The Weekly Watch

I've Got the Blues

Blueberries that is. They need picking every morning these days. Blueberries are such a good crop. Our bushes are thirty years old and still bear strong. They are largely disease resistant. The deer don't browse them, although birds will eat the berries. I've seen young turkey chicks fly into the bushes and chow down. This year there's a Thrasher nesting in one of the bushes. She hollers at us every morning as we pick. Today I also want to look at various approaches to avoiding the blues and living your dream. Of course we'll also hit this weeks headline stories. Last Sunday I was MIA because my modem was fried and I had to order a new one to connect again. A week without internet was unusual, but may have caused me to be more productive in other ways.

from 1928 (3 min)

Let's start with the praises of blueberries...

Blueberries fit into any general home landscape design and can serve as hedges, borders or backgrounds. Blueberries are typically used in the landscape as hedges for screening purposes, but they also can be used in cluster plantings or as single specimen plants. Blueberries are an ideal year-round addition to the landscape with delicate white flowers in the spring, attractive blue fruit in the summer and the possibility of colorful fall foliage. In addition, blueberry plants lend themselves to the “organic” approach of gardening because they typically have very few insect or disease problems and pesticides are not needed in home garden plantings.

blueberries.jpg

There are two major types of blueberries - highbush and rabbiteye. Rabbiteyes (Vaccinium ashei) are native to the southeastern United States. Supposedly they are called rabbiteye because the berries turn pink before they go blue, reminiscent of the eye color of a white rabbit. Highbush blueberries (V. corymbosum) are found in the wild in northeastern North America. The name highbush implies it might be the larger plant, but it is actually smaller than rabbiteye. Highbush earned its name because it is taller than lowbush blueberries, the other species important to the blueberry industry. Lowbush (usually V. angustifolium or V. myrtilloides) produce very small berries used primarily in baked goods.

Highbush blueberries are the most common type of berries across the country, but Rabbiteye bushes are batter adapted to the south. Although highbush berries will grow in the south they will not persist. Our Rabbiteye bushes are over 30 years old and still productive.

Blueberries are easy to grow, productive, freeze easily, and are really good for you. They are one of the best fruits to add to a ketogenic diet. Blueberries are packed with antioxidants and phytonutrients which have powerful health benefits. These include the ability to reduce DNA damage, prevent aging, control cholesterol levels, and may lower the risk of cancer. They also help strengthen bones, reduce acne, lower blood pressure, control diabetes, and improve heart health. Considered a superfood, they can also help improve brain health, promote weight loss, and soothe inflammation.
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/health-benefits-of-bl...

It isn't difficult to plant and maintain this excellent crop...

blueberries growing.jpg

Here's a nice general guide to growing your own blueberries...
http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/growfruit/berries/the-basics-of-bluebe...

For information on highbush blueberry production visit this site...
https://www.blueberrycouncil.org/growing-blueberries/growing-blueberries...

Here's a very good and complete guide to Rabbiteye blueberry production in Louisiana
https://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/D30270C0-F2DC-4B33-8AB7-036865A...

So I hope I've planted the idea that planting blueberries is a good idea. The more perennial food crops you have the less input is required from year to year. Picking is the most labor needed. We prune, manure (every couple of years), and mulch them in winter. Otherwise all there is to do is harvest and eat! Don't leave this productive plant out of your landscape.

production.jpg

How do you get rid of the blues?
By creating and living your dream...

My dream involves putting down roots...blueberries and more. We built our homestead ourselves, and so in a way we have planted ourselves on this property. There's an old pioneer cemetery on our place. The first white folks to settle here (among the Cherokee) are buried there in graves dated from 1790 to 1810. The last marked grave is 1908. One of the early graves is a little girl killed by a bear while out in the yard. One day I'll be planted there too...a part of the land I've spent my adult life tending.

However dreams take many forms. I love looking at human creativity and other approaches, and I hope you'll enjoy exploring a variety of people living their dreams...

A couple of weeks ago we looked at building. Here's a good example of someone building their own dream home...(22 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG49SF7DAgI

From desert to full time on water on a tiny houseboat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3BA-O0dNH0 (14 min)

How about life on a barge in a swamp? Atchafalaya Houseboat is an entertaining story of a young couple living their dream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJuI5WIf6cA (57 min documentary)

Some prefer rehab of old old things. How about this fellow living on a century old sailboat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNh56ZKa4HY (9 min)

Other create unusual projects like this artist's concrete sailing schooner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnummVJ9BFc (19 min)

In 1989, Mauro Morandi’s boat docked on Budelli Island off the northern coast of Sardinia, Italy. Discovering that the island’s caretaker was retiring within the next two days, Mauro decided to extend his stay indefinitely and step into the role himself. Little did he know that, nearly 30 years later, he would still be there. Mauro has built a small, simple life for himself on the island, collecting rain for drinking water, and building solar panels for electricity. Living alone, his love for his island paradise runs deep, and he hopes to stay as long as his health allows it. (4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLWTXgC9BKI

What about a life on the road instead of on the water? Can you do it without fossil fuels? Here's a solar powered van traveling from Alaska to Argentina.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcj2lQwH7N4 (9 min)

There are many inspiring people and stories. People leading rewarding lives in this failed system. I often wonder if our c99 community focuses on the failures rather than exploring alternative approaches to living fulfilling lives within a collapsing system. All humans deserve the opportunity to live a peaceful, rewarding life, and I understand that goal is impeded by the global oligarchy. I think it is better to be aware of the conditions we face. So I do my best to find meaningful information about the current conditions....and it is enough to give you the blues as Joe reminds us every evening during the week. Next week I'll explore more ME stories, but this week seems to draw me south to Central and South America....

"Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)"
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SYXKfIRVJw]

"...can you tell me where we're headed? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?..."

There were some good interviews with Manuel Zelaya the duly elected president of Honduras who was deposed by the Obummer administration. He is speaking truth to power...(1.3 min)

Here's the complete interview (27 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZSiordl-os

For those who prefer to read, there's a transcript of his interview with Juan and Amy's
conversation with former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a U.S.-backed coup in 2009. Zelaya reflects on that coup, what has happened to Honduran politics since then, and the migration crisis that has seen hundreds of thousands of Central Americans flee to the U.S.
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/3/manuel_zelaya_reflects_on_the_coup

Since the coup d’état, in these 10 years, each year, the United States, through the International Monetary Fund, has authorized $24 billion of additional debt each year. So now we have approximately $14 billion debt. When they removed me 10 years ago, we only owed $3 billion. Today, it’s $14 billion. So, to uphold the dictatorship, first they militarize the country, then they drive the country into debt. And they take out huge credits, which they call sovereign bonds, at huge interest rates. And of every 100 lempiras, 40 now go to the banks.

Plus, they loot the state institutions. The levels of corruption are exorbitant. They are abusive in every sense of the word. They’ve looted institutions such as Social Security, which is where the retirement funds for the elderly are and where the moneys are to cover the illnesses that the mothers suffer. They have looted these institutions in order to finance an unpopular, anti-democratic and dictatorial regime.

The United States doesn’t talk about Honduras, because it’s shameful. They are ashamed to talk about what they’re supporting in Honduras.

Max Blumenthal interviews people in Honduras. The shameful outcome of US meddling!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrEkO2aTygI (7 min)

Over and over and over again my friends...

“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”

― Smedley D. Butler, War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier

The US continues to put pressure on Venezuela also in order to obtain their oil.
Weaponizing human rights’: UN chief Bachelet’s Venezuela report follows US regime change script. Former UN special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas slams UN High Commissioner Bachelet’s report on Venezuela as a politicized collection of baseless accusations by “advocates of regime change” https://thegrayzone.com/2019/07/06/weaponizing-human-rights-un-high-comm...

US Gov. Meddling Machine Boasts of ‘Laying the Groundwork for Insurrection’ in Nicaragua
https://thegrayzone.com/2018/06/19/ned-nicaragua-protests-us-government/

fourth.jpg

The fourth of July has come and gone. I heard a couple of good pieces. Amy usually replays this clip every 4th of July...the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On July 5th, 1852, in Rochester, New York, he gave one of his most famous speeches, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” He was addressing the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. This is the actor James Earl Jones reading the historic address during a performance of Howard Zinn’s Voices of a People’s History of the United States. This is the late great people’s historian Howard Zinn. (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/4/what_to_the_american_slave_is

My intertube went flat Friday a week ago when my DSL modem went out. I guess I'm fortunate it lasted as long as it did. My ISP was happy to send me another for an additional $8/month. I said no thanks and ordered one for about $70. It arrived Wed. evening, and I manged to get it formatted and back on line by Thursday. I caught this interview with Larry Wilkerson that day, and I found it an appropriate commentary...(video or text)
https://therealnews.com/stories/is-us-democracy-dying-a-slow-and-barely-...

Well, what the founders wanted, as you pointed out, was a government for the landed, white male aristocracy. And the people could do whatever they wanted to under that government, so long as it didn’t badly interfere with what those white, male landed members of aristocracy wanted....
... whether you believe it’s plutocrats, whether you believe it’s a national security state, a deep state, a predatory capitalist state—And I happen to believe it’s all of those, which makes it all that much more dangerous and complex that it’s trying to take over. One of those or all of those are making a run on taking over,...
....they are desperate to hold onto power and will use any means at their disposal to do so. And they harken back to the time when the only thing we got rid of with the 750,000 casualties, people dead in The Civil War, was slavery as an institution. We didn’t get rid of, as you just pointed out, sharecropping that would replace it. We didn’t get rid of disenfranchising anybody we didn’t want to vote by having guns at a polling place— and if you voted, you got shot— or having a test, and so forth and so on...
...Look at Pelosi. Look at McConnell. Look at Trump. Look at any member of his cabinet. Look at the people who run our businesses today. My God, you deal with them. I deal with them every day. They’re cretins. They’re not well-educated. They’re just cretins out there for more and more filthy lucre.

Worth the full read

So, Where are the intellectuals?
Two of my favorites in conversation...Chris Hedges and Ralph Nader
Chris Hedges discusses the lifetime achievement of activist and attorney, Ralph Nader, in his creation of government regulation and regulatory agencies to protect the rights and lives of the public. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSrGLyVWF5Q (27 min)
the second part of Chris Hedges’ interview with Ralph Nader, activist and attorney, on the importance of a civic life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN6fw8Yjtms

Another power voice that speaks to me is Noam Chomsky...
In April, Noam Chomsky visited his hometown of Boston, where he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for more than half a century. He now teaches at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Over 700 people packed into the Old South Church to hear him speak. (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/5/an_hour_with_noam_chomsky_on

Another intellectual, Cornel West discusses the 2020 race (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zR6L2_M9PA

Yesterday I went to a large party on a community land trust composed mainly of old hippies and their young adult children (and their kids). All I can say is TDS (that's Trump Derangement Syndrome) was rampant. Ironically, I think that will lead to his re-election. The dims are still dim...they are so blinded by T-rump that they think it doesn't matter who runs as a dim...that T-rump will lose. They do admit that Trump will win Alabama's electoral college votes, but think the rest of nation will vote anyone but T-rump. Perhaps they are correct, but I don't think so. Jimmy had several good stabs at the dim candidates this week...including Joe Bye-done and Kamala. He also had a fun interview with George Galloway last week (30 min)

So it is nice to be back in the saddle again riding along the intertubes. I must admit to missing the ability to sit down and look up anything I want to know, cruise youtube for news and info, and having access to my email account. However it was a nice break. I was able to focus on my many projects. It has been really hot here, so it is up and out early first to pick blueberries...and mow...and grade my road...and finish the wellhouse (which now just lacks trim)...and irrigate the garden...and harvest tomatoes which are coming in strong now...and on and on. Chores are endless but the reward is in the accomplishment, whether it is eating delicious produce, driving on a smooth gravel road, or having abundant clean water. Regardless of your life path you can choose a route that provides rewards and I hope you all are finding your lives rewarding and fulfilling. Nice to be back to read all your excellent work and comments from last week. Have a good day and week!

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Raggedy Ann's picture

I’m back from my excursion to Mexico. It was a relaxing time. It’s always good to be home.

Wish we could grow blueberries in New Mexico. They’re my favorite.

Rain yesterday, more today ~ much needed and appreciated!

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone! Pleasantry

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"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

Lookout's picture

@Raggedy Ann

...and glad you had a good trip! We've been to the Yucatan a couple of times, and we hope to return. We love the people, birds, reefs, cenotes, and Maya ruins. Such a rich place. I hope AMLO helps usher in a new era for the Mexican people.

I see what you mean about growing blueberries in NM
https://www.hgtv.com/design/outdoor-design/landscaping-and-hardscaping/q...

Have a good day and week!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Raggedy Ann's picture

@Lookout
More rain on the way. Our monsoon season is beginning. Fingers crossed it will bear fruit/rain.
Enjoy your day! Pleasantry

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"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

Azazello's picture

Here's a pretty good Keiser Report:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4OFHsFPk-4 width:500 height:300]
Joao Gilberto has died at 88: CNN
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6w3a2v_50U width:500 height:300]

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Lookout's picture

@Azazello

...and sorry to hear about Joao, but 88 it a pretty long life. Don't know if I want to make it into my 90's. I ran into the retired judge at trade day last week. He said, "I knew I was gonna get old. I just didn't realize it would get here so fast." Funny how time speeds up as we age. Round and round...

Thanks again for the clips!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Yum, love them! I was having a bran muffin with blueberries and raspberries as I was reading this. It was delicious and would love to have them growing in my yard! Glad you have everything back online and always do look forward to your writings on Sunday.

Working on moving forward. Have cleaned out a room that had been used mainly as a staging area for the bicycles, kayaks, and recycling to take to Austin as well as many other things that needed clearing. Plan to move a desk in there and use this room for painting and writing.

Another project is revamping the kitchen. Have a pantry that is roughly five foot wide and four foot deep. Not sure what all I have in there but this is my next project. Part of the revamp is moving some of my heavy cast iron/porcelain clad pots and pans more on waist level so do not have to do such heavy lifting from the ground level. Also going to get a more energy efficient refrigerator. We will see how far the project goes!

Have a good day to all! Am working on clearing some of my paperwork and reorganizing it as well.

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

Lookout's picture

@jakkalbessie

We revamped our pantry a few years back that has made it more useful. An art studio/area is still on our list. We used to make paper and mache pieces and want to get back to it. We have a area under the porch that could work well. Maybe this fall or winter. That's the thing about projects...there's always another. Best of luck with yours. Sounds like you're doing well!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

snoopydawg's picture

@jakkalbessie

I hope that when you feel up to it you will share some of your photos with us from you guy's many trips?

I can't imagine how hard it is for you going through all your memories and I think of you often as I do dear divineorder may he be on a great safari in the sky.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.

Lookout's picture

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Lookout's picture

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

magiamma's picture

And everyone

Thanks for the blueberry update. Interesting rant by Larry Wilkerson. Cretins.

We are in full summer-harvest swing here. Everything is available at the farmers market now. Yum.

Local politics continues unabated. They’re trying to recall two progressive city councilors. Because they simply do not like their politics and can.

Beckwith has some great new videos that pulls a lot of info together.

https://paulbeckwith.net/2019/07/04/life-after-arctic-blue-ocean-zero-ab...

Have a good one, all...
edit

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Lookout's picture

@magiamma

Beckwith had some interesting data on Antarctic melting this week too which you may have covered in your column. The graphics in this one are good....

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtWCrmUCclU]

...and Greta is keeping on keeping on....as should we.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/05/climate-crisis-doesnt-go-su...

Folks need to wake up...
We Are in a Climate Emergency, America': Anchorage Hits 90 Degrees for First Time in Recorded History https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/05/we-are-climate-emergency-am...

"if we act now, this could cut carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by up to 25 percent to levels last seen almost a century ago." A worldwide planting program, researchers estimate, could remove two-thirds of the carbon that human activity has put into the atmosphere.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/05/global-effort-plant-trillio...

All the best. Thanks for your work.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

The interview with Zelaya was outstanding.
What we have done to that country should result in all developed, democratic countries from having anything whatsoever to do with us. If we can do it to Honduras, we can do it to Switzerland.
Maybe the big revolution we truly need will be kicked off by outsiders.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Lookout's picture

@on the cusp

Yes I'm glad to operational again as well. I thought Zelaya was excellent describing our actions not only in his country but the region in general. When will we ever learn?

Hope all is well in your corner of the world!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout I cannot stand the heat. Farming is no longer an option for me. I guess it is an aging thing with me. I reached a point where getting outside made me sick.
I do recall my Honduran trip. I paid a bribe to pass through border control from Guatemala. I recall that the drug cartels made it their policy to keep Copan safe for tourists, and that the tourist district was as safe as anywhere in the world.
Children had no transportation to and from school. Our tour group visited a family in a remote farming area. We were told afterwards that the children were likely the result of brothers and sisters mating. There was simply no way for teenagers or young adults to associate with non-relatives. Or actually meet a non-relative.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Lookout's picture

@on the cusp

Yesterday it was mid 90's, so hanging out in the pond was a good activity at the party.

Our little band toured Guatemala in '85 during all the horrors, but we were well shielded with a local driver. There were 6 of us and a bass in a small Nissan van and we traveled 1000 miles across the small country. Our gig in Copan was such a memory...one mike and a crummy PA playing in a stadium setting. Live and learn...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRqLX09zMoI]

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Anja Geitz's picture

I have never thought of growing blueberries but you have inspired me to consider how that might work in the garden.

As for what to do with the harvest once they're here...gosh, there are so many options!

Sure, we are all probably familiar with the jams, pies, muffins, ice cream, cakes, bars, pancakes, and trifles we can make with blueberries, but what about salads, salsas, and a compliment to chicken or pork?

Here's 40 recipe ideas for blueberries that look pretty scrumptious!

Will need to go back and read the rest of your essay now. So much good stuff here!

Have a great day everyone!

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Lookout's picture

@Anja Geitz @Anja Geitz

we keep a bowl full on the table for fresh eating. We've frozen about 3 gallons so far, and they are good through the entire year.

Thanks for all the recipes!

Edit to add:
Varieties you might consider in your area...
https://www.gardenguides.com/107290-blueberry-plants-california.html
http://gregalder.com/yardposts/growing-blueberries-in-southern-california/
https://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/chroniclegarden/article/Blueberry-v...

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Anja Geitz
Half of them never make it to my kitchen. (Same with raspberries which are coming in now). My wife advises me to wash them, but I don't spray, so why?

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

smiley7's picture

Sweet ...

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Lookout's picture

@smiley7

2-0
https://www.ussoccer.com/teams/uswnt

Never have been a big sports fan, but understand the natural appeal. Glad you came by, and hope you have a great Sunday!

Hope it is cool up your way. We've had a shower or two that has cooled things off a bit.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

snoopydawg's picture

@smiley7

Great goal! The talent at this level is awesome.

I was working at a hospital during my 20's when some nurses asked if I wanted to play on their soccer team. I said I'd never played it before and they said no problem we haven't either. So a bunch of nubbies got a few practices in and then just started playing against people who had played for years. We were like kids following the ball everywhere and every time we did something wrong we would gather around the ref and ask him to explain it to us...he finally said get a rule book!

But we had fun and finally we won the last game of the season. And then we kicked ass the next year... but I didn't care that we lost because it was just so much fun.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.

smiley7's picture

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg @snoopydawg
When UNC Chapel Hill's women's team ruled as number one in NCAA and i had returned to university to work. Turned out the assistant coach and i dated sisters in the late sixties, were close friends, plus my ex's ballet company's director was married to the UNC winning coach; small world, got me interested in the game, a little.

This reaction is a bonus:

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smiley7's picture

80% today, hot for us.

Congrats on the blueberry harvest; randtntx posted a comment along with your thinking yesterday; there are good paths available for the choosing.

Featured this group yesterday having discovered them a couple weeks ago, hope you enjoy.

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Lookout's picture

enjoyed the music. Interesting use of banjo with horns.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

snoopydawg's picture

Bingo! So is this:

I would point to Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, as a quintessential example of the person who leads in this movement of retrogression.

can you have a popular democracy that actually works and grows?

I think you can, but you have to have a very carefully-crafted, educated elite

He could have said a well educated populace because as we all know we aren't really educated very well when it comes to this country's history. Our ancestors got along so well with the native Americans that they threw a party for us on thanksgiving.... and the flag is so swell that we pledge our allegiance to it and for which it stands..blah, blah.

you need a robust, well-organized and powerful labor movement to represent those who only earn through their labor to balance the monopolistic and predatory tendencies of capitalism. You have to have all of that in order for democracy, the people, to prosper over time.

Democrats used to represent labor and the unions, but I'm thinking now that was just a minor blip to make the companies prosperous enough and then they took their profits and skiddaddled in order to make more.

Great article, LO

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.

Lookout's picture

@snoopydawg

Talking about the dims demographic change and the consequences for the election...
Trump will win in 2020 if the dims nominate a centrist...
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/02/there-is-hard-data-that-shows-that-a-ce...

"Piketty's basic thesis is that poorer and less educated voters were historically the kind of voters who voted for left and left-liberal parties. These voters understood that their class interests did not align with the right-wing parties of the rich; thus, historically, the "high-income, high education" voters picked the right-wing parties. This shifted in the past 70 years: "high-education elites now vote for the 'left',
...
Yet the Democratic Party and their mouthpieces at major newspapers are clearly not heeding Piketty's prophecy. Rather, TV pundits and op-ed writers of every major newspaper epitomize how the Democratic establishment has already reached a consensus: the 2020 nominee must be a centrist, a Joe Biden, Cory Booker or Kamala Harris–type, preferably.
...
Piketty's paper is an inconvenient truth for the Democratic Party. The party's leaders see themselves as the left wing of capital — supporting social policies that liberal rich people can get behind, never daring to enact economic reforms that might step on rich donors' toes. Hence, the establishment seems intent on anointing the centrist Democrats of capital, who push liberal social policies and neoliberal economic policies. History speaks to Piketty's truths."

Here is the data dense study...
http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Piketty2018.pdf

Good to "see" you this Sunday!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

snoopydawg's picture

@Lookout

Trump will win in 2020 if the dims nominate a centrist..

I'm not the only one who thinks that democrats would rather Trump wins again if it means keeping Bernie out. People have been trying to change the democrats for over a century and yet they still keep moving right. As Schumer said, "for every lefty democrat we lose we'll pick up two centrists republicans."

But even if Bernie wins he will have to deal with McConnell and the blue dawg democrats. It was they who sunk Nancy's bill on the detention centers. And Schumer didn't even try to whip his people. Both of them could have put their foot down and made people miss their vacation. Could have..didn't.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.

Lookout's picture

@snoopydawg

democrats would rather Trump wins again if it means keeping Bernie out.

I would add - or Tulsi.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Way too cold last Winter. I had my single bush in the garage and took it out on April 8. Too soon. At least it's still alive. Lot's of raspberries and the strawberries did well with only a thin row cover to keep the wind off.
Peach trees nearly dead. General advice was to replace the. Apples having a bumper crop!
My old seedless grape was thought o be a goner but sprouted two new sprouts from the top in late June! I pruned it back (to a node, of course) until the wood looked vaguely green.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness Peach sorbet
Zone 5-10. I;m in zone 5 which is why I keep it in a pot and bring the pot into the garage in Winter (groan!). If I lived in zone 8, I'd put a few opf them in the ground together with a nice cedar mulch all around (or would pine bark be better?).
In any case, no matter what you do, our clay soil quickly returns to ph 7.0 It's fine clay, the consistency of modeling clay mixed with rocks. It's what the glaciers left when the ice retreated. Chicago used to be under a mile of ice!

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Lookout's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

Sounds like blueberries are too much trouble for your region. Glad your grape survived, and hooray for the apple crop.

It is so interesting how things vary from year to year...on years and off years. Well, happy growing!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

mimi's picture

posting The Weekly Watch. I feared you were sick and am glad your absence last week had a harmless reason. It is late here. In general I can't keep up with reading and being on the other side of the pond is not helpful to stay in touch with what is going on at your side.

Our Emperor Drumpelstiltzchen just ordered that our troops should go to Syria and fight his dirty wars for him. What is he smoking?

I am too enervated to read and comment or think. I am trying to build vegetable bed in our garden, but have difficulties because I have a broken knee that hurt and need to get surgery for it next week. I consider to not take a laptop into the hospital, so I will see how internet abstince for a week will feel like.

We search so much for a piece of land in HI, but can't afford the prices for it and rich ueber-super-men bought all the land to leave the masses homeless on the land.

Frigging world.

Thank you for being here.

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smiley7's picture

@mimi
take care. Sending healing vibes.

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lotlizard's picture

@mimi  
for most people it is probably too dry and too detached from modern life and socio-economic hustle and bustle.

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Lookout's picture

@mimi

Here's a story you might enjoy..
https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/farming-in-ha...

There are 4 states offering land incentives for homesteading...
https://www.homesteadandprepper.com/modern-homesteading-4-places-where-l...

So sorry to hear about your knee. Hope the surgery goes well. Keep us posted after your ordeal. All the best!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

snoopydawg's picture

@mimi

Hope your recovery goes smoothly.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.

GreatLakeSailor's picture

about the sponsors of the Socialism Conference this weekend.
DSA/Jacobin/Haymarket-sponsored 'Socialism' conference features US gov-funded regime-change activists | The Grayzone
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/07/06/dsa-jacobin-iso-socialism-conference-...

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Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.

Lookout's picture

@GreatLakeSailor

Sounds like the corporate socialists are ready to take over the DSA. Max, Ben, Anna, Dan, and the others at the grayzone are doing some good reporting IMO. Nice to see reporters talk with real people on location.

Have a good one!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

in Maine. Tiny but tasty. Once saw a blueberry and lobster pizza on the menu there. Hmmm. Maybe a joke for the touristas?

Have a great week.

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Lookout's picture

@QMS

...but they are flavorful. Wild blackberry and dewberries are common here but you have to fight the thorns. We need to give raspberries a try again. We have friends with healthy productive canes but ours never survive. Just have to give it another go.

Hope you're doing well and all is going your way.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”