The Native Iowan

Pondering, ruminating… on this fine Sunday morning… blood sports on the tube… cloudless powder blue skies… flora and fauna active and happy… a herd of young deer frolicking outside my window…

I am trolling through the various news feeds… trolling as in “trolling for fish”… not “Trolling” in the modern social sense:

I am going through the various comments and thoughts regarding the Alaskan Summit. I am trying to see what folks on all sides of this discussion think. I am finding it difficult. There is soooo much illogical BS going on…

I wonder if I watched, experienced, the same thing that other folks saw. What people close, important, respected saw, heard, experienced…

I watched and saw a pretty interesting international event… I watched the Authoritarian Leader of Russia meet the Democratically Elected Leader of the USA… At an airbase in the USA (Alaska)… with a show-of-might fly-over of the world’s most deadly aircraft.

I watched as Vlad Putin appeared small in stature next to DJT. I watched as Vlad Putin did a triple-take on the show-of-might flying above his head. I watched as DJT appeared to be welcoming, charming, in control.

I have listened to the talking heads, read the articles left and right, spoke to many people near and dear…

So many folks are illogically defending the indefensible position that TRUMP is weak, TRUMP is bad, Trump is evil.

I had one such near and dear explain to me that Vlad Putin won the day, Trump got played, looks like a fool, was only there to perform oral sex on Vlad…

That was deep and meaningful!

I dont get it… we all watched the same thing…

Putin met with Trump at an agreed location in the USA. I call that home court advantage. I call that being the shot caller, getting to choose the location for the meeting. I call it “being in control” when someone I’m doing business with travels to meet me at the venue of my choosing.

But, no chance, none what so ever that our TDS afflicted friends and family will see this for what it really is. Nope! Folks with their heads still stuck in the “hand up dont shoot” BS, folks still believing George Floyd is a martyr, these folks will never see anything DJT does or accomplishes as good, successful, positive…

Nope, not possible with folks sick, ill, afflicted with TRUMP Derangement Syndrome…

And I find this very sad. I am sad and disturbed that sooo many smart, thoughtful, aware and learned folks simply dont see, cant see the factual reality I see…

I see a situation that has been allowed to ferment in an era of incompetence and negligence. An era starting decades ago when the Clintons and the Obamas, with a side-kick named Biden kicked a high octane Pay-to-Play scheme into gear. Operated out of the white house, this scheme was suppose to be the new SOP… standard operating procedure. Using foundations and family members and non-profit orgs, the Clintons were raking in huge $$$s. Selling influence and access. While lining their pockets.

The Obama team was going to do the same, wanted to do the same, the same as the Clintons… charge half-a-mil for a couple hour speech. Charge a hundred-grand for a round of golf with the ex-USPrez. Charge for dinner meetings. Charge huge bucks to sit on Boards, to be on a committee, to influence and assist, to grease the corrupt wheels that run the DC machines.

As near as I can tell, anyone or anything that interferes with the greasing of the corrupt wheels gets disappeared ala’ Clinton style suicide.

Using the Alaskan Summit as a starting point and looking backwards… In 2025 we are attempting to resolve a military conflict that has been going on since 2014…
February 2014:Russian troops, initially without insignia, began appearing in Crimea, taking control of key locations like airports and government buildings. 
March 2014:A referendum, widely considered illegitimate by the international community, was held in Crimea, with results showing overwhelming support for annexation by Russia. 
March 2014:Russia formally annexed Crimea and Sevastopol, incorporating them into the Russian Federation. 
International Response:Most of the world does not recognize the annexation, considering it a violation of international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty. 
Ongoing Conflict:The annexation of Crimea and Russia’s support for separatists in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) led to a prolonged conflict in the region, with fighting continuing until the 2022 invasion. 
Death and Destruction: Over 2million combatants and civilians have been killed or injured since 2022.

Quick important note… Barack Obama’s tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017.

Obama allowed the initial actions of this now decade long war to take place, and though he spoke of lines in the sand, I never thought he was honest about his intent to resolve the Crimean issue. To stand up against Vlad Putin.

Biden allowed the Russo/Ukraine war to happen. In 2022 the Russian invasion was accepted without overt response or action. Putin knew he could ride rough over Biden. Even after Biden said “dont”.

And where are we now…

For many folks they remain in illogical defence of an illogical position.

More later

Saturday morning this side of the planet. Damp n cold in the big farm house. The sun has broken over the ridges but the thermal pleasures of sunlight are slow to make their presence known. Lady Godzilla is curled up in my lap. Its going to be a lovely day…

Its is Friday afternoon in Alaska.

Putin and Trump are in Anchorage. Pomp and circumstance the order of the day.

Some quick, loose facts about the Russia v Ukraine conflict:

There is quite a bit to go through here. Note the DPRK forces killed and wounded. Interesting, no?

The base line in my mind is this…

a) Russian losses:

b) Ukrrainian losses:

Im working the quantum out in my mind… I see 40 months = 24Feb,22-13June25… 1 million +- losses, combining killed and wounded on each side… so 25,000 losses monthly, 25,000 killed or wounded each month for 40 months, on each side of the grave-digging.

Quick comparison to The Viet Nam conflict gives us:

This is roughly between 1960 – 1974. Gotta applaud the Russo-Ukraine warriors. They sure are doing a better job at killing than we saw in VN.

And this is just a look at the flesh and blood carnage. The damage to land, infrastructure, productivity and life in general is incalculable.

I’m wondering what this has cost… Found a decent discussion here: https://www.socialeurope.eu/what-has-been-the-cost-of-ukraines-war-and-who-pays

Some take aways:

The hard facts of three years of war—considering both economic costs and political consequences—present a stark reality. Ukraine is a fragile nation, its economy and war effort sustained only by Western support.

The destruction caused by the war has been immense. By December 2023, international institutions estimated the damage at $152 billion. Today, the United Nations predicts that the country’s reconstruction may cost $486 billion—roughly two and a half times Ukraine’s GDP.

Three years after the war in Ukraine began, this logic of war must be stopped. A new accord between Trump and Putin will not bring lasting peace to Ukraine. But Europe cannot pursue an agenda of war at any cost, nor should it chase dangerous ambitions of becoming a (small) military and nuclear power. Nostalgia for a fractured Atlantic alliance is of little use. Europe’s future now depends on its ability to end the war in Ukraine, initiate negotiations, and build a lasting peace order on the continent—through political means, not military escalation.

“Lasting Peace”… what does that mean?

I guess mankind is constantly looking for, waiting for yet another Lasting Peace.

More later

I started baking bread again recently…

Recently I started baking bread again…

Baking is magical. Baking is alchemy. Baking is very cool. But baking bread, the addition of yeast is more, more magical, more special, more cool…

My memories are filled with that yeasty smell of magic in the oven. My grandmother’s hands always smelled of fresh bread. The hot kitchen was a nice place to be when Mom was baking. I can go back to the late 1950s, I am very small, the kitchen in the old farm house south of Knoxville was huge. Mom’s loaves of bread were bigger than my head. A slice was an event. Covered in butter and jam, a fresh slice was/is heaven.

I baked a couple small loaves last eve. I have dough in the refrigerator rising, ready and loaded.

The single loaf looks lonely by itself. Bread making in my world is normally more industrial. I’d normally make a number of loaves, not just one or two. But my world these days bread is a novelty, not a staple. I can do with less carbs. Eating a loaf of fresh bread not something I should be doing often… But it is sooo good…

And the world turns, the soul yearns, the planet burns…

And the beat goes on…

Wood not war…. Bread no bombs…

more later

I can feel the globe tilting on its access. Tho its still cold by QLD standards, the sun is hitting the valley earlier, the radiant warmth is showing up and spreading it’s joy earlier. The chilled wind still blows from the SouEast. A bit of rain has fallen. For the first time in 2years my water tanks are not 100%.

The average bear in the woods knows little about water-management. Even though a large percentage of the planet survives on/ with water that is caught, collected, stored, managed. Rain attachment is a very common method of water management. My farm survives primarily on rain catchment. We do have a ground-water system reticulating through the property, but the houses survive on rain water caught and stored in a number of large, 20,000litre/ 5500gallon tanks.

Coming from the Solomons I know about rain catchment, water management, and water usage. I have experienced prolonged drought conditions, I have survived without immediate access to fresh water, had to travel daily to collect and carry fresh water home, I learned to bathe in the ocean using a specialised salt-water soap.

Water is life.

And, after a couple years of tanks overflowing, I shall go out today and manage my water. Balance the water levels between my 3 main tanks.

The average bear in the modern woods knows little of water other than you pay the monthly water-bill, you have all the water you need, all the time, without interruption.

This is emblematic of our modern world vs the old style/ undeveloped world… let me check for some stats… from https://ourworldindata.org/what-no-safe-water-means

In the time it would take me to write the next sentence, I could get up, walk to the kitchen, and pour myself a glass of clean water. I’ve never had to worry about whether that water would make me sick. Almost six billion other people in the world share this reality. They have safe drinking water in their homes, ready whenever needed. That still leaves two billion people without. That’s the most important number in this article: two billion people who don’t have safe water to drink. But these large numbers can seem abstract. It’s not clear what this means in practice. If people don’t have safe water, what are they drinking? What does it mean for their daily lives?

So we are being told 1 in 3 humans on the spinning globe do not have access to safe, clean, fresh water resources.

In a way I think these numbers are a bit off… I’d suggest the access to water that is safe and clean is a bigger issue than this. But, I digress. 1 in 3 is a significant. Even though, I would have thought half the population experiences some form of fresh water crisis regularly, consistently.

The article referenced is, in my humble opinion, reporting on a specific “project”. I am skeptical of the numbers. I’d need to do a deeper dive into it all to agree or disagree articulately.

Suffice it to say:

Water is life….

I’ll come back from my wet tangent…

The world today is still as stressed and tense and confused as it was yesterday. I am still seeing meaningless memes that influence for the wrong reasons. That are designed and developed to mislead. One I shall pick up is the Israel/ Palestine sadness…

History is very static here, in the discussion of a “Two State Solution”.

What does a two state solution mean?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-state_solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the establishment a single state in former Mandatory Palestine with equal rights for all its inhabitants. The two-state solution is supported by many countries and the Palestinian Authority.[1] Israel currently does not support the idea, though it has in the past.

The 2 state solution was originally considered in 1937. Since that time the “solution” has gone through several iterations and Palestine has rejected or withdrawn from every proposed solution.

Israel is reportedly the evil empire here, and is causing the angst and suffering. BUT, Palestine has rejected every proposal, or broken every agreement over the past 88 years. The blurb above is biased in the obvious: Israel currently does not support the idea, though it has in the past.

Technically false. Noting well Palestine has never accepted any agreement to down-arms, play nice, live together in peace.

I struggle with some of the on-line info I discover. I find much/ most biased. A large % is biased in an anti-Israel way. The Palestinians have been granted the status of victimhood. Thus the global bleeding-heart brigade cries poor Palestine, poor Palestine.

I love how the propaganda machines of the planet pump the Palestine-is-good music into our headphones. Even though we know, KNOW, neither side in any conflict has clean hands. If Palestine was truly good they would have released their hostages ages and ages ago, or not taken any at all, ever.

If Palestine was truly good they would not hide in and around and under civilian facilities. Nor would they spend megabucks building tunnels, preparing for war, if they were truly good. If they intended to be peaceful.

I think of the bombing of Dresden… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden

Dresden was an industrial area and there is much discussion that the act was not war, but rather a war crime… Critics of the bombing argue that Dresden was a cultural landmark with little strategic significance, and that the attacks were indiscriminate area bombing and were not proportionate to military gains.[13][14][15] Some claim that the raid was a war crime. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden

And my point: in such conflict there are no clean hands…

Time to check my dogs…

Nia’s pups are gorgeous…

More later

August is here. Damn the year is flashing past!

I am sitting with my damaged leg up, Lady Godzilla is playing on her own, Nia, with her 2 fresh pups, is on the deck.

Recap of my past few days… Wednesday I got my leg stuck between 2 machines. After a few hours in ER I got home with no broken bones but very, very, very sore. Thursday I spent licking my wounds and moaning and groaning. Friday Nia started nesting. By noon she’d dropped her first pup. We now, Saturday morning, have 2, nice n fresh n pretty puppies:

This breeding season we sired with an immature dog, Dandy, that was obviously just on the sperm-bank side of maturity. He bred with Quel first. A few days later he bred Nia. Both bitches went into obvious pregnancy. Both bitches had wet teats a week ago. Quel never really looked too pregnant, other than the wet teats. Recently Quel went dry again. Obviously a phantom pregnancy, which is not terribly uncommon.

I’m elated Nia dropped pups. I had thought she’d too be experiencing a false pregnancy. Of course we expect more from this breed, but the immature stud explains where the small litter. And we do have a lovely silver bitch-pup and a great looking brindle boy. Nia is being a perfect mother. And we plan to breed again.

Son, Don, and his 3/4yr old, Andromeda, showed up yesterday for the weekend. Puppies and little kids = lots of joy and confusion.

So August is here, the calendar year is dwindling, and life is good due to puppies and children.

And beat up legs are no good. This getting old bullshit is harder than I expected.

More later

Smiles

Some pictures first…

The last picture is me and Lady Godzilla keeping my sore, damaged, sad leg up…

Today is a Thursday. On Tuesday I got my left leg stuck between a couple machines while working. In all reality I got lucky. I did think the leg was broken, but it’s only beaten and battered and sore as can be.

I was mowing and got stuck in the mud. Using another machine to drag the mower out of the mud the accident occurred. I admit that I got lucky, it could be worse. Getting between two big machines is never wise. I guess I needed a reminder.

It’s been ages since I have required an emergency medical trip. In my years here in Aus I have never been to the Emergency in any hospital. I must say things work well. I know more now about how this emergency medical stuff happens. They make it easy… all you have to do is wait, be patient, relax and wait and wait and wait.

Luckily I am good at waiting.

Today, the sky is blue, the air is crisp, the wind is brisk, chilly, cutting. Great day for getting things done outside…

And I sit with my leg up.

Moving is painful. I’d like to be up and about and getting things done. Always will have a lot to do, the tasks large and small never end. The ground is drying up, but obviously not as dry as I need, noting I was stuck in the mud when my “incident” happened.

I blame my own stupidity for the accident… I had been mowing and slashing for a few hours and was running out of dry areas to mow, so I tried an area I know to be wet, and promptly got stuck. I was near to putting the machines away, going onto other maintenance jobs. But I guess a trip to the ER was better than getting work done. And I guess I needed a break, I needed a week of leg up healing… to start the month of August.

The gods do indeed have a profound sense of humour.

And the beat goes on…

more later

Tuesday morning in my little valley. It’s almost 9am and I sit, wrapped up, waiting for some warmth to shine into the air. Got pretty chilly over night. The sun is out, the sky is blue and the air is still a chilly 10c/ 50f.

I am reading of coming, predicted, soon to be at a theatre near you, Weather Events.

It is predicted to be wet for the next many months. And where its not wet, wet, wet it shall be hot, or cold, or tsunami, or something in the middle… but it shall be nasty and abnormal and scary and…

Yes, Chicken Little, the sky is falling… everywhere, all at once.

As near as I can tell, “weather” is what is happening “outside” all the time, everyday, every year. It is never the same, it is always changing, and predicting it is pretty much impossible.

Tho we keep trying.

One thing that we can do with general weather “predictions” is look into the past. Not to predict the future but to compare and report. We have a number of years of records to review, to use, to assist in “trying” to prepare for what comes next. Of course we have learned through generations of observations that certain winds blow in certain directions during certain times of the year. We know that certain winds are dry, others are wet. We know storms, cyclones, hurricanes and tornadoes have seasons, sorta.

In the equatorial tropics of the Solomon Islands I learned that there is generally a wet season, and a wetter season. But sometimes we went into drought.

For the area where I live, I found this bit of essential information… The annual rainfall in the Maleny region typically averages around 2,000 mm (79 in). However, rainfall can be highly variable, with some years experiencing totals reaching up to 4,000 mm (160 in). Monthly and daily rainfall can also fluctuate significantly, with monthly totals sometimes exceeding 1,000 mm (39 in) and 24-hour totals reaching up to 300 mm (12 in)

Maleny, referenced above, is 20 minutes uphill from me. Its is on a peak of the ridge-line, overlooking the coast. I believe weather gets stuck on the ridge, holds and collects moisture. Often the area around Maleny is shrouded in low hanging cloud cover. Fog is a common occurrence.

My valley is in what I consider a “rain shadow”. I’m on the backside of the ridge-line that separates the coastal zone from the country zone. We normally get more rain than the coastal zone, but when the big storms blow in, when the cyclones come, they normally make land fall and hug the coast line, giving us little of the cyclonic effects. As the coast gets battered we sit snug in our valley. But when the weather gets stuck on the ridge-line (which is common) we get dumped on.

These past couple years have been wet, wet, wet… after a year long drought 2019/2020.

Weather collection locations are all over the place, but none really close to where I am. I know from experience that a short distance towards the coast, or a short distance away from the coast means big differences. Travel west, less than an hour from here, and it gets dry very quickly.

So I look at the weather from a number of locations around me… I found this useful resource… http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=136&p_display_type=dailyDataFile&p_startYear=&p_c=&p_stn_num=040169

My take on predicting the weather is that we cant, really. We can record what has happened and try to think we know something useful from the study of the collected date… but we suck at predicting the weather of tomorrow.

And the beat goes on.

More later

A good storm and 40mm of rain over night leaves the air crystal clear and fizzing with ozone… Did you know: The smell of ozone is distinct from the earthy smell of petrichor, which is caused by plant oils and geosmin released from the soil. Ozone, a molecule composed of three oxygen atoms (O3), is formed when lightning splits oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere. The strong winds associated with thunderstorms can carry this ozone down to ground level, where its sharp, pungent smell can be detected.

I am watching the world spin on its confused, eclectic, eccentric course. I feel we are in epochal times, changing times, shifting times… its all the same really, eccentric or epochal… its all about change…

Change is good, if it’s good change.

I viewed the change of my hairline, many decades ago, as bad change.

I saw the invent/ advent of the www as good change. I saw it as having access to the world’s libraries, to mankind’s accumulated wealth of knowledge. I saw it as no longer needing to have my complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannia and the Greatest Works of the Western World with me at all times. Over 200lbs/ 90kgs of books are hard to manage, store, access.

Somewhere in life’s wake my encyclopaedias are sitting, rotting, unloved, unwanted… and thats sad.

The world is changing from one of printed-on-paper to one of electronically-generated… I started reading on-line ages ago. I found Project Gutenberg ages ago: https://www.gutenberg.org

I like the idea that books from Gutenberg are free, and there are many long lost, all but forgotten writers’ complete works available. Did I say, for free? Jack London, Herman Melville, Arthur Canon Doyle, Louis Becke, Andre Dumas are a few of my favourites.

I have not subscribed to a periodical for ever and ever. Ages ago my Time and Newsweek, and Guardian, and Economist subscriptions were important. It was exciting to receive your monthly mag in the mail. Up until recent years I subscribed to Nat-Geo. Some where in my past life is a box or two filled with old copies of Nat-Geo.

I subscribe these days, on-line, to few sites. I avoid pay-walls. I tend to search and look and dig and generally find the info I require without forking out any $$. The www offers heaps if one is patient, and enjoys reading.

One sad, sad change is the fact that “journalism”, the art of reporting “news” is dead and gone. Life is filled with talking-heads stating their opinions as facts. I read a number of “small town” newspapers and find little news therein. One I really liked recently is a simple paragraph that declares its bias quickly… The cost of living, access to housing, and climate change are impacting the number of children Australians are having. Should we be concerned about the long-term implications of declining birth rates?

From the press here in Australia… COL, access to housing, and Climate Change are IMPACTING the number of children…

Sure, explain to me you’re not biased, that you’re just faithfully reporting the NEWZ…

Lastly… some plain talk about climate change… funny, sad, and true…

And the beat goes on

More later

Winter on Australia’s Sunshine Coast is pretty easy to handle. Coming from the frozen plains of the Midwest the word “Winter” conjures much different mental pictures than the winters we get here…

I’ll take a Sunny Coast winter over an Iowa winter any day…

More July’s lies come in the form of those annoying, meaningless memes that abound all around the virtual social network world:

First and foremost I finds this:

CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert because it was losing $40 million a year. The Late Show – whose cancelation was announced Thursday – costs $100m a year to produce, with Colbert, 61, getting paid between $15 million and $20 million a year to host

So lets all cry for poor old SC who was a white night in dark political times… who took on the most powerful and despicable leader in the free world and lost…

NOT!

No, he diid not get “cancelled” for being ruthlessly anti Trump, trying to save democracy, nor championing the rights and freedoms of the down trodden.

His politics are not the reasons for his termination, nor are his words, that so few people chose to listen to…

The reason is simple… Folks simply were not watching, listening to SC any more. He had lost his audience, lost his pertinence and lost his sponsors.

An old saying… If IT dont pay, IT dont stay…

I know some folks (with too much time on their hands) shall conflate this into YET ANOTHER example of the pending authoritarianism we’ve been promised by the fascist and evil DJT. Its all due to that nebulous and nefarious AUTHORITARIANISM I believe so many folks are wishing for, banking on.

How else can these folks justify all their negative energy, anxiety and angst? There has to be a spook in the closet and a goblin under the bridge. There simply has to be. They cant JUST be wrong… IMPOSSIBLE!

Joy Reid falls into the same category… cancelled because she wasn’t relevant nor profitable. Period. If she had been relevant she would have attracted more viewers and thus more sponsors. But it wasn’t so.

Of course, for a long suffering black lady like Joy, it’s all about race… There are a couple good scenes where Joy simply cannot accept the facts and argues it has to be because of her sex and her race. That can be the only reason why folks dont want to listen to her. She aint sad or bad or unimportant… nope.

You are racist is the reason for Joy’s failure. You are a racist is always and all ways the reason… for some folks…

And the beat goes on…

and on…

and on…

More later

Smiles all around.

“Batteries simply cannot make a transition to wind and solar power feasible. The amount, and hence the cost, of storage is far too great.”

This is a great discussion I found here : https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/07/12/making-pjm-all-wind-and-solar-would-cost-over-2-4-trillion-in-battery-backup/

By David Wojick

I keep reading how big batteries are all it takes to make wind and solar reliable as the sole grid electricity source. The reality is that making wind and solar work at all requires a fantastic amount of battery backup, far more than is possible.

Below is an example using the PJM grid. PJM is America’s biggest grid operator, with a territory covering the Mid-Atlantic and points west. Their territory includes the Washington, DC metro area, where all the federal bigwigs live, making it a good place to start. I also live there.

We are quantifying a fantasy, so let’s keep it very simple. In fact, the basic question is why hasn’t PJM done this simple analysis? They do a lot of sophisticated grid modeling. Or maybe they have done this crucial assessment, but it is a secret, which is even worse.

Consider a single day in a typical peak demand summer heatwave. The heatwave is due to a stagnant high-pressure system called a Bermuda high, so there is not enough wind to generate usable wind power, no matter how much generating capacity is available.

It is sunny during the day, so let’s assume that for 8 hours we get enough solar to meet demand (or, as I prefer to call it, to meet need). For the other 16 hours, we meet demand using batteries. We import nothing because our neighbors are in the same needy boat.

Finally, for simplicity, I assume the demand is at the peak level for the entire 24 hour day. This overestimates things a bit, but we will find that does not matter. A fancier analysis would use a typical demand curve. PJM can handle that.

My example year is 2030, as that is a standard near-term transition target year for which we have reasonable estimates of peak demand. Here then are the very simple numbers.

PJM’s estimate peak demand for 2030 is about 180,000 MW.

Meeting that for 16 hours with batteries requires 2,880,000 MWh of usable storage.

Usable storage is between 20% and 80% of nameplate battery capacity, hence 60%.

Thus we need 4,800,000 MWh of nameplate battery capacity.

Storage facility capital costs vary, but $500,000 per MWh is a reasonable estimate.

This gives a total cost of $2.4 trillion, or $2,400,000,000,000, for the batteries to make wind and solar reliable in this case. This fantastic cost is clearly not feasible.

There are things that could make this number go down a bit, such as reduced cost per MWh. But given last year saw just 130,000 MWh installed worldwide, the production capacity does not exist, so we are talking about new mines and factories. It actually cannot be done by 2030, not even close.

But the realistic numbers would be much higher if this fantasy played out because low wind, near-peak heatwaves often last for several days, even a week. Ten trillion dollars is easily possible. We are, after all, talking about hundreds of thousands of tractor-trailer sized batteries, basically containers full of expensive chemicals. Moreover, this is just for PJM.

Batteries simply cannot make a transition to wind and solar power feasible. The amount, and hence the cost, of storage is far too great.

Given the simplicity of this analysis, using readily available data, the big question is why are these impossible numbers not already widely known? PJM and their big utilities all do detailed modeling and supposed reliability assessments. So does NERC, whose sole mission is reliability. Many utilities file annual Integrated Resource Plans with their state regulators, typically looking out 20 years or more.

That battery backup cannot make wind and solar powered grids possible is obvious given these incredible numbers. The electric power industry must know this, but their silence is deafening

It’s a sunny Sunday morn after a frigid Saturday night. Got down to 6c/ 43f. The big old house was very chilly this morning.

Reading and writing a lot lately. I’m in training to learn to sit on my arse. Going in for ankle reconstruction soon.

I have lived an adventurous and hazardous existence. I’ll trade none of my experiences to lose my scars, my stripes, my badges of merit, my participation trophies. But the price of adventure over cost of injury has caught up with me. Ive broke my self up heaps and will now pay one of the fees required.

They call it minimally invasive…. I’ll hold onto this convenient personal belief, I’ll delude myself and feel better for it… Believing that the sawing of my bones is “minimally invasive”…

Post-Op will require my foot in a cast for 8weeks or more. In prep I am practicing sitting, building a list of research topics and discussions, and doing physio. Getting strong so I can enjoy atrophy.

I’m taking it easy. Do not want to re-injure the ankle, have any accidents before they take the saw to my bones.

I sit, I read, I write… preparing myself for the fallow times to come…

One of the bigger concepts I have been ruminating upon is that of “Convenient Personal Beliefs”…

We all lie to ourselves. We create myths and legends in our minds. One that comes to mind quickly, one that covers both delusional myths and BS legends is that of Che Guevara…. “Ernesto “Che” Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, politician and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture”

I never understood, even when I was a young liberal minded no-nothing-at-all, how a sadistic and moralistic and evil dude won the mindless popularity contest. Even when I was young I knew Che was “evil”… I knew… In real life, however, Che Guevara was a monster. Despite Che’s global reputation as a lovable revolutionary, there was a very dark side to him, marked by immoral behavior and ruthless brutality. Behind the romanticized image of the charming rebel lay a man deeply embedded in the brutal and bloody violence of armed struggle. In the mountains of Cuba, and later in Bolivia, Guevara was not merely a theorist of guerrilla warfare but an active participant. Crucially, Che was personally responsible for overseeing the wanton execution of numerous individuals – executions he saw as necessary for the cause, but which by any objective standards would be labeled as cold-hearted terrorism. https://rabbidunner.com/the-dangerous-allure-of-radical-chic/

Another convenient personal belief is that of what was referred to early on as “Climate Change”… Some call it Global Warming, I call it glowball warming… I have written of many friends, peers, compadres that are sold 100% on the “sky is falling” version of “climate change”.

Think of your grandchildren. Is a common BS line… what about the children of the future… says the misled fool that thinks the millions and billions wasted on mitigating the effects of climate change by throwing money into unproven and sometimes erroneous tech is the right road forward.

I very much cringe as the liberal elite western world believes sending their dirt over seas, to less developed nations, is a positive in the war against climate change. There is a convenient personal belief that if I send my manufacturing, my industrial production and emissions to “somewhere else” my hands are cleaner. My plans for a brighter and better future for my grandchildren glows by exporting that which we deem unwanted, dirty, bad.

Sure, destroy another Nation’s future, but not our own. Makes sense to me!

Child labour, slavery, below existence-level wages, strip mines, coal fired power plants, and more that is evil and bad and unwanted “HERE”, is apparently OK, over there.

In recent political history a humongous convenient personal belief was that Prez Joe Biden was … sharp, running circles around us, better than ever, just a stutterer, commanding and inquisitive… Sure, we know, knew it was all lie but, if you believe your lie is it still a lie? Is it not Truth if you believe it? Or is that a twist too far?

Another is the idea that Palestinians are victimised by the Israelis, the Zionists, the West…

I agree the Palestinians are victims, but their scourge is their religion, their elected radical leaders. Period.

And, as a result of our convenient personal beliefs, we import thousands of sad, beaten, needy folks. We open our arms, open our borders to people, folks, races, religions that Hate Us!

Sure, sounds like a winning plan to me.

Another sad, convenient personal belief is that one can change or choose their sex. That there are more than two sexes. That biological sex is fluid. I know I’ll get nailed again (and again) for this position, my words… but… Its one of those “follow the science” sorta gigs… Convince me there are more than two sexes. I am very open minded. I simply dont think lying to myself or others is a positive. You got a dick you are a guy. You got a vagina and you be a gal. Cut your dick off, mutilate yourself and you’re a guy that cut his dick off. You’r not a gal.

Another convenient personal belief is that of abortion… I have a long, long history discussing this topic. I have people near and dear that tell me… “Its not a human life”, “its just a parasitic node attached to the “host””, “you are male so dont have a say”…

I am not opposed to abortion. I refuse to tell folks what they can or cannot do with their bodies in private, on their own dime. I am not anti-abortion, but I do say a) call it what it is, “murder”, and b) no public funding for murdering the unborn. Pay for it yourself.

And the beat goes on.

More

Later

Big Smiles

Chilly mornings time of the year here in the Land of Aus. Happy to report that the dry season is almost here. Only have had 3 or 4 rains this month, maybe only 50mm/ 2inches of rain so far this month.

We’ve had some beautiful, chilly, windy, clear skied days and nights recently. The clear skies give us very chilly nights. As the day warms up, it’s 10am now, the place becomes very pleasant indeed. But the windy, blustery nights get down right cold. Cold for QLD, not cold for Iowa…

The ground is still wet. Ive been stuck a couple times in the past week. One eve I got my 4×4 stuck, had the windows down, and splattered mud inside the cab. The grandkids were in the back and got splattered too. They thought it was great good fun.

My faithful readers all know my affinity with and for dogs. I’m a dog guy. Always have been. Always will be. For most of my childhood I had a dog in bed with me all the time. Sometimes two dogs. Sometimes a cat too. At one stage we had a skunk and a couple raccoons in the house. Of course the skunk and the racoons never lasted long because as they grew up they showed there thieving natures and mom had them removed. Ours was a household of confusion and activity. Kids and dawgs always go well together.

Here’s one of my stories from early childhood…

————————
I was quite young. Maybe 4-5yrsold. I recall a fourth of July celebration on the farm where we lived south of Knoxville, Iowa. I have vivid images… Fireworks, bbqs’, lots of people. Bottles of cola cola. Fresh, crank-made ice cream by the gallons. A long weekend of excitement and marvels for a young child. 

There I was… The back stoop of the small white Farm-House… My Father and other males, I recall my favoured uncle, Jimmy, sitting by back door, near the large earthen mound that was the “root-cellar”.  The two-hole “long-drop” out by the clothesline. A large steel bell with a huge clapper hung from the clothesline-pole, near the two-holer. It was an old farm. Big front lawn. My family rented the house and the farmer/ owner managed the farm. 

It must have been a long weekend. Celebrations had been ongoing and everyone was relaxed. It was the decompression side of the weekend… Things were almost over. Everyone was hapi. Relaxed.

The Men are smoking, sitting on beer crates. Talking in low tones. 

A couple of mongrel dogs that belonged to the farm, sunning themselves on the walk way. 

I sat near. 

Listening to the cadence of the speech. Not fully understanding but enjoying the sensation of listening to these men, as they smoked. I enjoyed the smell of their tobacco. So did the dogs… The dawgs were my friends. We spent a lot of time together. 

I recall Jimmy picking up a dog near him and holding his ear open. My father, without a word, stuck a match and burnt a tick. Jimmy turned the dog a bit more, a few more ticks were summarily incinerated by a succession of Ohio Blue Tips.

I was fascinated. Another Man had grabbed another dog and as the first de-ticked Canis ran off whimpering, more matches and more ticks were used and abused. 

I elbowed in as only a child can do. I got close. Watched the sizzling ticks. Saw the dogs squirm and fight, ineffectively, as a parasite was burnt from their skin.

That’s when Jimmy grabbed me. He held me across his knee as my father sizzled ticks in both my ears. I do believe I had more ticks than the Dawgs.

When Jimmy’s grip relaxed, I scurried away, whimpering, to where the dogs were, under the close line. 

We sat there, the dawgs and I, licking our wounds. Staring warily toward the men and their cigarette smoke. Wondering what we had done wrong to be so sorely treated.
——————-

Picked up a new Dawg this past week, and surprisingly, it’s not one of my usual big-dog-breeds. Nope, I have been given an opportunity to swap one of my upcoming mastiff pups for a wiener-dog. My mastiffs weight 100lbs/ 40kgs. The new pup is less than 2kgs/ 4lbs.

Now named “Lady Godzilla” by 4 year old Josef…

She’ll spend a number of weeks here with us before she’s big enough to travel to the Solomons.

And life is guuuud.

Dawgs are guuud…

more later

On my side of the globe it is the 4th of July.

It was in 1980 that I last sat and watched the 4th’s fire works and hotdog cooking antics without knowing…

Knowing what it all meant and was for.

On July 4th 1980 I was 22 years old. Drove and old push-button Dodge. Worked construction for Ray Nehl. Was fit and tanned and young and beautiful.

But I didnt understand the 4th of July. Then it was a day off, a day in the summer air, a day with a long night.

On January 11th 1981 I unwittingly bid farewell to the USA. I never “lived” in the US again. Tho I visited a lot, frequently, often… I never called the USofA home again.

I became an expatriated American way back then. And I learned about Patriotism. Took quite a while, it cost me many, many lessons but learn I did. And now I know, I Know…

Patriotism is a positive.

Period.

Being patriotic is something one learns. It didnt come from standing every morning before class, hand on heart, reciting the pledge of allegiance. It didnt come from lessons learned from elders… those elders that had sacrificed by “Serving”. Those elders that survived and would sit quietly, smoking in the dusk, watching the fire works flash and awe, with a tear running down the cheek.

I learned Patriotism by leaving the USofA, and entering the world of multiculturalism and, importantly, multi-Nationalism.

There is an old, old joke that goes like this… “What do you call someone that speaks 3 languages? Trilingual, of course. 2 Languages? Bilingual. 1 Language? American.”

There is a lot within this old play on words… there has been much written and discussed about “being American”. We all have heard of “The Quiet American”… another play on words. Yet, as a young expatriated American, I quickly learned much about my personal Patriotism. Noting well my Patriotism may not be like yours.

I moved from Iowa to Solomon Islands in January 1981. I entered a land that was traditionally NOT “American”. The Solomons had been the stomping grounds for Brits and Aussies and Kiwis, but there were few “Yanks” around. The Peace Corps program totalled less than 25 people in 1981. There were some Yanks working in the Islands but they were few and far between.

A July 4th doo wasn’t common place in the Islands back then. The small number of Yanks on each Island would hold some type of celebration. I remember one that was organised (in the 90s) by an American lady that didnt approve of alcohol. Suffice to say the “dry” 4th celebration got turned into a 2-kegger thanks to Tom Shoen. I still recall the tea-totalling lady being unhappy there wasn’t more soft drinks. Noting we had beer left over the next morning.

As a Solomon Islander it was easier to wait for the 7th of July, when the Solomons celebrate their Independence Day. More Solomon Islanders around than Yanks, thats for sure.

Often, The Melbourne Cup would be a bigger day, a bigger party in the Solomons than the 4th of July.

I do not recall when the “ANTI” movement started and National Holidays became a time and place to vent unhappiness, unease, unrest. Maybe the “anti” side of things has always been there, but not as in-your-face. I attended quite a few “protests” in my time, but there was never any intent then and there to be violent.

I fear times have changed.

And the beat goes on…

Happy 4th of July to all…

Smiles

More later

Damn, damn, damn… another month gone. Another half-a-year gone.

Damn!

First, recapping June:

I know that there is still rain in the gauge from yesterday, I’d say an inch/ 25mm, so I’ll add that to the 170mm/ 7inches pictured above… nope, not the dry season yet if we got 200mm+/- of rain in the month of June.

Nope, not the dry season just yet.

Maybe July will be dryer? maybe….

I’m still watching and listening and reading the bluez, the newz… And I must say things have gone a tad bit quiet these past few days.

As hard to believe as it may be… the cease fire in the mid-east is holding.

As I read I find a paragraph that is quite interesting/ telling…
When Iran signed the JCPOA nuclear deal with the Obama Administration, its reception in the Arab Gulf was, at best, frosty. The Iranian regime’s role in propping up Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria—one of the most devastating in modern Arab history—combined with its nefarious influence in Iraq and Lebanon, ensured that Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain saw the deal not as a diplomatic breakthrough, but as an endorsement of a destabilizing actor. https://time.com/7298676/iran-israel-conflict-arab-reaction/

I believe this to be an important point that folks are failing to grasp. I believe that most folks have a shallow understanding of the political, tribal and yes, religious landscape of and in the mid-east.

Ive discussed it before… Where are Iran’s allies?

A quick history lesson: Iran officially became an Islamic state following the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The revolution led to the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This transition involved the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who became the Supreme Leader, and the implementation of an Islamic theocratic system of governance.

From my understanding, it was (has always been) Iran’s intention to franchise the idea of an Islamic State. As the piece above states: “The Iranian regime’s role in propping up Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria—one of the most devastating in modern Arab history—combined with its nefarious influence in Iraq and Lebanon, ensured that Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain saw the deal not as a diplomatic breakthrough, but as an endorsement of a destabilizing actor“

Iran has indeed been a destabilising agent.

Will this change?

Will my hair ever grow back?

These and even more deep n meaningful thoughts shall be pondered, ruminated upon, and discussed…

More later

A sublime Sunday. Under a grey sky. Drizzle n damp is the forecast. Quiet is the air. Flora and fauna remain hunkered down. Dogs all curled in their straw beds.

I am pondering a world where history, sorry, I should say “History”, is no longer regarded. No longer faithfully taught. Of course, the “victor’s version” of history, is the foremost of “concerns” any Historian must contend with. But factual history is available. All one must do, be prepared for is to read, read, and read some more.

One history we have, I believe, failed to remember is that of the 20th century. The wars therein. The realities of those wars. The division of the spoils between the victors. And the progression of life and developments that has led us to where we are today…

10:10am my time… News Plash… US drops big arsed bombs on Iranian Nuke sites.

Hmmm… I was heading in this direction with my words, but, damn… gotta change tack…

Where was I?

Need to reassess my post, need to see where we are and what I see happening next… A profound sense of History is important. What has just happened is an important point of time, in History. Make no doubt about it…

OK, gathering my thoughts and marshalling my words I shall go back a few days and revisit some posts from my past:

Just recently, I discussed the fact that it do appear as though Iran is standing alone. Looking at a map of this region we clearly see that Israel does not live in a friendly neighbourhood…

One might be forgiven to think that Israel does not have an ice cube’s chance in hell – IF – the countries that surround were to combine their resources against them. Look at the map… Islam surrounds the Zionists. Israel, even before it was an offical Nation, knew such to be true. Israel has known this for a century (or more). They are prepared, and have demonstrated huge strength in such a critical scenario.

I wonder why Iran has no real allies? They have their paid proxies, but are they allies? One of the reasons Rome fell was because it relied on mercenaries to man its armies. Paid soldiers are not as committed as those fighting for their homeland. We’ve seen his play out time and again. I wonder, do average Iranians support their Mullahs?

I’m not so sure.

No country in the region, not Yemen, or Lebanon, or Egypt have jumped up to join Iran’s “holy war” against Zion. Some claim it is the split between Sunni and Shia, but I think it’s more. I think that most modern Islamic States are rejecting fanaticism, have rejected fanaticism. I sure hope I’m right.

Iran was founded upon a fanatical religious base. I might suggest it is too late for it to change its position, at this point in time. It may well, now, be a moot point.

Iran’s totalitarian theological regime, like a man with explosive diarrhoea, can no longer flinch, move too quickly. Their feet are glued to the floor. It’s too late not to end up in a puddle of shit.

Its too late.

As a reader of History one must not shy from those prickly truths, those pesky facts… such as the fact that the US and the UK did play dirty when Iran stood on the brink of democratic self-determination all those decades ago. By putting their finger on the scale, then, they have given us today. Shame on those long dead King makers.

One can certainly understand the history of Iran’s HATE for all things USA/ Western.

History is long, deep and certainly dark. And this region, the area we colloquially refer to as the “Middle East”, is a bed of History. Noting well Iran as a Nation, a land, a people waring amongst each other, with their neighbourhood, for many 100s of years… https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire
In their initial stages of expansion, the Ottomans were leaders of the Turkish warriors for the faith of Islam, known by the honorific title ghāzī (Arabic: “raider”), who fought against the shrinking Christian Byzantine state. The ancestors of Osman I, the founder of the dynasty, were members of the Kayı tribe who had entered Anatolia along with a mass of Turkmen Oğuz nomads. Those nomads, migrating from Central Asia, established themselves as the Seljuq dynasty in Iran and Mesopotamia in the mid-11th century, overwhelmed Byzantium after the Battle of Manzikert (1071), and occupied eastern and central Anatolia during the 12th century. The ghazis fought against the Byzantines and then the Mongols, who invaded Anatolia following the establishment of the Il-Khanid (Ilhanid) empire in Iran and Mesopotamia in the last half of the 13th century. With the disintegration of Seljuq power and its replacement by Mongol suzerainty, enforced by direct military occupation of much of eastern Anatolia, independent Turkmen principalities—one of which was led by Osman—emerged in the remainder of Anatolia.

The battle, the war is, has always been, one of religion. Religion v Religion and the power to dictate, control the “faithful”.

I see few halos over the heads of the various leaders and proponents of either, any religion.

All wars taint all parties. There are no clean hands at the “end” of any war.

Unless, of course, you have god on your side…
https://youtu.be/5y2FuDY6Q4M?si=3913ROgguL88o4bn

More later

Wood not war

Just sitting, thinking, ruminating…

And I wonder, “who are Iran’s allies”…

When wars start and lines are drawn in the sand… sides are taken.

Israel’s long serving ally, the USA, has shown up and is present.

Iran has lost its skies, has been beaten to a pulp and… Where are Iran’s allies..

I check the inter-web and see… Who are Iran allies with?

Iran has close ties with Lebanon and considers it an ally. Iran also has close ties with the Lebanese political party Hezbollah and its militia force to whom it reportedly provides as much as $100 million in supplies and weaponry per year. Iran has been a staunch supporter of both Lebanon and Hezbollah against Israel.

Hmmm, Lebanon and Hezbollah either didnt get the invite or have decided its better for their health to not attend.

De-Nuke or get pulverised…

Sadly Iran is not a democracy. It is a Theocracy. I dont think they will back down… the leadership of Iran cant back down. They cant. Their religion will not allow it.

I am personal friends with a number of Iranian refugees that fled from the Original Islamic Regime led by Khomeini. That was in the 70s. Some I know had to run for their lives.

Fifty years later, where do we stand…

I dont think Iran shall change its stripes.

Wood not war.

It dont look too good.

More later

I am speaking for myself when I say EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE…

There is something passionate, visceral, emotional in a parade, any parade. As a cub scout and as a boy scout I marched in small-town parades, and found the experience to be uplifting. I recall a sense of euphoria.

In the very early 60s, as a small child at the 4th of July parade in Knoxville, Iowa, I recall being introduced to a very old man. I was told that he was a Civil War veteran. I remember being told “you won’t ever meet another one”.

Much later in my life I became a Rose Bowl Parade junkie. I had an apartment 2blocks off Colorado Blvd for a number of years. The Rose Bowl Parade, as it preps to march on New Years morning, offers the best street party I have ever experienced. https://nativeiowan.com/2015/01/01/mikes-bikes-gotta-luv-a-parade/

I feel sad for the folks that can’t find joy in a parade.

By nature, parades are martial, organised, lined up, marching in time. The marching band(s) fill the air with melodies that make your feet move in time. As a spectator you unconsciously start marching along. Swaying to the beat.

I know I say this a lot but…

I am lucky enough to hold citizenship to three countries. I feel patriotism and affinity with all three of the Nations I hold allegiance to.

BUT… there is only one country, one place that is my Home Land.

And…

Everyone loves a parade!

Saturday morning here.

The world is on fire… Again!

Lets start with the various “peaceful” demonstrations in the USofA… I could discuss “the riots in LA” but the fun n games that started in LA were far too good, far too much entertainment, far too lucrative for just LA/ California to keep to themselves.

I am serious when I say “lucrative”.

All that we see, have seen for quite a while, is well financed and very well organised. Many NGOs and non-profit orgs make all this happen. Behind the scenes, in nondescript offices, liberal-loony-do-gooders are paid to plot and plan and receive and distribute resources… masks, water, weapons, bull horns, scarves, uniforms (make mine black please), instructions and strategy.

One good strategy I saw was the use of driverless cars… call a driverless taxi or three to a location and set them on fire. Create a toxic zone where the fumes and chemicals of the vehicle’s batteries prevent anyone not carrying a Mexican flag from entering. Of course, the amount of nasty gases released do not bother these save-the-whales-type protesters. No, screw the environmental damage! We’re fighting Fascism!!!!

Now we have the “No King” demonstrations being organised, so I hear, in 1500 locations. Simply too much fun and entertainment looting and civil unrest to keep to one’s self… lets franchise it out….

There is soooo much hypocrisy that a humble commentator like myself struggles to find a starting point. Why, how, for what? Give me a reason, please. A reason why destroying private and public property anywhere, any time makes sense. Again! It didn’t make sense the last time we did this. Why take this path again?

I come from an era where civil disobedience was a “thing”. It was, in those days “peaceful protest”…

Remember this one?

Or are you too young? Or simply too unlearned?

I am thinking of two people close to me. One young, one old…

My dear young friend (a young adult, a teenager) gets very stressed when told “No”. There are rivers of words and arguments and tears if, ever, the answer “no” is received. The term “hysteria” is applicable herein because after exhausting the words and the arguments and the tears, the last emotional resort is rage, hysteria, unreasoned energetic acting out. Screaming, condemning, blaspheming…

My other friend is as old as I, has shared many of the footsteps my life has been fortunate enough to experience. We stood side by side in the 70s protesting against the war, against nukes, against a lot of things. We wore hemp clothing, smoked dope, did a bit of acid, and considered ourselves ultimately aware and coooool… My dear old friend is still, to this day, attending every protest and rally and coool, enlightening event available. Occupy Democrats, BLM, Defund the Police, and now he is assisting folks organise for the No King protests tomorrow. I must add a proviso here in that my old friend is nonviolent so his time involvement is (still) limited to hand writing posters, not preparing projectiles.

I very much sympathise with the average citizen trying to simply live within this maelstrom of malicious intent. I too have lived through civil unrest and civil war and civil meltdown. It is not fun, it’s not nice, it’s not something I would wish upon anyone…

From one of the numerous “peaceful protests”, er riots in my homeland, Solomon Islands…

And, as a back drop to the incineration we see of American cities, Israel has attacked Iran, and Iran has retaliated. Its is going on as I type… bombs, destruction, death, mayhem and loss.

I blame what is going on, both in the USA and world wide, on the fickle and self serving leadership the USofA has experienced for most, if not all of this century… Just recently we had a brain-dead President, with a kleptocratic DNC ,and an inept RNC spending more time enriching themselves than being domestic managers and international diplomats. It’s been a pay-to-play game in DC for way too long.

Both parties, both sides of the equation are responsible for where we are.

At this moment only party is trying to make things better…

And I say Wood, not War…

More later