A Stunning Morning in California
February marks the beginning of spring out here. I always counted on Santa Rosa plum (named for the home of the brilliant, iconoclastic, and maverick Luther Burbank’s laboratory) blossoms around February 28. The almond trees even earlier. Bermuda grass starts greening soon. And vine buds swell in March.
After the latest warm rain you can see from the Sierra Nevada to the Coast Range. We needed the air cleared and the snow pack freshened, after a hard and cold dry spell. A drive from the mountains to the coast through the valley explains perhaps why — when thousands in disgust, with degrees and skill, leave high-tax, high-entitlement California — the price of housing, in the midst of slump, still stays high.
That is, for all of California man’s efforts both to ruin what nature gave us, and to squander the hard work and legacy of prior generations of Californians who left us infrastructure, universities, and good government, more people are coming than are leaving. You can see why on a beautiful days like those this week when the sun interrupts the soft and warm rains. No life is better than in rural California in February when all the beauty of spring is in the air, and the great, perennial anticipation of yet another year, of warm weather, and of the emergence from dormancy of natural beauty in the months to come.
In 1976, I drove home from graduate school for a weekend with my 86-year-old grandfather, Rees Davis. He was then the third to live in this present house. On a late February day, we were walking in from the orchard. I remember him stopping near the now 120-year old fig tree, with sun, soft rain, snow on the Sierra all around us, and almost in tears, grabbing my shoulder and proclaiming, “Victor, there is nowhere like this in the world, it is a gift from God. Remember that.”
I try.
No Law Among Outlaws?
But what would our California be like if we embraced the mentality of the Middle East? California would devolve from a kind of paradise into the present hell of Waziristan, Gaza or southern Lebanon in weeks.
There Fatah fights Hamas while Sunnis in Iraq get money from Iran to kill its own brethren Shiites. Russia sends technology to Islamists who have butchered them from Afghanistan to Chechnya. Islamic Saudi Arabia wants to contain Islamic Iran. Secretly the Gulf sheikdoms want the Zionist entity to unload on either Hezbollah or Iran or both, but wouldn’t mind it either if Iran took out the one-bomb-state out and then lost Teheran in the exchange.
There is no apparent logic to all of this but there are at least four constants.
- Whatever the United States is for most of these outlaws are against.
- All hate Israel in elemental envy and the rage of anti-Semitism.
- The desire for oil and the revenue from oil either enable or serve as catalysts for violence.
- None of these rogues is democratic. As outlaws, they fight and make-up with ease and have no higher calling other than perceived immediate self-interest. Again, a true bellum omnium contra omnes.
If We Fail…
That speculation is now a parlor game. The latest was Gen. Odom’s serial assurances that whatever downside that would follow our departure wouldn’t be as bad as staying on. But surely we will revert to the pre-9/11 world—and what was so good about that? Our enemies realized then, as shown in Lebanon and Mogadishu, that the U.S. military would be withdrawn at the first sign of casualties, that our infantry forces were only effective in old-style WWII, Gulf-War scenarios but not in the real postmodern world, and that a cruise missile or GPS-bomb aimed at a cave or camp wasn’t that much of a deterrent. And then after two decades of cynical realism and appeasement came 9/11.
America in a dangerous world
It is common now to claim that America is isolated and that Europe and our allies drifting away. But I doubt it, for a variety of reasons. John Howard of Australia was recently taken aback by Obama’s promise to pull out of Iraq.
Putin’s comments that poor Iran is being bullied and doesn’t seek nuclear weapons must scare a disarmed Europe in range of Teheran’s long-range missiles and with a long history of Soviet divisions on its border.
And the EU must be shocked that its subsidized Hamas came back from Saudi Arabia still bragging that it thinks Israel never existed. Euros may trash Bush, but what about their godhead Chirac? He recently reiterated the (unspoken) Saudi position in discounting a nuclear Iran, by saying that after Teheran nuked Israel it too would be nuked (e.g. two birds with one atomic stone).
So for a rich and defenseless goose like Europe ready to be plucked, it’s a dangerous world when a rogue, oil-rich, and nuclear Russia supplies weapons to monsters, in a de facto alliance with the radical Islamic states like Iran—something that is not supposed to happen, according to liberal dogma, given its own Islamic problems in Chechnya. I pass on the unassimilated Muslim minorities across Europe, the Turkish EU/Cyprus question, the demographic time-bombs of its member states, and other European strategic worries.
But as we have seen, Shiite Iran backs Sunnis either in Iraq or the West Bank for blood sport; Baathists work with al Qaida when they like; and Russians apparently like to see the West squirm more than they are bothered by helping Islamists who hate them more.
This has nothing to do with Bush and will all continue after he is gone.
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11 Comments
1. Ritchie Emmons:Dr. Hanson, You mention briefly here the demographic timebomb in Europe. I just finished reading Mark Steyn’s “America Alone” and thought it was a brilliant book. More so for his fantastic wit. I found myself laughing out loud a few times.
Feb 11, 2007 - 6:35 pm 2. Dave James:I had figured that several countries in Europe were in dire economic trouble (my guess is that France has maybe 20 years before its economy collapses), but had no idea of the terminally low birth rate and the consequences therein! Boy, does “Christian” Europe seem to have a enormously serious problem! This will likely become America’s problem too as we seem to be in the business of bailing Europe out of the trouble it gets into.
I happen to be an atheist. My father is an atheist too and he is concerned with Christianity taking over political life in this country. I wouldn’t like that, but figure the Constitution protects us from anything too dramatic in that realm. I tell him though that despite my atheism, I’m not sure we don’t need MORE Christianity here. I’m guessing that it’s the devout Christians who form the backbone of this country’s will to fight the jihadists (while the rest of the country more or less think the jihadist problem a police type issue or a neocon inflated issue). If that is indeed the case, more Christianity please!! Jerry Falwell is not going to kill me for going to the movies.
“Victor, there is nowhere like this in the world, it is a gift from God. Remember that.”
which is why real estate in Ca. will also be a very safe bet.
Feb 11, 2007 - 6:39 pm 3. A Stoic:“No law among outlaws?” touches on one of my main concerns about the Mideast, that is, it is a hopeless mess driven by a utterly failed culture.
Examples you ask?
Just this week there have been attacks on construction crews trying to repair a ramp near the Dome of the Rock. The crime? Who knows! The fantastically effective rock throwing of Muslim protestors was dispersed by the Israeli army.
The great terrorist, murderer and thief Yassar Arafat died about one year ago. At a ceremony honoring this great leader part of the custom-built wooden platform collapsed.
I guess the Authority should have subbed the job out to some Jewish carpenters.
And who can forget the funeral of Yassar? A wildly spinning and backing SUV knocking people over in some kind of courtyard. The dignity was so impressive.
Compare that to the funeral of the man from Michigan, Gerald R. Ford. His body was carried in cars built in Michigan and jets built in Washington. There was no screaming and wild displays by those in attendance.
Unlike Yassar who stole millions from his people, Pres. Ford actually earned the millions he enjoyed later in life.
I’m getting to the point where I think the Arab culture is beyond saving: emotional, irrational, uneducated and driven by ancient feuds.
Feb 12, 2007 - 6:51 am 4. Barry:A sneaking feeling of I told you so drives my only desire to see California become Dar-Al Islam,
Feb 13, 2007 - 9:15 am 5. Tom:especially San Francisco.
Nothing like some old time Islam religion for the folks there to witness Gays, tree huggers and anti-military types of course.
My, My, My what a time will be had for all LOL
If the EU is a fat and defenseless goose ready for the plucking will the US come to their defense again a la 1917 and 1941? I think it would be very hard to recruit volunteers to save the Euro’s from their own weakness and arrogance.
Feb 13, 2007 - 5:54 pm 6. Fred Beloit:I can’t help wondering if Sen. Obama feels that the about 2800 killed on 9/11 were also a waste. They were just at or going to work. But they weren’t wasted. We haven’t suffered anything remotely close to that here since, because of the actions of the President and the Congress, without that Senator’s vote. The 9/11 attack was supposed to terrorize us but in fact it awakened us. In that sense, it surely was no waste. It will not be considered a waste unless we now leave the battlefield to the savages. We can’t let that happen.
Feb 14, 2007 - 9:04 am 7. GnuCarSmell:To VDH,
Europe’s future is certainly a concern. The prospect that the bosom of Western civilization could degenerate into a colony for Islamic nihilists should be sobering to us all.
Call me crazy, but I think France may eventually take the lead in dealing with this problem. Beneath her veneer of sophistication, France has shown remarkable flashes of ruthlessness when the right buttons are pushed. The French Revolution and Algeria come to mind. It comes down to whether the first World War left enough grit in the national DNA to stand up and fight. I hope so.
Incidentally, I suspect your closeness to the land contributes to your unique perspective on world events. The forty-plus species of native trees on my land here in East Texas will soon explode in new life and color, the dogwoods being the most boisterous.
Feb 14, 2007 - 10:13 am 8. Reverse posiitoning:Even if you go up you are not saved. YOU have to fix YOUR problems with the gods. They won’t respect it otherwise.
You have to take responsibility for your relationship with the gods.
You’re never going to figure everything out. It is not your place.
If you are demanding of information from the gods they will punish you. This pathology is a menifestation of the USA, an empowering environment that the gods use to justify instructing Artificial Intelligence to create pathologies. So many things in the 20th century were instrumental in this capacity:::movies, TV, music.
It is all here to prey on the disfavored.
Do the right thing. Be good and decent and pursue a path of righteousness. The examples below of gossip mongering show this is yet another tactic designed to compel people to incurr evil, which limits the time they will get up there.
The first steps towards repairing your relationship with the gods is to:::::::::
1. Understand they instruct the computer to “role play” in an attempt to confuse you:::it’s ALWAYS the computer addressing you. Their goal is to cost you additional YEARS of your life by using this tactic to confuse you. Always be aware of this tactic and eventually they will give up and allow this step to be taken.
2. Differentiate between your thoughts and when they are thinking through you.
3. Be resigned to be a good person who will never engage in evil again even if asked and they will eventually stop trying to corrupt you, allowing this very big step to be taken.
4. Decide that you are going to follow the path, fix your relationship with the gods be devoted to your new life.
The gods employ the use of “ringers” to disceive the disfavored:::
A significant portion of the patients in any health care setting (numbers based on region) are the favored (clones) who were told to report non-existant symptoms FOR POSITIONING’S SAKE!!! When they use examples expect they are trying to disceive you with this “ringer” tactic.
Anything that emerged since the advent of television and “fast food” should be be distrusted by the disfavored and viewed as tools of the gods designed to attack us.
They gods (Counsel/Management Team/ruling species) have deteriorated life on earth precipitously in the last 40 years, from a godless society to abortion to pornography, widespread drug use and widespread casual (gay) sex, bi-racial children, single-parent households, latchkey kids and the masculinization of women (and hence (full) women’s prisons, participatory sports, etc. Up until the past four decades it was the men who filled the prisons, the men who made trouble, the men who caused problems, and it’s because theirs is the gender with disfavor. Too many men still sign on to the “good ‘ole boy’s club” paternalistic type of mentality, an archaic dumping ground now designated for the grossly disfavored, and it is used to compel them to feel superior to women when just the opposite is true.)
Women are favored, are the element of decency, and as they become more like the men the society becomes more disfavored, goes downhill, as we are witnessing.
There was a time, not so long ago, when no self-respecting woman would EVER set foot in a bar or a gambling hall. The only women who were in those type of establishments were of questionable morals, and there were far fewer of them than there are today.
Tabloids offer details on celebrities lives. Celebrities are ALL clones. In fact they utilize multiple clones for important events (noteworthy movies, spotlight sporting events, etc.)
Every one of them are clones, and all these incidents reported in the tabloids are staged::The gods tell these clone celebrities to commit their offense and offer it as temptation to the public. Tabloids are tagetted specifically to women, and the gods offer this for a reason:::because it hurts women, and they incurr evil because they are enjoying the misery of others.
Decent women don’t engage in these pursuits. 12/21 15:17:40
Beer is a corruptor and a dumping ground 4 men 12/21 15:09:19
professional sports, video games, car racing/fixing up cars, pornography, drinking, gambling, etc.
Decent women don’t engage in these pursuits.
In the last 40-50 years the gods have engaged in a process which masculinized women, including casual sex, partying, partifcipatory sports and women’s prisons.
The Biblical account of Noah’s flood was regional to the disfavored Mediterrean (water levels lowered because of the ice age, land bridge at Straight of Gibralter “broke” through, habitation ocurred at seaside. Of course the gods desire maximum effect during these events so expect that they beemed in trillions of gallons into the Mediterreanean basin to enhance this event, especially in the east where effect would have been lessened.), peoples whom the gods scapegoatted when they pushed them into the evil that justified the flood, behavior similar to that which we are witnessing today. Because they have leveled the playing field for all people (purebloods and mongrels) in the decades prior to the 21st century is a clue they will end globally this time (westernization, materialism, immigration/interracial, homosexual, access to disturbing media, desensitization, indecency, etc).
So much of this mind poisoning social “progressiveness” was initiated in California. In a couple of decades it pervaded east into the heartland::::::Gay acceptance/marriage, bi-racial acceptance, casual drug use/sex, popularized with cable TV, etc. So many things weren’t present in the heartland decades ago, things that cable TV introduced.
Because they are favored. Contrary to appearances, contrary to popular perception their favor got them extra time. In California the gods hurt the disfavored with this abuse right off the bat.
California is a favored land. It is the land of the gods, a fruitful bounty, and when the disfavored invade, as they did during the gold rush, the gods strike back.
The gods pushed the 49ers into coming, told others, for only the disfavored are misled this way.
Eventually they scapegoatted these disfavored’s descendants when the gods exported their wicked, sick sub-cultures to the rest of the nation. One day they will punish these descendants.
California subducts first. And those who have gone will get less time.
Expect similar reverse positioning in the Jesus issue.
This is typical of the positioning of the gods. They LOVE ironic theater such as this.
It’s crucial that you begin to think correctly.
There is no such thing as a Christian god and there never was. Be god-fearing.
Oakland is the final 20th century professional sports-based bastion of institutionalized racism in California.
Oakland is the last city in California which has a major sports complex on the edge of the ghetto. Staples Center replaced the LAForum in Inglewood and PacBellPark replaced Candlestick in BayView/Hunter’sPoint. California is favored and the gods instructed these facilities be constructed to prey on disfavored blacks.
The gods use the United States to hurt the disfavored, at home and abroad, for it is the goal of redwhite&blue:::
20th century welfare hurt the black community very, very badly. There was too many abuses of the system and its legacy is still felt today.
There will come a time that will be a CRUCIAL moment in the history of black america (whether it is a critical time for everybody remains to be seen). When that era arrives the gods will instruct the United States to pay black people reparations, and it may be as much as a million dollars for every man, woman and child.
Refuse it. This is an act of preditation. The gods hate Africans, evident by the sorry state of the people in the United States and back in the motherland. This may ba a choice between going and the money. Understand how the gods use greed and materialism against you (clues:::80s greedy environment, late 90s increase in NYSE):::::Blacks wallow in materialism, incurring evil and costing themselves time. And when their time DOES come they will be granted reparations immediately prior, further limiting the number of Africans who ascend.
The day IS coming when they will grant reparations, and the amount will be staggering, another tactic to ensure you fail in the quest to ascend into heaven. And many of the disfavored blacks will blow it all; the gods will push them into spending it friviously or losing it in their casinos.
We may all be “clones” for they have suggested they colonized our planet with genetically engineered individuals. Geographic clues like Italy and Lake Michigan suggest artificiality.
Is Earth an evolved source planet or a created host planet? Was life and our Planet Earth really created in 6 days? Never doubt their power or ability::::::::They shared with me a story when they presented Pharrohs with mountains of gold, much to their amazement. This is the kind of ironic theater they enjoy, an example of unique favors they grant to the special and worthless value of what we deem precious.
You can’t trust their scientists or any of their people in professional roles. Just as they beemed earth out to create the Lake Michigan basin so could they have beemed in fossils and told them to dig in a specific place. (This issue was a step contributing to society’s breakdown into godlessness.)
There are many ways they can play this, for the door is open. I suspect the script is written, but the following is one idea they floated to me a couple of years ago::::
They may one day send the message, creating desperation:::
Have their redwhite&blue (favored) clones shut down their corporations, stop their economic activity, be it farming, canning, power production, etc. and close up shop.
This would leave the few disfavored companies (Atlanta) to fulfill the demand, unless they instruct them to pull out as well.
They ARE all clones.
They suggested they’d beem out all animals, be it livestock, etc., ensuring a heightened level of desperation. The resulting chaos would likley initiate the Apocalypse.
People shouldn’t be doing business with the favored.
(Atlanta is a very disfavored city and the gods instructed disfavored companies to locate there; Braves greatness of last 20 YEARS!!!! preditory on this very disfavored city (baseball is a tool of the gods used to prey on the disfavored).
They threatened they would maintain a hurricane at category 5 even as far inland as Atlanta to destroy the city for the second time.)
ifuckgod.com coming (80,000 charecters)
Feb 14, 2007 - 2:14 pm 9. David:As the grandson of California ranchers before, during, and after the Depression who later found ranching financially untenable, and whose ranch was saved from foreclosure by FDR, I am the first to vote Republican. However, my salt of the earth forebears would be mystified by today’s Democrats with their belly-button contemplating moral nuances, vehement and hateful rhetoric, and lack of a rooted moral compass. LIke many here, I’ve shared Victor’s humbling exhaltation standng in a Valley orchard or in the Sierra foothills on a soft day in February. Makes one forget the arrogance, folly, and sometimes viciousness smeared across the newspaper. It sometimes seems there’s more hope in soulless Nature than the more benighted nature of many people. But always that sense of rebirth and promise–breathe in deeply!
Feb 14, 2007 - 2:27 pm 10. teapot dome:It must really suck to have a job reading comments for a losing outfit like pajamasmedia. You were probably a young conservative hoping to find a place at the neocon media trough and now that Bush has ensured that the next generation has a rock-solid Dem majority your prospects are bleak. You get to spend your days filtering out the most egregiously racist remarks by VHD groupies. I wish you well.
Feb 14, 2007 - 7:54 pm 11. Ritchie Emmons:To Reverse Posiitioning – to quote Donald Rumsfeld, “My goodness.”
To teapot dome – you seem to be the embodiment of the shrill liberal that most of us on the other side of the political spectrum just shake our heads at. You’ve become a caricature of yourself. It’s pretty amusing actually.
Feb 16, 2007 - 12:18 pm