The Weekly Watch

Keep in Touch

Open Thread image.jpg

This theme occurred to me for a couple of reasons. First, I wonder about the long term social consequences of our year long (so far) pandemic experience... no hugs, no handshakes, no kiss on the check nor pat on the back...just distanced digital dialogue with NO Touching! This is not a natural human condition. And secondly, I wonder what has happened with so many C99 voices who are no longer participating. I'm concerned about several of our old members. For example, Mark from Queens disappeared about the time COVID hit NYC. Eyo has health issues and hasn't been around in a while. Hecate, NC Tim, and and so many others who used to write here no longer are around. We know OPOL, Ek, and River Lover passed on to the other side. We all can see our community shrinking. I really wonder why.

JtC suggests some of us offend one another causing departure. It puzzles me that rational folks here (who we have come to know) have such thin skins that they leave when someone's opinion differs from theirs. Perhaps it is the stress of these odd COVID times that has people oversensitive? I don't know, but it sure seems bizarre to me to bail on C99's mostly evidence based discussions when journalist like Julian are being tortured for telling the truth about US war crimes, alternate media is being throttled, and rational evidence based conversation is non-existent on MSM. We need C99 now more than ever IMO. So, how can we not only maintain, but build, our community?

Is our C99 community unhealthy? Is its survival (like capitalism) based on growth? In part it is an issue of revenue to pay to keep the platform's wheels turning and for access to servers, internet, and so on. Many of our members are up against it and have no means of financial contribution, but others of us are able to contribute. I'm not trying to guilt trip anyone, but those who are able, should help JtC keep us afloat. In part, the problem is our reduced numbers. We could all cheer JtC on by describing what this community means to us in the comments.

Since my immigration to C99 in 2016, I've watched my real world friends jump the russiagate, Trump derangement syndrome, and impeachment(s) shark. I might have too if not for the balanced reporting here. Perhaps truth seekers have become so rare that our community is suffering the consequences. I just know I would like to see this community grow and thrive. Anyone have any ideas how to make that happen?

COVID has impacted all our lives in a myriad of ways. I'm sure the social scientists will have fertile ground to research the pandemic's effect for decades to come. I'm thankful for my partner, and the fact I've not had to weather this challenge alone. C99 has been a refuge in the storm for me. We have several single friends who are very lonely. We try to call and write (actual snail mailed letters, cards, and notes) friends from around the country and world. There are positive actions we can take to ease people's anxiety. But what to do in our C99 community? Being understanding of others concerns, tolerant of our differences, and practicing kindness instead of insisting on our own correctness might go a long way. And yes, I could stand to practice more of what I preach.

Alright, so much for my soap box declarations. I hope some of you will have more substantive ideas in the comments below.

Get Healthy!
In many ways OPOL started me on my fairly recent health journey. Much of this knowledge is quite ancient...especially the oriental approaches (many of which SoE discussed in his China series). I thought the following conversation with Mark Hyman and Josh Axe was very interesting discussing "Ancient Remedies". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxeoehaVZ_c (47 min)
In this discussion they talk about the connection between soil microbes and our own gut health. That sure makes sense to me...healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people.
Several herbs were suggested including:
astragalus, andrographis, and echinacea

So why are we so sick? Well, we aren't eating well, AND we've been misled by health practitioners who have been conned by big pharma. Have you been diagnosed with osteoporosis? You might want to listen to this 18 min clip discussing disease mongering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IphVAOtqYk
Now I disagree with his notion of a total plant based diet, but agree with his skepticism and explanation of over diagnosis.

Screenshot_2021-02-07 United States Coronavirus 27,519,636 Cases and 473,528 Deaths - Worldometer.png

SARS-CoV-2 hasn't helped the situation, however it has illuminated the failure of a for profit sick care system primarily controlled by big pharma. In the US there continue to be 3000-4000 COVID deaths/day, and one day this week we were over 5000 deaths. Vaccines continue to roll out, but slowly. We finally got an appointment for a Moderna shot next Thursday. I'm hopeful in a couple of months we can get our lives back toward normal. My music buddies have already gotten their first shot. I hope all of you who want a vaccine can get one in the near term (and I know several of you have already gotten a first dose). Meanwhile with these new more contagious variants we need to be more vigilant than ever. Wear masks, stay distanced (and outside if possible), wash your hands, and don't let others (non-family) into your house.

Instead the Super Bowl is likely to be another super spreader event.

By any rational standard that takes public health into account, the game should not be held at all. Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, which ordinarily seats 65,000 spectators, will still have 25,000 people in the stands. The crowd Sunday will include some 7,500 vaccinated health care workers provided free tickets by the NFL. The tickets are intended as a thank you gift. The best way by far to reward such workers would be to cancel the unnecessary and hazardous event.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/02/06/bowl-f06.html

There was a comment this week that there is a new promising treatment. There been a promising treatment around since April, Ivermectin, and it is now finally in the same category as monoclonal antibodies. Your doctor can prescribe it for COVID. If I had symptoms I would insist my doctor prescribe this (IMO) proven treatment.

So though the pandemic is a time when we must restrain from touching others we can "Touch the Earth". In my youth I got the book by that name which is full of first nations wisdom. Here's a few excerpts.. I hope you all have access to nature and its healing properties. It is the overarching community of all life, and its gifts are there for those who look.

Good luck playing...

vaccine game.PNG

Grow Up!

So if food is medicine, we can grow our own and not be dependent on a for profit sick care system. Lately I've been thinking more about farming in the future as climate becomes more chaotic. Moving underground is one technique for stabilizing temperatures.

Experiments are the nature of science, and this fellows greenhouse experiments interested me this week. He's in very cold Quebec and yet is growing temperate fruits...(30 min)

Both MA and I have featured this retired postman's geothermal orange production in NE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD_3_gsgsnk (18 min)

My point in these two videos (and the walipini featured last week) is the idea we can extend our seasons and buffer extreme weather with these structures. I think this will become more important as climate chaos accelerates.

We adapt to our environment and to an extent can adapt the environment to our needs. Working with the Earth, capturing the energy of its ebbs and flows, and emulating nature will (at least) prolong human survival.

Creating Garden Beds

I posted this earlier. A small market garden (with beds) in France under trees...(5 min)

A longer 26 min interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnyrG6P4ngE
and their channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8i0RAQ3kAxs8xWmB-lK-Q

Dawn asked about raised beds earlier this week and I wanted to address the idea. Like making compost, there is no one correct method. Finding what works for you is the real trick. Raised beds are useful if your soil is wet (raised beds helps to drain the soil) or if you're in a cold climate (raised beds will warm a little faster). I personally prefer building beds at soil level. They will grow as compost and mulch are added, but in our climate, maintaining borders around beds are problematic (due to rot, erosion, and ease of working). Additionally I like the ability to drive over my beds to apply manure and mulch.

We have 3 foot wide beds that are easy to work from both sides. Most market gardeners use 30 inch wide beds (easy to reach across from just one side). When I first built our beds (30 years ago) I subsoiled (single shaft deep plow) each bed to allow for deep rooting. I also limed fairly heavy to neutralize our acidic soil. Since that time it has been manure and straw every year with surface lime every few years.

Initial subsoiling has water infiltration and rooting benefits. Most permaculture developments begin with keyline plowing.
https://worldpermacultureassociation.com/the-key-to-keyline-design/
Additionally, swales can be used...

Swales are built on contour so that there is no directional flow. The energy of the rising water will evenly spread water along the length of the swale. The water held in a swale after a rain event absorbs into the soil, adding to the subsurface hydrological flows. This underground water will flow through and down the land very slowly. This water moves so slowly it is effectively held in the land itself instead of on the surface in a dam. If rains are regular, the land should build to maximum water content within a few years; at this point springs may appear in the lower portions of the property.

While swales are not a major component of the Keyline system, they are worth mentioning because modern permaculture uses of swales have evolved alongside the techniques described in Yeoman’s books – and compliment each other well. Swales can be effectively deployed on properties not large enough to support full sized dams. They are also extremely cost effective soft earthworks, requiring no compaction.

https://www.permaculturenews.org/2013/02/22/before-permaculture-keyline-...
MA recently built one at her place in CA.

In a garden situation the lesson here is to look at water drainage across your site. Have you arranged your beds to capture rainfall or wash and erode? The trick is to establish beds along the contour or same elevation.

I'm a mulch gardener. Many excellent gardeners are not mulch based. Charles Dowding is a good example. He basically mulches with compost. Here's his cardboard and compost bed creation...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LH6-w57Slw (28 min)

The US has done big things in the past. I caught this 1944 piece pushing the TVA and government programs. How I wish we still had a government dedicated to preserving soil and helping provide people with energy. A fun 30 min reminder of the New Deal.

Imagine if we were creating another ambitious project to provide clean energy and a new generation of regenerative farmers and organic market gardeners. Looking at the '44 film makes me realize we could if there was will. The total corporate capture of the US government prevents positive programs like that and instead pumps money into senseless war aimed at profits for fossil fuel polluters.

Soil not Oil and Love not War!

love not war.jpg

Author, Dr. Michael D. Knox, discusses his new book, Ending U.S. Wars by Honoring Americans Who Work for Peace. He speaks with Krystal and Saagar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgDWHbk--U8 (5.5 min)

They also had on Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK, to discusses the United States' history of destructive foreign policy and never-ending wars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJW1uv9ph54 (10 min)

Uncle Joe simply ain't the answer...The Imperial Presidency Comes Home to Roost
https://tomdispatch.com/been-there-done-that-not/
America's distinctly fading imperial power is reflected in our aged new president.
https://scheerpost.com/2021/01/30/joe-biden-is-the-embodiment-of-our-fad...
Behind Biden’s invocations of “democracy,” US military prepares for nuclear war

Adm. Charles A. Richard, the head of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), made clear that the United States nuclear buildup, begun under Obama and massively expanded under Trump, will continue. “Nuclear employment is a very real possibility,” Richard bluntly declared, saying that the US must prepare for such a war.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/02/06/nuke-f06.html

In the ME, rinse and repeat...

Team Biden is planning to hold on to what it apparently sees as its “Trump card”— the Trump administration’s sanctions against Iran oil exports that have gutted the Iranian economy.

https://thegrayzone.com/2021/01/25/biden-administrations-coercive-iran-r...

Caity gets it right as usual...

Ending the empire won’t solve all our world’s problems. But because the empire can only survive on a steady diet of death and destruction, its death is a necessary first step toward creating a healthy, peaceful world.

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/02/06/the-empire-must-die-notes-from-t...

The CIA and MI6 continue to Russia bash playing the Navaly incident to the hilt.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/02/new-york-times-editors-lie-obfusca...
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/02/bashing-russia-when-one-needs-it-d...
Despite facing repression, Alexei Navalny is no hero. Russian writer Katya Kazbek reveals the Western-backed opposition figure’s real history.
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/01/28/alexei-navalny-myth-wests-russian-opp...

How is it that the people accept this permanent forever war? They are keep on a treadmill of servitude to the oligarchs. These words from Huxley in 1962 ring more true today than ever... (17 min)

I'm looking for some good news from Ecuador tomorrow...

Ben Norton reports from Ecuador on the eve of the February 7 election. Protesters flooded the streets of the major city Guayaquil to demand a return to the leftist Citizens’ Revolution of former President Rafael Correa, represented by presidential candidate Andrés Arauz and his vice president Carlos Rabascall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYJqhSq1CHI (6 min)

The US considers all of the Americas to be theirs to control and they pull some pretty horrible stunts to maintain the choke hold...

A key coup-plotter in the May 2020 botched invasion of Venezuela said she met with FBI and DEA officials. She admitted Colombia’s intelligence services were aiding them and “knew everything,” adding that President Iván Duque and far-right political kingpin Álvaro Uribe helped.

https://thegrayzone.com/2021/01/30/us-colombia-invasion-venezuela-yacsy-...

community.jpg

I want to wrap up today's column by thanking JtC for all his work developing and maintaining this community. We can help him by interacting with one another in a civil and respectful manner. That doesn't mean always agreeing. It means focusing on ideas not personality. It means being open to criticism and not knee jerking when we are challenged. It means providing sourced evidence or admitting it is your opinion not fact.

I feel I know most of you. I've come to value your insights and learn from your experiences and views. I appreciate this community and thank you all for being part of it. As we've said many times, Trump was a symptom of our sick system. Uncle Joe at the helm doesn't cure that sickness, it merely puts another face on the situation. We'll have plenty to uncover in this administration, and we will need each other more and more as censure accelerates. Let's keep our eyes and minds open as we move forward.

As a final note, in the past we've talked about a real space gathering. Perhaps once this pandemic has played out (if it plays out) we can revisit that idea. In the meantime it has also been suggested we hold a digital gathering occasionally on Zoom or Jitsi. What do you think about those notions?

Alright enough already. Have a great Sunday, and I'll look forward to your ideas below.

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Comments

Raggedy Ann's picture

Well, I don't fit the mold that covid has created. I still hug and kiss people that want hugs and kisses. I shake hands with people and tell them I am not afraid. If they are afraid, I respect that. I am not allowing the covid to rule my life, although I have a healthy respect for it. It is here to change our society. I'm on board with that and refuse to live in fear. I'm also on board with ivermectin, if I contract the disease and if my dr deems it necessary. My dr is doing incredible work with his patients - 90% homeopathic treatments with tremendous results - no deaths on his watch. I'll stick with him and his advice. I realize what I'm saying goes against the grain of most people here, but I just live in my truth.

Thank you for the vast amount of information you are giving us. Our gut health is critical, so those articles and videos are priceless.

Enjoy the 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

Lookout's picture

@Raggedy Ann @Raggedy Ann

I've not been to a dr in years so I'm on my own. Also have not been sick in years, so I guess I'm doing okay.

I'll be glad to get back to hugs, handshakes, and kisses! Thanks for coming by and reading. Always appreciate your upbeat view of life...refreshing in these times.

All is well back in the holler. The sun just came out and the sky is blue. Headed to about 50 today. Hope your weather is pleasant too.

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13 users have voted.

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

Azazello's picture

This came up yesterday, more from Ben Norton on Ecuador: Ecuador's historic election explained: Inside the Citizens' Revolution, (YouTube, 15 min.)
This is from January. I found it very informative: Michael Hudson - Changes in Superimperialism, (YouTube, 56 min.)
Looks like Spring has sprung in Southern AZ, s'posed to be 75° today.
Think I'll take a little walk later. There's a Walgreen's about a mile away with an ATM where I can try out my new Trump card.

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14 users have voted.

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

Lookout's picture

@Azazello

...our regular walking circuit. Sounds lovely in your world.

Thanks as always for the links. I'm hopeful for Ecuador's election today. I also really like Hudson's view so I'll listen this afternoon.

Enjoy your weather and walk!

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7 users have voted.

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

mhagle's picture

I have never been offended . . . oh maybe once a tiny bit . . . but I believe in the right of folks to have occasional righteous rants. Blow off steam you know? I am not on here as often because this past year I have conscientiously cut down on outside input. Sometimes I will go days without reading my email. I still check in here several times a week, but if the essay is long, I may not finish it. I am avoiding getting wound up over things I have no control over. And I have several songs I repeat in my head that focus on these things: gratitude, seeing the good in people, wishing good for others and the world, surrendering to what is. And I do my daily chores. Appreciate family, friends, pets, mother earth. That's about it.

On the gardening side, this year I am encouraged. I am harvesting tomatoes in my greenhouse from plants I started in July. Just for eating, but they are delicious. Last September I bought 8 new 4x6 round hay bales and spent the fall conditioning them. This past week I have been planting cold weather crops in them. Onions look very good. Planted potatoes yesterday. This past week I made seed tapes using cheap toilet paper and school glue of spinach, swiss chard, carrots, beets, parsnips, parsley, kale, lettuce, rutabaga, radishes, bok choi. The purpose is to have them spaced out at planting. I pull out a crevasse in the bales and slide in a tape then close it up. I will plant fruit trees in the remaining keyhole gardens. Round bale gardening is great for two years, after that the bales are no good. Last year was my fourth year. Harvested a few things still the third year. Worst garden ever last year. Anyway, now I know.

Wishing you all a fabulous Sunday! Thanks for the OT Lookout! I-m so happy

My tomatoes . . .
20210204_170946.jpg

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21 users have voted.

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Lookout's picture

@mhagle

I am avoiding getting wound up over things I have no control over. And I have several songs I repeat in my head

I also whistle lots to keep tunes in my head. You know whistle while you work.

Your garden sounds great! Its a journey that I'm glad I choose. Learn something new all the time cause its a moving target year to year.

We have a few things over wintering. Harvested some cabbage last week. The frost & light freeze make them so sweet.
IMG_4507.jpg

Sure is nice to "see" you and hear that you and yours are doing well. Come back when time allows.

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14 users have voted.

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

mhagle's picture

@Lookout

I've never had much luck, but keep trying. Hmmm . . . . I guess I did get some one year. I always love your garden talk! Thanks!

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4 users have voted.

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Lookout's picture

@mhagle

...to go out in the late winter garden. But they will have pressure from the cabbage loopers and other pests. This is my favorite season for cabbage, but t is always a risk with low temps...even with row covers. Keeps it interesting. Still have six or more developing heads. Hoping for the best as the babies get big enough to set out.

Glad to have you around for garden talk!

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3 users have voted.

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@mhagle

I was wondering about you.

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5 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Dawn's Meta's picture

along our petite rivière. It's been over its banks several times this week and back down. Very quick draining.

You cover so much ground from planet-wide down to our personal health. Quite a swath there. I was thinking there must be some way to catalogue all these good links and sites by topic for future use. Tremendous amounts of information.

Here's a case in point: the comments made about two not just one treatment both administered nasally via inhaling - one to mitigate the Cytokine (immune system response) and one to actually kill the virus. The first one is out of Israel and the second out of UC San Fran. And that's all I remember.

Get Healthy - we are mostly Keto with carbs (Paul Jaminet - Perfect Health Diet) and have so much locally raised foods from most food groups. We would like to know more about fresh milk, and whether it's ok. From which animals? Reading about the natural microbes, it sounds like a potential contribution to gut health.

Always working on inflammation, collagen and good sleep. Not there yet, but every day is an opportunity to do better. Sitting on the mosses and later, wading in our stream for earthing/grounding is a thing I'm trying every day I can.

Garden Beds - Here's our garden beds from our US home: First one is Spring veggies; second one is with flippable panels over early started corn. We could make these better, but for a first try, we were happy with them. Next set of beds we make will have more of a Permaculture base with branches and twigs; compost materials first then soil/dirt and finally mulch. I'm going for more moisture retention and to see how little extra watering we need. We do have a cistern, but it runs out in long summers.
HR Garden beds Spring.jpg

Hr Garden Beds Corn with tent.jpg

Do you have any diagrams or photos of your swale? We have an eternal ditch, which empties into our petite rivière. Near the bottom we would like to put in a water garden: Cattails, Iris, Hosta, Astilbe, other more native water/moist earth-loving plants for animals, insects and birds. Right now we have rampant Nettle, which is good, but way too much of good.

Growing community is to me good, especially with all the interests and special topics different posters are already very good at doing. Re inviting those who we miss??? And inviting possible newbies. The key is civility. Reading other views like those from right wing and more conservative view points is good as long as we don't end up in a huff.

Thanks to JtC and Joe and all contributors. As we add layers of knowledge and enjoyment of our planet, we enrich this site.

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12 users have voted.

A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

Lookout's picture

@Dawn's Meta

Maybe she will chime in...I know it was tested in big rains recently.

...now we do have the remnants of '30 vintage terraces. Would have to look for pics, but I do have our late fall early winter bed prep from 2018?
First composted manure
IMG_3740.jpg

Followed by straw (wheat or rye)
IMG_3741.jpg

Notice the constant battle with wind and row covers in the upper left of both photos. Just a regular winter chore for us.

Thanks for the cross pond perspective...lots to be envied...great local food and the train system among them!

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9 users have voted.

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

magiamma's picture

@Dawn's Meta

Edit ti add this is dry except for atmospheric river dumps.

This was just weeds and a ditch before I started. The swale mostly survived. There is a drain at one end with a pipe to goes down to the dispersion chamber - 30-40 feet or so away. Some water found its way along the side of the pipe instead of inside it. Fixing that. Also too much water exited the dispersion chamber on the fence side and washed some dirt away. Fixing that too. There was no retaining wall, no garden bed, no path, no containers - just weeds and a hokey hand-dug ditch.

Now the swale needs more plantings in the ditch part with reeds, horsetails, etc. Note that I planted three Day Lilies by the dispersion chamber. when they take root they will suck up lots of water and hold the soil. Will get there after I plant the garden. The plumb trees are already blooming. Much pruning to still be done. whew

end that drains to chamber
bioswale w circ.jpg

garden end
bioswale garden.jpg

dispersion chamber
dispertion chambr.jpg

So lo, you see the fence behind the swale that is where I want to put rows of hanging beds for lettuce etc

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Dawn's Meta's picture

@magiamma

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4 users have voted.

A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

Lookout's picture

@magiamma

Nice project...keep on keeping on!

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4 users have voted.

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

ggersh's picture

yet in the wife's little greenhouse her plants still grow. Thanks for your help in that Lookout!

I believe in karma, I truly do, although I get impatient about it and do wish it would happen in my lifetime.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SYJKvWba6o]

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11 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Lookout's picture

@ggersh

I hope they've mis-predicted teens for us week after next. It is always voodoo weather that far out anyway. Had planned to get out early spring starts that week, but noooo. Weather is the gardener's master...like it or not!

Glad the greenhouse is working out. All the best!

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9 users have voted.

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

As was mentioned earlier, there is so much valuable information you give us references to and I have been saving the dates of some of the columns for future reference. As others mentioned as well, C99 is a lifeline for me to make sense of some of what is going on in the outside world. There are times when reading I have to step away because it is so overwhelming and I feel so helpless in what I can do.Maglev hit it on the head and said avoiding things I have no control over. This something I try to work on daily to keep calm. Singing silly songs as I go about my day and being outside on my bike in nature help me keep myself in balance.

I have been very lucky in my life. Divine Order and I lived a very frugal life and were fortunate when we retired and had no outstanding debts and were able to live on our retirement incomes. Still am doing so now but I did qualify for the $600 assistance from the government which still says the money came from Donald Trump. Because the food bank in the area and C99 could use the money, it was easy to make a donation to both.

At this point in my life, I am grappling with making some serious decisions. I am now 71 and am not really feeling like maintaining two properties in two different states. Based on a lot of information about the future of our planet, owning property in New Mexico could be problematic. The property I own in Texas does have some land that I could make an effort to raise some of my own food. You are a real encouragement there! The pandemic has made it clear to me that my life needs some building of new friends or groups to interact with. While in Santa Fe New Mexico, I did begin to suffer from mild depression because I was isolated from people and felt very lonely being by myself.

Enough of all this but to sum up, thanks to you for your OT and all the others that work so hard to put these together and of course to JtC for keeping the nuts and bolts up and running.

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16 users have voted.

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

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

Lookout's picture

@jakkalbessie

in terms of pension and also the Trump check...we matched the last one and added gravel to the road, Thinking we'll do the same again with this round. We're trying to invest in real things while the dollar has value.

Sorry I forgot to mention D O. He was always such a kind person. I know you miss him. I do too. There have been so many come and gone here at C99 it's hard to keep straight.

We shouldn't spend our days in worry...that does more harm than good. Easy said and hard to do, but as you suggest being outside helps. We have friends with a place in FL and a place on the mountain. They have to work double time to maintain both. So I understand your interest in bringing it all into one home.

Wishing you all the best!

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10 users have voted.

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

mimi's picture

JtC suggests some of us offend one another causing departure. It puzzles me that rational folks here (who we have come to know) have such thin skins that they leave when someone's opinion differs from theirs. Perhaps it is the stress of these odd COVID times that has people oversensitive? I don't know, but it sure seems bizarre to me to bail on C99's mostly evidence based discussions when journalist like Julian are being tortured for telling the truth about US war crimes, alternate media is being throttled, and rational evidence based conversation is non-existent on MSM. We need C99 now more than ever IMO. So, how can we not only maintain, but build, our community?

Right on.

I know that I am guilty of being a member that has offended other members, who have written here. I often don't know anymore when the original offenses took place, do not remember why that was. It it is not easy to get understanding for such behavior.
But I try nevertheless:
1. This community has no members, who come from different countries and cultures than the US. So it is very hard for most members to accept other reactions and verbal expressions than those Americans are used to. Politeness is the main issue. As far as I remember Jimmy Dore has been accused for this 'fuck you' language before he was accused of his words meaning. I found that amazing and quite troubling. It should be more about what you say than how you say it, imo. I think members like Big AL and for a certain time Alligator Ed's talk were not acceptable to some. There is a cultural difference between Americans and Germans in that regard. It was nothing much which would have irritated me to the point I would have wished they would have left us alone. Despite that, we still can love and respect or admire each other.

Aren't the hottest and fiercest disputes among two lovers? As long as they don't divorce for good, it's ok, right?

I do love many members here, even if I have in the past commented in ways I would not do anymore today. (Depends on the frustration level, so it's all my fault and not those I have attacked). Let's say we all can grow up on the long run.

And I don't want to forget to say that you lookout, are my role-model for polite, kind and truthful honest reporting and commenting. Hallelujah, for being here.

PS. I do not believe that the way members talk and write is influenced by the covid pandemic. But I do believe that their real life has been terribly influenced to the worst and caused many reasons why some can't, won't or simply are overwhelmed to still communicate with us here. At a certain point real life and person to person interaction beats all that gawdawful long distance unsocial communication mode, one is forced to accept and use too often.

Otherwise regarding for ever wars, I just point to Chris Hedges book 'War is the force that gives us meaning' which lead into to the subsequent book 'American Fascism'. If it's war that gives the empire's overlords meaning, don't be amazed, that those who get bombarded have other ideas about what would get themselves some meaning.

To grow this community? Let everyone talk as honestly as he can, no matter how they express it. And then hug and kiss /s Heh.

The example of eyo and janis b. With both I would have liked to exchange my e-mail and postal address, but I was too afraid of Uncle Sam's turned Papa Doc's watchful eye, (heh, I like to exaggerate for show purposes, forgiveness I plead) terrified they would tell the they know where my kids are. Yeah. I am scared. So much so that I do not read much anymore on the internet. I want my peace and sleep well.

Otherwise I think sometimes less would be more. Who can read all that is offered here? I get frustrated that I can't keep up reading.

How to grow the community? Let them talk the way they want. If you feel offended, say so and explain why you are offended, so that the offender can explain himself better and clearer and then just accept the other person's point of view. Then hug and kiss !.

There will be the day, when I watch all your garden bed building videos. Let's hope by spring garden work will be my only bodily heavy exercises I have to engage in.

Thanks for the great Weekly Watch !!!I

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9 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@mimi

person to person interaction beats all that gawdawful long distance unsocial communication mode

The real world is...real. And so has more meaning. But we must do with what we have. The local saying here is "make do or do without".

As to cultural differences, I want to say I appreciate all our international perspectives...yours, loti, and our other expats in South and Central America. That's part of what makes our community special to me.

Thanks for your thoughtful comment!

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8 users have voted.

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

enhydra lutris's picture

These are trying times for everybody except maybe the elites. I suspect that all the tension, stress and general aggro combined with the media assisted hyperpolarization of nearly everything is making all of us a bit more sensitive than we once were and also maybe a tad more prone to lash out or provoke. Maintaining and building community is indeed an important goal, perhaps one of the very most important ones. -- Jump Cut here --

Underground gardening (and living) is great from many perspectives, but there are a lot of obstacles too, especially in an urban or suburban environment. Land is, of course one of them. The Walipini looks fabulous but is way beyond the scope of anything I could try. I noticed this passage:

Moving underground is one technique for stabilizing temperatures.

Experiments are the nature of science, and this fellows greenhouse experiments interested me this week. He's in very cold Quebec and yet is growing temperate fruits...(30 min)

I immediately thought of l'orangerie, and while looking for some info on it discovered that it was once a common thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangery but it looks like most of them weere at lesat mostly above ground, if not completely so. By contrast, the one in the Tuilleries was mostly underground. ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_de_l%27Orangerie

Aaaand, a jump to the left, or is it a step to the right.

Gut biota is really important (as is the ecosystem upon one's skin). Literally touching the ground may help keep both healthy. Like sourdough cultures, we each have out own and they can, at any given time, range from very effective to quite dysfunctional. Recent research has seemingly established a gut-brain connection that is pretty much a two-way communication channel, which is something to think about. "You are what you eat" might be more true than we thought. This may play a big role in the various types of weight-loss diets, and why so many work great for some yet fail for others. You must keep your gut happy, and radical changes might not go down well with it at all, suggesting that perhaps gradual shifts and acclimation are butter than jump-shift types of transitions.

Chinese medicine? Really? What would they know? After all, didn't we invent everything? /s

be well and have a good one

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11 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Lookout's picture

@enhydra lutris

Were you playing the vaccination game from above?

I know the WW is wide ranging to say the least but I do try to find a rabbit hole to tie it together. Thanks as always for your good presence here. Have a great Sunday!

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8 users have voted.

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

magiamma's picture

Great video on Quuebec greenhouse building. Thanks.

I am interested in his wall of troughs that he plants lettuce etc in. I could do that on my fence.

Here is what I mean by Cuban urban gardening. Needs to happen here in concert with people moving away from the coasts.

Cuba’s Urban Farming Shows Way to Avoid Hunger

https://www.ecowatch.com/urban-farming-cuba-2641320251.html

The Soviet collapse brought the breakdown of this trade, and food rationing for city dwellers. And Cuba lost its main food supply while it was still coping with strict U.S. sanctions. Reverting to conventional farming would have taken time and was in any case difficult because the Soviet fertilizers, fuel and pesticides had also dried up.

So the highly-educated urban citizens, faced with rationing which reduced the average Cuban's daily calorie intake from 2,600 in 1986 to 1,000-1,500 in 1993, organized themselves to grow their own food in improvised urban allotments.

At first, struggling with little know-how and without fertilizers, their yields were low, but by producing compost and other organic growing mediums, plus introducing drip-fed irrigation, they began to see improvements.

Short of chemicals, the gardeners resorted to biological controls like marigolds (where opinions today are mixed) to deter harmful insects.

By 1995 Havana alone had 25,000 allotments tended by families and urban cooperatives. The government, realizing the potential benefits, encouraged the movement.

This in combination with the greenhouse effort could be amazing

Thanks for the ww. Take good care.

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14 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Lookout's picture

@magiamma

...and we could do it again.

Like you I loved the stair stepped planting berm the Canadian used with his greenhouse. I want to build a strawberry berm like it.

You suggested you were burning out on your Thursday column. What about changing topics to something you want to develop or something like art that you know better than us? Just an idea. That's what I do with the WW when I'm bored....change direction. In fact I've been playing with the notion of telling more local stories. I find them entertaining and I want to preserve them while I remember them.

Thanks for being here!

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6 users have voted.

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

magiamma's picture

@Lookout
You know I really need a break. I had moved to shorter essays with music and art because I enjoyed it more. I can post essays when I want now. In general, when my posts were not political there was not much response. I also feel that I want to see if there is a way I can get involved in CA prep for CC. Just thinking of people to have convos with. Thinking of seeing if there are ways to get small farming efforts going. Did meet with some of the local officials re farming and went to visit a very far out farm that is using more eco-friendly methods a while back. It takes about a four-hour chunk, minimum, to do an essay and then host for me. Time I want to use now to see if there is anything that can be jump started. No idea. The Bernie group here was amazing in 2016. Not sure that energy exists now. The local climate folks are really focused on local. I think a CA effort could have much more impact in the grand scheme as we are the 5th largest economy in the world, have some smarts here and resources. Again, no idea if I will find traction. Anyway that's sort of where I a heading en este momento. Will keep you posted.

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10 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Lookout's picture

@magiamma

take a break if you need it. Q has a good idea to cover. Wishing you the best in your local efforts!

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7 users have voted.

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

enhydra lutris's picture

@magiamma
heights off of a fence or wall can work. I've grown a ton of green and spring onions plus a couple of bulb onions that way - all regrown from base 1/2 or so of green onions left in a shot-glass of water until roots and a top get a good start.

be well and have a good one

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9 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

phillybluesfan's picture

I am retired. My wife is semi-retired. She edits books for several university presses: Syracuse, Nebraska, University of New Mexico. We live five minutes walk from a large urban park. Most days we take four laps around a mile long fitness path. Occasionally I get energetic and combine E.P. Tom Sawyer Park with nearby Anchorage Trail for a combined 8 mile round trip from our front door. Otherwise I'm a couch potato.

When it comes to Covid-19, we exercise caution. The only places I enter would be Trader Joes, Costco, and restaurants briefly for pickup in support of mom n pop eateries. Refusal to ride share has all but put a stop to the short distance backpack camping I had been doing with a group of friends. Sometimes I have at a distance coffee with someone from what used to be a monthly poetry & dinner meet up.

Since I'm 71, I was able to make an an appointment for a first stage vaccination come March 3rd. I've had a low white blood cell count for years and years ... indicating a weakened immune system supposedly. But I rarely catch cold or flu.

So my no contact social life has been caucus99percent, a monthly SUN MAGAZINE video chat, a virtual men's contemplative group, and listening to podcasts.

It's also been good to keep busy posting Friday Open Thread.

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13 users have voted.

Few are guilty, but all are responsible.”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets

Lookout's picture

@phillybluesfan

Played a few gigs over the years in Louisville. One memorable one was a dance on the steamboat, "The Belle of Louisville". It was fun watch the dance move up and down the hall as the shoreline passed by, but it was hot as blue blazes on the bandstand over the boiler!

Nice community of folks there. Also remember finding Col. Sander's grave in a graveyard there.

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7 users have voted.

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

communication is in the mix here
we have a deep pool of commentators
which keeps the organic mixture fertile

Trying to come up with a better approach
to the daily open threads
As magi mentioned, perhaps it need not be so
rigid. Have been trying to develop that approach
for a while now. Keep filling in when voids occur
but suggest a generic OT so the hosts do not burn out?

Will do the Wednesday OT, because I enjoy creative writing.
Thursday and Saturday need reinforcement. Due to the loss of inspiration.
I can do generics, but hosting is an issue. Still have to work to pay the bills.

Generic could be as simple as the OT banner followed by the date
then the lead-in would be -- post whatever and see what develops.
Just a place to throw out thoughts, art, music and whatever.

May be too open-ended but a regular place to just post, without
creating a big essay may bring in more contributors?

Snowing pretty good here in the NE, a few inches so far today.
Fire in the wood stove. May try to figure out how to turn on the TV
to see the super bowl razzmatazz, haven't tried to turn it on in over a
year. We'll see.

Thanks for all you do!

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11 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@QMS

...to the OT. Might make a community request for hosts.

I like having a weekly piece. I've used to write a column for a monthly pub (paying gig), and so wasn't too different moving to a weekly.

Another thought about OT's might be to have a theme for the day kinda like the Friday night photos, or Philly's reading suggestions. For a while we had an art column and a Friday music funk. Just throwing out ideas.

Thanks for all you do too!

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8 users have voted.

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

@QMS They should be open to any discussion about anything.
Nobody should be asked to stick with a topic and not go off topic in an open thread!

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5 users have voted.

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@on the cusp

People seem to respond more when I have a particular topic, but I have a new idea in the works. A little tricky to execute, maybe, but...

I'm doing a "Coffee and Accountability" thing with my partner, Kate. We set some habits that we want to make, and then we check in with one another over coffee in a "How's it going?" kind of way. We've also been doing a seven-minute Qui Gong routine that I thought others might enjoy (though if I use it here I will need to throw money at the nice young instructor who put the video up; couldn't make use of it every day in a public way without giving him back something). I don't know if people would want to do it, but I'm envisioning something where those who want to check in with what they've done and those who don't just post whatever they're thinking about.

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10 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

enhydra lutris's picture

@QMS

for monday, but for gap filling when I don't have anything in particular to post. I once had a template for an emergency one, maybe 2.

Goes sumpin like this ==

title goes here OT OT OT OT

&lt div align="center"&GT&LTimg src=https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1493/26212496565_b2b949e0a3.jpg &gt &lt/div&gt

some sort of pic, optional; centered preferred

&lta data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/38137974@N00/49730340373/in/album-72157709783858422/" title="fractal"&gt&ltimg src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49730340373_2919ee7075_w.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="fractal"&GT&LT/a&GT&LTscript async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&GT&LT/script&gt

fractal

actual

&lt!--break--&gt

Musical interlude (heh)

&ltiframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3hcZ4s9cvpw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>&gt

actual

[ replace &gt with greater than symbol and &lt with less than symbol]

So what's on your mind folks?

Tags: Open Thread, tag, whatever, is anybody out there?

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10 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris

gives the unfocused a place to blend
also agree with otc, keep it open
thread the needle if one must

cheers

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5 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@QMS

my spouse can attest, I'm usually good for some kind of rant Wink Just have to remind and emphasize that it is freeform and anything goes. Also, remember "we are the weird" right?

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7 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris

free creative expression is bestus
will have to check with admin if this
feasible for now. filling gaps

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4 users have voted.
RantingRooster's picture

in Enemy territory with no resistance to help me escape and death is just lurking outside my door, following me everywhere I go.

If I try to be "positive", I feel like I'm lying to people. Superficial conversations have always been meaningless to me and today, I pretty much find them offensive because we have such HUGE problems (crisis) facing us, and nobody wants to talk about those in the offline world nor do anything about them. Heck, where I live, I'm not even allowed to talk about them!

Heck, it's taken almost a year to get the owner at least put some hand sanitizer in the common areas.

C99 is my only lifeline to a sane world. There are so many good posts, with lot's of good info, but sadly, I'm in no position to take advantage of any of it.

Gosh, I feel just awful I don't have any good news, except to say, me and Gigi are still above ground.

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13 users have voted.

C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote

Lookout's picture

@RantingRooster

part of this community. I'm sorry your situation isn't better. You might want to create an piece explaining your tech skills and see if anyone on the site might have need of your talents. I wish I had a project for you.

Hang in there my friend. Fate is fickle and might break your way soon. I hope so!

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10 users have voted.

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

Lookout's picture

@lotlizard

He deserves that kind of deal (not to mention the Burisma board and China deals). We gotta take care of our own.

Was it you that worked on the whole earth catalog? May be I'm thinking Pluto. Sure would love to hear that story whoever it was. The catalog had a big influence on me.

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8 users have voted.

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

lotlizard's picture

@Lookout  
Same people and roots, Stewart Brand and (now defunct) POINT Foundation in Sausalito, California, in Marin County on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge along with the Muir Woods, Mt. Tamalpais, etc.

Sometime Whole Earth Review editor, publisher, and underground cartoonist Jay Kinney has a website and carries on the tradition, believing that if one wants to keep the “whole” in perspective, one must delve into and try to grasp many views from different angles, not just opinions one finds appealing a priori.

https://jaykinney.com/politix.html

Another writer and sometime editor of CoEvolution Quarterly (predecessor of Whole Earth Review), Anne Herbert, passed away in 2015. She popularized the phrase “random [acts of] kindness,” already predicting in a 1995 essay that humans, being incapable of mending their power-seeking habits, would destroy the biosphere.

https://skipmendler.wordpress.com/2016/06/19/handy-tips-on-how-to-behave...

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6 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@lotlizard

I thought it was you, but the old gray cells they ain't what they used to be...many long years ago.

Bet that was a great experience. Thanks for the link I'll check it out!

As a young kid in college (at this time I was in horticulture), I turned to the ag section of the whole earth catalog and went to the Auburn Library and read every one of the referenced books....mostly from the 30s-50s. That was more educational than my formal studies for sure. Next year got a job running a little homestead and the real education started, but I'll be forever grateful to the WEC giving me a sound background and setting me on my way!

Would love to hear more of your experience.

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7 users have voted.

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

lotlizard's picture

@Lookout  
I did visit the HQ in person with some German friends once in the late 1980s, and did meet Millennium Whole Earth Catalog editor Howard Rheingold in person once, in Barcelona in 1992.

This blog post includes an interesting take by former Whole Earth Review editor-publisher Kevin Kelly, describing the Whole Earth Catalog as an informational ancestor of blogs:

https://boingboing.net/2008/09/18/whole-earth-catalog.html

(Kevin Kelly went on to “hit the big time,” founding and editing Wired magazine.)

Since Kelly made his observation, smartphones, social media, and the greed of Big Tech have marginalized blogs and crapified the web experience in general (dopamine loop, intrusive ads, clickbait, dark patterns, data mining, surveillance, censorship) so badly that I wonder if Kelly would still say, “Everything the Whole Earth Catalogs did, the web does better.”

Yes, the web may still have the potential to do it better. But the web as actually implemented nowadays isn’t serving the kind of good purpose that early blogs and the Whole Earth Catalogs did any longer.

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4 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@lotlizard

I've used Duck Duck for years but I can tell you it has gone downhill...coughing up commercial crap before reasonable takes...very different from just a decade or less ago.

Now rely on certain sources (which by the way your link https://jaykinney.com/politix.html leads to many of my primary sources.)

Another reason I appreciate all the folks at C99.

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7 users have voted.

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

lotlizard's picture

@Lookout  
at his personal website here:

https://kk.org/cooltools/

Of course, with nowhere near the audience reach and range of contributors of the million-selling Catalog.

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0 users have voted.
Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

up
7 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Lookout's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

hope all is well with you and yours. Hope you're not dealing with storms today. Kinda looked that way this AM on my weather. We got 0.5 " last night and after only 4" last month I'm glad for all we can get (up to a point that is).

Last year we got 6" in a few hours and washed away the road in spots...I can live without that, but know we need to recharge the aquifer.

Bet they forgo the FL folk fest again this year, but next year '22 looks a likely event. We'll see, and if so maybe we'll see you! All the best.

up
8 users have voted.

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Lookout

up
0 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

travelerxxx's picture

But less than an hour of it left. Just wanted to drop a note to say "Thanks for the OT!" It's been a busy day for me and have tried to get a few minutes here on C99 without much interruption. Didn't really work out so well. Got through this entire OT though, so that's something!

As usual, much info here to ponder.

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4 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@travelerxxx

Thanks for the visit. Hope all is well in your world. A chilly 29 F this AM but headed toward the mid 50's today so not complaining here at mid-winter.

Be well and take care!

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1 user has voted.

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

Hi Lookout, hi everyone. Thank you Johnny the Conqueroo for learning to code. Acute

I love you all, and you are constantly on what is left of my mind. I almost made it to the end reading comments this fine Monday morning, but then BLAM! went the lotlizard with the mentioning of names again. Is over-association a disorder yet? I don't know. Somewhere in the archives here is the scanned cover of CoEvolution Quarterly 1977 Summer edition, the one that R. Crumb illustrated. It's on my bookshelf. Still there.

--- doing doing done
Back in the December/January budget cycle, I tried changing my diet to more meat protein less carbs and it was good. My guts felt better, my joints didn't ache as much, and my skin cleared up a little. But at the end of five weeks I added up the receipts and had a severe price shock. Oops, it turns out I definitely cannot afford such experiments on very low fixed income. Duh! Oh well so I blew the rest of the stimuli on bags of shit and dirt again, and reconfigured the thingamajigger for the downstairs street patch this spring. Thanks Trump.

I got so depressed about that budget error, so run down, my jaw got infected again. It's better now, my neighbor convinced me to try the coconut oil pull that Lookout wrote about, and it did sooth enough to begin healing once more. I still have the stack of cash mimi and Lookout sent, still saving it for a different day. Perhaps I will not survive this next economic recovery, it doesn't look too promising at the moment, I got the same login fortune on my computer four times in the last month, which has never happened as far as I can remember, at least 20 years on Linux: "You will be dead within a year." WTF? I better hurry up. LOL!

What would I do without this gathering place of class crashing personalities? I don't know and I don't want to find out just yet. The years, the months, the weeks, the days, the hours, the minutes, the seconds, the nano llamas. Every one is precious to me. Thanks a lot, Love thy family. Good luck!

Peace and Love

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3 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@eyo

I've been concerned that things might not be going well for you. Glad to hear you're coping.

A quick take on cheap sources of protein...
eggs (the almost perfect food)
Canned meats (I've been buying canned sardines, mackerel, and salmon.)
...I like to make patties with the them adding celery, onions, garlic, and cayenne.
Look for reduced cuts on sale as the meats age, but I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new there.

Grass fed meats are very expensive, but we buy them as a treat.

So good to hear/read you this AM. Take care and be as well as you can. Keep in touch when time allows!

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2 users have voted.

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

@Lookout @Lookout thanks, if you could see me playing that board game in real life you would know that I am always the one who draws Plumpy, always! Heh.

I have built a terrace of cardboard and primrose sticks downstairs, flowers above veggies below. It's been a warm spell for a few days after raining and now a squillion sunflowers have sprouted down there, plus many more evening primrose, and the blanket flowers. Started more veg seeds a few days ago left over from last year; tomato and squash and yardlong beans. I don't know what to do about the ants and aphids when the blooms show up yet. Borax bait and Neem oil probably, like you and others have suggested. I have to shop online for those items after walking all around town finding nothing local, which is tough 'cause I have no online accounts. ha ha Oh well, at least no bones were broken while not riding my bike. Cheers!

Edit: Wait I forgot, maybe Plumpy was the Candyland card, but the gist is the same: Sisyphean. Go back to the beginning and start again, and again and again and again. Routine, like an annual flu vaccine. Ta.

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1 user has voted.
smiley7's picture

@eyo

Been missing you. Please stay safe out there during these dangerous times.

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1 user has voted.