

Discover more from The Mariachi Years
Read this. It’s reasonably short.
We’re suffering from an onslaught of crises that can literally take hours of our time each day to read about. At least, that’s how I feel these days. Perhaps it’s just my ADD but it feels as if I’m drowning in information.
Here’s another interesting piece in that vein regarding war propaganda from Ukraine. What is fact? What is fiction?
Continuing on in this train of thought, remember the story I shared two days ago about Winston Peters being banned from Parliament for two years? Well, here’s the latest update from him in this saga:
After being contacted by the media, and checking my emails, not the doorstep, I have learnt that the trespass notice issued to me has been withdrawn as at 1:39 pm today.
It should not have taken the threat of a judicial review for the speaker to come to his senses and an understanding of the law that he wanted to enforce.
This whole issue from the start to finish has been an absolute shambles and has caused a number of people unnecessary anguish and expense.
Given that the number of trespass notices that were issued was a total of 151 people, of which 144 were arrested, and five of the seven remaining were former MPs, this means that this was always political.
It seems that Mallard and Labour just wanted to see how far they could push.
And that’s not all. Here’s another news item that I believe is related.
I’ve been banned from returning to New Zealand for approximately six months because until now only citizens, OR those residents “up to date” with their spikeshots, can enter the country. I have permanent residency (the equivalent of US “green card”), but I have zero intention of being vaccinated for covid.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, today I learned that restrictions are now being lifted from May 6 for non-vaccinated permanent residents and Australian citizens.
Now I can go back to New Zealand! Yay.
That’s lovely. I say that without any sarcasm whatsoever. Hundreds of thousands of people will no longer have their movement unreasonably restricted. Families will be reunited and so much more. It was an enormous violation of human rights all along.
But for me, it’s too little, too late. I expended a lot of energy and resources moving back to the US, which I never anticipated in a million years that I would have to do. Some days, I wonder if I made the right decision, especially when I read lovely pieces like this:
Yes, when I read pieces like that, I believe the Kiwis are going to be all right now. And I hope I can join them again one day.
For the time being, I’ve ensured my ability to see my family more predictably, have a better shot at restarting my Coley’s toxins business.
And now I feel I have to focus on a new looming threat. The manufactured supply chain crises through new Chinese covid lockdowns, wars, and western money printing will cause food, fuel, and commodity shortages, whether the food processing plants burning down are intentionally caused or not. That is real.
Is that the real point of all of this? To drain our resources (mental, spiritual, physical, financial) and impoverish us?
Just a thought.
The clock is ticking and I encourage you to think about your food supply this year, including working on your soil health so that you don’t need artificial fertilizers (for which there is already a shortage), and getting a garden in this spring, before it’s too late to do anything meaningful about it.
You can’t grow that many calories in vegetables unless you’re planting tubers, but they are still significant with regard to micronutrition and microbiome health. It may also be worthwhile thinking about a small flock of chickens to supply eggs for protein. You don’t actually need much land to grow a significant amount of food.
If you don’t have time to listen to Martenson’s video, you can read the two minute description to his video, which is quite a comprehensive explanation about what’s going on, why you should care, and what you can do about it.
Just my two cents. Happy Wednesday, everybody!
Manufactured Outrage
Thanks, Monica. Good info and I feel very much the same on information-overload. It's hard to take your eyes off the 'show' but at the same time, it's an enormous time-suck and I often wonder how could I be spending my time in a more productive and/or enjoyable way? I guess we each have to navigate that for ourselves. I listened to a Mike Yeadon interview recently where he said he didn't need to collect any more stamps - he had enough scientific data already to know there was a plan and that they lied about everything. Couldn't agree more.
I smothered my front lawn to create a native plant pollinator, wildlife garden. The earth was initially hard- a pain to dig- and its color was medium brown, to light brown, not much organic matter visible. It felt rocky. So I did the easiest thing: put cardboard down, mulch, straw and use raised beds in the meantime. I started this in late 2019, completed in 2020. So last year, I didn’t see much improvement yet and didn’t start the back as a result, which is a very large project. This year the front is amazing! The most beautiful black earth FULL OF earthworms. I can almost feel the microbial activity down there! Obviously I regret not starting the back now, which I will do piecemeal. I did do the furthermost rear, where the deer go. The rest is fenced for my dog and pig. I am putting in no mod native grass varieties. I highly recommend doing this. Just a few layers. I did a little mulch under the cardboard, a layer of cardboard, more mulch, and straw. The latter needs frequent replenishing. Throwing refuse- leaf litter etc- is a good idea too. Last year I added kelp meal, gypsum, natural amendments, worm castings, etc around too. Minimal work. Seriously, supporting nature and letting her processes work for you is the way. My bee and butterfly population exploded almost right away. I previously only saw wasps.