Reply #201: K&R, But what you ask is for people to think.

[Grinchie]

And a lot of people today are uncomfortable with the hard questions, and would better let them rest in some cubbyhole in the attic of their minds.

Thinking hurts for these people, so they drown it in booze, hate, blame and apathy, and the media exploits this common thread in todays American society masterfully. The media, by not shaping the important conversation, prolongs the continula dumbing down of America, and serves the goal of driving more consumption for those that would like the hard question to remain buried and ignored, saving them lots of money.

I have gladly given my opinions of what we should do, but until people actually start thinking about where they get their water, where they flush their waste, and how unhealthy their food system has become, and the inhumane treatment given to animals that they eat, I am afraid that they would rather eat some cookie where the boss gave the workers a bonus check for Christmas. Forget about the ingrediants.

When city planners promote farmland into McMansions because it is the "Highest and Best Use" they destroy important farmland that will never be reclaimed without incredible costs. California has lost so much valuable farmland in the latest Bubble and I have abandoned it. Sadly, most of the homes are used by people that can't comprehend how to grow a house plant, let alone a squash, persimmon, or Peach tree.

They produce more mosquitoes with the Cement pond full of green water than anything else of value, yet the city prospers on taxing them, and associating productive farmland in a similar higher tax bracket due to its proximity to the Suburban sprawl centers.

There are so many issues to discuss, it's difficult to know where to start, but I have found a philosophy that works for me.

1. Remain ethical and honest to what you believe in. This is incredibly aggravating, as you will find it very hard to make simple goals, such as buy no product that contains harmful ingrediants, utilizes unhealthy processes, is improperly labeled, manufactured in a Country where environmental laws are ignored, or electrical equipment that does not clearly state the energy it consumes, and this include labels written in 4 point font in raised black plastic. Never buy an item that does not have access to readily available and affordable spare parts or consumables, like lightbulbs. Any thing like a filter or other built in obsolescence needs to have a good reason for existing, and not the primary money flow or the product.

2. Hire only people that charge what you would like to be paid for doing a job, if you had those skills, tools and experience. This is pretty hard to do, since sometimes you won't know what's involved in a task, such as replacing a fgaucet until you actually do it. Pipes rot, valves break because they are made my slave labor, and or city water is full of crap that clogs the pipes as well as the intra cellular ocean in our bodies. If you get a quote for a job that obviously would not pay the wages of the poor immigrant that will eventually show up to do it for the boss, then find another contractor. If a contractor or handyman doesn't do EXACTLY as you say, fire him on the spot, and that include Noise, using power tools where unnecessary, and bad attitude when asked to do things your way. Do NOT BE FOOLED BY HOME DEPOT Handymen. They are the ones that think a set of cheap tools will allow them to do any job. Always get 2 or three estimates on any work and do the numbers. Sleep on it. Delay if necessary, you might find the repair was only cosmetic and not needed right away.

3. Stand up against bellowing ignorant hateful people, but don't get suckered in to a flame war. Make your statement and let them explode. Most knowledgeable people readily identify Contextomy, and don't know you from john doe. When they bellow, just dissect their attempt to shift context, and whistle a happy tune. They'll get the message, or spend enormous amounts of energy trying to get the last word. Ignore them.

4. Change your own life first. It will heal your body and soul. Enlightend people will flock to you, unenlightened will just get mad that you have want they cannot achieve. This is normal, and seems to be part of human nature, to place blame on ones personal situation on another, despite the fact that we control our future with our thoughts and actions.

5. Everyones method of evoking change is different. I'm a farmer, so I farm healthy food. This task alone is a nightmare, since the GMO's get so much benefit from the Corporate media and heavily influenced USDA, EPA and the FDA. I develop systems of growing food that require little or no touch, using systems that have been around for millenia. They work, thay are hidden treasures, and the Bulldozer wipes them out in a blink of an eye. U.S. Corporate Agriculture is monocrop oriented, and the bugs love it. My farm looks like a forest, until you start hauling tons of food out of it. It even feels like a forest, and the food appears only when you stumble across it or don't know where it is. The weeds feed the insects, so they don't eat my food. The weeds provide notrogen so I don't have to fertilize. The tree's shade the understory from the harsh sun, so I don't get sunburned, and the plants stay hydrated. The Overstory changes the wavelength of the light, so beneficial molds and fungus can do their work breaking down organic material. Taken as a system, there is an overwhelming amount of food for every type of creature, so pests are not a problem. Everyone has enough to eat, from pollinator to pest, to bird and bee.

They do not teach this in the Corporate funded Schools. They teach Area calculation, plant row spacing, herbicide amount calculation, fuel and fertilizer, harvest and transport. Not to mention the loans to pay for all these inputs. It's a sham system which performs well in one respect, but generally unsustainable and unhealthy when take from a system view. If the future farmer just does as he or she is taught, they are taught a system that is designed to promote unsustainable farming. My goal is to amaze people when they visit my little garden of eden and trigger the magic in their soul to see the difference one person can make, working with nature instead of destroying it and starting from scratch every season.

6. Question every thing you encounter written by experts. I used to believe in the educational system, and dosument tests and all that, but over the years I have found a lot of so called books that contain known errors, or are just a marketing avenue for a certian type of product. Question the items you have in your house. When replacing and item that failed, ask "Why did it fail?" Would replacing it with equivalent be appropriate? Most of the time, if you examine the REASON why something was built a certain way, it will make no sense. Feel free to research and find a better solution. A good example is a water heater. Would you replace a tank heater with another tank heater? Could it not be better to wait for a Hydrosonic Pump, using 1/100's the power, on demand, and 1/10th of the space with no venting or gas?

Would you invest in Solar panels for %25,000 when there is technology that makes electric motors nearly 100% efficient, vs the 40% to 80% that we have today? My philosphy is to wait for a better product, or build it yourself and show the non believer.

As for Pelosi, I have written my letters, I'm done with that turd. Bush will get what he deserves, and I will promote that with focused energy on that channel.

Thats my philosphy.

Peace