Thursday, August 19, 2021                                               12:39 AM

Educational Nightmares   (2021Aug19)

I just watched two PBS specials that blew my mind. One of them explained that the Egyptian Empire’s ‘Old Kingdom’ (the era in which all pyramids were constructed) ended mysteriously about 4,000 years ago, with the death of the 90-year-old Pepi II.

They found evidence that Egypt’s plains were once Savannahs, not the deserts of today, teeming with Ibex and other deer-like game. Evidence also indicated the sacred crocs of the Old Kingdom (Which were raised, fed, worshipped, and mummified at death by the temple priests.) left fossils which indicated they once inhabited the whole of North Africa, which would’ve required interconnected waterways.

Both core-samples of ice from the North Pole—and mud from the bottom of the ‘oasis’ at Birket Qarun (formerly Lake Moeris) independently came up with identical evidence of a ten-year drought, at the time of the death of Pepi II!

Anyway, Lake Moeris, which in those days was over 200-feet deep, was connected to the Nile. I can’t believe nobody in Hollywood has written a screenplay set in Egypt’s glory days, when the pyramids were white, geometric, and tipped with gold—and surrounded not by desert, but by lush savannah.

The parallel to Lake Mead’s recent news is unavoidable:

From the Washington Post:

“CARSON CITY, Nev. — Water levels in the two largest man-made reservoirs in the United States could dip to critically low levels by 2025, jeopardizing the steady flow of Colorado River water that more than 40 million people rely on in the American West.

After a dry summer, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released models on Tuesday suggesting looming shortages in Lake Powell–a   and Lake Mead — the reservoirs where Colorado River water is stored — are more likely.

Only 55% of Colorado River water is flowing from the Rocky Mountains down to Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona line. Due to the below-average runoff, government scientists say the reservoirs are 12% more likely to fall to critically low levels by 2025 than they projected.”

What worries me is that many people, including people I care about, live on America’s West Coast—and the “The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage” describes the Old Kingdom’s downfall as featuring domestic cannibalism (A record of that era which most scholars, until recently, thought fanciful). If that’s not a warning from history, nothing  is.

The Other PBS special was “Operation Bridge Rescue”, about saving ancient bridges in China and a sorta-ancient covered-bridge in upstate New York. This was a fascinating show about how the Chinese invented a wooden bridge structure which was only vulnerable to flooding—which pushed upward on the interwoven support-beams, destroying the bridge’s integrity. To remedy this, old Chinese bridges had heavy stones as pavement and complex, massive pagoda-roofs to ensure that gravity would win out over water pressure.

These bridges are important historical sites in China’s culture—but a recent, massive flood (due to climate instability) destroyed three of these beautiful artifacts. The same thing happened to the old-timey covered bridge in Blenheim, NY. The show followed the differences and similarities in traditional construction techniques and modern planning for severe weather to continue. As I caromed from one of these shows to the other, I was struck by how hard it is, these days, for PBS to do a documentary that has no mention of the climate crisis. I guess that’s why the Republicants hate PBS & the NEA—it’s a streaming denial of all their oil-grubbing lies….

Tuesday, August 17, 2021                                                2:24 AM

WTF Were We Thinking?   (2021Aug17)

Today’s headlines included: sex-trafficking involving MN’s top GOP donor, criticism of Biden for ending the twenty-year war in Afghanistan, and a conservative Cardinal anti-masker who caught COVID and ended up on a ventilator.

The stupid is strong with this day’s news. Where to F-ing start?

First off, I must be older than I thought. It is news to me that Minnesota has become a hub for sex-trafficking, to where it has seeped into political leadership (or corruption, rather). I can only say that I’m glad it wasn’t a Democrat, not that trust isn’t an issue, with politicians, generally.

Secondly, someone has to kick these talking-head news-needles out of that rutted groove: Criticizing Biden for the way he handled ending a twenty-year-long-FUBAR—that is zombie-thinking.

We should be tearing apart the Pentagon in an attempt to find the worthless bucket of s__t who was in charge of Afghanistan. We should be laughing our guts out at the idea of these Afghanis having the same fire in their bellies that Americans have—WTF were we thinking?

All I know for sure is that Biden is the least-to-blame person in our government—and news media needs some cold water in their F-ing faces. Why do ‘journalists’ go after quotes from someone like Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, who recently chastised his ‘flock’ for not trusting in ‘Protection’ from Jesus?

Call me a cock-eyed Atheist, but when I was raised Catholic, I was taught that the Savior protects our souls, not our bloodstreams. They left that to doctors—even in the Dark Ages (when they shouldn’ta). Not for nothing, if JC was so keen, he mighta protected a few thousand young Catholic boys—from the priesthood.

Please note that I offer no offense to any faith—only to people who abuse the faith of others—without being honest with themselves about Why they do and say these disruptive, wacky things.

I am not volatile by nature—I was happy when Trump lost and I could go back to feeling sorry for him. It didn’t feel right, having to wait upon the next explosion of Narcissism and Pop-Hate, vilely hating a man whom I Knew to be totally beneath my notice, except for lying his way into Office.

Now he’s gone, it even more obvious: he was a small problem. The millions of dupes, believing disinformation from Trumpland’s GOP, are the big problem. How did people become so gullible as to believe terrible liars like the Republicans—when they attend a riot, then claim it was Antifa-imposters?! Their lies are so stupid, sometimes they have to backtrack, & say, ‘that one was just to make fun of all you hysterical leftists’.

But we all know BS when we hear it—even when we heard it five-times-a-day from Chump. I’m embarrassed for the faithful-followers. These people see the death-tolls fall, nationwide, except—whoops—where They live! Their hospitals are full to bursting—how long will these people stick to Republicans? Many have died for the team, already—prancing around like the virus can’t get’em. This is medical—it’s not as political as you media and troublemakers would wish it is.

So, yeah, I was (I hate to say) ‘normally’ outraged by the idiocy of the media’s coverage of our Afghan Exit, as a “Biden take-a-shot game”; and by the shamelessness of a Catholic Bishop preaching (dangerous) Christian Science, just because he lives in a Republican county!

But my craw totally stuck on the sex-trafficking in Minnesota. That is a new level of shitty-ness for our nation. You expect that sort of thing down where a family of inbreeds own a big mansion in a swamp—where even the cops won’t go. But I guess ‘modern times’, right?

When I was growing up, I worried a lot about whether I could do my part, be one of the good guys. But until our media stops being a fucking pot-stirrer about every horror, and ignoring anything thoughtful or long-term, we are actually under fire from our own ‘data-sources’, threatening our composure and our focus on priorities.

The Talking-News-Heads are a blight and an attitudinal problem for all of us—these Capitalists make money by charging advertisers, based on their viewership. People watch more when they’re angry or upset—you do the math. Good for them. Suicide for society. But, you be the judge. All I can say is, if Minnesota has become a hotbed of corruption, poverty, racism, drug-addiction, police brutality, and sex trafficking—WTF have you ‘Sotans been doing up there?! And why aren’t we being taken live, to Minneapolis—instead that F-ing desert where the people surrender themselves to the first bully comes the fuck along.