Shorter Days

Summer slowly is drawing to it's close here at Bradland. There are cloudy skies today with a chance of rain. An occasional occurance in Summer, soon it will be the rule. Nighttime temperatures are dropping a couple of degrees with each succeeding week, and the leaves on the deciduous trees are beginning to yellow. The Octoberfest room's exterior is now complete and the insulation work and interior walls will soon be started. Firewood, at least three more cord, needs to be ordered , paid for, and stacked out of the weather. The pipe on the wood-burning stove needs to be replaced before this years fire begins to burn. The pipe for the outside faucet needs insulation. Time for the chores of Autumn.

Autumn, of course, is the most beautiful time of the year here.. The evergreen covered mountains become the canvas for the red and yellow leaves of the less predominant oaks and madrone trees that paint the landscape. Clouds begin to appear above the mountainous horizon to the north daily on their travels eastward as the stormtrack slides south with the season. Upon the blue and green canvas of the forest and sky, the clouds and leaves paint their seasonal masterpiece daily until winter when grey consumes all.

'tis the season; mild, beautiful, serene. The Quail pair are now a covey, The small deer are bigger and losing their spots, Bears get drunk on berries fermenting in their stomachs and, like all drunks, become bothersome and too friendly with people's homes and livestock. Farmers all over the valley are making preparations for the Fall harvest; the Blueberries are in, the Blackberries ripe. Winter straw lies in circular bundles awaiting rhe barn.

Campers will abound from now until the end of Labor day and the close of Summer. The Fall hunters will be fewer in numbers but louder. Hunters need to be careful in the woods of southern Oregon in the Fall, they might find something they are not looking for and a helluva lot more dangerous than Bigfoot; Mexican nationals, or worse, local boys . "Get caught, get shot" is what one local put on a plywood billboard . Careful out there, and don't be a trespassin' ......

Keeping America's Old Alive

Now that it's time for some serious baby-boomer retirement, now that Social Security is about to reach the point of liability and cost more than it produces, and now that greater numbers of people are going to reach old age and live longer, all at once, it's a good time to hurry through legislation that provides adequate preventive health care for the young while letting the old and less rich die.
Let me put it another way...
If you had contracted a fleet of cabs and, according to contract, you had to insure, maintain, store and fuel the cabs as long as they ran, and the cabs had become old and were a liability, would you maintain the fleet until each cab could no longer be fixed and only then sent to the junkpile, losing money all the while, or send the cabs to the junkpile as soon as they broke down, immediately ending the losses on that individual cab?? Every cab to the boneyard would save you money. And really, why spend a bunch of money saving old cabs that cost you money only as long as you save them?
A friend of mine recently underwent open heart surgery, quadrupal bypass or something. He's recovering slowly. He's eighty something. He can afford the little extra time he has bought. A lot of us couldn't, and neither can the Government afford to buy us, all of us, that extra time either. Consider what they're getting for their money; ...future expenses. Besides, with every cab that dies they get to keep the money we paid to them for years
Guess what? Time marches on. The cycle of human life is short. Too short to worry about the last few years, but also making those years precious and worth elongnating. Especially as individuals. However, heritage, and the choices we've made in life will determine longevity for the greater number of us. Count on that and not the Government for your health care. Obviously if you are reading this you're still in the game. Why worry? We've made it this far.
Timewise... we have less to lose each day we live. Yet, in our daily circles, are we risking more because life is more precious as it diminishes in time, or less because there is less to lose? In the miracle of life is the miracle of death. Health care or not, religious beliefs aside, no mortals are surviving life, and your government can't change that.
That said, be realists: in a capitalist country, where money and greed are part of the system, keeping a large mass of old people alive so they can live a Lonnnnnnng, relaxed, retired life before they die, is a bad investment. Period. There ! All those people screaming about the end of Capitalism can relax and die in peace at their own expense. No long illnesses in my life.
We live by the sword of Capitalism. We will die on the edge of that very same sword. Time to sacrifice for the better-ment of American corporations and the ultra-rich. They run Health care, and Money is not going to keep a bunch of old people alive to die. Everybody wants to live forever. True believers fear not the next portal. I fear missing something.
And No Bitching ! America, and the British, and every other Empire that could get away with it has exploited others for the enrichment of "their's" throughout history. In the case of the American people and Health care, TARP, Bailout for banks, etc., the government is exploiting its own citizens. It was ok when we benefited.
It's a lot more personal when it's happening to you. How much richer and more powerful has our government, and those involved with it, gotten recently while the country goes broke? Did the government stop the fleecing of people's retirement funds? Why do they care if you live or die? A retiree dying saves them money.
Knowing the boomers are a bad investment at this point, look for a bill of preventative medicine for the young and lots of red tape for the old and inevitable. It's our lot. The American Way. Be thankful you 're facing old age and how to live longer.

Here's the Deal

"Life is good", as my buddy Gary would say. Gary's been there and done that. He used to ride shotgun with 40 cal.'s in Viet Nam. He used to watch the Shell tankers within firing range of the enemy never get fired on. He knows about wars for money. Money controls both sides .
Gary's life is good. His life, like most of yours', is damn good by 'World Standards'. Gary has earned his good life, like most of you have, with work and perserverance .
"My life is good", is what Gary called to tell me. Not as good as his (he didn't mention that), but good enough, and he didn't want me to forget that large fact in my rantings about 'Bama and the boys... give the guy a chance. He's still better than Bush and Cheney. Except... if the Obama administration continues the same Imperialistic policies of the Bush administration, which I might remind you are based on lies and a Zeitgeist, then he is just another puppet, and one puppet is the same as another, no better.
Thirty thousand more troops in Afghanistan... for what? Finish the Job.
What job? Catch Osama? ...No, the job is to clear the TAPI* pipeline route. Nobody's looking for Osama. Money wants to start the project in 2010.
Troops might be clearing poppy fields, but I have the feeling their efforts are a drop in the bucket. I mean, why is Heroin as cheap as a six pack of beer in the Northeast USA?
Our troops might be fighting bad guys but for what? There are bad guys all over the world and not everybody thinks we're the good guys, so why are we losing lives, taking lives, and destroying worlds we have no business even being in ...except for profit? Profits from Oil, War, and control of the Opium market. I can't agree with a war for these profits. I damn sure wouldn't want my sons risking their lives for these objectives. I don't want other American sons lost for profit either.
I don't think continuing to give the people of Afghanistan a deal they can't refuse is necessary for American Safety or the American Standard of Living. Our good standard of living. But do I really care? Do you?

What the hell do you care if you can have whatever you want for lunch? Everyday. Every American good day. In every American good life. Especially mine.

How can we relate to people living on grass soup in Afghanistan, when we can't decide to take advantage of cash for clunkers and buy a new jeep? They live in a different world. Their everyday life is like watching an episode of 'Survivorman'. Americans relate better to the world of Star Wars.
If a Supreme being was to appear from the heavens, see me in my New Jeep Wrangler Rubicon chewing on fast food chicken with ranch style dressing and Pepsi to wash it down, and was to judge me, would the supreme being judge me strong and good, a survivor at the top of the top of the food chain? Rr would judgement be of my compassion? My world citizenship? Is it- God helps those whom help themselves, or be thy brother's keeper?
I can have what I want for lunch. Everyday. I could cut back to two meals a day, too, if I wanted. I don't own a Ferrari, a boat, a vacation home. I'm still buying the property I Iive on. I don't own anything I haven't earned through my own laborious life. I don't begrudge others what they have earned either, but I think it's time the average man came to the conclusion that those with the most could live on a lot less if it meant the end of wars for profit.
My personal belief is mankind is nothing more than algae in the pond, and the only real signifigance of life is life, or the miracle thereof. Therefore, it seems to me a great crime to deny others their life so that we might have a better one. As a nation it works the same. That doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy our good life. No, we should celebrate every lucky moment. What we shouldn't do is force the consequences of our lifestyle on others.
I do not agree with the Imperialistic ideal that profit and progress gives the modern world eminent domain over those who don't agree with a deal they can't refuse.

Now, I can't see what the harm is in the TAPI pipeline. It's progress American style, for a profit, and seemingly benefits the countries involved. There might be great benefits to the Afghanistan people too, but it is not my country, it is theirs, and they don't seem to want us there any more than they did the Russians (whom we helped them fight). How fast the pendelum of righteousness swings, huh?
So the question is... if it makes US more comfortable (as the top of the top of the food chain) do we care about those who stand in the way of our Comforts? Our Oil, Our Blood Diamonds. Our Seal Skin Fur coats, our Ivory Tusk piano keys, our Whales? Our profits?

Bring the Troops Home Now! It is not their job to deliver deals the world can't refuse, and that is all the world has seen from America in the last eight years.

Bradman

*The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAP or TAPI) is a proposed natural gas pipeline being developed by the Asian Development Bank. The pipeline will transport Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. Proponents of the project see it as a modern continuation of the Silk Road. The Afghan government is expected to receive 8% of the project's revenue.

Cash for Clunkers

I wanted to get in on the Cash for clunker program but my Jeep only has 255,000 miles on it I hate to give it up prematurely. It has, for the money I paid for it ( $1750.00), been the best vehicle I have ever owned. It's a runner,....but 4500 dollars credit is 2 and a half times what I paid for it. Almost a deal I can't refuse. In case you're a European, or a citizen from someplace other than the USA, the cash for clunker program was a billion dollar give-away by the federal government to stimulate the auto industry. Consumers were given between 3,500 and 4,500 dollars credit on new cars for trading in their clunkers. Details are irrelevant at this point because the money only lasted one week. In one week 250,000 cars sold, the money was exhausted , and the car dealers are crying they need more "clunker cash". I say, "Let the federal government buy everybody a new car". Why not? The federal give-away has included banks , Insurance companies, the auto industry, the unemployed, the hungry, disaster victims, foreign governments, foreign disaster victims, foreign intelligence agencies, foreign dictators, pig shit research, screwing habits of rabbitts, and a myriad of other handouts that you can finish listing at your own convenience. Save 'em all. The point is: As long as the government is giving the country away today, and asking others to pay for it later, the average man ought to get a bigger cut . If 1 billion paid 25% of the cost of 250,000 cars, then 4 billion would buy 250,000 cars. 40 billion would buy 2,500,000 new cars. Thats a new car for 2 1\2 million Americans. 800 billion would buy 50,000,000 new cars. New jeeps for everybody. Bradman says, " Americans would have preferred a new Jeep to bailing out AIG." New jeep, or not, American patience is running short with Obama's bullshit. The new liars are still paying bonuses with taxpayers dollars to banking executives that robbed the country blind. Our new liars haven't brought anybody to justice for the biggest robbery in history. The new liars are the same as the old liars, they've just shuffled the chairs. The New Liar covers the old thieve's tracks with the same repetitious statement. "lets look forward not back". Obama Bullshit. How do you learn from your mistakes if you don't examine them? What deterrant is there to future thieves when today's robbers go unpunished with no fear of being investigated.? Absolute Horseshit. How many Bernie's made off with the cash while Obama covered their tracks? It is the same with the crimes of the Bush administration. With 9\11. With Cheney and the CIA. Let's look forward,........to the next lie and crime! It is maddening watching today's leaders trying to decieve us. It is infuriating watching these puppets tell us one thing and do exactly what they want contrary to their words. When the next act of terrorism occurs it will be the American people's own fault that the perpetrators believe they can succeed. What we can get away with if nobody investigates. How blind are we going to be? JUST LOOK FORWARD !. and it's working. The bliss. I want to scream obscenities in my frustration with the blindness. Why are we still in Afghanistan? What is our objective? Who the hell are we chasing now? The time has come for mass demonstrations, for righteous indignation, for a revolution of common sense. My great x15 grandfather, Thomas Pate, American circa 1699., would not have stood for the monster the country now supports, Why shouild the American people 300 years later give up their common sense? Bring the troops home now, Stop the Bullshit, The only difference between Viet Nam and our present endeavors in imperialism is that the communists are now Taliban, and corporate America seems to have a stronger grip on the government. When your Common Sense is offended on a daily basis by your Government it is time for revolution. Let people know you aren't happy and Obama's lies are no more convincing then Bush's. Bring the troops home now. Love your country , trust your senses, Let People, everybody you're acquainted with , know; We are tired of the lies and we want action NOW.

The Caterpillar

A hummingbird flew into the Octoberfest room today and couldn't find it's way out. The room, now three sided with a roof and floor, and the long window opposite the one open wall, gives the impression to the butterflies and hummingbirds they can fly right throught it. When they hit the window all is confusion. They will climb the window over and over never realizing they only need turn and fly backwards a little to escape. This morning I had to rescue the exhausted bird by catching it on a small board on its way down the glass and carrying it to the other side of the room to freedom. I consider this to be a good Omen, Befriending the Hummingbird.

Indian Mythology:

To many of the Pueblo the hummingbird is a tobacco bird. In one myth
Hummingbird gets smoke from Caterpillar, the guardian of the tobacco plant.
Hummingbird brings smoke to the shamans so they can purify the earth.

Cool huh? Catching the hummingbird was like christening the room. Never underestimate the Caterpillar or a bald man. Bradman

Hot in the Pacific Northwest

Global warming? The people in the Northeast USA might argue that they haven't seen Summer this year, but it has been, and continues to be, HOT in the west. Last week I went south on I-5 and found it necessary to travel after dark; it is too hot at 100 plus degrees to travel on the motorcycle during the day. The air is like a body size hair-blower, 105 degress at 80 miles per hour. Add the heat of the sun reflected off the asphalt, or worse, the white concrete of the road, and the heat off the engine, and you have all the ingredients for broiled Brad. In the 350 miles between Grants Pass and Sactown you can lose a hat size under your helmet.
Normally the Pacific Northwest doesn't suffer these 100 plus degree temperatures. I am three miles from the California border so Bradland endures some heat every year but people in Portland and Seattle are usually a lot cooler. I have decided to add an air conditioner to the new room. It's about time I suffered a little comfort while others are miserable. As a matter of fact I've been considering a central heat and air unit for the Octoberfest room. Right after I get the toilet hooked to the septic tank and have a place to shit that flushes. You prissy mothers.
Constuction continues. The exterior is complete on one side, half done on the other, unstarted on the third; right on schedule. I work on the place before noon and after five. As the sun chases the shade around the building I move from place to place until it's so hot there is no place to work without melting. Then it's time to eat and take a nap. Just kidding. Nobody can sleep in this heat. At least not without climate control.
I was in Grants Pass earlier and the thermometer read 107 at the bank.103 at another. The bank in Cave Junction read 99 at 7:30 this evening. Every swimming hole on the 28 mile drive was packed with people trying to beat the heat . I think it's time to retrieve the kayak from the valley and become a river rat again. Anyway there's the weather report from this side of the world.

Busy in the Summer

I'd like to pass off my lack of communication with the outside world recently as being a result of having a life and being to busy to sit down and write; The truth is ......( Whenever the "truth" is proclaimed one has to be very careful, especially if they are the proclaimee. The truth changes with new knowledge all the time. When it comes to truths about oneself , we often can't see the forest for the trees, and are myopic to our personal shortcomings.) ........I've been depressed. Well, kinda.......
Every time I think this property is going to actually SELL, and the next adventure is about to begin, the deal dies and so does the excitement of a new road. My Aunt says I don't seem unhappy on the old road. The truth is.... ( there it is again) the old road gets better every day and in todays economic climate that's nothing to complain about.
Mostly I get impatient; I get tired of inching ahead, I want to leap forward. I don't like waiting for the next check and the materials it will buy to continue building the Octoberfest room, I want to Build it now! I want production and accomplishment at a rate I can't financially sustain. I want the world and I want it NOW.
When construction stops due to lack of funds, ...I'll spend the food money on materials. Diet. Once the food money is being negotiated for materials it's only a matter of time before all aspects of my financial life start to feel the squeeze. Is there gas money? What if something breaks down? Can I afford a trip to the city and Love? When I'm tapped out will there be weed to smoke while I play spider Solitaire? All for a shack I want to sell. Damned when I do, Bored when I don't. Busy is better.
Anyway, I was just thinking what if China wanted to build a pipeline to Mexico through Southern Oregon and the locals had to become Taliban to resist the foreign profiteers? Ridiculous huh?
Bring the troops home now. Investigate and pursue the illegal actions of the previous administration. Bring our own countries criminals (Bush, Cheney etc.) to justice . Get busy. It's Summer.

Bradman

Ps - A room with a view