The Weekly Watch
Freeze Tag
This week brought our first freeze of the season. We fared better than most staying in the 20's when many dropped into the teens. We had the lettuce covered with two layers of row cover, so it lives on. We sometimes manage to keep it going all winter. The cabbage, broccoli, greens and such almost always over winter here. However, we sometimes get single digit temps which zap almost everything in the garden. It has been unusually dry this season after an unusually wet summer. The climate is obviously in flux, but we've been in a sweet spot...this year. The only choice is to take it day by day and adapt as well as possible. Same thing with our economic, political, and social future. The instability of those systems have been roiled by the COVID pandemic and how it falls out is anyone's guess, but from where I'm sitting it doesn't look good. Perhaps in crisis there is opportunity.
What headlines do you want to see repeated over and over again?
This week I heard another good interview with Matt Taibbi
Chris' partner interviews Matt Taibbi about media failure...(32 min)
Award-winning -- and newly independent -- journalist Matt Taibbi (of "vampire squid" fame) explains how the news media industry became corrupted by the profit motive and now intentionally produces content to "entertain" rather than "inform".
The five media behemoths who own more than 90% of all US media outlets (Comcast, Viacom, Disney, Time Warner, Newscorp) have discovered that it's much more profitable to focus on discrete audience segments and give them the information they want to hear. Which is why the former approach of "just the facts" reporting to a general audience has practically disappeared. There's less money in it.
So we're now served a steady diet of intentionally-biased outrage and pablum, with opinions replacing facts, and any intellectually "triggering" content put quickly down by today's trigger-happy censors. It's no wonder that a recent Gallup poll revealed that the majority of Americans no longer trust the media to report accurately or fairly.
This is a huge social challenge. In such a world, where can one turn for objective information? And what are the consequences of creating such a poorly-informed populace?
While there are no easy solutions to this challenge, Taibbi shares how he and other respected investigative journalists are ejecting from the system and self-publishing their work, freeing them of the control and biases of corporate editors.
The interview made me think about what SHOULD be in the headline news... repeated over and over and over again. I thought it might be fun to make a start and let you add to it in the comments...
My first (and I think) most important message to get into the country's psyche is...
The US is a War Based Economy with a Failing Fiat Currency
Fossil Fuels Power the War Economy and Climate Chaos
and in no particular order a few more...
America is NOT a Democracy, but a Corporate Oligarchy
The CIA is the Mafia Branch of of the US Government
Israel NOT Russia interferes in US Politics, Elections, and Buys Legislators
Allies and Enemies? Saudi Arabia is a Oppressive Monarchy, Iran is a Democracy
The Current Economic Con: (With lead line)
The Fed creates digital dollars to loan to corporations at essentially no interest to buy their own stock, driving the market higher as the real economy is in free fall. Another 700,000 people filed new unemployment claims last week as evictions loom.
Regenerative Agriculture could lead to improved diet, soil health, and climate mitigation.
The final big message I wish people understood is that we can improve our own health. We are not dependent on a failing sick care system in order to lead healthy lives.
What We Eat and When We Eat is the Key to Good Health
This isn't a governmental decision, but one we can make for ourselves. Here's an excellent conversation about techniques we can all apply to minimize chronic diseases including cancer. I respect both of these doctors and this is an excellent hour long conversation.
Jason Fung shares the basics of Intermittent Fasting, the who, what, when and how including some tips for fasting. For more information check out: https://thefastingmethod.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqZsS03dlPk (10 min)
I like this fellow's approach to what we should eat...real whole foods. He uses apples as one example. Eating a whole apple is best. Applesauce increases sugar availability by decreasing fiber, apple juice is basically sugar water, and apple pie is the most processed and the least healthy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoCKjG1jnPc (20 min)
What's Going On?
All around the world people are tired of neofuedalism and they are letting TPTB know.
As the last month of 2020 begins, working class resistance is erupting throughout the world in opposition to the mercenary response of the ruling class to the COVID-19 pandemic, its concerted drive to intensify capitalist exploitation, and its evisceration of democratic rights.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/05/pers-d05.html
The biggest strike in history...
As COVID rages through India, which has the second-highest number of reported cases worldwide, hundreds of thousands of farmers are converging on the capital New Delhi to demand the government repeal new laws that deregulate agricultural markets, saying the reforms give major corporations power to set crop prices far below current rates and devastate the livelihoods of farmers. Agriculture is the leading source of income for more than half of India’s 1.3 billion people. The farmer revolt comes as some 250 million workers across the country took part in the largest strike in history against the Modi government’s neoliberal labor reforms. We speak with P. Sainath, a longtime Indian journalist and the founder of People’s Archive of Rural India, or PARI, who describes why working-class Indians are standing up against “absolutely vicious” new rules that were rammed through Parliament, and the protests show no signs of stopping.
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/12/3/india_protests_modi_neoliberal_re...
(video or text)
India used the pandemic to pass laws that take away guaranteed crop prices and throw them into a capitalist free for all...with the dishonest promise of higher returns. The farmers recognize the con, and are not going to take it lying down even in the middle of a pandemic.
Jimmy had a piece about India's actions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NxgkkY2G8s (6.5 min)
Jimmy also covered the big protest and reaction to France's new law suppressing the filming of police brutality/actions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKUeLGN9u7Y (11 min)
We are the terrorists. Saudi Arabia, the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, France and every other nation which has facilitated the horrific mass atrocity in Yemen–this tight globe-spanning power alliance is a terrorist organization the likes of which the world has never seen before. The unfathomably savage and bloodthirsty US empire designating the Houthis as a terrorist organization is the least funny joke that has ever been told....
We are the terrorists. But we don’t need to be.
We can begin waking up together. Waking up our friends and neighbors, spreading consciousness of what’s going on, raising awareness of the horrors our governments are perpetrating in Yemen and in other nations in the name of imperialist domination, helping each other see through the veils of propaganda to how much life and how many resources are being spent on inflicting unspeakable acts of terror upon our world instead of benefiting humanity.
The US government could force an end to the horrors in Yemen almost immediately if it really wanted to. If maintaining unipolar hegemony were suddenly advanced by giving the Houthis victory in Yemen instead of fighting to ensure Washington-aligned rule, the Saudis would withdraw and the war would be over within days. We could make this happen if we could spread enough awareness of the reality of what’s happening in Yemen.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/12/04/we-are-the-terrorists/
US politics are not for the people but for the elite.
Throughout the past two electoral cycles in particular, Democratic Party elites have openly embraced the principle that waging war against the left is crucial to maintaining their grip on power. They engaged in systematic red-baiting against Bernie Sanders in both 2016 and 2020. They railed against Medicare for All, supported massive corporate bailouts and giveaways, and backed bloated Pentagon budgets. While attacking the left, Democratic Party leaders have steadily embraced George W. Bush and other imperial Republicans as part of their imagined coalition of adults in the room. The past four years of Trump have brought remarkable public clarity to one of the most pernicious aspects of the two-party system: The traditional elites of the Democratic and Republican parties have more affection for each other than they do for the ordinary people whose fates they love to wield as rhetorical ornaments in their campaign speeches....
Obama and Biden dramatically expanded U.S. drone strikes, including systematic strikes in new countries. They initiated a secret bombing campaign in Yemen in late 2009 that eventually metastasized into the genocidal Saudi-led scorched-earth war that continues to this day. They facilitated regime change in Libya, surged troops in Afghanistan, and imposed or tightened deadly economic sanctions in a variety of nations. The Obama-Biden administration developed an almost clinical process for compiling kill lists and then sentencing people to death through a Frankenstein extralegal system of unofficial judges, juries, and executioners. Among their kills were several U.S. citizens, including a teenager who was never accused of any crime. Obama openly rejected calls to hold CIA torturers accountable and failed to close Guantánamo. No, Biden and the institutional Democratic Party didn’t need to convince these Never Trump Republicans to join their cause in 2020. They were already there.
https://theintercept.com/2020/12/04/joe-biden-election-national-security/
Thomas Frank has been making the circuit with his new book on populism. His discussion on useful idiots was my favorite (which was featured a couple of weeks ago). This week he spoke with Bob Scheer.
Part one covers the nature of populism.
This week they go into the movement away from workers toward the elite.
https://scheerpost.com/2020/12/04/thomas-frank-how-the-democratic-party-...
(Text or audio)
Meanwhile there's no action to provide people help as unemployment soars and eviction loom, but there's plenty of money for corporations...surprise, surprise...
Tax provisions nested into the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March are still paying dividends for major corporations, including a rule that has allowed tens of millions of dollars in tax rebates in recent months.
The continued benefits for the wealthy stand in stark contrast to the meager funds provided to working and middle-class families. Recent negotiations in Congress suggest lawmakers are unlikely to provide another wave of $1,200 stimulus checks, and political gridlock has stalled any hope for a dramatic aid package for those in need of direct assistance before the end of the year.
But, with little fanfare, the government is still mailing out coronavirus stimulus checks: The recipients are just large corporations, many of which have thrived during the pandemic.
https://theintercept.com/2020/12/04/covid-irs-corporation-tax-refunds/
The release of the November jobs report by the US Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS) revealed the worst job growth since the spring, with only 245,000 additional jobs, less than half of the 638,000 jobs added in October and well below economists’ expectations.
The figures are based on reporting prior to the initiation of partial lockdowns and curfews in some states, such as California and Illinois, dimming prospects for job growth in the coming months, with business activity and spending in the real economy evaporating as coronavirus cases continue to top 200,000 a day and daily deaths hover near 3,000.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/05/jobs-d05.html
Speaking of COVID...
The pandemic continues to rage here in the US. John Campbell explains the increasing US hospitalizations. Deaths and hospitalization are a better statistic from my view. What they call a case should really be called an infection. Studies suggest 40% of infections are asymptomatic. Iceland provided some of that data...
They were one of the first groups to report that 43% of COVID patients had no symptoms at all, they were asymptomatic. Now, why is that important? It’s important because it says you can transmit this without having symptoms, you can be infected and make other people sick without knowing it. And hence you get the super-spreader events and the rapid spread of this respiratory virus....
What else did they find out? Now, what they learned is that the symptoms that people were having were different than what CDC was initially kind of really focusing on and WHO, it turns out it was muscle aches, headache and a dry non-productive cough. Those were the big symptoms people were having, fever wasn’t really high on that list. And yet here are these people pointing a temperature gun at your head...
When tourists came from abroad, from specific countries they allowed in, they had to do this thing where they got tested when they arrived, they had to quarantine for five days and then get tested again, before they could actually go and do their thing. Now, here’s a fascinating thing that they found, which has actually been repeated in some other studies, 20% of the people who initially tested negative, tested positive five days later. So it tells you that if you think you’re just gonna spot test someone, and you’re all good, forget about it. Now, these people were quarantining theoretically during this time. So a single test is probably not enough to totally clear you.
Video (18 min)and transcript of Iceland's approach which was emulated by New Zealand as well.
Chris returns this week to explain what you should ask if you do test positive for SARS-CoV-2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWqNl4UUlH0 (29 min)
The lockdowns are based on surging "cases" which are based on positive PCR test results. However, what exactly is a positive PCR test result? What does it mean?
I'll answer that and give you the answer to the most important question you should ask if you or a loved one gets a positive PCR test result. "What's the Cycle Threshold (CT) value for that test?"
Sounds wonky but it's actually really important to understand. A low CT value means someone is loaded with virus. A high value, oppositely, means less of a viral load. Beyond a certain level the load is insufficient to either infect someone else or be of any clinical or epidemiological relevance whatsoever.
Viral load determines (in part) the severity of the disease.
Enough of the news how about some fun with The Fungus Among Us...
Teachers are like mushrooms. They are kept in the dark, live in shit, and get their head chopped off when they emerge.
Mycelium Running (PDF at link) is a manual for the mycological rescue of the planet. Thats right: growing more mushrooms may be the best thing we can do to save the environment, and in this groundbreaking text from mushroom expert Paul Stamets, youll find out how. The basic science goes like this: Microscopic cells called mycelium--the fruit of which are mushrooms--recycle carbon, nitrogen, and other essential elements as they break down plant and animal debris in the creation of rich new soil. What Stamets has discovered is that we can capitalize on myceliums digestive power and target it to decompose toxic wastes and pollutants (mycoremediation), catch and reduce silt from streambeds and pathogens from agricultural watersheds (mycofiltration), control insect populations (mycopesticides), and generally enhance the health of our forests and gardens (mycoforestry and myco-gardening). In this comprehensive guide, youll find chapters detailing each of these four exciting branches of what Stamets has coined mycorestoration, as well as chapters on the medicinal and nutritional properties of mushrooms, inoculation methods, log and stump culture, and species selection for various environmental purposes. Heavily referenced and beautifully illustrated, this book is destined to be a classic reference for bemushroomed generations to come.
Paul's 18 min TED talk
How about a fun easy garden project?
Paul Stamets, mycologist (fungus expert) extraordinaire, shows us how to produce and cook wine cap mushrooms...
The Garden Giant is a stellar species for folks to grow in their backyard, and especially in their gardens. This species is plant friendly, helps transform woodchips into rich soils, consumes nematodes and filters out E. coli. Garden Giants produce long, abundant rhizomorphs, and the stem butts can regrow. See Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World for step by step instructions.
Once you have this species (Stropharia rugoso-annulata, aka The Wine Cap, The King Stropharia) growing on your property and if you annually use wood chips as a mulch, the Garden Giant can become resident for years. Not only are the mushrooms huge (see the 4-5 lb specimens in the photos), and edible (mild flavor), but this species can produce acanthocytes - which allow it to eat nematodes, important for protecting root crops.
There are many other species of mushrooms you can grow in your garden. Oyster mushrooms are delicious and easy to grow...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVwqBqCnClI (8.5 min)
There are several ways to incorporate mushrooms in your garden...and these folks show many techniques. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJuh7-05ilo (28 min)
The latest frontier of vegetable gardening is to include beneficial and edible mushrooms into your garden plan! Lou and Mary of North Spore integrate mushroom cultivation techniques into traditional organic vegetable gardening in the North Spore research garden. Many of these techniques can be used in permaculture gardens too.
Many people enjoy growing shiitake mushrooms in logs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDmm52FXfZ4 (13 min)
You can also collect wild mushrooms if you know the species you are looking for. Paul is back to collect and cook some wild mushrooms called "chicken of the woods"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K8HuTHTyP8 (6 min)
Chicken of the Woods (Polyporus sulphureus complex) includes several species - the one featured here is Laetiporus conifericola.
These brightly colored mushrooms are some of the easiest to identify, and grows in prodigious clusters, sometimes weighing in at more than 100 lbs.
In the Pacific Northwest of North America, the most common Chicken of the Woods, also known as the Sulphur Polypore (Laetiporus conifericola), is a brown rot mushroom that grows on conifers, primarily hemlocks and Douglas firs, although we recently found some growing on a very decomposed cedar. Another clade of these species – Laetiporus sulphureus and Laetiporus cinnatus, grows on hardwoods. Typically growing in early summer to early fall, these species can reoccur for a few years. Some mycologists describe this species as a weak parasite, which then grows saprophytically after the tree dies.
These species are so efficient at decomposition, they can eat a standing tree or log in a few years, colonizing the heartwood, leaving only brown, cubic like blocks of lignin, as its cellulase enzymes digest the cellulose.
I love surprising my friends with this mushroom who can’t believe its flavor. This mushroom tastes like chicken!
Here, I show you a simple way of preparation. It is important that they are well cooked. I prefer the barbecue, cutting them into strips and to singe the edges until they are crispy. Great finger-foods, these can be frozen, post cooking, and then re-heated. This is one of the few mushrooms that can be harvested in large quantities. And its bright sulphur color makes it easy to see from afar.
Be forewarned that Chicken of the Woods can rot quickly and if eager mycophiles do not cut away the blemishing regions, they can cause GI (gastrointestinal) discordance, i.e. a stomachache. So please be careful – and note that the edges are the most delicious.
What do you call a mushroom with a long shaft?
A fungi to be with...
The winter crops are doing fine under their cover. Another freeze coming next week, but so far it has been a good gardening winter. The country and world are in a pickle with the US empire in collapse amid a pandemic, but there remain simple joys. Gardening is one of mine. I featured mushrooms this week because we plan to add spawn to our mulched garden early spring, and I thought I would share what I learned. I hope you have a headline in mind you would like to see repeated again and again. I had fun coming up with my list. Have a great Sunday and week ahead!
Comments
Lookout Quote of the day to Remember:
Thanks to the Mushrooms. We have tons of them in the lawn. My sister walks on the lawn and full of lusty meanness chops of their heads and that a bright daylight on a fertile lawn.
We had the first night freeze over here and so far it hasn't triggered my usual appetite to work outside. But it will come back, one day at a time.
Everything is upside down these days. Thanks for the Weekly Watch.
Try to have a good Sunday, all of you.
https://www.euronews.com/
good morning
It is a chilly 32 F (0 C) here this AM. Covers are still over the beds fortunately.
And you're right the world is upside down...money for the rich, but none for the poor. Wars for fossil fuels that will cause climate chaos, and ....
Just have to focus on the simple joys we can find in our lives.
Have a great day and week!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
To answer your question:
Quite honestly, none would be fine by me. Overload of headlines overload my head. Easy does it.
I love the photos from your garden. Gives me ideas...
Thanks again.
https://www.euronews.com/
no headlines....
...is a fine option. Better none than the usual lies they push.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Headlines we'd like to see
The US govt. renegotiated all broken treaties with indigenous nations, unconditionally returning all
stolen lands to rightful tribes.
and ~
Congress agreed to a means tested cut in pay based on socially progressive legislation.
and ~
Taxpayer financed subsidies to extraction industries keyed to investment in renewables.
and ~
New Department of Peace established to come out of Pentagon Budget with cabinet position.
and ~
Emergency spending measures enacted to battle climate change.
and ~
All US foreign military bases dismantled, troops and equipment brought home to work on infrastructure projects.
Otherwise, I think mushrooms are cool. A friend gave me a catalogue from Field & Forest Products.
www.fieldforest.net it is all about mushroom spawn and supplies located in Wisconsin.
cheers!
Nice list!
Friend and neighbor plays Jimmy Brown the news boy...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Krey-_0-TA]
Here's another source from Maine
https://northspore.com/
And Paul has a company as well
https://fungi.com/
Good to see you today. Thanks for the package. Sending a card back your way.
All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good Morning Lookout
In the spirit of your opening headlines, let me add a few:
The Corporate Oligarchy retains control with Security Theater.
The current Security Theater is called "The Light At the End of the Tunnel."
In the week just passed a Pfizer exec said on live TV that he didn't know if a person who is vaccinated can still transmit the disease. (!!)
Another Pfizer spokesperson said that the amount of available vaccine the public has been told is an error. About half that amount will be available.
And last, All agree that the amount of time the vaccine's immunity will be effective is UNKNOWN past 2 months because 2 months is how long the testing has gone. Could be 3 months. 3 years. Who knows?
"Help is on the way. Hold on."
OK we will. What's the choice.
NYCVG
SARS-CoV-1 provides hope...
People who had an infection still have T-cell immunity 14 years later. Perhaps, may be even probably, the same is true of SARS-CoV-2.
Too bad more isn't said about ivermectin. I suspect if it was standard of care our death rates would plummet.
Like a broken record...we're managing this pandemic for profit.
Nice headline! Thanks for the visit and addition.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
morning lo
And everyone
Low pressure here with cloud cover but no rain. Staring to water trees more again. And the birds.
Here’s an interesting study. Not open access.
Safety in the practice of decontaminating filtering facepiece respirators: A systematic review
https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(20)31032-4/abstract
Thanks. For the roundup. Good stuff. Take good care.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
I've been putting my mask in the sun...
For a couple of hours.
According to your study, I guess I'm degrading my mask, but somehow makes it seem cleaner.
I go to town twice a week at most, so it is always three days between wearings which should provide some additional protection.
Good to see you. Hope I found the video you were after the other day.
The way it is shaping up here, I'll need to start watering too. Take care!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I love mushrooms
I've grown shiitakes. We have abundant oysters growing wild on fallen trees, plus chicken of the woods, morels, hen of the woods, and a few lions-manes.
I bought a bunch of morel spawn from fungiperfecti, but they were the wrong subspecies for my area, which Stamets eventually realized. I'm trying a different source now, too soon to tell.
Wild mushrooms can be extremely dangerous, even if you survive a mistake you can have organ damage for life. This is why I stick with just a few easy-to-tell varieties like chicken of the woods and morels, But even morels have some imitators; a deeply experienced hill person told me a false morels was a morel. Another hill person gave my wife a basket of deadly jack o lanterns thinking they were chanterelles -- she tested them for bioluminescence; jacks glow in the dark. Could have been very bad. He apologized profusely.
I like hen of the woods aka sheepshead aka maitake the best (next to morels). There's a lookalike that grows in hotter weather, season is an important discriminator. The lookalike turned wash water black. Not especially harmful, but not tasty like sheepshead.
Morels have a mystique. They are so cryptic you really need to practice spotting them; it's a skill to develop the search image. One old guy kept telling me there was a huge black morel (aka peckerhead) right in front of me, and I didn't see it until I leaned over and touched it. Another old guy told me to look all around, take three steps, then look all around again. They're unpredictable. I walked for miles in known spots one year and found one black morel, then filled a bag with big blonde morels from a suburban parking lot, growing in heavy mulch under mature exotic conifers. They're not supposed to like conifers!
Mushrooms dry and reconstitute well. I dry morels in Spring and make morel-lentil soup for New Year's.
I just got a mushroom book from the library, Entangled Life by Sheldrake. Haven't cracked it yet.
Edit: Somehow I posted this in the wrong spot. I hope I have it right now.
here in the SE the easy wild shroom ...
are chanterelles
https://www.wildedible.com/foraging-chanterelles
I'm looking forward to trying wine caps and oysters in the garden and food forest. Good for the crops and for me.
Thanks for the mushroom info. Loved the story of your morel search and find.
Best of luck with your production.
Thanks for chiming in!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for the essay!
I know people who find chanterelles, but without having an old hand teach me in the field, I don't try to harvest them.
Source for timely morel news
I look at morels.com for reports of morel finds, since their season can be short. In the SE, you should be finding them in April. The earliest I've found them (blacks, the earliest) is April 5. You can drill down to the forums for individual states. Of course, people are cagy about locations, but it gives a general idea.
I have found them here
But they are pretty rare and as you say hard to spot.
Sure are delicious though.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Search image
Once you have succeeded in finding some and trained your brain to recognize the search image it gets easier. Plus, the three-step trick works: often, a slight change in angle can make them obvious. I like to work uphill, with my eyes closer to the ground that way. Sunny days morning and evening are my favorite conditions.
That-a-way, over yonder...
Cagey isn't the word for it. No morel hunter I've even known will divulge the tiniest bit of info on hot morel spots. My own brother wouldn't even tell me of his ...but, I guess I kinda fudged on describing mine to him, too. Hell, I used to hide my car when out for morels. Too many people knew I was always dragging home loads of morels and if they saw it parked alongside some road, soon I would have company.
So, if some morel hunter gives me advice on the location of good pickings, my experience is to head in the opposite direction of said advice.
morels.com will
sometimes say if they're finding them near ridgetops or other terrain types, and they give county-level info, but nobody with any sense will describe their spot on the intertubes. It helps to know the current timing of the short season. The only people cagier are sangers.
I had a couple of oldtimers show me spots and techniques, pretty generous of them, but those spots are well-known in the area. They have written permission to hunt my land.
I've read many, many tips on where to find them, but they still surprise you, which is why so many people try to cultivate, with limited-to-no success. I was flabbergasted to find the blondes in that parking lot under conifers, and they've been there every year since. But the season is only a few days, April 25 +/-, which is one reason they can be tough to find. Sometimes it's frustrating, but it's nice to see Nature has plenty surprises up it's sleeve.
Good morel page.
Generalized info is probably the best one could hope for, other than hints on the timing. It's a narrow window. Cool site, by the way. Hadn't known of it. Thanks!
One more thing - what's a sanger? I have no idea.
I think it refers to ginseng?
Here's my friend and neighbor telling a story of a sanger
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibLVhYTyWLQ]
"Ginseng Sullivan"
Not too far from the battleyard
On a reverse curve on down
Not two miles of the town depot
Sullivan's shack was found
Back on the higher ground
You could see him every day
Walking on down the line
Old brown sack across his back
Long hair down behind
Speaking his worried mind
It's long way from the Delta
From the North Georgia Hills
And a tote sack full of ginseng
Don't pay no traveling bills
I'm too old to ride the rails
Or thumb the road alone
So I guess I'll never make it back to home
My muddy water Mississippi Delta home
Now the winters here, they get too cold
The damp, it makes me ill
Can't dig no roots on a mountainside
With the ground froze hard and still
Gotta stay at the foot of the hill
But next summer, when things turn right
The companies will pay high
I'll make enough money to pay my bills
And bid this mountain goodbye
Then he said with a smile
It's long way from the Delta
From the North Georgia Hills
And a tote sack full of ginseng
Don't pay no traveling bills
I'm too old to ride the rails
Or thumb the road alone
So I guess I'll never make it back to home
My muddy water Mississippi Delta home
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Cool! ...and thanks! EOM
Clifford Simak
first acquainted me with ginseng in his (good) sf novel Way Station, as a kid way back.
Yep, sanger is a wild ginseng hunter.
I credit ginseng for the endurance it took to get through 17 years of night classes. Good stuff, but threatened in the wild due to hab destruction and thievery after those tv series about sang thieves. Traditional sangers always did sustainable harvest; newbies strip it. Wild ginseng harvest is a complex issue.
Sanger. Who knew?
Well, I have learned that a sanger is somebody who is out looking for ginseng. The stuff I learn here......
Sunlight and virus
A number of sources have said that the wavelengths of UV from sunlight which make it to ground level do not kill the rona. You need UVC, around 254 nanometers, to kill rona. Ozone blocks this wavelength. Big article on wikipedia on UV; discusses atmosphere:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet
I spray alcohol from an aerosolizing hand sanitizer bottle on the outside of masks after wear.
I'm thinking time is the real help
few fomites survive more than 3 days.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/study-suggests-new-...
My masks also contain copper and zinc which is toxic to most virus.
Thanks for the heads up!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Time is good
I let purchases and mail age outside for up to three days. There were early studies on cruise ship outbreaks which identified survival on surfaces. Apart from reactive metals like copper and zinc, it seemed like survival is longest on smooth surfaces like stainless and plastic, shortest on complex surfaces like paper and cloth. This makes me wonder if clay might be useful, since it has an enormous surface area to mass ratio.
Huh
Clay ? How would you use it? Dry I presume. As someone who has done a lot with clay I am curious. It is polarized with opposite charges on each side. That is how it holds water. Your thoughts?
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I thought of putting clay on mask filters
or dusting the outside of masks with it. But without having research capability, I ain't takin' no experiments :). Also, unless you fix it firmly in place you risk silicosis if inhaled. I'd like to see a lab look into it, though.
There seems to be an inverse correlation between complexity of surface and survival time of rona fomites. There are few substances with a more complex surface area than a mass of clay. Also, clay presents electrical charges to the surface from metal atom lattice substitutions. The charges of the substitute atom are balanced inside the crystal lattice, but at the surface it presents a net charge. Some of the synthetic polymers recommended as filters act against the virus by static charge. I did some study into the electrical properties of clay as a colloidal suspension in water. It gets pretty complex. Clay's a remarkable material.
Yes. Thanks
For the videos. I forwarded them to my friend.
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Thanks for the Weekly Watch!
Very timely topic you reported on today. Have to agree about the news pablum we get.
This is why C99 is so important. We do get the news inreal detail and can stay informed and make decisions based on this.
Mushrooms have come back into my menu options and really enjoyed these articles and shared. Must go back and read and watch more.
Have a good week everyone! I have a walk in nature in my future today!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
C99 is about the best source around...IMO
Plus a pretty nice community of folks as well.
I've been waiting on the day to warm a bit before my walk. It is a beautiful day. Hope you have a nice walk too.
Thanks for coming by the WW, always a pleasure!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
China
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-china-ndaa-defens...
So while our leaders have ignored the plight the average American, they have seen fit to request a few new nuclear attack subs to confront China
The media is doing a massive blitz to sell to the incoming Biden admin that we HAVE to contain China. He of course will oblige as all Presidents are nothing but figureheads. Some are easier to move the puppet strings than others.
Declining empires almost always challenge their replacement
TPTB are pushing for a new (hopefully) Cold War...no doubt about it. Here's another example...
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/05/lata-d05.html
WWIII in the making.
Thanks for the link and contribution!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Like the Byzantines fighting the Muslim expansion
Or the Roman empire vs the Persian empire. at least that one was mostly a draw. Muslims took Constantinople and changed the lingua franca of the region from Greek to Arabic.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
just watched this which makes your point
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3GH0q_7n94]
He describes it as a megamachine. The greeks and romans using slaves to mine and smelt silver to have coins to pay the soldiers to plunder and loot...expanding empire. The more things change...
Worth the watch if you have the time.
Take care and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Pretty Good! n/t
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I learned a few things from him
Hadn't really connected the Christianity and capitalism link with the reformation for one thing.
Hope your weather isn't too cold. Looked like snow up your way.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Not yet, but cold
In two months this will seem warm. My wife was worrying about the water pipes. I showed her that the water pipes come into the basement about five feet down and explained that they have to be below the frost line. She is worried about a pitch for water & sewer line insurance. I figure if the pipes didn't freeze art -20, they aren't going to freeze!
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Morning all ...
More from Catlin Johnstone: So We’re Already At The ‘Chinese Super Soldiers’ Part Of The Propaganda Campaign
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
good morning!
Thanks for Caity's link. Further evidence for the previous comment about ginning up a war with China.
More propaganda from the Guardian...
Many analysts and officials within the government’s intelligence agency have been focused on Russia and counter-terrorism efforts, Ratcliffe said: “But today we must look with clear eyes at the facts in front of us, which make plain that China should be America’s primary national security focus going forward.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/04/china-super-soldiers-biolo...
Always nice the "see" you!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning Lookout (and everybody). My, my, Back so Soon.
Thanks mucho for the Weekly Watch, even though it does seem to come too soon this week.
Just went through a lost week here, but, as you note, help is on the way. Heh.
Now, where were we? Headlines, "heads" in the trade, worth repeating? How about "heads rule"? PAY ATTENTION! => Isn't that the whole art of prestidigitation, misdirection? And isn't all misinformation, disinformation, partial information and withholding of information simply mental misdirection? A different type of Magical Mystery Tour?
I note that your selected headlines worthy of daily repetition all reflect the sad, sorry, gritty reality of our bullshit little world:
The headlines I would tryly like to see should never be repeated, because they should be final -
All The Wars Are Over!
for example. Sadly, "not bloody likely" as the Brits and Aussies say.
As ever, all the ag and environmental information is extremely welcome and greatly needed. Small progress can be made if all who could grew something, if only a pot of herbs in a window box, did so. I know my life would improve if I could consistently, constantly and regularly successfully grow crops without an spending unduly vast amount of time and effort on the process. Shrooms are wonderful for the environment and I love to see them, and I eat a lot of them, but do not trust myself to eat any except those I purchase at retail, regardless of the fact that I probably should.
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 --
You headline is my dream...
All The Wars Are Over!
and I would add as did QMS ...
US bases closed and troops return home
Pete's dream is like mine.
I was just reading in Stamets book that not only do you get to harvest mushrooms, but garden production also increases with mushrooms especially with the brassicas. Sounds like my kind of fun.
It is nice to be a founding member of the Society of the Easily Amused.
Have a great day and good week! It is weird how time is so odd during the pandemic. Treasure every day.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
"Help is on it's way"
Always makes me think of Duck Soup. Hail Fredonia!
Well, there are certainly worse things to think of.
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 --
What headlines do you want to see repeated over n over again?
clinton,dubya,empty,tRump arrested for crimes against humanity
clinton,dubya,empty,tRump arrested for crimes against humanity
ALL WAR IS OVER
Any country but England/US/China/Russia comes out w/safe vaccine
for C19
Call me skeptical but every pharma company coming out at the same
time claiming that they have a vaccine puts chills down my spine
Thanks for the WW LO and stay safe along with everyone else
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
Like I've been saying...
...pandemic managed for profit. It was a race for the vaccine, but screw really helping and informing people....they need to be scared and willing shot recipients. Also the reason we insisted on a test developed in the US for COVID rather than using the available one.
I like your headlines. Thanks for the addition and visit!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning, Lookout,
Beautiful day here. Had multiple phone conversations with CH docs on Friday. Such a great team. We are close enough that they share a glimpse into covid from their ICU experience.
I fear the greater long term toll this pandemic causes to our already stressed and inadequate healthcare delivery system; on the other hand, with proper leadership, it could prove to be a springboard for making significant changes to our system; not conting on this, given today's politics, but do recognize the possibility.
Avery County went from being the last county to have a Covid case to the highest county in the state infection rate. Not much mask wearing and the influx of students and tourists, i presume.
Local hospital is stressed for beds.
Nothing left to do but hunker down as much as possible.
Looks like a good collard crop under cover, yum.
Thanks for the good reads and have a great week.
enjoy your coastal stay...
I bet it is snowy in the highlands.
We've been eating lots out of the garden while it is still in production, and we had a good summer harvest now in the freezer...so food secure for a while. No livestock but plenty of deer and turkey if there's a need.
Glad you seemingly wrapped up your all you business and can take it easy. Nothing like walking the coast with the crashing of meditative waves.
Take care friend and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
***Important caveat on PCR testing for COVID & “Cycle Count”***
The first citation in Peak Prosperity video on Ct (cycle count) is an article by Sweta Gupta from March 2020. After noting a study that indicated that 35 was a cycle count that indicated a minor viral load unlikely to be viable, the article concludes with the following statement:
There is no single magic number for a non infectious cycle count. Each testing facility would have to repeat the study for themselves to accurately determine cycle threshold due to variabilities in collection, transport and storage of samples. Chris’s video suggesting cycle counts over 35 as safe (non infective to others) is not supported by the very citation he gives to help make that claim. It’s shit science which, if followed, could well cost people the lives of friends and family as well as total strangers
Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes
Thanks for the update...
I would be concerned if I tested positive at any number of cycles. The thing I learned is that the more cycles before detection, the lower viral level.
It only makes sense that there is variation from test site to test site.
Wide spread use of this test (5 min)(never approved by the FDA) made sense to me.
Here's the fellow that developed that test discussing Ct cycles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii4RRiMUxa8 (6 min)
Edit to add:
The video is worth the watch IMO plus his website...
https://www.rapidtests.org/
Thanks for your warning. Sure don't want people to be careless.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Most significantly, the cycle threshold
doesn't tell you whether you're on the upswing or the downswing of the infection. You may have a low viral load today because the virus is still ramping up in your cells.
Moreover, we still don't know (and likely never will) what level of viral load indicates that you are contagious. Moreoverover, that viral load probably differs according to:
A. The strain of the virus
B. The biology and health of the person you might infect
C. The physical circumstances of your encounter(s) with that person.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
So much in this WW to like. First a headline I would like...
Regenerative Farming Implemented Worldwide, Increases Number of Small, Family-Owned Farms, Brings Farm Products Closer to Customers, Decreases Global Climate Disruption. Too long, but this is my wish.
I've been binging on Star Trek Discovery. The ship's engineer is Paul Stamets. He uses an interstellar mycillia network to propel the starship. Leave it to me not to know it's a real guy's name. The Wilding/Regenerative Farming folks are really finding out how important all those fungi are to health of other growing things, and us. Some of the largest organisms on Earth are huge networks.
Chanterelles remain my favorite go into the woods and find it mushroom. Also Boletus edulis (sp?) Cepes in French. Absolutely fabulous. Great for pickling. Boletes are often found in the very same dirt and duff as Amanita (orange with warts or worse white with warts). But the growing conditions are the same.
Can't wait to get raised beds and try permaculture in them. Til then, buying from locals what's growing is the best.
Thanks for a great WW. Never fails. I try to watch and read every link, knowing I will learn and enjoy each one.
Thank you so much.
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.
Such a kind comment...
Thank you for coming by and reading. I need to check out the star trek discovery series. Have not treked in quite a while. I have always liked Sci Fi and fantasy cause it is about possibilities. Plus myths have called to me since I was a kid.
Have a good week!
oops edit to add:
Nice headline...you know that one is in my wheelhouse.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Finally found a headline I want to see:
I made a journey back in time to see if I ever said something on twitter and ended up on dailykos (had no idea I conversed with Joe Shikspack back then, my memory is all holes and no cheese).
So I ran into the Evening Blues from 11-10-2014 and I was asking, if you ever have seen a smart war. (as Obama talked about smart wars).
Joe tried to explain to me with a quote of John Steinbeck:
.
Then divine order jumped in and said:
To which Joe responded:
So here my headline I want to see:
Stop Smart Wars and Military Intelligence and Civil Wars.
Good Night.
PS. I realize that the last five years were rough somewhat. Memory losses all around in my brain.
https://www.euronews.com/
nice memory...
I wasn't an DK user...just an occasional lurker.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Add to say, being a Pagan and all, just lit our second purple
candle for Advent. Miss singing with the Charolles Petit Cœur Viry-Charolles. Our director and I are within three weeks of the same age. Both of us seventy this year. Oh please another season or two of singing before it's too late.
We have found Benjamin Brittain's Ceremony of Caroles to be just lovely. Our newest acquisition of seasonal music. And Linda Ronstadt.
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.
I miss making music with folks too
I'm hoping spring or summer provides an opportunity. We'll just have to see what we see.
Any of the big protests there affecting you and yours? Here in the US boonies actions rarely register.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We are an hour NW of Lyon, where there are serious
clashes with police. It is about the size of Portland, Oregon. Out in the rural provinces we see almost nothing. That is why it is so important to pick up daily and weekly local newspapers, which are institutional in France.
We are in small ag area of France. We have local Beef, Pigs, Chickens and eggs, milk, Lamb which we can buy from the farmer or our local grocery chain store. The stores buy local. We also have a local coop store for local producers including honey, breads, cakes, and goods. Of course the bakeries, meat shops are here. We are trying them out to see which ones we want for our home sources.
We have local forgers, saw mills, stone quarries, and many other small industries. Retail is hard when it's so fragmented, but on the other hand, it's better, fresher, and made to order.
There are large ag areas SW of Paris and other plains type geography. The French could go to Regenerative quickly if they had a program: the hedgerows and Bocages which create sub pastures are still here and could be used to move ruminants around, opening and closing the various pastures. Many large ag machinery brands familiar to farmers from the midWest. Just hate to see French following the US into Ag, medicine, pharma, and war as it currently does.
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.
Too bad we don't subsidize small farms in the states...
...All the money goes to large agribiz corporations that screw over the producers, animals, and ecosystem. My area could quickly convert to regenerative farming, but there no financial incentive. Many of the young farmers that start operations fizzle out as they burn out from working so hard for so little sometime resulting in divorce.
Sound like you've got a great community to enjoy! I hope it doesn't fall into the US profit model and go to hell.
Thanks for the description!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
"The US government meets the demands of the
nation-wide protest and will now guarantee M4A, UBI,renewable energy within 4 years, free college, pulling out of all wars, and to tax the richest 1% at 90% tax rate!"
Meanwhile, in reality, I have been organizing closets and chests of drawers, and have 100 garments to donate to the local Senior Citizen's Re-Sale shop. I bought a week's groceries and cooked two meals for a food insecure relative. I bought him some over the counter meds, and paid to have a tire repaired.
Lookout, you just outdid yourself!
As I understand it, taste buds change every 7 years. Whereas I once adored mushrooms, cooked them in dishes every few days, I just don't like them anymore. I feel very food unsophisticated now.
Oh, well, I have more clothes sorting to do, so I just wanted to let you know I always look forward to your epic Sunday essays, and always learn something.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I like your headlines!
I like mushrooms as a side dish with steak or beef. I saute them in butter with onion and a little garlic and often add sour cream as they finish. Pretty tasty to me, but tastes differ and change as you say. We also add them to pizza, soups, and so on.
Good on you helping your relative and donating clothes. I need to sort through my stuff too. I find myself wearing the same old things, I kind of have a winter regime and summer change. Many of my clothes I bought at Attic Treasures, a local charity for very little.
Thanks for dropping by and adding in some headlines!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for the great roundup
I'll make my way through it this week. The mushroom vid looks interesting, can't wait to watch it.
Keep the headlines coming even though we can count on the political headlines never being good.
Here's another headline we can throw into the 'bad political headline' category:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/07/covi-d07.html
and another one:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/04/what-d04.html
Unfortunately, the list is long, it just goes on and on.
On the other hand, we can admire and be inspired by people who are doing things right. Those headlines and stories need to be told as well. So thanks for presenting both.
I learned in Douglas Tallamy's book Nature's Best Hope: a new approach to conservation that starts in your yard that lawns and turf grass dominate our landscape. Lawns in the U.S. amount to 40 million acres of land,..."an area the size of New England". He regards the lawn as an ecological wasteland.
Tallamy proposes that American landowners turn half of their lawn to native species that would support a diverse ecosystem instead of a total sterile lawn. He says that those 20 million acres would
The whole idea is to decrease our plummeting rate of extinctions of all types of animals and plants that used to thrive in North America. A worthy goal.
lawns are a waste...
...and I like the idea of native replacements with the caveat of make sure you grow a garden too. Nothing like fresh vegetables that you grow...something every kid needs to learn.
A hundred years ago people had yard brooms and swept the ground bare. Having a lawn is probably better than that.
Glad you came by. Have a great week!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
something fun
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thanks!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks Lookout
My appreciation of mushrooms grew with the knowledge that they contribute to the health of the planet. From a culinary perspective I’ve always had an ambivalent relationship with them. In general I don’t fancy them, although I am sometimes enamoured of the flavour of Shiitake mushrooms. I will look further into what is required for their growth. It might be just the thing to enhance my winter experience.
Cheers and be well
Shiitakes grow on logs...
There's a video in the essay. Or you can buy an inoculated log ready to water. They will fruit for a few years.
The health of the forest is dependent on the mycelia in the soil. The mushrooms are their fruiting bodies. Pretty interesting ecology really.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I should be receiving soon
a 3kg log of Shiitake goodness to nurture.
Have fun with your project...
We bought a shiitake log in Fla at the folk fest one year. We got shrooms for 2-3 years, but production is seasonal.
All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”