The Weekly Watch
Out with the Old, In with the New!
Like Janus, the name sake of next month, let's look back at what has happened and look forward to what we might do. There are many things I wish we would throw out as the year changes...perpetual war, massive inequality, our prison state, fossil fuel extraction and use, indebtedness for college, the greed of capitalism, and so on. Similarly I wish we would accept a new paradigm of greater good for the masses... a green energy revolution, worker owned business and coops, living with less and leaving a lighter footprint on our planet, excellent public education, green mass transit, and so on. As our environment spins out of control with massive extinction and climate disasters, we don't have time to deliberate. We must act or go extinct ourselves. This is the challenge of the future.
Looking back to 1968 there seem similarities to 2018. In fact NPR has a piece up today comparing the years. I remember being so hopeful in those days, I thought we were re-creating society. Somehow we missed the path to peace, love, and happiness and find ourselves mired in war, environmental collapse, and massive inequality.
Let's start with the old....
I heard a fascinating series of interviews with Lester Earnest who is either the creator or co-creator of the first spell checker, the first search engine, self-driving vehicle, digital photography, document compiler with spreadsheets, social networking and blogging service, online restaurant reviews, and computer-controlled vending machines. Most importantly, he helped found the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1966, which has spun off five of the richest companies in the world, which includes Apple, Alphabet—Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook.
https://therealnews.com/series/reality-asserts-itself-lester-earnest (video or text)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clx4vj1ban0]
Noam's book "Manufacturing Consent" is re-examined in this recent Al Jazeera piece. Noam, Matt Taibbi and other journalists are interviewed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf-tQYcZGM4 (26 min)
Though the clip is new, Jimmy describes how they are using the same old propaganda tricks...well maybe AI has added a trick or two to the bag.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqLIJznUNVw (30 min)
Project Censored evaluates the 25 most censored news stories of 2018.
https://www.projectcensored.org/category/the-top-25-censored-stories-of-...
Many of these stories like the missing trillion dollars, Russiagate, and inequality have been discussed on c99. Others like the dangers of cell phone and Wi-Fi radiation are rarely mentioned.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByyZbo-YgFk]
Our thoughts are with Julian Assange - 6 years in an Embassy prison - 9 months in effective solitary when 14 days is legally defined as torture. The U.N. ruled this week (for the third time) that he immediately be freed and compensated. The U.N. confirmed UK, USA, Australia and Sweden are all acting illegally - These are legally binding international human rights laws! https://www.change.org/p/free-julian-assange-before-it-s-too-late
Medea Benjamin describes 10 positive things from 2018.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/12/29/10-good-things-about-2018
On the other side of the coin, the 10 most costly weather events of 2018...
"The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle. We are seeing them play out now, on our television screens, newspaper headlines, and social media feeds," responded renowned Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann. "The world's weather is becoming more extreme before our eyes—the only thing that can stop this destructive trend from escalating is a rapid fall in carbon emissions."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/12/28/10-costliest-climate-driven...
A really interesting interview with Peter Phillips Professor of Political Sociology and the former director of Project Censored discussing his new book Giants: The Global Power Elite.
https://therealnews.com/stories/the-global-power-elite-a-transnational-c... (video or text)
The current extinction event worse than we thought. Underestimating change...
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/extinction-rates-could-be-10-times-wor...
The Economy...
Richard Wolff in a wide ranging discussion of our current economic situation
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/26/richard_wolff_we_need_a_more (video or text)
More from Richard on the Stock Market ride this week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZq9RmEmLUo (5 min)
Some blame T-rump trade war, others machine trading, and here's an argument it is the central banks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP5fYLfLx3w (2 min)
Max and Stacy look at quantitative easing of the euro. They compare the bankers view and academics and their disagreement over inflation. (1st 15 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm-jy5vCUTA
Max and Stacy look over the 2018 economy. (1st 15 min) In the last half, Max interviews professor and writer, John Mill Ackerman, about the first weeks in office for the new president of Mexico. How will Lopez Obrador respond to the many Trump challenges: from the border wall to renegotiating NAFTA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvF3TQRS9ts (26 min)
Richard Wolff with a discussion of the Taft Hartley Act and union suppression
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goB0t6kcFeI (4 min)
And finally he discusses how this act led to the loss of the left and unions...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUqTL_xKk0k (5 min)
War and Peace..
Like many of you, my experience with the antiwar movement began during the Vietnam War. Over time memories fade and it is easy to forget the violence and aggression of the Peace Movement of our youth. There's a re-release of a documentary about the peace movement in Madison Wisconsin called "The War at Home" http://thewarathome.tv/trailer/ (1 min)
Glenn Silber, two-time Academy Award nominee, talks about the making of the film and why he argues now is an important time to stand up and say no to war. (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/28/documentary_on_impact_of_vietnam...
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/28/the_war_at_home_1979_film
Medea speaks about our current situation in the ME and around the world (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/28/bring_the_troops_home_stop_the
Writer and activist Phyllis Bennis describes the Syrian conflict as “a series of separate wars” and argues that despite the US troop withdrawal, there is no indication that the US bombing campaign will cease.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UK5mo6aWk0 (6 min)
Max Blumenthal speaks about Syria, the Kurds, and their natural alliance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNoUstLd4PE (6 min)
Jim Jatras discusses Trump’s decision to pull out US forces, the role of the Kurdish forces, and the future of U.S.-Turkey relations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGtaUmToboc (6.5 min)
Investigative journalist Ben Swann suggest the withdrawal of US troops will be replaced with private mercenaries like Blackwater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4yqJISUmR4 (5 min)
In our own hemisphere we continue to sanction countries which work toward socialists solutions. Steve Ellner and Greg Wilpert, in a joint analysis of the situation in Venezuela (video or text- 2 parts)
https://therealnews.com/series/the-roots-of-venezuelas-economic-crisis
The New...
As a teacher, I learned we have to grow our future one child at a time. Fortunately the move toward privatized charter schools seems to be losing steam, but the corporate dims are still fighting for them.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/more-democrat-governors-more-skept...
The first charter school strike ended with a victory for the teachers union.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2018/12/nations_first_charter...
In LA teacher, student, and parent protestors shut down the school board meeting
https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-edu-los-angeles-school-boa...
Perhaps teachers will continue to step up and try to move our communities forward. Are their actions as close as we'll get to a yellow vest movement in the US?
Former UK MP George Galloway talks about Macron’s concessions, the future and goals of the Yellow Vest movement and the inspiring uprisings across Europe and Asia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idoO_ZkVStw (9 min)
We must change the system. Slavoj Zizek, Slovenian intellectual, points out the problems with the yellow vests movement and concludes the system must change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrdPchnAR60 (6 min)
Diplomats, rather than engineers, have been at the forefront at UN climate summits for the past 24 years. The time for engineers to take center stage has arrived.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/12/26/climate-safety-call-engineers
What does the future hold? The US economy seems poised to spiral downward. Climate disasters will continue to increase here and around the world. Inequality continues to expand. However in spite of the looming collapse we as individuals can be productive, happy, and at peace. At the end of last weeks essay I suggested I had my task spreading compost. It was tricky working around the rain, but managed to succeed spreading a healthy 3-4 inches over the fallow beds...
...even got a layer of straw mulch over them before another 3 inches of rain fell.
I'm a mulch gardener. This gardener discovers the magic of mulch from his garden paths.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCtafUgoCX0 (6 min)
I'm an agronomist by training, and spent my career teaching environmental and Earth Science. We've had some recent discussions here on c99 about gardening and homesteading. I would like to bring more of this type of discussion to the community as we move into the new year. We all go round and round writing about the horrors we see in the US and around the world. We discuss possible solutions, promising movements, and still resolve our political system is beyond repair. It is well and good to be aware of the actions of our nation and the global oligarchy, but what can we do? My answer is to homestead. I reached that conclusion when I was 18 to 20 years old. It has been a long term process...saving for land, buying property, building roads, drilling a well, asking friends to help with a house raising, establishing a garden and orchard, adding water collection, radiant floor heat assisted by the sun, and so on. So far it has been a thirty year rewarding journey. I hope you will enjoy my recollections in this column through the next year. Of course I'll still give my take on the weeks news and share my favorite pieces of the week, but I want to shift my focus "back to the land"...much as I did 50 years ago.
So like Janus let's look forward with an understanding of our past. As always, I look forward to your comments, stories, and ideas below.
Comments
Good Sunday Morning, Mr. Lookout, I enjoyed
your personal comments and recollections in today's Weekly Watch very much and wish you many more happy gardening successes on your piece of land in the next years and there after.
Homesteading is our dream and growing the future one child at a time by educating them well, would have been my sincerest wish. On the way trying both, I felt desperation quite often. It seemed very hard to find, land and education. For all your efforts as a teacher I can only thank you.
Happy New Year to You. Next Sunday we meet again and it's another year fighting against wars and for justice and peace and the survival of the earth.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Making the most of our time...
Those of us toward the end of our time need to make use of the time we have left. Planting trees is rewarding even if you don't live to enjoy the shade nor fruit. I'm trying to develop a food forest to soak up carbon and leave behind.
Always glad to see you. Thanks for coming by!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Make a
difference where you can Now, there is no other time.
fuck
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
now or never...
best of luck on your journey!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good Sunday morning, Lookout ~~
I’m anxious to dive in on those awesome videos you provide week in and week out. My Sunday will not be wasted.
I agree about more discussions on survival. Everyone can benefit, no matter the space available. I want to learn more.
Another year on which to reflect. Thank you, Lookout for remaining a life-long educator. Enjoy the new year festivities!
Have a beautiful Sunday, folks!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
I hope folks will chime in
with their gardening stories as we move forward. Production tricks really vary from area to area, but ideas like mulching hold true across most situations. At any rate I hope enough of us have an interest to continue a weekly conversation.
Hope the start to your new year is a good one!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
howdy lo...
and a very happy new year,
)
may it be full of friends, laughter and happiness (thinking half full, here
The gilets jaunes are not getting much mainstream press; none on our side and very little with actual news on the other side of the great water (que supressa). It looks like there has been some heavy handed violence from the French police.
I am finding these as I am searching for XR activities.
https://www.rt.com/news/447780-yellow-vests-activist-interview/
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/29/mele-d29.html
https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Gilets-Jaunes-Protests-in-da...
https://www.rt.com/news/447667-yellow-vests-rouen-tear-gas/
thx for the Sunday news logue and have a very good one...
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
yellow vests are not anti-climate
despite being presented as so because they object to a new fuel tax.
https://grist.org/article/climate-activists-may-have-a-surprising-ally-f...
https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/12/yellow-vests-movement-isn-t-anti-climat...
Thanks for the links. I'll look forward to reading them. We're due more rain on NY eve. Might result in the wettest year on record. Currently we're 14+ inches over normal - over 70 inches of rain here in 2018. However after years of drought it has been welcomed by those who garden and farm.
Happiest of the new year to you maji amma!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
How much homesteading can one do with a German Schrebergarten?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_%28gardening%29
more than you might think
do you have access to an allotment? If so I could help with ideas. Wish I could come consult in germany but... you know.
We all have constraints, but it is amazing how you can do much with only a little. Consider this family http://urbanhomestead.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IbODJiEM5A (15 min)
Now please don't see me a preachy about it....gardening isn't for everybody. I understand.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
My friend’s family took over her grandfather’s allotment
They tell me that under the old East German system, to keep their allotment, garden-plot holders were required to produce X number of kilograms of food each year. Individual households were expected to shore up the socialist system by supplementing the output of the collective farms (LPGs or Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften). This helped relieve shortages of fruits and vegetables. What exactly they produced was up to them.
Out of family habit and tradition, they actually already do a lot. It would be a question of just doing things in a more serious and “useful skill for survival post-collapse” oriented way.
Next spring and summer I’ll try to remember to make some photos and show folks here what all people are doing with their allotment gardens. I find some things pretty amazing — grapes for amateur wine-making? — but that just reflects my having grown up in the torrid zone and my ignorance of how one grows stuff in temperate-zone latitudes.
If you have an interest...
There's always container gardening. I even saw one guy create a straw bale garden over his driveway.
Pretty neat that your family plot is still in production. A few decades ago we played several gigs in Guatemala. In the mountain town of Huehuetenango standing on the temple shown in this description https://www.britannica.com/place/Huehuetenango I saw a field of corn. It made me wonder how many centuries corn had been grown there.
Human culture fundamentally changed with the introduction of agriculture. It still resonates in today's human culture.
Glad to "see" you!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks lookout for the weekly roundup
I am off for my walk in the snow and will read the rest when I get home. Appreciate the ork you do putting this together.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Glad you dropped in
Hope you have a good walk. We got out and did our usual loop walk. Soggy out there after even more rain (0.3 inches) last night...adding to the week's 3+ inches. Over 70 inches for the year - may end up the wettest year on record depending on rainfall Monday.
Snow is becoming rare here, although we have had up to 24 inch snow storms. I hope someday to visit Utah again. I've only been to the Moab and four corner region.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It seems like every time you comment
it has been raining there. This is the time to come back to Moab and the parks down south. They are closed so everyone has stayed away. Except for people who live close by. They are going to them because you just can't enjoy them when there are so many people.
I'd love to see Arches in the winter.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Arches may have been the most crowded park...
I've ever been to. We went on the limited Fiery Furnace hike and loved it. There is a reason it was crowded. Stunning place.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Beautiful
Is this in Arches or close by? I've read that people have to park miles away from the entrance. This is no fun for anyone. I think they are going to start using shuttles there to and start limiting the number of people who can go at one time.
I've only been to Arches once and Moab twice because we spent most of the weekends in Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, the Windrivers and the sawtooths in Idaho. I was gone almost every weekend in my youth and did the same when I moved to California.
But I'd love to see more of S Utah, but it's so crowded now. No way I'd get this picture with no one in it these days.
The last time I went there I think there were only 20 people, but I don't remember if we went during the off time. Heat didn't bother me when I was younger. Now I melt.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
here's my shot
plenty of small people hey?
Also visited the islands in the sky which was powerful as well...where the green river...
meets the Colorado
Beautiful state you inhabit SD!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It really has some great scenery
The northern part of it has some great places too. Here's a backpacking trip I went on.
Camped at the lakes here and then climbed over Sore Ass pass ...
and came down this pass to my favorite spot in the Uinta ...
I camped here so many times through the years. It's not a real campground so there's not a lot of people. You should see it in the fall
So it looks like you hiked around the backside of the arch? Looks can be deceiving because from my photo it looks like there is a canyon behind it. Interesting view. I've seen some photos were people have climbed on top of it. Not cool in my book.
Hope you have a great New Years!
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
back atcha!
Best of the new year to you as well. Lovely photos of a lovely state!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Chuck Todd discovers Climate Change
Chuck devoted an entire episode of Meet the Press 'splaing to us about what is happening to our climate.
Had Jerry Brown on and a fairly beliveable panel of experts.
Clearly, his boss has realized the "Russia Russia" meme is dead-ending and The Wall is a Mexican Standoff (pun intended).
The only thing left to attack Trump over is his denialism of climate change.
We will see if the rest of the MSM form a pack.
Two years, and he is still the POTUS.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
I can get behind an MSM climate attack
but not just focused on ole T-rump. We need massive education and splainin. That's what the XR (extinction rebellion) is demanding.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/dec/21/bbc-london-headquarters-pu...
Just like the sell products, they better sell climate. But based on all their fossil fuel ads I doubt they will do more than just attack ole tiny hands.
Good to "see" you this Sunday. Have a good one!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Looking forward to a gardening series
Winter catalogs arriving in the mail box and time to dream of what can be accomplished in 2019. I have been enjoying various greens and harvesting tomatoes and peppers growing in pots by sunny windows. Especially like not having to worrying about E Coli contaminations that keep occurring in commercial produce.
In my youth determined to make my life modern and urban. Land kept calling me back to work the soil in the ground, window boxes and in pots. Reading someone else's adventures adds to the experience without the extra work.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
So good to "see" you!
I've been missing your series and decided to modify my column to accommodate the need. Hope all is well around the farm. We are harvesting greens and lettuce, but you can tell from my pics that most of the garden is laid by ready to plant starting in Feb.
Hope you'll drop in and share your land experiences as the year progresses.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”