Woodrow Call

Chip is staying. I'm an alumnus and about as disconnected from the inner sanctum as you can be, but I don't think he's going anywhere. There are insiders that think he should go, but it's apparently not happening.

I think Kelly's tenure has run its course, but I don't believe the administration is going to get rid of him. It's like we're running in place with him at the helm.

Derrick Jensen is an example of someone that is very much against humans and sees humans as the core problem. I have strong issues with many of his views. But just to clarify my own position...I don't see humans as "bad." I see some human behaviors as bad and believe those behaviors (and certain economic views) as bad.

I never said I was against having children. I have children and grandchildren; however, all populations, human or otherwise, have limits in closed systems. But it is a fact that industrial agriculture has made population growth possible. I'm not saying I'm against it or for it. I'm only stating a fact, and it is also a fact that the more humans you have the more consumption you'll have. 'Twas ever thus. And no, we don't "owe" the earth anything, but it makes good sense to not poop in ones own nest. With respect to your statement, "Congolese children don't work extracting lithium from Chilean deposits," you might also want to consider this.

I hang on to a sliver. My son is now an attorney at EPA. He keeps me up to date on the good, the bad and the ugly, and there are some reasons for hope.

I've tried to simply use common sense in my own efforts which date to the mid 1980's when I became deeply involved in bioregionalism and the study of reinhabitory strategies. One of the first things I significantly limited was air travel. Then I moved to an area where car travel was limited. This is a huge problem for us in America, because our cities are basically built for cars, and it's very challenging to find decent employment where you can walk, bike or take public transportation to work. We started composting, limiting meat consumption and other things. We moved to a much smaller home. I'm not a fan of electric vehicles for many of the reasons already mentioned in this thread. The mining, but also the human cost. Much of the labor is supplied by poor workers and they're exposed to a number of harmful things in the production. Obviously, fossil fuel is a huge issue, but every can of coke and every pill we consume is dependent upon fossil fuels. It's not going away. The answer to all of this, if it's an answer, is reduced use and scaling back population growth. The population is sustained by industrial agriculture (another huge problem), so as agriculture continues to experience the effects of climate change, the human population will inevitably decline. None of us want mass starvation and death, but nature bats last. We can either control it on our own, or Mother Nature will do it for us. But having been involved in this area for nearly 40 years, I've largely given up hope. Addressing our ecological problems requires massive change in human behavior, and in the United States, this seems highly unlikely. Americans are all about individual freedom and the community comes second. It also will require us to address growth capitalism, a system that is by its very nature unsustainable. You can't have unlimited growth in a closed system. In biological terms, we call uncontrolled growth of cells a cancer. It's ultimately fatal.

Yeah, that's right. But it of course depends on the magnitude of the Georgia loss. Probably will be close, but you never know. Maybe the Trojans defense gets their act together and beats Oregon. They'll definitely change things up defensively in their next two games.

I've always believed Alabama might find a way to get back in. I figured the QB would improve, and that they'd run the table in the SEC West. I believe they can beat Georgia. But if they're in, how on earth do you leave out Texas?

Prayer is a meditative experience for me. I don't believe there's some old male deity listening to me. But it's time for me to be quiet, to repeat the names of people that are important to me and my hopes for them. It's a time for me to silently reflect on my own weaknesses and how I can improve as a human. I quit believing in monotheistic gods a long time ago, but I eventually went back to a church for community. I was impressed by how many poor, hungry people they were feeing (and helping with healthcare and housing) and didn't see any atheists stepping up to the plate doing the same thing.

The French Oaked Cask Strength is my daily drink these days.

Or that he lost the nail polish contract.

it's a lost season for USC. Riley's inability to see Grinch's flaws and his blind loyalty really cost them this year. He has to name a big time DC or the transfer portal is going to dry up. And they still haven't stopped the bleeding from the California high school ranks. Oregon still goes in and gets what they want. Lots of issues at SC.

A good friend of ours is one of the primary advisors to the crown prince of an Arab country. He went to law school in the U.S. with my son. He says things are as tense as they can get. All hands on deck. Terribly worried about escalation.

Don't count on it.

That's right.

Seems like a poor choice.

Still a lot not known. A French journalist appears to have confirmed some babies were beheaded. Didn't say 40. The details will come out at some point, I suppose.

Einsatzgruppen tactics.

Just saw a report from a woman in Israel stating they raped women at that festival while they were lying next to their dead friends. They beheaded babies. Flying swastikas. Israel is now fighting under the black flag. Hamas will be destroyed to the last man. There won't be any two state solution, because there's not going to be anything remaining to build a second state.

Exactly. The earlier shit doesn't matter at this point.

Correct. It's a highly complex situation with bad on both sides. Very unfortunate all the way around. I think the hardliners in Israel are a problem and Hamas is a problem. It's been a tinder box for a long time.

Again, I'm pro-Israel, but this guy isn't helping things. “Jerusalem is ours,” he said. “The Palestinians can go to – the Gaza Strip should also be ours – can go to Saudi Arabia or other places, like Iraq or Iran. “Not here, this is our place. Israel is our country.” He's made numerous comments about creating a law to expel anyone that acts "against the state." It's pretty clear what he wants.

No, it's not. Go back and listen to some of the things Israeli hardliners have said. It's terrifying. I'm all for Israel doing what's necessary to defend itself, but I'm not naive about what this hardliner government wants. I want Hamas gone. Ben-Gvir wants all of them gone and said so.

Minimally, to demoralize and wage of a war of attrition. Or to remove as many Palestinians as possible so they can completely take over the area. They want all of them gone.

A terrible situation where innocent Israelis and Palestinians are going to suffer. A corrupt government and a terrorist organization are plunging these people into a bloody war and will likely affect the Ukrainian situation. Hamas is no friend to the Palestinian people.