Sabotage on Nord Stream: Whodunnit?

 

"Listen up Ya'll it's a Sabotage". Apologies to the Beastie Boys but what's going on with the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea? 

There were two explosions today under water. The gas stated bubbling up to the surface. It looks like someone sabotaged them. No one is confident to say for sure, but it’s a little too convenient given the hostilities between the US and Russia. I know the war is officially between Ukraine and Russia but let’s be honest, it’s a proxy war. Since World War II it’s been NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and Russia; NATO is really the United States.

There are two major pipelines in the Baltic Sea that supply gas to Europe, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. NS2 isn’t operational yet but only because of some official signatures. NS1 had been shut down for maintenance work in August. Both were ready to go until today’s explosion. Germany will be affected the most. A large percentage of their energy is tied up in Russian gas, despite warnings not to buy Russian gas from US presidents. But they’ve taken so many nuclear power plants our of operation they had little choice. Their green movement always pushed harder and had more resonance than here.

How is it connected to the war in Ukraine? My first thought was that Russia did it to punish those NATO countries supplying tanks and weapons to Zelenskyy and co. Not only does it force the price of gas sky high, it makes European citizens angry enough to riot against their own government. That might be wishful thinking. Wealthy European countries don’t overthrow their hometown governments…or do they? This is a perfect pinch point for a revolution. High prices and freezing temperatures create a volatile mix in the population.

The US might have done it too. What do we stand to gain by crippling our NATO allies and shutting off the tap from Russia? We can sell LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) to the continent and make a small fortune. Without Russian gas they’ll have to look elsewhere. Who else can supply so much before the snow starts falling? I’m not an expert on LNG but, apparently it’s dangerous to transport. Transporting a few thousand, highly flammable and combustive tanks is not a great idea. One Twitter account called cargo ships with LNG on board “floating hindenburgs”.

Most think America is responsible. I’ve seen countless clips of President Biden threatening to kill the Nord Stream 2 deal from earlier in the year. One showed former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, threatening to shut down the Nord Stream 2 project if Russia invades Ukraine. It’s as close to a threat as I’ve seen.

Right now at least the US is the biggest suspect. The CIA warned Germany just a few weeks ago about possible attacks on the pipelines; quite ballsy if they did indeed sabotage it.

I’m not sure why Germany wants to be a slave to Russia for this much it’s energy anyway. Germany will become a model to the rest of us on the dangers of handing over national security to a historic enemy. Energy policy is not like transportation or immigration, the pain is felt right away when you don’t get it right. Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline after taking office. His energy department has slow walked new leases for drilling ever since. Prices went up almost immediately. 

Hopefully this long cold winter puts an end to the green lobbies everywhere. Enough with these damn Marxist, humanity hating demons. They’re anti life and anti progress. 

A bigger concern for Ukraine however is the potential release of nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin has threatened to do it. Might he use them as a response to the sabotaging of the pipelines? This assumes that the United States actually did blow a hole in them.

I’m usually full of opinions on the state of the world. Not tonight. I’m praying a lot more nowadays. A full scale war with Russia is a genuine possibility, especially if Putin thinks his back is against the wall. But I’ll continue to believe in God’s perfect plan and timing. When all seems lost, our God is victorious.

 

The Four Winds: A Review

 

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah: A Review

A few things come to mind while it’s still fresh. It’s about courage, adaptation and fighting for the next generation. That’s a broad swath of themes I’ll admit. I thought the story might focus too much on the mother daughter relationship and ignore the plot, not so. It’s as much historical as it is relational. There are pro-labor undertones that books about the Great Depression just can’t help but inject.

Setting

The Four Winds is a story about adapting to difficult circumstances and pushing aside the fear long enough to survive. Set in the Depression era, Texas wheat farmers struggle to keep their land despite reckless dust storms and drought. A young woman (Elsa Wolcott) from a well-to-do family gets pregnant from by an Italian farm boy, Rafe Martinelli. Her family forces her to live with the Italian (immigrant) family in a harsh send off. She’s not suited to farm life. Her previous days were spent with books and learning. Even in her childhood home she is unloved. Her unattractive looks (compared to her sisters) create her nagging low self esteem.

But she’s determined to make her life work with her young husband and in-laws out on the prairie in the Texas pan handle. Life is hard but fair. You plant fields and get a harvest. People from what would be called the Dustbowl region lived on mostly wheat, cotton and corn. But prices started falling in the late 1920s then the Great Depression hits, making it worse for everyone. The arid land was depleted due to over-farming and a lack of rain. A severe drought caused dramatic dust storms that buried homes and made it impossible to grow anything. Many packed up and moved to California for work in the massive orchards and cotton fields just to stay alive.

Conflict

This Dustbowl history is the backdrop for the harsh conditions that Elsa and her husband Rafe survive in. They have two children: a girl, Laredo and a young boy, Ant. Rafe isn’t quite up to the life of toiling on the farm just to survive another day in the diminishing land. He takes off for California to find work, leaving his family to fend for themselves. Eventually conditions force Elsa and her kids off the farm as well, and to California for work.

A lot of the tension in the story is between Elsa and Laredo. Laredo blames her mother for her father leaving. She’s passionate for a different life and can’t imagine being a farmer. Her needs are purely selfish but understandable. Elsa’s rejection from multiple people (Rafe, her family) is too familiar and it creates a toughness in her. But also, it limits her view of herself, her attractiveness and worth. Through trial and error, she learns when to push and when to back off. Will Laredo ever see her mother’s sacrifice as something other than weakness?

Effect

 The author, Kristin Hannah shows poverty and among Okies as effectively as John Steinbeck did with the Grapes of Wrath. From the traveling jalopies packed with family possessions to the squatter’s camp full of hopeless migrants, it’s a sad portrait of extreme desperation. Hannah’s intention was to show a terse but grudgingly respectful bond between mother and daughter. But any reader will also be moved to gratitude for the age we live in. Our country could descend easily into another depression with just a push. The dollar could collapse, oil could become very cheap (or very expensive) and credit could completely dry up. These are real possibilities.

It's not fear but gratitude that makes me appreciate paychecks, full gas tanks and grocery shopping. For all the rich narration and social/pollical overtones, it might be the description of destitute families clawing for survival that has lasting resonance with me.

Stories come alive in ways that historical facts alone never could. They put flesh and blood on the skeleton. Most of us know a little about the Dust Bowl but need a fuller picture. Yes, this story is fictional but reflects so many similar scenarios across the country during the Dust Bowl migration. Starting over is a difficult chore in any economy. All the more true in a depression, with a family in tow and no work to speak of. Federal Aid was spotty in those days as FDR’s New Deal programs struggled to be consistent. Starvation and death were closer than imaginable.

complaint

My only complaint is the hero status of the labor organizer, Jack Valen (Great name for sure). Despite Elsa’s hand to mouth existence, Hannah makes the guy Not Providing Jobs the plucky hero. I get desperate times and desperate measures, but the price crunch in commodities affects everyone. Yes, even the bastard land owner working families to the bone. How much work would be available if the cotton didn’t have a market? Communist’s only think of workers and never capital. It’s a simplified way to look at difficult times.

Conclusion

 I’m surprised she missed the similarity between Laredo’s immature attitude on life and her embrace of communism. A number of scenes play out with her practically stomping her feet at the injustice of her family’s situation. It’s a perfect exhibit of communism’s emotional appeal and youthful ignorance of complex economies.

It's a heartbreaking story of accepting struggle and finding inner strength for life’s journey. The Four Winds won’t make you feel good, but it will make you appreciate your life and realize how much worse it could be.

The Damn is Creaking on the Vax Lies

 

I just watched an interview (paywall) with Edward Dowd on Epoch TV. He’s a former Blackrock portfolio manager and numbers analyst. Most stock analysts can spot trends before anyone knows something is a trend. Mr. Dowd is no different. I heard him on Steve Bannon’s War Room a few months ago. He’s been evaluating two sets of numbers that show an increase in All Mortality rates. First, the group life death claims. Second, he looked at CDC (Center for Disease Control) numbers of the same All Mortality rates.

Together, both measures show an increase of roughly 40% deaths in the American population. 

That’s an astounding number. It’s close to what a bloody war would look like. Anytime the death rates spike during peace time something is very off. But no one is really talking about it. This is his lead in, all this death and not a peep?  How many news shows lead with this information? I heard Alex Berenson mention something similar on Joe Rogan. He didn’t divulge too much though. Without a report or a book, something to present, it’s just academic right now.

Mr. Dowd is sure this is a vaccine problem. This isn’t how science is done, I get that. You don’t say, this has to be the jab because the deaths increase just as most people were being mandated to do so. But we’ve all heard anecdotal evidence about soccer players dropping on the pitch. You’ve read at least one story about an uptick in myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart muscle).

 The most significant finding is the first set of data he analyzed, the group life policies. Those are the corporate death benefit payouts from large companies. Large corporations usually have new employees sign a recipient in the case of accidental death. It’s considered a very low risk investment. Full time working adults don’t generally have drug overdose deaths or suicide problems on a large scale.

For this group to show a large increase in deaths (40%) points to something extremely irregular. Dowd says a 10% increase correlates to a once in a two hundred year flood. An increase of 40% is off the scale. The CDCs own numbers were higher as well but, as a metric for the general public it’s bound to be a little higher. CDC analysts told Dowd that the deaths were because of long Covid, suicides and missed cancer screenings. Obviously they don’t want him digging, don’t want anyone digging.

Is some of the increase because of drug overdoses and missed cancer screenings? Sure. 40%? No way.

Dowd and his partner looked at numbers from March of 2021 to February of 2022. He met Doctor Malone, the creator of the mRNA technology, at a mandate protest in Maui. Malone has been a tour de force in the anti mandate world, and added much needed gravitas to the movement. They both agreed, Dowd would look at death reports from funeral homes and insurance companies. It’s when the puzzle pieces started to fit together and the picture came into view. The interviewer asked the most pertinent question his motives, are you shorting pharmaceutical company stock? That crossed my mind too. Fortunes were made by housing market speculators because they saw what no one else saw in 2008. The patient ones raked in a healthy percentage on the collapse.

Dowd reassured viewers, he isn't making money. But if he sees it, likely others are going short on the drug companies.

I learned another interesting fact about Pfizer’s first drug trial. They failed their first endpoint, All Cause Mortality. More people in the product group died than in the placebo group by a measure of 23%. I’m not sure how extensive the sample, but that’s unbelievable. Pfizer tried to hide the information but a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request showed how they ignored it and focused on “Effectiveness” instead. That’s bad enough for a drug company to hide information directly related to the safety of the product. But for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to sign off on it, it’s criminal behavior.

There will be a lot of law suites in the next 5 years. It’s such an all consuming problem I don’t see a way around. The government can’t cover up a lie this big. Eventually the damn is going to break and all the lies they’ve tried to hold back will wash away the institutions in the valley. Two institutions will be forever remade, the government and the pharmaceutical companies. That’s probably a good thing in the end. Even if Pfizer (Moderna, the rest) survive in some capacity, their trust level will be so degraded they won’t be able to make allergy medicine for cats without a 10 year study.

 

Nerves and Excitement: The Marathon Awaits

 

Training and Learning How to Compete

I’m less than two months from my goal of running my first marathon. At the end of October, I’ll head down to Fort Worth for and test the legs.

My apprehension comes from the fact that this is a new thing for me. Not running, but running such a long distance race. The longest I’ve run before this was a half marathon. Technically I ran with a group of people doing a 19 mile run 2 years ago. I didn’t finish. It was a stretch for me just to hang around as long as I did. I’d guess I stopped at 17 miles; not bad for a exhausting, collapse-on-the-couch all day run.

But I wasn’t ready, the stress of that distance put too much pressure on my feet. Two weeks after the plantar fasciitis was so bad I had to stop jogging for months. Was that long distance the main culprit in my injuries? I’m not sure. But I am sure that it was too far for what my body could handle. I’m doing it smarter now. Every week is an opportunity to extend my distance, strengthen my legs and increase my endurance.

Since then I've been a little skittish about these longer distance crucibles. 

I'm Back with the same group I had to leave 2 years ago because of nagging foot pain, I’m in better shape than I was. Lighter, yes, but mostly just stronger and not pushing hard on the pace. This group has a theory about increasing distance, run slow. That’s not just some esoteric notion on how to run either. I’ve done a little research and it checks out. But it’s not the only theory on running. A lot of coaches and trainers like to use speed work. For at least one day during the week I try for speed work too. If nothing else it breaks up the monotony of slow jogging.

I use the treadmill instead of a high school track, so it’s not quite as fun. What can I say? I like to run early and when school is in session it’s not like I can rush on to the track and get my speed work in. The school security guards would probably tackle me. And it’s the only time I have to train like that. This being the second week of September the time is slipping away. I’m nervous about my performance. I think I just need to let the anxiety go and hunker down for a long run. I need to get this event behind me and have a better feel for how to train next time. For now I’m taking advice from the experts in the group who run at least one every year.

I’ve found that running is a solitary pursuit even in the longer group runs. It’s rare to run side by side with another person for more than a few miles. Pacing is too different. Even at only a second apart it won’t be long before the separation began. Then there are the midweek runs which take up more than half the total miles. Those are also done alone, at least in my case. But even with the loneliness, the value of group solidarity makes a difference.

For example, I mentioned to another member that without the rest of the group finishing ahead of me I would’ve stopped. When the others finish ahead of you (not all of them) it makes you want to finish too. It’s like they’re rooting for you to join them at the finish. It’s just enough of a motivator to push your tired body the last stretch in the heat. Alone, I would’ve just walked. But with a group I have a team that’s counting on me to finish.

This Saturday is 14 miles. I’m hoping for a nice chilly morning and a lot of energy.   

The Full Creative Work

 

God's Creation is Both Physical and Spiritual

When someone is good at something they like to show off.

There is a podcast from David Spade and Dana Carvey I listen to on occasion. They host former cast members and writers from their SNL days. I imagine they’ll have to start including a fuller ensemble or risk running out of material. But that’s hardly a problem for now. Carvey in particular hasn’t lost his gift for impersonations. He’s objectively good at most of his regulars (Jonny Carson, Lauren Michaels) and falls into voices almost reflexively. He could do nothing but Regis Philbin and I’d laugh every time. He knows he’s good too because he’s relentless with the voices.

His silly vibe is infectious. I can’t imagine he’d rather be anywhere but right where he is recording a podcast.

Natural Talent

It's a natural talent in the same way that a kid discovers that he’s better than everyone else at a thing. Whether football or video game it’s something that distinguishes them from their peers at an early age. This talent is innate but not inexhaustible. No matter how freakish, the talented individual must discover discipline and expand beyond traditional comfort zones. No one gets better without expending their range. Carvey was and is a prodigy. He can’t help himself. When it comes to jokes and impressions, he loves to perform and it shows. We all get to enjoy it along with him.

Is there something Godly in that? What I mean is, when a person finds out what they were meant to do, is it appropriate to consider the talent a calling? I don’t mean a cheat or a grifter, though their talent may be exemplary. But an entertainer who works on delivery to skilled perfection, or a writer who explains a concept in different way? Of course I’m going to get in a plug for the writer. How about a teacher or public speaker?

 Hopefully this isn’t trying to make the profane sacred or trivialize the gifts of God. I guess I’m talking more about a skill, using the instincts, interests and motivations that God put in us.

But when we feel joy in work and satisfaction in completion, that’s from the Heavenly Father.

Innate Gifts

Eric Liddell said it best in the excellent 1981 film Chariots of Fire. “When I run, I feel His pleasure”. That’s not an empty sentiment from a jock trying to explain why he’d can’t be bothered with a life of service. If you remember the movie, Liddell decided before the Olympics to go to China as a missionary. But he wanted to compete first. In the scene where I got the quote he tells his sister, Jenny, that God made him fast for a reason. This highly religious man didn’t have any qualms about competition if the Savior was acknowledged. In the end it was Liddell’s devotion to God that made the biggest difference on the world’s stage.

He understood instinctively the connection between his physical prowess and God’s blessing.

I can’t blame those who think Christian devotion amounts to saying no to fun. Like a monk concerned with planting crops and studying religious texts, the faithful eschew joy as a barbaric pursuit for the secular soul. It’s a misunderstanding God’s full creative work in both spheres of life, physical and spiritual.

We all take the Christ with us wherever we go. From the classically trained pianist performing with a symphony orchestra to the professional basketball player, all who claim Christ must represent Him. It’s a daunting thought made worse when you add the pressure living the perfect life. But we aren’t called to be perfect. We are called to show Jesus to those around us in the way we live. That means to show Christ in whichever way He created you. Run with the talent He gave you. It doesn’t have to be world class. You can be the warmest customer service person at your jewelry store.

Have you shopped anywhere lately and needed help finding something? Customer service is terrible and getting worse. It’s easier than ever to distinguish yourself.

Conclusion

The point is this. We need to be Christians everywhere. We don’t need to exist in a world of sacred and profane and avert our precious eyes when sin is near. It’s all profane. There is no sacred in this world, but Christ did overcome it. We can use our physical talents for His glory in any sphere we find ourselves.

Most of us won’t demonstrate our faith on a grand scale like Eric Liddell. But we are always on display and the joy we get from our talents is a reflection of God’s creative power in our lives. By all means show off and enjoy your developing skills. Just remember to point to the Author of your satisfaction whenever possible.

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

  

"On Business Education" Chesterton and Classical Learning

 

Classical Education Teaches the Individual How to Think

I’ve found G.K. Chesterton’s essays to be among the best writing prompts ever suggested. I had an English teacher that couldn’t reference him enough. A few years ago I decided to give the old writings a once through. 

Nature's God

He is clearly a devote of what we now call the Classic form of education. His concern in “On Business Education” is for primary school and not college. I imagine college was out of reach for most working folks in the 1930s in England. How many Women’s Studies majors were there in Edwardian England anyhow? Classic education is concerned with studying classic texts for a well rounded understanding of the world and human nature. Here is Chesterton:

“Everybody ought to learn first a general view of the history of man, of the nature of man, and (as I, for one, should add) of the nature of God. This may enable him to consider the rights and wrongs of slavery in a slave community, of cannibalism in a cannibal community, or of commerce in a commercial community.”

Or put differently, citizens need to understand the culture and community they live in. How else can we hope to correct and criticize and improve our world without specific knowledge of how it used to be? This is true of both local and national issues. Education should train the next generation of citizens to carry on with the experiment started by those who lived long before us.

Practical Frames

This isn’t something unique to the West. Most cultures pass down notions of the ideal society. Even when their core understanding of human nature or created life is flawed.

 Someone decided certain stories, values and traits were important to pass on. How did they decide and were they correct? Do our current values still reflect that? Why or why not?

Those dilemmas animate us today. But it’s quaint to read the objections to Classical education from his day. He references the common objection from parents about why their kids should learn about “ancient Athens and remote China” if they plan to be a plumber. The same answer in his day works for ours, to give them a frame of reference for decision making. Without a larger context for human nature, the plumber is limited outside of his trade. As is the teacher, the mechanic and the chemist.

We are more than just buckets to be filled with information on how to do a task. As citizens we have autonomy and live with our choices. We contribute to the larger community with children, commerce, private organizations, churches and associations. Without it we aren’t citizens at all. We do a task, uncritically, and go off and watch TV.

Uncritical Frames

Citizens need to know how to think critically. The classical model is the best way to do it, but I’m sympathetic to the idea of just teaching kids to learn how to make money. In a free society we should have that option. In so many ways it’s an old fashioned debate. One I’d love to have, but one that sadly doesn’t reflect the condition of the current school system. They’re a perfect illustration of what happens you adopt secular humanism. In the early stages you get the sixties and its obsession with overturning conventional morality like sex in marriage. In the late stages you get the Post Modern obsession with race and gender. Designed to foment enmity between groups, it’s concerned with gaining and keeping power.

It's infected institutions from education to business and even churches. The result is a society that can’t think properly about the relationship between citizen and state. Not to mention between parent and child, husband and wife. 

But this is old news. 

Many of us understand the problem but are overwhelmed by the scale of it. Even here, Chesterton points to something crucial. He does it almost lazily or as an afterthought--the nature of God.

Old Testament Frames

If the citizen needs to think critically and evaluate his/her current malaise. They should look no further than the Old Testament, of which are countless cases of wickedness that threaten to destroy the land. In Exodus, Moses brings the 10 commandments to the people from Yahweh Himself. The children of Israel nearly wiped out by a vengeful God, remembers His promise to Abraham and offers the law instead (Exodus 32:10-14)

Nehemiah and Ezra, both called in different ways to rebuild a people (and so much more) and train up the next generation to honor God. Jerimiah warned the Jews of the coming destruction, and exile. Their behavior had become so hateful to one another and their regard for the temple (the place of God) contemptuous. Even here Jerimiah pointed to a Savior. Salvation for mankind, once and for all, was always the goal. We could see it back to Abraham’s willingness to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God (Genesis 22:6-12)

The value of a citizen is in knowing when a thing has gone too far. The ancient prophets knew.

Conclusion

Oak Park and River Forest High School in Illinois are set to institute race based grading in public schools. The text is full of jargon-y nonsense about racial equity. The presentation is notably light on specifics plans with on exception, "materials and assessments are to be designed around a student's culture, which often includes a student's racial background".  It’s completely nuts and threatens to destroy any semblance of learning. Whatever classrooms are now, they are so far from teaching kids to be citizens that a wholesale rethinking is in order.

 I imagine this kind of analysis is what Chesterton had in mind. Critical thinking from a common point of reference. I hope America can get back to Classic teaching/learning.