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Post-Plague Fagradalsfjall “Tourism” 2021

One of the infinite aftereffects of the ChiCom Plague is the eruption of pre-mature dementia among our vacationing populations.

Be­gin­ning De­cem­ber 2020 and into March 2021, a swarm of earth­quakes, two of which reached mag­ni­tude Mw5.6, rocked the Reyk­janes  penin­sula, spark­ing con­cerns that an erup­tion was imminent., be­cause the earth­quakes were thought to have been trig­gered by dyke in­tru­sions.

No vol­canic erup­tion had oc­curred for 800 years on the Reyk­janes Penin­sula until 19 March 2021 when a fis­sure  vent ap­peared in Geldin­gadalir to the south of Fagradals­f­jall mountain. The erup­tion is ef­fu­sive and still emit­ting fresh lava as of 20 July 2021. The erup­tion is unique among the vol­ca­noes mon­i­tored in Ice­land so far and is ex­pected to de­velop into a shield vol­cano. Due to its rel­a­tive ease of ac­cess from Reyk­javík, the vol­cano has be­come an at­trac­tion for local peo­ple and for­eign tourists alike. —La WIK 2

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  • Harry July 31, 2021, 11:58 AM

    Carlin of course, is correct. What’s really funny though, is that everyone in the audience, laughing and cheering, is absolutely certain that Carlin is talking about someone else. We’re all certain that he’s talking about someone else.

  • enn ess July 31, 2021, 1:29 PM

    Nah, not me, I know he’s talking about me, I know I’m stupid, I try and prove it every day. I also laugh at myself cause I’m the biggest joke I know. Don’t need anyone help screwing up my life, so all you “I’m here from da gubbermynt and I’m here to help types”, take a hike, I got that part down…

  • ghostsniper July 31, 2021, 1:31 PM

    Who hasn’t been a dumbass?
    Lot’s of times?
    Maybe still?
    Age can sometimes keep dumbassery at bay.
    Perhaps not.
    Maybe age just makes being a dumbass less frequent.
    About half the people in the US seem to be stuck in dumbass mode.
    There probably isn’t a cure for dumbassery.
    But you can certainly punch a dumbass in the face.

  • jwm July 31, 2021, 2:20 PM

    Back around 1960, when I was in grade school, some teacher, or school somebody, told my parents that I got a very high score on the IQ test. That meant I was supposed to be smart. Well, I had a pretty successful career disproving it. Luckily, I failed all my auditions for Darwin Awards as well. I’m here mostly by the grace of my guardian angels.

    JWM

  • Mike Austin August 1, 2021, 2:54 AM

    I hereby apply for my (belated) Darwin Award. I’ve been working on one since 1983. I am still alive though, which at times I find irksome. But I am still working on one at 68 years of age.

    In my time I have: fallen into quicksand; been attacked by a puma and wild boars; been shot at (they missed); been chased by Amazonian Indians and the armies of Honduras, Chile and Panama; been shipwrecked; searched for gold mines and lost cities in Central American jungles; almost killed a man on a military base; been caught in flagrante delicto with an Arab’s wife; fell in love with a 20 year old model at 63; and so on.

    And yet I still live! I have tried; I gave it my best. Is there such a thing as an “honorary” Darwin Award?

  • ghostsniper August 1, 2021, 4:38 AM

    @Mike, are you Indiana Jones? lol

  • Mike Austin August 1, 2021, 5:11 AM

    Dear ghostsniper: That’s what my students called me. (I taught Middle School and High School , and some college courses, in Costa Rica and Argentina.) While watching a group of them perform a play in Costa Rica, they suddenly stopped, turned to me in the audience, and broke out into the theme song for Indiana Jones. Embarrassing, but kind of cool at the same time.

    Oh…I forgot getting kidnapped by communist guerrillas in Guatemala during the opening of a Mayan tomb; being lost for days in the Darien Gap; breaking into a Spanish castle in Zaragoza and the Baths of Caracalla in Rome; avoiding being murdered in Istanbul by escaping my hotel through a 3rd story window; bribing a guard in order to climb to the top of the Pyramid of Cheops; traveling with the Sandinista Army during the Nicaraguan Revolution; becoming nauseated after watching worms embedded in my toes; suffering from Histoplasmosis; and so on.

    I imagine there is more, but that’s enough to remind me that life is grand, that God looks out after His own and that Luck is vastly more important than brains.

  • Snakepit Kansas August 1, 2021, 6:43 AM

    Mike Austin completely supersedes my being hit by a shotgun blast while canoeing, and doing 105MPH in a 30MPH zone stories. Please indulge us further sir!

  • Jack August 1, 2021, 7:53 AM

    I’ve been sitting around for years thinking I had lived ‘the life’. Mine was a drop of water in the ocean compared to some of you.

  • EX-Californian Pete August 1, 2021, 9:13 AM

    Great (and coincidental) timing for a discussion of age, dumbassery, and longevity.

    I just turned another year older today- it’s a freakin’ miracle.

  • Mike Austin August 1, 2021, 9:19 AM

    Dear Snakepit Kansas: Holy moly! I’ve never been hit with a shotgun blast! Of course, there are today men who know me who would gladly volunteer for that duty. And I have been in a red 1968 convertible Mustang in New Mexico in 1998, traveling at 100 mph at 3 AM with the top down. Of course there was beer involved. Of course there was a blonde involved.

    My website is: mikeaustin.org Username: MikeAustin2003 Password: Cas _sandra_1400 I keep it locked up to avoid any noisome interference from those who intend me ill will—that’s about half the country. At my site there are lots of photos and such detailing parts of my life. No names were changed to protect the innocent because no one is innocent.

    In order of appearance:

    1. Quicksand: In the Venezuelan Gran Sabana in 1999. http://mikeaustin.org/venezuela.html

    2. Attacked by puma: 2003 in Costa Rica with four ex-students. http://mikeaustin.org/six_men.htm

    3. Attacked by wild boars: 2010 in Northern Guatemala. http://mikeaustin.org/guatemala_2010__2011.htm

    4. Shot at: 1983 Nicaragua. The military convoy I was riding in came under fire from US supplied Contras. http://mikeaustin.org/nicaragua.html

    5. Chased through the Venezuelan Amazon by Pemon Indians: 1999. Though they surrounded me with guns, they took nothing. All they did was tell me to get the Hell off their lands.

    6. Chased by the Honduran Army: 1989. On the Guatemalan / Honduran border. Chased back into Guatemala by 16 year old Honduran soldiers with M-16s. There was an argument with the Honduran customs agent. He won.

    7. Chased by the Chilean army: 2003. I crossed a fence in Northern Chile not knowing I was entering a military zone. Within ten minutes two army vehicles roared up and spilled out a dozen very well armed soldiers. I talked my way out of that one. I’m good at that.

    8. Chased by the army of Panama: 1987. That army did not like that I was staying in a Cuna Indian village. It demanded I accompany it to the barracks. I stayed with the soldiers. Vampire bats did not allow a comfortable sleep.

    9. Looking for gold mines and lost cities: 1989 – 1995 in the Miskitia region of Honduras. The gold mines were in Sico. The lost city was “La Ciudad Blanca”. It has since been found, but not by me. Alas.
    http://mikeaustin.org/living_with_honduran_gold_miners.htm
    http://mikeaustin.org/blog/Archives%202004-05/november_2005_archives.htm#Luckless_Iguanas_and_Monkeys_of_Gold_

    10. Almost killed a man: 1972 while stationed at Sheppard AFB. I was 19. An airman I knew called Parker without warning punched me in the face. The next thing I knew Parker was on the ground, unconscious, face down in a pool of his own blood. I have no idea what happened, no recollection of what I did. To this day I shun physical violence if I can.

    11. Kidnapped by communist guerrillas in Guatemala: 1989 in the jungles of the Peten region near the Mayan ruins of Dos Pilas. There were about 40 of them. I had to endure a political harangue but was not harmed.

    12. I backpacked the Darien Gap in 1987 without guides, porters or boats. http://mikeaustin.org/south_american_explorers_article.htm

    13. Breaking into a Spanish castle: 1980. There was an Italian ballerina involved. And red wine. The Spanish police were not amused. But I was.

    14. Breaking into the Baths of Caracalla: 1980. Chased by the Italian Carabinieri. I escaped. They were not amused. But I was.

    15. Avoided being murdered in Istanbul: 1980. Of course there was a woman involved. Of course her family found out. Of course I shimmied down a 3rd floor gutter at 3 AM to escape a bunch of Turkish bravos with knives.

    And as Porky says, “That’s all folks!” Actually there is more, such as this: http://mikeaustin.org/miller_time_long_ago_and_far_awa.htm
    And this: http://mikeaustin.org/honduras%20ak47.htm

    Oh yeah…running into US Special Forces in the Chaco region of Paraguay 2003. One of them told me very plainly, “We’re not here, and you didn’t see us.” I know they did me a favor that day. This is the first time I mention it in writing.

    Be well.

  • James ONeil August 1, 2021, 9:20 AM

    Thank Mike A., you’ve made me much more appreciative of the tranquility of my past. I’ve only two wild boar stories and only one involved two inch tushes.

  • Vanderleun August 1, 2021, 11:07 AM

    Sorry Mike but I’m just getting to 401 with

    Username: MikeAustin2003 Password: Cas _sandra_1400

  • ghostsniper August 1, 2021, 11:12 AM

    OK, now I get it.
    Mike (Myers) Austin (Powers)

  • Ed in Upstate NY August 1, 2021, 12:05 PM

    Hmmm. Poking at molten rock while wearing rubber-soled shoes. What could possibly go wrong?!

  • James ONeil August 1, 2021, 12:41 PM

    I think Mike’s memory’s failing a bit, it was the Yucatan Peninsula in 2003.
    I know.
    I wasn’t there.

  • Mike Austin August 1, 2021, 2:41 PM

    Dear Gerard: It works at my end with both Brave and Edge: http://mikeaustin.org
    Or try simply mikeaustin.org
    USERNAME: MikeAustin2003
    PASSWORD: Cas_sandra_1400

    Dear James: I’ve only been to the Yucatan once, in 1983. No adventures there, alas. From the Yucatan I ventured south to Belize, and then into the Peten of Northern Guatemala. I landed smack dab into a civil war. I found myself in civil wars also in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Peru. And a military coup (1980) in Turkey.

    Just my luck.

  • Vanderleun August 1, 2021, 4:59 PM

    Mike… now it works in Brave and in Chrome…. Hummmmmmm….

    As for the Yucatan… someday I’ll have to tell the tale Chichén Itzá and the time I got into the grounds at night…. alone…. except for this hot art teacher from LA who went in with me and when we got to the Palace of the Warriors… alone in Chichén Itzá under a gibbous moon… and there we saw illuminated at the top of the Palace a mattress carved from stone in the moonlight…. and…. well….

  • Mike Austin August 1, 2021, 5:19 PM

    Dear Gerard: Damn! Romance and such can be found in unlikely places: on a beach at night near Puerta Vallarta; with a young Guatemalan woman in Antigua; in a hostel in Vienna; on a tour boat floating down the Amazon; in the Palace of the Warriors in Chichen.

    Well done sir. Well done indeed.

  • Tom Hyland August 2, 2021, 4:38 PM

    Mike… that’s an impressive list of books you’ve read. I’ve never kept a written tally of every book I’ve consumed, but I know I haven’t been reading at the velocity you have. Still, I’ve usually got three or four going at the same time. Currently I’m well into “The Autobiography of Mark Twain, volume 2”, “The Acid Diaries” by Christopher Gray, “The Most Dangerous Superstition” by Larken Rose, “Lincoln As He Really Was” by Charles Pace, and “Files on JFK” compiled by Wim Dankbaar. That’s VERY interesting. James Files is the man who delivered the headshot to JFK. I saw on your past list you read “Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War” by Pat Buchanan. I’m into that one about 1/3 way and it’s quite surprising to learn what a murderous asshole Churchill was. I’m getting where I appreciate Hitler more and more as time goes by. I didn’t see “Blood and Thunder” on your list. Written by Santa Fe author Hampton Sides this is the saga of Kit Carson and how the West was stolen from anyone who got in the way. It was a messy affair. I’ve lived most of my life in Northern New Mexico and this book was of special interest to me. You should give it a shot.

  • Mike Austin August 4, 2021, 9:01 AM

    Dear Tom:
    I can’t get enough of books. Since the age of six I have been a reader. It was a temporary escape from the poverty and violence in which I was raised. Now I am never without a book. On a one year backpacking trip through Central and South America 2003 – 2004 I read 37 books, mostly by ancient historians.

    In the past week I have read three, all of History. I have about one thousand books on my selves—along with one thousand vinyl records—a hundred of which I have not yet read. Of course being retired gives me the time to indulge myself.

    I read “Blood and Thunder” in September of 2016 (book 779). It was a gift from my girlfriend. Once I opened it I could not put it down. As it happens I was in Taos a year before on a 1600 mile solo bikepacking journey and saw Carson’s house.

    Larkin Rose sounds like a man after my own heart. “Lincoln as He Really Was” is another in a seemingly interminable debate about the “real” Lincoln. I am no “Lost Cause” believer, even though my family on my mother’s side fought with Marse Robert almost until Appomattox. I also agree with John Calhoun’s views on slavery. Interesting that every single political and media figure in the South before 1861 wrote that the war about the South keeping its “peculiar institution”: Davis, Stephens, all of them. Every state constitution of the CSA had protections for this “institution”. Of course after the war the claims of the defeated South were that the war was about states’ rights”; that Lincoln was a tyrant; slavery had nothing to do with the war; Lee was an honorable and brilliant general while Grant was nothing more than a butcher. And so on. I imagine this debate will go on until Christ returns.

    As will the debate about “who killed JFK?” Certainly the Warren Commission was full of nonsense. So who killed him? The Mob. That’s my take on it.

    Churchill a “murderous asshole”? Probably far worse. He might have kept Britain’s destroyer fleet from protecting the Lusitania, hoping that its sinking—and the deaths of hundreds of Americans—would convince Wilson to enter the war.

    Since 1945 it has become impossible to write about Hitler unless you agree with the narrative that the Holocaust was the greatest infamy in History. Any researcher that suggests otherwise or disputes the “official” number of 6,000,000 Jews killed in the camps is subject to a calumniation of an extraordinary degree. Reading what Hitler actually said rather than what historians said he said is revealing. Of course this is true about every historical figure.