Occupation of Independence

 Leaving the Southwest makes you first think of being cold, but that really isn't true along the Snake or Columbia rivers .  I've even managed to enter Oregon without suffering the indignity of being in the Pacific Time Zone .  Perhaps this results from southeastern Oregon having a mindset that got established back in the Oregon Trail days. It has been warm enough to get my first insect bite and to see the first snake of summer: Photo doesn't show him sticking out his forked tongue at me.  He was one little pissed-off snake. The Oregon Trail passed along these sandstone bluffs .  My little girl has played here a couple years ago.  She likes sand. Ahh, what a smooth road went along the foot of those bluffs!  A cross-country-style mountain biker like me can really love smooth, flat, and fast, as the pioneers no doubt did. A couple geese were pocketed in those bluffs.  They were easy to hear, but hard to see.  They got a rhythm going that remi...

 'How to' camp is not something I write about much in this blog.  It is an over-rated and unnecessary topic that You Tube channels discuss incessantly to make a buck.  But this blog is not monetized. There is an occasional exception to every rule.  I was surprised when my 2-month-old van battery would not start the engine in 34 F weather.  And it was nearing the Easter weekend in Nevada , with few car parts stores. I have always had jumper cables, but in my camping location only one pickup truck went by per day!  How would I wave him down?  And would he even want to help me?  That would mean a long wait for a tow truck.  But what if I had had no cellphone signal? Fortunately last year I bought one of those " portable jump starters ," that is, a battery powered jump starter.  There are a zillion models to choose from.  I was surprised how easily it started my engine.  What a relief! Because I could safely travel, I kept going n...

 Most commentators think that a ground invasion of Iran by the Netanyahu-Trump regime won't happen because it is unlikely to succeed, and that it is just a bluff or bargaining chip. Tactically, this makes sense. But Trump has a larger overall problem: it is an election year and his war is unpopular in the USA.  He must make it more popular.  Ironically, a serious 'blooding' of American soldiers could help the voters to rally 'round the Flag and the president, regardless of how reckless the president was with soldiers' lives. Imagine the programing on television: every few minutes there could be a movie clip or old World War II newsreel showing the Marines "taking that beach."  Remember that famous photo of General MacArthur wading ashore, a year after his famous "I shall return?"  Then the politician can say, "You want to pull out of this war?  Then all our heroic Marines who died on that Iranian beach/island will have  died in vain. " ...

 Isn't it terrible how the world cannot act in concert to oppose the Trumpanyahu-Epstein-Adelson regime?!  Why doesn't the United Nations simply shut down -- it is a giant waste of money. Canada and Europe are pushing back some, so there is reason for hope.  I hope the recent experience with Trumpanyahu's war against Iran has taught Japan, Taiwan, South Korea , and the Philippines a good lesson.  They could do a lot if they would oppose the Regime. I hope the Republicans are beaten so bad this November that they learn a lesson and seriously reform themselves.  Sometimes countries and institutions have to get their back against the wall before they come back strong and save themselves. In the mean time we must resist the propaganda machine and NOT rally 'round the flag , nor support "our" troops and president.  Our loyalty must be to constitutional principles , not to the military-industrial-complex , nor the CIA , nor the Israel lobby.