So, plastic recycling is largely a farce and always has been.
Americans support recycling. We do too. But although some materials can be effectively recycled and safely made from recycled content, plastics cannot.
14 years ago to the week I moved into my still under construction tiny house and was waking up to birds singing outside and on occasion a bird in the cabin because while the roof was on the eaves were not yet finished. For a week or two they'd visit during morning coffee. 😃
In the garden today a great spangled fritillary on a daisy and my finger. Also a bumble bee collecting pollen from a daisy.
Made an exception to my practice of avoiding non-essential use of a car to take a short drive with relatives to visit Elephant Rocks Park. The rocks consist of the remains of a pluton formed 1.4 billion years ago by cooling magma. A beautiful view.
So, yet another school shooting followed by outrage and the familiar call for change. The ugly truth is that we are all the problem, even those of us who don't own guns and who want #guncontrol. We're the problem we because we're too passive. We demand far too little of ourselves as citizens of a supposed democratic republic - by the people, for the people, we've been content to watch passively as "our" government, proves ineffectual at solving problems. Voting and typing isn't enough. #directaction
If we want change, be it gun control, addressing climate collapse, protecting abortion rights, confronting white supremacy, we're going to have to get out of our houses and off our couches. The movements are all there, but we all need to help build community power via local activism: co-ops, elections, clinic escorting, protests, ultimately, we probably need to organize a #generalstrike and shut down the whole thing. Real direct action not complaining via keyboards.
We need real, face-to-face community building and development of relationships. It's messy, difficult, and hard. Sometimes it amounts to very little. Sometimes it changes lives. Little changes, big changes. But if we don't start making the efforts we can be sure that we will fail. But if we get out there and try, experiment, fail, learn, fail again, but keep building. I don't see any other way. Waiting for broken government is just letting others do what they want with our lives.
Some examples that I've seen or been a part of: Bike co-op (fixing donated bikes, teaching repair skills to kids, #recycling, transport), #Housingcoop (shared housing fostering community, shared resources, #mutualaid, economical), community gardens (learning how to grow food, mutual aid, time spent together, food production), #community tool library (sharing resources), community free schools/libraries. Almost any local business can be built as a co-op. #communitybuilding via potluck meals
A recent episode of the It Could Happen Here podcast provides an excellent exploration of 50 years of right wing terrorism in the United States, particularly violence against abortion rights advocates and providers. Worth a listen. So much violence and I suspect many are unaware.
I'm not growing a lot of food in my garden but I enjoy every little bit I do grow! Most recently, lettuce and strawberries. And plenty of wild daisies which are edible though I've not tried them in my salad yet.
Plant happenings! Catnip in it's purple glory, honeysuckle and the small tree is a newly planted pawpaw in the forest garden.
A newly planted Pawpaw in the forest garden.
Honeysuckle in bloom
Catnip macro
A couple of weeks before Bush's accidental admission of war crimes against Iraq I came across photos of our small protests in Kirksville, MO against the first Gulf War in 1990. After that war there was a period of economic sanctions then of course, the second war.
As we focus on Putin's aggression we should remember our (US) own foreign policy and actions in Iraq and the Middle East. And, for that matter, US conduct globally for the past 70 years.
I've been back on Mastodon the past couple weeks and I'm enjoying it so much. And really, this time around, I'm really using it and settling in. It feels like the internet of 1999 in that it has a solid community vibe, engaging, and positive. At first I thought I might be imagining it but quickly noticed others mentioning it. Really fantastic. Find me there.
Really enjoying this folksy labor music by Memphis-based musician Pink Willams: Country Songs for a Broken Country
So, former president George Bush, who was responsible for the invasion of Iraq in 2001 was speaking at an event and said this: “The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean of Ukraine.” Of course, his assault on Iraq was brutal and unjustified. And it's a shame that more US citizens fail to account for it.
Time for something a bit different. Slow motion audio consisting of birds, a few frogs, crickets and other natural woodland sounds recorded this morning. Otherworldly, relaxing, eerie. Has the feel of visiting another planet. I think this will be my new background for bedtime!
Apparently there are numerous wildfires across Siberia. The new normal in the ongoing climate collapse.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/wildfires2022Russia?src=hashtag_click
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_Russia
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/siberia-heatwave-forest-fire-climate-change
