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Open Thread - 09-26-2025 - Resilience

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 8:08am

Keeping the wheel of life moving.

________

New generations rebuilding their communities and building networks of support.

Tribe-run farm provides food sovereignty to rural Oregon community The Oregonian Sept 19 , 2025

Each week, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians sends out roughly 25 to 75 Food Sovereignty Boxes to the community. The boxes — which are free, and go to anyone in need — are packed with fresh vegetables and hand-picked herbs that come straight from the grounds of Tel-tvm’.

Also known as the Siletz Farm, Tel-tvm’ (pronounced tell-tum) is a 40-acre property in the Coast Range mountains just off the Pacific Ocean. Since purchasing the land in 2020, the tribe has worked to establish a 5-acre farm that has been sustaining the local community in more ways than one.
...
There are traditional first foods such as camas and yampah; a wide array of vegetables including kale, broccoli, squash and cabbage; seasonal fruits that range from strawberry plants to apple trees; a variety of culinary and medicinal herbs; a wildly diverse flower garden; and even sacred tobacco grown for ceremonial use.

That’s not to mention the roughly 20 acres of forest and wetland habitat at Tel-tvm’, where wild plants such as red alder, elderberry and willow can be harvested to make crafts, or medicine in the tribe’s apothecary.

How one tribe’s ‘flower house’ is re-seeding Oregon with native plants The Oregonian Aug 22, 2025

The nursery is officially known as the “native plant materials program,” but the tribe also calls it tatis haws, which means “flower house” in the Chinuk wawa language.

Jeremy Ojua, supervisor of the nursery, said the project started in 2014 and has slowly grown since then. As the tribe has acquired more of its ceded lands, he said, it has also worked to restore those areas into more naturalistic landscapes. At the nursery, native plants are cultivated for transplant not only to tribal lands but also public lands, through partnerships with agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
...
Klug, who oversees cultural resources for state parks in the Willamette Valley, said the parks department has worked with the Grand Ronde tribe on restoration projects at Tryon Creek, Milo McIver, Wapato Access Greenway, Champoeg, Silver Falls and Willamette Mission state parks. At Champoeg State Park, which the department sees as an early success story, the tribe helped burn and restore a stretch of prairie near a group campground.

________

An individual who has probably effected all our lives indirectly. I certainly enjoy the efforts of his life's work.

5Meet the Russian refugee who turned America into a wine superpower Russia Times

How Andre Tchelistcheff fled revolution, reinvented Napa, and taught the New World to outshine the Old
...
Golden light spills over endless rows of vines, and the hum of harvest fills the valleys of California. For weeks every fall, the land turns into a symphony of baskets, presses, and fermenting grapes – the heartbeat of an industry that now makes the United States the world’s fourth-largest wine producer and its biggest consumer. Ninety percent of that comes from California alone, a state that has become synonymous with fine wine.

This success story began not with the land, but with a man. Behind Napa’s rise stood an unlikely figure: a Russian émigré who fled revolution, crossed Europe, and brought Old World science to the New. His name was Andre Tchelistcheff – the godfather of American winemaking.
...
California in the 1930s had everything nature could offer a winemaker – sun-drenched valleys, fertile soils, and a Mediterranean climate. What it lacked was craft. When Tchelistcheff first set foot in Napa, he was stunned by what he found. Cellars were stiflingly hot, presses were cooled by dumping in blocks of ice, and equipment stood rusting in the corners. Hygiene was almost nonexistent: workers didn’t wash their hands, larvae bred in barrels, and dead rats were even left floating in fermentation tanks.

For a man trained in the rigor of the Pasteur Institute, it was a shock.
...
No single winemaker, however brilliant, could transform an entire industry alone. Tchelistcheff’s true legacy came through his students.

After Georges de Latour’s death, Beaulieu Vineyard passed into the hands of corporate owners more interested in profits than in quality. Frustrated by marketing gimmicks and budget cuts, Tchelistcheff left the winery in 1973 after more than twenty-five years. It turned out to be a turning point. As an independent consultant, he became a mentor to a new generation of California winemakers.
...
But his vision reached beyond Napa. Studying the soils of the Pacific Northwest, he saw that Cabernet Sauvignon could thrive in Washington, while Pinot Gris would do well in Oregon. With his guidance, his nephew Alexander Golitsyn – another Russian aristocrat in exile – founded Quilceda Creek Winery, later hailed as one of America’s finest producers of Cabernet. Tchelistcheff also advised Chateau Ste. Michelle, steering it toward Gewürztraminer, Semillon, and Riesling, which put Washington State on the wine map.

By the late 1970s, his influence spanned the entire American West. Tchelistcheff earned the title of “America’s most influential winemaker since the Prohibition,” or simply “The Maestro” – the man who gave the United States not just great wines, but a wine culture.

(If not able to view his story due to internet restriction - this site has a biography)

________

Preparing nation states for a better future.

Arctic route could undercut ASEAN’s trade role Asia Times Sept 23, 2025

A cargo ship sailing from China’s vast Ningbo-Zhoushan port to Felixstowe in the United Kingdom might seem routine. But its chosen route signaled a quiet revolution in global trade and maritime security.

Instead of following the 21,000-kilometer Suez Canal passage, the vessel traveled “over the top of the world” along Russia’s northern coast, escorted by icebreakers.
...
At around 14,000 kilometers, this northern passage is 7,000 kilometers shorter than the Suez route for China. The shorter distance is slashing costs, saving time and reconfiguring trade routes. Those savings represent both a logistical triumph and a geopolitical shock.
...
China and Russia have spent years preparing for this moment, investing in scientific research to monitor ice levels and building the icebreaking capacity to keep the route viable.
...
For ASEAN, the instinct might be to view the Arctic as a distant concern. After all, the Strait of Malacca, a narrow waterway between Indonesia’s Sumatra island and the Malay Peninsula, has long been the region’s vital artery, carrying nearly one-third of the world’s shipping and up to 80% of China’s imported fuel.
...
To assume Malacca’s centrality is permanent would be to ignore the lessons of history. The Suez Canal transformed global trade in the 19th century; the Panama Canal did so again in the 20th. In the 21st century, the Arctic is emerging as the next pivot.

The Arctic sea lane is not a passing story. It is part of a larger reconfiguration of the world order, in which new routes, resources and rivalries are reshaping the map. For ASEAN, the challenge is not whether to respond but how quickly and effectively.

________

Kevin Walmsley's thoughts on Christianity, China and business.

The biggest Christian country in the world is . . . China? (7:04 min) June 2024

________

Tags:

Open Thread

Friday

Vote

Comments

Submitted by QMS on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 8:51am

If you can accept

.
.
that America is the melting pot of the world,
the Russian refugee story is quite good

thank-you for posting this OT
in spite of the sight squrellies

—

Zionism is a social disease

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 8:20pm

Personal experience lends to the belief

@QMS we are one of the melting pots of the world looking for those looking for a better future than they could achieve where they previously lived. Also include the significant internal migration of generations of USians for work opportunities, education, living expenses or following other family members when considering the definition of melting pot.

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 10:27am

Good morning soe. Thanks for the OT. Andre Tchelistcheff

is justifiably famous and honored, as is Napa County. There is one other immigrant of import to California (and Wisconsin) wine, allegedly the first Hungarian to become a full time California resident (how would they know??) The first 2 paragra[hs of his wikipedia entry follow:

Agoston Haraszthy (/ˈɑːɡəstən ˈhærəsti/;[2] Hungarian: Haraszthy Ágoston, Spanish: Agustín Haraszthy; August 30, 1812 – July 6, 1869) was a Hungarian American nobleman, adventurer, traveler, writer, town-builder, and pioneer winemaker in Wisconsin and California, often referred to as the "Father of California Wine", alongside Junípero Serra, as well as the "Father of California Viticulture,"[3] or the "Father of Modern Winemaking in California". One of the first men to plant vineyards in Wisconsin, he was the founder of the Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, California, and an early writer on California wine and viticulture.

He was the first Hungarian to settle permanently in the United States and only the second to write a book about the country in his native language.[4] He is remembered in Wisconsin as the founder of the oldest incorporated village in the state. In San Diego, he is remembered as the first town marshal and the first county sheriff.[5] In California he introduced more than three hundred varieties of European grapes.

He came here in 1842 and the winery he founded is the oldest commercial winery in Californai.

NB - old bumper sticker Sonoma makes fine wine, NAPA makes auto parts

Don't fully agree and have been a member of wineries in both counties, far too many of them, in fact, plus several others. Napa cabs probably get the nod, but Sonoma for zins.

be well and have a good one

—

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 --

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 09/27/2025 - 12:01am

Fond memories visiting the local

@enhydra lutris wineries on the regular trips visiting Napa relatives. It took a while to appreciate the dark reds, now cabs and old zins are my favorite. After the long drive from Oregon Sonoma and Napa seemed to be in the same neighborhood. Is there significant climate difference for the grapes? Or are the wine differences what time period the grapes were planted?

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 09/27/2025 - 8:50am

Climate, as in microclimates, soils, grapes and age of vines,

@studentofearth

and a lof ot other stuff. The two counties are separated by the Mayacamas mountains, so there are many things that inter into it. for example, the Russian River (in Sonoma)runs out to the sea so the Russian River Valley gets the onshore and offshore breezes and fogs making it really great terroir for pinot, certain specific mountains have specific soils and microclimates, etc.

be wll and have a good one

—

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 --

Submitted by earthling1 on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 1:33pm

Can attest to the Washington State wines

The Ste Michelle is really good, but my fave is the Snoqualmie Riesling.
Orchards are opening up everywhere here in the PNW. I think the relative abundance of water, land, and warming climate are now competing with the lack of these things in our southern neighbor. Not to say Calif. doesn't still make great wine, they do. But for how long?
Thanks for the OT.
PS Does anyone remember where the quote "I can hire half the people to eliminate the other half" come from?
I'm responding to a modern day civil war scenario essay.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 09/27/2025 - 12:50am

Oregon has always been famous for its orchards

@earthling1 And weird immigrants. Not sure those raised in the state would be considered normal in other parts of the country. (yes like Ste Michelle, need to try Snoqualmie Riesling)

How the Father of Oregon Agriculture Launched a Doomed Quaker Sex Cult Portland Monthly March 2018.

In 1847, a Quaker abolitionist named Henderson Luelling was stricken with Oregon fever, just like thousands of others who abandoned their lives in the settled East or Midwest for greener, more westerly pastures. But Luelling uprooted his Iowa fruit nursery and brought it with him: he packed one wagon with humus and charcoal, and laid in 700 of his strongest saplings.
...
Within a few years, the orchard and its offspring had produced 20,000 boxes of fruit—one year’s yield was worth the equivalent of $11–17 million in today’s market. One horticulturalist later claimed Luelling’s fruit “brought more wealth to Oregon than all of the ships entering the Columbia River.”
...
But Luelling wasn’t satisfied. In 1854, at age 45, he ditched Oregon for California, lured by its weather, wide-open space, and ostentatious fruit prices. He sold his Portland holdings to his brother and son-in-law, and left to start apricot and cherry orchards in his very own town of Fruitvale, outside Oakland.
...
It was a time of big ideas. The mid-19th century had seen a surge in socialism, reformism, and alternative spiritualities, especially among wealthy progressives. Luelling was a Quaker, but in Oregon he’d begun dabbling in eccentricities like Spiritualism
...
And that’s why, just five years after leaving Portland, he sold Fruitvale to the governor of California for $40,000 (more than $1 million today), bought a boat named Santiago and 50,000 acres of rain forest, and joined a religious sex cult bound for his tropical island.
...
Luelling returned to California, destitute and defeated. It was the first time one of his harebrained schemes had failed, and he struggled to bounce back.
...
In the strange days of 2018, it’s tempting to think our era invented social aberration and spiritual wanderlust. Wrong. In 1881, one emigrants’ guide to the United States advised would-be Americans on the range of freedoms they might expect in this new world—with the caveat that one also must contend with “the Spiritualists and the Shakers, the Mormons and the Mennonites, the Free Lovers and the Thinkers, and every other species of religious idiosyncracy that a diseased imagination can organise. They spring up and live their little day, and suddenly wither under the influence of science and common sense.”

Oregon always seems to be either first or last stop for these eccentric radicals and telekinetic vegetarians; those who want to free their minds and let their asses follow. Fred Meyer was a Rosicrucian, part of a mystical spiritual order devoted to “natural law”; Abigail Duniway was friends with a psychic medium. It’s no surprise the father of our fruit industry was obsessed with talking to ghosts and liberating women via intercourse.

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by QMS on Sat, 09/27/2025 - 1:57am

just add flour

@studentofearth
.
and you can have a fruit case
given proper heating conditions

In my two ventures into Oregon
one in Corvallis, the other in Eugene
there were no deficits of flakes

It is not that I couldn't blend in there
so much as it just seemed weird to a
straggling hippie-type person in the 70's

living downwind of an orchard becomes troublesome
whenever they spray their chemicals on the trees

#3 And weird immigrants. Not sure those raised in the state would be considered normal in other parts of the country. (yes like Ste Michelle, need to try Snoqualmie Riesling) How the Father of Oregon Agriculture Launched a Doomed Quaker Sex Cult Portland Monthly March 2018. In 1847, a Quaker abolitionist named Henderson Luelling was stricken with Oregon fever, just like thousands of others who abandoned their lives in the settled East or Midwest for greener, more westerly pastures. But Luelling uprooted his Iowa fruit nursery and brought it with him: he packed one wagon with humus and charcoal, and laid in 700 of his strongest saplings. ... Within a few years, the orchard and its offspring had produced 20,000 boxes of fruit—one year’s yield was worth the equivalent of $11–17 million in today’s market. One horticulturalist later claimed Luelling’s fruit “brought more wealth to Oregon than all of the ships entering the Columbia River.” ... But Luelling wasn’t satisfied. In 1854, at age 45, he ditched Oregon for California, lured by its weather, wide-open space, and ostentatious fruit prices. He sold his Portland holdings to his brother and son-in-law, and left to start apricot and cherry orchards in his very own town of Fruitvale, outside Oakland. ... It was a time of big ideas. The mid-19th century had seen a surge in socialism, reformism, and alternative spiritualities, especially among wealthy progressives. Luelling was a Quaker, but in Oregon he’d begun dabbling in eccentricities like Spiritualism ... And that’s why, just five years after leaving Portland, he sold Fruitvale to the governor of California for $40,000 (more than $1 million today), bought a boat named Santiago and 50,000 acres of rain forest, and joined a religious sex cult bound for his tropical island. ... Luelling returned to California, destitute and defeated. It was the first time one of his harebrained schemes had failed, and he struggled to bounce back. ... In the strange days of 2018, it’s tempting to think our era invented social aberration and spiritual wanderlust. Wrong. In 1881, one emigrants’ guide to the United States advised would-be Americans on the range of freedoms they might expect in this new world—with the caveat that one also must contend with “the Spiritualists and the Shakers, the Mormons and the Mennonites, the Free Lovers and the Thinkers, and every other species of religious idiosyncracy that a diseased imagination can organise. They spring up and live their little day, and suddenly wither under the influence of science and common sense.” Oregon always seems to be either first or last stop for these eccentric radicals and telekinetic vegetarians; those who want to free their minds and let their asses follow. Fred Meyer was a Rosicrucian, part of a mystical spiritual order devoted to “natural law”; Abigail Duniway was friends with a psychic medium. It’s no surprise the father of our fruit industry was obsessed with talking to ghosts and liberating women via intercourse.

—

Zionism is a social disease

Submitted by soryang on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 1:49pm

Hi SOE!

Interesting reports!

This video is a fairly well balanced critique of Warmsley's bias- I've started it at the point where she describes his religious bias:

I have to say I tend to agree with Kevin's business reports. On the other hand, his missionary zeal, I find somewhat unappealing only because of what the historical role of missionaries or fundamentalist Christian sects has been in the East. When he started speaking about the in house or apartment churches, the first thing that came to my mind was Sincheonji which appeared to have spread covid intentionally from Wuhan to South Korea. The "church" such as it is, is really a cult. It was already subject to some kind of a ban inside China, so it operated exactly as Warmsley described, below the radar.

These churches or cults as the case may be sometimes play a role in toppling or improperly influencing governments, such as in South Korea and contemporary Japan. I think the Moonies in Korea wanted some government "aid" support from Yoon to use in SE Asia mission work (the quid pro quo) and that may be one of the potential bribery specifications against Moon's widow who leads the S.Korean Unification Church.

Another thing to comes to mind is their operation as tools of intelligence agencies. The intelligence ties of the Unification Church for example aren't a big secret. Buried within all the religious talk there may be something not quite kosher. I'm not accusing Kevin of anything. It takes time to discover if the "holy man" can be distinguished from the deceiver. As a business developer I think it would be naturally to one's fiscal benefit not to believe in any kind of alternative energy requirements.

It's simply not true that there aren't other long time western observers inside China, that don't portray the facts about business conditions or living conditions inside China. Some of them do speak Chinese. Cyrus Janssen, Sean Foo, Sean Rein, are examples. I'm not sure if Alex Reporterfy or Jerry's take speak Chinese. I do watch a couple of Chinese youtubers, who report on, or show what goes on, they speak English. There is a Korean travel video on China or elsewhere on the Asian mainland on all the time at home. You can see what living conditions are like.

Anyway, these are some of my reflections on learning of his "mission." fwiw

The former dictator Chun Doo-hwan's third son owns a winery in Napa Valley. When I learned about it, it was in a story seeking what happened to the 100 million plus dollars that the dictataor illegally accumulated during his reign of terror. The right wing Shinsegae Chairman's holdings include a winery nearby. I read that the latter markets Shafer wine. When the forfeiture was ordered from Chun by the South Korean court he claimed his net worth was less than 250 dollars.

So the latest here is are we going to get a storm or hurricane here in the near future?

他山之石，可以攻玉。

“The stones of those hills may be used to polish gems.”

—

語必忠信行必正直

Submitted by earthling1 on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 2:24pm

I got a whiff

@soryang
of Falun Gong watching that video. Epoch Times material.

Interesting reports! This video is a fairly well balanced critique of Warmsley's bias- I've started it at the point where she describes his religious bias: I have to say I tend to agree with Kevin's business reports. On the other hand, his missionary zeal, I find somewhat unappealing only because of what the historical role of missionaries or fundamentalist Christian sects has been in the East. When he started speaking about the in house or apartment churches, the first thing that came to my mind was Sincheonji which appeared to have spread covid intentionally from Wuhan to South Korea. The "church" such as it is, is really a cult. It was already subject to some kind of a ban inside China, so it operated exactly as Warmsley described, below the radar. These churches or cults as the case may be sometimes play a role in toppling or improperly influencing governments, such as in South Korea and contemporary Japan. I think the Moonies in Korea wanted some government "aid" support from Yoon to use in SE Asia mission work (the quid pro quo) and that may be one of the potential bribery specifications against Moon's widow who leads the S.Korean Unification Church. Another thing to comes to mind is their operation as tools of intelligence agencies. The intelligence ties of the Unification Church for example aren't a big secret. Buried within all the religious talk there may be something not quite kosher. I'm not accusing Kevin of anything. It takes time to discover if the "holy man" can be distinguished from the deceiver. As a business developer I think it would be naturally to one's fiscal benefit not to believe in any kind of alternative energy requirements. It's simply not true that there aren't other long time western observers inside China, that don't portray the facts about business conditions or living conditions inside China. Some of them do speak Chinese. Cyrus Janssen, Sean Foo, Sean Rein, are examples. I'm not sure if Alex Reporterfy or Jerry's take speak Chinese. I do watch a couple of Chinese youtubers, who report on, or show what goes on, they speak English. There is a Korean travel video on China or elsewhere on the Asian mainland on all the time at home. You can see what living conditions are like. Anyway, these are some of my reflections on learning of his "mission." fwiw The former dictator Chun Doo-hwan's third son owns a winery in Napa Valley. When I learned about it, it was in a story seeking what happened to the 100 million plus dollars that the dictataor illegally accumulated during his reign of terror. The right wing Shinsegae Chairman's holdings include a winery nearby. I read that the latter markets Shafer wine. When the forfeiture was ordered from Chun by the South Korean court he claimed his net worth was less than 250 dollars. So the latest here is are we going to get a storm or hurricane here in the near future? 他山之石，可以攻玉。 “The stones of those hills may be used to polish gems.”

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by soryang on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 2:28pm

Yes E1

@earthling1

Definitely relevant.

—

語必忠信行必正直

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 09/27/2025 - 3:00am

Christianity in China has such a complex history

@soryang I could not find the reference this evening, I have read there is evidence practicing Christians living in China as early as 200 ad. Wikipedia timeline has Catholics first showing up during the Tang Dynasty. Catholic Church interacted with multiply dynasties, until banned for basically being bossy.

In 1721, the Kangxi Emperor disagreed with Clement's decree and banned Christian missions in China. In the Decree of Kangxi, he stated,

Reading this proclamation, I have concluded that the Westerners are petty indeed. It is impossible to reason with them because they do not understand larger issues as we understand them in China. There is not a single Westerner versed in Chinese works, and their remarks are often incredible and ridiculous. To judge from this proclamation, their religion is no different from other small, bigoted sects of Buddhism or Taoism. I have never seen a document which contains so much nonsense. From now on, Westerners should not be allowed to preach in China, to avoid further trouble.[37]

There are so many different ways to practice Christianity, not all can be taken over by Western Intelligence agencies. This site in China promotes protestant practices as a method to improve rational thought over intuition.

Might find this article interesting it promotes Christian practice to improve rationality over intuition.
A Timely Call to Discernment on Traditional Gnosticism for the Chinese Church China Source Sept 16, 2025

Do enjoy Kevin's videos. He uses the language of a business manager not an investor. On another eveining I will write down my opinions on China's current success.

I periodically check with the other podcastors and find they generally cover material already looked at in western financial publications and websites.

Interesting reports! This video is a fairly well balanced critique of Warmsley's bias- I've started it at the point where she describes his religious bias: I have to say I tend to agree with Kevin's business reports. On the other hand, his missionary zeal, I find somewhat unappealing only because of what the historical role of missionaries or fundamentalist Christian sects has been in the East. When he started speaking about the in house or apartment churches, the first thing that came to my mind was Sincheonji which appeared to have spread covid intentionally from Wuhan to South Korea. The "church" such as it is, is really a cult. It was already subject to some kind of a ban inside China, so it operated exactly as Warmsley described, below the radar. These churches or cults as the case may be sometimes play a role in toppling or improperly influencing governments, such as in South Korea and contemporary Japan. I think the Moonies in Korea wanted some government "aid" support from Yoon to use in SE Asia mission work (the quid pro quo) and that may be one of the potential bribery specifications against Moon's widow who leads the S.Korean Unification Church. Another thing to comes to mind is their operation as tools of intelligence agencies. The intelligence ties of the Unification Church for example aren't a big secret. Buried within all the religious talk there may be something not quite kosher. I'm not accusing Kevin of anything. It takes time to discover if the "holy man" can be distinguished from the deceiver. As a business developer I think it would be naturally to one's fiscal benefit not to believe in any kind of alternative energy requirements. It's simply not true that there aren't other long time western observers inside China, that don't portray the facts about business conditions or living conditions inside China. Some of them do speak Chinese. Cyrus Janssen, Sean Foo, Sean Rein, are examples. I'm not sure if Alex Reporterfy or Jerry's take speak Chinese. I do watch a couple of Chinese youtubers, who report on, or show what goes on, they speak English. There is a Korean travel video on China or elsewhere on the Asian mainland on all the time at home. You can see what living conditions are like. Anyway, these are some of my reflections on learning of his "mission." fwiw The former dictator Chun Doo-hwan's third son owns a winery in Napa Valley. When I learned about it, it was in a story seeking what happened to the 100 million plus dollars that the dictataor illegally accumulated during his reign of terror. The right wing Shinsegae Chairman's holdings include a winery nearby. I read that the latter markets Shafer wine. When the forfeiture was ordered from Chun by the South Korean court he claimed his net worth was less than 250 dollars. So the latest here is are we going to get a storm or hurricane here in the near future? 他山之石，可以攻玉。 “The stones of those hills may be used to polish gems.”

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by humphrey on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 2:59pm

These seem to be spot on.

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 4:10pm

hilarious,

@humphrey humphrey!

—

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

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 6:08pm

These were funny!

@humphrey
Thanks for posting them. The first one made me laugh out loud. The second one, laugh ironically...

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 09/27/2025 - 3:02am

Thanks for the humour - n/t

@humphrey

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 09/26/2025 - 4:15pm

Good afternoon, soe!

That arctic trade route is astonishing and has tremendous potential.
The US will need a culture of resilience when we aren't No. 1 anymore. I can't wait for the day when we finally turn our attention on us.
I am curious where the Texas Wine Country fits into the rankings. hmmm...
Thanks for the OT. friend!

—

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

Submitted by studentofearth on Sat, 09/27/2025 - 3:10am

Interesting watching the response to the changes

@on the cusp All the efforts by Western elite to control China and Russia - they just keep moving down their chosen path.

Not related, but this article on Sputnik was too good not to share.

Russia's Nuclear Game-Changer: Driving BRICS' Energy Future

President Vladimir Putin has unveiled Russia’s nuclear breakthrough: a closed fuel cycle power system to tackle global uranium shortages.

Holy Grail of Nuclear Technology

"A closed-cycle reactor is the holy grail of nuclear energy," energy expert Alexey Anpilogov tells Sputnik. "Scientists have pursued it since the dawn of the nuclear age."

A conventional plant uses 0.7% of uranium, leaving 99.3% waste. This reactor reuses it, making uranium fuel last for thousands of years.
Rosatom’s fast reactor BREST-OD-300 will run on uranium-238 and convert it into reusable plutonium-239.

It is the world’s only сlosed-cycle nuclear system entering industrial phase, says Alexander Uvarov, director of AtomInfo-Center.
...
"If you load 1 kg of uranium into such a reactor, you’ll not only get electricity and heat, but also produce more than 1 kg of new plutonium," Anpilogov explains. "It’s like a magic wallet where the money grows on its own."

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.