Peggy, you are absolutely right. We are in for some kind of climate change but it’s coming from the sun and the galactic sheet, not the humans. I wish it were the humans! Human impact is nothing compared to the collosal sun.
Logical people will attempt to make sense of unfolding events. When unfolding events are completely illogical, that means some information is categorically missing. I’ve come to a working conclusion there is something much, much bigger afoot.
The following is a link to an organization worth following. Lots of science, a daily report on solar and space weather, reports on anomolies (important to watch for), and the main man, Ben, goes to bat against NASA and the IPCC. Yeah, no denying we got climate change, but the why we got climate change is the literal elephantine Sun sitting in the room.
Which kinda ties into this new normal: Keep everybody distracted and all eyes completely off the target. Looking at the Covid policies under the lense of a severe climate shock starts to make a little more sense. I’m thinking the real story of climate change is the magnetic excursion.
Ergo, the disaster series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvjJqIXYT1w&list=PLHSoxioQtwZcVLEJjpywllxdsEfJjoOQ3
Yes, the “who gains” directly leads to the military industrial complex. Thanks for posting.
Also, China now has a new set of pipeline routes to Turkmenistan, which is the real prize. Perhaps this explains the surprise Feb-21 visit the Taliban paid to Turkmenistan offering their future support to secure the safety of pipelines running from Turkmenistan:
Since the launch of the Central Asia-China pipeline in 2009, Turkmenistan has pumped 290 billion cubic meters of gas to China. But whereas it was once predicted that the Beijing-funded pipeline would be carrying 65 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas annually by 2020, the entire route still only has capacity for 55 billion cubic meters per annum, and both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also use the pipeline. Considering Turkmenistan has the fourth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world – an estimated 19.5 trillion cubic meters, nearly 10 percent of the world’s total – current export figures nowhere near reflect its potential. (Source)It was very forward-looking of the Taliban to offer such support way back in February. :) Do not underestimate the critical importance of all the war-torn countries that have been otherwise unable to descend on their resources like locusts these past couple of decades. Their resources are now of absolutely vital strategic importance. That the US couldn't conceive of anything other than to squat violently atop them for 20 years shows just how ideologically screwed up it has become. China has no such blinkers on, possibly the result of not allowing lawyers, bartenders, community organizers, conservative (in name only) partisan hacks, and social justice warriors to clog up their vital leadership positions. Instead, they have a preponderance of highly educated people all throughout their leadership structure. Further, they have placed an emphasis on those people getting their educations in the very countries they are now subtly, and effectively, competing against. How many US lawmakers do you suppose were strategically sent off to be educated in Chinese universities? I'll bet that number is zero.
Objectively, Afghanistan is a quagmire for all who touch it. The Chinese too will discover this in short order. None of the tribes are so unified that one order from the Taliban high command will overrule their local interests. Like every people who have had their culture stripped down to the distilled essence of their identity by fifty years of continuous warfare, the Afghan people are not so enamored by the Chinese, their wealth, the opportunities, or their culture as to allow too much exploitation from the new overlords to dominate them.
The Chinese have a very brusque way of dealing with lesser cultures, and my guess is they will get lured in by the resources, assert themselves too vigorously, and slowly dragged into a quagmire of their own. The Afghans negotiate terms with blood and violence, if the Chinese think they are going to fool the Afghan people, and that the Afghans will simply accept their terms, they will be mistaken. Afghan snipers are very good. Their mortar fire is very accurate. Their IED’s are very effective. And their intelligence network is very broad. They know every face that comes into their towns and they know every helicopter coming or going fron the FOBs and airbases in their country. They are a people totally shaped by warfare and guerilla tactics. And the Chinese have a very bad reputation among most of their neighboring countries.
I think this goes poorly for China very quickly, and then their pride gets in the way. First mining engineers go missing. Then they send guard forces, then those security personnel start getting sniped, then they garrison troops, then the IED’s, then the escalation continues to its inevitable outcome. I think this goes very badly for the Chinese.
Afghanistan mineral resources belong to Afghani people. They need to decide which resource they will use/sell and to whom. They may choose to keep most of it in the ground rather than extract and destroy. They may choose to mine some to get out of the economic hole they are in. Wouldn’t they prefer to trade with people who are friendly that those who occupy with the militaries?. China saw the success Singapore had under Premier Lee Kwan Yew and adopted the long range approach. He provided the Chinese leaders a lot of guidance in the earlier years. Singapore has been sponsoring their students to study around the world for years. China’s OBOR initiative is a fantastic regional initiative. Taliban offering help to secure the oil pipelines is excellent regional cooperation. Imagine if US military decided to destroy the pipeline and thus their main source of revenue.
Also, as far as Afghanistan is concerned, there is one thing about the Pashtoon people that most people do not know - These are freedom loving people with indomitable spirits. Nobody can suppress them for long.
Most war-torn countries are in that state due to western neocon interference (Remember Libya was one of the most prosperous nations in Africa. What state is it in today?? These neocons also have controlling stake in most industries including pharma. These are the only people that the world needs to subdue.
The soviets started assassinating and asserting themselves in Afghanistan as early as the 1960’s and the country quickly decended into civil war. The Pakistanis and Iranians have had constant influence in the country and have asserted themselves plenty without pushback. None of this started because “Western Influences” pushed Afghanistan toward war. It was a thriving and hopeful region before the Soviets began their push for warm water ports on the Indian Ocean.
The Chinese do not go into any nation respectfully. Though they don’t roll tanks through the streets, they are singularly focused on whatever their objective is and human rights and dignity are trampled if they don’t align with their goals. They do find whatever leverage they can in the resident population and exploit it, but the Afghans, and the Taliban generally are more concerned with being left alone than whatever China has to offer. Money is only so important to a nation with no remaining infrastructure and no strong leadership.
Yes, the Afghans are VERY independent people, freedom loving is a stretch given the religious prohibitions they impose, but their culture is very proud and fervent in their beliefs and traditions. No outsider, regardless of how delicately they tread, will assert their aims without agitating the locals.
US troops did not abuse the Afghans, and regularly displayed their humanity. Which is why so few troops actually died over there. The soviets were not so delicate, and the Afghans definitely made them pay for it. No engagement in that country is by accident. The Afghans are careful and patient people, but now they have weapons and training we couldn’t widely provide in the 1980’s, and with Iran next door, and China salivating at the opportunity, and central Asia proving resource rich and sparsely populated, I think the long term goal of the US was to provide a direction to relieve political pressure from China and put them on the doorstep of their ally, Iran.
But China is no gentle diplomat. They have thousands of years of history proving their military incompetence and top down mismanagement, so that may be the caution many mistake for diplomacy. It is a nation of 1.3 billion people and the majority of the wars it has won, have only been against itself. Even their effort to take over Vietnam in the 1970’s led to a catastrophic defeat. The sent human waves after Americans in Korea and they lost millions. They starved to death by hundreds of millions in the 1950’s and the people passively accepted their fate. Their culture is fundamentally docile, but their leadership has always been agressive and dominant. They strain every relationship with every country they interact with because of this false bravado. They couldn’t even take Taiwan back. They couldn’t bully the Philipines out of the South China Sea. They crumbled before the Japanese. They had to build a massive wall to prevent a small population of mountain people from invading their lands. The only people they are able to conquer are places weaker and more docile than THEY are. Uighurs and Tibetan monks. This is not the record of a nation capable of global dominance. But the machismo of the CCP certainly puts them on track to repeat the many many many completely embarassing and foolish endeavors they have already engaged in.
Afghanistan will be no different. But it doesn’t matter to the west, we’ll get the minerals through trade, and China will do the work of extracting them by force. Thus begins the next Afghan war.
Lentils take a fraction of the energy to cook than beans.
Dontknownothing - You certainly live up to your handle. Although proper english would be ‘anything’.
Much appreciate the long view. I’m in Canada but that doesn’t change much. Two questions:
- Does the rapid decline of positive EROEI fossil fuel sources change what you see in the big picture?
- Can you still recommend flour corn as a crop even on a tiny (1/10 acre) holding? I grow very little corn because it takes a lot of space for the yield. Is there a good open-pollinated variety you can recommend for zone 5? Other comments?
To be clear, I can grow TONS of food on my tiny homestead, and could have chickens if I lose my job and can be home to care for them properly. But every homesteading decision is defined first by space considerations.
Thanks!
Susan
Two Questions Chris:
- Shouldn’t it be $160M for the goggles?
- I was under the impression that the military hardware left behind was the compiled assets of the Afghan army that the US had supplied and trained the Afghan National Army to use to maintain peace as part of our 20 year nation building efforts. Is this not the same gear? And if it is - should we have taken it back?
Hey, MM,
Nice to see you commenting again!
About Islam: It was Qutb, not me, who (re)purposed jihad as an outer battle, although he definitely thought that the vanguard warrior had to win the inner jihad first. Thus the asceticism. He was not alone (nor first) in his thinking, but he did a superb job of developing and ‘regularizing’ that line of thought and, so, of energizing a generation of demoralized Muslim youth across the Middle Eastern and North African Islam-dominant societies - only a few of those newly energized youth became soldiers of the vanguard. They, Qutb said, formed the tip of the Muslim spear.
I don’t think Islam as a religion necessarily promotes militaristic jihad any more than I think Christianity as a religion necessarily promotes crusades - ancient or modern. My point in bringing Islam into the conversation is to recognize that Islamic faith (however mis-shaped you or I might think it is in its militaristic form) is a primary motivat0r of the Taliban front-line fighter. Any fighter of any religion in any era who thinks he is fighting for God fights harder and sacrifices more and more readily. That was Qutb’s point: believers are not afraid to die if they believe it is for God; and people of weak or no faith are far less willing to die, or even suffer very greatly for very long for something as paltry as a “state” that does not, itself, seek to embody and uphold God’s Will. Thus, he said, the Allah-obedient warrior would defeat the Western soldier who pays only lip-service to his Christian faith’s demands.
Seems to me he got it about right. You might disagree. But events have been developing more in line with his expectation than contrary to it.
You can argue he’s wrong about Islam or its meaning, but he inspired thousands. And his views, moderated and adapted over time, help shape and fuel the anti-colonialism of the Middle East.
I don’t think that it is irrelevant that as the U.S. is withdrawing from the world and sliding into internal disarray, our sense of shared social/cultural meaning and our expressions of coherent private meaning are fracturing, too. I don’t think the correlation is spurious. I think our faith views have a profound impact on our meta-narratives, hence what we notice, what we value, what we’re willing to do, and what we will tolerate (as the Covid death cult shows).
As for the potato: The bulk of Irish (mostly Catholic) peasants lived partially on potatoes for some 200 years before the Famine, and almost solely in the final 50-100 years. Weather and, esp. blight, were major causes for the failure of the crops. The decline of genetic variability contributed to the potato’s susceptibility, too. Happily, I don’t have to subject myself to any of that to incorporate potatoes in my diet or grow them as an essential food.
Sweet potatoes, btw, contain just 2-3% protein on average; potatoes run 4-6%, akin to eggs at the higher value - encouraged by healthy soil. If I’m growing emergency provisions, I want to maximize what I get from my work. As much as I love sweet potatoes, the potato beats the sweet potato for that purpose.
This type of reply seems to be the norm on FB and other social media. Why don’t you reply intelligently with what you refute rather than a meaningless insult?
back in the 70,s when i was in the Navy i took a course at the University of Hawaii. The instructor was instrumental in the construction USNavy bathyscapes. I remember a comment where he stated that tectonic plate shifts can raise or lower sea level. We certainly never hear about that during global warming discussions. Aloha
- Everyone is talking about the Afghans as if they were a homogeneous whole, not the many different ethnic groups that have traditionally been ruled by warlords and have engaged in constant internecine warfare forever. The Pashtoons are by far the largest of those groups, but even they are not a majority.
- Yes, the Afghans defeated the Russians, but were being badly beaten until the US stepped in and started supplying the Mujahideen with supplies and weapons. The Russians met the same problem that the US did, they let the Afghan military pretty much run the show. And, just like against the US, the military fell apart and largely switched sides when it became obvious the money flow was coming to an end and massive corruption with it. For a quick primer on the Russian defeat in Afghanistan, watch the movie Charlie Wilson’s War. Not only is it pretty accurate, but with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ned Beatty, it’s a really good movie.
- China - China is not running around defeating anyone militarily, they are trading with nations all over the world and acquiring the resources they want and need. In return, they are usually building infrastructure the locals need and providing education to help third world nations advance into the 21st century. It’s a two way street. Everyone benefits. Although it is true that the Chinese are not always benevolent, they aren’t running around starting brushfire wars all over the world either.
The Chinese military is being expanded rapidly, which is a big concern in the South China Sea, but not much beyond that. The Indian Ocean is still open international waters. The US still rules there as it does in all other oceans. - Military hardware - If you look at what the US left there, it is only useful in a ground war. The US has no intention to go in on the ground again, that’s where the Afghans have the advantage. The airplanes and helicopters are vulnerable to all sorts of weapons. They are landlocked and don’t have any sea power. We didn’t leave them any F-16s, F-35s, B1s or any other serious military aircraft. They are vulnerable to any carrier and land based aircraft stationed around the Persian Gulf.
IOW, we didn’t get out a minute too soon. I won’t argue with anyone who says the way we left was something of a disaster, but leave we should have, long ago. Unfortunately for the Afghans, particularly the women, we are leaving behind a humanitarian disaster.
Geopolitical discussion is a opportunity for motivation . A team without motivation is beaten before it steps on the field .
On the practical side just wanted to share my wheat growing experience that ended with a beautiful loaf of bread . Planted ( red winter wheat from Heath- food store ) two fields 3ox30 each in oct ( south central Pennsylvania) harvested in following July . Used a hand saw to cut the stalks , dried in a barn . Used a small electric chipper to thresh then sifted with screen. Seed stored in chicken feed bags . Used a nutra bullet blended to grind to flower . We used a no knead bread recipe for our bread the last 3 years . Yes it was labor intensive but that is a relative concept . For me it’s doable with three people in the labor department.
cheers
JaneB - If you read all of the other comments in this thread you will see that virtually everything that dkn said is wrong which happens often with his/her comments. I will no longer take the time to refute.
P.S. I never had facebook and I never will.
@herewego,
1. Oil. I understand the EROEI problem, but even so I don’t think oil is going anywhere. It might become too expensive for us peasants, but it will remain the essential workhorse of industry until we siphon up the last drop. We need it for its high density energy to work iron and power the truly big machines. I certainly don’t think China’s going to wean off of it; nor Russia. Russia’s trying to finish its Nordstream pipeline into Western Europe, and will probably get it as the European countries buck the U.S. opposition, and pivot east. Afghanistan is a part of the pipeline running from China to the Middle East to Europe - soon, now, to be within China’s field of hegemony. Even Canada wanted a pipeline through the U.S. to Houston - thwarted by the U.S.‘s self-damaging folly. Oil’s here for a long time, yet. And, btw, already built wells have an acceptable (if lower than the historic) EROEI; it’s within the newer and proposed extractions that we clock increasingly problematic returns on energy investment.
2. Corn. If you’re going to select kernels to save for the next year’s planting (and you should), you need at least 100 corn plants to maintain the genetic diversity of corn. So, at least a 10 x 10 foot plot of land, with seeds set at 1 foot separation. That’s the minimum spacing; a 15 x 15 foot space will allow 18" between plants in all directions; you don’t need more than that. 15" is my happy space. Then harvest kernels from the healthiest cob on each plant, yielding seed from 100 ears of corn.
Whether you can grow enough flour corn to meet your needs for a year depends on how much cornbread, muffins, johnnycakes, etc. you’ll eat. Grow a plot and see how long it lasts, esp. in place of wheat, as an experiment. But, really, any additional homegrown supply will help as food becomes more spotty and more expensive.
Keep in mind you can grow your dry beans and winter squash on the same plot as the corn. Plant drying beans between corn stalks when the stalks are about a foot high; bush beans will grow happily below the stalks’ leaves, and climbing beans will use the corn for support. The bean roots will fix nitrogen in the soil, and the corn’s a heavy feeder, so that’s a good synergy. Plant winter squash between rows at the same time you plant the corn. The vines will grow out to cover the soil, preventing dry soil - thus reducing water use, and reducing weed pressure by reducing sunlight at the soil level. Corn doesn’t like weeds, they’re both grasses and compete for nutrients at the same soil depth - weeds usually win. Heritage breeds of corn are more competitive, more robust in varying growing conditions, and contain better nutrient profiles.
3. The Three Sisters. When beans, corn, and squash are eaten together you get the full complement of amino acids that, together, make up protein. (Hence, the “Three Sisters” concept.) Such vegetable-based protein can supplement for or replace meat. So if meat’s in short supply, it can be used more as a condiment or side dish with beans, corn, and squash dishes (look up traditional succotash recipes). In an emergency/survival scenario that’s a nice fallback. You’ll also get the starch (ie, glucose) of the squash, and if you add potatoes into your daily menu, you’ll get plenty of minerals (eat the whole potato, the skin has essential nutrients), along with additional protein and starches. If you can add eggs, you increase your protein and overall nutrient diversity.
4. Resources. My Five Core Foods recommendation comes from biologist and plant breeder Carol Deppe, out of her book, “The Resilient Gardner: Food Production and Self-reliance in Uncertain Times.” She has other good resource books, too, including one on how to save seeds selectively to breed food plants for productivity, nutrient content, and taste in your unique growing niche. (The results are termed “landrace” vegetables.)
Throughout the 60’s and 70’s Afghanistan was a modern secular socialist country where women were free to do whatever they wanted. During this period they were partnering with the Soviet Union through trade and otherwise. Russia was instrumental in the modernization providing experts and resources for growth and expansion. Afgan people say Russia built roads, electric plants, canals, hospitals, schools, etc. and America blew most of it up. By the way America never rebuilt even 10% of what they destroyed.
The US could not stand this so they trained and supported the most radical fundamentalist in the region, who hated modern Afg. Mujahadeen and others, and had them attack the gov. Russia stepped in to support Afg. Gov. Talaban wanted all foreigners out of Afg. and so joined the fight too.
Historically Afg. has been moving toward a modern society with womens rights twice now. First time was in the 1800’s and the British were worried that emancipation might spread to India and challange british rule so they empowered the extremist to overthrow the gov. The British were also worried about USSR influence in Afg. back then so it was a go. However the British were defeated. This did throw Afg. Gov into a major clusterphuck for the next 40 years or so. The second time was when the US empowered the extremest in the late 70’s to 80’s.
Afghanistan can not catch a break. BTW the Taliban have never supported extremest in the region. When they ruled in the late 80’s to 90’s they were the worst enemy of mujahadeen, Al qaeda, and several other orgs. They do traditionally adhere to Sharia Law but they can be flexible and moderate and most important they now know that if they are they can rebuild the country and keep foreign influence out.
Great dish to use 2 of the 3 sisters (and you could serve some nice black beans or pinto beans on the side).
https://ceceliasgoodstuff.com/new-mexican-calabacitas
Before I respond to DKN’s msg, I want to state my position. I have deep respect for the ordinary citizens in the western world. I have lived in the US for a long time and have cultivated deep friendships over the years. But I am very concerned about the machinations of the Western Billionaire Kleptocracy which has it’s parasitic tentacles in every area of western life as well as every country where it can loot. Their policy is either divide and conquer or point everybody to an external enemy while looting silently on the side. The real battle is not West vs Russia/China/Afghanistan/Iran – It’s common people vs these wealthy parasitic entities.
Also, my knowledge of China comes from traveling regularly to China/nearby Asian countries over 5 yrs followed by an Expat assignment in Shanghai.
The Afghan occupation agenda started way before the Soviet landed there. It has it roots in Mackinder’s Hearland theory of the 19th century which the British Imperialist embraced as they planned their global conquest. The gist of the theory is:
“Whoever rules East Europe, will rule Heartland,
Whoever rules the Heartland, will rule the World Island.”
Whoever rules the World Island, will rule the world.”
And they started meddling in the region. Later US/NATO joined the party. The rest of the world has enough of their antics. When Soviet Union collapsed, the CIA gleefully decided to loot and start color revolutions wherever they could. They started meddling in China too. Tiananmen square event was instigated by the Western powers and reporting was mostly false. China had made mistakes in the prior years during the cultural revolution but they learnt fast. As they started growing in power, the western powers wanted to control them but China is having none of it. China/Russia and other Asian countries started Shanghai Cooperation Organization for mutual security, political and economical organization. This is a big checkmate to the Western powers.
While they are handling these Powers there, we need to unite and get the control back to the people in Community, Education, Health, Financial markets, Big tech alternatives and local economy.
Here is something positive from China that we can emulate:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkaJrzd6-hw[/embed]