Prepping

I am sure you have heard this term before, prepping. It is a catchall term used for being prepared for whatever may come that disrupts our normal lives. As we deal with the war in Ukraine and the extreme weather events that seem to be more frequent and, well, extreme, I thought it might be of the moment to look at this idea. I work with someone who has been stockpiling food in preparation for some kind of disaster. And I will tell you that some of that stuff is really unpalatable. But the basic idea of being prepared is important.

I ran across a couple of videos on YouTube about prepping. One was by a farmer in the United States who was warning about a food crisis in the making. With the danger of drought in the southwest and flooding in other areas of the country we are seeing farmers pressed to get crops to market. Many ranchers in Texas are selling off cattle because they cannot feed them. In my state of Minnesota we are also seeing drought conditions. That, coupled with high temperatures, make for challenging conditions to keep crops healthy.

This video comes from the U.S. This is climate change. It is here and she is right, we need to prepare as best we can. You may want to read some of the comments, as she has people from other countries commenting on their own situations. There are some conspiracy theorists among them, just ignore them. But listen to the others. They show the global depth of what is happening.

This second video actually comes from Sweden. I ran across it by accident, possibly because of the types of search I was doing. But it is prepping of a different nature. In this case they are preparing for a possible invasion by Russia. Their time frame for what is needed to be stockpiled is much less than in the first video, but nonetheless they are preparing for the worst. It appears they have been doing so for years.

From where I am I don't fear an invasion by Russia. But I am concerned, as you know from previous posts, about climate change. But climate change and the invasion of Ukraine are inexorably linked. Putin has not only murdered thousands of innocent people, destroyed the economy of a country, and blocked needed food for the world, he has diverted critical resources at a time when those resources should be focused on global climate change. His legacy will not be one of greatness but one of complete and utter waste and stupidity.

Our Sacred Honor

It is July 4^th today. I used to look at this holiday with pride, understanding that many who came before me had fought and died for a liberty in my country that so many other people can only hope to achieve. Sadly, I have come to wonder if many in my country are now letting that slip away.

We now have people who follow a venal, self-serving man in the person of Donald Trump. We have a slow waning of the protections of individual rights, starting with the rights of women, in the overturning of Roe v Wade. This by a Supreme Court that is packed with politically motivated justices who have shown they were willing to lie about their stances on “settled law' in order to be approved as a Justice for the Supreme Court.

All of this has been at the machinations of politicians like Mitch McConnell who are willing to put their own political agenda before the will and well-being of the American people. They have even been called out by one of their own, Liz Cheney.

Here are a few clips of her commentary:

At the Reagan Library, on the danger that Donald Trump poses to our democracy:

At the Jan. 6^th Commission hearings, on witness tampering:

At the Jan, 6^th Commission hearings, on dishonor:

Even as we celebrate this July 4^th the Supreme Court is contemplating taking up a case that will decide who has the power of election oversight, the state courts or the state legislature. The majority of state legislatures are controlled by Republicans.

Election Rules Oversight

We are watching our civil rights and liberties being slowly eroded by a party controlled by a demagogue.

Contrast this to words from our Declaration of Independence:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. “

I fear that the type of people who wrote that Declaration are no longer living here in the United States.  I wonder, do we value our liberty as much as the Ukrainians value theirs?  Are we willing to stand up and be heard this November and in 2024?