I Mark Meanings

Saturday What Are They?

2007-06-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

What kind of beans are these?

Friday Planting

2007-06-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Planted today:

- 14 ft of 'Kentucky Blue' pole beans, single row, about 4 inches apart
- 14 ft of 'Royal Burgundy' bush beans, single row, about 4 inches apart
- 55 ft of 'Envy' soybeans (edimame), pretty much a single row, 4 inches apart

Also did the usual weeding. If nothing else, there's always weeding to do. I'm very glad I'm finally at that point where I can say that. This is new.

The soybeans are about 3 years old (i.e., they were packaged for 2004), so I'm not sure if they're going to come up. But I planted a whole bunch of them -- a few hundred -- so I'm hoping that a few will come up so I can save seed for next spring (and maybe even a very late fall planting).

Here are some pics:

'Liana' pole beans seedlings planted next to yucca flower stalks

An 'Early Sweet' pie pumpkin seedling down in the bottom of this can. I'm trying the can to see if that protects the seedlings from the quail. This seedling is also growing in the 50/50 mix of peat and pig manure.

This is the row in which I planted the beans listed above.

This is the order I placed with Johnny's today. It includes 3 beans, 2 greens, and 6 lettuces.

Sunday False Flag?

2007-06-03T10:54:00.001-07:00

The way to keep the majority of the population in fear is to put these little tidbits out from time to time. This keeps them on edge and fearful. Is the recent pipeline bombing plot a mini false flag?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/014434.php

Sunday Pretty Pics

2007-05-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of a friends' cactus, plus a cicada I spied while tromping around today.

Tuesday Dichotomy

2007-05-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

I'm at a low point, but all around me continues to be great and beautiful.

I nice storm blew through a few days ago and I snapped some incredible shots of the lightening. Hope you enjoy them.

Saturday Flowers

2007-04-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

Pretty flowers up at the stronghold....

Tuesday Stronghold

2007-04-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Heading up to the Stronghold this morning. Been looking forward to this "trip" for quite a while. It's a 20 minute drive, but we never seem to make the time to get up there. But now's the time to do it with all the wildflowers coming out. I'm hoping to get a pretty nice show.

I'll post some pics here and vids on YouTube (and link to them here).

Until later.....

Monday Lettuce

2007-04-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

First harvest of lettuce this year. These are 'Black Seeded Simpson' that self-sowed and came up on their own. I cut off a few of the outer leaves of the largest plant, chopped them up, and had them on my burrito for lunch:

Monday Garden Update

2007-04-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

The garden is doing well. Here's what's in the ground and/or coming up and or established:

Sunflowers
Soybeans
Strawberries (three different varieties)
Almond tree
Kiwi vine
Grape vine (two different varieties)
Blueberry bush
Lettuce (several varieties)
Peas ('Caseload' and 'Snowpea')
Arugula
Chard
Onions (yellow and red - from sets)
Amaranth
Tomato seedlings (volunteers)
Mustard
Tatsoi
Greenbeans of some sort
Pinto beans
Garbanzo beans
Black beans
Broad beans
Snow beans
Mung beans
Carrots ('Mokum' and 'Cosmic Purple')
Radishes (two varieties sofar)
Beets (two varieties sofar)
Corn ('Mexican June' and 'Painted Mountain' sofar)
Cuke (poinsette 76)
Crenshaw melon
Brocholli
Kohlrabi
Potatoes
Spinach
Cabbage

Thursday Green

2007-04-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

So I saw a green "contrail" or "cloud" today.

The first picture is what came out of the camera:

The 2nd picture, all I did was change the brightness and contrast:

Tuesday Sunrise & "Contrails"

2007-04-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

Nice sunrise, except for that eyesore:

Monday Paradigm Shift

2007-04-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

Allright -- so I'm undergoing a paradigm shift. David Hawkins has it right, even though I still can't be sure of the basis for his statements -- kinesiology. But that almost doesn't matter since this is all "perception" anyhow.

In Power vs. Force, Hawkins describes a 'Map of Consciousness' and goes into elaborate detail as to what this means and how it shows up in the world. At the moment, I don't have the necessary words to describe my thoughts on this, but the paradigm is very much in alignment with my own thoughts and experiences.

I see attractor patterns everywhere and practically all the time. The more I look for them, the more of them I see. This is especially true in my own behavior (which, of course, comes from my thoughts which originate in consciousness).

Unfortunately, at the moment, I exist in a very "negative" energy field. I'm in guilt, shame, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, and pride most of the time. On occasion, I peek into courage and neutrality. Rare is willingness, acceptance, reason, and love. Nearly non-existent is joy and peace.

An example of this is how I, up until yesterday, viewed the universe. I've experienced situations that seem to repeat. It's as if the universe is trying to teach me something. So it throws something at me and sees how I react. If I react "correctly", then the situation never (or rare) repeats. If I react "incorrectly", then I'll get a repeat usually as quickly as the next day -- but sometimes sooner. I've thought of these situations as challenges, as if the universe is saying, "ok, buddy, whatcha gonna do with this?".

But now I see that these aren't challenges. The universe doesn't operate that way, even though from my negative energy level I might perceive it to be that way. The universe is actually in a constant state of giving. So -- instead of challenging me, I'm now seeing that the universe is trying to help me. Help me do what? Choose positive energy over negative energy. Simple as that.

My usual reaction to an unwanted situation is to get angry. I do this very well -- I'm an expert. But this reaction doesn't resolve the situation, and in fact it usually makes it worse. This is because anger is a negative energy. If, instead, I react with a positive energy (in most cases, I can go with neutrality), then the situation ends and I move on unharmed and in fact feeling pretty good about myself. My energy level has been slightly raised and that gives me a nice rush.

So why not always go for the positive energy reactions to things? Bad habits. I'm not use to seeking out positive energy.

Well, onward and upward.

Monday Managing

2007-04-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics of the garden as of yesterday:

Wednesday Dusty

2007-03-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

A dusty morning because of all the wind, but I was there to witness (and record!) a spectacular sunrise:

Saturday Sunny

2007-03-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

A nice day today after a few days of rain. "Nice" isn't accurate, of course, since I enjoy the rain as much as the sun. But you know what I mean.

Got a new camera the other day. It's a beaut! Look at this mint!!!!

I'm also YouTubing these days. The camera comes with a video option with very excellent sound:

Tuesday Equinox

2007-03-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Equinox!

My digital camera died the other day. An expected event. So I'll be getting another one fairly soon -- whenever I get back into town. I suppose I could order online, but I'm a tactile person and need to actually "feel" things like that before I buy them.

I want the camera to document the explosion of wakefulness out here in the desert that we're experiencing. Everything is waking up from a 3 month dormancy.

A big change is about to occur. Should be exciting. They always are.

Thursday Buds

2007-03-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, the almond tree that we planted early last fall is showing signs of life! This is a very nice thing since I was very worried about it making it through the winter. The buds are beginning to swell and change color. In another week or so I'm expecting flowers! Totally cool!

Here are some bud pics:

And ok, the perty sunrise from this morning....

Thursday Admit

2007-03-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

The only thing I find relevant to post to the blog is pics and comments about the chemtrails. All of my other inner most thoughts and actions are written down in my private journal. Y'all don't wanna know (nor do you care) what I'm really thinking about.

Anyhow -- more chem pics from yesterday. A busy morning indeed! Here's an example:

Monday Chems

2007-03-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Actually, these pics were taken a few days ago:

Monday: Peas, Carrots, Onions

2007-02-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

The peas and onions are popping up, but no carrots yet.

The alfalfa farm down the road has started watering, which means they're thinkin' it's time for everything to start a-growin'. I'm not arguing.

Full throttle.

Thursday Got 'Em

2007-02-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, my friends up in the air were busy. Two very low (I'd estimate 30,000ft) planes went right over me with their spray. I caught the 2nd one with my camera. The following images are cropped from the original images to just show the plane:

Also, using the RGB colors of the camera, I can do some very low spectral resolution analysis:

The green line is the background sky. The red line is the "chemtrail". The dark blue line is the fuseloge of the plane. The purple line is the wing of the plane. What this shows is that the plane's underside is quite bright in the red and green, and pretty dark in the blue -- relatively speaking.

Wednesday Photons

2007-02-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

If one looks at a photon as a particle moving through space, we all know that it travels at C, the velocity of light. However, when it passes through a prism, it slows down and this is what causes the rainbow effect we see.

Allright -- so what it the velocity of the photon after it leaves the prism? I can understand what slows it down, but what speeds it up again after it leaves the prism?

Tuesday Radar

2007-02-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

Allright -- so explain this one. Here is the radar "image" (1km) from 2216 UTC:

And here is the visible light image (1km) taken at 2215 UTC -- contrast enhanced and cropped so the image is about the same area as the radar shown above:

Now -- if there's such a huge and strong radar "echo", why doesn't it correlate with the visible satellite image?

Could this be the "chaff" that is talked about so much? If you look at a radar animation for the past several hours, there are other little "clouds" moving around. I haven't correlated them with any sat image, but I'd guess that they're as un-correlated as the big blob.

So I guess I'll be watching this blob, too, as it makes its way across my beautiful desert.

Sons of bitches....

Tuesday Busy Sky

2007-02-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

A very busy sky over southern calif and baja:

Are there really that many flights from LA to somewhere in Mexico every day?

This is a 1km resolution image that I've enhanced to boost the contrast a bit so the trails can be easily seen.

Parallel trails, fairly equally spaced. I count at least 12 of them. Not sure if they were formed at the same time or sequencially. I'm keeping an eye on this area today and will see what happens.

Sons of bitches....

Sunday Please Explain

2007-02-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, folks, I want someone to explain this sequence of two images taken a few hours ago off the Pacific coast of California.

Picture 1, taken at 13:30 UTC:

... and Picture 2, taken at 14:00 UTC:

Both of these are with the IR camera. Now -- in Picture 1, there is clearly only one "contrail", while in Picture 2 there is clearly two "contrails". The 2nd "contrail" in Picture 2 is most likely the upper one. It is approximately 181.01 pixels in length. Each pixel is 4km in size, so therefore the length of this "contrail" is approx 724km.

No problem, UNTIL one also realizes that this "contrail" was formed in 30 minutes. Let's assume it took exactly 30 minutes to form this "contrail". This means that the aircraft that created this "contrail" was traveling at 1448 km/hour -- or about 869 mph. Yep -- supersonic.

Sons of bitches.....

There's a lot of additional activity just to the north of these "contrails", also, which is why when I was watching the Weather Channel this morning it caught my eye.

Here's a visible image taken at the same time. The two "contrails" shown above are actually even more clear -- and I've included the activity to the north:

first at 13:30 UTC:

and then at 14:00 UTC:

Tuesday Chem

2007-01-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

More chemtrails yesterday:

Friday Bath

2007-01-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

I take a water sprayer and get one of the birds a little wet. She then proceeds to give herself a complete bath. At least I'm able to influence someone!

Friday STD

2007-01-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

What is the ONE precondition for acquiring a sexually transmitted disease?

You're so smart? You're right -- SEX!

HIV/AIDS is obviously a big problem in the world, but no one seems to ever talk about the most important issue. They talk about drugs that can "cure" AIDS or at least slow it down. That's great. The work that's going on there is helping us understand how viruses work and how we can hopefully someday deal with them.

But the one big issue that no one seems to talk about (maybe because it's taboo????) is that HIV/AIDS (for the most part) is a behavioral disease. To be blunt, there's a lot of people out there fucking each other's brains out. Until this behavior is modified (through education, and maybe even more effective -- bribery), the scourge of HIV/AIDS and other STDs will continue to grow until all the idiots are eliminated. That's just how nature works.

You see, I can't get HIV/AIDS if I stand around thinking about sex. I little insect can't bite me and suddenly I'm infected (unlike other nasty diseases). The little HIV critter can't survive (or so I've been told) in air -- so it's not floating around my house waiting for me to breathe it in. But if I go around fucking anything that moves (for whatever reason -- dominance over women, "addicted to sex", etc.), then I can pretty much guarantee that I'm going to acquire some kind of STD.

Are the people in Africa being told this? I have no idea -- no one ever talks about it.

Friday Evade

2007-01-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

There's another option: Fight Anonymously. Is something like this possible? Can one fight while staying completely anonymous and hidden? Maybe for a while, but one must remember that the adversary is very determined and will do anything to both get into the fight and then "win".

What do they want and why do they want it? No real idea. Power? Control? Money? But really - WHY? I'm sure they realize that holding on to this kind of "power" takes a LOT of work and effort -- and you've got to step on a LOT of toes (to say the least) to keep it.

There's a better way. Seek and acquire love. Then you'll have more than everything you need.

Friday Chaff

2007-01-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Some links to reports on "RF Chaff":

https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/Rfchaff/rfchaff.html

On the couple of reports I've read, there's no mention as to how high in the atmosphere this chaff is released. I'd like to find out what the range in altitude is.

So -- is this the answer to the "chemtrail" question? Probably not. But I'm going to keep my eye on the sky as well as the radar to try to see this stuff when it's released into my air. Chemtrails are most likely aerosols rather than fibers.

Thursday Alex Jones

2007-01-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

Just watched Alex Jones' "Terror Storm". I was told that this movie was "pretty intense", and I'd agree with that. The movie speaks of propaganda (amoung many other things), but my only complaint is that I'd suggest that this very movie is a form of propaganda. But that's ok, IMO, since what he's trying to do is find the truth -- or at least all of the facts.

Movies like this scare the HELL out of me, not only because of the delivery method, but more importantly the content. So -- what can be done? I see three options:

Ignore
Fight
Evade

If Ignore, then you become the victim of whatever is happening to you -- not wise. If Fight, then you become a clear target -- not pretty. If Evade, then you get away with things for a while but will eventually be found -- at which point you become a target. I prefer evasion because it buys me time, but I have to accept the fact that those who want to control are very determined and most likely won't give up until all are either controlled or eliminated.

Take tax evasion as an example. It would take the IRS at least a few years to "figure out" that someone is evading paying taxes. It may then take at least another year for the IRS to build a case, and yet another year to begin the process of trying to get their money. So from the moment a person decides to evade paying taxes, it might be upwards of five years until you become a clear target.

Tuesday and Snow

2007-01-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Great amount of snow yesterday. Here are some pics:

Also, some pics of Joshua trees that I took on my way to Las Vegas:

Vegas, BTW, is a bore to those of us who have better things to do. As with most places, the best part of being there is knowing that I'll be leaving.

Tuesday Tokens

2007-01-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Big fucking deal.

The so-called Democrats in the House of Representatives did their "100 hour" legislative process. Here's what they've apparently passed:

Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007
Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007
Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007
Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007
College Student Relief Act of 2007 (whoops, they didn't pass this one yet)
CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 (whoops, didn't pass this one yet either!)

Impressive? Sure -- if you don't know ANYTHING about the legislative process. You see, first a bill is introduced into the House or Senate. It's debated (or not) and either passes or fails. Sometimes at the same time, a similar bill introduced at the same time in the other body or, more likely, the passed legislation is moved to the other body. Here it's debated again and voted upon, and it either passes or fails. If it passes, the bill then goes into conference, where the two bodies debate even more. If it gets through this, then both bodies vote again. If the bill passes, it goes to the president for his/her signature -- which he/she doesn't necessarily have to do.

SO --- the "100 hour marathon" is a token and an acknowledgement that the rabble that calls itself the USA "citizenry" really has no idea what's going on.

Tuesday and more Iran Crap

2007-01-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here's what our esteemed new Sec of Defence had to say about Iran (from a recent transcript:

"The Iranians clearly believe that we're tied down in Iraq; that they have the initiative, that they are in a position to press us in many ways. They are doing nothing to be constructive in Iraq at this point. In addition, they have supported Hezbollah's efforts to create a new conflict in Lebanon and so the Iranians are acting in a very negative way in many respects. My view is that when the Iranians are prepared to play a constructive role in dealing with some of these problems, then there might be opportunities for engagement. Secretary Rice already has said that she would sit down any time, any place with her counterpart from Iran if they would commit not to enrich uranium.

So the opportunity is there for engagement, but I would say that the initiative needs to rest with the Iranians and we are simply trying to communicate to the region that we're going to be there for a long time."

Ok, Mr. Gates. Some questions for you. Please respond. The Iranians are in a position to press "us" (I assume you mean the government of the USA, or do you mean the people of the USA, or do you mean you and your family, or do you mean you and your co-workers? -- come to think of it, what do you mean by "us"? Is "us" a short way of saying USA?) in many respects. Let's see, "many" implies more than one -- so you've gotten away with that by listing TWO "respects" in which Iran is pressing "us".

So what, exactly, does playing a constructive role in Iraq entail? Or is it more to the point to say that Iran is playing a destructive role in Iraq? Maybe I could buy that if you could show a direct connection between the trouble in Iraq and citizens/government employees of Iran. And, if I may, play the "hypocrite" card, who are citizens/government employees of the USA supporting in destructive roles around the world, hmmmm? Allright -- so Iran is causing us trouble in Iraq and is therefore "pressing" us.

Hezbollah has been a thorn in the side of the middle east for years, or so I've come to understand. Didn't I read somewhere that it was even supported by the USA government at some point in the past? Amazing how, instead of directing "our" (I put that in quotes because I really mean the USA government) efforts at directing our activity at Hezbollah, we go after the supporters of Hezbollah. Kinda like knocking off the family of someone you want to "get" instead of knocking off the person you're really after.

Get real -- all you're doing (and most likely doing it well) is provoking a continuing escalation of hostilities. Right now, it's all just words. What exactly are words in the true physical sense? Words are a superposition of amplitudes and frequencies that are audible by the human ear. These "sounds" are picked up by the human ear and electrically transferred to the human brain. A series of algorithms have been written to "interpret" these electronic impulses and give them "meaning" to the human.

Need I tell you what's infinitely worse than words? Just in case you don't know -- nuclear bombs! These devices make quite a big mess -- as opposed to words that just spread out geometrically into the universe.

Tuesday Chemtrails

2007-01-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, they're at it again off the coast of California:

If they're not obvious, here's the same picture where I cropped out the trails:

... and the same thing contrast enhanced:

Each pixel in these images is 4km in size. The chemtrails shown here are about 3 pixels (12km) wide and in excess of 700km long! The image I get are 30 minuts apart and I can actually sit here and watch them pop up.

Something interesting about this picture (besides the trails). This is a VIS shot taken at night. If you look at the same time in IR, the trails don't appear:

Even goosing up the contrast doesn't let the pop out.

So what explains this? Well, moonlight maybe. But could they be glowing? Not sure. There are other features in this image that are obviously clouds that are also "glowing". In any case, it's pretty weird that they show up in the nighttime VIS and not the IR. There's likely to be spectral info there I suppose.

One thing I noticed is that the daylight images (a couple hours after these above were taken) show what appears to be a fog bank (some 300km x 300km in size) under (or over, not sure) the trails.

What are they doing? Why are they doing this? Who is doing this? Why are they doing it there?

And I've got my own chemtrails over my house today:

Tuesday "War?"

2007-01-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Jesus fucking Christ! You've GOT to be kidding!!!!

War with IRAN?

Israel to use nuclear "bunker busters"?

I'm quoting from an article written by Pat Buchanan (whom I don't really like, but ....) on antiwar.com:

Bush may be sending signals, but the Israelis are preparing for war. The London Sunday Times reports that Israeli pilots have been making the 2,000-mile run to Gibraltar to train for strikes with bunker-busting nuclear bombs on Iran's heavy water plant at Arak, the uranium hexaflouride facility at Isfahan and the centrifuge cascade at Natanz.

Israel angrily denies the report. But, on Dec. 30, retired Gen. Oded Tira, who headed up all Israeli artillery units, burst into print with this admonition:

"As an American air strike in Iran is essential for our existence, we must help (Bush) pave the way by lobbying the Democratic Party (which is conducting itself foolishly) and U.S. newspaper editors. We need to do this in order to turn the Iranian issue to a bipartisan one and unrelated to the Iraq failure."

"Bush lacks the political power to attack Iran," writes Tira. Thus, Israel and its U.S. lobbying arm "must turn to Hillary Clinton and other potential presidential candidates in the Democratic Party so that they publicly support immediate action by Bush against Iran."

"The Americans must act," Tira concludes. "If they don't, we'll do it ourselves ... (and) we must immediately start preparing for an Iranian response to an attack."

Fucking assholes!!!!!

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NEVER NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Here's what the idiot Tira had to say:

What to do with Iran?

We must coordinate independent strike with US, prepare for Iranian response
Oded Tira
Israel is facing one of the most critical periods in its history in security and strategic terms. The stock market is booming, yet this isn't the first time where we encounter irrational euphoria. At the same time, by acting soberly and with determination we'll be able to handle the challenge we're facing. In order to undertake a comprehensive security assessment we must take the situation in the various theaters into account.

In Lebanon , Security Council Resolution 1701 is not being implemented. Hizbullah continues to operate south of the Litani, restores the "nature reserves" that were damaged in the war, and establishes new "nature reserves." A "nature reserve" is a compound of hidden fortifications within a wadi that dominates access roads to the "reserve" and contains bunkers, arms and supplies warehouses, residences, and firing positions, including some used to launch Katyusha rockets. Such reserve is a huge compound that allows forces to be there for a long time.

The UN and Lebanese Army do not enter those nature reserves and do no disarm Hizbullah. In fact, Hizbullah limits the movement of Lebanese and UN forces, which choose to comply.

If we need to operate in Lebanon again we'll be facing a real problem vis-à-vis the UN forces. On the one hand, we won't be able to hurt them, yet on the other hand there's a risk our soldiers will be hurt by them, as these forces are armed like a standing army. The presence of aerial defense systems in the hands of the UN may even limit our Air Force's freedom to operate above south Lebanon.

On the political front, Iran and Syria are working to topple Siniora's government in Lebanon. This government may serve as a moderating element and cares about the damages causes to Lebanon during the war.

On the eastern front, the Americans are on their way out of Iraq and Syria is gaining confidence in the face of our failure in Lebanon (the way they view it.) Sooner or later, the eastern front may be revived. We must prepare for this by quickly training the army for a classic war involving large scale ground warfare.

Bush lacks political power to hit Iran

And finally, Iran will continue to pursue its nuclear program while the world continues to "babble." If American and European actions continue in the current pace and quality, there will be no change in the Iranian nuclearization path. Instead of allotting several months for diplomatic activity and preparing for a military strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, the world continues to talk nonsense and play with illusions regarding the success of moderating diplomatic moves.

President Bush lacks the political power to attack Iran. As an American strike in Iran is essential for our existence, we must help him pave the way by lobbying the Democratic Party (which is conducting itself foolishly) and US newspaper editors. We need to do this in order to turn the Iranian issue to a bipartisan one and unrelated to the Iraq failure.

We must turn to Hillary Clinton and other potential presidential candidates in the Democratic Party so that they publicly support immediate action by Bush against Iran. We should also approach European countries so that they support American actions in Iran, so that Bush will not be isolated in the international arena again.

We must clandestinely cooperate with Saudi Arabia so that it also persuades the US to strike Iran. For our part, we must prepare an independent military strike by coordinating flights in Iraqi airspace with the US. We should also coordinate with Azerbaijan the use of airbases in its territory and also enlist the support of the Azeri minority in Iran. In addition, we must immediately start preparing for an Iranian response to an attack.

The Americans must act. Yet if they don't, we'll do it ourselves, because there are no free rides and our existence isn't guaranteed. Addressing Iran would have positive implications for us in terms of the strategic balance in our region and when it comes to Hizbullah, stability in Lebanon, and Syria's power.

The situation assessment I provided is difficult. At the same time, if we act in the face of these challenges soberly and without illusions such as the imaginary peace-with-Syria ideas, we'll be able to win and bring about comprehensive peace. Peace is pursued from a position of power and is maintained through the backing of power. Peace cannot be pursued when your enemy feels it defeated you.

Brigadier General (Res.) Oded Tira is the former IDF chief artillery officer

Wednesday Be Careful

2007-01-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

When the government and military subpeona independent journalists to testify for the prosecution, something is really screwy. I look forward to continuing to follow this story. Here's a quote from yesterday's DN!:

"SARAH OLSON: Well, I can't really talk too much about my legal strategy right now, but what I think is very important is that there are a couple of different issues, a couple of different problems with the Army kind of dragging journalists into a military court and asking them to testify against their sources. I think it’s my job as a journalist to report the news. It’s not my job to participate, again, in the Army, in the military or government prosecution of political speech.

I think when journalists do that, they really risk being turned into kind of the investigative arm of the government, really being seen as the eyes and ears of the military and the government. It really threatens to erode kind of that separation between the press and our government. I think that this is particularly ironic, because the Army is, again, asking me, a journalist, to build the case against military personnel speaking to the press, against dissenting voices in the media.

And I think, you know, kind of the final thing that I find really alarming about that is that it really does threaten to kind of eliminate those voices from the media. What kind of future war resisters would agree to speak with me or with other journalists if they thought that it was reasonable that they would be facing very high prison sentences, four years in prison, for explaining, you know, the reasons for their opposition to the Iraq war?

And I think that the debate around public issues, kind of current events, and in this case the Iraq war, is really an essential thing that the media provides. It’s, you know, the informed citizenry really is kind of the lifeblood of democracy, and without the media functioning as, you know, really holding kind of all -- you know, asking the important questions and really kind of representing every viewpoint, you don't have that informed debate, and I think that those are the things that the Army is really threatening and really challenging when they’re asking me and other journalists to come into court and to testify against my own source in this case about political speech."

Friday Frozen

2006-12-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

I nice snow yesterday. Nothing too exciting, but it is nice to have snow from time to time -- as long as it goes away quickly. Dragoon had 2-3 inches on the ground when I went through there yesterday to run some errands.

Tuesday and Weirdness

2006-12-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

While traveling to visit us over Christmas, my wife's father died. They're not sure if it was the accident, or if maybe he had a stroke or heart attack while driving. My wife's mother is unharmed except for a cracked rib.

I have a different perspective on death than most, so it's easier for me to take it. I've also gone through the "death" of my own parents, so this also makes it easier for me to deal with. Regardless, hearing about the death of someone you know and someone you've interacted with is a weird feeling. There's an emptiness that will never be filled because the physical experience of that being can no longer take place. All one can do is deal with the emptiness and move forward. Eventually the emptiness gets put away in a sacred place in our consciousness and there it stays until we, too, depart.

Here now and without permission, is Ram Dass' letter to the grieving parents of a child that was brutally murdered:

Dear Steve and Anita,

Rachel finished her work on earth, and left the stage in a manner that leaves those of us left behind with a cry of agony in our hearts, as the fragile thread of our faith is dealt with so violently. Is anyone strong enough to stay conscious through such teaching as you are receiving? Probably very few. And even they would only have a whisper of equanimity and peace amidst the screaming trumpets of their rage, grief, horror and desolation.

I can't assuage your pain with any words, nor should I. For your pain is Rachel's legacy to you. Not that she or I would inflict such pain by choice, but there it is. And it must burn its purifying way to completion. For something in you dies when you bear the unbearable, and it is only in that dark night of the soul that you are prepared to see as God sees, and to love as God loves.

Now is the time to let your grief find expression. No false strength. Now is the time to sit quietly and speak to Rachel, and thank her for being with you these few years, and encourage her to go on with whatever her work is, knowing that you will grow in compassion and wisdom from this experience.

In my heart, I know that you and she will meet again and again, and recognize the many ways in which you have known each other. And when you meet you will know, in a flash, what now it is not given to you to know: Why this had to be the way it was.

Our rational minds can never understand what has happened, but our hearts -- if we can keep them open to God -- will find their own intuitive way. Rachel came through you to do her work on earth, which includes her manner of death. Now her soul is free, and the love that you can share with her is invulnerable to the winds of changing time and space. In that deep love, include me.

In love,

Ram Dass

This, to me, is the way that I cope with such things. It's very much in tune with my attitude of "riding the wave."

Take care, Alan. I'll see you when I get there.

Thursday Solstice

2006-12-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

Winter begins at 5:22pm local time.

Along with the fact that it's the coldest morning sofar (13.1°F!!!!), here is the beautiful Solstice sunrise:

I've been reading about the "Community Plan" that was created for this area back in 1999. Just to flex their muscles, they organized a protest against a bunch of monks who wanted to build a church up on top of a hill. Now I agree that the monks don't necessarily need to build a church in beautiful place like what they were planning, but it bothers me to know that these so-called planners were able to effect the outcome in such a big way.

This is the part that bothered me the most:

"We owe it to the community of Sunsites to take into consideration the plan they worked on," said Dan Coxworth, a Cochise County planner.

You've got to be kidding, Mr. Coxworth. How does the Stronghold fall into the jurisdiction of "the plan"?

Wednesday Snow

2006-12-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

It snowed last night:

This is just about as much as I want as I walk out my front door. I also want it gone by noon, which it was.

...

The county that I'm in is, at the moment, pretty rural. There are five "major" cities -- the largest having a 2000 population of 37,775. In total, the 2000 population of the county was 117,775. The population not counting our five "major" cities was 51,134. This last number yields a persons-per-square-mile value of 8.298, or 77.212 acres for every person.

I can stop along Hwy 191 while "walking" my dog (me on bike) and wait several minutes before I see a car, truck, or 18-wheeler whizz by at 65 mph. Some people wave and sometimes I wave back if I realize it in the fraction of a second I have to see them. The dog likes to watch the cars whizz by.

My point is that it's pretty quiet out here where I am. It's also fairly unpopulated. There's a housing development (if you want to call it that) about a mile from my place. There's also a couple of towns about 5 miles away. But these are unseed and unheard from my vantage point.

What should I do to ensure that it stays this way?

Sunday thru Tuesday List

2006-12-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Vesta Tiga Erebus Lucy Gizmo Gypsie Sheila

Sparky Magic Neurotica Lackie

Apollo Nimeau Hecate Kronos Salem McCavity Muad'Dieb Tyche Penny Core Tabatha Tiger Tater Pricilla Agamemnon Puffy Phobos Deimos Hermes Spike Zenith Sagitta HeyJoe Phoebe OM Sillikat Isis Wayfy Artemus Anubus Jabba -- I probably missed a few.

Friday is Phrantic

2006-12-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

.... well, not really. I despise frantic. If there's frantic, then there's something wrong.

In truth, I'd rather have this:

These three loaves cost approx 25 cents in material cost and another 30 minutes of electricity to make the oven hot. Makes the house smell nice, tastes nice, looks nice. And, most importantly, nothing frantic.

And afterwards, I feel like this:

Monday Is My Kind of Day

2006-12-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

With two RAC jobs (small) and a third on it's way (pretty big), I'm rolling in excitement, anxiety, and cash. Plus, I'm programming again! Very satisfying.

Could I make a living from RAC? Possible. For now, it's a little bit of fun and a little bit of heat to warm up my butt.

Other ORDER things are coming along ok, but RAC is a huge distraction. Gotta keep focused and my eyes on the prize.

Saturday is for Music

2006-12-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here is my current CD collection -- very artsy fartsy:

I count 166 CDs. There's a few more to go up, but I need to decide where to put them.

And now ... me:

Thursday and Upward

2006-12-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I've decided to really take the plunge and get back into cool programming in a serious way. For a few years now, I've been slowly moving away from programming, even though my job still is suppose to be nearly 100% that (it hasn't been).

Anyohw, I'm getting back into it, and it's a good choice at this time.

Wednesday SideShow

2006-12-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

It was all too easy to get myself onto the Army base today. I had a legitimate reason for being there, but all the way home I thought about how easy it was.

All I had to do was to sound like I had a reason for being there (which I did) , tell them that someone (whom I named) was waiting for me, present my driver's license, present my vehicle registration, and present my proof of vehicle insurance. They even asked me what kind of a pass I wanted (one can get single day, week, and month as far as I know). Then I got my perty green pass to put on the dashboard of my car. They didn't ask me my specific destination, nor did they note who I was suppose to meet. They didn't write anything down except my last name, vehicle license number, and today's date on the cute little green pass. Did they even count me somehow? Hmmm...maybe they've got cameras for that. Not exactly sure.

When I got to my destination on the base, I had to wait in the lobby where I was out of site of the security officer. I could have easily slipped into the building without being noticed for quite a while.

Pretty fucking easy.

Oh yeah one more thing -- don't forget to read the ISG report that came out today:

http://www.usip.org/isg/iraq_study_group_report/report/1206/index.html

Monday and Moving Forward

2006-12-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

Re-integration is going well:

One down, five to go!

That floor, BTW, needs to be vacuumed!

Sunday -- Hello December

2006-12-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

December came in with a whoosh -- or was that November went out with a whoosh? Ah well. In any case, it's early December 2006 and this date will never happen again.

The Sandhill Cranes are here:

Ain't that just cool?

Low 30's this morning. No big deal. Back to normal pretty much.

Oh, and more birdseed:

And some fun with the mess:

Thursday and it's COLD

2006-11-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

Coldest morning sofar. 15.6°F. It's nice to look forward to such temperatures for so long and finally reach them. I enjoy experiencing the edge of things. This is likely to be as cold as it gets here.

Here's the cold morning sunrise, and check out that metallic blue sky:

A real bummer I can't claim to be in an island of Zone 9a like I was hoping, but 15.6°F breaks that dream. I'm now officially Zone 8b, and likely to be Zone 8a.

One of our water pipes broke this morning. The main cause was the old, rusted pipe. But the cold pushed it over the edge for sure. Spent $10 getting it fixed. A compression fitting (PVC), two short pipes, a 90° elbow, and some tape. All done and perty again.

Dog walk this morning was done with it was about 32°F and a little wind. We both loved it.

Wednesday has Insanity All Around

2006-11-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced that creating an island of sanity, peace, love, and 100% sustainability is the work I will do for the next 5-10 years.

Living The Good Life
Small Is Beautiful

Awesome wind today. Never happened yesterday, but a nice surprize today:

Tuesday is Windy

2006-11-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

Predictions are that we're in for a windy day today. It's 10:41am and yep, the wind is a-blowin'.

Regardless, here's what sunrise looked like today:

Monday and Climbing

2006-11-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

A great change in the weather.

Cooler.

The wind blows with a great sucking sound. Nice to finally greet winter.

Howdy!

Time to build the fire and put radishes in the ground.

Finally took the time to fix the digital camera that my feline co-ordinator pushed onto the floor and smashed a few weeks ago. Very very nice to have it back. The photo to the right was taken on the morning of Haloween 2006.

Wednesday is Bright

2006-11-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

Except for a small fall this morning, today is looking bright.

The word is: autonomous.

"Functioning independently of other components or systems; self-governing or self-controlling; possessing virtually complete closure in normal operation."

Yep -- that'll do it.

So I now have a rock in my hands with what appear to be precious gems inside. I need to extract those gems, examine then and determine their potential value, and then polish.

Tuesday for Iran

2006-11-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Read Seymoure Hersh's new article in The New Yorker and keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061127fa_fact

Monday: Public vs Private

2006-11-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have a private journal which is hand-written in a spiral notebook and then I have this public journal.

Two sides of the same coin? Alter-egos? Two different personas?

All of the above.

I Mark Meanings is who I've chosen to be, instead of what was chosen for me by idiots who never knew Me. The private journal is a mish-mash of me & Me, with Me struggling to get out. The public journal is hopefully Me.

Food. Not enough food around here. Need to grow some more. Clean up, aerate, plant, water, grow, harvest, eat, put it back and start again.

Standing in the middle of nowhere, Wondering how to begin. Lost between tomorrow and yesterday, Between now and then. And now we're back where we started, Here we go round again. Day after day I get up and I say I better do it again. Where are all the people going? Round and round till we reach the end. One day leading to another, Get up, go out, do it again. Then it's back where you started, Here we go round again. Back where you started, Come on do it again. And you think today is going to be better, Change the world and do it again. Give it all up and start all over, You say you will but you don't know when. Then it's back where you started, Here we go round again. Day after day I get up and I say Come on do it again. The days go by and you wish you were a different guy, Different friends and a new set of clothes. You make alterations and affect a new pose, A new house, a new car, a new job, a new nose. But it's superficial and it's only skin deep, Because the voices in your head keep shouting in your sleep. Get back, get back. Back where you started, here we go round again, Back where you started, come on do it again. Back where you started, here we go round again, Day after day I get up and I say, do it again. Do it again. Day after day I get up and I say, come on do it again.

Ah -- solar energy.

Watched most of 'Full Metal Jacket' last night. An emotionally strong film, which is why I like it so much. No bullshit. No 'maybe'. Kubrick is the best movie director/producer that ever lived.

Friday Fry-day

2006-11-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Get a bunch of green and burn, eat, toss it quickly. That's the mode I'm in. Get some good stuff that way, but most of it gets thrown away.

Gotta be a better way....

Wednesday Wesned-day

2006-11-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Negative activity. I continue to move backwards scraping the muck from my shoes.

Dogs. Cats. Birds. Humans. Welcome to the world, you ignorant idiot.

now whip it. into shape. shape it up. get straight. go forward. move ahead. try to detect it. it's not too late. to whip it. whip it good.

Tuesday Bluesday

2006-11-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been on this planet approximately 1,199,188,800 seconds and the earth has spun almost 14,000 times.

Sure as hell not much to show for it. A scared, unmotivated, pre-programmed idiot.

I figure I've got another 1,577,880,000 seconds and some 18,000 more spins. So the question is: what am I going to do with all of those?

Contemplate large numbers and try not to get dizzy? I hope that's not all.

Monday, Monday

2006-11-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.
Monday Monday, can't trust that day,
Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh Monday Monday, how yould cou leave and not take me.
Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time
Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.
Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time
Monday Monday, ...

Thievery. Thanks mama and papa.

I've noticed that those who've been screaming "election fraud" have been incredibly silent these past six days. Is it because the results didn't fit into their agenda? Not sure. Greg Palast, for instance, had a list of "election irregularities" up on his website the day of the election, but now it's gone and he's only posted two additional things about Rumsfeld and a Palast fund raiser.

Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! has been very silent about this issue as well. It seems to me they got what they wanted (a democratic takeover of the house and senate) so there's no point in looking into election fraud because obviously there wasn't any since the dems won.

Pretty wierd.

Sunday Funkday

2006-11-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

Non-genetic relations are gone. Yesterday was destroyed. Drag 'em here, drag 'em there. Pass the time. Blah, blah, blah. Lot's a hot air.

The house is much more empty now. More cool air for me.

Friday Phumpday

2006-11-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

No work = more work

Non-genetic relations are here this weekend, so a scramble to present a pitiful perception of cleanliness and order. Anyone with any intelligence whatsoever can see right through it.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I live in crap -- figuratively and literally. Discusting.

The sky is incredibly beautiful today. So is the dirt. So is everything else I'm not able to mess up.

Thursday is the Day Today

2006-11-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

Of course, this is arbitrary just like all the other days of the week, names and numbers of the month, the year, etc. In any case, remember to put a big red 'X' on today's date before you go do beddie-bie tonight.

The stupidity and absurdity of life is beginning to catch up with me. But the target is fuzzy (at best) and it's difficult or impossible to accurately aim at a fuzzy target.

I don' wanna.

I don' care.

My two most frequent and loudest mantras.

Pitiful and discusting. Change is in the air. It smells like popcorn.

It's Now Wednesday

2006-11-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday. Whoopie.

Rumsfeld is gone, to be replaced with just another creepy idiot out of the same bag.

It will never not be a mess.

It's Tuesday so I Won't Vote

2006-11-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

Democracy is ridiculous. The result is least common denominator. "Hot dogs and beans for all!!!" because that's the only thing a democratic decision can come up with. How boring and how idiotic. The institutions that really run this country understand this, which is why it's ridiculous for such entities to vote. They don't need to because they get what they want in much easier ways.

Keeping the rabble distracted by voting and making it sound like "it counts" is epic.

How They Stole The Mid-term Election

Voting should be "the end" rather than "the beginning" or "the only". In a capitalistic society, there are much better ways to vote -- and we do several times a day which results in digging our collective grave a little deeper and a little faster. If we only understood how much power we actually have and what a thin thread we dangle from. But only a few hundred or maybe a few thousand people in this country understand this, and they either try to take advantage of it or they choose to evade.

The sooner the grave is dug and the USA is buried, the better. It's just a matter of time. The USA will wither away slowly and desperately, but it will be gone fairly soon. To be replaced with what?

Hopefully we can then worry about more important things.

Monday

2006-11-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Today is Monday. An arbitrary designation.