There is a lot to do around here: flats and flats of seedlings, a sewing project, pruning, and so much more. Even though lemon, lime and olive have handily survived our mild winter, I am teasing the Norns by putting my tomato seedling out in the unheated greenhouse with temperatures dropping to 5°C overnight.
I am putting them inside a tunnel to keep an extra couple of degrees inside, but, as is often the case, the internet is a contradiction. Some people say my tomatoes will surely wither and die. Others say what doesn’t kill them will make them stronger, and I will have seedlings that look like Charles Atlas. I am going to cross my fingers and keep them outside, because I need space for more seedlings.
But, its contradictory nature notwithstanding, today the internet provided. So much that my computer was making like 1998Remember the sound of a modem? No? Whippersnapper.—I had to close some tabs. And so, a murder of crows, an unkindness of ravens, an inundation of links.
That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer. The inimitable Jared Diamond,Joseph Tainter is my preferred analyst of collapse—I think his theory neatly incorporates Diamond’s work—but I still enjoy the Diamond. talking about real risk.
The other morning, I escaped unscathed from a dangerous situation. No, an armed robber didn’t break into my house, nor did I find myself face to face with a mountain lion during my bird walk. What I survived was my daily shower.
John Thackera consults, teaches, writes the Doors of Perception, and is just very, very smart. This piece compliments the new gov.uk website. Core message—and governments take special note of this simple idea—your website is not to impress your bosses, it is not for you at all. Big, Hairy, and Agile.
With grace and class, Niigaan Sinclair responds to a stupid editorial in the Morris Mirror.
I ask you to be more than the words we have inherited.
And, I ask you to talk. Share food. Discuss how we can be more.
You have said that you are not ready. That’s OK. Change is hard. I am ready.
I will wait for you.
If you are on the bookface, this is a nice list of forageable foods. Of course, since I know what almost none of these are, pictures would be even nicer.
And just about the best slideshow I have ever seen—Modern Farmer brings us 21 Pictures Of Hands Gently Cupping Dirt.
For some reason, in the last 24 hours I have been served many articles on a topic that rhymes with ‘prolapse’. Enjoy!
It is pitchfork time. 300 people have as much wealth as the poorest 3 billion people. Global Wealth Inequality—the extreme truth about how wealth is divided globally. Inspired by the amazing Wealth Inequality in America video. If you haven’t sharpened your pitchfork by the time you finish the videos, here is a rebuttal from Forbes to inspire you with the justifications of the wealthy.
What If A Collapse Happened And Nobody Noticed?
No reason to fear the collapse-look around, you’re already living through itA shout-out to others who have been saying this for years, like Sharon Astyk and Dimitri Orlov. even as you read these words, and you’re presumably still here. Take a deep breath. Relax. Have a beer. Listen to some music. No Zombies Required.
Austerity In America: 22 Signs That It Is Already Here And That It Is Going To Be Very Painful. This article illustrates the punchline of the previous article—we are already living through it.
Road to Reality: Towns Rip Up the Pavement
This article was originally titled Roads to Ruin, but I took the liberty of rewriting the head to make it better.
Pre-traumatic stress disorder is shorthand for the fact that we are fully aware of the future trauma, the moral injury that we individually and collectively suffer, the effects on the Earth of that injury, and our inability to act in time. Essentially pre-traumatic stress disorder, the environmentalist’s malady, is a result of our inability to prevent harm. From Common Dreams.
The New York Times provides as good a description of why I grow beans as any I have heard:
These policies have brought America to an end-stage metastasis. The way out would be so radical it can’t happen. It would necessitate a sweeping divorce of the state and the market economy. It would require a renunciation of crony capitalism and its first cousin: Keynesian economics in all its forms. The state would need to get out of the business of imperial hubris, economic uplift and social insurance and shift its focus to managing and financing an effective, affordable, means-tested safety net.