Doing Better

Working On It,

  I'm inclined to think we humans need to find ways to nurture healthy forest ecosystems which may nourish us, and also draw moisture from the oceans, which will fall upon them as rain, that "Biotic Pump" thing they do so well.  Forests create atmospheric rivers from the oceans, and the falling rain creates terrestrial rivers back.

https://www.science.org/content/article/controversial-russian-theory-claims-forests-don-t-just-make-rain-they-make-wind

  We know that old-growth "apex" forests do this, even in northern climes, and that having tall old trees of local species, intermediate trees and bushes and herbs, in a living web, interconnected by roots and beneficial fungi, is a sophisticated mature ecosystem. The recreation of the mix of plants in an apex forest can create a quickie-apex-forest, which is the Miyawaki Method of "Afforestation"   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afforestation_in_Japan

  During the years of wars between warlords in Japan, the 1600s and 1700s, much of Japan's forest was cut for timber and fuel. In the 1800s this was reversed by law, and Japanese forestry, Silviculture became an art form, assisted sometimes by German experts in those days.

https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7a769245-5e42-4262-a06c-64986a6ebd27/content

  Silviculture arose in Europe, with largely German nomenclature. It focuses mainly upon harvesting wood optimally, from well maintained forests. It long precedes the knowledge that forests might draw atmospheric-rivers of rain to themselves. Dense forests with groups of plants that cooperate well together draw the rain best, but may not produce goods that humans need and desire as monoculture pine forests for timber and fuel. Silviculture has been adapted to the tropics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silviculture

  "Forest Gardening" of "food forests" seeks to create complementary and cooperative forest ecosystems which also provide food for humans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_gardening

  That is easier said than done, partly because it is so difficult to harvest food in a dense forest except at the edges of it. Animals arise within any forest which do readily harvest forest edibles. People often end up hunting and eating those animals, but that is also hard within the dense forest.

  The question which naturally arises for creative humans is whether long-lived fruit-bearing trees can be managed in such a way that the fruit is available from below, and can be gathered, stored and transported effectively for human use. When there is a continuous overstory of tall trees a local climate is created within the forest. It is also darker. Can the productive overstory be maintained well enough to claim biotic-pump rainfall patterns, by atmospheric-river induction? Can the soil be maintained? What tree crops could this be applied to, and in what regions? It seems that in the places that have the right soil and climate conditions to try this, that it would be a very good thing to attempt. It would require irrigation for a long time, before large enough areas could be forested to begin to induce atmospheric-river effects. How much of any tree-crop can be used? How can it be stored and transported? Are there enough tree crops to plant in enough areas to make this form of farming economically sustainable?

  I'd like to try it with avocados, myself, but I am still at the point of finding Mexican avocados cold-tolerant enough to reliably make it through winter freezes without significant damage to the trees. Each avocado seedling is a unique individual, which is why they are grafted onto rootstocks before making large plantings. Seedling trees require 5-8 years to make their first fruit, before it can be tasted. This is gonna' take awhile. Avocado oil is a good cooking oil. https://gardenerspath.com/plants/fruit-trees/cold-hardy-avocado-trees/

Welcome to the Oil Death Spiral, Consciousness of Sheep (UK, where it is a diesel-fuel death spiral, already) Oil bad, so don't invest. Oil running out, so no trucks and diesel machinery, so economic collapse, so death-is-green. Thanks AFKTT. https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2022/11/15/welcome-to-the-oil-death-spiral/

UK Citizens Pay The Highest Electricity Bills In The World https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/uk-citizens-pay-highest-electricity-bills-world

​  Pepe Escobar on the BRICS++++ developments taking place now.​  ​On BRICS, crucially, Lavrov confirmed that “over a dozen countries” are lining up for membership, including Iran: “We expect the work on coordinating the criteria and principles that should underlie BRICS expansion to not take much time”.
​  ​But first, the five members need to analyze the ground-breaking repercussions of an expanded BRICS+.
​  ​Once again: contrast. What is the EU’s “response” to these developments? Coming up with yet another sanctions package against Iran, targeting officials and entities “connected with security affairs” as well as companies, for their alleged “violence and repressions”.
​  ​“Diplomacy”, collective West-style, barely registers as bullying.
​  ​Back to the real economy – as in the gas front – the national interests of Russia, Iran and Turkiye are increasingly intertwined; and that is bound to influence developments in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, and will be a key factor to facilitate Erdogan’s re-election next year.
​  ​As it stands, Riyadh for all practical purposes has performed a stunning 180-degree maneuver against Washington via OPEC+. That may signify, even in a twisted way, the onset of a process of unification of Arab interests, guided by Moscow.
​  ​Stranger things have happened in modern history. Now appears to be the time for the Arab world to be finally ready to join the Quad that really matters: Russia, India, China, and Iran. https://thesaker.is/russia-india-china-iran-the-quad-that-really-matters/

​  ​The Biden administration on Thursday suggested that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman be granted immunity from a lawsuit filed against him over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
​  ​In a court filing, the administration noted the crown prince’s appointment as prime minister in September, which they said made him “the sitting head of government of a foreign state.”
​  ​The filing noted, however, that the Biden administration, in making the immunity determination, takes “no view on the merits of the present suit and reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
​  ​Ultimately, a judge will have the final say on whether or not to grant immunity to the crown prince. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/biden-admin-suggests-saudi-crown-prince-be-granted-immunity-khashoggi-murder-lawsuit

​G20 Summit in Bali, Pepe Escobar again​​  ​The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs preferred to cut to the chase, selecting the Top Two highlights.
1. Xi told Biden – rather, his earpiece – that Taiwan independence is simply out of the question.
2. Xi also hopes that NATO, EU and US will engage in “comprehensive dialogue” with Moscow.
​  ​Asian cultures – be they Balinese or Confucianist – are non-confrontational. Xi laid out three layers of common interests: prevent conflict and confrontation, leading to peaceful coexistence; benefit from each other’s development; and promote post-COVID global recovery, tackle climate change and face regional problems via coordination.
​ ​Significantly, the 3h30 meeting happened at the Chinese delegation’s residence in Bali, and not at the G20 venue. And it was requested by the White House.
​  ​Biden, according to the Chinese, affirmed that the US does not seek a New Cold War; does not support “Taiwan independence”; does not support “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”; does not seek “decoupling” from China; and does not want to contain China.
​  ​Now tell that to the Straussians/neo-cons/neoliberalcons bent on containing China. Reality spells out that Xi has few reasons to take “Biden” – rather the combo writing every script in the background – at face value.​....The traditional group photo ahead of the G20 – a staple of every summit in Asia – had to be delayed. Because – who else – “Biden” and Sunak, US and UK, refused to be in the same picture with Lavrov...​..​The Western spin is that “most G20 countries” wanted to condemn Russia in Ukraine. Nonsense. Diplomatic sources hinted it may be in fact a 50/50 split. Condemnation comes from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, UK, US and EU. Non-condemnation from Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye and of course Russia.​..​..The fog thickened because on the backdrop of the G20, the US and Russia were talking in Ankara, represented by CIA director William Burns and SVR (Foreign Intel) director Sergei Naryshkin.
No one knows what exactly was being negotiated.​..​..The Americans suddenly interested in talking, and Macron and Scholz approaching Lavrov, point to the heart of the matter: the EU and the UK may not survive next winter, 2023-2024, without Gazprom.​..​..Any additional, unpredictable costs throughout 2023 mean that the EU economy will completely collapse: industry shutdown across the spectrum, euro in free fall, rise of inflation, debt corroding every latitude from the Club Med nations to France and Germany.
​  ​Dominatrix Ursula von der Leyen, leading the European Commission (EC), of course should be discussing all that – in the interests of EU nations – with global players in Bali. Instead her only agenda, once again, was demonization of Russia. https://thesaker.is/the-g20s-balinese-geopolitical-dance/

Ukraine Has Lost 40% Of Energy System As Kyiv Sees First Snow, Freezing Temps​    ​In a rare occurrence, most of the western city of Lviv had also been plunged into darkness this week, after what authorities called the biggest wave of Russian strikes on power facilities since the invasion began.
​  ​"Photos of Kyiv draped in darkness have become a shareable illustration of winter in Ukraine this year: dark, cold, dangerous," observed The Hill. "Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is under attack from Russia, which has failed to defeat Ukrainian forces on the battlefield and is now once again targeting civilians."
​  ​An estimated 100 missiles had rained down on Ukrainian cities over the span of just a couple hours on Tuesday, chiefly targeting the energy grid. https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/ukraine-has-lost-40-energy-system-kyiv-sees-first-snow-freezing-temps

​Moon of Alabama (German) on Ukraine trying to hit incoming Russian missiles and hitting people in Poland with an S-300 instead, but saying that Russia did it, anyway.​https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/11/another-ukrainian-missile-stunt.html#more

From Vineyard of the Saker blog​  T​he Poles hate the Ukrainians just as much as they hate Russians.  The Ukrainians, by the way, hate the Poles no less than they hate Russians (and Jews). The only difference is that the Polish anti-Ukrainian hate is laced with contempt whereas their anti-Russian hate is laced with fear.  Add to this picture the Brits with their own imperial phantom pains and sense of racial superiority over the “continental” Europeans (“fog over the channel, Europe isolated“) and you quickly see that there is plenty of hate going around amongst these “allies”.
​  ​So what we are dealing with is an entire pack hate-filled of hyenas.
​  ​The Poles and the Ukies have one main thing in common – they want NATO to wage war on Russia: the Ukies want this to simply survive and the Poles to grab a piece of the Ukraine. https://thesaker.is/there-is-a-dangerous-pack-of-hyenas-on-the-loose-in-europe/​

  Jessica Rose Ph.D.  graphs fewer new pregnancies but a lot more miscarriages after COVID-vaccine rollout in an OB/GYN practice that keeps its own records.​Real time obstetrician/gynecologist's data on new patients and miscarriages for 2021 and 2022

Real time obstetrician/gynecologist's data on new patients and miscarriages for 2021 and 2022

​  ​Former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Scott Atlas sees multiple reasons for an investigation into Dr. Anthony Fauci, the outgoing director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/faucis-pandemic-leadership-needs-be-investigated-dr-scott-atlas​ 

​The G20 has issued a formal decree promoting vaccine passports as preparation for any future pandemic response in its final communique. Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, speaking on the matter on behalf of the G20 host country, had earlier in the summit called for a "digital health certificate" using WHO standards.
​  ​Sadikin advocated for that he dubbed a "digital health certificate" which shows whether a person has been "vaccinated or tested properly" so that only then "you can move around". https://www.zerohedge.com/political/g20-declares-vaccine-passports-needed-future-international-travel

​  ​FTX's new CEO and liquidator, John Ray III,  who also oversaw the unwinding and liquidation of Enron, admits that "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here." https://www.zerohedge.com/political/worse-enron-new-ftx-ceo-slams-unprecedented-failure-corporate-controls

  Charles Hugh Smith,​ ​FTX: The Dominoes of Financial Fraud Have Yet to Fall
  ​What you will find is insight into the real innovation of FTX: FTX compressed the entire playbook and history of financial fraud into one brief cycle of the credulous bamboozled, Charles Ponzi bested and creative accounting being revealed for what it really is, fraud.
​  ​All financial frauds share the same set of tools. The toolbox of financial fraud, whether it is traditional or crypto-based, contains variations of these basic mechanisms...  [listed and explained] ...​  ​Note that there are quasi-legal versions of some of these tools. The full exposure to the risks inherent in extreme leverage and illiquidity can be cloaked, buried in off-balance sheet assets and liabilities, etc., while pages of mind-numbing disclosures were duly signed by blinded-by-greed marks.
​  ​These quasi-legal versions are just as prone to unraveling and collapse as the blatantly fraudulent varieties. Properly disclosed leverage and illiquidity are just as prone to unraveling as undisclosed leverage and illiquidity.
​  ​Mismatches of duration, liquidity and risk are just as toxic to full-disclosure firms as they are to fraudulent firms.
​  ​This is why we can predict the dominoes of FTX's financial fraud have yet to fall. When there are mismatches in counterparty asset durations and liquidity, assets that theoretically cover loans that are called can't be sold or can only be sold at ruinous discounts.​..​  Once assets are revealed as worth far less than claimed, insolvency is the inevitable result. http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2022/11/ftx-dominoes-of-financial-fraud-have.html​

  Here is a case from Tom Luongo's blog that FTX may have been designed to be a Ponzi-scheme-for-Ponzi-schemes, sucking up all of the non-crypto currency in the cryptocurrency bubble, then going POOF!   This would have been a planned attack by the financial world on the crypto-currency world. It might have been planned to go a little longer, but Bitcoin got hammered recently and sucked a lot of money out of the cryptocurrency bubble, crashing the FTX Ponzi. This fits with the rapid rise and excellent political protection of FTX and SBF. We know FTX was the biggest Democratic donor behind George Soros when it was just months old. Ukraine seems to have "invested" $US aid from the Bidadmin in FTX. A lot of notional-wealth in cryptocurrency is no more. Maybe that was the plan. https://tomluongo.me/2022/11/17/cryptofanfic-thoughts-on-ftx/

​  ​Twitter On Lock Out After Mass Resignation Exodus; Operations At Risk​    (If Twitter survives it will be​come​ something different.) ​Hundreds of Twitter's remaining employees have reportedly resigned ahead of Elon Musk’s “extremely hardcore” cultural reset of the company. After Musk gave an ultimatum to his employees to either commit to the company’s new “hardcore” work environment or leave, many more workers declined to sign on than he expected, potentially putting Twitter’s operations at risk, according to Bloomberg sources, as well as internal Slack messages seen by The Verge and employee tweets.
​  ​On Thursday afternoon, so many employees decided to take severance that it created a cloud of confusion over which people should still have access to company property.https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/twitter-lock-out-after-mass-resignation-exodus-operations-risk

​Clinton-linked Dark Money Group Targets Twitter Advertisers​

​  ​The letter insists that free speech will only invite “disinformation, hate, and harassment” and that “[u]nder the guise of ‘free speech,’ [Musk’s] vision will silence and endanger marginalized communities, and tear at the fraying fabric of democracy.”
​  ​Among other things, the letter demands “algorithmic accountability,”  a notable inclusion in light of Democratic politicians demanding enlightened algorithms to protect citizens from their own bad choices or thoughts. https://jonathanturley.org/2022/11/17/clinton-linked-dark-money-group-targets-advertisers-to-stop-musk-from-restoring-free-speech-protections/

​Growing Food Tokens (pictured with winter garden rows coming-in a little more)