Whoupi Goldbricker beclowns herself, again

Whoupi Goldbricker is a clown who knows how to work a crowd. Like P.T. Barnum, she knows the value of creating controversy and getting into the headlines...as long as they spell her name correctly.

Goldbricker recently claimed that Blacks in the United States are even more repressed and economically disadvantaged than even the most disadvantaged person in Iran.

Even if Goldbricker's hypothesis isn't directly testable, we can look at some proxies for rural Iranians and make some comparisons.

This family is in the highlands of Nepal. For the first 45 seconds we watch one of the women picking nettle greens using a hooked knife, a basket and chop-sticks. Why the chop-sticks? Because nettles will sting you before they are cooked. Yes, that is what is for dinner.

The next 10 minutes shows the woman parching corn and then preparing the family meal in a fly-infested hut. She cooks about three gallons of corn-grits, a pan of dried-fish and pot-liqour (stewed greens) and cooks some greens. Each member of the family is given a massive wad of stiff grits with some of the cooked fish and greens ladled over it for flavoring.

The video shows the family tucking into the feast as if it were something special. 

The next five minutes shows the family cooking frogs. Not just the legs...entire frogs (although they may have been gutted). 

At one level, it is inspiring to see the extreme conditions humans can survive, even thrive under.

At another level, it is sobering to realize that hundreds-of-millions of people living on the edge could be pushed into extinction with the most insignificant of changes in economics; say something as simple as the doubling of the price of vegetable oils.

At a third level, it is beyond obscene for 300 pound, Whoupi Goldbricker to claim that she is more oppressed than people like those depicted in this video. It seems improbable that Goldbricker would be able to climb up the hill to the dwelling once, much less put in a full day's work of physical labor and then be able to prepare a meal using the resources within the dwelling. 

As a side-note

I had been wondering about the functionality of the wasp-waisted cooking vessels in that part of the world.

At the 7:50 mark in the video the woman demonstrates the functionality.

And at the 6:09 mark she shows us the utility of the riveted handles on her wok.

Writing by hand (vs typing) likely to be good for long-term, cognitive health

(Writing by hand has)...profound impact on cognitive processes (and) continues to be a topic of intense scientific scrutiny. Methods: This paper investigates the neural mechanisms underlying handwriting and typing, exploring the distinct cognitive and neurological benefits associated with each. By synthesizing findings from neuroimaging studies, we explore how handwriting and typing differentially activate brain regions associated with motor control, sensory perception, and higher-order cognitive functions. Results: Handwriting activates a broader network of brain regions involved in motor, sensory, and cognitive processing (while) typing engages fewer neural circuits, resulting in more passive cognitive engagement. Despite the advantages of typing in terms of speed and convenience, handwriting remains an important tool for learning and memory retention, particularly in educational contexts.     Source

Healthy brain in the middle. Patient with Alzheimer's Disease on the right. ERJ's brain on the left.

"...broader network(s) of brain regions..." is associated with recovering more quickly from strokes and other brain trauma. It is probably desirable from the standpoint of staving off dementia in all forms. If one neighborhood is not accepting through-traffic, then having frequently traveled, alternate routes is good.

My plan is to write out my daily To Do list long-hand, in cursive (why not?). Gotta tickle those neurons to keep them on their toes. 

Good Fortune dogs me

Good News!

One of Southern Belle's pets ran off a few days ago and had been on-the-lam.

An anonymous neighbor brought it back and put it back in its pen. We don't know who it was but based on the tracks in the driveway they rode a dirt-bike.

More good news

SB was in the market for a treadmill. I saw one beside the road and it said "Free. It works". Into the back of the pickup it went. It is now over at SBs.

.AND.

I found my garden netting next to the chainsaw

.AND.

I found the tomato clips in the breezeway

.AND. 

Mrs ERJ and I were getting ready to mow yesterday when she discovered a yellow-jacket nest while moving Quicksilver's toy house. I was able to neutralize it and neither one of us sustained any stings.

Still too damp to till

The weather-guessers estimate that we will get less than a quarter-inch of rain today. If so, then I should be able to till late Wednesday evening. If we get no rain at all, then I can till this afternoon.

Rainwater Catchment and Cisterns for MY applications

From the comments:

Why do you not have rainwater catchment and cisterns?

The return on investment isn't there

It may sound like heresy to use economic terms when talking about growing things and biological systems, but it makes all the sense in the world from my standpoint. The resources I spend on one project are not available to be spent on other projects.

If the contour of the land you are working with is not favorable to the concept (flat or no funneling-features) and if the soil and rainfall regime rarely generate run-off, it feels like pushing a rope.

This is such a great graphic that I had to shoe-horn it in. Bank the moisture in the soil! Bonus Link (Warning, long...likely to cure insomnia). Many thanks to the benefactor-who-must-remain-unnamed for the links and images.

If the contour of the land IS favorable but the favorable contour is 1000 feet away from your point-of use or the favorable contour is closer but isn't on your property then you pretty much out-of-luck...you will be transporting water one way or another.

The Upper Orchard is in the middle of the image and the Hill Orchard is on the right. The screen grab is 400' from east-to-west and half that north-south. The contours are 2' in elevation. There is NO funneling.

 

This screen grab is 200' east-west and is of my Eaton Rapids orchard/gardens. It is on top of a hill and there isn't a lot of slope.

This screen grab is 200' and contains Southern Belle's orchard and garden. Up is in the lower-right corner. The property line is 25' east of the orchard so there isn't much opportunity to terra-form contour to direct run-off her way.

And, for what it is worth: 

• The normal water-table beneath the Upper Orchard is about 25' down.
• The normal water-table beneath the Eaton Rapids orchard is 45' down. 
• The normal water-table beneath Southern Belle's orchard is about 6' down but varies significantly by time-of-year.

Right now, the orchards are wide, grassy aisle-ways with the trees planted in strips that have been treated with herbicide. There is white clover and at least four species of grass* growing in the aisle-ways. If I were to install some kind of catchment system, wouldn't I have to cover the grassy aisle-ways with plastic or bentonite?

If I did that, I would lose the benefits of increasing organic matter in the soil, beneficial insects and nitrogen fixation from the clover. The grassy aisle-ways are also pleasant to walk on regardless of the weather. It is hard to say that about bentonite.

Finally, the few local attempts at catchment systems I have personally seen were mosquito breeding nightmares. The cisterns were much too small and the provisions for filling them were...childish. For example: I would need 1500 gallons (about 200 cubic-feet) to water the 70 fruit and nut trees I planted this year over a five-week dry spell. An above-ground swimming pool 3' high and 10' in diameter would be large enough to hold that but I would need a collection surface above that cistern to gravity feed into it.

If my goal was to be able to totally recharge my 1500 gallon cistern with an inch of rain, then I need 2400 square-feet of collection surface. All of that capital expense and time involved in swimming pools and laying down plastic and weighting the edges so it doesn't blow away...for a couple years of utility. You see, historically, established semi-dwarf fruit trees planted in Eaton County in loam haven't needed supplemental irrigation. The HUGE benefit is the first year while they are establishing and the second year when I am trying to rapidly expand their canopies. 

*Kentucky Bluegrass, Tall Fescue, Red Fescue and Orchard Grass 

Last week was a rainy week

 

Rain gauge at The Property. I am off-the-hook for lugging water this week

Rain gauge in Eaton Rapids.

Just as our greatest weakness is often using our greatest strength when it is inappropriate, it is possible that our greatest weakness can become a strength.

For example, I have a weakness for putting things in "...a very safe spot..." and I am sure I will remember where that is when I need that item. Yesterday, I intended to hang the netting I purchased for the cucumbers. To tell the truth, that task has been on my To Do list every day for the past week.

I looked high-and-low for the netting. I found the left-over netting from Mrs ERJ's garden (I purchased two, 24' lengths) but I could not find mine.

Mrs ERJ didn't mind if I used hers but it only spanned 18 of the 32 feet.

And then I saw the bamboo!

Netting in the foreground. Bamboo in the background.

 

Bamboo supports on the left, a little bit of netting on the right

Bamboo has some advantages. I produce it on the farm and it doesn't require working infrastructure (or fossil fuels) to have it show up in my garden. A single clump of bamboo will produce for many, many years and provide scores of poles for a multitude of uses.

Bamboo has disadvantages. It has branches in inconvenient places. The stubs of those branches are a hazard to eyes if you are not paying attention to how you trim them off. 

The way my habit of misplacing things means that I get lots of practice improvising and sometimes the improve has major advantages over the purchased product.

June 28, 2025. Yes I have weeds. It is too wet to till.

June 28, different angle

June 21

June 11

Other odds-and-ends from yesterday involved putting cages around the pear trees at The Property and burning brush.

This pear tree is growing out of its rabbit cage and is now vulnerable to deer.

More rain is expected Monday afternoon. God willing, I will be able to get some tilling done Monday morning.

 

Random fact(s)

The default dose of carbs for a diabetic whose blood-sugar is crashing is 15 grams.

 

A ketchup packet from McDonald's has 2 grams of sugar. So in an emergency, 8 packets of ketchup would be about the right amount.

 

Image from HERE

Unhappy People: A modest prescription

The previous post suggests that many people are unhappy due to failed relationships. It also hinted that the root-cause of many failing relationships is due to their adolescence being a combination of excessive acceleration early in the period and then a failure to release it and move to adulthood later in the period.

One characteristic of those failing relationships is they repeat in predictable, Groundhog Day cycles: The "Bum Magnet" or the "Serial Failure" at the same stage. The pathological extreme is the enabler who is caught in an abusive relationship.

According to Romi Chaffee, if you are the person who is trapped in one of those cycles, the key is to mentally figure out the first time you experienced it. The fact that you keep living it is evidence that you have unfinished business festering from that relationship.

Then, very meticulously comb through the events that happened BEFORE the fire-ball and mushroom cloud.

Perhaps your partner injured you in some extremely painful way.

Perhaps YOU injured your partner and you rationalized that you HAD to do it.

If you were injured, work at forgiving that first person who hurt you in that way. Attempt to honestly assign accountability to yourself for the words and actions that may have contributed to the other person acting as they did.

If you were the person who inflicted the wound, learn some humility and ask that person for forgiveness (to the extent that it is safe). If you cannot ask that person (perhaps they are dead), then find a proxy and use them. Then atone for your sins to the best of your ability.

Only then will you be able to exorcise the ghosts that keep planting the trip-wire in your relationships.  

Unhappy People: Revisited

“This one, at last, is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

This one shall be called ‘woman,’

for out of man this one has been taken.”^*

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.   Genesis, Chapter 2

This post is intended to be descriptive rather than a prescription-to-fix the issue.

Is the root-cause of unhappiness due to arrested development? 

Let me set the stage

Visualize Tarzan swinging through the jungle on vines. He leaps, grabs a vine that is in just-the-right-place, swings through the air and just as he is approaching the apogee he releases and grabs another vine. This is repeated until Tarzan reaches his destination.

With that visual firmly implanted in your mind...

Historically

When a child was born and for the first five years of life, his immediate family was his "center". It was the vine that supported and shaped him with grandparents and community providing minor support roles.

At the age of five, our intrepid nouveau-sapiens trudges off to school and encounters new waters to navigate. In spite of that, the immediate family remains the center even as ancillary connections develop.

That changes in about sixth grade which coincides (coincidence?) with the development of secondary sexual characteristics in caucasians. Cliques or "tribes" of like-aged adolescents formed along gender and and mutual interest.

Q: What has 16 legs, 16 arms, 8 mouths and half-a-brain?

A: Every lunchroom table in middle-school.

Core cliques seemed to average about five members with extended cliques averaging ten. That size may be a product of evolution as groups of five are effective hunting/foraging parties and that number is still a basis for military squads.

Key Point: Much to the bafflement of the parents, the child seemed to have completely detached from the family (except for demands for clothes and money) as she searched for her place in a new tribe. Tarzan had to let go of his first vine before he could grab the second.

The adolescent years were very dynamic and produced anxiety in many kids.

In late-adolescence, social "place" crystalized and the searching focused from "finding your tribe" to "finding your mate".

That was the second hand-off. Tarzan transitioned from the second vine to the third vine. Biff shifted his time and energy from the bro's to Suzy. The bro's opinions about the kind of vehicle he drove, the cut of the clothes he selected, where he spent his leisure time were dwarfed by Suzy's opinions.

Much to the bafflement of the bro's, Biff had completely detached from their gravity well.

If it hadn't been completed by the time Biff and Suzy got married, it was vaporized when the first child arrived.

And even though their opinions didn't matter, the tribe (and immediate family) still provided networking services: Information about job-openings, property for sale, investment opportunities, advice about reputable lawyers, parenting tips...

This happened for both men and women.

Today

The first switching of attachment starts earlier and is more aggressive. The three-year-old learns that Miss Rachel is pro-Palestinian and that the coolest people wear rainbow scarves. Significant separation from family starts in third grade, also coincidentally in timing with the earlier onset of secondary sexual characteristics (Estrogens in food? More body fat? Change in racial composition?). Even though the separation starts earlier and is turbo-charged by the messages that saturate media, the children's brains are no more developed than they were in 1955...perhaps even less developed.

By age 13, many adolescents are pairing up in a sexual way. While this might have been necessary in a stone-age village, it often happened with one partner being significantly older than the other. Today, the both partners are typically from a very narrow slice of ages and their mental models are dominated by the edgy, cynical, cheap-laugh, vacuous media they have been voraciously consuming.

Key Point: Because they started before they were mentally/emotionally ready and because their relationships are built on a media-formed expectation that all sexual relationships are temporary and doomed to fail, most young people today never completely separate from their tribe.

They are almost incapable of lifetime bonding with a mate. And the tribal-clique relationships are quick to dog-pile on any sign of a fault or fissure in those one-on-one relationships and destroy them. They claim they are "being supportive" when they are, in fact, miserable people who get angry when they see somebody else with a shot at happiness.

Multiple failed relationships leave both sexes angry, and bruised, and frustrated as key emotional needs are unmet.

People are in a state of arrested development because they left some bases untagged as they skipped through their progression. They find themselves standing on a ladder just tall enough to tickle the golden-apple with their finger-tips but not tall enough to pick that apple. Media promised them glamor and sparkling-joy if they followed a soap-opera, The View approved script and they got wrinkles, body-fat, Herpes and debt.

Bonus link courtesy of Coyote Ken