WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Let’s Review 2
byVanderleunonNovember 14, 2017
The next Fourth Turning is due to begin shortly after the new millennium, midway through the Oh-Oh decade. Around the year 2005, a sudden spark will catalyze a Crisis mood. Remnants of the old social order will disintegrate. Political and economic trust will implode. Real hardship will beset the land, with severe distress that could involve questions of class, race, nation and empire. The very survival of the nation will feel at stake. Sometime before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War, and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II.” – Strauss & Howe – Fourth Turning
This mama duck was panicking when her babies fell through a grate. She stood by as rescuers started saving them one by one ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lYWe8Rs77P
Asian-American Cuisine’s Rise, and Triumph – On the plate, the egg looks like an eye plucked from a baby dragon. The yolk is the green-black of smoked glass, with a gray, nearly calcified halo, trapped in an oval of wobbling amber and emitting the faintest whiff of brimstone. So begins the $285, 19-course tasting menu at Benu in San Francisco.
Snowflake, Arizona – A Desert Refuge for People Allergic to Modern Life In the decades since Molloy arrived, dozens more hypersensitive people who are overwhelmed by the modern world have gravitated toward the quiet desert town. Many in the community formerly worked as engineers and began noticing symptoms at work, while others, like Molloy, cannot pinpoint what first triggered their illness. Regardless of the origin of their disease, all of them find it impossible to live life in the outside world and are unable to work. One resident claims to be allergic to ink fumes and is thus only able to read books through a clear plastic box while wearing plastic bags on his hands.
So, let me get this straight: The New York Times published an op-ed by a black man who says that all white people look alike, and seem like they are a threat, even if they treat him kindly. If a white man wrote a column saying that all black people look alike, and seem like a threat to him, even if they treat him kindly, do you think The New York Times would publish it? The question is absurd. Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off – waka waka waka
It’s not the lunacy, it is the pace of lunacy. It seems to be accelerating. In one generation we went from “Maybe one day a black guy can be president” to having an exotic weirdo with a Muslim name in the White House and his supporters making war on the native stock. One day, comics are making gay jokes as part of their act and in the blink of an eye, Canada is throwing comics in jail for upsetting lesbians. The clown world spiral is accelerating. Clown World | The Z Blog
About 10 years ago we visited my MIL in the suburb of Central Park outside Shelbyville and in the road was a neighbor dood standing by a manhole cover. I went out there and he asked if I heard ducks quacking and I did. We lifted that manhole cover and lo and behold 9 baby mallards were about 5′ down in the water. We got a piece of cordage and tried unsuccessfully to loop em out of there. My BIL came out and we decided since I was the lightest of the 3 of us I was going in. So they wrapped a ratchet strap around my ankles and I dove in while they held me up out of the water. Quickly, I grabbed baby ducks with one hand and stuffed them up into my t-shirt and held it closed around my neck with the other hand. In about 2 minutes my shirt was alive with yappin’ ducks whose toenails were shredding my chest flesh. They hauled me back up outta there and the ducks were put in a box. There was no signs of a mama.
The manhole was part of the yard and road run-off and was an underground network of large pipes that eventually terminated into a retention pond several hundred feet away. Not wanting the ducks to get back in that pond and back in the pipes I drove them out into the country and dispensed them at a rural pond. I still have pale scar lines on my chest.
BunnyNovember 14, 2017, 4:44 PM
Ducks have toenails. I learn something new everyday.
VanderleunNovember 14, 2017, 4:57 PM
They do. They just don’t have toes.
Sam L.November 14, 2017, 5:08 PM
Let me get this straight: Of course the NYT would print it, just so they could go into a rage and a 2-day HATE on the guy. That should be obvious by now.
The older I get, the more sensitive I am toward most living critters. I’ll see a wasp or a moth struggling against the inside of a window pane, and take an old cottage cheese container and piece of cardboard to capture them and release them outside off the deck. I draw the line at house flies, spiders, rattle snakes and democrats. My dog Jack always leaves the door open when he goes out for a walk. Beetles come in the house and entertain me, crawling along the top of my laptop monitor, doing laps, across the top, down one side, back across the base, up the other side, or chasing the pointer on the screen. Casey already knows that I don’t get out much.
Snowflake–Brings to mind a long article or short book I read in the way back, probably the eighties. The “Ghost in the Machine” by James Fallows possibly, although Wiki is skeptical of my memory. Not to be confused with Arthur Koestler. A character mentioned in passing was a computer engineer who became burned out and sought refuge in a setting like Snowflake, AZ. The line I remember was to the effect that he observed no period of time shorter than a season, or words to that effect. I’m getting there.
ghostsniperNovember 15, 2017, 4:25 AM
Ed – this past spring I stepped out my office door and right there in front of me was a large Copperhead.
There was also a shovel standing there, so, reacting (possibly) from an ancient childhood fear of all snakes I cut it’s head off and instantly regretted it. I’ll not do that again. Few weeks ago, at almost the same spot, I saw another Copperhead, a much smaller one, and I just stood there and observed it, until my elbows got sore from resting on the railing. Everything has a purpose and as the higher order it is our responsibility as a small part in the larger machine, to appreciate it, see it in conjunction with the larger picture and live our lives in peace when possible.
I’d don’t know if the Boston Public Gardens Duck Pond is where those baby ducks ended up, it could be.
But if so, then it’s less than three miles to the black castle that is hosting Michelle Jones (from the previous article).
Baby ducks in the Duck Pond is how I will remember Boston, Michelle Jones is what I imagine Boston’s future to be. And the Eloi will never see it coming.
MCS…it is a disorder, certainly. Some town, somewhere in the bay area, built an apartment building entirely out of natural materials. Nothing plastic or otherwise artificial. Some MCS sufferers moved in, and some almost instantly moved back out, often into their cars, claiming the building was toxic. Of course, cars are entirely full of artificial materials, but it’s a disorder. It’s a mental one.
There was an episode of Northern Exposure. The cute pilot gal visits Anthony Edwards who has MCS, lives in the wilderness, and can detect a Russian tanker leaking oil 600 miles away in the Gulf of Alaska. No mention of the petroleum burning laden with artificial products airplane>/i> that she flew in on, sitting 30 feet away, but yeah, he’s got that tanker nailed.
I’d be willing to subsidize a few more Snowflake villages, if it got these loony, but harmless folks out of our hair. Let them sit around the campfire one-upping each other on their neurotic ailments.
azlibertarianNovember 17, 2017, 7:48 AM
Re: Snowflake
Like Tombstone and Show Low (among others), those not-from-Arizona might think that Snowflake is just another of those places with a quirky name.
Not so.
Snowflake was settled by two familes; the Snows and the Flakes. When their little berg got big enough to need a name, “Snowflake” was a natural choice.
Arizona’s current and soon-to-be retired Senator Jeff Flake was born in Snowflake. He came to elective office out of his tenure at the Goldwater Institute, and his terms in the Congress reflected his libertarian-ish views, but while in the Senate, not-so-much.
But Jeff Flake has another connection to politics and Snowflake. His uncle was once the Speaker of the Arizona Legislature before he moved into the Arizona Senate. In 2008, the now-late Jake Flake from Snowflake died in office from injuries he received from falling off a horse.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
About 10 years ago we visited my MIL in the suburb of Central Park outside Shelbyville and in the road was a neighbor dood standing by a manhole cover. I went out there and he asked if I heard ducks quacking and I did. We lifted that manhole cover and lo and behold 9 baby mallards were about 5′ down in the water. We got a piece of cordage and tried unsuccessfully to loop em out of there. My BIL came out and we decided since I was the lightest of the 3 of us I was going in. So they wrapped a ratchet strap around my ankles and I dove in while they held me up out of the water. Quickly, I grabbed baby ducks with one hand and stuffed them up into my t-shirt and held it closed around my neck with the other hand. In about 2 minutes my shirt was alive with yappin’ ducks whose toenails were shredding my chest flesh. They hauled me back up outta there and the ducks were put in a box. There was no signs of a mama.
The manhole was part of the yard and road run-off and was an underground network of large pipes that eventually terminated into a retention pond several hundred feet away. Not wanting the ducks to get back in that pond and back in the pipes I drove them out into the country and dispensed them at a rural pond. I still have pale scar lines on my chest.
Ducks have toenails. I learn something new everyday.
They do. They just don’t have toes.
Let me get this straight: Of course the NYT would print it, just so they could go into a rage and a 2-day HATE on the guy. That should be obvious by now.
Yep, this is what they look like.
https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/enhanced/web05/2012/5/7/16/enhanced-buzz-24315-1336421272-8.jpg?downsize=715:*&output-format=auto&output-quality=auto
You’re a good man, Ghost.
The older I get, the more sensitive I am toward most living critters. I’ll see a wasp or a moth struggling against the inside of a window pane, and take an old cottage cheese container and piece of cardboard to capture them and release them outside off the deck. I draw the line at house flies, spiders, rattle snakes and democrats. My dog Jack always leaves the door open when he goes out for a walk. Beetles come in the house and entertain me, crawling along the top of my laptop monitor, doing laps, across the top, down one side, back across the base, up the other side, or chasing the pointer on the screen. Casey already knows that I don’t get out much.
Snowflake–Brings to mind a long article or short book I read in the way back, probably the eighties. The “Ghost in the Machine” by James Fallows possibly, although Wiki is skeptical of my memory. Not to be confused with Arthur Koestler. A character mentioned in passing was a computer engineer who became burned out and sought refuge in a setting like Snowflake, AZ. The line I remember was to the effect that he observed no period of time shorter than a season, or words to that effect. I’m getting there.
Ed – this past spring I stepped out my office door and right there in front of me was a large Copperhead.
There was also a shovel standing there, so, reacting (possibly) from an ancient childhood fear of all snakes I cut it’s head off and instantly regretted it. I’ll not do that again. Few weeks ago, at almost the same spot, I saw another Copperhead, a much smaller one, and I just stood there and observed it, until my elbows got sore from resting on the railing. Everything has a purpose and as the higher order it is our responsibility as a small part in the larger machine, to appreciate it, see it in conjunction with the larger picture and live our lives in peace when possible.
I’d don’t know if the Boston Public Gardens Duck Pond is where those baby ducks ended up, it could be.
But if so, then it’s less than three miles to the black castle that is hosting Michelle Jones (from the previous article).
Baby ducks in the Duck Pond is how I will remember Boston, Michelle Jones is what I imagine Boston’s future to be. And the Eloi will never see it coming.
https://twitter.com/k_kazu_magi/status/912514568298962944
MCS…it is a disorder, certainly. Some town, somewhere in the bay area, built an apartment building entirely out of natural materials. Nothing plastic or otherwise artificial. Some MCS sufferers moved in, and some almost instantly moved back out, often into their cars, claiming the building was toxic. Of course, cars are entirely full of artificial materials, but it’s a disorder. It’s a mental one.
There was an episode of Northern Exposure. The cute pilot gal visits Anthony Edwards who has MCS, lives in the wilderness, and can detect a Russian tanker leaking oil 600 miles away in the Gulf of Alaska. No mention of the petroleum burning laden with artificial products airplane>/i> that she flew in on, sitting 30 feet away, but yeah, he’s got that tanker nailed.
I’d be willing to subsidize a few more Snowflake villages, if it got these loony, but harmless folks out of our hair. Let them sit around the campfire one-upping each other on their neurotic ailments.
Re: Snowflake
Like Tombstone and Show Low (among others), those not-from-Arizona might think that Snowflake is just another of those places with a quirky name.
Not so.
Snowflake was settled by two familes; the Snows and the Flakes. When their little berg got big enough to need a name, “Snowflake” was a natural choice.
Arizona’s current and soon-to-be retired Senator Jeff Flake was born in Snowflake. He came to elective office out of his tenure at the Goldwater Institute, and his terms in the Congress reflected his libertarian-ish views, but while in the Senate, not-so-much.
But Jeff Flake has another connection to politics and Snowflake. His uncle was once the Speaker of the Arizona Legislature before he moved into the Arizona Senate. In 2008, the now-late Jake Flake from Snowflake died in office from injuries he received from falling off a horse.