- COP27 (Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Great group of folks. Really. They cannot agree to stop killing the planet but they have agreed to compensate the victims. And, in case that sounds insane (and it is), it is also the basic premise in Tort and Contract Law. “We cannot fix the wrong, but we can give you so much money that you feel whole again”. Sandy Hook parents lost their children but got heavily compensated. Who says there is no price on human life? Seems we even have a price being set for the planet we live on.
- Lauren Boebert, the gun-toting, hate-mongering bigot from Colorado who sends out a Xmas card with her and her four young sons all holding Assault rifles in front of a Xmas tree, recently expressed sympathy for the dead and wounded (and their families who also got her thoughts and prayers) from the recent mass shooting at a Gay club. Why is that insane? Because LB has promoted just that kind of behaviour in her politics for years but – and here is the insane part – so has Alex Jones and Jones just got successfully sued for $1.4B. Our little mistress of hate and murder is rich (husband) and does NOT want to get sued. So, we have her doing immediate damage control for her own wallet. The USA, eh?
- Trump announcing that he is running for president. ‘To hell with the procedure’ that requires the GOP to actually select the idiot, he just announced that he is their choice. That is Chutzpah in the extreme. It is also intended not so much as a real announcement as it is a weak, sad, pathetic attempt to avert being indicted. The insane part? That there is an outside chance that it works.
- Our local government does not provide fire protection. They cannot. Not really. We all live too far apart. On the other hand, we have had several fires that have threatened the entire area and the resources of the community are being exhausted (more to the point, the men are getting too old). So, the local government is providing the docks with some fire fighting equipment because, well, they own the docks. But docks rarely spontaneously combust. What is the real (insane) part? The pumps are for us to really snatch and grab to take to a fire and it has even been suggested we use a small trailer for their equipment with which to facilitate that. Oh, and there is only 100′ of fire hose included because well, the pumps are officially for the docks. Kissing your sister is a compromise. Whatever the hell that is, is beyond compromise. It is insane!
- Covid is alive and well but so is the rat race going strong. People aren’t wearing masks. Kids are being sent to school. The disease is still wreaking havoc. The hospitals are full. Doctors and nurses are quitting. Travel companies are promoting tourism and a couple friends of mine are currently being quarantined on a cruise ship in the Southern Hemisphere due to a major outbreak. Duh…..what is it about Covid that people still do not understand?
- Is it just me…..or does the continuing belligerence of North Korea appear simply insane?
- Canada’s official inflation rate is stated to be only 6.9%. Turkey’s inflation is 72%. Japan’s is 3.8%. USA – 7.7%. UK – 11%. Mexico – 7.7%. How are any of those numbers true?
I am not going to dwell on all the current insanities of the planet but, rather, just refer to a few of them in point form above. To do otherwise might make the case for my own insanity. One really must adopt an attitude of denial and blissful ignorance to remain sane…which is, in case you missed it, totally INSANE.
My darling wife has mastered that coping device perfectly. “Oh, well.” she says frequently. “Oh, well? OH WELL!!??” I say hysterically……and she says, “Sweetie, don’t get worked up. There’s nothing we can do about it so we may as well just smile and carry on.”
Is that insane? Right now, I am not so sure.
Our Off the Grid Home 
Very pointed reflection for I had not seen all of these events woven together. Perhaps I am like Sal and let these things go, smile, and carry on. How else does one cope with the craziness in the world? My mother who was Dutch used to have an expression roughly translated as “just be normal that is already crazy enough”. Trump and Boebert apparently do not have the corner on bizarre speech and behavior. Yes, some of this when you stand back for a minute is really crazy. Agreed.
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I agree, all these points are insane. But Sal is also right, if we concentrate too much on what is happening around us, we will all be insane. So we have to find some kind of balance for ourselves without being blind.
The topic on climate change is what is driving me crazy. so we rather spend a few hundred billions to pay for the damage while we should be spending this money in a fundamental way to reduce CO2 emissions? That is totally crazy. How countries still can be in denial beats me.Proof has been on the table for a long time, and have probably already passed the point of no return, and effects will be worse every year
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In the NYTimes:….”It begins with the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius, who created the world’s first climate model, at the end of the nineteenth century, and made strikingly accurate predictions about the role that atmospheric carbon dioxide plays in warming the Earth. He failed, however, to predict either the disastrous consequences of such warming or the speed at which humans would cause it. “It’s easy now to poke fun at Arrhenius for his sunniness,” Kolbert writes. But the limits of his imagination remain the limits of our own, even today. “Here we all are, watching things fall apart. And yet, deep down, we don’t believe it.”
So it is easy to poke fun at Svante for his sunniness…..? Just as I am now on the verge of trying to be sunny?
Oh, well!
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I am not sure that deep down, we don’t believe it. But it needs a global approach, and there are still too many countries that do not keep their promises (like India, US and China, and even Australia) and keep burning fossil fuels at an alarming rate. SO there is little use that we in Europe try to reduce carbon emissions by 50%, if on the other side of the world they increase the emissions (look at Brazil – hopefully that will change). And only reason they don’t reduce emissions is economics, just making more money for themselves
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Wim, while agreeing on the insanity of it all, I feel the need to be blind, as individuals we have virtually no control, that’s our governments jobs(they are failing). All I can do is try to elect a better government . Hidding is my chosen way of retaining some sanity (I bought a bigger anchor so the increasing wind storms can’t get me)
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Yes, I’m still waiting for Monsanto and Bayer to chip in for the massive problems they have caused. Bees and cancer come to mind.
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Nice to see you, Lucy, but your comments are on PAST blogs. Ones with a political/philosophical slant. I am struggling with ‘theme’ these days often going eclectic to balance out my feelings. Are you a political philosophy type or whales and ravens?
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Sorry about that. I’m more ravens and whales but sometimes run amuk.
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Don’t we all? A little running amok is called for now and then, don’t you think? In the meantime, I am glad you visited and commented.
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No shortage of bureaucrats to create a mindless circle of zero.
The pumps and hoses will never be needed if the dock floating on water never catches fire….
Trump and the Legions of Loons that support him should ready “The Divider’.
Unfortunately. Trump has the attention span of a gnat and……they can’t handle the truth.
Trump is desperate and of limited intelligence.
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Yes, Trump is a giant arse but the other guy is wearing a diaper. So, there’s that.
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getting cold and windy down here in the Lower Brainland.
How is it up North of 50 ?
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Blowing hard. Temp dropping. A week or more of minus temps. Not fun. Hunker down, burn wood.
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