I read the Lob-sang oolong leaves as they settled to the bottom of the porcelain cup. They spelled out Uruguay. Uruguay, the country poised on the brink of becoming the first on the planet to legalize pot. Compaleeetly legal. The country's profile fits the bill too. Population, eighty eight percent European, marginalizing the remaining native population to more and more remote realms of poverty and despair. Lots and lots of gmo soy to assure the protection of the environment and the health of those who drink soy latte's. A progressive government willing to nationalize natural resources, giving just enough to the dwindling underclass to make them complacent. Protected, for the time being from the death plume of Fukushima AND high speed internet. Could there be a better place for an ex patriot Permaculturist to start fresh? I think not. My first move would be to enlist the support of president Pepe Mujica, who cruises around in a vw bus and spends much of his time on the farm. I'd hit him with the ol' one two. Permaculture golf courses for the rich, sustainable forest gardens and pot cultivation for the rest. In one generation, everybody's happy. Almost makes me wanna burst into song. " Aahhhhhhh sweet mystery of life, at last ive found thee, aahhhhhhhh, I know at last the secret of it all........." Why we'd have them gmo fellas on the run. Soy fields turning to fruit trees and hardwood canopies. Medicine vines climbing for the sun. Critters coming to cultivate. Humans finding their place. Life taking over. Why its a no brainer. And the good lord knows my brain went into retirement awhile back so I'd be perfect for the job. So whadayah think? Should I go? Should I divest myself of the oligaplutocrappy and the burgeoning rat race to become a distinguished retiree in the seaside town of Piriapolis? Stay tuned............. Lately i've noticed a peculiar phenomenon which in some ways defies the laws of physics. It seems that over the years the economic concept known as trickle down, has mysteriously done a complete one eighty and, without anyone really noticing has become trickle up economics. The system that was supposed to see a golden shower of prosperity raining down on those in need and balancing out the inequities posed by self interest and greed has somehow managed to reverse the flow of wealth from the bottom to the top. Pretty slick. Trickle down is still proclaimed the best method of allowing the market to work its magic. Allowing the gifted to rule with the kind of detached aplomb associated with a high priest pulling the still beating heart of an innocent out of his chest. Wage earners of every ilk have been plagued by fees, interest, surcharges, taxes, price gouging and whatever other terms that may be used by the masters of the universe to indicate that you must pay to play, while all of this accumulates in hidden bank accounts and false fronts for ever more nefarious ventures. Pretty slick. I mean really, who among us wouldn't jump at the opportunity to ride roughshod over the less evolved, the disadvantaged, the disenfranchised. Fuckers have it coming. After all they're just out there busting hump for an always inadequate paycheck; foolishly preoccupied with making ends meet and things like feeding and educating kids that are really only good for filling the needs of the service sector once they are indoctrinated into the ways of the slave class. I mean really, get over that sense of altruism and humanist proclivities and admit to the deep seated need to dominate, which is the primary characteristic of reptile brained human endeavor. My slither is longer than yours. Check Ayn Rands profile. Looks like an iguana. The masters of the universe just get to kick back while spinning their market algorithms, creating wealth without producing anything and watching their offshore accounts swell like the tooshy of a baboon in heat as the vast majority of the populace get to watch their hard earned cashish defy gravity and trickle up. Very slick Don't you crave a Maserati? Be honest. Don't you? If so, start a practice account online and hone your skills so that you too can have money for nuthin' and your chicks for free. Speaking of chicks, we're now at the point where I must make the hard choice of thinning out the layers who have become less than optimally productive. Turns out that a couple of years is about all one can expect for full productivity when it comes to egg output. After that things start to taper. Our oldest are well beyond that and while the tough choices are always hard to make, it comes down to taking the older mixed breeds (meat and eggs) and cleaning them up for food (soup mostly), culling out the skinny layers and layering them into our compost piles, or offering our chook exchange program which farms out the elders to those who would like a few birds around to weed and poop and eat bugs with the occasional egg thrown in. The terms of that particular program are: you come catchum' and you can havum". Heck of a deal. It's been awhile, but we got the pond relined and filled up around september. Had an old friend come by and bring me some Israeli tilopia. The ones that wear yarmulkas and  come circumcised. She said they grow to two feet but only if kosher fed. At the moment they are about ten inches and reaching breeding age. When I was back east visiting the mother ship we had a tilopia dinner and I was astonished to see that it sold for $9.99 a pound. Ermaghard. Yet another income stream. This is a good one because one can sling fish at the local farmers market without the heavy hand of the health department being able to say boo. Why, you might ask, is that the case. Its because cold blood runs in those veins and nasty critters like salmonella and e. coli don't visit the cold blooded. Also got a dealers permit for koi so as to be able to get the wholesale prices on the little beauties. Started with about fifty to get a feel for how they will do in the pond. So far only one floater. Shouldn't be long before we can pick some out for breeding and start raising our own. In the meantime, they are a joy to watch. I sit mesmerized by the sound of the water falls and the sight of the fish gliding by. Before long, I'm hearing soothing voices. Not spiritual shit or anything like that. More like who might win the n.f.c. playoffs, or what jennifer lawrence might wear at the oscars. I'm thinkin' of placing a few bets. Things are good at the Rancho. Nurse Jessica is a one woman farmin' machine and we've had a slew of flashwwoofs coming through. Should stabilize a bit this winter and spring with some longer term interns seeking shelter from the storm. So onward into the new year with one thought in mind. Fuck it, lets have some fun. The more you show, the more we'll grow. Aloha, Jp