The Native Iowan

Its May and its been way too long since I got into any prose. Not sure if I have been busy or distracted. They are close to being the same but are not. Busy is positive, Distracted, less so.

My mother turned 92 on Wednesday May 1. Let me see if I can find some pictures of my Mom… She is a very impressive individual.

Hapi 92nd and see you next year for 93…

I’m sitting indoor, watching a b-grade movie. I love shootemups. Sexy babes dodging bullets. Long, elaborate fights that are choreographed very well.

But it all makes me think of the very recent bluez/newz I’ve heard and watched. The intrigue and espionage and guns and cars and bombs… makes me think of politics…

I’m watching/ listening…

As Solomon Islands has just completed a National Election.

As the major parties here in Australia prepare for National Elections.

As the USofA runs through its never-ending cycles of elections.

Can any one blame me for being in a state of Politico-overload?

Some of the stupidest shit gets said and done at election-time.

Thankfully elections are only, ONLY, every 4 years in the Solos. More frequent in Aus. Infuckingcessant in the USofA.

But some really dumb-ass shit gets said during elections.

What bamboozlz me is the fact that the average bear in the electorate eats this bullshit for breakfast, lunch and supper. It’s been stupid for ages, now it’s getting down right fucking stupid. N

There is plenty of newz, but very little news. Words are spun and respun. Facts as purveyed are not facts but opinions. And opinions are just, JUST fucking opinions… Not NEWS.

Dont matter who it be or where it be. An opinion is nothing but an opinion. It is not fact or law or even fucking important at all. Unless we make it important. Something that is done all the time. Way too often.

The hypocrisy is becoming way too sickening. From Hugs to rapes, to innuendo, to blackface, then white-face, and even loss of face.

I’m thinking of Jussie Smollett.

Now explain to me…

The entire Democratic wann-be mass of would-bes just got up and kowtowed to The Very Reverend Al Sharpton. The Rev lined up all the wouldbe wannbe and hasbeen “candidates” and made them pay homage to him and his pedestal. His pulpit…. https://www.usnews.com/news/the-run/articles/2019-04-02/2020-democrats-flock-to-al-sharptons-national-action-network-to-address-race-gap

Now I got no issues with the left going a few steps further left. The pendulum do swing.  But, here is the hypocrisy, Rev Al is racist through and through. He has made his career by being a racist and a race-baiter. I’m just calling it as I see it. And I do believe there is more than enough evidence to conclude that the RevAl an’t a hippy.

What would happen, I ask, if the republican candidate(s) were to share a stage with David Duke?

Why of course there would be outrage. Indignation. Any one wanting to be lePresidente of the USofA can’t share a stage with a self-confessed racist…

Can they?

Here in Aus there is a very timely generous-hearted attitude being shown by the elected politicos. Cash-payments for power costs I belive has been actioned by the current Gov. The costly green policies inflicted on the electorate here over recent years has resulted in very high power bills. So everyone gets $75.00 if you vote for me.

There are continued promises about higher minimum wage (its $17.50ph now), and easier and even paid education, and more medical and bigger n better infrastructure.

One party here has decided that within 12 years the roads will be for electrified cars only. No more dirty fuels on our highways. All new vehicles electric by 2030.

That’s like a damn tunnel with a superfast electrified train from LA to Hawaii. That’s like a bridge from NewYork to Paris.

Some things just don’t make viable sense. Like with the electric cars in Aus… the power required to charge all the new vehicles will be hydrocarbon fueled. So we burn more hydrocarbon to produce more power for e-cars, for a net gain to the hydrocarbon footprint. Nothing is decreased, saved, nor gained. Woulda been better off with out the change.

But the sky is falling. If we do not do something within 12 years the POX shall be upon us.

In the Solomons politicians are still pure… they just get votes be hiring people to vote for them…

https://www.solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/national/item/21484-ships-warned-against-overloading

And the beat goez on…

2nd day of the month.

I’m sitting outside. As I type a light drizzle starts. Not sure if I run inside or….

There is so much to discuss. The drizzle is still drizzling but I haven’t moved.

Now I have to move. Shifted into the shed. Soft “oldies” play on the local FM station, the wind is fresh and crisp. The Big-Dog is still outside.

There is so much disagreement, so much divergence of views, so much conflicting of moralities. So much illogical acting, all over, everywhere, no reservations.

But little reconciliation.

It’s OK to disagree, to have divergent views you wish to practice, to lean heavily on your personal morality. But these days the ability to reconcile appears lost.

Interracial marriage is a decent example. It don’t even raise an eye brow any more. Same sex marriage, transgenderism… so many good modern examples.

And all represent reconciliation within our societies/ families/ cultures.

Where has all the reconciliation gone?

It’s late Monday in the USofA newzcycle.

As I sit an absorb the various newz/ opinions on-air, I can only think, feel that the “behind-the-scenes” operators, the puppet masters of the sociopolitical tragic-comedy that is the USofA, can only be shivering in their boots, looking over their shoulders, seeking some dark hole to crawl into.

I feel that Trump has beyond a doubt proven himself as a disruptor of the system, as an enemy of the deep dark DC swamp. I can’t really like or support Trump but I sure as shit am thankful he has stood up to the deepdarkdodgeypolicalswamp. I am hapi the status quo has been so powerfully challenged.

And now the main stream swamp monsters are melting down.

I recall a little reported event that saw Hillary basically admit her nefarious history… here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/FallonTonight/posts/hillary-has-massive-meltdown-this-could-be-hugehillary-is-afraid-of-the-gallows-/10211510352662891/

What Hillary basically said was … 

Referring to Donald Trump, Clinton said:
“If that fucking bastard wins, we all hang from nooses!”

And she was right. And the time may well be at hand.

Sadly, very sadly indeed; a huge cross-section of intelligent and well-meaning people some how, someway got drawn into the farce. Like The King With no Clothes, many decided to take the “party line”, so sing in tune, to moo like  bovine being led to slaughter.

Many have spent two years agreeing how terrible and nasty and criminal and despicable Trump and Trump supporters are. Many have been reveling in the legal actions and the investigations and the fake news reports … Proof Of Collusion… Treasonous Activity… Foreign Agents…

Where are we now?

For me I say its time for the shoe to go on the other foot. I feel quite secure in believing that the Democratic Party, as led by Barak Obama, weaponised the institutions of the USG to support the liberal-left agenda and to harass and distract any and all opposition.

Now, if anyone who reads this thinks I am wrong or exaggerating I suggest you do some reading. Honestly research the use of the IRS to investigate Conservative organizations, the use of the DOJ and FBI and DNC to corrupt and bend the rules tip the scales… from exonerating Hillary to shafting Bernie to piling dirt on Trump.

If your head is so far in a hole… I can’t help you.

And the beat goez on.

Interesting times to be alive, me thinks…

More later

It’s Monday morning here. Sunday eve in the USofA. I sit and watch the late-day newz programmes as the day outside heats up. Weather here has been hot, hot, humid n hot. Temps have been 30-35c/ 87-95f. The sun has been a scorcher. It has been difficult to get much done outside.

As well, I am in “waiting mode” per some business deals so get to sit and watch and wait. Once I hear that my ever friendly legal advisors are happy I’ll go off and sign a contract. All has to do with developing some land I own here. I’m a small-fry in a deep-sea of land developers.

So I sit in the air-conditioned cool of the house. A granny-afgan wrapped around my shoulders. A cup of fresh, black coffee at hand. Political mania spewing from the TV.

I’m surfing channels watching the end-weekend newz cycle. This Mueller report has been sent to the AG. The “probe” is complete. Or was it an “investigation”? At a cost of <$25,000,000.00. It sure as shit should be an end-all, be-all.

But it won’t be. It can’t be.

Sadly the result, the end report does not match the needs of the LEFT. Our friendly neighborhood liberal left has vested too much into this “result”. And anything less than a call to drawandquarter is insufficient.

As a self-professed Centrist, I do not, cannot sing the praises or “get behind” any single political creature. Trump, Obama, The Bushes, The Clintons, The Kennedys, The Left, The Right… all are flawed. As are The Pelosis, and Schumers, and Grassleys, and Kings, and, Crotezes, and Omars et al. By nature, any and all political venues – in my opinion are corrupted. Very quickly, the fact that a guy like Schumer or Grassley, or A gal like Pelosi can sit as a politically elected official for 40 years or more, is evidence enough of personal interest/ corruption. Once in the primary objective is to stay in. Not to be a wise representative nor legislate effectively. The aim, once in, is to stay in. Period.

Just heard something very stupid… Congressman Ro Khanna (D CA) stated something to the tune of… “we need to stay competitive with CHina in Green technology… China is investing heavily…” !!! WTF? China is building coal-fired power plants at a rate of knots. Quick check…

The stupidity and ignorance of these people really irks me. Sorry for the tangent.

So the Left is pounding the table, demanding more and bigger and better and more expensive and more invasive and more, well we want a result that we want. This result, this report, this investigation does not suit the narrative so we will cry and complain and demand until we change the facts to suit our needs.

Sound familiar? The facts don’t suit the narrative soe we change the facts. SOP (standard operative procedure) as far as I can see.

Now, allow me to express a bit of confusion in all of this… The investigation was aimed at determining Russian involvement in the 2016 election. The base charge was that Trump/ his political machine colluded with a foreign state to influence the election. The people who fell under the investigative-ax were felled for past sins of omission and foolishness. Flynn and Manafort and Gates and Cohen all got-done for past crimes. Not crimes associated with the 2016 election nor the stated mandate of the investigation.

It’s all a waste. It’s all a magic show. It is all prestidigitization.

More later

You cant. Or at least I can’t. I can’t tell when I am getting old. It might be an impairment…

Or, maybe, the title of this should be “more ol fart fun n games”…

It started in earnest on Wednesday morning. The foolishness did. Of course all foolish expeditions have many mothers and many births and conceptions. This one started when I thought Gracie should start riding bikes with me. Now this goes back ages. I’ve bought nice comfy bigarsed bikes and thought Gracie would ride. I was wrong.

Why should Gracie ride? I hear some ask…

Shit! For the same reason we all should ride!

Riding makes you smarter, faster, friendlier, happier and you sleep better after a long day of riding. trial and tribulation is good for your character. Pain and discomfort makes you appreciate your own bed.

Riding is good for you.

All exposed, the fragile form “out-there”,  at high speeds as monster vehicles roar with you along the big bad by-way. When you are on the road on a bike the odds aint in your favour. And I like that a lot.

Whats not to like?

Dancing on the razor’s edge….

So the foolishness included an early morning flight to Sydney. There was a plan… We are going to collect Gracie’s new machine. Fly in, grab the machine, spend the night in the city, then ride north early the next morn.

We got booked-in the hotel by about 1, and by 330pm I had a 2019 Ural ready to ride home… What, I hear you ask, is a 2019 Ural… Well, it’s not a motorcycle, it’s not a trike, it’s a Ural…

Above is Gracie’s 2019 Ural. For fun and laughs have a look at… https://www.imz-ural.com/

Urals have a colourful history. Well worth checking out… Here’s a tale that comes from my old buddy DB : Ural History v.1 – 14 Mar 19

So the reason to buy a Ural was to get Gracie riding. For better or for worse. Everyone in our tribe rides. We take off on breakfast rides regularly… up early, ride a couple of hours through gorgeous country, stop at some funky n fun place, then go back home.

It’s nice. We like bikes. I am prone to long, long rides. Days, even weeks on the road. I do enjoy it.

And I thought it would only be fitting for Grace to start her career as a biker on a decently long 1100km/700mile ride. I kinda jumped in the deep end, again, and found myself, with Gracie, on what I affectionately call “the death march”.

So we fly to Sydney, and have lunch. Sydney is a good place. Lots of choices, food, entertainment, people watching. SYD is a good place.

After lunch I run around and sort the machine out. We bought it from the guys at Gasoline Motor Co… https://www.gasoline.com.au/

Soooo… Up early Tuesday… the adventure begins… Don’t she look sooooo damn delighted?

We took off -IN THE DARK – in the rain – in the city- . ANY ONE OF THE THREE VARIABLE ADDS DIFFICULTY. Huge difficulty. Thanks goodness for my heads-up display GPS. I got out of the city with only a few reroutes. It as tough.

It was a tough, tough ride… the dark, the city, the rain. We ran about 2.5 hours and took a break. Grace looks happy. I don’t think she understood how dicey it was.The Ural is a very good mule, if a slow n sluggish machine.

So from 530am to 130pm we run as far and as fast as we can. The Ural is a wrestling match. The front wheel is always being tweeked by the vibration of the side car. I did not get to relax as I rode. Both hands on the bars applying input constantly. Hit a bump and the steering shoots left. A severely cambered road means full pressure left. My traps are still stiff n sore as if after a long session in the gym.

So by 130 Wednesday we’d had enough. Over half way home and soaking, and I mean soaking wet. My boots were full of water.

It sure is nice to STOP. I say bikes n tattoos and beating your hand with a hammer are all very similar… feels great when you stop.

At one point we both could smell burning rubber. I stopped and inspected the brakes… only to find the heel of my boot had been resting on the exhaust…

Burnt a perfect arch in my heel.

So the steed sorted and stabled for the night in Coffs Harbour. Looks good. Gets heaps of attention.

Grace thinks we need more shots together… I’m not a selfie-dude so tried to get away with this one…

Dont I look hapi?

Once we stopped and got settled I tossed my clothes in the dryer and put my boots out in the sun. Sorted the machine out and got ready to go find a meal.

We wandered around a bit. Grace was a bit unwilling to walk too much. I headed toward a burger place but when we got there its didn’t look too inviting so we wandered down and alley way and walked up as a younger Asian dude was opening his place up for the evening trade. It was a great stroke of luck…

If ever in Coffs, check out the gang at CreAsian… http://creasian.com.au/  It’s a friendly, inviting and fun venue with really good food.

I know that many of my faithful readers have experienced the “hot n sour” soup that the old Sea King in Honiara always offered. Remember the spicy sour mess of thick, rich soup? I always had a vsion of big caulron of bubbling hot n sour, never ending, always on, always tasting the same, sooo goood… World wide I have a habit of trying to recreate that memory and I always fail. All hot n sours I have ordered in my travels pale to that which the Sea King family offered.

Not here. it was great. It was memory filled. I will soon do a ride south just to have another serve. CreAsian will become one of my new favourite rides.

As I rode and got soaked my red leather riding gloves stained my hands…

So Thursday morn we get sun, we get warmth, we get dry roads…

Gracie is taking to being a biker-babe well…

And, as Uncle Willis do say… biker-babes are the foxy-est…

So we get home. Unpack the mule and relax…

And life is good… but I’m still beat n recovering from the road… and cant wait for the next long-ride.

More later

Is it newz or bluez…

I, as a card-carrying member of the white ol fart brigade can no longer be cool, be masculine, be me…

SO I am being told…

I have been an avid martial artist all my life. Have damaged my body through lifting weights, hard work, adventure and misadventure. I trained the very succesful Solomons Olympic Wrestling Team for a couple of decades. brought home numerous medals and had two team members carry The Olympic Torch when it came through Solomons. It was an all male team.

I’ve raised nine kids, buried two, educated literally hundreds, have been the boogeyman and the best friend to so many young humans. Change the young’ns, bathe them, teach them to ride 2wheelz and to shoot. I’m into my 2nd generation of progeny. My eldest grandkid is in her 20s. And can punch as well as any guy. My daughter is a boxer. And a lawyer… kinda works,eh?

Hundreds of humans claim me as a relative. I am the 5th of nine born children and my 93-year-old mother claims in excess of 100 offspring. Most, not all, know who “Mike” is. I’m known to be fun, unbending, loud, rambunctious, and MALE. And I drink too much too often.

I shoot guns, ride motorcycles, race cars, fly airplanes, have many dogs (no cats) and am seldom refused entry at any home, hospice or domicile.

But I am toxic.

So I am told.

My wife of 30plus years kinda agrees.

But still shares my bed.

What is this looney-tunes world coming to when a bloke can’t be a bloke?

Think I’ll git my dawg n take my pickup out to do sum shootn…

Smiles

First day of the first month of 2019.

It’s a warm, sunny day here. 430pm. The day will commence its decent soon. The sun shall start sinking below the ridges and the shade shall come and the temps will drop and the insect will arrive and it’ll soon be night.

Last eve I cut a deal with my teenaged grandsons… They cooperate and I’d be their taxi for New Years Eve down at the regional hot-spot, Mooloolaba.

https://www.sunshinecoastpoint.com.au/events/mooloolaba-new-years-eve/

We live is a pretty groovy place. https://www.sunshinecoast-australia.com/sunshine-coast-tourist-map.html

So I dropped the boys off about 5pm at the beach. Angelo, Mendoza with Wade (Lale Makini’s son) got to go and bee-cool for NY’s eve.

The beach is a very cool local fun place and this year they offered live music, a fireworks show at 830 and another at 12 midnight. All in a safe, well policed and controlled environment.

So I took the boys in to town and came home to a nice pot of healthy leftovers. The rest of the family all took the little kids to the early fireworks show. I got a nice quiet house for a number of hours.

The last couple days – the last few days of 2018 have been hectic. We planned “Our Party” for Saturday the 29th. The prep and the execution of it all was a big effort. We cooked about a half-hundred-pound of beast. Fed about 50 people. I personally drank about 8-gallons of grog. Didnt get to bed until 2am. Then woke in the morn to a house filled with guests and the need for provisions and interaction. So Saturday was huge and Sunday was big, but very slow.

Sunday we cooked left overs and watched UFC and hung in the pool. Then came Monday, and NY’s eve…

The teens had a good time. Were cool. I picked them up at 2am. They’d been on the beach and in the ocean. They came home with a big bag of takeaway chickennchips. It smelled real good. They ate n went to bed.

Grace complained about the sand in the beds and their clothes this morn.

Some picts from the bbq…

I am rather proud of the bbq-pit I put together with leftover bits n pieces…

My idea was to fire-sear the beast then slow cook it in foil…

I used an old fire-chimney to burn up some real nice red-gum. 

Rubbed n marinated the beast that came from our farm…

So nice homegrown beast started on an open fire… Seared and sealed and flavoured by flame…

All up we cooked 2 large racks of rib and 4 good-sized rump-roasts… The trays on top are pumpkin and roasted potatoes…

The racks of rib were impressive, but hard to cook… Too big to manage easily so I contented myself with getting burnt regularly as I turned them.Charred on the outside but very juicy inside…

The day was sunny and bright. Our back yard is great but by default the bbq-pit was in the sun so I cooked and sweated a lot.

I stayed on water and cokes up until I got the meat ready to serve at about 3pm… And I must say I nailed it… A perfectly bbq’d beast roast…

The rib-racks could not have been better…We prepared 200 one-bite skewers…When it was time to eat no one held back…

So we started at 3pm and by 5pm there was not a scrap of meat left. 25kgs of beast cooked, and consumed…

So today is slow. We all slept in. I got the boys up about 10am and we mowed and cleaned and tidied up. Tomorrow we go back to the farm.

And life is good.

Welcome to 2019.

More later…

Ahhhh, breath in, breath out, listen to the tinkling wind-chime, the children next door playing, the wind, the radio in the shed…

Fauna is not very vocal. A bit late in the day for the busy-birds. A bit early for the nocturnals.

I find myself thinking of one of my moost favourite words… prestidigitization. (it appears to have 2 spellings)

The easiest definition I know is – sleight of hand – but the best definition I have found to date is : prestidigitization is a transmutation cantrip available to bards, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards. …

I think “cantrip” may become another favourite word.

The wind-chime I speak of  is an old, cheap affair. A onceuponatime green frog with a big smile is the wind-weight. A larger frog is part of the decorative assembly above the 5 small stainless tubes. I’ve had Mr. Frog for some 9 years. In two homes now. All the wood is weathered and paint peeled. The string has all been replaced with fishing-strength line and swivels. It’s no longer very attractive, but something that makes me smile daily. It tinkles merrily.

I made a fatal mistake today.

I discussed politics with my partner in crime for 35 years…

Above is a pict of Gracie on the farm. I am oft amazed by the fact that after all these years we are still kicking-ass together. Its been a long, long, groovy trip. We do get along well. And no doubt there is much yet to come…

And one of the reasons for our domestic longevity is that we don’t discuss religion, politics, or other problem-prone topics. We have family to share and our reasonably active lives, both singular and mutual, and travels to keep us occupied, to discuss and dissect.

I ride motorcycles, she visits the Holy Land. I go spend time on the water in the Solomons and she visits The Cook Islands. We recently traveled together to the US, then to Europe and onto Japan. I think a six-week trip with time in California, Iowa, UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, then Japan. The UK to Japan was by road + a long Bologne to Osaka flight. 3000 miles in 9 days. It was pretty tough, very cool and we both enjoyed the shit outta it.

But we didn’t talk politics. We got along real, real well. Had fun, enjoyed each others’ company. It was all groovy.

Because we stayed away from those problem-prone topics.

Today it was “The Wall”.

Upon being drawn into to listening I chose to comment such… “If you are talking about the “WALL” you are talking about the topic “THEY” want you to talk about.

Yes, that dark and sinister and inarticulate “THEY”.

Look over here. Talk and complain about this…

Prestidigitation, sleight of hand, uses age-old methods to distract ones attention from what is really happening. As I slip the rabbit out of my pocket you are looking at my hand with the red silk ‘kerchief.

As I have traveled and aged I spend more time watching than participating. It’s a bane or a gift of age. Make it what you wish. But as I sit longer; no longer labouring daily for my bread, no longer chasing the dollar, I have more time to be attentful to that which surrounds.

I belive I have always and all ways been “aware”. But in my “me decade” I am gaining knowledge, working and doing mainly for me. Doing what I want and what interests me.

I’m still developing this concept but I look back and see I have experienced a succession of decade-long apprenticeships. In the 60s I was a kid. I learned to work and communicate and participate. Basically stand in line without shitting in my pants. In the 70s I was a teen who worked and “did things” for pay, and learned a lot about a lot. Carpenter, mechanical work, farm work, excavation, concrete… I worked in many mediums. In the 80s I took off from the land of my birth and became a true “Journeyman”. No longer the apprentice I went out and parlayed the skills I had developed for my daily bread. I also started  family. The 90s were my nest-building days. I’d completed my Journeyman time but was far from a master of any kind so I built. I built for me, I built for others. I built a home, a business, a family, a life. I sold my skills. I learned new skills. Times were changing. The new century, 2000, brought a lot of change to my life… including civil war, financial stress and huge opportunity. I went from a 250k overdraft to a 10 million dollar bank debt. It was a risk filled heady world of hard work and hard play and huge rewards. By 2010 I was leaving it all. I needed to spend time figuring out who I was. I wanted a change and needed to figure our who I was if I wasn’t “that guy”.

When you retire you oft struggle with identity. If I am not “that guy”, who defuckamI?

2018 turns into 2019. 2020 on the horizon. Another decade.

I am now in my “me decade”. I have a pretty good idea who I am. I like who I am. I accept who I am… an old arthritic kid who groans and moans but still plays and has interests plethora.

Wait a minute… where are we… Why does this all get raised whilst discoursing on the price of eggs in china, you may ask? Why go off in this self-indulgent tangent…

I started this by confessing I transgressed today and got into a political discussion with Gracie.  To explain my transgression I must explain where and who I am these days… I am less and less prone to sit back and let folks spew drivel. Drivel, unformed opinion, repeated fallacy…  Fresh from CNN or Fox or – lord forbid MSNBC…

I learned about Bull-Shit when I was quite young. I learned to recognise it very early on…

I have written about being confused when young, after diligently paying attention to a matter, or trying to understand what is what I’d be met with impotent anger. I may have been slow, asked too many questions.

Ask enough questions and talk too much and you end up getting your nose broke. I know, my first nose break was after talking Father Lawrence into a rage…

I was maybe 9, reading the bible as home work, the story of Lazarus. Fr had stated we needed to take the bible literally. If we delved too deep or asked too many questions we’d miss the point. He was stressing that we had to believe in “miracles”. Take them as written.

I’d read somewhere that “Moses tied his ass to a tree”. I asked Fr Lawrence if that was a miracle too. I got my nose broke for my efforts.

So, after taking the bait offered by Gracie, I found myself looking for a backdoor. How to explain that

“The Wall” is a symbol.

What if we call it a fence? Or a barrier? Or a deterrent?

What if we call it “border security”.

I do get confused at times.

The second time I had my nose broke was by my sister. I was maybe 13 and she was 8.

My sisters are all tough gals. But thats all another story…

More later.

Big smiles…

Where I live…

Life has been busy of late.

Sitting in Palmwoods on a nice, lazy, busy-day eve. The day has been overcast. I slept late, started my day late, as did all in the house. The past few days has seen us furiously busy. A lot “to-do” heading up to Cmas.

Our house is quiet this year. No lil’ kids. No magical anticipation of childhood. That magic of childhood that makes the magic of Christmas so, so real and tangible. None of that for us this year. All our lil’uns are elsewhere. Ours is a quiet house. No tears or messes or watching out for the dangers a toddler can get into.

Mendoza plugged into his universe, Angelo picking in his electric guitar. Grace being superZai. Paul is usually quiet. Kuma only fusses when he needs you.

Our house is quiet this year.

On Staurday we shall host a combination Cmas/ NYs beast n beeer day.  We recently butchered out at Morosa, so have plenty of good, good beast to turn into grub…

Two yearling heifers. Guestimate weight each foreQtr=40kgs/ 90lbs, and hindQtr=50kgs/110lbs. Drop 10% to be conservative so … Maybe 180kgs/400lbs per beast hanging in the coolroom less 10%… A whole’bunch’a dressed beast…

We had Jan and Hoppy guide us through the -on’farm-kill’npack- process. It was an honour to work with them. A lot of work done well and efficiently. And a good time had by all.

Testing out my mini-pit today… Its an ad hoc affair, made with whatz-on-hand materials. A small but effective BbqPit.

Going to cook a bunch Friday/ Saturday so we need to get our systems sorted. I invited people to an ol’fashione carvery so I need my beast to be something of myth and legend. I want my Morosa Beast to be remembered. So preparation in roasting is very important.

we got ribs n roast n brisket to roast. Going to combine my “weber” bbq techniques with some open-pit bbqing. Do some long and slow roasting with a deep-searing on the open fire pit before and after. With lots of thick rich sauce. A lot of effort but with good BEAST THE END-PRODUCT SHALL BE SUBLIME

Burn in the broken old chimney and coals into the pit for constant heat roasting. Thank gawd for alloyfoil to retain heat…

Test run for the pit…Doing a mess of bbqribbs today.  Step one is slow-cooking…

Stage two is open-fire roasting… It’s a long slow process but the boys thought they turned out goooood…

Mendoza thinks these are the “best rib ever”…

And life is good, here on Christmas eve, where we are…

Smiles

danc’n with cattle is cool…

Big day cutting up two decent sized heifers…fresh prime beef…Even a vegavore would appreciate…Good enough to eat raw…Prime Morosa beast…A bit of flooding the other day…I think we had 200mm/ 8inches of rain in 48 hours…Gracie enjoyed it…Mr. Joe, on the watch…

The days left on this month r’ gett’n short.

The days left in this year r’ gett’n short.

Need to write but been quite occupied.

Its been raining for a week then the last couple days have been stupid-hot. The rains prohibited lawn mowing so today, after a couple of days of dry, we got to mowing, er, hay baling. The yard was thick and rough and hard to mow. Had to double mow everything. I let the boys go free at noon, after starting at 730.

They consider it all slave labour.

I’ll post some photos from the past month from my phone…

Smiles

It has been a long, long time since I have been frightened. Afraid. Scared.

I might sound arrogantly stupid but I can’t recall the last time I was frightened.

No doubt I get those instant loadings of adrenaline when I almost miss a corner or… like the time a white Mercedes and I traded metal at 70milesperhour…

I was on my way to Phoenix on my Thruxton. The time and space between a white Mercedes and my bike became one in space and time, for a brief moment.

It was kinda exciting… I dropped my bar-end mirror onto the car’s passenger side, right in front of the front door. I heard and have an image of the elderly woman in the passenger’s seat. She grabbed her head with both hands and screamed. I could smell her shampoo.

I stayed up but ran my bar-end down the length of the car. When I got away from the car – he had been pulling into my lane – I was behind and simply goosed it and got way away.

But at no point was I frightened or fearful. I did not have time for such foolishness. My very good bike skills and instinct took over. I kept the bike up. Felt the grind of my bar-end scratching down the car. His car will have a front-to-rear gouge on it as proof of time and space conflict.

But at no point was I frightened or fearful.

here’s a picture of my bike’s bar-end: You can see the end of the bar, below the mirror. Imagine 70mph, leaning into a car for a life’s instant. Then off and gone past. I was shaky shortly there after, then euphoric for a bit and did have vivid dreams of it all for nights after.

But it did not scare me.

Well, I had a very good fright last eve. We were out moving the herd.

For a number of reasons the herd is a bit skittish… we introduced nine new cows with calves into the herd a while back. The new players in town change the balance of power. Barney the bigarsed Bull is on edge. He’s been working overtime with the new cows. We have just finished weaning 10 calves so you have 10 unhappy, milk-sick mammas. Their udders are full and they are not comfortable. We have 10 cows with young calves. As the weaners and the mother cry and complain, the other mammas and calves get stressed.

We show up in the herd and they think we’re there to kidnap some more babies.

When we wean the calves we lock them into the stock yard which is inescapable. They are locked in with water and feed but they yearn for their mammas. They cry and bellow and scream until they lose their voices. The mammas cry and call back.

All of this equals stress in the herd.

So we go to move the herd. Here we have Joe calling the herd over…

They hear him and answer. I claim they call his name… JOOE, Joooe…

So I’m in the middle of the moving herd…

I luv the constant bellowing an talking between them all… Barney speaking his mind at the end of the clip…

I do find it exhilarating, this being a farmer is cool… But when a 3000 pound beast speaks his mind you need to listen.

Luv the cow talk…

So right here, as I watch, bigArsed barney comes walking toward me. At a sedate pace but straight for me. He’s coming over to where I am and I aint feeling too good. I slipped through a gate into the next paddock but he came right up and yelled at me… And I was frightened…

It felt good.

Smiles

Another very nice day. Cool temps, nice breeze.

Have spent the morning working cattle. We have 6 young’ns going through the weaning process. They are locked up in the stock yard. They miss their mammas.

The Mammas are feeling it too. Their udders are full and weeping. They stand by the fence and bellow. Last night was windy and the plaintive calls back and forth led to very visual dreams. I slept with a smile.

Once weaned the young’ns will go in with another 13 “teenagers” we have. My buddy Joe (manager of the property) handfeeds the teens left over bread. He tames them. Gives them names. We were out this morn enjoying it all…  The one I am pictured with is Milly. She’s one of Joes favourites and loves a good petting.

As the mania of this past electoral cycle subsides I am wondering what people think our/your objective(s) may be. The foolishness of campaigning is over. The megamillions spent. Winners have won and losers have lost. As a nation what are the priorities of the electorate of the USofA?

I have to give this a lot of thought but think I can quickly answer that #1 PRIORITY in my world would be health care. Or is it HealthCare (HC)?

I believe that HC covers so many topical issues in our society that by prioritising HC we quickly address issues like mental health, mass shootings, suicides, depression, reigning in the pharmaceutical barons, and addictions of all kinds. Lets make the health of our society our #1 priority and see how many ancillory problems we can solve.

Of course I belive that HC should be available to all, free of charge, and of a very high standard. I hear many out there say that they agree but how do we pay for it? I have written on this topic before. But lets look for new stats… here we go… https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/

My thoughts today are the same as when I last did this research… 

I don’t think it’s about the cost of HC but rather the efficiency of the system. I live in Australia. I have used the medical system here and I find it efficient, friendly, effective, smart, modern… everything you want in a HC system.

And they get it for half the price the US currently spends for an inefficient, ineffective system.

USofA already spends a huge amount per capita annually on HC but, as it appears, gets little in return for their investment. Why is this? A lot to discuss here…

Priority #2… one very dear to my immigrant heart… Immigration…

I’ll write more soon.

Good morning from Morosa Valley. I spent the last couple days in town and really, really slept well last night. Cant explain it other than in an energetic way. But, damn, I sleep good here. The air, the night sky, the breeze, the sound of cattle making hapi noises. It is all guud, very guud.

So the election-mania in the USofA is at an end. For another two years, anyway.

What has transpired here? What has this referendum on the Republican Administration given us? What, if anything, have we learned? Where are we, where are we going?

The good newz?

Though the above graph is a prediction – I have not found the final results as yet – the fact that more folks got out and voted is a great thing. The past trend of non-involvment is not positive. A distinct sense of alienation and resignation has been palatable. Alienation and resignations is never good, all it does is leave the chicken coop open to the foxes.

I am impressed that the number of people motivated to engage in the electoral process has increased dramatically.

More good news… The House of Representatives, The Senate and the Presidency is now. split. It is a positive thing, in my mind, when the division of powers are divided. I tremble and sweat when a single Party holds control over all Federal Processes.

I reiterate, I am not a team player at all. I have a general disdain for all elected personages – and many appointed personages too. There is something about the ivory-towers that distance those who rule from those who are ruled. There is something insidious about holding the purse strings to someone elses money. Something immoral about spending huge sums which you are unanswerable for.

If the same team controls the House, Senate and Presidency little good can come. Too much out-of-control partying takes place.

We do need the checks maintained to control the balance of state.

Now, this coming from a self-professed non-voter sounds a bit empty. I do not vote for reasons I have articulated in the past. But this does not mean I am not engaged. I read, listen study and comment constantly. Also, I am a double immigrant – meaning I have legally (LEGALLY) immigrated to the Solomon Islands and to Australia. The electoral process and the elected leaders of all three countries where I hold residence is of great importance to me.

As is the electoral processes of pretty much all the countries around the world. All are influences to me in direct and subtle ways. To not be engaged and aware is, to me, a sin.

Had an interesting conversation yesterday. With respect to all involved I’ll quote a few line here…

1.  My dear sister wrote this… “If you don’t vote you have no right to complain. And you who has already been screwed by the government should give a dam!”
2. I replied … “technically not correct… not to vote is as much a choice and a right as your right to vote. We tend to vilify non voters but there are numerous reasons why someone would choose to abstain rather than participate in what is really a rigged system offering little more than placebo effect type returns. For me it’s about candidates and policies. For many it is about colours and teams. Nothing to do with sound leadership and positive planning.”
3. A mutual friend commented… “Why should I have to choose who my oppressors are before I’m allowed to complain about being oppressed? If there is a boot on your neck, does it really matter if it’s the right or left? I’ll vote for no boot at all. I refuse to pick the device of my suffering.”
4. My sister replied… “The voice we have is our right to vote. I am just saying if you choose to do nothing than you should keep your voice quiet. Stirring the pot with opinions that belong to you is your right but if it accomplishes nothing than it is just idle chat. At least my vote could make a difference in the direction our country needs to move. Bullying, and fear is the way to control the ignorant. I VOTED and am glad I did.”
5. The mutual friend replied…”I looked at my options, saw that none of them were running under the stance that we need to get rid of the party system, so there wasn’t anyone I could morally support without compensating my views.”
6. My libertarian niece commented… ” There are more than 2 parties, too. More reasons now than ever before that there needs to be more options than Rs or Ds.”
7. My sister replied… “Thanks for voting! I totally agree the choices are not always the best but we have to keep hoping someday a messiah will run and things will change! Right now what we can do is vote!”

Now, I am going to bore the living shit outta everyone and dissect this friendly conversation…

1. I just really, really get irritated when I hear “group-speech” BS… “If you don’t vote you have no right to complain. And you who has already been screwed by the government should give a dam!” It is words like this that are delivered with a patronising smile and a firm nod of the head. Agree with me or you are an idiot that knows nothing and even enjoys being “screwed by the government. AND… jumping to 4. we end up with this… “Bullying, and fear is the way to control the ignorant.” And I say DAMN! isn’t the group-think BS bullying? I belive such and all around me believe such and if you don’t belive such you are ignorant. Did I say “DAMN!”?
2. My reply is in support of the nonconformist. The modern thinker out there that studies politics. Has no party affiliation. Probably registered Independent but votes for the policy not the party.
3. Is a rather extreme yet common thought process… “Why should I have to choose who my oppressors are before I’m allowed to complain about being oppressed? If there is a boot on your neck, does it really matter if it’s the right or left? I’ll vote for no boot at all. I refuse to pick the device of my suffering.” This is getting close to what I call the placebo of democracy. And the placebo don’t work too good on this dude. He sees the fact that a single elected individual has less than zero chance of making a difference. He sees a system where the worker/ average-guy is abused and used and taxed and beaten up and controlled. And he is not wrong. But is he right?
4. And more of that good ol country group-think… “The voice we have is our right to vote. I am just saying if you choose to do nothing than you should keep your voice quiet. Stirring the pot with opinions that belong to you is your right but if it accomplishes nothing than it is just idle chat. At least my vote could make a difference in the direction our country needs to move. Bullying, and fear is the way to control the ignorant. I VOTED and am glad I did.” Golly, its hard to comment on all of this as I don’t wish to be rude or to be hurtful but, DAMN, I cannot think there is ever a time a person should “keep their voice quiet”. This is the sort of thing we are told by people who don’t wish to hear what we think. This is the sort of thing the Group-Thought-Police tell us. Did I say “DAMN”?
5. Again from the nonvoting friend… And he is right… he is informed, he is not an idiot… “I looked at my options, saw that none of them were running under the stance that we need to get rid of the party system, so there wasn’t anyone I could morally support without compensating my views.” Perfect. Informed. Articulate.
6. My niece is a thoughtful, smart gal and tells us… ” There are more than 2 parties, too. More reasons now than ever before that there needs to be more options than Rs or Ds.” What can I say… she is clever, I know she is willing to research her choices. She is not a pan-banger telling us what is wrong. She simply and clearly states her position on the topic.
7. And lastly… “Thanks for voting! I totally agree the choices are not always the best but we have to keep hoping someday a messiah will run and things will change! Right now what we can do is vote!” What can I say? What can anyone say about the nebulous and ethereal? “keep hoping someday a messiah will run and things will change!”. Sorry, I prefer facts and measurable measurables. Not philosophical dreaming.

Now, I’d like to take a look at what folks voted for. As the family and friends I am interacting with here live in Iowa I am taking a look at the established platforms of…

If you voted Democrat: Here’s the IOWA party page… http://www.iowademocrat.net/

This site is set up pretty well. Just a few things the Democrat Party in Iowa is in support of:

482. reparations for African-Americans/Native Americans
483. reproductive rights
484. human rights of immigrants including due process/family preservation/pathway to citizenship
485. sanctuary cities
486. universal access to physical/mental healthcare/housing/living income/potable water
487. comprehensive, universal, single-payer healthcare for all,
488. medical end-of-life options
489. rescheduling, expanding access to, medical cannabis
490. peaceful conflict resolution, normalized US diplomatic relations with all countries/multilateral solutions to international problems
491. closing Guantanamo Bay detention facilities
492. federal court access for non-US detainees
493. promoting human dignity, resolving global poverty, protecting clean air/water, improving education, and reducing hunger/disease

The Republican of Iowa website is quite different. https://www.iowagop.org/about/platform/

Lets see…

1. The Iowa Republican party aggressively support a “life begins at conception” bill without exceptions. We believe that all human beings, from conception to natural death, have a God given and constitutionally protected right to life, which cannot be infringed we believe all such issues belong under the constitutional authority of the state, not federal government.
2. We oppose using public revenues for abortion or funding organizations which advocate it. We commend those who provide alternatives to abortion by meeting the needs of mothers and offering adoption services.
3. We reaffirm our support for appointment of judges who respect tradition family values and the sanctity of life.
4. We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities, including newborns, as well as the elderly and infirmed, just as we oppose active and passive euthanasia and assisted suicide.
5. We believe that traditional, two parent (one male and one female), marriage based families are the foundation to a stable, enduring, and healthy civilization. Therefore, public policy must always be pro-family in nature, encouraging marital and family commitment, and supportive of the parental rights and responsibilities.
6. We encourage the repeal of any laws allowing any marriage that is not between one natural man and one natural woman.
7. We support non-embryonic stem cell research, such as promoting the use of adult stem cells, while opposing human cloning and research using fetal tissue from abortions.
8. We believe the selling, brokering or marketing of aborted fetal tissue should be illegal.
9. We support adequate funding for state mental health facilities dedicated to inpatient services and outpatient mental health facilities and services. We support an increase in trained mental health professionals and staff sufficient to meet the needs of our state.
10. We support the 1^st Amendment to allow prayer in Public Schools and Public Places.
11. We believe that parents are responsible for their children, and we support the rights of parents to be the ultimate authority for the discipline, protection, and education of their children.
12. We believe money should follow the child in education – whether that child attends public, private, parochial or home school- to assist parents financially in educating their children using the option best suited to their family’s educational needs. We call on the General Assembly to provide for tuition vouchers, tax deductions, or tax credits to permit parents’ choice in educating their children- without government intervention in the school curriculum.
13. We strongly believe in the constitutionally protected natural right of individuals to keep and bear arms, as recognized and protected by the Second Amendment, and we support the repeal of existing laws that infringe upon those rights. We support the addition of “castle doctrine” provisions to Iowa law.
14. We support “Conscience Clause” legislation so that no person, business, or organization can be penalized for its exercise of religious freedom by not providing services that violates their religious beliefs.
15. We support legislation that would prohibit any organization, (in example, Planned Parenthood), from entering public school properties for the purpose of promoting promiscuous behavior and abortion products, videos, or printed material.
16. The actions of national intelligence agencies must not infringe upon American citizens’ Constitutional rights.

OK, the difference is pretty basic conservative v liberal stuff… The right to bear arms. The right to life v the personal choice to abort or not. Prayer in schools is a good topic. The immigration/ sanctuary issue is notable.

Just for flavour let me see what the libertarian of Iowa platform looks like… And I like the site… well done. Very nifty… https://lpia.org/

The sire starts with this:

Now, the thought I have after this bit of research is that I doubt all to hell and back that more than a fraction of the folks who voted actually have reviewed the policies of those who they have voted for. As I say too often, politics today is team sports, its my team/ our team v your team/ that team. It has nothing to do (very little to do) with policies and more to do with personalities. It is the foundation, the core of personality politics.

Which I don’t do, sorry. And I firmly feel that engaged but disgruntled voters like myself may be too well-informed.

See, as I review the policies of the GOP, the Democrats and the Libertarians I find that I cannot agree with any one on all they offer. I cannot support any single, overall.

Of course I can agree on topical matters… yes for guns. I’m too libertarian to say no to abortion but feel abortion has been overused and abused so indeed needs some strict regulations. I feel national-citenzry is a valuable thing so open boarders don’t float my boat. I can never agree that the government can regulate where I live, how I live or who I interact with. If my neighbor, Bert- the chicken fucker, wants to buy a grain of sand from me I shall forever and always say no because I dont like chicken fuckers. And it is my personal choice to decide who I do business with. I think religion is a personal choice though my choice to educate my children must have some boundaries… noting I don’t agree with educating your children to adhere to a midevil system of male dominance and minority abuse, and jihad. Personal property is personal property. I cannot see where taking from the hard-working “haves” and distributing to those less fortunate is something that offers long-term progress. Taxation should never be wealth redistribution but rather should be for infrastructure and admin costs fairly shared through the classes.

And where are we…

More later

Sitting in the back yard as the day slips into night. A powederblue sky with deepgreen landscape contracts nicely. Birds of various varieties chatter, squawk, call, chip and cheep. My old “mrfrog” windchime tinkles above me.

Been a warm one today. Not as warm as yesterday and not as warm as next week, but warm. I don’t like running aircons and there is unusually a breeze. Hell! I was up about dawn (before 5am) and wrapped a comforter around me as I snooz’d and watched newz. this climate is great… 70f/20c – 92f/ 29c. The other day it was 35c to 18c… work it out but it means a great warm sunny day with a cool-ish eve night.

The Plover family are happy, walking along the edge of the sprinkler, catching the mist and preening themselves. The distant humm of the ever-present motor-way. It’s a busy time of day, 516pm. A dog is yapping. My family are all gone or we’d hear screaming kids.

Hung out at the Palmwoods house today. Had a couple gotta-dos get cancelled so I got to spend a day in “basic maintenance” mode.

Basic maintenance is all those little jobs and dutys and needstogetdonez… the back closets and top shelfs of spring cleaning… basic maintenance is the stuff you can always not-do. Until it needs done. Until it really needs done.

So today I decided to run a few errands then  wash the house.

Now, just to bring it all into perspective, washing a house aint like washing yer hands. Nor is it like washing the car – tho some of the car washing tools (like a pressure washer) – can be used for both.

No, washing a house is a pretty big affair… I do have a big house…

So I got Paul and Gracie helping me as we hose n scrub and mix cleaners and wash off dust n grime and detritus. The glass and gutters and downpipes and walkways… it is a big job.

And it got done. The outdoorfurniture and the walkways and slidingdoors, etc, et al infinitum.

Damn, I’m kinda beat.

And life is good.

Smiles