, loaded with pinkish blossoms packed with pollen and giving off a sweet but almost stinky fragrance.  It's swarming with bees of all sizes, from the little ones the size of flies to the regular honeybee to the big bumblebees like this one.  As I paused in the aroma stream downwind from the tree a bee quickly discovered the pink flower on my Hawaiian shirt.  Beautiful skies.

A new crop of chives is coming up.

Dandelion greens, yummy!  Saute them with some bacon, some (wild) onion, maybe some red pepper flakes, a dash of balsamic vinegar.  Loaded with minerals, fiber, and vitamin C, they make a great spring tonic.

Radishes are sprouting.  Hmm, soils looks dry.  No rain forecast, better water today.

Lettuce is sprouting too.

We have some other things nearing fruition.  We've been wrapping things up with our accountant and our attorney.  Derek gets his surgery tomorrow.  We should have some great weather this weekend just to hang around the house and continue the ongoing clutter-clearing as he recuperates.

Derek has also been catching up in school.  He did well on the OGT tests and the school pays a bonus to all students who complete the 5 tests in 5 days.  His English teacher wants to publish some of his writing!

Could You Last Three Days?

Red sky at night...

Blizzards, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods.  What's next, a rain of frogs?  No such luck:  that would be a good thing as in "when life gives you frogs, eat froglegs."  What's next is tornado season.  Here it is mid-March and we've already seen thunderstorms in Cincinnati and reports of tornados elsewhere such as Florida.  And the same El Nino system that brough us the heavy snow this winter promises to pump more moisture and energy into our thunderstorms this spring and summer, spawning more twisters.  By the way, floods kill the most people and damage the 2nd most property relative to other natural disasters.

I like this little tale...

The Big Flood

It had been raining for days and days, and a terrible flood had come over the land. The waters rose so high that one man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house.

As the waters rose higher and higher, a man in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the rowboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and suddenly a speedboat appeared. "Climb in!" shouted a man in the boat. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the speedboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters continued to rise. A helicopter appeared and over the loudspeaker, the pilot announced he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the helicopter went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and eventually they rose so high that the man on the roof was washed away, and alas, the poor man drowned.

Upon arriving in heaven, the man marched straight over to God. "Heavenly Father," he said, "I had faith in you, I prayed to you to save me, and yet you did nothing. Why?" God gave him a puzzled look, and replied "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

If you don't want to be that sap waiting to be rescued, or standing in line for water & food or hoping they let you live in one of their prison camps trailer parks then you'd better be ready before disaster strikes.  Ya know, when the government allowed people to put money into 401(k) and IRA plans for retirement, I interpreted that as saying "Social Security will run out, you're on your own."  Well now they are explicitly saying "You may need to survive on your own after an emergency. This means having your own food, water, and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for at least three days."  Can it be any clearer?  Preparedness is not just a shopping list.  It's an action plan and a midset as well, but at the very least get your 3-day disaster kit ready!  If you want some decent guidelines from the mainstream authorities, check Ready.gov, FEMA.gov, and Cincinnatiredcross.org.  If you don't trust The Man then visit American Preppers Network and similar grass-roots self-reliance forums.  You don't have to subscribe to anybody's religion, politics or conspiracy theories in order to learn.  Even the Mormons have a lot of good info, especially about food storage.

In addition to all that good info, I want to throw in three pointers.  First, the middle of a disaster is no time to learn a new skill.  Learn and practice your CPR & first aid ahead of time.  Read the preparation instructions on any unfamiliar foods, read the manuals on all your equipment (camping gear, tools, radios, GPS, etc.) and actually practice using it.  Second, take personal limitations into account.  If you can only use one hand then don't pack a can opener (or any other tool) that requires two hands.  Think about medications, mobility issues, strength and stamina.  An evacuation kit that you can't carry is an anchor! If you wear glasses, put your old or extra pair in your kit.  It could save your life!  Third, include something to keep your spirits up.  Crayons and paper can pass the time well.  A deck of cards or  five dice can keep multiple people amused in a number of different games.  Inspiring reading material such as The Hobbit or The Bible can keep you from succumbing to despair.  Remember, this is something to tell the grandkids about!

Is America's Heartland Prepared For An Earthquake?

So the Chicago area recently had an earthquake.  At 3.8 on the Richter scale it would scarcely be noticed in a place like Southern California but in America's heartland, so recently after the disastrous Haiti earthquake, it was a bit of a shock.

But it shouldn't be such a big surprise.  The earth beneath our feet is just a cracked crust floating on mushy molten magma.  Marcy & I often say "Everything's temporary" and our so-called terra firma is no exception.  We can get so caught up in the trivial distactions of the here and now that we may deny the evidence that things were not always as they are now, and won't be the same in the future either.  If we dig around, we find seashells in the bedrock.  How's that for an indication of change in the long term?  We may focus on the big snows that have fallen all over America and see that as evidence that global warming is a hoax, but ignore that fact that the ice at the poles is melting and providing more atmospheric moisture for snow.  Anyway earthquakes happen as part of an only partially understood natural process, not as a fulfillment of prophecy and certainly not as divine retribution for a deal with the devil as that hateful jackass Pat Robertson would have his followers believe.  Quakes happen all the time, especially around fault lines, and while we cannot yet predict them well, we certainly should do our best to cope with the possibility of experiencing an earthquake and its aftermath.

One place where we are pretty complacent about earthquakes is smack in the middle of America.  Located in Missouri, the New Madrid Fault Line was hammered by a series of quakes estimated to have been about 8.0 in magnitude.  Luckily, this happened in late 1811 to early 1812, less than 10 years after the United States bought this real estate from France in the Louisiana Purchase.  It was a very sparsely populated frontier area.  Also at that time we were a bit distracted by the British troops burning the White House and such in the War of 1812.  Missouri was way off the radar, so to speak.

That quake was massive.  It caused the Mississippi River to reverse flow for a time, sent a 30-foot tsunami-like wave running up it, created Reelfoot Lake, caused a lot of soil liquifaction and sand volcanoes, made river banks collapse, even rang church bells as far away as Boston and toppled chimneys in Maine.  But like I said, it was a sparsely populated frontier, mostly log cabins scattered about.  Stilll, it was bad enough for the governor of the area to make what is believed to be the first request to the U.S federal government for disaster aid.

This is a map in the public domain courtesy of the US Geological Survey, your tax dollars at work.  It compares the damage range of a moderate New Madrid zone earthquake in 1895 (magnitude 6.8), and a similar Los Angeles quake (1994, magnitude 6.7).  Lots of cities in the red zone:  Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, St. Loius, Indianapolis, plenty more.  Prepared for an earthquake?  I doubt it very much.

We have now have FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  The more conspiracy-minded among us believe that they exist only to maintain government control.  If you believe that their job is to protect and rescue us and wipe our noses and make everything all better, then you should ask somebody from New Orleans how well they handled Katrina.  I don't want to fear them and I don't want to be dependent on them.  However, I do give them kudos for providing some very sensible information on how you can take action for yourself to be prepared for earthquakes and other hazards that may come your way.  READ THEM HERE AND GET STARTED NOW.  They have tips for lots of other scenarios too, check them out.  You can also order free hardcopy publications.  Good information and training are also available from The American Red Cross.  Leave a comment to let me know what you have done!

Y2K Preparedness Finally Paid Off!

I was a computer support guy and I know that the Y2K bug was for real. I worked for P&G at the time and they did some testing beforehand by changing the date in their security system and it did indeed go wacky. Y2K was not a huge disaster because somebody had a glimmer of foresight and everybody spent a bunch of money and did a lot of work to correct it. There were very few system failures when the date clicked over, nothing that could be called disastrous.

Preparedness is just good sense. If you don't realize that there are uncountable things that can go wrong then you are just not thinking things through. You don't have to go to extremes either, because you probably would just goof it up anyway. Not everybody can pull off the extreme survivalist tactics that some people put in place to face The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI). However, it's stupid to allow yourself to be completely helpless when faced with a relatively minor mishap. Right here in the heartland of Cincinnati we have seen water systems shut down by benzene polluting the river, power grids knocked out for days due to the windy remnants of hurricane Ike, and winter storms that make it tough to get around town. And don't forget illness and financial problems.

We face some kind of TEOTWAWKI every day. It's always something. We're having a tough time financially but we are not freezing because before Y2K we installed a backup heater that runs on propane (thanks Hank Hill). That big propane tank sat idle out back for 10 years, bought & paid for all that time, until the beginning of this winter when I moved the heater next to Marcy's seat in the living room, lit the pilot light and set the thermostat to her comfort level because she gets cold easily. The house's main gas furnace kicks on only occaisionally, and me & the boys in other parts of the house are more active and a lot more resilient to the cold. Our utility bill is kept lower by our Y2K preparations. We'll talk more about preparedness in future posts.