"E'en from the tomb the voice of nature cries..."

                                                one of my new sponsors

                                          Bibliomancy?   Synchronicity?

"E'en from the tomb the voice of nature cries,
E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires."
   Thomas Gray "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."


found this mashed flat insect in my Bartlett's book of
quotation's which is 1540 pages long...

music recommendation
Diana Krall in Paris 2001 DVD
I especially like "Cry me a River"
one of the best piano and voice
performances ever...and the old guys
in her band seem to really like being
on stage with this young woman..

Radiyya Begum...only female sultan

"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased;"

                                                                   my lawyer

was called into the chief of polices office
to be questioned about certain associations
the conversation went somewhat like this

we have 8X10 color photos of you in conversation
with know criminal elements
what was the subject of the conversation?!

i have constitutional rights to my privacy

you is got no constitutional rights
you is got no civil rights
and you would be lucky to have any
last rites
you is little more than a human poot
a poot with legs on it

well these fellows said that they had been
watching me and liked my style and would
be willing to get me into the BUSINESS

what business was they going to get you into!

they said they could supply me with the
BIG "H"

heroin! was they going to supply you with heroin

well, no PREPARATION "H"
suppositories
they said folks would be knocking my
door down to get at it when they needed it
and besides it is writ in the constitution in plain
language the I have the right to
LIFE, LIBERTY AND TO POOT IN HAPPINESS
and you will wish you had treated me much better
if your himeroids begin to hurt!

then she threw me out of her office

"Canst thous not minister to a mind diseased;
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Raze out the written troubles of the brain;
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the foul bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?  Shakespear

Virginia Hall-SPY extraordinaire

"We do not live..."

                                             LIFE AND DEATH IN THE DESERT

awoke in the night with a sick feeling in my stomach
a familiar noise was inside the van
a rodent
an animal which had sought to inhabit my abode
and possibly ruin it as my home
I pounded on the part of the van where the noise
came from...and got little sleep in the process
it was a nocturnal invader so I was sure it was
not one of the white tailed antelope squirrels which
I saw daily...but I had seen a giant kangaroo rat
upon my first arriving at the campsite and had never
seen it again...I did not think one of them would
climb into the van...but I was pretty sure they were
nocturnal...whatever the species they had to be discouraged
from chewing on my van and the contents...when morning
came I dug out the three mousetraps  and used some cheese
to bait the traps...I used to have a dozen trap which I had to
set nightly in Oregon...but I supposed that the mouse terror
was over with...little did I know...
and in the morning I saw the trap under the hood of the van
was without cheese...and the trap on the front floor-board
had been nibbled a little..and the trap behind the drivers seat
had the culprit...hopefully the only one...so now I have documented
three species of rodent at this desert campsite...the kangaroo rat
has yet to be phtographed

and the rains came twice...hard and fast...a flowering springtime
may come in the desert...and perhaps the caterpillers and moths
will emerge again...I will see

"We do not live to extenuate the miseries of
the past nor to accept as incurable those of
the present."  Fairfield Osborn

Birupes simoroxigorum

"Letter writing is a form of speech..."

                        this morning at KOFA   kings valley... with coffee
                          and a full moon over my shoulder

just when i am ready to go full snark
i read some of my book of buddhist
world views by thich nhat hanh
and i get a dose of the better side
and there goes inspiration for scorched earth
somewhat...

i still regret writing about D. Trumps hair...of
all things... when EVERYBODY was doing it.
can't get it back now
so although I, like most people like a good
scorched earth screed now and again...it can
get to be a real vice...so I will try to limit
my harsh views as much as possible and spend
more energy on trying to water the good seeds


"Letter writing is a form of speech. A letter can sometimes
be safer than speaking because there is time for you to read
what you have written before sending it. As you read your
words you can visualize the other person receiving your letter
and decide if what you have written is skillful and appropriate.
Your letter has to water the seeds of transformation in the other
person and stir something in their heart if it is to be called
RIGHT SPEECH
If any phrase can be misunderstood or upsetting, rewrite it.
Right mindfulness tells whether you are expressing the truth
in the most skillful way. Once you have mailed your letter,
you cannot get it back." THICH NHAT HANH

GILBERTO GIL

"Democracy is the art and science..."

                        MISS FOX IS HOPING TO FIND MR. ANTELOPE SQUIRREL
                         TO INVITE HIM TO DINNER--BUT HE IS ASLEEP IN HIS DEN

ah yes such neighborliness is nice to see
however...sometimes things are not as they
seem...

i recently read that bad diets kill more people
than smoking tobacco
it seems it is not so much eating bad food as much
as not eating enough good food
it is recommended that we humans eat
more nuts, seeds, whole grains vegetables
fruit and less salt...and I suppose if you
are a fox more mice and such as that...
this information is from a study of 195 countries
studied between 1990 to 2017 by the
GLOBAL BURDEN OF DISEASE STUDY


for reasons quite unknown to me
I am being kept under very close
surveilance...and I dont think it is
for a diner invitation...i do occasionaly
criticize folks...but so do I get critisized
politics seem to be rearing its ugly head
who would have thought!

i have been watching some very good
music videos and would like to recommend
a couple of numbers which I found especially
rousing
"Sad songs say so much" from Elton John in Barcelona 1992
song number 16
this video shows how good a piano player Mr. John is and
his vocal accompaniment (not back-up) singers do an excellent
job...he ends this video with a rousing vocal endeavor..he kicks ass

also a number from
Charlie Daniels Band Volunteer Jam 1974 (I think)
"No Place to go" is a cowboy jazz masterpiece
although Mr. Daniels is most known for his fiddle work
his guitar playing is outstanding...all of the musicians
on this number and on this entire video are outstanding

"Democracy is the art and science of running the
circus from the monkey cage."  H.L. Mencken

CAROL KAYE

"If liberty means anything at all..."

                    BETTER READ THIS ONE TWICE...DON'T GET EXCITED!

Been listening to the radio
seems that the current commader in chief
is up to his pharyngeal slit with investigations
and it must be said that every second that is invested
in non-productive activities is one more second
that is not being used to implement legislation
that would ADVANCE the concerns of the USA
I do believe that all care must be taken to be
certain that the government is a funtioning
three part government...but lets not get bogged down
in the mud hole.
I think that this little investigation  may end up like the
BATTLE OF THE CRATER
and when the smoke clears the democrates
will find themselves in a hole of their own
making and being picked off by the Union troops

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the
right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
                                              George Orwell

Burrhus Frederick Skinner

"Better to live alone..."

                                         largest ocotillo in this part of the desert
                                         seems to be in symbiosis with saguaro twins


i keep hearing about
folks inquiring into impeachment
i would like to hear more about
peach mint ice cream
politics is now thundering along like
a herd of lemmings
probably not too many changes will be
made in how people get elected to national
office
that's the real problem
money driven elected officials need to whip up
support and do not get to spend enough time
studying the solutions to the problems
Yang wants guaranteed income
guaranteed food clothing shelter and health care
might better serve the citizens
and take social security from the billionaires too
i have this notion that if college  was free more people
would get a college degree and better paying jobs
and then more income tax money would be collected
is it me or do common sense solutions just
seem to be not very common
also why can't a person be prescribed a membership
to a health and exercise fitness type facility before
they need to get on medications
it is just too damned hot in the summertime
to get much jogging done
anyhow....I need more exercise myself...

FARIDA MAZAR SPYROPOULOS

"Better to live alone;
with a fool there is no
companionship. With few desires
live alone and do no evil, like
an elephant in the forest roaming at will."
                                                            Pali Canon

"In his third incarnation..."

                                            two saguaro cactus dug up and left to die
                                            which I replanted and watered last year
                                            and they seem to be doing much better

insofar as I do not have a PH.D
in environmental science but I
still would like to work towards
a better planet (this is my home planet)
I like to pick up some garbage every
day and help out the plants and animals
when I can...

"In his third incarnation Vishnu manifested
himself as a boar in order to rescue the earth
submerged under the ocean of non-existence."
                                   Hindu Mythology

 vergangenheitsbewaltigung

"Technology will surely drown us...."

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                                                      PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS


Some examples are as follows:

Vote for the goose and not the ganders
cast your vote for Bernie Sanders!

He's one of us, he's kind of plump
cast your vote for Donald Trump!

He's a civilized man, he eats with a fork
cast your vote for Beto O'Rourk!

Don't say he's strange, who are you to judge!
cast your vote for Pete Buttigieg!

Stick with a person who's always scorin'
cast a vote for Elizabeth Warren!

"Technology will surely drown us. The
individual is disappearing rapidly. We'll
eventually be nothing but numbered ants.
The group thing grows."  Marcel Duchamp

Charley Toorop

"Work ethic is not a moral virtue..."

                                               spider on the road this morning

I saw a guy with a t-shirt on with a bunch
of writing on the back which basically said
that if you were not an oil-field worker you
and your job were inferior to all oil-field work
and workers...I think he must have had some issues
I spent a lot of time in the oil-field and the petro-chemical
industry and do not
consider the work to be any better or more
important than most other jobs...a few jobs do
seem sort of pointless and some even seem
dumb...(I don't want to sell sun-glasses in a kiosk in
the Mall) but a gig is usually needed to pay the bills.
I recently got an e-mail from a fellow who was
promoting the efforts of some folks who had hung
banners from a bridge to bring attention to
WHAT? themselves apparently...they asked me
to give them some money to bail the bridge climbers
out of jail...well DUH! I DONT THINK SO!
I get a bit annoyed when the entire petro-chemical
industry is described as villains...it just ain't so.
My first job on a oil rig was an Exxon production
rig and one of the fellows in our bunkhouse was from
New Orleans. He shaved his legs. This was 1973 and I
had not seen a lot of mens shaved legs. His friend
in the bunkhouse said he dressed as a woman when he
was on shore. Sort of surprised me but that was then.
This trans-fellow stole two of my library books and
I had to ask him for them back but he only returned one.
So there are all sorts of folks in the petro-chemical industry
good and bad just like there are all sorts of trans-folks
good and bad.

"Work ethic is not a moral virtue. It's actually a biological
condition which can be fostered, purposefully, through
activity that increases dopamime." Jane McGonigal
                                                          "Super-Better"

PRONUNCIAMIENTO

"...perceptual-cognitive processes, while physiological, are also personal..."

                                  DMITRI MENDELEEV (1834-1907) 17th child in his family
                                  published periodic table march 1, 1869


so if we are able to freely think and use such information
that we have access to we may find answers to some of
lifes more intriguing mysteries and so others will be able
to learn of our ideas and build on them...keep thinking!

"...perceptual-cognitive processes, while physiological, are also personal- it
is not a world that one perceives or constructs but ones own world- and
they are linked to a perceptual self, with a will, an orientation, and a
style of its own."   Oliver Sacks

Evariste Galois
Emmy Noether

"Dogmatic jargon learnt by heart..."

                                     grasshopper eating my guitar

so I didn't march anywhere lately
now that I think about it
I have never marched at any time
I have however picked up a lot of garbage
perhaps folks could pick up garbage
while they march
I sort of believe that the climate marchers
will end up like the
occupy wall street movement
no one will  come up with a competitive
idea...but if they were picking up garbage
they might get some good ideas
and even if they don't get any good ideas
some of the garbage would get picked up

so on the positive side I read this in a magazine recently
"...Rising temperatures and improving technologies
mean longer growing seasons, higher crop yield and
wider swaths of arable land in much of Russia. Everyone
is moving north..." I think this was from an "Economist" mag.

this is from a 2014 Science magazine about the history of
humans as predators.
"...persistent hominin carnivory...evidence at Kanjera South in
West Kenya, on the shores of lake Victoria which dating from
about 2 million years ago...eating of game animals..."led to brain
growth and invention of technology..."

so this would indicate that the invention of the device on which you
are reading this was a direct result of hominins eating meat...not grasshoppers
of course some of the bad soft wear may have been invented by grasshopper
eaters....

"Dogmatic jargon learnt by heart,
Trite sentences, hard terms of art,
To vulgar ears seemed so profound,
They fancied learning in the sound."
                              John Gay

Simplicissimus

"The public demands certainties..."

             Audubons  or Crested Cara Cara or Mexican Eagle on beach Texas coast

these are some of the smartest birds I had the opportunity to care for in a zoo
flight cage. They used to be listed in the falcon family due to their wing molt
pattern. But they may have been re-designated with the more advanced
DNA studies now being used. I have heard that the storks are considered to
be more closely related to the vultures than the cranes so the science will
continue to change taxonomy.

"The public demands certainties...but there are no certainties." H.L. Mencken

Archytas of Tarentum

"Our repentance is not so much for the ill we have done..."

                                                macfaddin beach this morning, texas coast

nice free camping beach near Sabine Pass, Texas,  at the end of the road
way too much trash...bring a bag and pick up some trash
there are 3 large dumpster so there is no excuse for any trash
but insofar as humans are flawed creatures we will always have
to fix what we break...until there is no more fixing it...Oh well.

"Our repentance is not so much regret for the ill
we have done as fear of the ill that may happen
to us in consequence."  Francois La Rochefoucauld

"I was already refusing to have taste..."

                             last week the surgeon general of the USA made a statement
                             about the use of pot and the possible hazards

i thought this was an informative article about pot
not too much for it and not too much against it
but with some well researched advice

there is an author named Charles Baudelaire who was reputed
to be a rather dissolute fellow but who according to his
essays entitled "Artificial Paradise" was against the use of
Hash which I assumed would include all cannabis
This fellow said that his reason for not using hash was that
it deprived him of the one thing which he was not willing
to relinquish...which was his will power...I would have to concur
with this appraisal of the use of pot...at least for me...

"I was already refusing to have taste. I forbade myself to
have it. I know that the cultivation of it would not have
refined me but softened me."  Jean Genet

DIRIGISME

"Education makes a people easy to lead..."

                      thinking about thinking about thinking about thinking
                                             THINK!
so i missed the G7 meeting
again
my invitation probably got lost in the mail
didn't really want to drink any french wine anyhow
I see where the US representative failed to make
the climate change meeting
the above article may give some insight into why
we
all of us
like to reinforce the ideas we already have
and do not like to see conflicting information
it is natural
it is normal
it is dangerous

"Education makes a people easy to lead,
but difficult to drive: easy to govern but impossible
to drive."

Joachim Ronneberg

"We are an intelligent species..."

                            one of the more pessimistic articles about climate and species


there is mention of the golden toad in this article
I happened to be in the monte verde cloud forest
in costa rica about the time that this article mentions
I was eating lunch in the golden toad cafe
the waiter said he had some of the toads
in an aquarium at home...and that he was a guide
in the biological reserve
as near as I could tell there was basically no effort
to breed these toads in captivity by experienced
breeders...i mentioned that as a zookeeper I knew of
several people who could undoubtedly breed these
toads in captivity...
wooops...too late...
so now we are all zookeepers
for better or worse

"We are an intelligent species and the use of
our intelligence quite properly gives us pleasure.
In this respect the brain is like a muscle. When
it is use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous"
                                              Carl Sagan (Brocas Brain)

pareidolia

"I shall tell you a great secret my friend..."

         got stunk in lafayette
sprayed with a very noxious smelling stuff
in my home/van/castle
eventually it will go away but it is a violation
of my civil rights
as usual

spent time on the internet
saw way too much child pornography
someone is not doing their job
someone said that it was too hard to look at
well
people who do not like dog fights have to go to
dog fights to stop the dogs fights
I suppose when thousands go online
and look for illicit material there will
be less of it around
pretty saddening viewing

as usual the constabulary are harassing me
for imagined offenses
I am making a list of all the times I get
harassed so that when I go to court and ask
for monetary recompense for my stress
there will be no doubt in the minds of the jurors
as to what has been happening to me

"I shall tell you a great secret, my friend.
Do not wait for the last judgement.
It takes place every day."  Albert Camus "The Fall"

Private Henry Gunther of Baltimore...10:59 AM

"There is nothing harder..."

                                         box turtle and toad come to visit my campsite


had to rescue two raccoons this morning
caught in the dumpster
they found and ate my last pack of cookies
last night because I left them outside
with a bag of oatmeal
which they also ate
as well as my popcorn
that is the thing about raccoons
they eat anything they find
they even chewed on some of my teabags
but I still felt bad when I saw them in the
dumpster this morning
so I dragged a tree limb over and put it in
the dumpster and they climbed out

lots of strange folks show up at the campsite
cant figure out why so many weirdos show up

"There is nothing harder than the softness of indifference"
                                                          Juan Montalvo

saxatile

"Our fathers and ourselves sowed dragons teeth..."

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ARTICLES I HAVE READ ON THE MEXICAN PEOPLE


"Our fathers and ourselves sowed dragons teeth.
Our children know and suffer the armed men."  Stephen Vincent Benet

Grace Mendoza

"And the end of the fight..."

                                                    shore birds on Pensacola Bay


finally rented a campsite at the federal seashore
fort pickens...used to be over-run with raccoons and skunks
now the raccoons are much less
but the two legged skunks are very numerous

got the snorkel gear and loaded it on the bike
rode across the road to the beach
suited up and was amazed at how many fish there were
mostly mullet and some small fish with yellow tails
the small fish followed me around
perhaps thinking I was a manatee getting ready
to poop
or a big fish that would make a kill of a mullet and leave some
pieces behind for them
but I was just gliding around and enjoying the underwater
views
money and time well spent
bought a new camera at the pawn shop that is supposed to
be waterproof  to three feet deep   but I was afraid to put it in the water
anyhow I did see these shorebirds from the fishing pier and
thought they were a good subject
I just bought a new bird guide for 75 cents but did not look them
up yet...so I will call them the " long lipped stilt legs"

also did some "Pliking, or riding the bike and picking
up trash...it has become very popular in Europe...not
so much here yet...too much spandex I suppose

also looked up what the rules are about
WHISTLE BLOWING
the U.S. government recovered $2.6 billion dollars
in 2017 from fraudulent overcharges
and this is the good part
it paid $262 million dollars to people for helping
to prosecute the thieves
it is called the
QUI TAM or false claims act
first used in 1863 when it was reported
that folks were selling
ailing mules to the military
so when you think
more than 700 bucks a day is a bit much to
take care of a confiscated kid  at the border
just do some investigating and help prove
that we are are being robbed

"And the end of the flight is a tombstone white
       with the name of the late deceased.
And the epitaph dreer, "A fool lies here who
         tried to hustle the east."  Rudyard Kipling

KATABATIC

"The deadliest enemies of nations... "

                                                         surveillance state politics

i am of the opinion that half of this country
is spying
on the
other half of this country

but from what i can tell
it is not the first time that
citizens have become neurotically
obsessed
with other peoples business

now I think it is a citizens responsibility to
take notice of what appears to be
unlawful acts

but most people are either so
narrow in their experiences
that they do not know what
may be a criminal act
or so jaded
by being around criminal activity
that they think
everyone is engaged in crime

somewhere between these two extremes
is the truth
but as Mark Twain said
"Truth is rare, let us economize it"
or something to that effect

my own experience is that society
is neurotic and a person would
do well to take that into account
when dealing with the population
at large

"The deadliest enemies of nations are not their foreign foes;
they always dwell within their borders. And from these internal
enemies civilization is always in need of being saved. The nation
blessed above all nations is that nation in whom the civic genius of
the people does the saving day by day, acts without external
picturesqueness' by speaking, writing, voting reasonably; by smiting
corruption swiftly; by good temper between parties; by the people
knowing the true men and women when they see them, and preferring
them as leaders to rabid partisans or empty quacks."  William James (1897)


GOT CITIZENSHIP?

Philo Vance

"New occasions teach new duties..."

                                               TRICKSTER COYOTE

decided to set up the game camera
mosquitoes were very numerous so
I was fast
next morning I looked at the memory card
and no new images
but the kitchen food scrap pile had been eaten
so I downloaded the internal memory in the camera
onto the SD card
and apparently the memory card did not record any images
but the camera was triggered
by this coyote
I guess the coyote may have wanted to remain anonymous
and detached the memory card
or
maybe I was in such a hurry I did not push it in
all the way
however this is the image I got but in 3 mega pixel
instead of the usual 20
I like to think the coyotes are going to be, as the
native Americans said
THE LAST ANIMALS ON EARTH

"New occasions teach new duties; time makes
                          ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still, and onward, who
             would keep abreast of Truth."
                                                 James Russel Lowell

John Hume Ross

"That mysterious independent variable..."

too much politics
better than no politics I suppose
watching History Channel DVD about
"Mankind"
now in San Francisco it will be called
"HUMANKIND"
which is a good idea
language needs to be attended to

Ghetto= first ghetto was in Venice, Italy
which was the name for a metal foundry
an all Jew had to live there in 1516

"That mysterious independent variable
of political calculation. Public Opinion  T.H. Huxley

Gabrielle Emilie du Marquise Chatelet

"Emotion is the chief source..."

                                            birds complained about the cats!


i feel the need to speak about politics
i hear a lot of various persons who
seem to have strong feelings about politics

first of all I would like to express the opinion
that the source from which I receive most of
my news...namely national public radio... has taken
a less than neutral presentation of the news
this is very disappointing...and the majority of
the harsh opinions seem to be from the female
faction....which is not really surprising

a few days ago it was reported that the pres. had
made a racist comment or some racist comments
about 4 legally elected female members of congress
I think the female faction is "trailing their coat" so to
speak...every comment is not worthy of a national
debate...but I do think that any person who has come to this
country and can return to their country of origin should
seriously consider trying to implement the seeds of good
government there. This country sends money and CIA agents
to other countries but regular folks who can attest to the
 benefits of good government need to perhaps go abroad
and encourage those person who are oppressed to change
their situation....especially women....some of the countries
on this changing planet have very bad laws pertaining to the
rights of women as compared to their rights in the USA
we hear a lot about kids in concrete bunkers but there is
a major tragedy taking place in Venezuela with hundreds
of thousands of women being marketed in the illicit sex
trade because they need to eat...when that country was better
off not too many years ago they sent a tanker of fuel to the north
east USA because they thought it would help the situation there
I think women could organize a "save the women and children"
of Venezuela campaign to send food, cosmetics and clothing to
these long suffering people...
don't just holler and moan about a rather silly comment made by
a man who is hard on the campaign trail...and has been for 4 years


"Emotion is the chief source of of all becoming-conscious.
There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of
apathy into movement without emotion." Carl G. Jung

Wu Chao...or Wu Hou...or Wu Tse-t-ien    (625-705)

"Life admits not of delays;..."

                                          Florida Cottonmouth= Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti

different from the other cotton-mouth snakes due to the extensive markings
beneath the mouth....the open mouth shows how this snake gets it's name

spotted a black (melanistic) fox squirrel in the road driving out this morning
and a pair of swallow-tailed kites swooping low over the road
I was too slow for pictures...
I recommend wildlife viewing in Florida as being always productive
however very hot and humid in the summer months. But a beach is
never far away.
A good thing unless you get dropped into the ocean
in a box.



"Life admits not of delays; when pleasure can be had, it is
fit to catch it. Every hour takes away part of the things
that please us, and perhaps part of our disposition to
be pleased."

SOTADES

"Facile crowd-pleasing and sinister exercise in moral frivolity..."

                                             mr raccoon swats at mosquitoes 

NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH

TEATSQUEEZER, HOGWASH AND HOGWASH CONSULTING
ANNOUNCE RESTRUCTURING OF BUSINESS AFTER
FINANCIAL COLLAPSE

According to new CEO and President of political consulting firm
the business has been restructured to improve performance
The new President Mrs. Teatsqueezer had this to say-

"Unfortunately some of the new hired help, namely B and C consultants,
absconded with all the funds amounting to $68 which was all of my
 egg and butter money, and also all of the office supplies consisting of
a shoe box of ink pens and and pencils and 3 coffee mugs, four spiral notebooks,
and two and a half rolls of toilet paper. Last we heard B and C consultants was
seen somewheres in north Louisiana. Good riddance to them.
Because I am the only person with any money left I was elected President
and CEO and also head of personnel, which means I hire and fire.
Now the company is registered as Teatsqueezer, Teatsqueezer, Hogwash and Hogwash,
which sort of evens things out some. The Hogwash contingent was long on
speculation but short on performance at times.
Our offices is open to advise and assist all candidates for elected office of any
party affiliation. Even though we realize that some candidates for office is dumb
as a stump we feel they is entitled to expose they ignorance to the world
as a candidate for office and we is prepared to help them do so. For a price.
The Hogwash faction in this business is prepared to nail signs to telephone poles,
and put signs on the roadside as directed.
We have resupplied the office and is awaiting business."

that statement from the new CEO of this political consulting firm

"Facile crowd-pleasing...sinister exercises in moral frivolity...
spectacle of abject political cowardice masking as "dissenting" bravery."
                                                           Christopher Hitchens on "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Phoebe Anne Moses

Why Dr. John matters...

 
                                      horse drawn casket on Basin street in N.O. at Dr. John funeral

THAUMATURGY= working of wonders and miracles
 from the Greek thaumatourgos= thauma =marvel
                                                      ergos= working

first of all Dr. John spoke passionately about the need to preserve
animal habitat...which makes him a good fellow in my book.
but music is how the good doctor made his living in the "meat" world
as he called it...he said he had one foot in the "meat' universe and one
foot in the "spiritual" universe. Dr. John was  benevolent not malevolent
although I think he had a bit of the "trickster" and "cosmic giggle" persona
about him...Greg Allman said he had to spend thousands of dollars
to have his keyboards cleaned after Dr. John threw hands full of glitter on them.
Dr. John spoke about his efforts to make it legal to practice voo-doo, magic,
gris-gris and other forms of thaumaturgy in New Orleans. He said it was because
of his efforts that the palm readers are able to work around Jackson square.
In the sfumato of other worldly consciousness which existed in New Orleans
Dr. John felt right at home with "alternative" world views.
I had walked over to Basin street to witness my first funeral. I felt the need
to be at this guys send off for some reason. I positioned myself on the side
 of the street and waited until I saw a slow procession of people moving
towards me. It didn't seem like much to me. Then suddenly I am engulfed
by bass drums and brass horns and people. The event seems
to be more an idea than a physical thing. A joyous noise! Now I know
something about what a funeral is about and what the second line is for.
I told myself I was crying because the horses looked so hot. Hell, we were all hot.
So, I don't know it Dr. John did magic, but he let it happen. And now he probably
has both feet in the spiritual world, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still has
 a toe somewhere in the meat world around the back of St. Louis cemetery
and giggling about it.

I have a pretty good video of this event which I will post as
soon as I can figure out how to do it.

ANTHROPOPHILES...

                                              Gulf coast box turtle=Terrapene carolina major

began cooking my oatmeal with raisins and bananas this morning
suddenly a wild animal comes crashing out of the forest
it is the same turtle that came to visit 4 days ago
looking for a favorite meal- bananas...preferably soft ripe bananas
I accidentally spilled some oatmeal and banana on the ground and like
a shark on an injured fish the turtle pounces...and devours  the bananas
then disappears into the forest again...until next time...


this bit of information from a science magazine...
on average between 100 and 200 new species of frogs
are described each year...

you see if you bring a plant or and animal to a scientist
someone who is expert in that field of study has to examine it
and decided if it is new to science according to existing information
so a lot of work goes into "describing a new species to science"

ANTHROPOPHILES= species existing well with humans

STEPHEN DUCK

"To dwell on the past..."

                                                     FROG JUMPED RIGHT OUT IN THE ROAD
                                                     WENT SOMEPLACE HE SHOULDN'T HAVE GO'ED
                                                      NOW HE'S JUST A MEAL FOR THE ANTS
                                                    SURE LIFES' GOT SOME CANS BUT A LOT OF CAN'TS


been hearing a lot about
REPARATIONS
on the news today

reparations-the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.

retribution=punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act.

so here's the deal
some people came to america
they had guns so they took a lot of land from the 
people who were here
they wanted to make a lot of money so they started big farms
they had to have people work the farms
the people who were here already died when they were forced to work
so the farmers went to africa to buy people to work the farms
there were africans in africa who would capture people and sell them
all the people who were sold to the slave traders were caught by africans
the africans who were brought to america to work on the big farms called
plantations eventually got freed from the slavery but they were still poor and 
could not buy much property
now there are people who think that these poor african descendants of slaves
should be compensated for being subjected to prejudice which kept them
in poverty....except Jay Zee and Beyond-Say  who are pretty rich
so the deal is this
if you give poor people money they may blow it all on stupid investments
give poor people 50 year no interest loans to buy and own property
then they have "EQUITY"   the golden word
with equity you can borrow money and if a person inherits a home they can
save money because they don't pay for someone else property
but don't just provide loans to africans as that would not be fair
let anyone who has a small amount of resources get a real cheap
long loan 
as has been recently pointed out the largest lynching was in New Orleans
over a hundred years ago
they lynched eleven Sicilians 
people hated Sicilians
also the Chinese were hated and not allowed to live just anywhere
also the Polish, the Germans, the Cajuns, 
at one time or another there was prejudice against everyone


but the reparations seems like a thinly veiled retribution to me

now it seems to me that some people don't really want a cabin a "black horse" and
forty acres   some people are plenty happy with an apartment
 or a motor home
and a decent place to park it for half a year or so...

the reparations argument is 
" nonsense upon stilts"
and
somewhere "between absurdity and obscenity"

"To dwell on the past is to rob the present.
But to forget the past is to rob the future."  Chinese Proverb

"El Morzillo"

"Zen does not confuse spirituality..."

Miss Ratty Ratface comes to visit me in my camp every day...

"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while
one is peeling potatoes.  Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."
                                                Alan Watts  "The Way of Zen"

Phoebe Ann Moses

"A tragic situation exists..."

                                               Eastern Glass Lizard- dead in the road

beautiful legless lizard which looks like it has green metal flakes under the skin

a good reason to drive with care when going down the country roads

"A tragic situation exists precisely when virtue does not triumph
but when it is still felt that man is nobler than the forces which destroy him."
                                                                               George Orwell

seems that the fox in the last post was probably not a kit fox but a swift fox
I believe the distinguishing marks is the stripe on the tail
always get a second opinion as some things you read are wrong
I once read a story in the newspaper about how armadillos lay eggs!
I have recently read about the "San Joaquin" fox which is endangered.
Haven't seen one yet.

Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll

"There should be no forced respect for grown-ups..."

       
                                               miss armadillo digging her holes

                                               mr fox gets a drink of water

the armadillo video was taken at night in the Atchafalaya basin.
There were several large holes that had been excavated by this
armadillo in a couple of spots. Perhaps in the same way that
a bird carrying sticks to make a nest causes changes in the bird
which facilitates them laying eggs and nesting this hole digging
activity in the armadillo may cause the animal to begin her rearing
of young. I believe they have delayed implantation also.

The fox video was taken in the desert near the Imperial Dunes in
California. The nearest surface water was several miles away.
Sometimes they would come at night and drink for a full minute.
This animal may have have been at this site several times this night,

"There are living systems, there is no living matter."  Jacques Lucian Monod (bio-chemist)


"There should be no forced respect for grown-ups.
We cannot prevent children from thinking us fools by
merely forbidding them to utter their thoughts; in fact
they are more likely to think ill of us if they dare not say so."
                                                         William James

Harry Callahan inspector #2211

                   

"In the name of the bee..."

                                                        live oak tree=habitat

                                                           Carolina wren

                                                        red-bellied wood-pecker

                                                            grey squirrel

                                                       some sort of fly creature



after spending 4 days at this little grove of  live oak trees
on the banks of the west pearl river
I was rewarded with the company every day of these animals
the oaks, the spanish moss, the resurrection fern and the lichens
are the animals grocery store
and every day they would arrive and go from tree to tree
poking around for bugs and caterpillars and various other
groceries
the live oak trees live for hundreds of years and the wood is too
hard to use for most construction so there are still some very
old trees....but some of the trees became prized for their
very tough and hard wood and they were sought out and
harvested for ship building

"In the name of the bee
And the butterfly
And the Breeze- Amen!"   Emily Dickenson

and when I start to get too hot
I think of captain Oates
"I am just going outside,I may be sometime."