“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

So my part of the country made the international news again. Not bad for an area labeled “the middle of nowhere,” by former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt during his 1986 bid for the governorship.

Except the news is not good. Violence has been in the air this year, one can feel the undercurrents. March started with a drive by shooting, a few people drowning in the Deschutes River in various circumstances, add a few small fires and a gunman at a local fair, fortunately his attempts at firing the stolen gun was unsuccessful. The Bend shooter was more proficient with his firearm.

Three Dead in Shooting at Shopping Center in Oregon, Police Say Sputnik News Aug 29, 2022

Happy Friday everyone. Please post any photos, memes or music you like.

I've always wanted to go on an African safari. Not sure if that will ever happen so until then I make due with the San Diego Zoo and SDZ Safari Park. Join me on a virtual safari.

Breakfast in the tree tops. Hamadryas Baboon

This diary was prompted by a Grist piece: As heat wave grips Western states, officials warn of blackouts.

So okay let's dig in:

Madness is the new abnormal (yes, I'm aware of the contradictory terms). It sure does appear that way at times, to me anyway. It's the new trickle-down abstraction, like Chinese water torture, drip by drip, until you can't stand it any longer. Unless your mind is reinforced by reason this new abnormal may be absorbed rather than rolled away like water off of a duck. Mark that word "reason" as it will surely be redefined as the narrative changes in the collective minds of the new abnormal.

Have you ever wondered if the human race has lost its marbles? Multiple times per day is my answer. The madness goes deeper than a few individuals running naked in the street chasing imaginary butterflies, or even pretending to be the president. IMHO, this crazy is coming from the top down. It seems to be ubiquitous, it's everywhere. It's jumping from psyche to psyche much like overcrowded rats in a cage. It truly is a war on and for your mind. It's promulgated by the so called leaders of nations, or maybe more accurately, by the invisible hand that controls said leaders. How else can you explain the madness manifesting itself all across the globe in almost total lockstep? Could it be too much carbon dioxide in the air and too little oxygen? Nah, it's psychological manipulation.

The weapons of control in this battle for the mind are gaslighting, misinformation in the guise of truth, censorship, incessant propaganda, deprivation of goods and services, identity politics, portents of nuclear war, on and on like empire's rolling thunder. We've always been propagandized for as long as I can remember, but this is a level unseen until now. As I grew up in the 50s and 60s, schools, TV and movies were the prime movers of propaganda, guiding one into a life of "fitting in" with society like a good little worker drone. War movies for the boys and Barbie dolls for the girls. But today the level of indoctrination is over the top, by design, in my very humble opinion.

Why all the abnormality? They want you to feel like your going mad. They want you to feel like they are all powerful and there is no hope for the future. They want you to be compliant. They want you so desperate that you'll plead for the state to save you. And, this is becoming more apparent every day, if you don't comply, they want you, shall I say, nonexistent.

Don't buy what they're selling.

It's long past time that people stop thinking about class war in terms of wages, benefits and taxes, and start thinking about it in terms of economic and political power. Otherwise you see sh*t like this.

Small Farmers and Regulations:

Last week, Lookout, in their Weekly Watch, posted a link to an article about the government going after small farmers. This has been a problem I've personally been exposed to.

A peaceful world requires collective measures for the prevention of war, international cooperation to solve economic and social problems, and respect for human rights.

Goran Persson