Variety, Varmints, and Victims

It's been a week of protest around the world. Do any of you remember such a global protest movement? Thousands of people have been arrested world wide.
I've been struggling with a groundhog all week. The varmint mowed down my broccoli in one night. Its groundhog day all over again.
We're losing diversity and variety of our food plants. This week we'll examine some attempts to maintain and grow many types food producing plants.
This first clip is dedicated to 'The Voice In the Wilderness' our resident tree grafter (11 min)

Whistling with a Mouthful of Crackers

How ironic to talk of whistleblowers and never mention Chelsea, nor Julian, nor Ed Snowden who are all being persecuted by the very people hollering about protecting whistleblowers. Not to mention it was a CIA agent within the white house spying on Trumpilini....and he worked his way through channels? Let's see how did that work out for John Kiriakou or Tom Drake or Jeffrey Sterling? They all served time. Like Russiagate, Ukrainegate looks like a CIA propaganda tool. Now instead of discussing real issues we'll be observing the circus of clowns dancing around and around and getting nowhere. Meanwhile there are real things happening like:

Gut Feelings

There really is something to a gut feeling. Seems our gut biome influences not only our brain but also the expression of our DNA. Before we get into the biology, let's use our gut feelings to examine and speculate about our politics, economy, and militarism. Then we'll listen to some doctors views on how we can improve our microbiome. Whether that improves our thinking or not I'll leave up to you.

Summer's Striking End

Let's see...drone strikes, climate strikes, and autoworkers strike...three strikes and summer is out! But is the game lost? Well it ain't over till it's over. Tomorrow morning at 2:50 AM Central, the sun will shine directly on the equator and summer will be over and fall will begin. The weather here seems anything but fall like. It's been hot and dry for weeks now. We are watering the fall veggies. Tomorrow they are attempting to shut down DC, and next Friday another massive global climate strike. Millions participated in the global climate strike last Friday. The UAW strike is the largest US strike in over a decade. Do these actions give you hope?

The Game is Rigged

I tried to watch a bit of the debate this week. I thought the part I saw was a farce. Rigged from the start by cherry picking polls to make sure Tulsi wasn't there. Asking gotcha questions instead opting for substance. The moderators doing their best to slam Bernie. Bye-done bumbling through his incoherent answers as the DNC PTB shove him down our throats like they did the $hill in 2016. But it isn't just the political arena, the rigged game extends deep into almost every avenue of our society... voting, economics, military conquest, environmental collapse, and so on. And almost everybody knows.

The Oily, Greasy, Slippery Slope of American Empire

Last week I posed the question asking why the oligarchs are destroying our ecosystem when they too will suffer the biological consequences. The more I thought about this question, I started hypothesizing that they too are owned by the very corporations they started...or at least operate in order to promote their corporations' profits rather than improving the human condition (and their own condition despite their claim of philanthropy). The oil companies make my point ...destroying ecosystems for profits in order to fulfill their bank loans.

I just don't get it. How could any amount of money be more valuable than the life of your child or grandchild? Has the extinction of our species and destruction of our biosphere got a dollar value? Is the audacity of the powerful so extreme, they think they will be exempt from ecosystem collapse? I'm serious folks, I just don't understand. I can't imagine a rationale for releasing more methane and the promotion of pipelines and fossil fuels, allowing the rape of Alaska's temperate rainforests and the tropical forests (all over the planet)... as ice caps melt, the arctic and tropics burn, and species are disappearing faster than we can count them. It is truly madness. We have reached a cascade of tipping points... as the oligarchs accelerate the actions that got us here. They already have more money than God/dess, so what could be their real purpose? Is it simply the intoxication of power that drives them destroy the only habitable system we have? I'll say again, it is insanity.

Fall for Gardens

Many people think gardening season is winding down, and it is true the summer crops are playing out. However, fall is a great gardening season in my corner of the world. It is the best time for some of the healthiest garden produce...leafy greens. Those of you in more northern locations can still put in young plants. Most garden centers offer plants or sets. So, it is still hot and dry here and it makes it difficult to think about cool fall season crops, but it is time...past time. After we get the fall garden going today we'll take a glance around the world to see what's happening...

Hope or Despair?

There are several approaches to address our ecological disaster, but the rub is in the adoption of these practices. This week we'll look at ways in which we can green the planet and absorb more carbon. I don't know how we get TPTB (the powers that be) to stop and limit emissions and extraction. Perhaps the Climate Strike on September 20 will have some impact here? I continue to use gas...in my tractor, car, weed eater and chain saw...but I'm trying to minimize...biking into town, walking when possible, buying less and growing more. However, there are large scale ecosystem level ways to restore environments. Many are counter intuitive. Others more obvious.

What You Say?

I heard several interesting interviews over the last couple of weeks and thought I would feature a few of them for your listening pleasure in today's column. There will also be plenty of articles to read as well. As a homesteader, I lead an active life, so I use a couple of tricks to listen to these sorts of conversations. If I'm working around the house I put them on the stereo that includes outside (on the porch) speakers. That way I can do my chores and be informed at the same time. My other trick is to use an audio conversion program (like https://online-audio-converter.com/ ) to create a MP3 file which I put on my little player (most people use their smart phone, but I don't have one). Then I can listen while I mow or travel (my truck radio has an auxiliary plug). So like most of you I love to learn from people, but we need to be active to stay healthy. I try to do both.