After reading numerous articles and reports about Mr. Snowden, I must admit to becoming very, very angry; mostly because now; I am aware that anything I post here on this blog, or any other blog is recorded. . .   .    Well . . .   as a computer technician, and electronics technician, I must admit that I knew all along that the gov't was doing some monitoring of communications. That has been going on for years, many years. As a citizen of this country, I am part of the "we" I speak of shortly.

So how do we view Mr. Snowden? A traitor? A hero? Perhaps he is neither.

But consider this: If I say he is a hero here on this blog, I am taking a big chance. If I say he is a traitor, I am taking a big chance. Once my communication and statements are recorded, anyone with enough power can get access to them, either way someone will not like what I have to say, and if they have lots of guns and lots of power I am basically screwed. This is now true for anyone and everyone who uses any kind of electronic communication. So this is really a "catch-22" situation. Damned if we do, and damned if we don't.

We have gotten ourselves into a terrible situation. My guess is that the only way out will be very, very painful. Are you a veteran? Did you give 6 years, or more, of your life for this?

The more we deceive and the more we lie, the worse it gets.

Probably two of Benjamin Franklin's quotes sum up the situation quite well:

Benjamin Franklin quote: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (What are the chances that you will be blown up by a "terrorist"?
high enough to make you approve of total gov't monitoring? Maybe. . .   I don't know - it is a very dangerous world now.)

Benjamin Franklin quote: "Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants."  (the multi-billion dollar data mining and storage facility somewhere in Utah - lots of investment and returns there.)

Now I've really done it, both conservatives, and liberals will be mad at me. Too bad. I am not screaming fire in a crowded theater, so deal with it.  

It is now August 16, 2013. Nearly 2 years since the last post on this blog.

The summer here has been idyllic; sunshine, very nice and warm, and enough rain to keep things green. We even had time to take a short trip to the coast to see Cape Flattery during sunny weather:


















Here we now have lots of veggies in the garden; and have already canned berries we found in the garden and surrounding wilderness.

 The water filter endeavor here is going very well. Just in case anyone is reading this who has not read the other blog available in the above link; it might be interesting to check out slow sand water filtration. Google it. Stuff is all over the web. Set up a rain barrel and filter the water with a slow sand filter. Contrary to popular rumor, rain barrels are legal in most states.

We use slow sand water filtration here to filter roof water, and shallow well water. There is a cistern that holds 2500 gallons of water for emergency situations. There is no public water supply system here. Not needed. Doesn't matter, it rains here a lot. More later.