I'm still pissing tem off

 Well, hey faithful readers!

I want to apologize for not posting here more frequently, but I wanted to let ya'll know that I haven't shut up yet.

I was formerly wirting a column for a weekly rag, but I stopped because I was really rattling some cages and my real name was attached.  Haha

Well that's the short version.

 

Then I have been submitting testimony on proposed legislation regarding environmental issues but primarily issues concerning Fish and Wildlife.

That hasn't won me many fans either.  The NRA lobbyist whacked me on the way by with their briefcase at one meeting.  At another meeting a member shared an anecdote about getting a journalist out in the middle of nowhere in a canoe and having an "accident".

 

Not to be deterred, I regularly comment on the outdoor column on the online version of a Maine daily-and have accrued my share of haters over there too.

 

I am ashamed of Maine's policies regarding Wildlife.  I am angry about Lee Kantar's "Adaptive Moose hunt" which plans to remove 500 cows from one WMD in Western Maine  to see if less moose means less ticks.   

I have been ridiculed when I have pointed out the decline in Canada jay populations-which rely on old growth softwood (in Maine? no more!) They have been docuemted as consumers of winter ticks on moose.

no, because you see, the hunting lobbyists made sure that Maine DIFW changed their direction to "hunting as the preferred method of wildlife management."

Well dears, my mantra is the more the merrier.  INCREASE biodiversity. Let trees grow! Let populations balance themselves as much as possible.

Oh they were mad at me the other day.  I needed to "get a life" I needed to "drink warm milk so I could sleep through without worrying about coyote hounders"

 

Since that comment was in response to a post at 7:20 am I was really confused.

 

One day I might utilize this space to try and document all the residents I can claim on mine, granted I rank very high on "high value plant and animal habitiat" and try and expand it.

 

Let's start with trees tonight:

Red Oak,  Beech, Red Maple, Sugar Maple, Elm, Poplar, Eastern Hemlock, Eastern White Pine, Yellow birch, White  Birch, Ash, Balsam Fir.  Those are the big boys.

I leave any blowdowns, the hodgepdge of hangups are utilized by everything as above ground walkways.

I do pick up any hardwood branches and break them up for the woodstove.  I compost much. 

Yes, Get a Life- Life is too short.  Increasing biodiversity for the sake of the planet-and vicsiously verbally lashing those who destroy it, that seems a good enough life for me.

From Maine with Love

 

FIrst week of August 2021

Summer is flying by.  I mark the halfway point when the goldenrod blooms, and I have seen a few feathery golden sprays gracing the roadside.

 

I whacked my goldenrod back in June.  I told myself it was to encourage a bushy shape, but subconsciously it could have been to delay the bloom and my interpretation of how much summer is left.

 

My beloved lab pit mix, Peko, died.  It was at least a month ago and I have been reeling, sad, lonely, lost, bereaved.  

We acquired him as an adult, supposedly age 2 although appearing older, in 2008, so he was at least 15 and died just shortly before what we called his "birthday" July 22.

His decline was gradual over a few years.  He stopped showing interest in fetching a tennis ball, his favorite game.  He slept upstairs with me every night we owned him until the morning he fell down the stairs a couple years ago. Willow and I had to help him down the next morning, and it was so difficult I decided that he would have to sleep downstairs.

 

His pacing and whining that night in his attempt to come to bed with me was too much-I started sleeping downstairs for rest of his life.

That arrangement varied as time went by.  I had a twin mattress I laid on the floor each night and we slept there together.  Some nights we slept on the couch together, me balanced on the edge since he was a hog when it came to sleeping arrangements. 

 

Sometimes he slept with a cat or two on the other couch. Eventually he couldn't get on either couch without help.  He needed help getting outside.  He went on a special diet to encourage his appetite.  He started having incontinent issues which involved handwashing bedding sometimes three or four times a day.  It was a tough call, whether to rouse him out of a deep sleep and straddle him out the back door, or hope he would wake up and indicate he needed to go out.

At the end I bought disposable dog wraps, which he HATED.  He would not loose control when wearing one. I was home bound for the most part dashing out only briefly for supplies so I didn't arrive home and find him splayed on the floor in a mess.

 

Many people would have had him euthanized, I suppose.   I couldn't do that to him.  I have had dogs euthanzied, and I have had them die at home.  Peko was a tough cookie. He was my best friend.  Even after this much time has passed since I buried him on the hottest day of the year, I can still erupt in uncontollable tears and grief for his passing.

 

I love you Peko, thank you for being part of my life for 13 years.

Porcupines

 

Did you know that porcupines only have one baby per birthing?

I saw this Momma climbing my big elm and went out to take a pic of her.  Imagine my surprise when I saw-and heard-baby following Mom up the very tall tree.  

 The elm goes at least 50 feet before it forks off.  Baby whimpered and made little baby noises.  I prayed I wasn't going to see it fall.  By the time it made it to the first fork, Mom was in the branches eating either leaves or seeds.  

 

I think it must have been seeds because I have much shorter elms that have leaves.  OR maybe Mom was teaching baby how to climb big trees in addition to finding supper.

 

I like porcupines.  I have a few stories involving porcupines, most that include dogs.

 I had a Mom and baby here two years ago that I loved to see, then Mom got run over up the hill and her body lay in the middle of the road.  I was disgusted neighbors were just driving by, so I went up with a shovel and broom  and moved her off the road.  

A day or two later I was taking a walk and found baby cowering in a rock pile not far away.  I was very sad.  I have seen and heard of baby porcupines who linger near their dead Moms.  They follow them everywhere so no wonder they are lost when she won't get up ever again.

Fingers crossed this family survives the road- and the year round open season (no limit) on this amazing native.

 

 

Summer Solstice

 The days are flying by.  We finally had a little bit of rain yesterday when a thunderstorm came through.

The clover is blooming.  The highlight of my summer is when I walk across the lawn to my chair and find white clover blossoms tucked between my toes.  I don't care for jewelry and have ugly feet but something about the clover blossoms in between my toes is lovely.

Happy Solstice!

Justice

I was wondering what Jim Hansen was up to these days.  You may know him as the NASA climate scientist who testified before Congress in 1988 outlining the potential impacts of Climate Change

 

I was reading an article from the Guardian and it said that he was arrested as part of a protest against the Keystone Pipeline.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/19/james-hansen-nasa-scientist-climate-change-warning 

400 protesters were arrested in front of the White House that day.I think that is more than the number of people who were charged for the storming of the Capitol January 6th.

 IMO that reflects what is going on from the top down in the Criminal Justice system.

 

 

 

 

 

Ramblings

 Summer Solstice 2021 is nearly upon me. Temperatures have been on  a roller coaster, 90 one day, 40 the next. that's F BTW. 

Today was a beautiful one, just right in the shade, just right in the su,n although some recent transplants didn't quite agree.  I spent the morning hauling goat manure down to revitalize a section of perennial bed that had gone rampant with Jeruselum Artichoke and a viral form of skanky aster, which was pulled by the handful last fall when I woke up and realized what it was doing all over the front garden.

Foxglove, recently given went in,  the roses (which are always finicky for me, but without a doubt my favorite flower) were tucked in,  I rescued one of the last fragments of purple coneflower which struggles here, ditto with a perennial bachelor's (Centaurea Montana I believe) button division from last year which wanted to be anywhere else but where it was.

The hops have taken off, placed in between the refuse-to-ever-bloom-in-20 years Chinese Wisteria and the refuse-to-give-a-grape-in-twenty year grape vine, on a tripod of rods, it reaches one way for the wisteria and the other way for the grape, themselves reaching their stride and reaching back in return.

The Wisteria appeared less than thrilled to meet Hops and every creeper turned the other way after they touched.  the Grape, a bit more tentaive, met Hop and thought that was ok.  Hop knelt in respect and gave Grape the upper hand.

I wonder which one I am most like, the Hop, the Grape, or the Wisteria?  

The WIsteria which just goes gangbusters and to hell with flowering.   The grape who hides until all threat of winter chill is gone and then goes full bore, eventually deciding it is just too much effort to fruit, or the hops, the gypsy orphan salvaged from a property up the road changing hands-usually such tentative divisions refuse to prosper away from their parent,  But not the hops, even after a bit of neglect, part of it jumped forth its first year and put on a nice streamer of hops blossoms.  

This year it took me by surprise, despite it's placement in the sandiest poorest soil in my garden, it sent forth a half donen vinelings this spring and is currently the Queen or King of the garden.

 

I feel lonely and horny looking at it. Eight long years.  sigh.

End of May

 

I am glad to see that the columbine have recovered from several years of saw fly attack.  The Willow told me to sprinkle coffee grounds on them to deter the flies.  I was sure this spring that I had lost most of them, but they surprised me, along with all the perennials that go from nothing to two feet seemingly overnight.

 

We need rain, in a bad way.  We didn't get much snow last winter and this spring has been dry.  I have several oaks taking a big blow from brown tailed moths.  They are invasive aliens that look like a tent caterpillar and have hairs that can give a burning itchy rash and lung irritation if inhaled.

 

I am recovering from peeling a strip off my right palm.  I snagged my foot on a down electric fence wire while carrying a five gallon bucket with a broken plastic spool on the handle. The weight of me on the hand holding the sharp piece as I went head first acted like a vegetable peeler and took a quarter inch wide three inch long chunk of skin out of my palm.  

 

UGH.  Tough time of year for a hand wound that requires wrapping, and makes holding anything in the dominant hand painful.

 

Lucky for me I had some large sterile gauze pads.  I have been tearing strips of fabric to wrap around my hand and wrist to keep the gauze in place.  It works terrific, since the three bandaids required would stay on a minute at best,  Although I did have some band aid brand ones that stuck so well the plastic had to be chipped  and pulled off which was extremely painful.  A good squeeze of neosporin on the gauze seems to help keep it from sticking, the wrap-an old jersey torn in strips has been the best.

 

Oh yeah, typing is painful too.  And I did it a week ago.  Grrrr. 

Happy May

.  The red maples are blooming red, the sugar maple are blooming a white green.  Ash have an almost black flower. The bright yellow King Alfred daffs are blooming, the other narcissus are just coming on, as are the bleeding heart,

 

I have squashed a couple of tent caterpillar nests on the wild cherry trees.   

 

The grey squirrels rasied another brood in the eaves.  I caught the ready to leave the nest younglings hanging off the electric service and chewed them out in squirrel talk.  One is very bold, hanging out to just look at me.  (I speak grey squirrel with a southern accent)

 Willow is coming home for a summer break, and she is not too keen on squirrels living in the roof.  But I have always had a soft spot for them, and am glad the population has rebounded and they are losing their fear.  The fact that the neighbors son who liked to shoot at anything that moved is not around has made a difference, as well.

 Happy May

 

Snow, Daffodils, WInds

 See title

Guilty on All Counts

 You might think that I jumped up and down in celebration as the verdicts were read at the Derek Chauvin trial.

I didn't.  I sat in a state of emotion that is difficult to describe.  Frozen while tears welled up and streamed down my face.

Despite news anchors describing the crowd reaction as jubilant, I saw many in the crowd experiencing the same sort of emotion.

I did some research on Derek Chauvin before the verdicts arrived, and discovered that he had been involved in several incidents where he had received awards:

He had been involved in three police shootings, one of which was fatal.^{[25][26][27][28]} He received a medal for valor in 2006 for being one of several officers who fired on a suspect who pointed a shotgun at them, and another in 2008 for a domestic-violence incident in which he broke down a door and shot a suspect who reached for his pistol.^[29][30] He received a commendation medal in 2008 after he and his partner tackled a fleeing suspect holding a pistol. He received a commendation medal in 2009 after working off-duty as a security guard for a nightclub.^[24]

 

^{Chauvin's expression as the verdicts were read showed , IMO shock and horror.  I believe he thought he was going to get off with a pat on the back.}  

^{That is because this type of violence by law enforcement has been rewarded and encouraged-that is why we need real policing reform.}  

^{RIP George Floyd.}

 

April Tuesday

 The jury is deliberating in the Derek Chauvin trial.  I would like to correct an earlier post when I said that Chauvin had his hand in his pocket during the murder of George Floyd.  An outline of Chauvin's position during the trial shows his black gloved fist resting on his left hip.  

In the original video his hand blends in and was not visible to me.  I would apologize for my crude interpretation, but in my mind that is and was the only rational explanatioin for his expression facing the camera while he slowly suffocated a human being.

Since Chauvin refused to testify, we do not know what he was thinking, or what his motivation was during the video. He does not appear to be angry, caught in some sort of beserker rage.  He is calmly staring at the camera and group of bystanders.

Is he challenging the group to intervene?  One would think he would crack a satisfied smirk at their helplessness.

Is he then a cold blooded killer?  He stayed in position three minutes after Floyd was dead and showed no remorse while waiting for first responders.  He refused aid for Floyd from a bystander who was an off duty first responder.  

Did we get Chauvin's background?  We heard about Floyd's history, did we get to hear Chauvin's history?  Early in the case someone had come forward and suggested that Chauvin and Floyd had history, but that went away and was retracted very quickly.

It is much easier to kill something with a gun.  One bad moment and a squeeze of a trigger and that bullet cannot be recalled.  But over 9 minutes of suffocation-and there was no doubt he was being suffocated as he cried, "please officer, I can't breathe," TWENTY times.

One can only draw the conclusion that when Chauvin got FLoyd on the ground his intent was to put an end to his life.  Once that mission was accomplished, he showed no remorse and prevented any action from bringing aid to Floyd.  In fact, staying on his windpipe for three minutes after he died was insurance that Floyd would never get up again.

I sincerely doubt that all 12 jurors will find Chauvin guilty on any count.

Yesterday the Willow and friend were at an intersection in a Maine city when a convoy of vehicles with flags and Trump signs blew through a red light in front of the police station and no action was taken.  

I try to understand such blind devotion to such a terrible human being whose policies and actions put the whole country in danger on many levels, from climate change to insurrection.  

The only thing I can come up with, which was the same conclusion regarding the devotion to our former Governor Paul LeRage-their outspoken advocacy towards racism.  Finally closet racists had someone in charge to openly express their personal views. 

What other conclusion can one draw, when Trump supporters openly display symbols of racism?  Even up the road some local dimwit, who is actually in a position of power via the local volunteer fire department, displayed a homemade sign several months ago..."All lives matter."

I wonder how that person would be feeling if it had been a black cop and a whte person?

RIP George Floyd

 Watching news clips of the Derek Chauvin trial is just sickening.  I don't understand how one person could view the video of that psycho with his hand in his pocket-probably with penis in firm grip to stop the tent pole erection he got while crushing the life out of a human being.

If this was done by a soldier in another country it would still be murder.  How it can be done to an American citizen on American soil and be defended as a cop's training, is just beyond me.

RIP George.

Thought on immigration

 Crisis at the Southern border has been all over the news lately.  Susan Collins with Vruz and some other Republicans lurking in the bushes along the Rio Grande, interviews with migrants, etc.

Often with these stories the reporter will say some outrageous sum that was paid to the smuggler-the last one I heard was $6,000 for a woman with baby and child.  A lot of times these people get turned right back out again. 

Why not by pass the smugglers and let them and their $6,000 in?That's enough to get a place to stay and cover rent for a few months-obviously they want to work and can work or have access to funds-they had to pay the smuggler.

And you know, most of these people want to come here, someone says, I know a guy, takes X amount of money, he will get you in.  They may not even know that it is illegal.

The other thing that disturbs me is that they never ealy ask them why they are leaving their homes.  One man was said to have said the hurricane that hit Guatemala devastated them.

 

We were told climate change would cause shifts in populations due to natural disasters, and it is right in front of us on TV but that is not the story we are told.  Sometimes I wish the Native Americans had told the pilgrims that they weren't welcome and that they had to go back where they came from.

Song and Dance

 I have been trying to listen to the radio a bit more of late.  Isn't that so old school, listen to the radio? There are a couple of good so-called classic rock stations within puny antenna reach, and there is something comforting about hearing the same call letters for over 40 years.

 

Speaking of 40, how can you top having a live band on your favorite radio station sing you happy birthday on your 40th?  

 

I had the radio on this afternoon, it really gets me going.  Even now I am listening to "Footloose" and am finding it very difficult to sit still and type and not get up and start cutting a rug. Hang on a second.Ok it came to the "turn me around" and I had to getup and have a little spin.  I am a little rusty.  I used to have dance moves specific to a lot of different songs.  

 

An old roomate got me started on that, we had a bit for Ratt's "Round and Round" back in the 80's and would do our little bit on the stairs(in our spandex lol) at Portland Maine's largest Rock Club where we worked as waitresses.

 "Jenny" by Tommy Twotone came on.  I couldn't resist.  Had I ever done it?  I picked up my cell and typed in "8675309" and held my breath.  

"The number you have reached, 207, 867 (is she going to say it OMG?) 5309 ....has been disconnected and is no longer in service"

Dang you thing the phone company would put something clever on that number.  Could you imagine? Wonder if they ever assign it or if it is just blacked out.  LMAO  It was pretty funny.

Spring must be in the air to have this old gal shaking her tail.  Guiness on after St patty's Day clearance sale doesn't hurt either.

 

Some of the migrant birds are returning.  Today I saw a flock of common grackle up the road, had seveal fox sparrows and juncos acting very nesting like.  The ducks are quacking in the stream (mallards I think although I have seen wood duck there as well) A couple pairs of white breasted nuthatch finally appeared after a winter's absence.

 

Things are a little mucky.  The water table is horribly low for spring thaw, but we are due for some rain and then maybe "significant snow" Sunday.  Boo.  The red maples and pussywillow are finally starting to bud.

 

 

We Are Screwed

 I thought I would check Mauna Loa CO2 monitoring the other day.  Our CO2 ppm is up 2.5 ppm since the same time last year.  

This is after the world came to a screeching halt during the pandemic, airplanes grounded, people working from home, kids not taking buses to school.

Scientists have known there is a lag betwen the time CO2 gets into the atmosphere and when it gets removed. We tend to produce more than the planet can absorb, so it keeps rising overall.

 

Why then, did it continue to rise so rapidly when technically production should be less?  The only logical explanation is that our ability to absorb it has been reduced even more.

 

I was ranting about Brazil and the recent push to level rainforest for development.  Then the WIllow pointed out quite astutely that last year was a huge one for fires-the Western US a well as huge parts of Australia. 

Last night, seperate from this issue, I decided to street view the house where I grew up. My mother sold it about twenty years ago.  Here's a pic of her on the front walk, most likely going out to dinner for Easter or Mother's Day:

The house in in complete shade from the huge white oaks -two in the front and several in the back, plus a white pine to the left of the azaleas she planted when I was very small.  You can just make out the lamp post ot the right between the white and pink azaleas.

This is what it looks like now:

Yes, quite a nice looking neighborhood I suppose, but absolutely whacked.  The neighbor to the left had a privet hedge that surrounded their property-gone.  They had Tulip trees in their yard-the same size as our oaks-gone.  The azaleas-gone.  People used to stop and photograph them.  

The oaks, our white and the neighbor's red, gone.  Now for all I know severe storms may have come through and done a number on the trees.  My  mother was always worried one would fall.  But the azaleas?  I had been told they were an insurance risk because robbers could hide in them.  Good luck I couldn't hide in them when I was tiny.

My mother's lawn even looked better.  But this is an example of where this country has been going-whack a tree, whack a bush, take out hedges.  Just the amount of wildlife that lost cover in this ONE yard is devastating to me.

I was glad to see the corner lot (behind the viewer) had kept their hedge and their trees and you can't even see the house.  The rest of the block looked pretty much like this.

gives me nightmares I tell you.  Folks, you can't re grow hundred year old trees overnight.  What's going to reduce the CO2 and stop the extremes from becoming even more extreme?

Things are really out of whack here this season.  The maple sap is late, and the trees aren't giving it up.  My water table is down at least a foot.  We had little snow and no rain.  

The last time the Earth had these kinds of CO2 levels it was a grassland.  Trees don't like hot and dry, or violent storms either. It doesn't help to reduce CO2 production if you are not increasing absorbtion.  The planet cannot sustain this rapid change .

 

There is a little doom and gloom for you on this Spring Equinox.  This is not an ""I told you so" I will be proud of.   

On the other hand, keep your eyes peeled for Auroras tonight.  Solar wind incoming coupled with the Equinox ups the odds for viewing them.

March of the Ents

 Finally here we are heading into spring.  I love the landscape this time of year.  The bright blue sky, white puffy clouds, the dark trees.  I closely examed the pussywillows and forsythia today, and didn't see much sign of life.  But I can sense it in the trees, this waking up and swelling.  They just look and smell differently this time of year, and it is the time I find myself spending long minutes staring into my woods and checking out the health of the trees.  

I am , in addition to being a wildlife advocate, a forest advocate.  I get tired of hearing that there is no old growth in Maine so therefore there is no reason to preserve forest and leave it alone to return to a natural state.  I have a feeling a lot of people don't want anyone to be able to compare a real forest to a nitpicked one.

I found this website-no, nothing listed in Maine, but I was proud to compare my Mama beech, my big elm, pines, and hemlocks-even a few of the oaks ash and maples are getting up there.

All you big tree lovers out there might enjoy browsing this website:

https://www.oldgrowthforest.net/why-oldgrowth-forests

Goodbye Anna

 I just finished burying one of my last three goats.  Anna had just turned thirteen.  Obi is 14 and Moonie 15.  

I picked a spot up near her mother and father's graves in the upper pasture.  They had both died in the winter and been temporarily interred in the stone wall there.  Eventually I dug them proper graves nearby and learned a few things when I did it.

FIrst of all, I do not recommend plastic bags.  I wrap deceased pets in two layers of sheeting or other suitable preferably cotton based fabric. I did Derek in plastic and he was a digusting mess to relocate.  Trust me, a good hole away from any water source, rocks, and fabric.

I left Derek and Cricket's temporary internment sites open with the rocks nearby in case I needed it the future.  Kind of morbid,yeah, but a sad fact of life when you promise to keep an animal for it's entire life.

Today we have a wind advisory and it is blowing.  The trees are creaking and I had the last large fir in the upper pasture blow down on the fence. The pastures are shut off this time of year, and I had to dig the gate out of the ice to get it open. I had to rather unceremoniously drag Anna by her front feet and horns to get her onto the sheet-covered plastic sled.  Moonie didn't want to look.

I got her covered and proceeded to pull her up to the grave location.  I had started to prep it to make sure I could use it, and then decided to get her up there to gauge the dimensions of the grave.  Nothing worse than making one too small, espeically when dealing with an animal you can't lift back out of the hole.

I dug a bit more, setting the diggings on the snow crust to the right of the grave and slightly uphill. The wind chill well below zero, temps in the single numbers and the winds gusting to over 50 mph.  I maneuvered the sled over the hole and managed to fit her in neatly.  I had dug some nice rocks out of the hole and started rocking her in.  I looked over my shoulder and Moonie and Obi were about 50 feet away.  Moonie was faced away.

I pried some rocks out of the pile, and finished rocking her in.  My toes were frozen.so I headed back with the now empty sled to warm up, thaw out, and gather a few things to finish the grave.  I walked by the wethers, speaking some words about "sorry about Anna guys".  I thought they might stay out, but they ran back to the paddock with me.

After I warmed up, I gathered some rose scented geranium, and begonia and red geranium blossoms and made a little bouquet.  I grabbed a small clay pot from near the stove that was filled with rocks that I had dragged home becasue they had caught my eye on daily walks. I took the last (quite ripe) banana and added that to the pile.

SInce I needed to grab a rake on my way back, I stuck my assemblage into a cut off water just that we call "a grain jug". They work perfectly to carry a day's ration of grain to whatever I am feeding--goats, poultry, wild birds, etc.  I was sure the wethers would bomb me when they saw me return with the grain jug, but perhaps lost in their own nostalgia, they stayed in the houses nibbling the morning's hay.

I placed the bouquet between the rocks, placed the hand-picked stones in any obvious gaps, and back filled with everything I had set aside, The big slabs of ice crust went on the top.  It was a variation of my standard grave, whcih is to finish with the stones.  But since the grave was shallow I thought it was better to rock the body.  Once the snow melts in the sping I can get to more rock to finish the top.

Finished, I just had to reclose the frozen gate.  That took some struggles, and at that point Obi came over and started nuzzling me.  I had tucked the banana in my pocket and he could smell it.  He took advantage of my struggles with the gate to pick-pocket a paper towel out of my pocket.  That was the motivation I needed to gather the strength to get the get shut with bare freezing hands while the trees creaked ominously over my head.

Obi followed me over to the houses as I tracked down Moo and split the banana in thirds in celebration and commiseration of Anna, this time with a third to me instead of her. Obi and Moo spilt the peeling from my third.

Good bye Anna

Does it make you angry?

 Daniel Prude.  

Northern New York.  March.  Night.  Light snow.  Wet streets.  A naked black man having a psychotic episode.

 

Police officers manage to get a "spit hood" on their victim, and then team up, pressing his naked body to the wet asphalt.

 

While they had him pinned facedown to the ground, they couldn't handcuff him, zip tie his legs, wrap him in a blanket, and call for an ambulance? 

 

Disgusting.  

To cap it all off, our so called justice system  lets all SEVEN police officers off without charges.

This is why there are calls to defund the police. This is why there are calls for reform. Yet nearly half the country gets outraged by the BLM movement, who try and protest this type of behavior.

Police who were supposed to be protecting our heart of government stood by and ushered in violent right wing extremists, with every intent of pointing the finger of blame at antifa.

If BLM protesters had descended on the capitol, they would have been tear gassed and water cannoned, at the very least.

If any of my readers followed the link on the previous post to end wildlife killing contests and watched the video at the link, they may make the connection between sadistic murders and torturers of animals and police brutality.  

It is a well know fact that psychotic murderers often start out as children torturing animals.  Yet Maine "sportsmen" have pushed legislation which encourages youth hunting "you have to get them started young".

This is where brutality begins.  Society needs to stop condoning violence towards living beings.  Teach kindness to those less fortunate.  

Is this violence allowed because people in power WANT to have an armed mob to rise up at their command?  Isn't that the heart of war? 

Here we see half our elected representatives found nothing wrong with what happened on Jan 6th.  Sure, they pay lip service to how awful it was , but what did they do to stop this kind of behavior in the future?  Put up fences?  Please.

I have posted my entire property line at some time and expense, but that doesn't stop sadists from letting their hounds chase terrified creatures through my land.  (dogs can't read signs)

I argue that people who get their jollies at causing fear and pain have something wrong with them.  They should absolutely NOT be in positions of authority.  

I believe this type of behavior is innate as well learned. 

Do you think that when AI inevitably takes over the planet that it will favor non destructive behavior and condemn violent destructive behavior? Or will AI be a war mongering entity?

I think it will take an AI to end violence.  Violence is part of our animal nature as a form of population control as well as evolution.  

This is usually where I start to stray into the hugely despised theory of eugenics. But truly, ask yourself, what do you want the future of our planet to look like? A bunch of morons running around with sticks?    

*edit most people think of eugenics as practised by white supremists trying to develop a "pure race" , which is not what I was suggesting.  One day we will find the gene behind violent behavior, which given our animal beginnings is probably endemic in the entire human race.

 

Mars?

 I have been a nerd for a long time.  I grew up exposed to science fiction-watched the Apollo moon landing, had a real astronaut visit our 6th grade class (everyone wanted to know how astronauts went to the bathroom in the suit)

So of course it was just part of existance that space travel was part of our present and would certainly be part of our future.

Then there was the jelly doughnut.  Actually it started with a link to Martian blucberries.  From there I learned about the jelly doughnut-a rock broken and dislodged by one of the rovers, which then rolled downhill and magically appeared in the next image.

https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/5997/where-martian-jelly-doughnut-rock-came-from-true-color/?site=insight

The photo in the above link does not show the tread of the rover as clearly as the one I saw the other day, but you can still see the rover track, along what looks like my attempt at paving my back stoop.

Ethically, should we be landing on Mars and tromping and drilling and digging and leaving bits of man made stuff strewn all over?

Do we do it just because we can?  Are we looking to colonize Mars when we can't nurture our own beautiful Gaia?  Is it greed-to get there first, a strategic position for protection, a stepping stone towards longer space travel?  A planet to retreat to if ours suffers catastrophic failure?

I know between Nov and January I was thinking of a large group of people who would be welcome to go there IMO.

If there is advanced life out there, I wonder if they might be concerned about humans and their expansion desires.  One look at humankind's resume would surely put us on a watch list, at the very least.

Poor Mars.

End WIldlife Killing Contests

 DId you know that killing contests still occur in this country?  The goal is to kill as many predators as possible.  This includes fox, raccoon, bobcat, coyote, and any other predator not legally endangered.

Project Coyote has a petition to end wildlife killing contests on Federal Land.  That's right, land that is owned by all Americans.

You can read more and sign here:

http://www.projectcoyote.org/?eType=EmailConfirmation&eId=cfd5c713-8863-4ba8-b121-fd42d5a5b45c

I Have a Dream

 I am old enough to remember that speech.  I remember the riots when he was assasinated.  I remember segregation that had lingered late in the District.

I remember Brianna Taylor, George Flloyd, "hands up don't shoot" and "I can't breathe."

Myabe the country desparately needed that ugly pus filled pimple to pop on January 6th, so we can realize we are are in this together-on many levels.

As the saying goes, "if you're not with us you're against us", and I think a good punishment would be to send them all off to Mars-before they manage to turn this planet into a frozen barren dead planet.

How I saw it

 I was overcome with a feeling of restlessness the morning of January 6th.  The clock was standing still.  I was waiting for PBS live coverage of the electoral count.

Not able to find anything at noon, the next hour dragged. At 1 pm PBS's signal kept pixelating-but CBS was carrying live coverage.  Nancy Pelosi was demading Republicans exceeding the social distance limit clear the floor and retire to the balcony.  Republicans kept demanding they stay-Pence finally shot down their reasoning.  From the camera angle, I was unable to determine if the Republicans complied.  It appeared that they sat and did not go to the balcony.

The first two states called went to Trump, quickly.  The next state, Arizona, called for Biden was immediately objected.  Congress retreated for debate.  The WIllow and I watched until Cruz took the microphone.  Neither of us cared to be subjected to his blather, so we watched some of the extras on the Game of Thrones blue ray collection she had gifted me for Christmas.

About 2:30 I asked if we could check in on the live coverage.  The screen was suddenly full of flag waving monkeys clinging off the face of the Capitol.  LIke many viewers, we sat and watched the images in shock.

I noted many of the police on the front lines were women-short ones.  Or black.  Where was the riot gear?  We watched as riot shields were ripped away from officers inside out of sight and used as weapons to shatter windows.   

One camera positioned outside the Capitol showed several yellow flags with red squiggles (similar to the flag of South Vietnam) with a barrel of flags nearby.  It looked like a supply station for rioters.

Still, where were the troops?  Leaders of Congress were making calls to anyone and everyone to get back up but mysteriously hands were tied for hours.  It took the National Guard  over three hours to show up.

I was astonished that Congress came back and finished their job.

He should have been removed last year.  In fact, he should never have been elected, according to the millions who marched worldwide in protest January 21, 2017. The only positive thing that I can see came from the last four years is that all the rats were coaxed out of their holes.