Author: casavision

Posted on

Surveillance program that gathered Americans’ phone data was illegal, court finds

Surveillance program that gathered Americans’ phone data was illegal, court finds was an article headline in the Washington Post of two days ago. This is wonderful news. Governments should have nothing to hide. That is, of course, if they’re not run by kleptomaniacs and sociopaths and that, my dear, is a whole other problem…

Posted on

Pathogens and the Loss of the Buffering Effect

If you view the manner in which humans have inhabited the Earth, you can see it as a monoculture. This, as is discussed in the video, is the problem where the absence of organisms diversity leads to conditions where pandemics can occur wiping out entire populations of the impacted species. Is the answer setting aside vast areas of the Earth to be wild, free from human habitat? Is that any sort of guarantee that humans will remain pandemic free? The separation can never be complete. Why do we deny the fact that we are nature and meant to live embedded amongst a diversity of species? Maybe our designed habitat needs to change. Let us consider an end to anthropocentrism and a shift to ecocentrism or biocentrism or biosynergism. Something like that. [Note: new study shows wild habitat loss increases transmission of zoonotic diseases to humans.]

Posted on

Calexit

I have long been an advocate for California’s secession from the union. Recently some pro-secession folks hired a mariachi band to play in front of an ICE director’s McMansion.

Posted on

XR America & Chris Hedges: The Moral Imperative to Rebel

While Chris Hedges is considered far too radical by many, he has keen insights into the whys and wherefores of our present predicament. By sharing this interview on my blog, I am not endorsing XR America. Apparently Extinction Rebellion has had a bit of a schism in the USA due to either immature, megalomaniacal leadership and/or state subterfuge. Regardless, the interview with Chris stands on its own merit. Highly recommended!

Posted on

Farmers Build Fire Resilience

picture of farmers harvesting breathing wildfire smoke

Having a background in both agriculture and disasters led me to develop course materials for an on-line course for farmers and ranchers on how to prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from, projected increased incidents of wildfire. While the course was inspired by the record-setting conflagrations in northern California of 2017-2018 which impacted small farmers and ranchers, attendees are from a number of states and Canada.