The internet is a great thing, you know? I recently saw a search show up in my logs for "Kristin Noreen". I apparently mentioned her name once or twice in the blog posts about my vacation in Glacier Park a few years ago, and someone searching on her name showed up at my blog page from back then.
Kristin was a girlfriend I had briefly during my second year working for St. Mary Lodge and Resort back 20 + years ago. I haven't thought about her in a long time, but I followed that search link back to Google to see what else shows up with her name. I found that she appears to be the owner of a jewelry shop: Purring Panther Jewelry (mrow!), located in Bellingham, Washington. More here.
That fits her. She worked with Susan Black in the gift shop at St. Mary Lodge and was particularly interested in the exotic jewelry pieces that were on display there. Now the fine jewelry area of that gift shop has been converted into a coffee bar--or at least it was when I was recently there.
And as is often the case, it is likely that she will eventually search on her own name, and this blog entry will show up. Hi Kristin! Drop me a line. My e-mail address is at "contact Desert Cat" on the right sidebar.
I am now half-convinced that Daisycat's bout with a virus two weeks ago could have been a mild case of this flu. She *never* gets sick, but something had her miserable for a few days. Oddly I did not catch whatever she had then. I *always* catch whatever is going around, (although my use of colloidal silver has prevented a full-blown case of flu for years now.) Still, the last few days I've had the edges of something that my immune system has been dealing with (effectively so far).
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" Revelation 6:12-17
You can run but you cannot hide.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:7-12
...polymesh deer fencing installation. This corner needs bracing and guy-wires yet.
Mesh is being installed up and over the gate and house eaves.
But the rest of the meditation garden is looking good, mostly on it's own with a new garment of green...
There are great plans for this space, someday when more critical stuff gets done. Herbs and flowers, additional structures, and more.
Daisycat's progress has been to complete her turtle enclosure, which is tucked into a portion of the meditation garden.
Mom has been trying to help get my garden area started, but the soil under the cover crop is still tremendously compacted from the machinery that was used to set my septic system. I may need to rent a tiller just to get the area started. After that, it should be possible to turn it by hand. What's growing here is mostly cover crop (grasses, flowers) together with some weeds. But this is good! Without water this would be dry brown dirt. Even the weeds are helping by loosening the soil just a little bit and adding organic content when they die back.
Mom put up a shade tent over her outdoor kitchen area...
...and has been working on a solar oven. This is the first iteration being reconstructed. She was able to cook a meatloaf and an apple crisp in the first effort. This will be getting a new liner and the correct type of insulation. For reference: styrofoam insulation does *not* work in a solar oven!
Zucchini plants are popping up in her garden...
...as well as corn, in what used to be the winter chicken run/fava bean cover crop bed.
Broccoli, lettuce, carrots are thriving under reemay...
...and cabbage in the next bed.
Elsewhere california poppies are still in riotous bloom...
Now mind you, I'm not at all saying this isn't true. It could be. There's a lot of information out there that suggests this has some merit. But it was this graphic from a 1996 Air Force "study" that grabbed my attention.
Planned?
Hmm...especially the information that has come out that suggests this virus has been deliberately spliced from several different strains of flu virus.
Oh, yeah this too: Mass graves under construction in Phoenix
Now to decide when to bug out. Do I go when the first cases to arrive in Tucson, or do I wait until it starts to reach pandemic levels? How to optimize available vacation time to keep the cash flowing as long as possible...
Update: Commenter Orville over at Vox's place has this to say:
I'm on the outer fringes of the inside of the Federal response, and I'm sensing a "shite your pants" mindset. Previous FedGov policy is to not incite panics so they will control what the public hears. You have to read between the lines to get an idea of what is actually happening, and foreign news sources will probably be better. Here are some of the lines I'm reading between...
Line one - HHS has declared a PHE (Public Health Emergency)
Line two - The PHE authorizes the immediate release of one quarter of the Fed stockpile of Tamilflu (12 million doses) to state and local agencies upon their request.
Line three - Baxter is jumping in to see if they can rapidly develop an antivirus.
Line four - EU warns Europeans not to travel to US or Mexico except for urgent business.
Line five - US is recommending the same for travel to Mexico.
Line six - I've just been instructed to place pandemic info on the website
Line seven - Pandemic response teams are being activated...I'm sitting in on one of the calls this afternoon.
At my place of employment (critical infrastructure organization) we are having a pandemic meeting tomorrow afternoon.
And I sent Daisycat in search of a stockpile of Sambucol for our own purposes this afternoon, getting ahead of the hordes of panic-stricken masses. (Thank you Daisycat for your yeowoman's efforts!)
I keep hearing, through song, common media, and personal discussions, how people want to see their Maker, when their time is done. They have questions as to why their lives have been so harsh. They want to ask about their wife, whether she was faithful, their parents and whether they were honest, and other such things. I have spoken of these things before. But, I wish to be more specific. I have been dreaming that this needs to be said and heard. The truth is, when you meet Christ, you will lose all of that. You will know YOU are the only one who matters. If your spouse cheats on you, it is best to forgive now and every time. If your parents lied to you, your boss cheated you, or your children hated you, let it go. The problem is not them, it is YOU. When you are before Him, the questions you have held in your heart will make you less before Him. Let them go now, for you will find no voice for them when you meet Him. Meet Him now, and let them go. Let that bitterness and hardening of your heart go now. For when you see Love, this impurity will only hurt you.
These "laws" have been passed down from generation to generation. This is what the Cherokee based their life on. By following these, one would live in harmony and balance with all of Creation.
1. The first thing one should do of the morning is to praise the Creator for your life and all of Creation. Asking Him for guidance through the day and thanking Him for providing another day for you. Recognizing Him as the only one true God.
2. Always keep fresh in your mind that everything has been created by God and deserves respect. Everything God has created has a purpose in life. We should honor these and treat them with kindness and generosity. Always assume that others are in need of something. Offer what you have to give.
3. When you find that you have more than you and your family need, then give the excess to someone who can use it.
4. When you say you are going to do something, or otherwise promise something, you are bound by your words. You cannot break it without permission from the person you have told this to.
5. Practice silence. This shows self-control, true courage, patience, dignity, reverence and internal peace. And by practicing silence you can build these characteristics up through time.
6. Never overindulge or underindulge on anything. Do all things in moderation. And this includes boasting or attracting attention through your behavior. Eating, sleeping, working, learning and so on.
7. Know what helps you and what hurts you. Learn from your experiences and be open to new ones, remembering to live each day in itself, not worrying about tomorrow or living in the past but retaining the knowledge learned. Listen to advice and guidance offered by elders and friends. Listen with your heart and then follow up through prayer to the Creator for His guidance.
8. Always ask permission before doing anything that involves someone else, including all living things. Always give something back in return for things received, including a simple "thank you." Remember that a smile can be shared.
9. Beware of what is inside you and outside of you.
10. Always, always, always show respect. From the youngest to the oldest, from the rocks to the trees, from all animals to all peoples.
11. Never stare at someone and drop your eyes in respect to an elder or teacher.
12. Always give a sign of greeting, even to strangers.
13. Never talk about someone in a harmful or critical way. Remember that what you say it will always come back to you one way or the other.
14. Never touch anything that is not yours without permission from the owner.
15. Respect the privacy of everyone. Never enter into their place or space without permission. Do not disturb anyone's quiet time or prayer time.
16. Never offer advice or ask questions of another without their permission.
17. Never interrupt.
18. When you are in someone's home, follow their customs out of respect.
19. Always treat other things held sacred by someone with respect even though you may not understand why.
20. Treat Mother Earth with respect. Protect Earth as well as all of Creation on her in all ways.
...is not for months yet. But I have a grievance that needs airing.
I was watering my plants in my cubicle yesterday, as is my routine on Thursdays, and contemplating the calla lily that I was given by HR when my dad died--the one that wilts first, before any other plants need water.
It was a nice gesture by the company. But usually when someone's auntie or mum or pet gerbil dies, someone buys and circulates a sympathy card for everyone to sign and put a few cheesy words of condolences in. It doesn't matter if they work in another department and we scarcely know them let alone interact with them regularly, the card comes around and we all put in our two bits of cheese.
No one did that when my dad died.
Oh sure, the plant was nice enough. "DC likes plants. Here, let's give him a plant." But that was just the company. No one else had to see a card cross their desk and think, "gee it's kinda hard losing a parent. I hope DC's doing ok. Let me give him a couple of cheesy words of condolence."
Where was my cheese?
So I'm Wally then, the stinky cynic with the coffee cup that they keep around because he performs some vital function that no one else can do? Was it just too awkward and uncomfortable to send around a card for me?
The word of the LORD came again to me, saying: "Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness," says the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 14:12-14
This song appears on my "Trip to Paradise" station regularly. I am fascinated with the song, partly because of references to Revelation and Ezekiel in the imagery.
I've looked into the rest of the album that this is from. Unfortunately there are only one or two songs that appear to be of the same caliber as this one.
Say, if you haven't been over there in a while, Rich Peterson has a wealth of new (and disturbing) analysis over at A Time, Times, and a Half a Time. Since Herb Peters left this earthly sphere, his blog has deteriorated into near-uselessness for tracking the progress of the Beast. Rich is picking up where Herb left off in many ways.
This blog delves into the "why" of what I've been reporting on. Why is this happening? Why do our leaders appear so incompetent? What is really driving this senseless destruction of the United States?
Having spoken to some SEALs here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, the following info emerged.
1. BHO (Obama) wouldn't authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation. 2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in 'imminent' danger. 3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction. 4. When the na vy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in. 5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams. 6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies 7. BHO immediately claims credit for his 'daring and decisive' behaviour. As usual with him, it's BS.
The third and most plausible answer is the administration's distrust of venture capitalists is simply an extension of its antipathy toward the free market. It suspects that venture capital seeks economic returns over political ends and will not direct enough funding to politically favored sectors — particularly after recent disappointments with clean-tech investments in fuel cells and ethanol. Regulating VCs is an indirect but very real means of forcing alignment with the political objectives of the administration.
This is another example of the current administration's fascist ideology--in fact one of the most direct I have seen yet (the Freddie Mac situation noted below is another). Remember the core principle of fascism's economic model (such as it has), is that private enterprise must serve the ends of the State, not it's own ends except as a byproduct.
David B. Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of the troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead Wednesday morning at his home in Northern Virginia, the police said.
Police on Wednesday outside the Vienna, Va., home where David B. Kellermann, the acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, was found dead.
The executive apparently committed suicide by hanging himself, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.
.................
Mr. Kellermann was also involved in recent tense conversations with the company’s federal regulator over its public disclosures. Freddie Mac executives wanted to emphasize to investors that the company was being run for the benefit of the government, rather than shareholders.
The company’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Authority, had reportedly pushed to play down that language. Freddie Mac ultimately reported that it made changes to business practices to help the government that "have increased our expenses or caused us to forgo revenue opportunities."
In a Fascist system, everything you do is to be for the benefit of the State. There is no need to draw attention to the fact. Vee haff vays uff makingk you to shut up!
The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office.
The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney.
The auditor said, 'Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, Which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable.'
I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it,' says Grandpa. 'How about a demonstration?'
The auditor thinks for a moment and said, 'Okay. Go ahead.'
Grandpa says, 'I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.'
The auditor thinks a moment and says, 'It's a bet.'
Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor's jaw drops.
Grandpa says, 'Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.'
Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn't blind, so he takes the bet.
Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye.
The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.
'Want to go double or nothing?' Grandpa asks 'I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.'
The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.
Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor's desk.
The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win.
But Grandpa's own attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.
'Are you okay?' the auditor asks.
'Not really,' says the attorney. 'This morning, when Grandpa told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it!'
Yes, this confirms my assumptions and suspicions. Please read this! It is obvious now why they have been so very reluctant to release the results of this examination of the banking system. It is utterly precarious: Turner Radio Network: LEAKED! Bank Stress Test Results !
And it is only time before one or more events, none of which need to be earthshaking, will topple what is left of the banking system, and with it the remainder of our economy.
Maybe, but that does not mean that the economy is. Don't be fooled. There is a whole lot of "stuff" yet to hit the fan. I know and am aware of a strong effort to steer the public's thinking into a view that suggests that the worst is over and recovery is on the way. It maybe justified by some, by saying that it requires a positive outlook on the part of the general public to actually effect an economic turnaround. But in this case there is far too much gravity in the fundamentals and it is, at best, a dishonest effort.
Don your tinfoil helmets Bubba and Louise! They're beaming Happy Horsesh*t rays at full wattage!
Update: What's behind the recent market rally. Reader's Digest version: "not much". In case you haven't already figured it out, the recent "profit" statements of the Big Bank players are mostly smoke and mirrors. There is no recovery and won't be for a good long time. Plan accordingly.
Oh and I should point out again that this relentless ongoing suppression of economic reality is only setting up a more explosive situation in the future. The harder they push down against it, the more disruptive the final result will be.
There is an extensive discussion of the history of firearms ownership and usage. The Ninth Circuit emphasizes that the right to keep and bear arms was not merely important in itself, but important to the maintenance of all other rights.
Including an affirmation of that "right-wing extremist" view that the Second Amendment is intended to provide the citizenry with the means to resist government tyranny.
Still, lots of hemming and hedging in the decision, but this is nonetheless a big vindication of the principle!
A PRESENTATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
JANET NAPOLITANO, DIRECTOR
IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE HOUSE ANTI-TAX ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE
AN IOWAHAWK EDUCATIONAL FILMS PRODUCTION
SCROLL
march music
The story you are about to see is true. Or, at least, could be true. At this very moment dangerous subversive extremist elements are infiltrating our communities and schools, bent on destroying our American Way of Life. These are the shadowy forces of International Constitutionalism. Agents from the Department of Homeland Security are on the trail of these nefarious Red State saboteurs, but it will take a vigilant public - including ordinary high school students like you - to help bring them to justice before it's too late. Only with your help can we preserve the American Way!
-- Janet A. Napolitano
NARRATOR
This is Pinewood Lane, in Anytown, USA. A street probably a lot like yours. Happy citizens enjoying the bounty of living in this great land of ours. At 1102 we find the Baxters -- Mom and Pop, teen twins Bobby and Debbie, little Susie and Grandpa. A typical family who knows what it means to be an American. Why, here comes Gus the Mailman! I wonder what he's got in his mailbag for the Baxters?
How about that -- it's a mortgage bailout for Pop, an NEA grant for Mom's transgressive performance art collective, and guaranteed student loan applications for the twins. They're off to State U next fall to study Lacanian Semiotics, you know. And for Gramps, a letter from Medicare -- they've finally approved that gender reassignment surgery he's always wanted.
Yes sir, that's a mighty fine benefits package the Baxters harvested today, all courtesy of the United States of America in Washington DC. Hey, wait Gus! Before you head off to your next stop, Pop has something for you, too. It's his annual tax contribution ready for delivery. Patriotic Pop is mailing it early this year because he knows the wise folks in Washington will put that money to work for all of us through the collective magic of economic stimulus. No wonder Pop sealed it with a kiss!
That's the beauty of our American Free Prize System - regular folks bundling our money together for our leaders, who return it a thousandfold in free prizes for all. How does it work? All we really need to know is that it's the best system in the world. A lot of us take it for granted - but there are some who want to take it away.
hoodlum peers behind a tree at the Baxters; sneers, combs greasy mop with a switchblade comb
HORNS
bomp bomp BAAAAAAAAH!
..................
POP
Lucille... what is this thing that dropped out of Johnny's coat?
HORNS
bomp bomp BAAAAAAAAH!
MOM
Great Earth Mother... it's a teabag! Look away, George!
Pop shrieks, begins sobbing uncontrollably on Mom's shoulder; fade out
NARRATOR
After an emergency call to the Department of Homeland Security, two of the bureau's top agents arrive on the scene to help the Baxters stop the madness from ending in tragedy.
No pics, sorry. There should be pics. The mesquites are finally leafing out, and my dry, desolate-looking landscape is become a riot of spring-green lushness. But in the midst of my working like a dog, the camera forgets to come out.
I installed another section of the poly mesh netting/deer fencing. The last section is now the hardest to put up, as it goes up and over the storage trailer, chain link gate sections, and around the eave of the house. Then filling a few gaps with chicken wire and the place will be ready for the yard cats.
The mice and other rodents are out in force now that the weather has warmed. Somehow my indoor cats managed to corral a *gopher* in their tiny outdoor enclosure, and brought it in for me to discover on Friday. Then Sunday morning one of them brought in a live mouse and released it for their amusement. As far as I know it's still in the house somewhere, providing them scratchy noises and little squeaks to pique their interest.
In the meanwhile I am also proceeding on a parallel path with certain repairs/improvements to the in-town house. I was hoping to ditch it as a short sale, but the more I look at the situation, the worse of a deal it looks to be. At the least I must do certain things to support the value of the house, even in this downturn. The further "underwater" it gets, the deeper the crap I am in, since Congress has not seen fit, in it's inestimable wisdom, to grant any kind of relief for people in my situation. At worst, I get it ready to rent and put a renter in it to help pay for it. So my Fridays lately have been devoted to in-town work.
Reed's bags had to be screened again at Logan because baggage handlers inadvertently routed them to baggage claim instead of onto his connecting flight to Charlotte. Typically bags are not rescreened during a layover, she said.
Did he really not declare his handgun and ammunition? That would be stupid, but then why do I wonder if some of this other stuff maybe appeared in his bags after they were "inadvertently routed" incorrectly?
Why? Because we "need" this story, that's why.
Also today, notice all the play the Tenth Anniversary of the Columbine Massacre is getting? Yes, they have an agenda, and they are carefully tweaking the gestalt mind to achieve it.
The title is for purposes of goading certain CNN reporters who somehow had their ears backfilled with concrete all during the Bush years and failed to notice that the left had no problem with calling him a fascist.
Hypocrites.
Obama *is* a fascist, by the way. The things he and his administration and the Federal Reserve are doing with banks and other private corporations are right out of fascist ideology. In communism, the state owns the means of production. In fascism the state controls the means of production, which are still held privately. When Obama fired the CEO of General Motors, he showed his true colors.
Historian Gaetano Salvemini argued in 1936 that fascism makes taxpayers responsible to private enterprise, because "the State pays for the blunders of private enterprise... Profit is private and individual. Loss is public and social."[26] Fascist governments encouraged the pursuit of private profit and offered many benefits to large businesses, but they demanded in return that all economic activity should serve the national interest.[27]
Anyway, the main point of this post is photos of this lovely Tea Party protester, who seems to have become the unofficial Poster Girl of the Tea Party movement:
Nothing wrong with that! You need a few beautiful women to make your protest something more appealing than angry people with bullhorns. Remember the beautiful Lebanese women in the Cedar Revolution photos? And of course it was the face of Yulia Tymoshenko that lit up the Orange Revolution.
Contra many of the commenters at Vox's place, I think these protests have actually done some good. They've certainly stirred things up a bit, raised the hackles on the rabid Obama supporters (such as that witless CNN reporter), and together with that "interestingly-timed" and excreable DHS hit-piece, pumped a bit of fire into the libertarian right. I'm pleased to see as many signs as I have seen in photos that directly addressed the DHS calling us "extremists". Good! Let's get angry about that kind of bullshit and call it what it is--an effort to marginalize, demonize and oppress an entire swath of the American electorate. We're dealing with f**in' FASCISM here folks! We can't pussyfoot around like it's all a miniscule political difference anymore. THEY're playing hardball now. We need to step up to the plate.
Of significant interest, here is a much longer excerpt from that Wikipedia entry linked above, detailing Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini's economic record as he responded to the Great Depression. Notice carefully the parallels to the actions of the current and recent US presidents:
However, "once Mussolini acquired a firmer hold of power... laissez-faire was progressively abandoned in favour of government intervention, free trade was replaced by protection[ism] and economic objectives were increasingly couched in exhortations and military terminology."[32] De Stefani was forced to resign in 1925 because his policy of free trade was opposed by many Italian business leaders, who favored protectionism and subsidies to insulate domestic business from international competition. In 1926, Mussolini gave an impassioned speech demanding monetary policies to halt inflation and stabilize the Italian currency (the lira)... From 1927 to 1929, under the leadership of the new Finance Minister Alberto Beneduce, the Italian economy experienced a period of deflation, driven by the government's monetary policies.[35][36]
In 1929, Italy was hit hard by the Great Depression. The Italian economy, having just emerged from a period of monetary stabilization, was not ready for this shock. Prices fell and production slowed. Unemployment rose from 300,787 in 1929 to 1,018,953 in 1933.[37] Trying to handle the crisis, the Fascist government nationalized the holdings of large banks which had accrued significant industrial securities.[38] The government also issued new securities to provide a source of credit for the banks and began enlisting the help of various cartels (consorzi) that had been created by Italian business leaders since 1922. The government offered recognition and support to these organizations in exchange for promises that they would manipulate prices in accordance with government priorities.[39] A number of mixed entities were formed, called instituti or enti nazionali, whose purpose it was to bring together representatives of the government and of the major businesses. These representatives discussed economic policy and manipulated prices and wages so as to satisfy both the wishes of the government and the wishes of business. The government considered this arrangement to be a success, and Italian Fascists soon began to pride themselves on this outcome, saying they had survived the Great Depression without infringing on private property. In 1934, the Fascist Minister of Agriculture said: "While nearly everywhere else private property was bearing the major burdens and suffering from the hardest blows of the depression, in Italy, thanks to the actions of this Fascist government, private property not only has been saved, but has also been strengthened."[40]
This economic model based on a partnership between government and business was soon extended to the political sphere, in what came to be known as corporatism. From 1934 onwards, believing that Italy could have avoided the Great Depression if it had not been linked to international markets, Benito Mussolini insisted that autarky should be one of the primary goals of his government's economic policy. To this end, the Fascists began to impose significant tariffs and other trade barriers.[41] In 1935, Mussolini boasted that three-quarters of Italian businesses relied on the government.[42] Various banking and industrial companies were financially supported by the state. One of Mussolini's first act was indeed to fund the metallurgical trust Ansaldo to the height of 400 millions Liras. Following the deflation crisis which started in 1926, banks such as the Banco di Roma, the Banco di Napoli or the Banco di Sicilia were also assisted by the state [43]. In 1933, Mussolini created the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI) with the special aim of rescuing floundering companies. By 1939 the IRI controlled 20% of the Italian industry through government-linked companies (GLCs), including 75% of pig iron production and 90% of the shipbuilding industry.
Mussolini also adopted a Keynesian policy of government spending on public works to stimulate the economy. Between 1929 and 1934, public works spending tripled to overtake defense spending as the largest item of government expenditure.[44]
BEAUCOUP BUCKS FOR BAILOUTS AND SPENDULUS BILLS! Yes, that is the pattern. Ooh, let the Dems *fume* that their Boy-Wonder-hopey-changey-Unicorntopia-messiah is an even bigger Fascist than the hated Bush!
I have been looking at this man's paintings again, feeling a deep longing for unfettered space/time for creative endeavor. In previous moments weeks past, listening to this man's music I've felt the same longing. There's music and painting and other expression, unexamined within me.
Still it occurred to me that I do have a medium, albeit one that in many ways is less than satisfying. Since I am forced by necessity to spend my weekends and evenings repairing and improving my surroundings, my muse finds her way out in places here and there into my work. There's no question that the faint outlines of my new future garden on the farm is an expression. There are other small ways that form creeps in to pure function. And in looking at what I have wrought in the house that I will now be abandoning to others, I see it. But it is transitory. Unlike the artist who can pack up his canvasses or gather up his recordings, I leave it behind. And time takes it's toll. A garden is not a permanent thing, and a house is left behind for new quarters.
I just wish my paid employment lent itself more to expression. Perhaps in miniscule ways it does, but not enough for someone to stand back and actually see it. I use color extensively during design for practical reasons, even though the final product is printed in grayscale. And I look for symmetry and order in things as mundane as callout text.
But there's a deep itch I just can't seem to reach in my life as it is today.
Really. After Hamas successfully smuggled anti-aircraft Stinger missiles into Gaza, they were given the order by Hamas commanders to shoot down IAF Apache helicopters during the past IDF 'Cast Lead' offensive.
Yet when they targeted the helicopters, said 'Alla hu Akbar' and pulled the trigger, the Stinger just beeped and flashed an error message...
The US manufactured Stinger anti-aircraft rockets have built in sensors that prevent firing upon friendly aircraft...Apache helicopters included.
'We were disappointed by them, and they were found to have been useless,' a Hamas source said.
Isn't it interesting to see what gets one branded a "right wing extremist" by Obamas StasiDepartment of Homeland Security:
Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use.
So-o, being the political opposition to The New Messiah makes one an "extremist"?
Update: Here is another copy of the DHS report, linked above at "branded". If that link doesn't work, please "Right Click" and "SaveAs" the link here, to reduce my bandwidth requirements: Rightwing Extremism
What is most disturbing to me personally is that the way this report reads, they are specifically targeting politically-oriented bloggers like me who have a survivalist and eschatological outlook.
"Hi DHS. You're a bunch of statist looneys, you are, and your document reads like a marginalizing propagandist Hit Piece! Go away and leave this patriot alone. It's all I want from my government."
Oh and don't miss the last paragraph that encourages you to turn in your friendly neighborhood patriots, with contact information provided.
As long as I'm sticking my neck out and goading the Powers That Be, this seems like a appropriate time and place to post this youtube clip about Bill Cooper and his rather astonishing call of the 9/11 attacks in his radio broadcast of June 28, 2001.
For those of you (most of you, doubtless) unfamiliar with his story, he was shot dead by Apache County Sheriff's deputies serving a warrant on trumped-up charges, under suspicious circumstances, just about one month after 9/11 fulfilled his prediction.
Here are the rest of the links to the above excerpted presentation:
Er...that would be Momcat's progress. My progress has not been photogenic--attaching guy wires and bracing posts on the yard fence, tying the top and bottom fence sections together, attaching gate hardware, etc.
I got word that the last shipment of fencing mesh arrived today. After I get this project wrapped up, I will have something more photogenic coming up--my solar cooling towers!
But as of last week the chickens have a new home! A bigger fenced yard underneath shady mesquite trees... And a new coop! Nest boxes and roosts inside the coop:
The garden is flourishing: Potatoes are peeking out from under straw and reemay in the foreground, cabbages and sunflowers in the back.
Onions foreground and mixed greens in the back.
The winter fava bean cover crop is ready to be turned under to make way for more summer vegetables.
Peas are getting ready to start climbing their trellises.
These thyme plants (left) were flourishing but taking up too much space in the garden. Now they're flourishing as a landscape plant along the front walk. The boxwood on the right is putting out new growth.
Dadcat's Memorial Garden is bursting with petunia blooms.
Why? 1) Captains with above-average Hero Quotients. 2) Crews with above-average Hero Quotients. 3) Sooner or later the Navy Seals show up. 3a) Seals showing up suddenly outside your life raft is a pretty good indication you're about to have a really bad hair day today (if you're a pirate holding an American hostage).
Here is a nice summary of pretty much everything I see in regards to Herb Peters' analysis of the European Neighborhood Policy possibly being Daniel's "covenant with many" spanning the seventieth week. (This page is not by Herb Peters, but rather summarizes his work.) European Neighbourhood Policy--Page 1, Page 2
It is very possible that we are in the seventieth week of Daniel today--well over a year into it. Those of you who were taught the pre-tribulation rapture view might want to take a good look, if only to see where the "mid-trib" and "pre-wrath" view may be off.
And his "what to do about it" blurb echoes my own advice.
----------------------------------
Update: summarizing the surmised dates from the link--
1) The decisions establishing the (possible) renewed "covenant with many" were made October 17 and October 24, 2006. The new moon (an important date in the Jewish calendar) occurred on October 22, 2006. The ENP officially went into effect January 1, 2007, but it does seem reasonable to me to backdate the beginning of the "seventieth week" to the actual decision dates.
2) 1260 days forward from that date (3-1/2 Jewish calendar years) happens to fall on Resurrection Sunday (easter), April 4, 2010, which also falls within Passover week, the Feast of Firstfruits, March 30 - April 6, 2010. This would then correspond to the midpoint of the "70th week", when the antichrist is supposed to cause sacrifice and offering to cease. It does seem an appropriate time to fulfill that prophecy, does it not?
3) 2520 days forward from that date (7 Jewish calendar years) is Yom Kippur 2013, September 13-14, 2013. It can be argued from scripture that the Messiah is to come during the festival of Yom Kippur, as Jesus has already fulfilled the meaning of the spring festivals.
Now someone who understands the Jewish calendar better than I may be able to shed some light on whether this analysis is sensible or completely flaky.
But until then I plan to stand ready, as we are exhorted in scripture.
The White House is denying that the president bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at a G-20 meeting in London, a scene that drew criticism on the right and praise from some Arab outlets.
'It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah,' said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
There is absolutely positively no way that can be construed as anything but a bow.
Unless it depends upon what the meaning of "is" is.
Ooh!! I know! Bambi was gassy and he didn't want to rip a fart in front of the king, so he bent over to suppress the gas bubble. Yeah! That's the ticket!
------------------------------------------
Update: What does it mean, you ask? Oh, well only this: As keeper of the most sacred sites of Islam, the King of Saudi Arabia is considered by many to be the titular head of the Muslim faith. By bowing low before this foreign king, he telegraphed to the entire Muslim world that he is, indeed, a stealth muslim and a political jihadi.
How many in this country realize this?
And furthermore, since it appears that the Muslim faith is a core component of the Alliance of Civilizations New World Religion, it is probable that Obama will be the one to deliver us up to it.
While economic times are tough across Michigan as its people slog through a difficult and protracted deindustrialization, Beasley remains upbeat.
Where one man sees a vacant lot, Beasley sees a buffet.
"Starvation is cheap," he says as he prepares an afternoon lunch of barbecue coon and red pop at his west side home.
"Today people got no skill and things is getting worse," he laments. "What people gonna do? They gonna eat each other up is what they gonna do."
While Beasley preps his coon with simple vinegar brine and spices, there are 100 ways to cook a coon.
There is roast coon with sweet potato, sausage and corn bread stuffing; raccoon cobbler and roast marinated raccoon with liver and onion. It is this reporter's opinion that the best sauce for coon may very well be hunger.
The story of Glemie Dean Beasley plays like a country song. The son of a sharecropper, Beasley left school at 13 to pick cotton. He came to Detroit in 1958. His woman left him in 1970 for a man he calls Slick Willy.
Someone stole his pickup truck and then someone killed his best dog.
"I knowed some hard times," Beasley says. "But a man's got to know how to get hisself through them hard times. Part of that is eating right."
What else can I say? Beasley sees the future and knows how to face it.
I've got rabbits and quail crawling over my country property. While I'd deplete them quickly if I had to rely on them for food, there's hundreds of acres of state land and privately owned ranch land along the river bottom just as full of game.
The trick will be keeping the Zombie Hordes contained in Tucson on the other side of the mountain.
How did the powerful gain power over the rest of us? In a time when the power and freedom of the average American is being eroded at terrific speed, many of us wonder how this could be happening. What we may not realize it that the powerful have specific tools or principles to use to con the rest of us into surrendering our power to them. One of the most effective principles used in the last several years with great success is the Hegelian Principle.
The principle is simple, consisting of only three steps toward a preconceived goal. Once you are able to see how it works, you may want to analyze many of the events unfolding around you in terms of this principle. As the principle is often used today, it can be explained as:(keep reading...)
"...the State 'has the supreme right against the individual, whose supreme duty is to be a member of the State... for the right of the world spirit is above all special privileges.'" ~ Georg Hegel
For all of the things that I now see coming, I would be a most miserable man if it were not for my hope in the return of Jesus Christ. Save for this hope, I might become an utter cynic or a revolutionary. It has become plainly clear to me over the last few years that we do not live in a real democracy, that we are manipulated and controlled at the whim of the elites, that we have been for the better part of at least a century (and possible to one degree or another in one place or another since the dawn of civilization in Mesopotamia), and that their plan for us is anathema to the vast majority of us.
I would be further alienated by the accelerating speed with which this country is declining, both in terms of the lost liberties upon which the nation was founded, and in terms of real economic wealth lost. For all practical purposes we're off the edge of the cliff now and in freefall. (The excessive optimist after falling off the roof of a 50 story building, was heard to exclaim as he sailed past a 45th story window, "hey this isn't so bad yet!") It is only a willful blindness that cannot see the end result.
However when I examine the Christian scriptures, I find a theme woven throughout that makes it clear that the present ruling cabal will not forever rule. And though their true position and strength remains hidden (occult) by their design, they will be stripped naked, exposed and deposed in the Day of the Lord. It will be the Lord Himself who deposes them.
And in that sense I *am* a revolutionary. Because I have cast my lot with Christ, I am a subversive under the present order, because I do not owe my loyalty to it and it has no *real* claim on me. I am, in the most real sense, "outside the state". I have been purchased out of the authority that governs this present world, and my 'supreme duty' is to another Authority.
The present order draws it's authority from the kingdom of Lucifer the fallen. Make no mistake, those who rule us are themselves ruled! They maintain their present temporal power because they have submitted themselves to the present authority over this world, an authority that pretends to give them freedom of intellect and freedom of action, but in actuality carefully controls what they do and do not see and how they see it. Thus they are led as a bull is led by a tiny ring through its nose.
The "powers that be" once made the mistake of introducing me to what they called The Archive, a vast unfathomable trove of knowledge of all things--a library containing the specific instructions how to do or create or achieve *any* conceivable end result. As an engineer, naturally I was excited to know how it worked--how to search for specific knowledge--and inquired about a card catalog or other search methods. I was told that no, I could not search on my own, but that whatever I wished to know about, the Keepers of The Archive would find, direct me to, and show me.
It was then that I realized the power of this knowledge did not lie in my hands or in the hands of any other man or woman who availed themselves of it, but it lied entirely in the hands of the Keepers of The Archive. They who would show me just what they wanted to show me, and nothing more. I realized that by controlling what I was given, I could be directed to achieve their ends. At that moment I rejected it out of hand.
Yes! Even an engineer! I would not be a pawn in their schemes because I would not serve whom they served. I had cast my lot with Christ, the forsaken of this world. He broke the power of the present order at his death on Calvary, and through his shed blood he purchased out of this world the souls of men and women for His Kingdom. I would live as an outcast, a subversive in the present order for the sake of so much more in the age to come! In short, I rejected the tree of knowledge for the tree of life.
So many people try to compartmentalize their life, making their "religion" a once a week affair with lip service to their loyalties the rest of the time. This is especially true in a nation like ours, where material prosperity comes so easily and one can pretend to serve two masters successfully. And even more so this country specifically where we were founded on Christian principles and so many still believe the Founding Father's original vision still remains intact. "Why, we are both Christians and Americans, and there is no conflict between the two, because we are a Christian Nation, are we not?"
Um, no. Not so much. Not for a very very long time...if ever.
I am no different in this regard than the vast majority of Americans. Or "was" (to some degree). But oh, it is a hard thing to realize! Can I sell everything I own, my home, my land, every stitch of clothing and food on my shelf, just to purchase that One. Priceless. Jewel?
That is the price of the Kingdom, and to the degree that I do not, I can only plead the blood of Christ to cover my shortcomings and set me right...
Hegel's dialectic is the tool which manipulates us into a frenzied circular pattern of thought and action. Every time we fight for or defend against an ideology we are playing a necessary role in Marx and Engels' grand design to advance humanity into a dictatorship of the proletariat. The synthetic Hegelian solution to all these conflicts can't be introduced unless we all take a side that will advance the agenda. The Marxist's global agenda is moving along at breakneck speed. The only way to completely stop the privacy invasions, expanding domestic police powers, land grabs, insane wars against inanimate objects (and transient verbs), covert actions, and outright assaults on individual liberty, is to step outside the dialectic. This releases us from the limitations of controlled and guided thought.
-----------------------------
Update 2: Communitarianism, the goal of the current "synthesis" phase?
-----------------------------
Update 3: Let me break it down for you: Those of you who were led to hate Bush and all you believed he stood for, played your part in the Dialectic. Those of us who liked Bush and supported what he stood for, played our part in the Dialectic. The same was true of Clinton and the presidents that came before. PAWNS, all of us! We're not allowed the choice of presidents we may really want. And now The Great Synthesizer is upon us, the Teleprompter Jesus who will lead us unto the Promised Land of Communitarianism! (All pledge allegiance to Obama!!)
Lost in the Sturm and Drang is the direction we came from (liberty) and the direction we are heading (total state control). There is the *real* picture. And don't you dare pretend that the powers that be behind either the Democrat or the Republican parties represent *anything* but the push for total state control! There are no true defenders of liberty in the halls of power! Power corrupts, and everyone who touches it is corrupted. And those extremely rare individuals who remain incorruptible are viciously marginalized, while their supporters are painted as domestic terrorists.
But one provision in the bill has received scant attention, other than an article in Mother Jones (via Memeorandum). The provision allows the President to declare a cyber emergency, shut down the internet, and access almost any cyber-information. The President may
declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network' (Sec. 18(2))
The term 'United States critical infrastructure information system or network' includes federal, state and local governmental, and non-governmental systems or networks. In other words, everything. (Sec. 23(3)) The President also
shall have access to all relevant data concerning such networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule or policy restricting such access. (Sec. 14(b)(1))
The standards in the Act as to what constitutes an emergency, and what the President can do with the information, are unacceptably vague. While cyber-security is increasingly important, I worry about giving such sweeping powers to ANY President, much less one who already has created a cult of personality enabled, in part, by an adoring media.
The bottom line is that he is *not* required by law to disclose why he is carrying cash, nor where he obtained it. They were in the wrong and he was released to catch his flight.
Jerusalem --- April 1, 2009 ..... In a stunning move, which has caught global leaders by surprise, Iran and Israel signed a peace treaty today in Jerusalem. Under the cover of darkness, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport just after midnight and was greeted by Israeli President Shimon Peres. The two then drove to the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem where in his last act as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signed several copies of the peace treaty. US President Obama had secretly flown into Jerusalem to serve as a witness to the historic, early morning ceremony.
All original material and original images are copyright (c) 2003-2012, desertcat.blogspot.com, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been pre-authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of political, economic, scientific, social, art, media, and cultural issues. The 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material that may exist on this site is provided for under U.S. Copyright Law. In accordance with U.S. Code Title 17, Section 107, material on this site is distributed without profit to persons interested in such information for research and educational purposes. If you want to use any copyrighted material that may exist on this site for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Disclaimer: Any stories, accounts of events or statements of fact herein, may be a fictionalized account of actual events or be entirely fictional. Nothing written herein is intended to be interpreted as factual or true. "Desert Cat", "Daisycat", "Momcat", and "Dadcat" are fictitious names and fictional characters and may not bear any resemblance to real persons. The use of these names is copyrighted (c) 2003-2011, desertcat.blogspot.com, and all rights are reserved.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: You are responsible for your own life.
All data and information provided on this site is For Informational Purposes Only.
The owner of this weblog make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability or the validity of any information on this site.
The owner of this weblog will not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this information; nor for any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.
All information provided is OPINION, and is to be used at you own risk.
COMMENT POLICY: All comments left on this weblog become the property of the blog proprietor and are subject to editing or deletion. This blog has a zero tolerance policy for comment spam. All efforts in all forms to utilize the comment section for SEO or commercial promotion purposes will be expunged and contact information will be blacklisted with Disqus. Comments that exceed stupidity limits (arbitrarily defined in the sole determination of the blog proprietor) shall be subject to editing or deletion at the sole discretion of the blog proprietor. This is not a free speech zone. If you object to any portion of this policy, your only recourse is to refrain from commenting.
