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The Parable of the Fisherman
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A South Bend, Indiana police union on Monday criticized Mayor Buttigieg’s handling of a recent police shooting in the city, saying his focus is predicated “solely for his political gain.
“Mayor Buttigieg’s comments have already and will continue to have a detrimental effect on local law enforcement officers and law enforcement officers nationwide,” the union states, adding that “his comments are driving a wedge between law enforcement officers and the community they took an oath to serve.”
I suppose that I’m fortunate to have gotten any blueberries at all this year as I planted in February and they are said not to produce in the first year. For several days I had been pulling a pint a day. On Sunday and again yesterday it was a half pint. Today and tomorrow will be the last of them. The type of bushes are called ‘Rabbiteye’ and I planted several varieties (Tif Blue, Climax, Premier,)
The kids left Sunday with a couple of quarts, so the amount of jam making I’ll be engaged in limited. On the up side, blackberries are really kickin, I’m out at the canes daily now and have been bringing a quart a day. The plants are really packed with the berries so I expect that I’ll be getting a couple of quarts a day for several days before they have given all they can.
The march of technology has, for the most part, introduced an entirely new range of threats to the many societies across the planet. Yeah, I get it…the tremendous improvements in every day life over the last 60 years or so is directly attributable to technology. Folk are living longer, better, and are more informed than ever before. Now it’s time to pay the piper.
They are dancing to the music in China. My guess is that the EU will soon follow the same path.
The digitization of information and the ability not only control access to it, but to also manipulate that information is so powerful that it can enslave entire nations and become a easily used utility in the hands of those that desire power above all else. Consider China. with a population of 1.3 billion souls and a government hell bent exercising power and authority over the population.
Imagine calling a friend. Only instead of hearing a ring tone you hear a police siren, and then a voice warning you not to deal with this person. That might put a real kink in your relationship. That folks is the whole idea.
In China you can arrive at the airport with the intent catch a flight and the clerk at the ticket counter turns you away. Not only are you publicly humiliated, you are forced to take a train or bus (if they will let you travel at all). The government knows all, sees all, and controls almost all of your life. In the opinion (if they could have an opinion) of some algorithm you are unworthy. You could be punished for any offense: a defaulted loan , criticizing some government figure or policy, spending too much time playing video games, having the wrong friends. The list is endless.
Technology in China is both the carrot and stick to brainwash and manipulate their population. Perhaps the all powerful algorithm decides to install embarrassing messages a ring tone on your phone to shame you every time you get a call or message. If you do not tow the line you are excluded from well-paid jobs, making it impossible to get a house or car loan or even book a hotel room. You’ll have your internet slowed, your children banned from attending good schools and could even have your personal information and profile posted on a public blacklist for all to see.
There are reports that those whose social credit score falls too low are preemptively arrested and sent to re-education camps. Not because they have actually committed a crime, but because they are likely to. The government claims that its purpose is to enhance trust and social stability by creating a “culture of sincerity” that will “restore social trust.” What it will actually create, of course, is a culture of fear and and ensure the compliance of the slaves population. Not to worry though, you can always improve your social credit score by reporting the misdeeds of your neighbor.
The editors and producers of today’s ‘news’ are not only willing to sell their own soul to make a buck or advance their own ‘woke’ image, they are also perfectly willing to irreparably damage our children and our society in the name of this ‘wokeness’. It’s an evil and a sickness they are pressing on an unknowing and ignorant population. When you run God out of your society this is what follows.
The one thing that I always dislike about canning was the challenge of managing all the things that need to be working on the stove top at any one time. The long pole was always the canning pot. An electric stove top has a hell-of-a-time keeping the large canning pot hot enough to process whatever I was canning.
I saw that Ball had produced an electric canning pot that may cure this ill. At a little over a hundred bucks I scraped up what few nickles I had laying around and ordered one. It will be here next Wednesday, just in time to start putting some pickles up. It’s pictured below.
Ball describes this thus: The Ball® 21-Quart FreshTECH Electric Water Bath Canner is ready to accommodate large batches of canning, fitting 7 quart jars or 8 pint jars comfortably at one time. The bath canner frees up your stovetop, allowing you to can any time of the day and it uses 20% less energy than the stove. It can also be used as a stockpot for pastas, soups, and stews, or as a steamer for vegetables and seafood. Heat-resistant rubber-coated handles on the cooker and lid offer a comfortable non-slip grip for easy maneuvering. Storing the electric water bath canner is easy too, the base detaches and nests for compact storage and makes cleaning a simple task.
The reviews were mixed with most of the poor reviews having been made more than 2 years ago. Whatever kinks were in the canner seem to have been worked out and it has very few poor reviews since. Video below gives a good depiction of how well it works
Yesterday, between bursts of downpours, I was able to get to the many places around the farm that have blackberry canes in production. They were just beginning to produce ripe fruit and I pulled in a quart of fully ripe berries.
I’ll need to revisit each plant daily over the next couple of weeks to harvest each berry at it’s peak. I’ll fill the freezer with all the goodness this natural treat provides before the canes fade back into a thorny and troublesome bush. You freeze blackberries the same way that you do blueberries. Lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet to freeze and then transfer into quart freezer bags and return them to the freezer. They’ll last a year like this, which is when next years crop will be in full production— the great circle of life on the farm.
Plan is to make jams and jellies with most of the harvest. Will leave some frozen for wifey and her pie making later in the year.