The nature of the word lie

       I watched on TV this Sunday morning when one Senator from Tennessee, Bob Corker,  suggested he was not comfortable using that word. He suggested "not telling the truth" was OK to him, but using the word lie was not his style.

            After all, it is both embarrassing and demeaning to me to imagine a person or an organization lying, especially if it is an imagined way to rule.  Said another way, it is just hard to imagine anyone or group to not be shamed for even thinking this way.

            And eventually the truth always comes out, anyway.  Doesn't everyone know that?

            Now I tried to come up with alternative explanations, at least in my mind. Perhaps it is just gross ignorance, incompetence, or a belief in "spin" and avoidance and postponement long enough until the discussion tones down or dies off. Perhaps it is one of unintended consequences of affirmative action, where people are promoted beyond their abilities. Perhaps...perhaps.  Who knows?

            But people are dead, and that many more will die is probably coming. What a shame. People and cultures do have long memories. Even where I live the Civil War is still honored in word and deed.

            What I do know is if trust, faith, and confidence are violated, and if one loses that, like to one's boss, or even the voters, then the ability to rule is severely constrained, maybe even ruined. That applies to running a Family, too.

            So it is hard to imagine, really it is embarrassing to me, to think there are still people who choose to lie to get their way.  Obviously, it does happen, so maybe I just need to get real.

            And actually, in my mind, I think I do get real. Like I am confident a third party, really a movement, is well underway, and will assert itself by 2020, may even 2016. And it will be based on ideas, not an individual.

            Yep, the times they are a changing!  And telling the facts, as kindly as one can,  still counts!

My Vote Will Not Be Wasted

By Frances Twitty

I am not one of those independent voters who have yet to decide.

I already know that my vote will not go to someone who divides the country economically, racially, sexually, and spiritually.

I will not support someone who applies the "rule of law" only when it is convenient or in his best interest, who protects his radical administration against possible criminal probes, such as Fast and Furious, by inexplicably calling "executive privilege."

I will not vote for someone who puts our national security and the security of our allies at risk; someone who supports the Muslim Brotherhood over our ally, the true democracy in the middle east, Israel; someone whose foreign policy allows the tragedy in Benghazi, Libya to occur and then attempts to lie about it to the world for weeks.

I will not waste my vote on someone who allows Iran, a terrorist nation, to develop nuclear weapons -- while declaring a fictitious "war on women" and incredibly directing the national conversation to free birth control rather than national security, the economy, unemployment, or any such infinitely more worthy topic. As a female, if I didn't consider the source, I would no doubt be insulted!

I will not vote for someone who will not secure our borders, who will let untold numbers of illegal aliens onto our soil to infiltrate and devour governmental resources including health care, education, and general welfare, which leaves us far less for our own struggling citizens.

I cannot champion one who would force charity from others to satisfy his personal Weltanschauung, regardless of other citizens' wants, needs, and desires. I will not support a socialist agenda, including cradle-to-grave entitlements, at the expense of the hardworking citizens of this country. "A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." That's from Thomas Jefferson.

I would never vote for someone who does not comprehend individual freedom and, above all else, who fails to understand that charity comes from the heart, not from taxation or government mandate. As Madison said, "[c]harity is no part of the legislative role of government." I will not vote for someone who forgets our founding principles!

I could never support someone who has hindered us with a 2,000-plus-page health care bill, passed under stealth tactics with no bipartisan support, not understood by those who wrote or passed it, that has already begun to cost citizens by way of increased premiums, co-pays, co-insurance, etc. even as its "good parts" have mostly yet to kick in. A bill that will increase taxes on working citizens while lowering the amount of qualified providers and establishing an unqualified medical board that will opine on life and death and interfere in the discussion between provider and patient will not get my support.

I would not endorse someone who has gone to court to block military absentee votes or the simple requirement of having to prove that you are who you say you are to vote, particularly in light of the voter fraud problems that have permeated our elections.

I would not champion someone who, knowing millions of capable people are unemployed and that the real U6 rate of unemployment is hovering around 15%, give or take, according to the BLS, chooses instead to golf, fundraise, vacation, appear on fluff celebrity TV shows, and give interviews to soft magazines -- someone who meets with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, part of the 1% he excoriates, rather than with the Israeli prime minister. I would not vote for someone whose priorities are completely upside-down.

I would not support someone who cannot ensure that we are working, as a nation, under a reasonable budget that will allow us to pay down our debt. Someone whose proposed budget received zero affirmative votes from both sides of the aisle (just about the only thing that happened in a bipartisan fashion in Congress!) will not get my vote.

I would not support someone who conveniently "evolves" into his view of gay marriage, but was noticeably absent from the national discussion when he had a majority in Congress who could actually do something about it.

It would be impossible to support someone who lies so often, so well, and so purposefully for gain (see Thomas Sowell's recent piece, "Phony in Chief") that I seriously doubt whether or not he even knows the truth anymore, or that he could be believed by anyone other than his ardent, head-in-the-sand supporters no matter what he says.

Why would I vote for someone who preaches transparency, but whose personal life is the most secretive of any POTUS -- someone who pays to have his records sealed, someone whose birth certificate has been verifiably forged, whose autobiography has been proven to be factually incorrect?

To get my vote, you need to do more than give a good teleprompted speech; make jokes about Big Bird; tacitly approve of inaccurate ads created by your supporters; crease your pants just right; buy votes with food stamps, cell phones, and amnesty paid for with my tax dollars; throw a good party; shoot hoops; act cool; and lower your golf handicap. To get my vote, you need to be someone with integrity, someone who is qualified to help turn this country around, someone who puts individual freedom above all things government, who sees the role of government as first and foremost national security and in all other ways limited.

Abraham Lincoln said: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." That destruction begins with a single vote for the wrong candidate.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/my_vote_will_not_be_wasted.html#ixzz29GKelRbs

Feeding your Family in hard times

       Now this post is just about food, and hard times, like the usual way you get food for yourself and your Family may be interrupted.  For example, all these wonderful foods we get in the USA that often come via container ships that run on oil in status quo prices may slow down, or end. Who knows?

            And I do buy the idea that we humans can go about 30 days without food, but only about 3 days without water. So no crisis exists right now.

            And a basic management idea I also buy, like if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority. Hence having clean water to drink, wash, and cook with it is a high priority to me.  So is waste water treatment, like I don't want to get cholera from using dirty water. Hence my pee and poop goes away from where I live by gravity.  Believe it or not, and in the end, having food comes in as a lower priority, to me.

            One last lead in.  Having been in the Marines, I know what it is like to be cold, wet, and hungry, and it was not an enjoyable experience, but obviously I did survive to publish this post. So food is a big deal, especially if you want to go forward, like sustain our human future, and your Family's future.

            So on that idea, consider for you and your Family what are the best foods to get through hard times.

            Now for me, foods that help keep disease down are a big deal, and I am kind of a snake oil kind of guy.  Hence I believe in using spices, and even onions and garlic and multi-vitamins with minerals  to let our bodies fight  and often kill diseases before it gets worse. Even the old wives tale about using zinc I buy, like I take it if I think am coming down with the flu. Even more modern things, like Zicam, use this idea, though it is more zinc ion based.

            Last, and to put myself on report, I finally thought about what is important to me. Hence I got excited when FedEx brought me some onion seeds today, and I expect my planting garlic to arrive later via USPS, all things I ordered recently.

            Now most of our potatoes and garlic have been "treated", so be careful in what you get for your Family. Generally the treatment is to tamp down reproduction.

            Now I did add some canned fruit stuff, and even some canned ham stuff, too, both through UPS.  And of course, I have to eat it in the end, one way or the other. 

            And these days many worry about sodium content, but I do remember when I went through boot camp, we had to take salt pills morning and evening. And of course most of us had a "white" collar of salt around our training things, like T shirts, and uniform collars (all from sweat I assume).  Hence we do need some salt to live...just how much depends, like too much is bad for our health (like you can't drink ocean water because it will kill you in the end). So I do keep these ideas in mind, too.

            Even ideas like slicing SPAM (very salty I read) thin enough to make bacon out of it is not a bad idea about using moderation. Like I suggested, we do need salt if we are living in a high exercise way, like boot camp, or if times get hard (like gardening), and we have to grow our own food.

            And last on this subject, I think of myself as a poor gardener, or even farmer; but I will do it if I need to, though I won't enjoy it. I don't have a "green thumb". But feeding  my Family and friends is a big deal to me.

            And in that regards, and doing my usual yard mowing, I have figured out there are good places in my near yard that I can use, if I need to (like the plants like it). My basic yard is around 4 to 5 acres, by the way, but the more local garden area, and more defensible area, is both smaller and appears to a pretty good place to grow food.

            Hope does spring eternal.

Hemlocks Fall Leaf Color report 

Today it is at best 20% changing to reds and yellows, but still mostly green. 

 

The Hemlocks is in east Tennessee.

Now today is Standing Stone Day, and it is nice fall day for that. Lot’s of horses and wagons are around, too.

The latest puppies are squeaking from under the main house porch.

Even the Tennessee Central Railroad excursion train is coming up here from Nashville today. Here’s a link on the remainder of the 2012 trips: http://www.tcry.org/pass_ops.htm . There should be one more trip to Monterey in the spring time, too. The last few years the train has been full, like 500 people.

Suppose they're both right

       What set's me off is I hear both sides saying things like "this is the truth".  And then "they" all too often disagree about the "truth".

            In the older days I think the "truth" was often called "opinion", which has value to me if I trust it. Now I do usually believe about 10% of what I read, and maybe 50% of what I see on video, like TV. Of course I use my own filters and experience to make my own judgments about what to believe.

            And so I enter the psycho babble world of what and who to believe and trust.

            And so I also think about the variations, options, or other possible combinations. Many bear bode ill for me and my Family.

            I imagine three usual possibilities:  1)  "They" are ill informed, maybe even poorly educated;  2)  they are lying for their own reasons; 3) maybe they are both dumb and lying.

            Now I take some lying with a grain of salt during election times, but trying to run a country depends more on facts, like Coca-Cola is moving out of Greece to Switzerland is a fact. That principal extends to organizations like schools, too. After all, I pay taxes to support the public schools, and my vote does help influence things, I trust and hope.

            So suppose they're both right, like they are both sincere, stupid; and lying? But also suppose I have a life to live, and a Family to feed and grow, as best I can.

What are you going to do?

       What are you going to do if a State, like California, goes under.  Let me define goes under; like can't pay its bills, or issues IOU's (I owe you) that few honor. This question presupposes you don't live in California. For example, I live in Tennessee, and if California goes under it will probably adversely affect me and my Family here in Tennessee.

            What are you going to do if a major city, like Detroit, goes under?  Again, this question assumes you don't live in Detroit.

            What are you going to do if our present Federal President declares some kind of martial law, probably through a set of his Executive Orders, and even postpones the upcoming federal elections (for the President and the Congress) for some period of time?

            What are you going to do if some kind of wild card event occurs that adversely affects you?  Now wild card events are only limited by your imagination, but consider limiting them to mother nature kind of events, which will keep most people's mind busy enough. How about a major volcano in Indonesia (like Krakatoa in 1883), or the Yellowstone Caldera lets loose today?

            What are you going to do if some kind of civil war or revolution in the USA occurs? Both have happened before in the USA, and our ancestors survived OK.

            What are you going to do if some kind of regional war breaks out and maybe even goes nuclear, with all the follow on down range impact worries (like Hawaii or India)?  Think China, or the Middle East, for example.

            I am confident the reader can imagine many other questions for where they live...especially personal Family things, that perhaps they should think about ahead of time. For example, my older brother had a good friend move into his house while he got settled down in Nashville when he accepted a Governor's appointment, and he was still there three years later. Now I try limit others in time when I try help them during these hard times.

            My point is to just think about these hypothetical's ahead of time.  I certainly don't think they will occur, but they might, and it is probably to your advantage to have at least have thought about it ahead of time when you have the luxury of time to think (or worry)  about it, and its impact on your life, and your Family's life. Of course what really unfolds will probably be different, situational if you will, but just thinking about it is probably to your advantage, and often doesn't take much time from your otherwise busy life.

An Interesting Thought

            There is no justification in the teachings of Islam or any religion for killing a person who wants to learn. The impact of modern ideas about personal self-image and opportunities, conveyed by modern telecommunications, on Muslim girls pose a greater long term threat to the future of Islam than modern weapons and drones.

Just some cold stories

It’s getting chillier, like not too cold, but chilly never the less. Including inside my Hemlocks house. After all, it is the fall, with the winter coming.

Well I was embarrassed yesterday morning as the local grocery check out old gal said it was 63 F in her house her Family morning when she got up. At the Hemlocks it was 69 F inside, by the way. I felt like a pansy.

So I just put on some Colton provided long johns, and they work pretty good, like I am personally toasty warm right now.

Three stories. Many people in New England normally wear long johns in the winter...boys and girls alike. And in Korea I once went through a 30 day experience when it never got above freezing, and I was living in a tent with a dirt floor to boot. Nothing like ice on your ceiling when you wake up. And last, I once spoke with a Cabala's person who lived in Nebraska, and they (she and her husband) made their teenage daughter go out to the barn to chop ice (12 “ thick she reported) in the barn where the electricity heated horse trough did not keep up.

End of stories.

Just how much can an outsider change things in occupied lands?

            Back to underlying assumptions.

            My best examples come from the influence of missionaries.  Many Christian  worship sites, often developed by missionaries, are on torn down older pagan worship sites in conquered lands. Holidays like Christmas and Halloween have some basis in pagan things. Islamic missionaries in Indonesia might not recognize what has evolved as Islamic religious beliefs have integrated with earlier and local animistic type things.  South Korea is a land of Christian missionary steeples, with older religious customs often mixed in.  The Spanish conquests of Central and South American often included destruction of the indigenous population's religious and scientific records, much to our chagrin today.  And even today Islamic zealots destroy Buddhist religious monuments.

            Perhaps what we believe has much to do with what we are taught by our Moms and Dads, and our cultures, and not missionaries, or military occupiers.  Perhaps we go along for awhile with the interlopers, then integrate the new and old thoughts as best we can later.

            Where I live in east Tennessee, I think we would resist all outsiders, even if they worked on nation-building kind of like what the USA is doing in Afghanistan. No matter how well intended, or even ideology related, like the military's latest COIN (counter insurgency) strategy which is well promoted by our present USA political leaders, it sure seems like local people want to do it their way, as dumb as that may be in the short term.

            Even the USA Navy and Marines and State Department did their best in the Banana Wars in the Caribbean and parts of Central America, but did eventually leave, and what do we and the locals left holding the bag have now? How about the Mexican War and the impact on our lives today in 2012? How about the USA Army's effect on the American frontier in its fights with Indians? How about our USA famous General John J. Pershing and his fights with the Islamic Moros in the southern Phillipines?

            So my quick summary is that maybe things take their own course, in the long run.  So are we wasting our time and money occupying anywhere not home?  You decide. Obviously there are short term gains, often, but perhaps long term impacts, too.

            Now we can't tell anyone how to think, but we can dictate behavior. Hence sometimes going to war makes sense, at least in the short term. Then missionary types may have a hard row to hoe when occupying  a foreign land in the long term, and using their method to dominate the conquered. And don't forget the nation builders, too.

            Only time will tell, and it sure seems like we humans keep trying.

What is life?

Self replicating bio-chemical process...whatever that means

Not dependent on carbon or oxygen...use the seafloor plumes as an example

Must have energy to work

Simple at the most basic level, though complicated as time let's it evolve

Probably can be computer modeled at the most basic level using the analog approach, vice the digital approach with today's knowledge

Probably a Stella analog model would work...does not have to mimic "life" initially...like a random number generator

Quantum mechanics explains how things work...not why things work  Use this idea

Probably exists throughout the universe

Only has to reproduce itself perfectly to begin

Mutations can evolve it later

Ignore religion and cultures at the beginning

KISS  Keep it simple stupid initially

More complicated process probably is linear or 3-D automata based

Underlying asssumptions

      
       Here's nifty post on the subject.

The Great Reversal

By Robert Samuelson - October 8, 2012

 

WASHINGTON -- What we are witnessing in Europe -- and what may loom for the United States -- is the exhaustion of the modern social order. Since the early 1800s, industrial societies rested on a marriage of economic growth and political stability. Economic progress improved people's lives and anchored their loyalty to the state. Wars, depressions, revolutions and class conflicts interrupted the cycle. But over time, prosperity fostered stable democracies in the United States, Europe and parts of Asia. The present economic crisis might reverse this virtuous process. Slower economic expansion would feed political instability, and vice versa. This would be a historic and ominous break from the past.
It's this specter that hovers over the U.S. election and the entire developed world, though it need not come true. Modern economies -- especially the American -- possess great recuperative powers. Democratic traditions are strong. Still, a reversal can't be excluded, because most advanced countries face slower economic growth, even if (hardly certain) they successfully navigate the fallout of the global financial crisis. Semi-stagnant societies can't meet all expectations for jobs, higher wages and government benefits. Political institutions then lose legitimacy. Europe could foretell this dismal spiral.
Demographics alone suggest slower economic growth. The aging of the United States, Japan and most European countries reduces the labor force growth, because there are fewer new workers compared to retiring workers. In the United States, average labor force growth is now reckoned by the Congressional Budget Office at 0.5 percent a year, a third of its post-1950 average. Elsewhere, prospects are worse. In Germany, the labor force is barely growing; in Japan, it's declining. In the short run, a slowing labor force cushions unemployment. In the long run, it reduces economic growth.
From 1950 to 2011, U.S. economic growth averaged 3.3 percent annually, divided roughly equally between average labor force increases of 1.5 percent annually and productivity gains of 1.8 percent. (Productivity -- efficiency -- generally reflects new technologies, better management and more skilled workers.) With the labor force increasing more slowly, the pace of potential U.S. economic expansion would drop to 2.3 percent annually, assuming that productivity gains stay the same. Unfortunately, that's an iffy assumption.
In a fascinating paper, economist Robert Gordon of Northwestern University speculates that productivity increases have peaked. Per capita income gains may gradually slow to half or less of their historical rate. Most economists, he writes, believe "economic growth is a continuous process that will persist forever." It may not, he argues.
Gordon identifies three industrial "revolutions." The first began in England around 1750 and featured cotton spinning, the steam engine and railroads. The second, dating from 1870 to 1900, was the most significant and involved the harnessing of electricity, the invention of the internal combustion engine and the advent of indoor plumbing with running water. These, he contends, triggered other advances: appliances, highways, suburbs, airplanes, elevators and modern communications (telephones, televisions).
Gordon is less impressed with the third revolution: computers, starting around 1960 when big companies first used "mainframes." True, they automated airline reservations, banking transactions and clerical work. Secretaries "began to disappear." More recently, e-commerce has exploded. But Gordon sees the Internet, smartphones and tablets as tilted toward entertainment, not labor-saving. High productivity gains from cyber technologies "had faded away by 2004," he argues.
Technological innovation, though faltering, will continue, Gordon writes. Think more driverless cars and new cancer drugs. But he argues that the effects on average American living standards will be muted. Less-skilled workers from lackluster schools will cut productivity and wage growth further. Greater inequality will steer some gains to the wealthy. Higher taxes to cover budget deficits and transfers to the elderly will squeeze take-home pay. Health insurance costs (which he does not mention) would do the same. Though not preordained, Gordon's prophecies suggest a long era of stunted economic growth.
Economic progress -- progress that people can feel and that feeds hope and optimism -- favors political stability. If progress shrinks or vanishes, stability may suffer. People lose faith and feel betrayed. The role of economic growth in advanced societies is increasingly to satisfy the many claims from different groups. People can (or think they can) pursue their self-interest without harming the common good. When the system reduces or rejects many of those claims, as is now happening in Europe, the pursuit of self-interest becomes more contentious and destructive.
What's happening in America is different in degree, but not in kind, from what's occurring in Europe. Stalled economic growth there is straining the political system's ability to meet all expectations. People take to the streets; extremist parties expand. To avoid Europe's fate, we should reduce people's claims on the system and strive for faster economic growth. That's the lesson. If we ignore it, history may slip into reverse.

Copyright 2012, Washington Post Writers Group

Title nine

       Title nine is a now decades old federal USA law that is intended to promote female sports, I think (yep I am still not sure). After all, sports are a big deal in the USA, including the financial part.

            And where I live, girls basketball at the high school and middle school level is a big deal. And after all, half of humanity is female. And anyone who has been married knows how competitive females can be, kinda like the males, too...both in their own ways, by the way. After all, boys and girls are different, thank goodness.

            Now even in 2012 I still wonder if the USA federal law changed things about girls basketball where I live. My gut reaction today is that it did not, though probably it was well intended. Perhaps I am just bringing up an old idea, called social engineering. I, myself, thought things were OK without a new federal law to influence things.

            Whatever, we families with sons and daughters will probably keep going to sports games, and enjoy them (including T-Ball), especially when our kids are in the game. And when they, the boys and girls grow up, they will do the best they can with their lives and families, and influence things the best they can, including what they learned through sports. After all, most parents want their kids to be happy and successful when they grow up.

Right out in the open, like in full view

            There is much going on around us, and periodically I make myself think about it. An example comes from an old joke line about losing control of the situation.  Of course one has to have control of the situation in order to lose it...the underlying basis of the statement.  So perhaps we don't have control of the situation all of the time. Or maybe we had it, and lost it, probably a little bit at a time. It usually depends on the situation.

            Our wonderful way of life and governing ourselves does depend on an educated electorate. Perhaps we have been denigrating that educating of the electorate, our kids who will vote and lead in the future.  Obvious examples, to me, are many, but I can use another line that always appealed to me to summarize them all.  That line is that there are no poor Marines, only poor leaders. So what happens if we have generations of leaders who are poorly educated?  Can we maintain all this wonderful infrastructure we've built, safely manufacture all these wonderful medicines we make, or even have morals and the ideas of shame.  Is lying as way to rule the face of the near future?

            These are the kinds of questions I ask myself when even deciding how to vote and who to best represent me; or otherwise trying to influence what is going on around me.

            Now another old line comes to mind.  The only two things in life that are certain are death and taxes. And taxes to me means governments, which is a good way to be ruled I think. And an educated electorate is essential to being successful, both to those ruled, and those ruling. And I don't assume an educational degree equals education, vice the alternatives like propaganda or soft subject training that leaves too many people frustratingly short of practical skills or moral standards.

            What seems a shame is that a lot of this is right out in the open, like in full view, but too many may not see it, or know what to do if they do see it.

            Well, here is an idea.  Vote. One has to start somewhere.

Alternative electricity

       This article assumes public electricity (the grid) is no longer available.  It also summarizes lessons learned so far. The normal caveat is that the initial period of testing the alternatives has had a bit of a drought, so that is assumed to be worst case, usually during the summer. The rest of the year, things should be somewhat better as regards the water turbine electric plant, but having less sunshine and more cloudy weather for the solar plant during the fall, winter, and spring. Obviously, one year's experience may provide more ideas to improve things.

            So in a worst case scenario, the present priority is to keep the 7.2 cu. ft. freezer working since it has basic grains and seeds primarily, and also make enough electricity to recharge the eneloop AA and  AAA batteries which will probably be used a lot by security personal. The Hemlocks also has some adapters to convert AA and AAA battery sizes to D and C cell sizes. After that the Hemlocks uses local sources (like wood) for heating and cooking and washing (use wood for warm water washing). And local sources of water are gravity powered and from springs (using the RAM), so we should have plenty of clean water (we have for ages), to include for waste water disposal (the septic tank and field), and garbage disposal is by using the garbage pit.  So none of the aforementioned three requires electricity or outside help, and is already up and running, but does need basic periodic maintenance.

            Now if there is not enough local electricity to power the freezer, then today there are three more options. One is to change the thermostat setting to require less electricity, which will probably reduce the shelf life of the things in the freezer. By the way, most of the stockpiled food and supplies are in not in the freezer, but stored appropriately. Now most of the seeds are frozen, or at least refrigerated (including away from moisture as best I can).  Two is to just turn off the freezer, and store the contents in a cool dry place in the provided plastic containers to keep the mice out. This option has variations, like only do it for part of the year when electric production is down. Three is just to use caches under the local overhands, which generally are around 54 F, year round. Of course in this way to go, I also have to defend against the local critters.

            Most stored medicines are in dry pill form, so they can be stored in a cool dark place, like the kitchen pantry, to extend their shelf life. Obviously, any medicines or vitamins that are in liquid, or moist forms (like gummy bear vitamins for kids) should be kept cold, or used up first.

            Presently the water turbine powered electric plant is set in the drought mode (there is more on this in another article), which means it can keep the freezer working with the present thermostat settings for two days.  Then one should switch to the solar plant for one day just to give the batteries for the water turbine plant a chance to recharge up. Right now the drought setup provides to keep the water turbine plant batteries above 48 volts, and the solar panel batteries at 12 volts or above. Now the Hemlocks has a 50 foot "tether" for the solar panel (100 watt) just to chase the sun as best we can (and the yard dogs don't chew it up).

            Last, a couple of reminders. The Hemlocks has a lot of renewable wood (like a square mile) for heat. We also have up to 800 feet of water fall, but choose not to use that for security reasons (like we use a pond and 16 feet of water fall). And the Hemlocks is at 36 degrees north latitude, and is full of shady trees, so this is not the best solar place to be in.

Noblesse oblige

       The term is old fashioned, and French based. To me it means my obligation to use my own means to help my fellow man.

            Now why our federal government got involved in simple charity is still beyond me. I know it has happened, but I still don't understand the advantages of this method of noblesse oblige. After all, there are alternatives, like buying Christmas presents for kids and distributing them through the teachers at the local schools where I live. After all, there are truly poor kids through no fault of their own, in my opinion.

            What really rubs me is knowing of adults who abuse the present system, like they won't work, and live off of the government dime (which is taxpayer money, including mine), as denigrating as that may be to them.  But that is also just immoral and un-American, to me. A more local charity based method would probably take care of these types of people, who presently even use tax payer funds to buy junk food and booze and drugs. Now I have warned them that change is probably coming, but have been blown off. So I just have to wait, for now, and see what develops.

            Last, one does have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Hence, I still have to use the idea of noblesse oblige when the time comes, and am already thinking about the best way to do it, which I will. Even an old time hard corps Marine wants to help his fellow man where he lives, as best he can, of course.

A Perspective

       For the record I am an unregistered independent. And I am from the military tradition of not voting in the federal Presidential election since I will serve any elected commander-in-chief equally. I often think of it as leadership by example, personal style.  And at age 64, I do think of myself as one of those baby boomer people, too.

            So I chose to sleep through the first Presidential debate last night, mostly because Obama has taken too much of my time to date, and why should I listen to someone lie some more. So many others feel this way, I think, including many foreign leaders who have met him up close. Or maybe he is not so smart, and a lier, too. Who knows? I don't do psycho babble stuff because it is generally a waste of time at my level.

            As to Romney, I have decided not to vote in this cycle's federal Presidential election for my aforementioned reason, so why listen to him anyway. And voting does count. It sure beats a revolution or civil war.  The last time I voted in federal Presidential election was in 1980 while in the Marines, and I voted with an absentee ballot for Reagan in Tennessee, and even though the southerner Carter was forecasted to win in Tennessee, Reagan carried the state.

            So for this news junkie, it was kinda fun to hear how many thought the first debate came out when I watched TV news this morning.

            Bottom line, it came out pretty much how I thought it would, with one surprise to me. I expected to hear more about Obama's lying, but all I heard were references to Obama using platitudes and other generalities that depended on his wonderful oratory skills.

            So my priority today remains working on some more tuning up my backup electrical plants (to include repairing the yard dog chewed solar cables); and water boiler canning of homegrown tomatoes, mostly as a rehearsal, since I do have to eat them to prove to myself it won't hurt me, like make me sick, or kill me. And this should be a very nice Fall day, so maybe I will hook up the 3 point bush hog to the tractor, too... and maybe even do some bush hogging. And sometime during the day, burn the cardboard trash, too.

            Now that is a perspective.

Where do we get such men?

       Every once in a while I read a book that makes me proud to be an American. In this case it is the book about the most recent USMC Medal of Honor recipient, but it could be about many young Americans.

            And good on the Mom and Dad and any other adults who helped grow them!

            By the way, the book is called Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War.  It is by the recipient, Dakota Meyer, and co-written by Bing West, who has been over there a lot, and an old Marine, too.

          Here's a summary from Amazon.com:

                    In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out one hundred men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, twenty-one year-old Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades.

With a brave driver at the wheel, Meyer stood in the gun turret exposed to withering fire, rallying Afghan troops to follow. Over the course of the five hours, he charged into the valley time and again. Employing a variety of machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers, and even a rock, Meyer repeatedly repulsed enemy attackers, carried wounded Afghan soldiers to safety, and provided cover for dozens of others to escape—supreme acts of valor and determination. In the end, Meyer and four stalwart comrades—an Army captain, an Afghan sergeant major, and two Marines—cleared the battlefield and came to grips with a tragedy they knew could have been avoided. For his actions on that day, Meyer became the first living Marine in three decades to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Into the Fire tells the full story of the chaotic battle of Ganjigal for the first time, in a compelling, human way that reveals it as a microcosm of our recent wars. Meyer takes us from his upbringing on a farm in Kentucky, through his Marine and sniper training, onto the battlefield, and into the vexed aftermath of his harrowing exploits in a battle that has become the stuff of legend.

       I think the profits from this publication will go to charity, by the way.

       And my understanding is that this young man later got out of the USMC, and as gone on with his life. Most do.

       Either way, he makes me proud to know such young men still grow up in America.

       And by the way, I have a son at West Point, so I think I understand the concern parents have when their child goes in harm's way.

Lawlessness comes to your life

            Let's face it, words mean things.  And so do laws, passed by our legislatures, administered by our executives who do take required oaths, and overseen by our judicial.  Pretty much checks and balances I would say. And all this system has built up over time, including the idea of a constitution.  Said another way, it is not automatic, like a God given right that just happens. Our ancestors worked at it.

             I was bothered by our President getting us involved with Europe on the attack into Libya that got rid of dictator Kaddafi, and did so by simply ignoring the federal law requiring him to consult with Congress within 90 days. And our Congress went along, in my mind, and it was a popular decision. But, the law was ignored, and that is what bothered me. And not just the President, but the Congress, seemed to ignore the law.

            Now it seems to get worse with the federal executive telling Lockheed Martin to ignore the law about layoff notices, and even promising tax payer money to cover the expenses of the obvious lawsuits coming.

            All this is reminiscent of what I have been taught about how a country, really a culture, can break down to a more lawless state. Now such conditions exist in many places, but not in the USA in the recent half century. But it sure looks like it is coming back.

            And no matter what happens in this coming election cycle in 2012 in the USA, it appears things are going to get bad, to include more lawlessness. In other words, our culture is more fragile than I thought, and the process is already underway, no matter what the election cycle brings. That idea suggests the outcome will be advanced or retarded depending on what we do, but for sure lawlessness is going to come to our neighborhood. And it will probably be ugly in some places.

            Now I have the advantage of having lived in places more lawless than things may become in the USA. But how about just now where we live today?

            For example, the round trip airline ticket from Atlanta, USA, to Managua, Nicaragua a while back was $710.  Well a thrifty fellow chose to drive, and paid $600 in gas and $900 in bribes.

            Now I have been through road blocks in Kuwait City, and visited blown out villages after a typhoon in the Philippines, and was glad I had a pistol. It was not a fun experience. I was willing to shoot somebody if I had to.  Later in the Philippines the first time I got shot at had a round go by my head with the usual crack of sound, and I thought that SOB is trying to kill me. A few days later four Navy officers were murdered in the same area.  In both cases, I think it was banditos. These stories form my definition of lawlessness.  I have other stories, too.

            So if this kind of thing comes to where I live in east Tennessee, this is probably gonna happen because of what is going on today. Really it has already started. So don't come knocking at my door asking for food; invade me and kill me if you will (I will fight back, so good luck, and I can be tricky, too). And good luck with your lawless future.

            There was a time in our USA past when often every adult male pretty much went armed. What a sad state of affairs if we citizens think that is their best course of action in the beginning of this 21st century.  We're better than that, and our ancestors worked to make lawful conduct happen, like enacting laws and enforcing the laws.  Now it is our turn.

Trust, faith, and confidence

            This old time expression is just as valid now as in the past.

            Now I was introduced to it in the military, where superb operators often get promoted into leadership positions that may be above their best abilities, and their bosses lose trust, faith, and confidence in their leadership of their organization.  It happens all too often, even when selection boards are involved.

            Yet when one thinks about it, the expression applies to so many other things in life...like Families, educations, investments, businesses, and politicians leading governments.

            And the normal responses vary from voting with our feet, voting with our pocketbooks, voting for various politicians, just sharing our thoughts, and other indirect things depending on where you live.  Said another way, all people at all levels can do a little something about their and their Family's circumstances and their future.

            It just depends on the situation, be you a new world American, a member of an old world clan or tribe, or anything in-between.

Who's gonna go in harm's way?

       Just a question from a former recruiter. This question is as simple as who is going to take the place of the murdered people in Libya? Like who would volunteer?  Like to maybe die?

            I have yet to even hear this question in the media.

            Now the quick answer is simple in my mind. In the recent decades past, the State Department of the USA and Department of Agriculture of the USA have passed many of their quotas on to the Department of Defense of the USA, which filled the quotas in their own way, usually with Reserves, good Americans all.

            Nobody will knowingly die, or think they may.  Just ask their Families, too.