To Hell With Public Relations

Rant time.

I was going to do a cute, light April Fool's Day post about giving up on trying to make a difference and that I was just going to go back to a nice easy life of floating around the Caribbean pressing buttons on a lighting console until I saved enough to buy part of some beachside club somewhere. But I don't think I can be that kind of light right now.

Just a warning, this rant is probably going to contain some explicit language. Actually I know it will, because I am sick and fucking tired of being "sold at". I'm tired of slogans and icons and spokespeople and masking lack of action on issues by simply slapping a more politically correct name on them. I'm tired of having to spend time and/or money in order to avoid constant advertising attacks at almost every point in my day. Even if I was able to avoid these direct attacks, there are the advertising signs on EVERYTHING (thankfully books remain primarily free of this sort of visual pollution).

Then there's "public relations". This is a clever term for "public pacification". Public relations is the field devoted to making customers and investors believe that someone has their individual best interests at heart. It's the department responsible for finding some way of trying to convince you that the poison they want you to buy is good for you.

Every day I grow more and more disgusted with advertising and public relations, both forced and passive. I doubt I am alone in this, but I wonder just how many people have any kind of clue as to just how much energy is put into selling us crap that we don't really need, and making choices that really only serve to make some selfish bastards rich.

Now this rant was indeed triggered by something. It was triggered by learning that there is no longer a War on Terror. Change has indeed come, but who was guessing it would just be a change in name and, perhaps, tone. Indeed I would love to see an end to war, and I must admit that 'Overseas Contingency Operation' sounds a little more mature but isn't this just another case of public relations? They even have the White House public relations asshole saying that the name change hasn't actually happened. Just like a hardcore salesperson to claim they aren't actually trying to sell something.

It's not all the consumer's fault as so many will suggest. Selling has become a science. I would bet that significantly more research money is spent on new selling techniques, than is spent on curing cancer for example. When an entire industry is built purely on ruthless selling, not what is being sold, it's not hard to see how things can get out of hand.

Now, just for clarity, I want to point out that I am not against all advertising, nor against sales in general. I would be a hypocrite to do so, as I plan to sell things and market products. I just don't see why we have to have such a problem with exercising a bit of fucking moderation or with refusing to buy anything but quality, long lasting, non-toxic products.

I'm not going to suggest solutions here. I think most readers know what the solution is and that its going to be slow in the coming, if it does at all. I just had to get this off my chest. I can only handle so much of the constant and increasing pushing and pulling.

Maybe tomorrow I'll go see if enough snow has melted that I can hike into our forest a bit. Nature isn't trying to sell anything but balance. On that note, I should mention that it was a gorgeous day today, enough for shorts even! And I heard geese yesterday so it seems spring may actually be returning this year after all. Just saying that makes me feel lighter.

Peace and comfort to all. And happy April Fools, remember moderation in your pranks.

Suggested Perusing

Ahh glorious blogosphere. If I wasn't so concerned about the devolution of humanity and the destruction of the global ecosystem, I could really lose myself in ingesting and digesting the multitude of perceptions that so many are willing to share. I love to learn about how people from other parts of the world think, both about issues close to them and about larger concerns.

I stumbled across a delightful blog by a Chinese ex-pat partially educated in and now living/working in the US. Inside-out China is a wonderfully written and diverse blog that I highly suggest to anyone who wants to learn more about this ancient country, which is now rising toward becoming the world's primary super-power, through the mind of a wise daughter of China (and several interesting commenters).

I am making specific mention of her blog today in order to suggest the reading of two recent posts. "Questionable Teachers and Bewildered Parents" and "Run Away Students and Good Old Teachers" are conversations with her nephew, Doggy, and his friend who are 15 year olds still living in China. I think these are insightful conversations which show certain similarities to what is being seen here in North America.

That being said, most every post on this blog is philosophically inspirational, and often highly informative.

Do have a look.

Peace and comfort.

Words of Warning from the Past

From the Foreword to the 1946 reprinting of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", first published in 1932:

“There is, of course, no reason why the new totalitarians should resemble the old. Government by clubs and firing squads, by artificial famine, mass imprisonment and mass deportation, is not merely inhumane (nobody cares much about that nowadays); it is demonstrably inefficient and in an age of advanced technology, inefficiency is the sin against the Holy Ghost. A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned, in present-day totalitarian states, to ministries of propaganda, newspaper editors and school teachers. But their methods are still crude and unscientific. The old Jesuits’ boast that, if they were given the schooling of the child, they could answer for the man’s religious opinions, was a product of wishful thinking. And the modern pedagogue is probably rather less efficient at conditioning his pupils’ reflexes than were the reverend fathers who educated Voltaire. The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished, not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. By simply not mentioning certain subjects, by lowering what Mr. Churchill calls an “iron curtain” between the masses and such facts or arguments as the local political bosses regard as undesirable, totalitarian propagandists have influenced opinion much more effectively than they could have done by the most eloquent denunciations, the most compelling of logical rebuttals. But silence is not enough. If persecution, liquidation and the other symptoms of social friction are to be avoided, the positive sides of propaganda must be made as effective as the negative. The most important Manhattan Projects of the future will be vast government-sponsored enquiries into what the politicians and the participating scientists will call “the problem of happiness” - in other words, the problem of making people love their servitude. Without economic security, the love of servitude cannot possibly come into existence; for the sake of brevity, I assume that the all-powerful executive and its managers will succeed in solving the problem of permanent security. But security tends very quickly to be taken for granted. Its achievement is merely a superficial, external revolution. The love of servitude cannot be established except as the result of a deep, personal revolution in human minds and bodies. To bring about that revolution we require, among others, the following discoveries and inventions. First, a greatly improved technique of suggestion - through infant conditioning and, later, with the aid of drugs, such as scopolamine. Second, a fully developed science of human differences, enabling government managers to assign any given individual to his or her proper place in the social and economic hierarchy. (Round pegs in square holes tend to have dangerous thoughts about the social system and to infect others with their discontents.) Third (since reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays), a substitute for alcohol and the other narcotics, something at once less harmful and more pleasure-giving than gin or heroin. And fourth (but this would be a long-term project, which it would take generations of totalitarian control to bring to a successful conclusion) a foolproof system of eugenics, designed to standardize the human product and so to facilitate the task of the managers. In Brave New World this standardization of the human product has been pushed to fantastic, though not perhaps impossible, extremes. Technically and ideologically we are still a long way from bottled babies and Bokanovsky groups of semi-morons. But by A.F. 600, who knows what may not be happening? Meanwhile the other characteristic features of that happier and more stable world - the equivalents of soma and hypnopaedia and the scientific caste system - are probably not more than three or four generations away. Nor does the sexual promiscuity of Brave New World seem so very distant. [Let me remind you this was written in 1946.] There are already certain American cities in which the number of divorces is equal to the number of marriages. In a few years, no doubt, marriage licenses will be sold like dog licenses, good for a period of twelve months, with no law against changing dogs or keeping more than one animal at a time. As political and economic freedom diminishes, sexual freedom tends compensatingly to increase. And the dictator (unless he needs cannon fodder and families with which to colonize empty or conquered territories) will do well to encourage that freedom. In conjunction with the freedom to daydream under the influence of dope and movies and the radio, it will help to reconcile his subjects to the servitude which is their fate.

“All things considered it looks as though Utopia were far closer to us than anyone, only fifteen years ago, could have imagined. Then, I projected it six hundred years into the future. Today it seems quite possible that the horror may be upon us within a single century. That is, if we refrain from blowing ourselves to smithereens in the interval. Indeed, unless we choose to decentralize and to use applied science, not as the end to which human beings are to be made the means, but as the means to producing a race of free individuals, we have only two alternatives to choose from: either a number of national, militarized totalitarianisms, having as their root the terror of the atomic bomb and as their consequence the destruction of civilization (or, if the warfare is limited, the perpetuation of militarism); or else one supra-national totalitarianism, called into existence by the social chaos resulting from rapid technological progress in general and the atomic revolution in particular, and developing, under the need for efficiency and stability, into the welfare-tyranny of Utopia. You pays your money and you takes your choice.”

It seems Mr. Huxley felt as I do regarding the implications of not choosing a life of responsible freedom. Looking around the world today, I maintain that this is the most important decision facing humanity right now.

May we make it wisely.

Rediscovering Carragana

In my ongoing permacultural self-education program, I got to looking at designing a sustainable orchard for some of our land up here. Since this orchard would need a well designed shelterbelt and since I want to use as little fencing as possible, I got to looking at good shrubs for Zone 2-3 areas. This led me to learning about an amazing bush that was once used quite heavily, at least here in Alberta, but which many people are clearing out. This bush is the Caragana arborescens or Siberian Pea Tree.

During WW1 and 2, many Russian people survived through winter by keeping chickens which were fed carragana peas they had harvested the previous autumn. It turns out carraganas are soil-beneficial too, being a nitrogen fixer. So not only am I looking at integrating it into my orchard shelterbelt, I am now trying to figure out the best way to integrate them into my mom's laying hen operation as well. Obviously we'll look at harvesting the pods for winter feed, but I also hope that planting them wisely in the large coop should allow the birds greater access to the outside in winter.

One of my first summer jobs was actually clearing a thick hedge on some property where the owner was going to build a larger house. I can attest to the fact that this is a HARD job, but it does suggest that the wood has light structural capabilities. I suspect that with some effort, one could grow some lovely fences or chicken coops or whathaveyou. These shrubs have landscaping potential outside of hedging too, since they make great weeping trees. My mom has one in her yard garden and its quite a lovely little thing. The one concern both in hedging and landscaping is that these are a very hardy shrub, quick to grow in marginal soil and with little rain...therefore they spread quite happily if one does not harvest or at least clear pods.

So, if you or someone you know is considering getting rid of their carragana hedge, maybe re-consider or have a conversation with them about doing the same. They're a beneficial little tree, if a bit prickly.

Peace and comfort.

Parting Is Such Sweet.....Ah The Hell With That

A couple of months back I wrote about the sale of over half of our family farm to the local County. As I mentioned at the time, a neighboring land owner sold their adjacent section to the County several years back. The County was quick to relocate the regional landfill/sewage lagoon/chemical refuse pond to this site. My family tried to fight this action, based on potential damage to the marsh-lake attached to both properties, as well as to our land.

Back then (the early 80's), ecological concerns were still primarily scoffed at so even if my farming family had possessed the time to go looking for local support, it is unlikely there would have been much to find. Those neighbors who were contacted had various reasons for not actively supporting the efforts, but I believe most just didn't see as it affected them so the ramifications did not really sink in...no pun intended. As might be expected, these efforts were for naught and little but lip service was ever paid to the situation. It is my understanding that since then, my family continued to request that water and soil tests be done, as well as voicing concerns about the amount of plastic waste allowed to blow into the lake and onto our land. No tests were ever done.

Just this last winter I took part in a local town hall meeting hosted by the County. At this meeting I asked about any intention the County might have into looking at preventing waste from blowing out of the landfill. The response was too pathetic to be funny. I was told that ever since the province allowed them to build vertically (ie a big garbage and dirt mound) there was no longer anything they could really do to prevent some waste from blowing out. I was then assured that the County periodically sent cleaning crews out to tidy the immediate area. I had not intended to inspire laughter from the rest of the community members when I suggested that they might want to check if these crews ever actually showed up.

Does this look like a site that has been cleared?








But back to the original point of this post...like I said, although requested several times, no soil or water table tests were ever done on our adjacent land nor, to my knowledge, water tests on the marsh-lake itself. Just yesterday however, less than 3 months after finalization of the sale of our land, guess what happens?








You got it, the County was out to do soil tests on our...oh right, I mean their land. We get to farm it for another 3 years so I guess I can be forgiven for still calling it ours.

I'm going to hold back from getting too confrontational about this. For one thing, my energy is better spent elsewhere. There may also be a chance to work with others in the community, and the County itself, to ensure that the land is as naturally used as possible. Perhaps there may even be the chance to continue to lease a portion of it should my hemp dreams become reality.

Given my nature though, I am sure going to have to work hard to hold my tongue.

More Chickens and Bees

Since I have been pushing small scale beekeeping, I thought I should share something that I came across which could be important for Albertans who might be listening. I had not considered the possibility that any scale of beekeeping would be strictly regulated here in Alberta, but apparently this is the case. I suppose it makes sense, given the huge stresses on North American honey bee populations recently.

Luckily I had stumbled across Beekeeping for Beginners page at the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development website as I was searching for an Alberta apiary supplier. It was there that I learned of the Alberta Bee Act (insert ominous music here). Nothing too dramatic however. The biggest reason I wanted to mention it here, is to draw attention to two big parts of the Act. The first is that Albertans must obtain permission before importing bees or beekeeping equipment. The second is that ALL Albertan beekeepers must register the land description (title) where any colonies are kept. I`ve not looked into fee structures but I doubt the fees are prohibitive. I would just hate to see someone get fined for not knowing they needed to follow these protocols.

Albertans with interest in beekeeping might also find the Alberta Beekeepers Association to be an important resource.

In order to offer some additional inspiration, I have included a video from the Rawmodel Youtube channel. I think many will find his permaculture video offerings to be very enjoyable viewing...perhaps particularly those readers of a female persuasion. I know I find his energy to be quite contagious. Definitely the sort of person I hope to be able to work with.




In keeping to the theme of Chickens and Bees I thought I would link a video which may be helpful to anyone considering keeping chickens in towns. It`s a nicely designed chicken tractor which allows for moving the chickens from place to place so as to avoid soil damage due to overuse. My one concern is that it remains a wee bit small for more than 4 or 5 chickens, but it could easily be made somewhat longer.



And just in case anyone doesn`t think chickens are awesome...watch this:




Happy Spring everyone.

Urban Permaculture

I've been having more and more conversations about permaculture lately, and I am happy that is so. Since urban centers are such an integral aspect of our modern societies, it is obvious that urban permaculture is going to need to be accepted on a large scale. Regulars (the 5-10 of you who I am so thankful to have met) here know, I think, the importance of this acceptance.

So for anyone who has not already had the opportunity to see this, I am suggesting a short video series called Urban Permaculture Strategies. This is a fast but eye opening and educational documentary (in a series which can be seen with many other great presentations at this Youtube channel) by Bill Mollison, whom many call the Father of Permaculture.

There is no embed capability for this video so I could only include the link, but that is just fine as the hosting channel also linked has a plethora of permaculture videos.

Since climate change and freshwater depletion are becoming such dangerous issues, I thought I would link to the Dryland Permaculture Strategies video as well. There is some absolutely astonishing stuff there. I had no idea that part of the New Deal in the 30's were efforts to engineer and activate solutions to the desertification of the western US. I'd like to know why prison inmates aren't engaged in this kind of activity all over the west. Surely this is a good and productive way to pay their debt to society...and learn productive skills.

I believe these videos show that we really can take steps to repair the damage from our misdeeds, including freshwater depletion and any anthropogenic climate change, although it will take time, effort and good local planning.

Wisdom at TED 2009

For some time now I have been concerned about a general abandonment of wisdom in our society, in favor of a focus on intelligence alone. It was this concern which actually led to creating this blog, thinking I could use the practice towards perhaps writing a book. As such, I am suggesting yet another (short this time!) presentation...this one from TED 2009.

In this presentation, psychologist Barry Shwartz looks at the importance of balancing intelligence with wisdom. In watching this video, I was struck again and again by the similarities between Shwartz's offering and what I have been attempting to share.

I will be sharing this video with many friends and family, hoping that it helps to explain what I have been ranting about for all these years.

Please do watch and, I hope, enjoy.

A Farm for the Future

I know I have been foisting a great deal of "viewing" on people lately. I had been intending to take a bit of a break from this, until I came across this British production:



"A Farm For the Future" is a 50 minute look at the future of agriculture, primarily in Britain. I found this film to be particularly interesting, as the film-maker reminds me a great deal of myself. She grew up on a very traditional farm, and was encouraged to get an education and move on to a "better" kind of employment...better meaning higher standard of living with less backbreaking labor. She also has come to a point in her life where she realized the quality of life that comes from agrarian life. And she as well has realized that Peak Oil means our Green Revolution style of agriculture, which is completely dependent on fossil fuels, has a very limited future. So this short film documents her first few steps towards finding what, if any, type of agriculture will sustain our population into the future.

I was delighted to see that the solution seems to lie within permaculture, which is the direction I am intent upon with the family farm. The difficulty here is that my location is nowhere near as climate ideal as southern England. Our winters here are much longer, much colder and usually come with several feet of snow. It is my belief, however, that this just means we need to discover a different kind of permaculture. We will need to do far more year-round green-housing, for one thing.

As with all things, I believe the answer lies in balance. We will need to balance our population in general, but more importantly, we will need to find a better balance between urban population and rural. We will need to balance food production between rural and urban settings as well. We need to develop a better mix of human labor, animal labor and fuel-based labor; all this comes down to a better balance between the natural world and technology. We will need to balance our diets. I will not argue for totally vegetarian diets, but the truth is that westerners eat far more meat than is healthy (for the physical labor they do, especially). We would also get better dietary benefit from hemp-seed cereals than from the traditional wheat, oats, barley OR soy with lower ecological impact.

Again, I believe agriculture is going to have to shift from family based, to group or community based. No longer will so many be able to get by on one skill such as truck driving or writing software, for example. Certainly specialized skills or interests will remain important; we will always need teachers, doctors, veterinarians, engineers, etc, but more important will be flexibility and adaptability...and a willingness to help where needed.

I am quite sure than anyone who comes to this site would find this film to be a well-spent hour sure to lead to hours of thought later on.

Peace and comfort to all.

A Blah March Day

We've been alternating between spring and winter here since about mid-January. Today is a breezy, snowy day which makes it hard to remember that some places are already seeing atypical heat and/or dry. But it also means another day where going outside isn't terribly inviting. So I thought I would share a few more tidbits.

Here is another article on another potentially serious hazard to large-scale industrial agriculture. Seems as though large-scale pig farming may lead to a nasty form of MRSA or "flesh eating bacteria".

Today was the physical release date of Alex Jones' new "shockumentary", The Obama Deception. I had a watch on Google video earlier today, and I am going to embed the video to this post as I think it contains some very important information. I am not going to spend time doing any sort of in-depth review, but I do urge people to spend the couple hours seeing a bit clearer picture of what this guy seems to be about. I will warn everyone that this presentation involves some anthropogenic climate change denial, but that does not discount the damning footage that is contained throughout. I do wish the global warming issues had been presented differently, although I agree that the international banking/carbon tax connection needs to be recognized and discussed. I also wish there had been less Alex Jones in this, but he does include a pretty decent End the Fed speech, and it IS his production. At the end of the day, I do believe this presentation offers significant evidence to be very wary of His presidency...some of which I have mentioned before.

Anyway, here it is:



Here is an interesting summary of a recent academic discussion between ex-VP Walter Mondale, and journalist Seymour Hersh, in which Hersh briefly speaks of his upcoming book which outlines domestic spying and an ongoing covert military operation that he described as an "executive assassination ring". The world's old friend Henry Kissinger comes up in their discussion too. That bugger is all over the place still.

Back to longing for spring.

Peace and comfort to all.

A Hemp Suggestion

I think I have made reference to this idea before, briefly, but I thought I would take a moment to expand upon it.

We all know that the world is facing a food crisis and, hopefully, an economic restructuring. Canada has also been trying to deal with several flagging export concerns, one of the largest being the lumber industry. Timber quality has been decreasing as well, since many forests being harvested are now second or third growth on land which has never had a chance to recuperate its nutrients. Thankfully, pulp requirements are decreasing rapidly as well, as paper becomes less and less used.

So...


Since we also know of the plethora of uses for industrial hemp, including seeming to be the most dietary beneficial of grain seeds, it is my suggestion that we should be encouraging lumber workers into industrial hemp-based agri-permaculture. Many areas left open by forestry could have the soil replenished through organic hemp farming. This supply could fuel domestic and export manufacturing of numerous hemp based products, as with the growing Manitoba hemp food industry. Workers now out of work in the oil industry could provide seasonal labor as well, especially with a return to manual labor including draft animals (depletion is likely to make this necessary). Similar undertakings could be made in other areas as well, since hemp is such a resilient organism.

It is my belief that such an impetus might also spawn research (collegiate or localized) into areas such as carbon framed agricultural implements (carbon sequestration for the carbon fad), and small scale biofuel or gas production using any excess waste products. During slave times, for example, some slaves developed technologies which lessened the work required by their fellow slaves, as written about in "Uncle Tom's Cabin". In a free system, this should continue to be the case and is likely to increase, although perhaps in a limited fashion due to depletion.

Is climate change likely to reduce the amount of areas where this kind of agriculture can be accomplished? Perhaps, but there will also be another benefit of this sort of activity. Hemp is a very bushy plant with broad leaves, therefore processing great amounts of carbon dioxide and emitting large amounts of oxygen for us to breathe. If water conservation efforts are undertaken, transpiration can help to regulate rainfall activity as well.

The goal here is not to replace the economic activity of the flagging lumber industries. It is to develop a new kind of economic activity to replace that failing one. It is to develop sustainable industry balanced with life, using responsible planning and wealth/resource distribution. It is not likely remove much of the danger facing our world, but it is a large step in the right direction...one that should have been started 30 years ago. It may mean that more survive the coming struggles, with the proper balanced mindset.

Better late than never.

Cramer's Beating

Not that it's going to make much difference anywhere, but I just want to take a short moment to commend Jon Stewart of The Daily Show for tonight's berating of CNBC's Jim Cramer (Mad Money). Stewart referenced numerous instances of Cramer's past collusion in developing the great market boondoggle we're currently ensconced within, in a manner much like Iron Mike went at punching bags. Only, Cramer actually deserved the punishment. And Stewart was calm and poignant, not raving mad. Alright, so it wasn't like Iron Mike but it really was quite the beating.

Blows my mind that it takes Comedy Central to air a show that speaks some fricking common sense reality. AND it's often funny!

Here is the full, uncut interview. ** Warning** Some well used foul language.

Update: No more direct video link, but here is a link to the Comedy Network copy.

Peace and comfort to all, except the greedy power-hungry manipulating bastards.

Poison on the Platter

“Are we ready to eat a food that has the potential to stunt our growth, impair our immune system and adversely affect all our vital organs”

This is a quote from Ajay Kanchan, directory of a new documentary "Poison on the Platter". This new doc is a new look at GM foods and their incubation in India, as this article outlines well. I've not had a chance to see the doc yet, but I'll be keeping an eye for it on Google video. Here is a clip:

Words of Inspiration

I saw two very inspiring things online today and I wanted to share them.

The first are some powerful words of wisdom by Theresa of Pondering the Myriad Things. I think people should check out her blog so I am only posting a link here. Please take my word for it and check it out.

Wandering around this evening, I came across something at Matters of Integrity which floored me:




Powerful, both.

Hah

This was too good to not comment on quickly. I just got a spam email from my bank. The subject line reads: How to Prepare for the Global Economic Recovery.

Now that is funny.

Hopeful News and Water Thoughts

Maybe there is hope on the GMO front.

This article reports the recent General Mills decision to forgo using milk from cows which have received rBGH (rBST), recombinant growth hormone, injections. (Good for them, only took 15 years of knowing how harmful it is.)

The article also details a significant push in the US Health Care industry to utilize natural food products and to support local, organic agriculture. Hmm note to self, I wonder how much quicker some patients would recover with plenty of hempseed derived food in their diets.

On a related note, in trying to determine whether Health Canada still has a ban on rBGH I came across this article from 1999, where it is reported that the Codex Alimentarius Commission "ruled unanimously in favor of the 1993 European moratorium on Monsanto's genetically engineered hormonal milk (rBGH)." So now I am wondering whether this remains the case. Certainly one would hope that a UN entity which claims to have public health as its highest priority would uphold such a ban, but considering the lengths to which some of these companies will go...

Oh well, the Yoplait story is still good news I think.

While I am on this positive-thinking track, here`s another one. Currently, in our concrete jungles, rainforest falls on the concrete, is directed into sewage systems and primarily ends up running straight into rivers and streams. This process increases erosion and loss of top soil. What if rainfall was directed in holding lagoons, designed to allow this water to filter back into the water table and for light irrigation use? Periodically, sediment could be extracted from these lagoons, dried out and reintroduced as top soil where needed. Also, brush which favors wetlands, such as willow, could be grown and harvested for natural gas and hot water production via composting, or for other biomass uses. Sewage systems already in place could be re-directed for this purpose as people shift to compost toilets, removing the solid human waste from the wastewater streams.

Admittedly, its not a new idea, I know it is being used in communities purposely designed for sustainability. However, I am not sure that it is really being looking at by as many existing communities as should be the case, especially in areas of decreasing rainfall. My suggestion is to get neighbours thinking about it and try to build it into a viable local option. As we shift from an economic model of waste and constant growth, this is likely to provide many sustainable business opportunities.

Just a thought.

Suggested Listening

Ever since discovering the Financial Sense News Hour via TheWorkshop.ca (another great site), I have been listening to their weekly show on a fairly regular basis. Their shows are posted Fridays, and I highly suggest that anyone wanting a more rational and comprehensive understanding of economic developments would do well to have a listen.

However, I am especially recommending this past Friday's show which includes a fantastic interview with the authors of the new book; "Water: The Final Resource". This interview is a scary but eye-opening update about the current freshwater and rainfall situation, as well as an informative climatary discussion. One of the highlights (?) was a forecast of severe water shortages across much of the northern hemisphere, and a massive food crisis settling into place by early 2010.

Also on the climate front, the show's 4th segment includes an interview with leading climatologist, Evelyn Browning Garriss. This guest discusses global climate cycles, freshwater and rain depletion issues, and the significant increase in ice mass in the Arctic last winter. Personally, I think we will see another such increase after this current winter. Unfortunately, frozen at the poles or salty in the oceans, little of this water will be available to drink. Anyway, another fascinating listen.

Royal Summons and Propaganda

When I started this blog, I did not intend to review and comment directly on so many various news articles. I also did not intend to devote so much energy towards discussing freedom, at least not so soon. However, it seems that so many different issues have begun to escalate, new issues seems to be appearing, and the whole world seems to be accelerating toward chaos. As such, I am finding it very difficult to focus deeply on any one subject at a time, especially as more and more links between the different issues also seem to be appearing.

So I find myself writing a lot more, but I know many posts get somewhat erratic. I hope everyone will bear with me...and check back. I believe self-sufficiency is of significant importance, but I also understand that it is a waste of time without remaining as aware as possible of happenings outside of wherever we happen to be.

On the plate today, it seems that His Presidency has been summoned by Her Highness. It still blows my mind when very intelligent friends and acquaintances argue that the British Royalty no longer holds any real power in the world. I respect their opinions, I am just concerned that sometimes the opinions are not as informed as they really should be. I have commented briefly on this subject before, but I will state a little more firmly now...that I think the time is swiftly approaching when people will realize that this bloodline retains far more than simple figurehead status, and the power accompanying this status. My worry is that it will end up being a very painful and destructive realization.

Since I have been commenting so much on the apparent global control structure being put into place since WWII, but especially over the last 20-30 years, I thought this was a particularly enlightening (and frightening) article to stumble across. The article basically outlines a very serious attempt, by "Elites", to establish a global propaganda network in order to assist in implementing global governance. Thank goodness I had to read "1984" in high school. However, the number of everyday people that I see, who think this kind of thing is just fine, is as astounding to me as the audacity of those trying to implement it. I'm not sure if they just don't see how easily it could go VERY bad, Nazi Germany bad, or if they hope that supporting it will earn them high enough status to not have to worry. Either way, I suppose that it helps to show who to watch out for.

On a lighter note, I am hoping to unveil a new blog (and hopefully, website) very soon. This blog will be following a new business prospect about which I am very excited. I'm holding off with the the new blog mostly just because I don't want to jinx the opportunity. This will be marking quite a different career change for me, which I will explain as part of the unveiling. I will still be posting here at SoapBoxTech, but I will likely have less time for it.

Peace and comfort to all.

Pandemic

As if things aren't bad enough, now drug companies seem to be "accidentally" trying to start a pandemic. Boy, this certainly wasn't a heavily publicized news article, surprise surprise.

I guess this is why FEMA seems to be stockpiling millions of poly (coffin) vaults all over the US:

Further Descent

I've been wondering when word of Canadian troops marching on Canadian streets would start filtering through the press. Turns out the time is now. It seems that City police in Barrie, ON, and a nearby military base are looking at joint patrols in Barrie. Supposedly these troops would only be dealing with off-duty military personnel however considering that the Barrie Police Chief has said that off-duty soldiers from the base do not create that big a problem, one might wonder how the idea of troop patrols even came up.

To me it just looks like a nice step towards acclimating Canadians to troop patrols on our streets. I will be the first to agree that something needs to be done about the growing gang violence in Vancouver, for example, but haven't we yet learned that Drug Wars don't actually accomplish anything other than increasing criminal profit and overall violence? Many of us may have, but for those in control a War on Drugs obviously remains too profitable for both sides, both in terms of money and in terms of control.

I say it again, we HAVE to start waking up and helping to wake up our neighbors. We HAVE to start accepting active, responsible, considerate lives. We have to start rebuilding our local communities, getting to know each other...not to pry and spy on each other but to foster a balance between individualism and community. Only this balance will save us and our world.

False Freedom and The Law

For some time now I have been intrigued by the Freeman-on-the-land movement. Anyone who is interested in a life of true responsible freedom is likely to also be interested in learning more about this movement.

I came across a fairly recent (and relatively short) presentation on this subject that I thought I would share here.



This is a longer presentation from one of the first Freemen who works hard to educate Canadians (and others) about the false freedoms of our civil society.



Much of the information discussed is primarily oriented around the British Commonwealth countries. However, it is interesting that the US constitution seems to be based on Freeman principles, but the legal system in place is heavily based on the British system. As such, the freedoms are built into the US constitution, but are then co-opted by a corporate Justice system (which is supposed to be built on said constitution).

Unfortunately, the Freeman theory remains largely untested. I have long thought that it would be wonderful to see some small community secede and adopt a Freeman system. Indeed, it would seem that many of the "zeitgeisters" are intrigued by Freeman theory. For anyone aware of the Zeitgeist movement, it is my belief that this is the line where the Zeitgeist believers will split into the Technocratic and the Free. It is hard for me to believe that these two factions would be able to co-exist in such a way as to make the Zeitgeist utopia realistic.

Personally, I do not believe that the ends always justify the means, therefore I shall always cast my vote with the Responsible Free.

Peace and comfort to all.

A SoapBox Reading Suggestion

I have been working on a post which discusses my discomfort with the Techno/Financiocratic "New World Order" future towards which Elitists have been directing humanity for some time now. However, I came across this article today which goes far and beyond what my post would. I will likely still publish the post sometime, but I highly suggest that everyone follow the link and spend some time reading the article.

Of particular interest to me was the comment about the current wave of supporters of the idea that we are on the cusp of a "global awakening" or an emerging "global consciousness". I had been seeing this as the result of human evolution, but I can definitely see it as the product of decades of the western education system pushing the importance of world government, albeit mostly unwittingly at the individual school or teacher level. I always wondered why our history classes were called Social Studies and I guess now I know.

This could easily lead into some thoughts on the United Nations, but I think I will save that for a later time.

False Freedom and Hamster Wheels

Canadians seem to be one of the freer peoples of the world. Indeed, a great number of people give their lives trying to achieve our level of freedom and I completely admit that I would not happily exchange levels of freedom with most of these people. Yet I maintain the position that those who make it to Canada, or the US, or other "free and democratic" countries, or who achieve our type of freedoms, may achieve a higher standard of living, but they have not reached a truly free and democratic state.

It may well be that (true and responsible) freedom and democracy are actually mutually exclusive since democracy basically means that 51%, or more, of the population dictate over the rest. It seems to me that this is a fairly unstable system as it is so susceptible to subversion by the wealthy and to a chaotic political structure.

As recently as two generations ago, Canada and the US were indeed fairly free lands. Plenty of space, resources and capital allowed this to be the case. Both movement across the land and settlement were encouraged and yet as the space began to be filled, resources were no longer free for the claiming, and capital dwindled to eventually be replaced by overly leveraged speculation and digital information, so the freedom became a false freedom.

So what is false freedom? I suggest that false freedom is a life where 8-20 hours a day are out of one's control for 60 or so years. It is a life dominated by consumer based advertising. It is a society where individual responsibility is traded for an ever enlarging book of rules which all (except the most wealthy) must follow. It is a society where security is equated with constant monitoring and regulation. It is a world where so-called free peoples are reduced to hamsters expected to run in their hamster wheels which exist to power the global economy and where the choices of those peoples are reduced primarily to the materially consumeristic.

I am sorry for the pain of innocents, but the truth is that the coming massive contraction in humanity is probably necessary since once again we seem to have missed the point.

The lighter note today? I remain, perhaps in delusion, sure that there is hope. The economic depression means that some people will once again have more time and necessity to think. We have achieved a level of technological understanding that, if properly inspired, could develop products which could help us develop a truly free and responsible society...perhaps for the first time ever. Our world has a miraculous capability for healing, if only we give it the chance to breathe.

Taking a moment to breathe and think would be a good idea in general.

Peace and comfort to all

SoapBox News Highlights

After a semi-long weekend, it was back to fear and baloney in the news today.

Our loving PM assured us that the Canadian auto industry would not collapse entirely, a sure sign that something more like the opposite is in store. Many are likely to believe him though, since the Canadian auto branches turned down a stimulus offer from the federal government, as the article mentions. I guess we`ll have a better idea later today.

Last week, I mentioned some rumblings that Canada`s Defence Minister might be eyeing the Nato Secretary General post. Here is another article which mentions the idea. This week he issues a press release and statement at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, which certainly seems to be taking a leadership, although likely somewhat controversial, stance.

An economic note, considering all the talk that the asian economic machine will power the world through this "recession", readers might enjoy this in depth article from The Telegraph.

Here is another reason to be cautious about nuclear power. How does a 14 year radiation leak get summed into a 250,000 UK pound fine?

I have been railing against authoritarian control for some time now, and this is a mighty interesting voice to see agreeing with me. We really cannot keep ignoring the mounting control mechanisms that have been layered onto us, and in an accelerating fashion in recent years, thanks to seemingly helpful technology:



This one I have left for last, because it is a big one and it is not really making headlines yet. While remaining a proud Canadian, I have long been somewhat envious of the founding of the USA, versus the founding of Canada. While the US was founded on the principles of responsible freedom, Canada was founded as a set of British colonies that Britain was no longer powerful enough to forcibly control. So when sovereignty is in danger, the US has a constitution which ensures the rights and responsibilities of the State and smaller bodies, and which limits the rights of the federal government. I am surprised to see it, but there is beginning to be a very strong movement in many US states, to reinforce this part of their constitution. It is the glimmer of hope I have been looking for, that true responsible freedom can be saved. In Canada, this sort of effort would require a basic restructuring of our constitution, as ours is so tightly linked to the British parliamentary system and to the British throne. This freedom has been fought for before, and may have to be fought for again...this time in Canada too.

Be well and good, Sisters and Brothers.

Adam Curtis

Now that I have gotten the hang of attaching videos to this blog, I have decided to devote one post to the main works of one of the most important informative producers of the modern western generation, Adam Curtis. I am in awe of the researching and composition capabilities of this man, and indeed his productions have helped to fill in much of my understanding of modern history. Forget Michael Moore, spend a few hours listening to what Adam Curtis has to say.

Century of the Self









The Power of Nightmares







The Trap

Working at Balance

This blog has been a great tool in my attempt to bring more balance to life. I had originally intended this to be the place where I ranted against the ignorance and self-centeredness one runs into every day and where I urged people to embrace responsible individuality and to seek wisdom in life. It has quickly grown into much more, but I have also been trying to be more balanced in this release and in the sharing of what I see as being concerns we all need to look at together. As such, I am making a more concentrated effort to be balanced in each post, alternating light with dark, warnings with suggested solutions, that sort of thing. I am not great at subtlety tho, so please bear with me.

Peace and comfort to all.

Another Link in the Chain

I've been holding off on this post for some time now, for various reasons. The biggest is that, quite honestly, being one of the few who seem to be talking about it is a touch scary. But I am writing it now for that very reason. Very few people are talking about it and something this big needs to be talked about at the water cooler, while sharing chores, over coffee, at town and community gatherings etc etc.

The subject is Codex Alimentarius.

Perusing the Strategic Plan for 2008-2013, Codex appears to be a comprehensive and global effort toward "protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in the food trade". However, one may also notice that this strategic plan makes no mention to the importance of decreasing poverty and starvation or protecting/developing local economies and naturally produced food, yet there is great mention of avoiding trade barriers. Skipping to the Principles of NGO Participation, the only Non Governmental Organizations which will have formal relations (under "Observer Status") with the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) are to be international in scope. This makes Codex Alimentarius a central control over the entire global food supply, which does not even recognize non international entities.

Sadly, I have only been aware of Codex for a relatively short period of time but this is a short talk with Ian Crane who has worked hard to raise awareness of Codex:



As he mentions, the US avoided one attempt to institute Codex in the 90's, but it is my contention that the current push towards global government would include Codex implementation throughout North America. Interestingly, both Canada and the USA remain active CAC members.

This is a longer UK presentation by Ian Crane:



This is a presentation by Dr. Rima Laibow, an M.D. who co-founded the Natural Solutions Foundation:



I encourage everyone to have a look at this thing and generate your own opinion. Personally, I see it as just another leap towards global Technocratic (and Financial) authoritarianism. We've been feeding ourselves naturally for around 5500 years at least, isn't it interesting that once large-scale industrial farming took hold we have global food supply emergency problems?

Solutions:

1) As is the solution to so many things...drive in the countryside. Get to know local farmers and producers. Some might be wary to begin with but when they know you're on their side and interested in their wares, you will likely make some of the best friends possible.

2) Start or get involved in local food and goods markets as much as possible. You will forget what being bored was like.

3) Keep an eye on Codex and other control mechanisms (especially food oriented) locally, bring it up here and there and stand ready to oppose its implementation in your area.

Chickens and Bees continued

In my continuing attempt to learn to keep bees, I came across a little something that gave me the best laugh I have had in a long long time. My thanks to the Honeyflow Farm website for this little tidbit titled "when I grow up", and for the great pictorial of a year's beekeeping and honey harvesting activity.

For anyone interested in learning about beekeeping, Gobeekeeping is a great starter site. I highly suggest that anyone living rurally consider looking at keeping at least one colony if there are none around.

As link wandering will often do, I was also led to a delightful chicken video. I swear, anyone who can watch it without grinning and/or laughing and just feeling uplifted a bit overall, has no soul.

Clarity

Anyone trying to get a sense of what is actually going on in this economic meltdown we`re experiencing, especially Canadians, would do well to watch this New Years day presentation by Michel Chossudovsky of GlobalResearch.ca.



I found it to be an excellent summation and quite illuminating in some regards.

As for what is to come, I recommend having a search for Gerald Celente and his 2009 predictions. As I`ve mentioned before, Celente has an impeccable record for predicting social, political and economic trends.

On a lighter note, after a month of deep winter it has become unseasonably warm for the last couple of weeks. So much so that this fellow woke up and came out to sun himself on a clear, sunny afternoon awhile:



It seems he has been busy too:



Peace and comfort to all.

Acceleration

Our world is changing rapidly. Climate and the environment in general, the debate about over-population and how to deal with it if it is an issue, geopolitics with its layers of deceit and wrangling, and an economy in global meltdown. Trying to keep a grasp on all that is happening must be done, but it is increasingly difficult.

I thought I`d note some troublesome headlines from today:

It seems that much of China is experiencing the worst drought seen in over 50 years. 50% of the wheat crop of 8 provinces are in danger of failure this year. Australia seems to be facing similar difficulties. Other recent articles, like this one, suggest that California will be following suit this spring/summer. While much of North America and Britain/Europe have had a hard winter with a good deal of precipitation, few people think about the fact that this extra precipitation has to come from somewhere. Perhaps China is now paying the toll for the Olympic Games weather manipulation.

On the geo-politicial front, the idea of Peter MacKay as the Secretary General of Nato just makes my skin crawl.

Speaking of the CONservatives, PM Harper is asking Canadians to stay the course presented in the recent budget. Now I am not suggesting that I think government should flail around in times of trouble like this, but this article shows, once more, just how out of touch is our ever-s0-emotive PM. Harper says we should not worry about the 129,000 Canadian jobs lost in January as the numbers in the US were so much greater, therefore the US "remains the epicentre of this particular crisis." Apparently he cannot fathom that the Canadian population is around 1/10th of the US, but our job loss numbers were about 1/6th that of the US. I think most 6th graders could see the problem there. Not only that, but this is the exact same language the mook used last fall when he was telling us not to be concerned as Canada was relatively safe from this crisis.

Thankfully, Canada remains rather quiet in the continued prodding of Iran. However, Germany and France took some time to add a few pokes of their own. One can`t help but wonder if these people perhaps WANT to start another war (as if there is little wondering left...). From where I sit, this seems exceedingly stupid when one considers the amount of resources (not to mention innocent lives) wasted in war. Perhaps they should have been listening to this weeks Financial Sense Newshour, where some discussion was given to the estimated amount of industrial resources left to certain countries (think an average of 25 years supply left for resources required for our current level of industrialization...not good).

So there`s my fast round up of some of today`s (and recent) headlines. There were some positive ones as well, which I could take time to mention, but there is too much attention spent on "feeling better about things", and not enough attention on really knowing what the hell is going on, so that work can begin on trying to have less things that NEED to be worried about.

Peace to all.

Revisiting an Old Post

One of my first posts touched on some areas about which I have been talking lately, here and on other sites. I had begun to talk about my idea for a specific type of intentional community. I cannot claim that it is an entirely new idea, but I think my particular vision is a combination of and extrapolation from some currently operating entities. I would really like some feedback or to speak to people who might be interested in helping to develop the idea, so I ask that those of you lovely people who pop by fairly regularly have a read and let it roll around your head for awhile.

Reading it again, I realize that I got off the originally intended topic a bit and didn't really get into the meat of what I envision. I will try to get into that a bit more in subsequent writing.

However, reading it again I see that several issues that I (and many others) saw coming, are now...just months later...manifesting themselves. I believe this makes the intentional community an ever more viable ideal.

Also, I should note that it will likely form, if at all, on a different plot of land than I intended when originally writing the post. This other plot of land is smaller, but prettier and presenting some different opportunities that I will try to get into.

The 4th Purpose

Speaking of the military-industrial complex, GovTrack.us now contains this legislation that was introduced to the US Congress last week. This legislation would "direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers on military installations." The bill seems to be a nice and helpful attempt to be pro-active about national emergencies and major disasters, but for one line in the section outlining the purposes of these facilities. This line states that the 4th purpose of these facilities is "to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security".

That's a pretty broad opening.

This bill is in addition to the nearly $4 billion Department of Homeland Security Headquarters approved earlier this month. That's a pretty nice stimulus in itself.

Considering the understandable public focus on the crashing economy, and given the soaring public opinion towards government now that The Man is in office, I doubt there will be much attention on this bill's slipping through Congress. Once enough people realize the implications of the 4th Purpose, it will likely be too late. If Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute is correct, as he usually is, these centers will likely be ready to be filled with broke, hungry people who used to live on the either side of the tracks from each other.



Disclaimer: I must apologize that I had to use a Fox news clip to show Celente's prediction briefly. I am not suddenly a Fox supporter and Celente tends to be completely non-partisan. Do have a listen to some of his radio show appearances that should show up as links at that Youtube page.

Ike's Warning

At the end of his 2nd term as President of the USA, General Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower issued a sobering warning to the American public, and thanks to modern technology, to the entire world. Considering that it was the ex Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in WW2 issuing such a warning against the growing "military-industrial establishment", of which he must have been intimately aware, one would think there would have been an ongoing public demand for limitations to this growing establishment.

Indeed, the 60's and some of the 70's saw a significant amount of public concern for the military-industrial complex, which continued to grow, but much of the outcry was against war itself and governmental use of war for imperial purposes...keeping the mil-industrial companies out of the limelight. And then, the emerging entertainment and marketing (and illegal narcotic) industries helped to turn the peace movement into the "me" generation of the 80's. In most ways, we are still stuck in this "me" generation, although more and more seem to be waking up and trying to take back their freedoms through living responsibly and with awareness.

But, we have also mostly forgotten about Mr. Eisenhower's important warning. We have mostly accepted this "sleep" state, continuously enticed and lulled by leisure and entertainment. Even The Man of Change himself, the new President, tapped defence contractor lobbyist William Lynn as Deputy Secretary of State. Nooo, not a pawn, he. Not at all.

What Mr. Eisenhower didn't add in his warning, however, was that this military-industrial complex would begin to team up with corporate banking, big Media, big Pharma, big Chem and big OIL, to consolidate power not only in the US, but across the world itself. Perhaps he just did not wish to step outside his primary area of expertise and knowledge...the military.

This all sums up my reasoning to be against globalization as it is being presented to us. We "masses" are not yet evolved enough to not need (and usually want...desperately) some level of control and organization. And globalization as it is being presented to us now, sees those same huge corporate interests as the driving force and the body demanding global governmental control over the activities of the world's population. It is THAT group which is telling us how we must live, in order to fix the mess whose creation THEY oversaw.

I say it is about damned time we listened to Ike's warning.

Carpe Diem




Update: Here is a transcription of the entirety of the above cited speech. I urge everyone to have a read, it is not long but it is entirely brimming in wisdom.

Federal Budget and Other Happy Thoughts

In the morning, we Canadians will be treated to a new Federal budget. Thanks to a more "open" Conservative caucus at the moment, we already have a pretty good idea that our opening commitment to the struggling global economy is a 2 year total deficit of around $65 Billion dollars. Even here on the other side of Canada I can hear the scrabbling of a few millions Canadians trying to get their piece. I guess I must be considered part of this group as I intend to get as big a piece of the billions supposedly earmarked for Canadian farmers as I can. In truth, this is one of few areas that I support spending the tax dollars of future workers in this emergency effort, provided those dollars go to local smaller scale (preferably natural) farmers and not Corporate Agriculture.

The truth is, what we are seeing is governmental flailing in time of catastrophe. Even if logic says the best action at the time is as little action as possible (such as upon discovering that one is standing in the middle of a frozen but rapidly cracking open lake), a government does not really have this option. So even when the prudent course of action is to lay flat and assess the situation in order to slow the cracking and find the best path to safety, a government is more likely to start running for the nearest shore...intent on what might seem to be a faster journey to safety, when the opposite is more likely to be true.

Now, knowing this is the case...and in this particular situation, knowing that we`re about to accept a much larger national debt...I think we `masses` better do every damn thing we can to ensure that all this money is spend as wisely as possible. This means accepting that there`s no such thing as "too big to fail" and realizing that we are NOT born to service the almighty economy. This means demanding to know exactly where each tax dollar goes. It means remembering that we have the right to hold our representatives accountable and we MUST utilize it if necessary.

*sigh*

It sure would be nice to see some actual change but the world just seems to get darker and darker...

Now, it grows late here so I am going to close out with a few other, rather random, thoughts floating around my head or just popping in;

Regarding the "War on Terrorism" in Afghanistan(/Pakistan), Iraq, and perhaps soon to be Iran: isn't the fact that no one seems able to explain how we will know when it is won or lost kind of proof that we're no longer really fighting for anything (if we ever truly were)?

Speaking of all this ridiculous killing, does anyone think we'll hear about struggling arms manufacturers and private security firms in the near future? Highly unlikely.

To be honest with you all, I`m quite worried about the violence we are ALL likely to be seeing outside (or, God forbid, inside) our doors soon. I think many will change their opinions about gun laws. I`ve certainly changed mine. I am a very peaceful kind of person, but I am both ashamed of and concerned with my inability for personal self defense at the moment. I must admit that defense is part of why I am so interested in seeing groups coming together, be they agrarian communities or urban support and co-op groups.

And no one seems to be saying much about the fact that rapidly warming OR rapidly cooling, we`re going to start getting pretty darn thirsty soon.

It's All My Fault

A rather heavy realization dawned on me tonight, as I was reading more of The Automatic Earth. So many seem to be casting opinions around as to who bears the fault of this global economic evaporation. It's the greedy investment bankers, or it's the Illuminati, or neocons, or the neolibs, or the ignorant and lazy masses. One would not expect someone to stand up and say "uh, yeah...sorry, it was me".

Well times are changing after all, I guess.

That's it...I am here to admit that this mess is all my fault.

Now, I'm not going to go so far as to tell everyone who I am and where I live. No, no. I will take the modest and relatively anonymous route. I am not a fame-seeker.

But it does seem to be my fault. "How can that be?" is what most of you are asking yourself (I hope). According to various...sources...it seems that we create our own realities. So, years and years ago, as adulthood approached and my world began to significantly expand, I began to feel that our modern paradigm of continuous growth and debt based economies had to reach some sort of catastrophic conclusion, be that environmental or societal or a combination of both. Well it seems that all that pondering and philosophizing backfired. I went and created the very catastrophe that I was worried about. You gotta hate it when that happens....

So, you can all leave the poor greedy bankers alone. They were right to chop up all those overpriced property mortgages into little pieces and use the DEBT as ASSETS upon which to procure further investment, again and again. Leave the politicians alone too. Empires do what they do, and the environment and climate work in cycles. So stop worrying. Its just a little recession, and they got through the 30's didn't they? Go back to buying cheap, foreign (ahem, chinese) products, it's not like they're ever poisonous. There's no reason whatsoever to give a damn where your food or water come from, so long as they are cheap enough to not interfere with buying a new cellphone every 6 months and a new car every two years. Now you have somewhere to point the blame. After all, it'd take too much work to fix all the havoc I've created. Might as well crawl as high as you can on the old societal ladder, and watch the ignorant bastards below snarl over the scraps you don't want. I'll wave from my ladder.




Now, so as to avoid a mailbox full of hatemail and bailout requests, I better point out that I was being sarcastic up above there. After all, if I could create my own reality, it would NOT be -40 C outside right now...at least not where I was.

And to any greedy banker types who may stumble across this post, please pardon the amateurish generalizing simplifications, I know the heist was far more complex and well thought out. You DEFINITELY earned those bonuses.

Linkage

A new and dear blogger friend of mine, Theresa of Pondering the Myriad Things, included an interesting link in response to my last post which outlined a few of my misgivings about the new US President and his coronatio....I mean inauguration. What I found was a nice summation of many of my concerns, fleshed out a little bit. There is so much to consider that I was once again very appreciative of finding this area of the blog world, where someone else can develop such an accurate outline of concerns I share, and yet another someone else can direct me (and others) to their writings. When it comes to this kind of communication, I am very thankful for the level of technology we have which allows it.

I'm always somewhat uplifted to learn of new folks who are awake, thinking, learning, trying to be responsible and urging others to strive for the same. Where I live, so many still seem to be stuck in the mentality that things will just turn around and return to "normal", that it can be real tempting to start cave-hunting. But once in awhile I see glimpses of real positivity, even here in Exploitationville. Yesterday at the grocery store, I overheard a young couple trying to buy non-GMO margarine. I think the top of my head must have nearly slid right off, my grin was so wide. I likely should have tried to speak with them, take that first step in generating a local network...but in all honesty I was worried that I'd come off like a freak...after all, they were just looking for decent margarine and I was planning them as another cornerstone for a local common sense movement. Hah, talk about a sense of desperation.

My Gut and The Inauguration

January 20, 2009. Day of hope, Day of change.

So why does my gut say its all wrong?

Why do I look at this guy and see such difference between his words and his actions? After all, there've been so few actions to see, really. And so so so many words. Granted they were pretty and well spoken words. It seems like he was campaigning for the last guy's entire last term. And wasn't that supposed to be his first term as a Senator? Where did he find the time to do all that campaigning while fulfilling all those duties in the arduous existence of a Junior Senator? He certainly worked hard for that one week to get that banker bailout passed.

Why did my eyes reject the soothing yet resolute words that my ears were hearing today? Was it the horror of seeing such a crowd of humans so desperately needing SOMEONE to tell them what to do, someone to save them...someone to worship. Sure it was nice to see that many people standing around together and not kicking the heck out of each other, but I wonder how they will live after today. I have no doubt that a great deal of them would be willing to work their butts off to make their country and the world a better place, but even they seem to be in some kind of daze.

Why is the fact that a person of a non-pink or grey skin color finally being seen as equal enough to hold the seat of President of the USA just not enough for me in this day and age? Especially with my "conspiracy theorist" gut telling me that this guy is just as much a pawn as Powell, only now with a lot more power. Yes, let's be pleased that society has come SO far...but this guy still has to do the darned job!!! Are we children that we have to celebrate each achievement so much that it takes 4 years to get to the next achievement (relatively speaking) and rarely even know exactly what it is that was ACTUALLY achieved?

I'll lay it out plain here. What I see today, is the coronation of a Caesar.

Neither I, nor my gut ( I don't think), are here to bash hope. Hope can be an absolutely positive thing...but it can also be a vicious and misleading illusionist. Hope MUST be based in practicality or it is worse than wasted effort...it is misdirected and potentially dangerous effort. And I will always say that if hope doesn't come from within, but instead from some external source...then this hope MUST be carefully investigated for falseness.

Speaking of hope...I hope I am wrong about this guy, as I think I have said before. If I am right, however, it's going to get even worse for a whole lot of people in this world.

My suggestion to everyone is to start seriously pondering national soveriegnty and responsible individual freedom versus globalism and corporate feudalism.

A Pain in My Heart

The new picture in the title pane of this blog is land on the farm that I grew up on. Over the holidays, paperwork was signed that solidifies the sale of this land. I was successful in putting thoughts on this to the back of my mind over the holidays, in order to not shoot my mouth off around family, but this picture brings it all back.

By this time next year, that land is likely to be no longer in my family's name, tho my parents may get to keep using it for a few years. This causes me more personal conflict than anything in my life so far. I know that my parents need the money that the sale will bring them. I know we can do a lot with the quarter section that remains, thanks to the money from the sale, but...

I feel that overall and in the longterm, we are losing out desperately. The land that is being sold, is some of the best kept farmland in this part of the province. It's soil has not tasted petroleum based fertilizer or modern herbicide methods in over 30 years. It is my pride in this land as family land that keeps me a supporter of private land ownership (albeit within limits). I could go on and on about its merits, but I also cannot. It's too hard.

I could really only see two ways that I could keep this land in the family. The first would be to assume operation in its traditional family farm setup. This has never been a reasonable option to me, as I have said in previous posts. I do not believe it to be a sustainable endeavor, in the single family paradigm. As well, it is clear that it is nearly impossible to exist at a reasonable standard of living on a family farm nowadays, certainly as a single person. Our systems are set up to stifle local farming, and to support corporate agriculture. So yeah, this was never a reasonable option, unfortunately.

The second option was to find an alternate business plan, which would focus on sustainable operation of the land and also provide a reasonable amount of income to those members of the family now in their retirement years. While I have all sorts of ideas that I believe will eventually be successful, without stumbling into a million dollars I just did not have enough time to achieve this option.

All is not lost. Land remains in the possession of the immediate family and I can still pursue the business ideas with that land. But it still pains me to know that I will no longer be able to walk anywhere on that beautiful land, whenever I want to. To build what I want, or grow what I want. I would have been happy to share it in many ways, but to lose it completely....

Instead, it will likely become an expansion of the adjacent landfill operation. About the best I can do is get involved with the land that remains, becoming a member of the County, thereby allowing me to go to meetings and try to see that something positive happens to the land. It is ideally located for wildlife preservation status, for example, other than that damn landfill.

Anyway, there it is. Best I not dwell on this pain but use it to re-focus my efforts on what remains. The more success I can achieve with that, the more I will be able to influence the future of that which is no longer family land, and beyond.

Peace to us all.

Update: Since it is likely that I will change the photo in the title pane, I have now attached the photo to the post itself.

On Junior Hockey Championships and A New Year

My urge to write here seems to have been waning over the last month or so. I have sat down to write about this or that thought a few times, but somehow they just would not congeal into a coherent bloggable topic, and I am just not one to blab away journal-style (yet).

However, here we are in 2009 now, and I find myself with a few thoughts that I would like to jot down and share.

First off, a sincere congratulations and "great job boys!!!" to our Canadian Junior Hockey team. These young men displayed some real poise and depth in facing some serious obstacles as they won Gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa over the holidays. Sticking together and working hard, never giving up, led to a tying goal against the Russians with only 5 seconds left in their semi-final game. Our boys went on to win the game in a shootout, where it was the goaltender's turn to shine. This team was far from a shoe-in to win, and they truly earned that Gold medal. Congratulations and thanks for the example, fellows.

I also must mention the Slovakian team. Playing with less raw talent, and a far inferior development program, that group of young men played their absolute hearts out in every game I saw them play. This effort led to their upsetting 2 teams that were considered far superior, and led to their playing for the bronze medal overall. Unfortunately they were not able to beat the Russians and went home without a medal but those young men have nothing to be ashamed about. I hope they returned home with their heads held high. Their effort was truly remarkable and perhaps an even stronger example than that given by our own Canadian team.

I really do love this tournament. The hockey is of the highest calibre and the energy is amazing. These are young men playing for the pride of their country, not for money. Every game is intense and the players chalk full of passion and focus. If it was the only hockey I could watch in a year, I think I would be satisfied.

As is often the case in this situation, I was moved by the spirit of the Canadian crowds, as they sang our anthem over the recorded music. By the time the semi and finals were reached, the music was actually turned down and the crowd sang alone, at tremendous volume. This often happens in Canadian cities during the NHL playoffs as well and is always a moving experience to me. My blood pounds and the hair stands up on my arms. However, it has begun to weigh on me, especially during this championship tournament...that we basically only come together to truly celebrate being Canadian, during these sporting events (and on Canada Day tho I do not believe to as large an extent). Now, granted, hockey is one of our greatest sources of national pride but I wish we would come together in this sort of celebration more often. I wish we would pay more heed to the words of our anthem as well, because we are no longer standing on guard for our country. Too much we are only worried about ourselves, our immediate concerns. Our nation is in danger and is hockey enough to hold us together? Should it be?

Damn, a brand new year and I am complaining already...

Personally, I am not sure it feels like a new year. Renewal isn't that simple a process to me. Sure I feel the energy of solstice and I know in my soul that nature will do it's thing. Spring will come, in some form, renewal will occur. Yet at the same time, we humans are mired in the same old status quo. We're making our guesses at what the new year will hold, we're making our resolutions (and usually breaking them shortly thereafter). We're going back to our jobs now that the holidays are over again. We had our rest time, but how many of us actually took any time to reflect on from where we have come, and to where we are headed? I think most of us bustled our way through the busy time, dreading having to return to work but knowing those christmas bills need paying.

Still, 2009 is likely to be a very difficult year. We are facing disruption on so many levels, I just don't see any rational hope of a return to "normal". Not only are we going to be dealing with escalating climate, environmental and economic catastrophe, our "leadership" seems more interested in consolidation of power than in actually trying to address some of these huge issues. More importantly, the lower and middle class seem more interested in hoping that someone will come along to put things back to "normal", than in recognising "normal" was pretty fucked up and that we ALL need to make some serious priority changes.

For myself, I am just going to take it day by day and continue to try to live responsibly and with as much awareness as I can muster. I'm just going to keep reading and initiating real conversation, and trying to strive for wisdom as well as knowledge. I'm going to keep doing my damnedest to not just give up and stick my head in the sand (or snow as the case may be). I'm going to keep trying to develop my local and sustainable business ideas and trying to bring like minded people together to form an common sense community. I'm going to keep striving for balance.

I hope we all will.

Peace to all.